Eve Queler is a constant reminder to me of the importance of great singing, but only as it supports the other important things in life, not as a substitute for them. In Eve’s life, this is symbolized by beautiful portraits of her two grandchildren hanging at the piano in her living room where we gather for great afternoons of music making. These children are everything to her, and this keeps me ever-mindful that music is truly a bonus, a gift, and not the total essence of one’s identity
Before I would even ask, Eve would say, “Let’s have a coaching.” Her coachings—always performed with such care and kindness—are like adding a disguised spice that gets mixed in with what you were doing earlier, giving a distinctive flavor to your already prepared work. Eve gets so excited when a singer does something new and unpredictable. She will let you know immediately how much it touched her. And every time you do it subsequently, you will always get a smile. Any singer reading this will know what kind of humidity that gives to a parched vocal soul. The cadenzas Eve gave to me for Dandini will remain in my throat forever.
Eve Queler and OONY have enormous respect for a singer’s engagements with other companies. I have always known Eve to have the singer’s best interest at heart. If the Met needs so and so, and she knows it is a great chance for this person, she immediately sets them free to take on this important work and she looks for a replacement for her own performance. And later, they never suffer a negative consequence, a “punishment of banishment” for leaving; they are always asked back.
Singing in operas in concert form at Carnegie is a great way to be introduced to the public. The hall just welcomes you with its acoustics and its history. It is a place where musical repertoire can be completely eccentric with no sad consequences at the box office.
Knowing that this sweet, generous and smiling human being is as excited as any audience member for that first downbeat is a great gift for a singer to carry onto the stage. One can proceed to sing with no worries whatsoever.
Eve has conducted some of the greatest singers of our time and yet I have never been made to feel small around her. She recognizes each person’s gift and knows immediately what repertoire will enhance that voice to its highest potential. Every single bit of repertoire advice she has given me has enabled me to win competitions. The OONY staff is artistically attached to OONY and its mission. I feel this, and I see their joy each time the audience bursts with approval.
Happy 30th Anniversary OONY! And thank you, Eve!
—Kamel Boutros
To perform Tancredi under the direction of Maestro Eve Queler in November 1997 was more than just a concert performance for me. This special occasion was—after my US debut as Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago—my first appearance in New York. And not only did this concert become one of the most important performances for my career, but it was also one of the most thrilling and satisfying to me personally. For several reasons, this performance at Carnegie Hall was even more important for me than my first Tancredi at the Salzburg Festival in 1992.
First, Eve Queler doesn’t just program an opera and engage singers and musicians. Rather, she invites colleagues to join together for a special project. It really has the effect that one is performing as an ensemble—another word for family—and this is the way it should be. Therefore, teamwork is the leading spirit. Eve Queler has the talent to bring artists together and create an ideal atmosphere so that the musical result can reach the maximum power. Maybe the reason is that Eve Queler is a woman, one of the few female conductors, and the first I had the privilege to work with. But I rather believe that it is her natural authority based on the total mastery of her musicianship.
What is also characteristic of Eve Queler is that she loves and respects singers. She belongs to the rather small number of conductors who really understand this special instrument called voice.
In my special case, Eve Queler was giving me an enormous chance to appear for the first time in New York. It is always easiest to work with artists already known by the public, and so to engage somebody absolutely new to your audience includes a risk. This shows the enormous trust Eve Queler always has in her singers.
To work with the OONY and to perform for its audience—as I did again when I returned in 1999 for Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi—always involves one in a very special atmosphere. Eve Queler’s opera productions aren’t just a normal concert series, but truly special musical events. Her distinguished and prominent audience—and the audience of New York—is really involved. This creates an ideal situation for a musical performance, which should always be directed to a partner in the experience, challenging the artists in the most positive way.
Maestro Eve Queler is also very interested in programming operas less well known to the public. This I believe is very important, because there are really numerous operas, but only a few of them are performed regularly. There are many unknown masterpieces that don’t get the importance they deserve. By bringing such operas back to musical life, Eve Queler undertakes a big risk. It’s astonishing that an opera can be so beautiful and musically interesting, yet if it isn’t well known, if it is new to the audience, it is hard for the opera to have the success that’s given to the well-known operas. Therefore, every time an unfamiliar opera is performed this increases our knowledge and understanding of the musical heritage we own.
—Vesselina Kasarova
I am greatly looking forward to singing the role of Leonora in Donizetti’s La Favorita for the first time with the Opera Orchestra of NY under the direction of my friend, Eve Queler. It is always a joy to work with Eve, and I feel that I owe my first major opportunity in the United States to her. It was Eve who invited me to sing the role of Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Opera Orchestra of New York on February 15, 1994. It was one of the most thrilling nights of my career and was responsible for many people taking note of me.
The Opera Orchestra of New York is an invaluable cultural resource to New York. My heartfelt congratulations to all involved in this wonderful organization on their 30th anniversary. May they have many more!
—Jennifer Larmore
Eve Queler is the ultimate singers’ conductor, always sensitive to the needs of the singer without ever compromising the integrity of the music. Her warmth and generosity filters through her family of singers as we sit around her dining room table before a rehearsal, sipping tea and coffee, and munching on cookies. The OONY experience with Eve Queler at the helm—along with a wonderful and supportive staff—has made me a better musician, a better singer, and has taught me the importance of being a great colleague. Thanks OONY! Thanks Eve!
—Michael Corvino
I have performed more operas with Eve Queler and the Opera Orchestra of New York in my career than with any other single organization. Her living room will always hold a special place in my heart for what I discovered there in rehearsals and discussions. Eve gave me special vocal and musical challenges and opportunities at the beginning of my career. She performs a tremendous service to opera today in that she allows all of us the opportunity to hear music that we would otherwise never hear performed live. The Orchestra has always consisted of the finest musicians who balance the spirit of collaboration with integrity. Happy 30th Anniversary OONY, and here’s to many more!
—Renée Fleming
For me, the most wonderful thing about working with OONY is that I got a chance to sing something that had not been performed and interpreted a thousand times before. I have to admit that it was fun not having to “compete” with everyone’s favorite recording or artist. I had the opportunity with Eve at the helm to experiment and take chances that I am sure I never would have if we were doing, say, Lucia. It was a special time and a unique experience.
—Angela Gilbert
Singing an opera in concert is always fun but Eve Queler and her organization do it better than anyone. All the ingredients are put together with great care. The chorus and orchestra are excellent, but the most impressive thing is the knack Eve has for casting and repertoire. She ideally mixes more experienced singers with excellent newcomers in just the right opera. The result is a very exciting evening.
—Ruth Ann Swenson
My first experience working with Maestro Eve Queler was in 1996, in a production of Giovanna d’Arco. After that, I sang La Juive with her, plus a few concerts. I have one thing to say about Eve Queler: she is a very, very affectionate slavedriver! Boy, oh, boy, can she work your tail off in a rehearsal session trying to help you find the fine points of your interpretation. In my work with her (and we worked with great intensity and very assiduously on La Juive in particular), she had a bottom line: “Why are you choosing this way?” And “Are you sure? And if so, let me see your point. And don’t you think that to get there this way might be better?” She drove me bananas! Thinking of Eve’s husband, I kept returning home to my wife muttering, “Poor Stanley.” But all of that work paid off. Because in the moment of the performance, I knew in my heart (I do not believe that knowledge of this type takes residence in the mind) that we both were working towards the same goal, one we knew was the right goal for the two of us. Thank you, Maestro Eve!
—Francisco Casanova
The situation with Eve that I admire, respect, and find very rewarding is that she seems to be able to find the best that the singer has to offer and let that be what the audience gets to see. There isn’t a domination of the performance from just one perspective, hers. She looks at the singers, takes the best that they have to offer and allows the public to see that. Of course, if they are offering something that is not going to work, she will work with them to explain why it is not working and to bring out the best for the performance and for the piece itself. When you work with Eve Queler, it is a collaboration, as opposed to domination. She has a love of the music, a love of voices. She very much understands voices and their potential.
—Paul Plishka
Working with Eve is nothing but a pleasure. As a conductor, she understands the bel canto style completely, and in addition to that she communicates wonderfully both with the orchestra and with the singers. She is both supportive and demonstrative in what she wants, and yet very accepting of the ideas of others. She is such a collaborative conductor. Those rehearsals at her house are always so welcoming, and they enhance one’s desire to participate in the music even more. The comfort levels at the rehearsals—both with herself and with the score—and how she brings together artists young and old makes for a phenomenal learning experience. Eve also has phenomenal ears for young voices that are going places. It is very encouraging for me as a young singer to be given the opportunity to progress with this organization year after year. —Patrick Carfizzi
It’s obvious that throughout these 30 years, Ms. Queler has been a unique force in the propaganda of bel canto operas in the United States of America. She has created new stars during this time as well. Just think how many great singers have been literally created by Eve Queler! These two major things deserve huge recognition.
I was just listening to a tape of a performance I did of Verdi’s I Masdanieri with the Opera Orchestra. It was such a brilliant performance in terms of the quality of the orchestra playing, and the way Maestro Queler follows and supports the singers. This support from a conductor is unique. She is extremely supportive in an actual performance. Even when things get quite unpredictable, she always follows and supports you. She is there like a cushion to keep you from falling. This is such a comfort.
Eve loves singers. And she knows the music. She is one of the greatest specialists of bel canto. This says everything. It shows how much love, how much appreciation and dedication she has to the music of opera.
I really like her as a friend and as a musician. She discovered me in a concert by a group of Russian singers. Immediately after this performance, she approached me to sing with Opera Orchestra. She had only heard me this one time, but she knew what she wanted. She always does. —Dmitri Hvorostovsky
