Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen hit a lot of high notes when she delivered a stellar performance of the Song to the Moon, from Dvorak's Rusalka, while riding a hot air balloon.
Willis-Sørensen gave the impromptu performance during her recent birthday trip to turkey. She hopped on a hot air balloon early in the morning in Cappadocia, known for its balloon rides, and delivered the aria at 1,300 m.
Willis-Sørensen said in a Facebook post that, "even though I am always traveling, I actually very rarely have time for an actual vacation!"
Song to the Moon is the most famous aria in Antonin Dvorak's Rusalka-an opera about a wood nymph who falls in love with a human Prince, and makes a deal with a witch to win his affections. The Prince later rejects Rusalka after being cursed by a jealous Foreign Princess, but he seeks her out again, and asks for a kiss even though it leads to his death. In the first act, before tragedy befalls the couple, Rusalka sings the famous aria to the moon, asking it to tell the Prince of her love.
Known for her broad repertoire-described as ranging from Mozart to Wagner-Willis-Sørensen is no stranger to Rusalka, having sung the lead role with the San Francisco Opera in 2019. Initially slated to play the Wagnerian Foreign Princess, Willis-Sørensen said that the multiple rejections gave her greater appreciation for the role of Rusalka: "I've never related more to a character than to this weird character that is not a human. As I was going through it, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I have felt all of these feelings: the rejection, the self-loathing.'"
Rusalka's arias have since become a regular part of her repertoire: she sang Song to the Moon during the famous solar eclipse that happened earlier this year.
