October 14, 2026
Athens, GR – 14 C
Expand search form
Blog

Brigitte Fassbender: All my life I suffered from stage fright

Brigitte Fassbender: All my life I suffered from stage fright

The magnificent German mezzo, later an imposing theatre and festival director, gives a rare interview to Zsolt Bognar. Now 85, Brigitte involves her successor as director, Josef Köpplinger, as an intermediary in the conversation.

Brigitte attributes her early retirement from singing to an increase in performance anxiety. ‘I was like a lamb to slaughter,’ she says.

She amplifies: ‘The more you work and the further you come, the more your own responsibility grows. Sometimes you want to stay back and say, I can’t any more. The regeneration of emotional feelings is running out. This is a reason I stopped rather early.’

I was overwhelmed by Brigitte’s candour when we met for a BBC Lebrecht Interview in 2008. Sadly, it is not presently online.

Watch Zsolt’s latest:

The post Brigitte Fassbender: All my life I suffered from stage fright appeared first on Slippedisc.

Previous Article

Whose Fantasie…. Richter’s or Yuja’s

Next Article

Ruth Leon recommends… In The Bleak Midwinter – Wigmore Hall

You might be interested in …

Paris disses Ravel

Paris disses Ravel

It’s not bad enough that the French Republic has ignored Ravel in his 150th annivesary year. The Chatelet in Paris is mocking the composer with asomething called Rave-l Party. Blurb: Immersive evening From an intimate […]

12 Ensemble at St Martin's

12 Ensemble at St Martin’s

Greenwood, Britten, Beethoven Mary Bevan (soprano); 12 Ensemble. St Marin-in-the-Fields, London, 8.8.2024 Jonny Greenwood Three Miniatures from Water Britten Les Illuminations  Beethoven String Quartet in A-Minor, Op. 132, Molto Adagio    The 12 Ensemble is […]