The German soprano’s Meyerbeer disc is Limelight’s Recording of the Month for August 2017.

You’ve mentioned being fascinated by Meyerbeer since your student days. What was your first encounter, and what drew you to his music?

When I started my studies, I only knew some of his French coloratura arias and was astonished by my encounter with his Italian work Gli amori di Teolinda, which I was invited to sing with the university orchestra. Then I found out that he also wrote German operas. That was when the adventure started: I wanted to know more about him as a composer, about his life and his achievements. For lyric and coloratura sopranos, Meyerbeer’s oeuvre offers a paradise of choice and always something special musically, such as when he takes a ‘normal’ opera seria aria and transforms it into a duet with clarinet in Teolinda, or the a cappella moment in L’Étoile du Nord with the voice with two flutes – or in Marguérite de Valois’ great aria from Les Huguenots, where her wonderful solo scene becomes an ensemble for four female voices. His music is of the greatest elegance and beauty, and full of melody.