René Kollo and Jay Alexander rave about their collaboration and reveal how Kollo manages to be so fit at his age.
The tenors René Kollo (84) and Jay Alexander (50) are releasing an album together: the long player “Romantische Abendlieder” with works by Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann will be released on Friday (February 11). In an interview with spot on news, the two rave about the collaboration. In addition, René Kollo tells how he will celebrate his 85th birthday this year and what he is grateful for in his life. Jay Alexander opens up on the ending of his duo Marshall & Alexander and how he’s dealing with his kids growing up.
The two singers did not come up with the idea for the joint album themselves, but came from Kollos manager Thomas Jost, his musical assistant René Möckel and the Edel label, as the 85-year-old explains. “I knew Jay Alexander from TV and thought to myself: This is someone who has studied properly.” After the corona restrictions, Kollo was “grateful” “to be active again at all”.
Jay Alexander “could learn a lot” from René Kollo
Alexander, on the other hand, was “surprised when the request came.” “It is a great honor for me to be able to sing with one of our most important tenors. The appeal lies in the fact that a singer like René Kollo can still sing so fantastically in his old age, and I was able to learn a lot from it. Ours both voices form a wonderful symbiosis,” says the 50-year-old.
As Kollo says, his duet partner is “very nice” and has already visited him in Berlin. Alexander enthuses about the “wonderful” collaboration: “It was an encounter at eye level and the focus was on the music from the start. I had the feeling that we had known each other for a long time.”
Did the two learn something from each other? “I don’t know whether René could learn anything from me,” says Alexander, laughing. “But I found it remarkable the passion and discipline with which he sang. He showed me that it is possible to move in different musical genres into old age without your voice suffering as a result!” Kollo keeps a low profile: “You learn until the end of your life. You always learn.” Both confirm that they would also like to go on tour together with the album – if Corona allows it.
René Kollo: “I live the way I live”
It is rare for singers to remain active on stage and in the recording studio into old age. “Everyone has their own physique and I think they’re very fortunate to have strong genes,” Alexander explains of Kollo. Does the 50-year-old want to be on stage for that long? “If I’m lucky enough to be as strong and vital in my old age, why not?” he replies. Kollo says: “I live the way I live and my voice is fit and I can’t even say why. I think I’ve always sung decently and well.” For him, the time to stop would only be reached “when I’m dead, or I personally decide that my voice will change according to my age”.
René Kollo is celebrating his 85th birthday this year. He hasn’t planned anything special for it: “No, I’m not a birthday person myself,” he says. But the singer was “sure that my family will plan something. We’ll definitely have a nice meal.” He was “grateful for the whole life I was allowed to lead – even with the negative points”. Because: “If life were only positive, it would also be wrong.” Kollo “thank you for life on your knees, it was certainly exhausting. Singing is not only fun, it’s also a very exhausting story. But when I look back on my career, I’m very grateful.”
Marshall & Alexander go their separate ways: “Our lives are very different”
Jay Alexander started his career in the late 90s with Marc Marshall (58), the son of pop legend Tony Marshall (84). The two performed as a duo Marshall & Alexander for decades, now they go their separate ways. “We existed for many years and we were able to experience many great moments on and off the stage,” says Alexander.
But: “Everything has its time! This was a wonderful episode in my life that I wouldn’t want to miss. Our lives are very different and that’s a good thing.”
Separation from his wife: Wounds will accompany his children “for life”
He also had to cope with a separation privately: last year Jay Alexander divorced his wife Vanessa. His two children, now teenagers, “apparently handled it quite well, but there are wounds on the inside that will accompany them for the rest of their lives”.
Like Alexander at the end of January on Instagram wrote, son Elias will soon have his motorcycle license in his pocket. The fact that his children are growing up and becoming more independent is “not at all” difficult for him, explains the 50-year-old in an interview. “It’s great when children develop so well. The driver’s license for his motorcycle gives my son the opportunity to be more independent. Admittedly, the slow but unstoppable ‘detachment process’ hurts, but that’s part of life.”