You perform in Verdi's AIDA and Wagner's RHEINGOLD. Where do you feel at home musically?
My native language is Romanian, a Romance language, so Italian is more familiar to me. I love the German repertoire equally. But I'm still young and don't want to get into that too early.

What is home for you?
Home is where my heart is – it is with my parents in Romania as much as with my fiancé where we live.

Can someone flee from their home?
I don't think you can ever fully get rid of your roots. I grew up in Romania, and this background was very important to my parents. I take these strong roots everywhere I go. No matter how much I travel and learn, I always carry my home with me.

How do you create a home while travelling?
I often don't have the time to cook, so I go out to eat a lot. But I have a trick against homesickness: I cook a Hungarian goulash or ciorbă, a Romanian soup with vegetables and meatballs that my mother and grandmother always cooked when I was little. That helps!

You sing the role of Amneris in AIDA. Which scene is the closest to your heart?
Vocally, I feel completely at home with Amneris. It's as though the role was written for my voice! I could sing her every day, and it feels so healthy and right. But the 4th act is especially intense for me, because it is very musically and emotionally intense. Radames is declared a traitor and buried alive, while Amneris has to watch. She who loves him more than anything else and tries to the very end to save him. In each performance, I strive to discover more aspects of this character. She has so many facets: wild, stubborn and strong – but also tender and loyal.

Amneris is a fighter, in contrast to the softer Aida. Which character is closer to you?
I love Amneris because she continues to grow throughout the opera. She loves Radames so deeply, and when she learns that Radames is cheating on her with Aida, she is enraged. But her love, loyalty and sensitivity for this man remain. She forgives him. I can identify with this type of love.