Baroque and Bold: The Ballad of Urta Haziraj

There's a soprano making waves in our music scene and audiences young and old are turning heads - and ears - to listen to her performances. A nice little TenTen interview with Urta Haziraj

In Kosova’s scene of classical music, Urta Haziraj stands as a bridge between eras and cultures. Born in Germany and raised in Kosovo, this 22-year-old soprano has swiftly carved a niche in the classical music scene, captivating audiences with her emotive performances and innovative interpretations, being especially bold in baroque.

Urta's journey began with a passion for connecting diverse musical styles. Her solo concerts at showcase this versatility, featuring works ranging from Engelbert Humperdinck to Andrew Lloyd Webber. The audience, which is always a mixture of seasoned opera fans and curious, young newcomers, is entranced by her ability to infuse each piece with fresh vitality.

Beyond the stage, Urta is a connoisseur of diverse art forms. Her inspirations span from the haunting compositions of Max Richter to the super cool films of Bergman and Kieslowski. This eclectic taste shapes her approach to music, allowing her to bring contemporary sensibilities in classical pieces.

In our TenTen interview, Urta gives us some of her artistic philosophy, the importance of mental and physical well-being for performers, and her ideas to blend classical music with modern elements. She shares insights into her disciplined practice routines, her love for traveling and absorbing different cultures, and her vision for making opera more accessible to younger audiences in Kosova.

Hello Urta! The other night you had quite the evening performing baroque for Prishtina folks. But opera sometimes feels distant to younger generations—how do you make baroque opera exciting to new audiences, especially in Kosova?

Opera is definitely pretty distant for the younger generations generally, but luckily not so in Prishtina. Lots of the international conductors or musicians I have worked with, are very surprised by the fact that the audience in Kosovo is mostly made of young people. How I make baroque music or Opera exciting for the audience? Hmmm, I simply respond to people asking to bring more of the similar recitals as “Baroque Wind” that happened this week. I can say that I am very careful on the selection I do for the pieces. I start from the pieces that speak to the hearts of people that can be a bit melancholic, or either bring light into a tiring day of a person to the cheerful pieces such as the ones of Henry Purcell’s “Strike the Viol”. It’s a mutual relationship with audiences.

Soooo, if your life was a baroque opera, what would the title be?

Huh… I actually have never thought of this. Most of the baroque or other eras of opera are named based on the name of the main role that plays there, so I would go simply with “ Urta “.

Have you ever felt kinda like a rebel toward classical traditions? Like sneaking bits of modern touch into a “sacred” baroque performance?

A great question. Maybe sneaking other instruments such as an electronic keyboard or drum rhythms into a baroque piece, this is how I actually got inspired to do my recital, there are some opera singers that now are including a bit of modernism into opera because of the “request of the ears” that are used to listening beats of other genres. The singer I got inspired by was my favorite baroque contratenor Jakub Józef Orliński and his album “LetsBaRock”.

Living and performing across many citiesn(you were born in Germany, yeah?)—what’s one cultural habit you've picked up along the way?

As a person who loves travelling and taking as much as I can from different cultures, this has always helped me develop personally and professionally. The discipline of practicing my instrument (voice) has always been part of me due to the fact that I have been hard-working and dedicated to my music forever, maybe this work ethic is one of the things that did not need to be picked but I did see a glimpse of entertainment and joy a musician needs to bring in other countries and that influenced me too.

Name an unconventional artist from pop music you'd risk performing a cool operatic duet with

I do listen to a lot of other genres besides classical. I love listening to Gus Dapperton, Christine and the Queens, 070 Shake, The Japanese House, Mac Demarco, Fleet Foxes, Zimmer90, Doechi, .. so any of these amazing artists would make a great duet. I would most likely go with Christine since he/him would also fit beautifully on my vocals too.

Share a guilty pleasure that's absolutely essential for your mental wellbeing as an artist?

It is very important to maintain a stable mental, physical and spiritual health when you make music, especially us the lyric singers, since we don’t use a microphone or other projector to make our voices bigger. Our body is the main source of the energy so physical health is key, a stretch here and there with some yoga, a full meditation to “distract” us from the overwhelming rehearsals before the important concerts and zero tolerance for the thoughts of comparison of your voice to others since as this may kill your passion. My guilty pleasure? Just being bit cheeky, like choosing “Fairest Isle” the piece I sang in “Baroque Wind” with the libretto that goes like... “Jealousy, that poisons passion and despair that dies for love”. Our authenticity should be present in our performances. This may not be considered as a guilty pleasure but is very helpful to basically everyone.

Is there a book, poem, piece of music, or film that deeply resonates with you and secretly influenced your performances?

I am in love with cinematography. The masters of cinema Bergman, Lynch, Hitchcock, Guadagnino or Kieslowski have carved my identity in many forms. From their eyes I can also see my days as art. I cannot choose a movie from them all but can classify as the calmness that Bergman brings into movies, the colors that Hitchcock uses or the intriguing energy that Kieslowski brings with his “Dekalog” series. Murakami is inspiring because most of his books feel like music to me. Lately I have been reading poems too but am mostly focusing on the feminist writers as the great Mary Oliver. My lifetime influence in music and a composer I immediately think of when asked is Max Richter, I can see a lot of me in his compositions and all of his albums.

You lived and performed across Europe. Which city feels most like your true musical safe “home”, and which feels like an exciting “affair”?

Home is everywhere in Europe but the cities I liked best are Belgium, Copenhagen and Vienna, two of these where I also performed as a soloist. A musical home would best be Vienna.

Your personal style is quite vibrant—how do fashion and visual aesthetics influence your musical persona on stage?

You reminded me of something that I have in the box of my memories, some small papers with outfits that I drew when I was around 9-10 years old. Have always experimented with my style but I can clearly see the influence of the classic style that “needs” to be part of the stage and for almost a year now my personal daily style is focused on the darker shades because I can feel them representing me in the most “Urtë way”. Otherwise I dance with any kind of outfit as long as it’s comfortable.

If someone designed a perfume inspired by your music, what would it smell like?

Heavy fragrances would not be an ingredient of choice for sure, maybe fresh daisies or a freshly blossomed tree. Imagine that smell…