he biggest nightmare for a singer: no longer being able to sing. A complex cramp in the larynx of the Dutch mezzo-soprano Nora Fischer kept her in a headlock for an extended period. She travelled the world for work and performed on major stages in New York, Paris and Amsterdam, but now she had to take a seat and look for her voice. She couldn’t even muster a Happy Birthday at a friend’s party. 

How could something like this happen? With that question, Nora digs her way around De Sprong (The Jump), tapping into the suffocating pressure of the biggest stages to personal issues that she had to pull out of her system like vicious stings in order to relax her throat muscles again. De Sprong is not a performance for those who dream away carefree on stage. This is a performance for those who want to stand by Nora in a personal revelation of what we all quietly know: nothing is what it seems. 

“Nora was a frequent guest at O. Her warm timbre was unique. That she is now telling her intense story will undoubtedly have a special impact on our audience.” – Guy Coolen, artistic director O.