Andreea Ilie a fragile Amazon with a golden voice
We sing with masks on our faces and go out for begging
➤ Who is mezzo-soprano Andreea Ilie?
Me, who else? It’s a very general question and probably not an easy one to answer here. I am a bold scorpio, I voice my thoughts too fast sometimes, I am impulsive and I live life on the spot, but inside I am a gentle and fragile person, although apparently I am and can be an Amazon.
➤ Why opera and not pop or other kind of music?
I grew up in a family of musicians / artists and my father wanted a formal music education for me and my brother, because he didn’t have that opportunity in Communism and had to work in the factory from the age of 17. So we both attended the Ion Vidu High School of Music in Timisoara, then the Conservatory in Timisoara, and my brother left with a scholarship at the age of 16 to London, where he attended the Royal Academy of Music and the Doctorate in Composition at Cambridge.
➤ What is the situation of lyrical artists during this period?
We are starving. We sing with masks on our faces and go out for begging. I would tell you more beautiful ones, but unfortunately this is the situation. Everyone knows that when it is cut from opportunities, budget, etc …, art and fields of culture suffer first. Eh, that’s exactly how it is with us.
➤ Do you like gambling?
My opinion is that in the 21st century, everyday life itself is a bit of a gamble. I look back 8 years ago when I moved to Bucharest, and I would disqualify myself as a very stupid poker player at the time, metaphorically speaking. Yes, I am a person who assumes some relatively high risk elements I could say.
Andreea Ilie a fragile Amazon with a golden voice
➤ Do you have any interesting memories related to gambling?
A few years ago I was a hostess at some games, I can only say that I understand a little behind the scenes games …
➤ What are your immediate and most distant plans?
First of all, to get out of 2020 and Covid, we hope for the results of “more” positive elections, in a leadership with a view to the West and to develop and give more chances to the country’s youth, and if God allows it to be, in secretly I would like a family. We live to hope, don’t we?
➤ I saw that you flirt with the fashion world as well. Is it an option that can replace opera?
Fashion is something I’ve been involved in since I was 14 years old. I remember an advertisement for underwear, and my father’s colleagues taking the newspaper to work to show his daughter in a Triumph corset … the rest is history. I worked in Fashion and in Romania and abroad and it’s something I’m passionate about but it’s a relatively short career. In a way it complements the opera where I can only now say that I am entering a period where my voice is mature, like timbre, like sound and character speaking.
➤ Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I honestly answered the same question just recently. I think it is fair to say that 2020 has been a difficult year for the whole world. I was reading a post on Instagram that said something like – we would all have the wrong answer – where do you see yourself in 5 years? – if it had been put to us in 2015! Bring on 2021!
