Written by: Sonja Staničić Photos: Wannabe Media, Zoran Škrbić
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Her vocal skills put the audiences into trance, while her versatile talent and astonishing ability to sing a different tune in each new role help her take centre stage across all musical genres – from opera, operetta, and musicals to tango, Sephardic and film music.
Soprano Branislava Podrumac (42) is a one-of-a-kind opera singer and a well-known name in the milieu of music enthusiasts. The media once referred to her as the “Serbian Maria Callas”, and although she is too modest to agree with this flattering comparison, the audiences’ ovations leave no room for doubt as to the extent of her remarkable talent.
In 2012, she found herself in the wider public eye thanks to her brilliant performance in Sylvester Levay’s hit musical “Rebecca” at the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum, where she played the main role, for which she subsequently won the UMUS award for best young artist. This project also marked the beginning of her successful collaboration with the Madlenianum, where she has nailed a multitude of performances in operas (“Turandot”, “Pagliacci”, “The Magic Flute”, “Suton”), operettas (“La Vie Parisienne”, “The Merry Widow”, “Viennese Blood”) and musicals (“Les Misérables”, “Rebecca”, “Male tajne”, “The Last Five Years”), so she came to call it her resident theatre.
– The role in the musical “Rebecca” was a milestone for me, and I’m beyond grateful to the Madlenianum for taking a chance on an emerging artist who hadn’t even had the opportunity to try her hand and vocal cords at a musical before – she admits.
The Zemun Madlenianum is one of the few private opera houses in this part of Europe, owned and founded by Madlena Zepter, as well as one of the most luxurious and attractive theatres, whose repertoire includes spectacular and universally recognised musicals, operas and operettas, superb ballets, comedies, and dramas that draw audiences by the hundreds on a daily basis.
– The Madlenianum doesn’t employ permanent members – they put out audition calls for each individual production, which is not a common practice in our area, but it works great for individual projects. Although it can be exhausting and stressful for the performers, it keeps them in shape – adds Branislava.
Branislava majored in solo singing at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (where she is currently pursuing her doctorate), after which she went on to attend masterclasses in Belgrade, Vienna, and the Hague. She considers getting an education a prerequisite for a soloist career, but she also points out that there can be no progress without performances and practice, which makes decent, if not perfect.
– Without finding your feet as a performer and gaining a footing on stage, you’ll have to make do with singing in the shower or while vacuuming. Until you learn how to circumvent your own and others’ mistakes during the performance, you cannot call yourself a professional – she says.
She has given a large number of concerts, recitals, and public performances, collaborated with the Choir and Orchestra of the Radio Television of Serbia and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, and she is also a vocal coach at the Faculty of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade, as well as a member of several ensembles with which she regularly performs at concerts, festivals, and special cultural events.
Operas, operettas, musicals, classical and film music concerts… You have tried your hand at plenty of musical genres and stolen the show every time. However, your one true love is still opera, bar none. What is it about opera that excites you and fulfils you the most?
Opera is the most complex musical genre which, in addition to proper preparation, requires considerable experience on stage and theatrical skills. As part of my current PhD studies, I am exploring and rediscovering the richness and particularities of opera through the ages. There is still a lot of room for learning and improvement, and no shortage of ambition on my part either, because as a freelance artist I still haven’t gotten the right opportunity to give my full attention and potential to this genre which, after all, has always been the focal point of my studies and endeavours.
Which role do you currently enjoy the most?
I feel my best wearing the costume of Countess Hanna Glawari in the operetta “The Merry Widow”. To be frank, every operetta role makes my heart sing!
The media once dubbed you the “Serbian Maria Callas”. Is it just a coincidence that it was none other than her that made you realise you wanted to be an opera singer as a child?
When I was a kid, opera seemed as exotic to me as, say, the Sephardic or tango compositions I perform today. For me, Maria Callas was and always will be the pinnacle of artistic expression in general, not just in opera. However, comparing me to her seems inappropriate to say the least.
I don’t like comparisons. I would like to be remembered for my own creative achievements, not as someone else’s dead ringer.
You were born and raised in Darda, in the Osijek-Baranja County. What was your childhood like? Did your family also love singing and music as much as you do?
Thanks to my parents and family as a whole, I fondly remember my childhood, even though the wartime years have certainly left a scar on me. I grew up in a large and loving family where more or less everyone had musical talent. My grandfather was a widely-known accordionist and singer, my father played the flute, was a folk dancer, and sang like a bird… And if anyone thinks I have the most beautiful voice in the family, it’s only because they haven’t heard my aunt sing!
Do you ever visit your hometown and Croatia? Will we soon have the opportunity to see you perform here?
My heart always flutters – although, unfortunately, in increasingly rare moments – when I approach Darda, which I still consider my home. I feel all the conflicting emotions characteristic of a person who returns home from a distant land, but lately I mostly feel sadness and fear that Darda will eventually become a “no man’s land” that everyone has left in search of a better life. This bitter truth rubs the salt in the war wounds of all the victims who gave their life for this territory.
I still haven’t realised my wish to perform at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek in front of, so to speak, my people. Despite some earlier unpleasant experiences that almost threw me off that intention, I would still like to pack that auditorium with my Dardanians at least once in my life, so that both the seats and my heart can be full!
How would you describe your journey from the very prelude of your career in music? Have you always dreamed of performing in major musical productions and arousing applause with your performances?
I entered the world of opera singing early on in life, and being a child, I was not fully aware of everything that was going on. I remember missing my family and my home, which I left at the age of 14 in order to pursue my studies. This probably had a certain impact on the further course of my career, because when I finally settled down in Belgrade, after years and years of staying at relatives’ or living as a tenant, I no longer had any desire whatsoever to move again, deliberately renouncing all possibilities of my career taking me places.
I really enjoy being on stage and performing in front of an audience, and the exact location of that stage and the background of that audience don’t mean that much to me. Especially if there’s something in the air during the performance, making me feel connected to the people that came to see me perform.
A professional singing career requires a lot of discipline, practice, and sacrifice, to the extent that singers are often compared to professional athletes. In this regard, what does your everyday life look like? Do you, like some of your colleagues, steer clear of carbonated water, drafts, and tobacco smoke?
Although hypochondria is a disease that, as life goes on, eventually develops in more or less everyone, I’m really lucky that it’s not in my nature. I don’t have that hang-up about the state of my vocal cords, and I don’t piously follow rituals to artificially keep my voice at prime – probably because I’m a so-called Natursänger.
Discipline and regular practice are an integral part of every artist’s life, but nothing more than that. What I consider much more important is a regular presence on stage and the experience that comes with each new rehearsal and role.
Do you think that today’s opera singers are faced with ever-increasing expectations from both producers and audiences? By way of explanation, in addition to a flawless musical performance, people place a lot of importance on the overall aesthetic impression, convincing acting, stage presence, and charisma…
To a certain extent, I can get behind this need for an overall pleasant experience, but I also think that modern expectations in general are a tad too much. That probably has to do with the increasing competition. Handling this pressure and turning it to one’s advantage, however, depends on the artist.
I myself missed out on some roles due to demands I deemed irrelevant and even offensive, but I always did my best to come out stronger, try harder, work on myself, and improve those required aspects, such as physical fitness, mastering specific acting techniques, and so on.
Every live performance goes hand in hand with some uncertainty and concern as to whether everything will go according to plan. Can you recall anything unexpected happening to you on stage?
Being on stage, as I’ve already said, is extremely important for every artist, and that naturally comes with a number of unforeseen circumstances, which is why resourcefulness is certainly a much-needed skill. I’ve had my fair share of mishaps: defective props, issues with scenography, forgetting my lines, and many other things that are part of the repertoire.
But probably the funniest incident, perhaps even somewhat inappropriate for the media, was when I dropped a silicone bra insert onto the stage mid-aria, which kind of stole my spotlight. By the end of the aria, the second bra insert also persistently tried to break its way out, which threw me off balance, to the huge amusement of the audience.
You are in the No Boundarises Duo with the pianist Milivoj Veljić, performing aboard cruisers on the Danube for several years now. What’s your repertoire? And is it true that you even received praise from Nancy Sinatra for your performance at one point in time?
The particular nature of our repertoire is that it was designed to accommodate diverse audiences made up of cruise ship passengers, so it includes various genres and languages in which I sing. True, Nancy Sinatra also attended one of those concerts, but I only became aware of her presence after the curtain call. Needless to say, this memory is all the more pleasant thanks to her praise…
You also sing for the ensemble Shira U’tfila, which deals with research, arranging, and performance of Sephardic music of the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. What’s that music like in a nutshell?
I was invited to join the ensemble during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was not much work for artists, so I was twice as eager to jump on this bandwagon. I’m still in the stage of exploring, and I enjoy it very much. It fascinates me what a huge mark it has left as a legacy to numerous other musical genres all across the globe.
I have already released an album with Shira U’tfila, so I urge everyone to have a listen.
Do you have a guilty pleasure genre or song, something you secretly like to listen or hum along to, but would never perform in public?
In my spare time, I enjoy jazz and evergreens, but I wouldn’t shy away from the opportunity to take it to the stage, perhaps to the accompaniment of a big band.
You have also acted in several documentary features: Beograd: otići ili ostati (2002) and Od Boga dar (1997) by Goran Paskaljević, as well as Boja duše (2019) by Vladimir Perović. How did these collaborations come about? Would you do it again?
The experience of working on turning someone’s vision into reality is priceless, and should the opportunity present itself again – why not? But I’d only do it as a hobby. I don’t really see myself as an actress, even though acting skills are necessary for my job as well.
What does your leisure time look like? How do you relax and prepare for an evening gig?
I enjoy taking my dog for walks in Košutnjak. I’m lucky that this wonderful park-forest is only fifteen minutes away from my house. Before the performance, I usually try to stay at home as long as possible and do household chores – cooking, cleaning and the like – in order to feel that homey atmosphere. I guess it’s important for me to be myself as long as possible before taking on a role.
And after the performance, I don’t normally stay at the bar with my colleagues – I usually rush home to break myself free of the character…
