Rufus Wainwright, whose opera passion was awakened in his teens by Jussi Björling and the American soprano Leontyne Price in "Verdi's requiem", is in Stockholm to see the new premiere of the Opera of his own opera "Prima donna" with Elin Rombo in the lead role. He does not want to miss it. Before the premiere in 2020 during the pandemic, he could only attend one rehearsal.
I am still very excited that my music is being performed in these beautiful opera houses, the glamour has not disappeared.
Wainwright could have become an opera singer himself, he says, but chose to avoid the hard work and economic uncertainty. Now he is content to perform an aria from "Prima donna" during the stripped-down "travel concert" - with himself, piano and guitar - which he performs completely alone a few hours after the new premiere.
Own mass
During the pandemic, he wrote his own requiem mass, "Dream requiem", based on a poem by Lord Byron. The narrative voice has been made by star actors such as Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda and Isabelle Huppert.
I think it will come to Stockholm too.
Now he looks forward to going into the studio at home in Los Angeles to record a new album, the first after "Unfollow the rules" from 2020.
I have lots of songs, it's time for me to return to my "regular work".
Half an hour remains until the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo when Wainwright, dressed in a Norwegian sweater, receives at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
It will not go to Trump, he says lightning-fast despite the promised peace in Gaza having made more than Donald Trump think that he could be worthy of a small peace prize after all.
I do not want to trivialize - it is wonderful to at least get a ceasefire in Gaza, and it should be applauded. But in my eyes, no president who has removed USAID can get the peace prize - it is an immediate disqualification!
Future minister mimed
"The height of blasphemy" was Rufus Wainwright's comment when Donald Trump played Wainwright's interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at a campaign meeting a year ago. Next to Trump in Oaks, Pennsylvania, stood Kristi Noem, Trump's future minister for homeland security, and mimed to Cohen's song.
Now I see her in combat uniform, putting people in trucks and talking about how people can be separated from their children. People are crazy.
Born in 1973 in New York. Son of the artists Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle and older brother of the artist Martha Wainwright.
Broke through as an artist with great musical breadth in the late 1990s. His latest album "Unfollow the rules" was released in 2020.
Has also written two operas, "Prima donna" and "Hadrian" as well as a requiem mass, "Dream requiem" which had its premiere in Paris in 2024.
