Escape from New York

>> Rufus Wainwright sings the praises of
Germany, and presents what may be
his pop swan song, Release the Stars

LESS IS MORE, MORE OR LESS: Rufus Wainwright

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“Me and my mom will go down in history as one of the great mother-son duos of the performing arts,” states Rufus Wainwright, pointing to the deep relationship and recurring singing and songwriting collaboration between himself and Kate McGarrigle. As for Dad, Loudon Wainwright III, “He’s a real WASP.” But it’s family, and the family business, that continues to bind Wainwright to his hometown of Montreal, though he settled in New York City long ago, and more recently established a pied-à-terre in Berlin, where he recorded his latest album, Release the Stars.

Mirror: So where are you living these days?

Rufus Wainwright: I was in Berlin this summer but I’m back in New York now. I brought my boyfriend with me, stole him away from Germany, much to the chagrin of the cultural establishment. Germans are probably the best people to date—sometimes you miss out on the whirlwind romance, but in the end, there’s a solidity and a dedication that’s amazing. And they’re very regular in terms of the needs.

M: So why did you chose to make this album in Berlin?

RW: I met this man beforehand, so he was the main draw, but I’d always had a fascination with that city due to people like Kurt Weill. On a more political note, I really felt the need to take some time off from America, specifically New York, and this pervasive attitude of, “We are so damaged and destroyed after 9/11, it’s the end of the world.” In Berlin, there’s an acceptance of the facts, and moving on from the true horror that occurred there, and I needed a bit of that resuscitative air around me, to be in a place that had rebuilt itself several times. I arrived there right when [Chancellor] Angela Merkel was getting into power, the World Cup was on, and there was an incredible air of optimism and action, and I wanted to catch some of that positive vibe. Germany is really turning out to be a positive role model in world affairs.

Becoming a man

M: Release the Stars has a somewhat more subdued, less epic tone than the pair of Want albums. Why did you go this way rather than make Want Three?

RW: I consider Want One and Want Two to be my personal coming out to myself, like re-arranging my shelf in terms of how I want my apartment to look for the next 30 years. It’s kind of my becoming-a-man album, those albums. But three’s a crowd, as they say.

I was also very intent on flexing some of the muscles I’ve been working out over the years and really reaping some of the benefits that I’d invested in my studio career, and not being afraid to direct the circus. In a strange way, that partly involved being more subtle and less bombastic and eager to please. It was about holding back a little bit, and that’s the lesson, that sometimes less is more.

M: Meanwhile, you’re working on an opera! Tell me about it.

RW: It’s called Prima Donna, it’s for the Metropolitan Opera, and it’s about a day in the life of an opera singer—it’s a real vehicle for a woman. It’s two acts, it’s in French and there are only four characters, it’s not like a huge historical drama. I’m definitely trying not to bite off more than I can chew because if you think the world of pop is difficult in terms of finding your voice, well, in opera it’s practically impossible! But that’s what I love about it, it’s all or nothing, and I very much intend to fail miserably on my first one. I would not be at all surprised if this ends up being a flop, but that’s the nature of the game. I mean, most composers’ first operas were flops, and if they were really successful, then they never usually wrote another one that could top it.

M: Is this an exit from the pop realm you’ve been working in?

RW: I do intend, after this album, to really withdraw from the pop world and focus all my attention on this opera and treat it as a major step in another direction. It’s not cast yet—the first real step is finding a conductor, ’cause conductors are hard to hold on to, a good one, and they really breathe the life into the production. In the meantime, I’ve been hanging out with the Wagner family and making my rounds, being seen in my box. That’s the situation I’m in.

With Andrew Rodriguez at Place
des Arts’s Théâtre Maisonneuve on
Thursday, June 14, 8 p.m., SOLD OUT