13 songs on love and life – “The Great American Songbook” with André Heller and the RSO Wien
Camilla and Austrian artist André Heller first met in the beginning of 2020, when Heller directed a production of Richard Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Berlin State Opera. Even today he still proudly speaks of how fascinated he was by her talent – both vocal and theatrical – but even more so her mind and personality.
“I enjoy working with Camilla Nylund because her unique gift, her virtuosity and her spirit make her the ideal companion and partner.” He told the ORF in a press conference in 2021.
After “Der Rosenkavalier”, he invited Camilla to sing in an acoustic concert for his series “André Hellers Hauskonzerte” which premiered on Austrian television in October 2020. It was then that he discovered her – somewhat hidden until then – talent for musical theatre, chanson and pop music.
In the summer 2021 the project “The Great American Songbook”, produced by André Heller and Christoph Becher was set in motion and Camilla was asked to participate in something she had never done before. The objective was to record a set of the greatest American love songs from the 1930s to the 1970s (Porter, Young, Gershwin etc.) in audio form as well as a concert film with the RSO Wien (conducted by Marin Alsop), the Vienna Boys’ Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben) and an ensemble of artists on non-orchestral instruments – some of which had already worked on “André Hellers Hauskonzerte” as well.
The concert film, in vintage black and white pictures, premiered on December 12th 2021 on ORF III. Camilla, as well as most of her audience, was pushed out of her comfort zone, but performed exceptionally. She interpreted the songs – which were especially arranged for this project by Christof Unterberger, Florian Sitzmann and Leonard Eröd – to suit her performance style, vocals and personality as though they could have been written just for her.
Another wonderful collaboration between Camilla and André Heller which will be released both as a CD and DVD in 2022.
Natasha Orrell