He has just starred in the Christmas Concert in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. For Airam Hernández (1983, El Rosario), that has been the best gift to close a difficult year. “By 2022 I ask for physical and mental health for everyone because if we take care of ourselves, we will get out of it before,” confesses the tenor.
I don’t know whether to tell him how he is or if he continues to resist the virus?
I’m fine. Finally back in Tenerife for a few weeks, after a fairly intense and professionally prolific start to the season. Being in my country during the holidays is a luxury that I cannot always afford, for which I am very happy.
He is afraid of him?
My partner is a specialist doctor and has had to see many cases of complicated patients after infection and visualize the damage it can cause, especially in the lungs. Personally, as a singer, this worries me especially because the speech and respiratory system are the anatomical basis of my profession. I trust the findings of the people who really have a training, who are the high-line researchers, are providing us, as barriers to contagion and serious infection.
What did you do when the covid stopped the world?
When it all started I was in New York working at the MET. A hunch made me advance the return trip, so I managed to be at my house in Tenerife a couple of days before the confinement began. It was a stage full of contrasts, since despite the fact that it has entailed a radical change in our way of life as a species, in my personal case it helped me to define my priorities and to worry about issues that the maelstrom of this career often did not. allows you to analyze thoroughly. I am fortunate that my family finances do not depend exclusively on my career, so the cancellations, which were not few, I felt them only because I wanted to sing certain roles in certain theaters. What did worry me and continues to worry me a lot has been the situation of many colleagues, especially the youngest, whose careers were greatly affected.
How will the culture come out of this crisis?
I think resilience is one of the characteristics that art has had to embrace for centuries. I trust that we will emerge as a society aware of the vital importance of art in our construction as human beings, and I think that this characteristic is something that we all have in common. That need for artistic expression is the inexhaustible flame that will take us out of this and those to come.
And the opera?
We are talking about the artistic genre that for me is the most complete that exists, due to the amount of artistic manifestations that it catalyzes in a single live performance. I believe that this unique beauty of opera is what has made it subsist throughout the ages, so there will always be artists, promoters and the public willing to fight for it.
Considering that the life of an artist is like a long-distance competition, where do you think yours is at?
I have always considered myself an outlier singer in that sense, having never set ambitious long-term goals for myself, instead I have tried to enjoy every step I take. Right now I am at a point of maturity in my career. Satisfied and happy with what I have achieved, because I continue to live with enthusiasm each new project. At the moment I have interesting work proposals until 2025, but I prefer not to complicate too much thinking about the long-term future. Besides, who knows what life will bring us?
Have you ever dreamed of the career you have?
The truth is, no. During my beginnings I thought that my relationship with music would be more like part of an orchestra, a choir, or a chamber group, since I have always been interested in ensemble work. But I cannot complain, since the decision to follow the path that I took has led me to have enriching experiences and to enjoy music seeing it from another perspective.
Has it paid off so much effort?
Adult life is like that, and obstacles are something that we all have to overcome in one way or another, no matter what aspect of life we are talking about. I suppose that above all they have been worthwhile as an instance of learning and maturity.
How do you envision your future?
I try to be an optimistic person, so I continue to focus on the projects that I am looking forward to preparing for the coming seasons. Uncertainty is something we cannot escape from. But hey, I care more about other things, such as the well-being of my family and my mental health, which are the aspects that I would like to remain stable in the future.
Being the protagonist of the Christmas Concert of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz has been a good gift, right?
We saw this concert as a family at home every year, so it has always been part of the happy memories of my childhood. It is an emblematic concert for all the people of Tenerife and being from here, I was filled with joy to have been able to be part of it from within. The real gift to me has been the reaction of the wonderful audience that followed him on television.
