Klaus Nomi-Homage to the Berlin State Opera
Opera singer Nils Wanderer, winner of the Operalia International Opera Competition and winner of the Singing Competition 2022, is campaigning for a memory of Klaus Nomi that is appropriate in every respect and for the preservation of his heritage. It is thanks to the countertenor that the Klaus Nomi tribute "Don't you Nomi?" is listed. He himself came up with the idea for this and will embody the main role. "It is a heart project of mine. Nomi has always been an important figure in my life, I grew up with him, since my parents were already fans of him and listened to his music."
He is indebted to the opera singer Nils Wanderer for the Klaus Nomi tribute "Don't you Nomi?" will be performed (Picture: Guido Werner)
There are several reasons why Wanderer feels particularly connected to Klaus Nomi. Both were born in the south of Germany. Wanderer Klaus Nomi took as a role model for his singing voice: "He set the course for me and my career. When I discovered my countertenor voice, he became an icon for me." Nomi's queerness also motivated him to get involved in the community. Wanderer is active as a volunteer with the German Aids Foundation. And Nomi's artistic crossover of opera, pop and new wave also hits a nerve with him: "I really love the combination of electronic and classical music, he was really a pioneer there."
Even if the fictional character Klaus Nomi was outwardly unapproachable and unfeeling – Nils Wanderer feels "an enormous amount of emotion in Nomi's singing. The voice did not always sound beautiful. She sounded sometimes cutting and also harsh. But that's what made him human to me. If you get involved in it, a very big pain comes to light. And a great connection with the tradition of opera and the tradition of the theatrical. Many people were able to experience how big the world is and what everything is possible."
A mixture of theatre and musical revue
It is a matter of concern for Wanderer to address not only music and aesthetics, but also Nomi's suffering. One does not exclude the other. The combination is particularly noticeable in the interpretation of the aria Oh "What Power Art Thou" from Henry Purcell's baroque opera "King Arthur", which Klaus Nomi made known to a wide audience as a "Cold Song". With her he had his last appearance in the live TV program "Classic Rock Nacht" broadcast by Bayrischer Rundfunk international. "When you experience how Nomi performs this song, you can really see that he knows: it's coming to an end. You can really feel his pain. We want his death to set a sign and encourage us to continue working to help us defeat this disease. But I don't want it to be a show that's just sad."
In addition, "Don't you Nomi?" according to director Julia Lwowski, who is developing the production with her collective "Hauen und Stechen", not a one-man show. Instead, she divides Klaus Nomi into different aspects and into different bodies. That means: There are a lot of different Nomis used. All of them embody one of the countless Nomi facets. "We are not so much interested in an autobiographical reconstruction of Nomi's life," says Lwowski. "We rather want to uncover the issues related to him. Especially those that were taboo in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The range of topics around Klaus Nomi is far too interesting to be put into a single person".
With Olga Neuwirth as composer, the film director Ulrike Ottinger has already staged a Nomi homage for the Berliner Festspiele 2008, for which well-known and lesser-known numbers from Klaus Nomi's repertoire were rearranged and the instrumental accompaniment of the vocal part deconstructed. "Don't you Nomi?" at the Staatsoper, on the other hand, there is to be a mixture of theater and musical revue, in which it is not to be feared that the piece will lose itself aesthetically in the abstract – or the music will be alienated. With their homage, Wanderer, Lwowski and the musical director Roman Lemberg plan to integrate Klaus Nomi into a historical context.
Where does the fictional character Klaus Nomi come from? "I often thought of the silent film era, of German Expressionism," says Lemberg. "Nomi's make-up or his movements refer to it. This is not least reminiscent of Dr. Caligari." Oskar Schlemmer's "Triadic Ballet" is also not far away. In the way Nomi developed his image, Lviv, in turn, sees parallels with one of the most important gay icons from the world of opera. "The whole myth is almost like Maria Callas. She is much more than a voice, she is a cult figure. The complete package is important, the music is only a part of it. This is also the case with him. He is not only a singer, but also writes his own songs or creates his own style, his own outfits – there is no one else who makes this almost as performative. No other countertenor has ever developed such a cult personality."