THE ART OF SONG

Michael Gibson (centre) with David Gowland (left) and fellow Jette Parker Young Artist, baritone Josef Jeongmeen Ahn (right)

Last week, Michael Gibson sat down with David Gowland, Artistic Director of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House to discuss the art of song.

Read on to hear about the collaboration between pianist and singer, and the expression and poetry of the art form.

Michael Gibson:

My first question is, what are your feelings on the importance of song for a young developing singer?

David Gowland:

When I started the [Jette Parker] programme back in 2001, it was really important to me that we include song. As opera singers, many people, especially coming from all over the world, possibly hadn’t had experience of song. But in a two minute song you can explore language, interpretation, connection to the text. A song is just you and the poem and the composer, so it’s personal. Rather than playing a character, we learn more about you as an artist.

I’ve often wondered, if you look at a painting, for example, everyone has a different perception of it. In a song, a composer has taken a poem, set it to music, then the performer comes along, and then the audience is there. So, is it the poem? Is it the composer? Is it both of them? Is it the performer’s perception of the poem or of how the composer set it? Or is it the audience? That’s always intrigued me and fascinated me. It’s an open book. There’s just you, standing there with a pianist and an audience, with nothing else. It requires bravery, honesty, and real imagination.

Michael:

Fantastic. Last year, we did a recital together in the crush room where we performed Dichterliebe.

What was so lovely about that process from my perspective was the journey we went on with the piece. Along the lines of everything you’ve said, it was about being brave and making choices because it wasn’t really until towards the last few rehearsals that we came to a decision on where the cycle was going to go. 

With song cycles, there’s a little bit of an overlap with operas in the sense that there’s a through story…

David:

There’s a journey, isn’t there?

Michael:

There’s a journey that you’ve got to go through. But in the case of Dichterliebe, and with those cycles like Die schöne Müllerin, often it’s a tale of something like the vagabond on the journey and often it ends in death. But in that instance we found a place where it was about him saving himself, and that’s how we approached it.

Often, do you find it’s more organic, in terms of how the process works, than going in at the start of rehearsals with a set idea about how you’re going to portray a particular character or particular themes?

David:

Yes, what was beautiful about the Dichterliebe that we did last year was that as we got to the end, it wasn’t ever the same journey for the character, for the protagonist. Depending on how we both felt on the day, and on the audience, we found a freedom that it was never the same story. It’s exciting when it gets to that level because you feel like you’re improvising by the time you get to a performance and that you have freedom. I think we both found that, didn’t we?

Michael:

A hundred percent. It’s like we had a kind of framework.

David:

Yes, a framework.

Michael:

But there’s lots of fluidity within that. I totally agree. Speaking as a singer, I think one of the things that takes the most adjusting to when it comes to working on a recital is the stillness that you need to find. Obviously, if you’re on stage you have the freedom of the entire stage to move around. You can use your physicality more to help find that expressiveness, and that also has an effect on your voice. It’s very different in a recital setting in that you have to find that stillness. Is there anything in particular from an accompanist’s perspective, its obviously a collaboration, but anything that could help support the singer in that sense?

David:

When it comes to the recitals I always say, listen, you’re the boss, let’s discuss. And it’s collaboration, as you say. Depending on the song, I need to understand or be in tune with what each singer wants to say, how they feel the poem and make sure that I’m supporting that. And whether the accompaniment is maybe a landscape. It’s different from opera where you have a production and you have a staging and everything.

Sometimes what the piano is doing in the introduction is painting that landscape. Or, maybe it’s also showing what the protagonist is perhaps not saying or expressing emotionally. It’s being in tune with that, and that’s the beauty of it. There are no rules, and it’s free. It’s how we want to be in tune with the librettist, with the poet, with the composer, and that will change depending on the venue and depending on the audience.

Feeling that you’re being spontaneous and in tune with each other, and that with every breath we’re breathing together, we’re thinking the same. There’s no push and pull, but there’s a sort of mutual collaboration in how we turn a phrase.

Michael:

Yes, I agree with that. Again, going back to the Schumann last year, being in sync with the breathing. And in the case of Dichterliebe, so many of the songs are quite short with very sudden intros into the following song. It’s about syncing up that sense. And for the recital next week, there’s an element of that going on for sure because we are doing some sets of three or four songs that are all interlinked, by Debussy, Strauss, so I completely agree.

David:

I’ve done Dichterliebe many times with different people, but what was fascinating about that was that you had very clear ideas about the space between the songs. Where you wanted to have a space and where you didn’t. That was different from other times I’ve done it because of the story that you wanted to tell with this character.

When you’re doing different groups by different composers of songs, you have to think, is there a journey through the whole thing or are they different people? What do you want the audience to take? How do you bring the audience on board with you?

Michael:

Something I did the first time for Dichterliebe last year, and I’m doing it now for everything, including for the concert next week, is something I worked on with Jayke [Branson-Thom – mind skills coach at the Royal Opera House]. We briefly spoke through each song individually, and then she said, “Ok, write one short sentence at the top of each song that describes exactly what you think is happening here.” And it could be from my own consciousness what I think is happening, or a scene from a TV series where you think, “does this describe their emotions in this song?,” you know what I mean. We spent a session just working on that, and that was really informative.

Like we’ve mentioned a few times, having a clear structure but fluidity around that, having almost this heading at the start of each song that was in my head and then the text and the piano around that, that helped inform what was already formed. We had clear ideas about what we wanted from each set and each song.

David:

We did. For myself, I often similarly think in colours. I attribute a colour to a song, like green. But what shade of green is that going to be? And how does that then change colour into the next song? Or I think a texture, like a velvet. Which just reminds me as an accompanist about the depth or the tone. I don’t necessarily need to share with the singer, but it’s a reminder for myself, because I’ve done [the songs] before, tone it down or tone it up, or maybe intensify this bit of an inner harmony or whatever.

Michael:

I also think about the power of silence. You know, apart from An die ferne Geliebte by Beethoven, whether it’s song cycles or just songs generally, there’s always that space in between them.

David:

Yeah, that’s powerful.

Michael:

And often whether that’s a period, depending on how the song is finished, whether that’s a resetting, or like you say, a change of colour, or a change of mood, or whether we’re continuing on into the next song with the same kind of atmosphere.

So, in all your experience, do you have a favourite song composer or composers? Or do you have perhaps a favourite song or set of songs?

David:

Strauss, I love Strauss. I love Wolf. Some of them are only around 58 seconds, but they’re like a microcosm of emotions. They’re huge pictures. And you know, when I’ve done the Spanisches or the Italienisches, the flow of that is such a challenge. But with Strauss I feel totally at home. Of course as a pianist I love Rachmaninoff. But I also love the French sound world, Debussy especially. But you know, I’m sure it’s the same with you, Michael, if you ask what’s your favourite opera, it’s always going to be the one you’re working on now.

Michael:

For sure.

David:

Because you invest a lot. So it’s the same with me, every recital programme I’m working on, that is my favourite song or that’s my favourite programme.

Michael:

It’s funny, three of the four composers you've mentioned there we’re doing in the concert next week.

David:

Oh, fabulous.

Michael:

Rita’s doing the Debussy Quatre Chanson de Jeunesse, I’m doing Opus 27 by Strauss.

David:

Oh, beautiful.

Michael:

I was talking about it with Lucy when we were putting together the programme and she suggested it, and I thought, I’ve not really done much Strauss.

David:

Oh, you should, it’s so good.

Michael:

And the experience of working on Elektra and Capriccio which we’re doing for the Jette Parker summer concert, I thought yeah it would be good to get on that bandwagon.

David:

Absolutely.

Michael:

And then I’m singing Arian by Rachmaninoff, that’s a great song.

David:

Oh, lord.

Michael:

We’re doing a wee Russian set, so…

David:

Well, there you go.

Michael:

There you go. Thanks very much, David.

David Gowland studied at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio. He joined the Glyndebourne music staff in 1987 and worked there for 20 years. He was Head of Music Staff at the Grand Théâtre de Genève 1989-96 and has worked as assistant conductor/senior coach with companies including Opéra National de Paris, Dutch National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Opera di Roma, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Théâtre Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Real di Madrid, State Opera of South Australia and the Festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Chorégies de Orange, Salzburg and Wexford. He is a visiting tutor at the National Opera Studio, British Youth Opera, Scottish Opera Emerging Artists, New National Theatre Tokyo and all the major British conservatoires. He is a regular jury member for national and international competitions and has given masterclasses through Europe, Australia, America, Asia and South Africa. He has been associated with the Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House since its inception in 2000, initially as Director of Musical Preparation and from 2006 as Artistic Director.

Love and war – libretti

Prologue – Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

Tonio

Excuse me!

Ladies and gentlemen,

forgive me for appearing alone.

I am the Prologue.

Since the author is putting on the stage

again the old Comedy of Masks,

he would like to revive

some of the old customs,

and so sends me out again to you.

But not to say, as of old,

"The tears we shed are feigned!

Do not alarm yourselves at our sufferings

and our torments!"

No.

The author instead has sought to paint

for you a scene from real life.

He simply takes the maxim

that an artist is a man

and that he must write for men.

His inspiration was a true story.

A horde of memories

was one day running through his head,

and he wrote, shedding real tears,

with sobs to mark the time!

So you will see love,

as real as human beings love:

You will see the sad fruit of hate.

You will hear agonies of grief,

cries of rage and bitter laughter!

So think then, not of our poor

theatrical costumes

but of our souls,

for we are men of flesh and blood.

Breathing the air of this lonely world

Just like you!

I have told you his plan.

Now hear how it is unfolded.

Come. Let's begin!

Qual fiamma/Stridono lassù – Pagliacci

Nedda

What fire there was in his look!

I lowered my eyes

for fear he should read

my secret thoughts.

Oh! If he caught me …

He's so brutal …

But enough: no more.

These are idle, fearful dreams!

Oh, how glorious is the August sun!

I feel full of life, and, my senses glowing

with secret desire, I know not what I long for!

Oh what a flight of birds,

and what a chatter!

What do they seek? Where are they going?

Who knows? …

My mother, who could tell fortunes,

understood their warbling,

and sang this song to me as a child:

Hey!

The birds chirp up aloft,

freely launched in flight like arrows.

They defy the clouds and the burning sun

and onward they fly

through the boundless sky.

Let them roam through the atmosphere,

ever eager for the glorious infinite blue:

They too follow a dream,

a chimaera, as onward they fly

Through the gilded clouds.

Though the wind freshen

and the tempest roar,

with wings spread they brave all dangers;

rain or lightning, nothing deters them,

and onward they fly

over abysses and oceans.

Onward they go to some strange land

of which perhaps they dream

and which they seek in vain.

But the bohemians of the sky

follow the mysterious power

which draws them …

onward … ever onward!

Nedda/Silvio duet – Pagliacci

SILVIO

Nedda!

NEDDA

Silvio! At this hour,

what folly …

SILVIO

Bah! You can be sure

that I'm taking no risk.

I saw Canio and Peppe in the tavern

from far off! …

But I came here with care, through

the wooded path I know.

NEDDA

Had you been a moment sooner

you'd have run into Tonio.

SILVIO

Oh! Tonio the fool!

NEDDA

The fool can be dangerous.

He loves me …

SILVIO

Ah!

NEDDA

He told me so just now …

and in his bestial frenzy,

trying to kiss me, he dared to rush on me …

SILVIO

By Heaven!

NEDDA

But with the whip

I cooled the ardour of the filthy dog.

SILVIO

Will you live forever amid these worries?

Nedda! Nedda! Decide my fate.

O stay here, Nedda!

As you know, the fair is over

and everyone will be gone tomorrow.

Nedda!, Nedda!

And when you too have left here,

what will become of me …

Of my life?

NEDDA

Silvio!

SILVIO

Nedda, Nedda, answer me.

If it is true that you love Canio no more,

if it is true that you hate

the nomadic life you lead,

if your great love is not a fiction,

let us go tonight!

Nedda, fly with me.

NEDDA

Do not tempt me!

Do you want to ruin my life?

Hush, Silvio, no more …

It is folly, it is madness!

I trust in you,

to whom I have given my heart.

Do not take advantage of me,

of my feverish love!

Do not tempt me! Pity me!

Ah!

SILVIO

Ah! Let’s flee!

 No, you no longer love me!

NEDDA

What!

Yes, I love you, I do!

SILVIO

Yet you leave tomorrow morning? …

Then tell me why you have bewitched me

if now without pity you wish to leave me?

Why did you give me those kisses

in that burning ecstasy of pleasure?

Even if you forget those fleeting hours,

I cannot, and I still want

that burning ecstasy, those ardent kisses

which filled my heart with such fever!

NEDDA

I have forgotten nothing;

this love that shines in your eyes

has thrown me into confusion.

I want to live close by your side,

in the spell of a life of calm

and peaceful love.

I give myself to you:

You alone shall rule me, and I take you

and yield myself completely

Let us forget everything!

SILVIO

Let us forget everything!

NEDDA

Look into my eyes!

Kiss me! Let us forget everything!

SILVIO

I look at you and kiss you.

Let us forget everything!

Tre sbirri – Tosca (Puccini)

SCARPIA

Three men and a carriage … Quick, follow

wherever she goes! And take care! 

Where do we meet?

Farnese Palace!

Go,Tosca!

Now Scarpia digs a nest within your heart!

Go, Tosca. Scarpia now sets loose

the roaring falcon of your jealousy!

How great a promise in your quick suspicions!

Now Scarpia digs a nest within your heart!

Go, Tosca!

CHORUS

Adjutorum nostrum in nomine Domini

Qui fecit coelum et terram

Sit nomen Domini benedictum

Et hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.

SCARPIA

My will takes aim now at a double target,

the rebel's head is not the bigger prize …

Ah, to see the flame of those imperious eyes

grow faint and languid with passion …

For him, the rope,

and for her, my arms …

CHORUS

Te Deum laudamus,

Te Deum confitemur!

SCARPIA

Tosca you make me forget God!

 Te aeternum

Patrem omnis terra veneratur!

Quanto/Vissi d’arte (duet) – Tosca

TOSCA

How much?

SCARPIA

How much?

 TOSCA

What is your price?

SCARPIA

Yes, they say that I am venal, but it is not

for money that I will sell myself

to beautiful women. I want other recompense

if I am to betray my oath of office.

I have waited for this hour.

Already in the past I burned

with passion for the Diva.

But tonight I have beheld you

in a new role I had not seen before.

Those tears of yours were lava

to my senses and that fierce hatred

which your eyes shot at me, only fanned

the fire in my blood.

Supple as a leopard

you enwrapped your lover. In that instant

I vowed you would be mine!

Mine! Yes, I will have you …

TOSCA

I'll jump out of the window first!

SCARPIA

I hold your Mario in pawn!

TOSCA

Oh, wretch

Oh, ghastly bargain …

SCARPIA

I do you no violence. Go. You are free.

But your hope is vain: the Queen would merely

grant pardon to a corpse

How you detest me!

TOSCA

Ah! God!

SCARPIA

Even so, even so, I want you!

 TOSCA

Don't touch me, devil! I hate you, hate you!

Fiend, base villain!

 SCARPIA

What does it matter?

Spasms of wrath or spasms of passion …

TOSCA

Foul villain!

SCARPIA

You are mine!

TOSCA

Wretch!

SCARPIA

Mine!

TOSCA

Help! Help!

 A distant roll of drums draws slowly near, then fades again into the distance. 

SCARPIA

Do you hear?

It is the drum that leads the way

for the last march of the condemned. Time passes!

Are you aware of what dark work is done

Down there? They raise a gallows. By your wish,

Your Mario has but one more hour to live.

TOSCA

I lived for art. I lived for love:

Never did I harm a living creature! …

Whatever misfortunes I encountered

I sought with secret hand to succour …

Ever in pure faith,

my prayers rose

in the holy chapels.

ever in pure faith,

I brought flowers to the altars.

In this hour of pain, why,

why, oh Lord, why

dost Thou repay me thus?

Jewels I brought

for the Madonna's mantle,

and songs for the stars in heaven

that they shone forth with greater radiance.

In this hour of distress, why,

why, oh Lord,

why dost Thou repay me thus?

Udite – L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti)

Dulcamara

Hear, hear, oh ye people;

Be careful, do not breathe.

I already suppose and imagine

that you know me

and what a great doctor I am.

I’m called Dulcamara,

whose virtues are preeminent.

And my infinite miracles 

are known to the universe ... and in other places.

Benefactor of men,

healer of the sick.

In a few days, I clear,

I sweep the hospitals empty.

And this health, to sell

to the whole world, I want.

Buy it, buy it,

I'll sell it to you for a tiny price.

This is the odontalgic

wonderful liquor,

of mice and bedbugs

the mighty destroyer.

Whose authentic certificates, 

everyone can touch, see and read.

With this sympathetic, prolific, prescription of mine,

a septuagenarian man,

who wasn’t in great health,

a grandfather to ten grandchildren

he just became.

For this reason "Touch and be healed"

and in a short week

all distressed widows

will stop crying.

Or you rigid matrons,

do you crave to turn back the years?

Your wrinkles unpleasant,

with it you can erase.

Do you want, damsels,

to have smooth skin?

You, young gallant men,

to be forever having lovers?

Buy my prescription,

I'll sell it to you for a tiny price.

The paralyzed will move;

it stirs the apoplectic,

the afflicted, the asthmatic,

the hysteric, the diabetic,

it heals tinnitus, scrofula and rickets,

and also liver disease

which has become fashionable.

Buy my prescription,

I'll sell it to you for a tiny price.

I bought it from a thousand miles away.

And I hear you asking: how much does it cost?

How much is the bottle worth?

One hundred scudi? ... thirty? ... twenty? ...

No ... nobody should be alarmed.

To prove my happiness

Yes, welcome friend,

I want you, oh good people,

to only pay one scudo!

Here it is: this stupendous,

healing elixir.

All of Europe knows that I won’t sell it

for less than nine lira:

But as it is evident,

I was born in this country,

for three lire I’ll give it to you:

only three lire of you do I ask.

Its as clear as the sun,

to whoever wants it you’ll be saving a scudo.

Ah! What the sweet love of home

great miracles can do!

Quanto amore (duet) – L’elisir d’amore

ADINA

(How much love! And I, ruthless,

tormented that noble heart!)

DULCAMARA

(She is also in love:

she needs my liquor.)

ADINA

So ... now ... it's Nemorino

who’s lucky in love!

DULCAMARA

The entire female sex is going 

crazy over that young man!

ADINA

And which woman is favoured by him?

Who is his favourite among them all?

DULCAMARA

He is the cock of the roost,

All he chases, all he pecks.

ADINA

(And I alone, foolish me,

possessed that noble heart!)

DULCAMARA

(She is also in love:

she needs liquor.)

Lovely Adina! Wait a moment ...

Closer ...  lift up your head.

You're smitten ... I can see it

by your afflicted and sad air…

If you want? ...

ADINA

If I want? What?

DULAMARA

Raise your head, you fussy one!

If you want, I have the recipe,

that can cure your illness.

ADINA

Ah, Doctor, it may be perfect,

But for me, it won’t work.

DULCAMARA

Do you want to see a thousand lovers

in spasms, languishing at your feet?

ADINA

I would not know what to do with so many;

my heart only asks for one.

DULCAMARA

Do you want to make crazy with jealousy

women, widows, and girls?

ADINA

It does not appeal to me, I do not like it

to disturb the peace of another.

DULCAMARA

Would you like to conquer a rich man?

ADINA

Riches don’t bother me.

DULCAMARA

A Count? A Marquis?

ADINA

No, I only want Nemorino.

DULCAMARA

Go on take my elixir,

It will have a great effect.

ADINA

Ah, Doctor, it may be perfect,

but for me, it won’t work.

 DULCAMARA

Wretched girl! And you would have the heart

to deny its value?

ADINA

I respect the elixir,

but for me there is a greater one:

Nemorino, leaving all others,

all mine, mine will be mine.

DULCAMARA

(Oh, Doctor! She’s too cunning:

she’s cleverer than you.)

ADINA

A tender eye,

a smile, a caress,

can win those who are the most obstinate,

those who despise us the most.

I have seen so, so many

seized in agonising love,

that not even Nemorino can flee from me.

The recipe is my little face,

In my eyes is the elixir.

DULCAMARA

Ah, I see it, o wily girl,

You know all about my art;

That lovely mouth is the provider of love’s spice:

You have a still and you have an oven

hotter than Vesuvius,

to distil the love you want,

to burn and incinerate.

Ah! I’d be glad to exchange my elixirs with all of yours.

Largo al factotum – Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)

La ran la le ra la ran la la.

Make way for the factotum of the city.

La ran la la, etc.

Rushing to his shop

for dawn is here.

La ran la la, etc.

What a merry life,

what gay pleasures

for a barber

of quality.

Ah, bravo Figaro,

bravo, bravissimo, bravo!

La ran la la, etc.

Most fortunate of men,

indeed you are!

La ran la la, etc.

Ready for everything

by night or by day,

always in bustle,

in constant motion.

A better lot

for a barber,

a nobler life

does not exist.

La la ran la la ran la, etc.

Razors and combs,

lancets and scissors,

at my command

everything's ready.

Then there are "extras"

part of my trade,

business for ladies

and cavaliers …

La la ran la …la …la.

Ah, what a merry life,

what gay pleasures,

for a barber

of quality.

All call for me,

all want me,

ladies and children,

old men and maidens.

“I need a wig”,

“I want a shave”,

“leeches to bleed me”,

“here, take this note”.

All call for me,

all want me.

Ho, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, etc.

Heavens! what a commotion!

Heavens! What a crowd!

One at a time,

for pity's sake.

“Ho, Figaro!” - I am here!

Figaro here, Figaro there,

Figaro up. Figaro down.

Quicker and quicker

I go like greased lightning,

make way for the factotum of the city,

Ah, bravo, Figaro,

bravo, bravissimo,

On you good fortune

will always smile.

La la ran la, etc.

I am the factotum

of the city.

Dunque io son (duet) – Il barbiere di Siviglia

ROSINA

But is she pretty?

FIGARO

Oh, pretty, indeed!

I can give you her picture in two words:

a little plump, high-spirited,

dark hair (with overpriced blonde highlights), rosy cheeks,

sparkling eyes, enchanting hands.

ROSINA

And her name?

FIGARO

And her name too! Her name,

what a lovely name! She is called …

ROSINA

Well, what is she called?

FIGARO

Poor little dear! …

She is called R ... o …

ROSINA

Ro …

FIGARO

S ...i …si ...

ROSINA and FIGARO

Ro-si …

FIGARO

n … a … na … Rosina!

ROSINA

Rosina!

ROSINA

Then it is I … You are not mocking me?

Then I am the fortunate girl!

(But I had already guessed it,

I knew it all along.) 

FIGARO

You are, sweet Rosina,

of Lindoro's love, the object.

(Oh, what a cunning little fox!

But she'll have to deal with me.) 

ROSINA

But tell me, to Lindoro

how shall I contrive to speak?

FIGARO

Patience, patience, and Lindoro

soon your presence here will seek.

ROSINA

To speak to me? Bravo! Bravo!

Let him come, but with caution,

meanwhile I am dying of impatience!

Why is he delayed? What is he doing?

FIGARO

He is awaiting some sign,

poor man, of your affection;

send him but two lines

and you will see him here.

What do you say to this?

ROSINA

I shouldn't see him …

FIGARO

Come, courage.

ROSINA

I don't know …

 FIGARO

Only two lines …

ROSINA

I am too shy.

FIGARO

But why? But why?

Quickly, quickly, give me a note.

ROSINA

A note? … Here it is.

FIGARO

(Already written … What a fool I am!

She could give me a lesson or two!)

ROSINA

Fortune smiles on my love,

I can breathe once more.

FIGARO

(in cunning itself

she could be a professor.)

ROSINA

Oh, you alone, my love,

can console my heart.

FIGARO

(Women, women, eternal gods,

who can fathom their minds?) etc.

ROSINA

Oh, you alone, my love,

can console my heart. etc.

ROSINA

Tell me, but Lindoro …

FIGARO

Is on his way. In a few minutes

he'll be here to speak to you.

ROSINA

Let him come, but with caution. 

FIGARO

Patience, patience, he'll be here.

ROSINA

Fortune smiles on my love,

I can breathe once more.

Oh, you alone, my love,

can console my heart. etc.

FIGARO

(Women, women, eternal gods,

who can fathom their minds?) etc.

Opening Act III (duet) – La Bohème (Puccini)

MARCELLO

coming out of the tavern

Mimì!

MIMÌ

I was hoping to find you here.

MARCELLO

Yes, we've been here a month

at the innkeeper's expense.

Musetta teaches singing to the patrons,

I am painting those warriors

on the façade.

It's cold. Come inside.

MIMÌ

Is Rodolfo here?

MARCELLO

Yes.

MIMÌ

I can't go in, no, no!

MARCELLO

Why?

MIMÌ

Oh good Marcello, help me! Help me, do!

MARCELLO

What's happened?

MIMÌ

Rodolfo …Rodolfo loves me and avoids me;

my Rodolfo is consumed

with jealousy.

A step, a word,

a necklace, a flower

make him suspicious,

so that he is vexed and angry.

Sometimes at night I pretend to be asleep,

and I can feel him intently spying

on my dreams in my face.

He constantly cries:

you're no good to me;

find yourself another lover,

you're no good to me!

Alas! Alas!

It's the fury talking inside him,

I know, but what can I answer him, Marcello?

MARCELLO

Two people like you

shouldn't live together.

MIMÌ

You’re right; you're right;

we must part.

Help us, oh do help us;

we have tried …

…many times, but in vain.

MARCELLO

I'm easy going with Musetta, …

... and she with me, because ...

…we love lightheartedly.

Singing and laughter, these are the flowers

of lasting love!

MIMÌ

You're right, you're right, we must leave one another …

…Do what you can for the best.

MARCELLO

Right! I'll wake him now.

 MIMÌ

Is he asleep?

MARCELLO

He landed here

an hour before dawn

and fell asleep on a bench.

Look.

 Mimì coughs

 What a cough!

MIMÌ

Since yesterday I've been chilled

to the bone. He left me last night,

saying: It's all over.

At daybreak I came out

and made my way in this direction.

MARCELLO

He's waking ... he's getting up ... he's looking for me . . . he's coming ...

MIMÌ

He mustn't see me!

MARCELLO

Go home now, Mimì, for goodness' sake!

Don't make a scene here!

Donde lieta – La Bohème

Mimi

Whence happily she came

at your call of love Mimì

will return to her lonely nest;

she'll return once again

to embroidering imitation flowers.

Goodbye; and no hard feelings.

Listen.

Gather up the few things I left about.

Shut in my drawer

is that little gold ring,

and my prayer book.

Bundle everything up in an apron

And I'll send the concierge.

Look, under the pillow

you'll find the pink bonnet.

If you want to, keep it as a souvenir of our love!

Goodbye, goodbye - without regret.

Ves’ tabor spit – Aleko (Rachmaninoff)

The whole camp is asleep. 

The Moon is high and bright with midnight beauty.

Why then is my poor heart trembling? What sadness is bothering me? 

Without care or regret I’m living this nomadic life, 

away from the shackles of cultured society, I am free, like them. 

I lived denying the power of fate, treacherous and blind.  

But, God, how the passion rules my obedient soul. 

Zemfira! How she used to love! 

How tenderly, leaning against me, in the deserted silence she loved to spend her time.

How often with her dear sweet talk, and breath-taking kisses, my blues she could chase away in minutes.

I remember: with bliss and passion she then would whisper to me:

“I love you, I am in your power! I am yours, Aleko, forever!” 

I used to forget everything when I was listening to her 

and kissed madly her charming eyes, the locks of her hair, darker than night, her lips… 

And she possessed by happiness and passion leaned on me and looked into my eyes… 

And now? Zemfira is unfaithful! 

My Zemfira’s forgotten me!

A Tal colpa (duet) – Un ballo in maschera (Verdi)

RENATO

For such an offence, tears are useless,

being powerless to efface it or excuse it.

Now all prayers are in vain;

Blood must flow, and you shall die.

AMELIA

But if the guilt, my guilt,

lies only in the fact which accuses me?

RENATO

Silence, adulterous woman.

AMELIA

Great God!

RENATO

Ask Him rather for mercy.

AMELIA

Does a single suspicion suffice for you?

And you want to kill me?

You insult me, no longer feeling

justice nor pity?

RENATO

Blood must flow, and you shall die.

AMELIA

For a moment, it is true, I loved him,

but I did not disgrace your name.

God knows this, that in my breast

no unworthy passion ever burned.

RENATO 

You have finished; it is now too late –

blood must flow, and you shall die.

AMELIA

Ah! You would kill me! So be it, then.

One grace I pray –

RENATO

Not from me.

Address your prayers to Heaven.

AMELIA 

Only one word more to you.

Hear me out, it will be the last time.

 I shall die, but first, in kindness,

ah, let me at least

clasp to my breast

my only child.

And if to your wife

you deny this last favour,

do not refuse the prayer

of a mother’s heart.

I shall die, but let his kisses

console this body,

now that the end has come

to my brief life.

Once she is dead by his father’s hand

let him touch with his hand

these eyes of a mother

whom he will never see again.

RENATO

without looking at her, pointing towards the door

Arise; there is your son,

I permit you to see him. In the darkness

and the silence, there,

hide your blushes and my shame.

 Amelia goes out.

 It is not she, nor her breast

that I must strike.

Another’s blood must wash away the sin!

(gazing at the portrait of the King)

Your blood!

and my dagger,

avenger of my tears,

shall draw it from your traitor’s heart!

It was you who stained that soul;

which was the joy of my own,

who inspired my trust, then loathsomely

poisoned all life for me.

Traitor, who in such a way regarded

the faith of your dearest friend!

Oh sweetness, lost; O memory

of a heavenly embrace,

when Amelia, in her pure beauty,

lay on my breast, in the warmth of love!

all is finished – now only hate

and death live in my widowed heart!

Oh, sweetness lost, oh, hope of love!

Klänge der Heimat – Die Fledermaus (J Strauss)

Rosalinde

Sounds of my home country, you revive the yearning,

Let the tears brim in my eyes!

Hearing the old-time songs,

Draws me back, my Hungary, to you!

Oh homeland so beautiful,

With the sun gleaming so bright,

How green are your forests, how lush your fields,

Oh countryside, where I once was happily at home!

Yes, those cherished memories

Fill my heart to bursting,

Those cherished memories!

But though I am far from you now, so far,

ah, eternally consecrated to you

is the yearning of my heart!

Oh homeland so beautiful,

With the sun gleaming so bright,

How green are your forests, how lush your fields,

Oh my country, where once I was happily at home!

Fire, zest for life, fills the real Hungarians chest,

Hay! Hurry to the dancefloor! Czárdàs can be heard!

Suntanned maiden, come and dance with me;

Take my arm, you dark eyed child!

Thirsty customers reach for tankards,

Let them go round faster and faster

From hand to hand!

Relish the fire in the Tokay wine!

A toast to our nation! Hay!

Fire, zest for life, fills the real Hungarians chest,

Hay! Hurry to the dancefloor! Czárdàs can be heard!

La, la, la, la .....

Final scene (duet) – Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)

 The drawing room of Prince Gremin's house in St. Petersburg.

Tatyana enters holding a letter from Onegin declaring his love for her.

TATYANA

O, how distressed I am!

Once more Onegin has crossed my path

like a relentless apparition!

His burning glance

has troubled my heart

and reawakened my dormant passion

so that I feel like a young girl again

and as if nothing had ever parted us!

 Enough, get up, I must

talk to you frankly.

Onegin, do you remember that time

when, in the avenue in our garden,

fate brought us together and I listened

so meekly to your lecture? 

ONEGIN

O spare me, have pity!

I was so mistaken; I have been cruelly punished!

TATYANA

Onegin, I was younger then,

and a better person, I think!

And I loved you, but what, then,

what response did I find

in your heart? Only severity!

Am I not right in thinking, that

A simple young girl's love was no novelty to you?

Even now ... dear God, my blood runs cold

whenever I recall that cold look,

that sermon!

 But I do not blame you ...

In that dreadful moment

you behaved honourably,

you acted correctly towards me.

At that time, I suppose, in the back of beyond,

far from the frivolity of social gossip,

you didn't find me attractive. 

Why, then, do you pursue me now?

Why am I the object of such attentions?

 Could it be because I now

frequent the highest circles,

because I am rich and of the nobility,

because my husband, wounded in battle,

enjoys, on that account, the favour of the court?

Could it not be that my disgrace

would now be generally remarked

and would confer upon you

the reputation of a seducer?

ONEGIN

Oh! My God!

Is it possible that in my humble pleading

your cold look sees nothing

but the wiles of a despicable cunning?

Your reproach torments me!

If you only knew how terrible

it is to suffer love's torments,

to endure and to constantly check

the fever in the blood by reason,

to long to clasp your knees

and, weeping at your feet,

pour out prayers, avowals, reproaches,

all, all that words can express!

TATYANA

I am weeping!

ONEGIN

Weep on, those tears are dearer

than all the treasures in the world!

 TATYANA, ONEGIN

Happiness was within our reach,

so close! So close! So close!

 TATYANA

But my fate has already been decided, and irrevocably!

I am married; you must,

I beg you, leave me!

ONEGIN

Leave you? Leave you! What! ... Leave you?

No! No!

To see you hourly,

to dog your footsteps, to follow

your every smile, movement and glance

with loving eyes,

to listen to you for hours, to understand

in my heart all your perfection,

to swoon before you in passionate torment

turn pale and pass away: this is bliss,

this is my only dream, my only happiness!

TATYANA

Onegin, your heart knows

both pride and true honour!

ONEGIN

I cannot leave you!

TATYANA

Eugene! You must. I beg you

to leave me.

ONEGIN

Oh, have pity!

TATYANA

Why hide it, why pretend?

Ah! I love you!

ONEGIN

What do I hear?

What was that word you spoke?

O joy! Oh, my life!

You are again the Tatyana of former days!

TATYANA

No! No!

You cannot bring back the past!

I am another's now,

my fate is already decided,

I shall always be true to him.

ONEGIN

Oh, do not drive me away; you love me!

And I will not leave you!

You will ruin your life for nothing!

This is the will of Heaven: you are mine!

All your life has been a pledge

of our union!

And be assured, I was sent to you by God,

I am your protector to the grave!

You cannot refuse me.

For me you must forsake

this hateful house, the clamour of society -

You have no choice!

TATYANA

Onegin, I shall remain firm; …

ONEGIN

No, you cannot ...

... refuse me ...

TATYANA

... to another by fate ...

... have I been given,

with him will I live and never leave him; ...

ONEGIN

... For me ...

... you must forsake all, all -

hateful house and social clamour!

You have no choice!

Oh, do not drive me from you, I implore!

You love me; you will ruin

your life for nothing!

You are mine, mine for ever!

TATYANA

... No, I must remember my vows!

Deep in my heart his desperate appeal

strikes an answering chord,

but having stifled the sinful flame,

honour’s severe and sacred duty

will triumph over the passion!

I leave you!

ONEGIN

No! No! No! No!

TATYANA

Enough!

ONEGIN

Oh, I implore you: do not go!

TATYANA

No, I am resolved!

ONEGIN

I love you! I love you!

TATYANA

Leave me!

ONEGIN

I love you!

TATYANA

Farewell for ever!

 She leaves the room

ONEGIN

He stands stupefied for a moment, plunged in despair

Ignominy! ... Anguish! ...

Oh, my pitiable fate!

A challenging January for Tricia...

January. Eugh!

That’s enough wallowing in self-pity for an entire year.  Instead, I’m hitting the ground running (no Truss-like slip ups for me). Or to be more accurate, I’m hitting the ground planking and squatting. Ok yes, I admit it, I did slightly overindulge at Christmas.

My plan is to complete a dual ‘Plank/Squat Challenge’ for January and, at the same time, raise funds for a cause somewhat branded on my heart – St Paul’s Opera.

Right: first, the challenge.

The Plank: I’ve started at 30 seconds and the aim is to get to five minutes a day by the end of the month. Wish me luck.

The Squats: I’m doing 100 squats a day. That’s the time it takes to brew a good cup of Earl Grey. It’s also certainly enough time to raise a bit of a puff in the lungs. And I’ll do the math for you, by the end of January I’ll have completed 3,100, or maybe even a few more, if I get overcome with enthusiasm.

Can I now tell you about the cause?

This summer, St Paul’s Opera is staging the hugely popular opera, Bizet’s Carmen.  As part of this production (and as with the last two summer productions), a schools outreach programme is planned with local Clapham primary schools, taking the music and the story of the opera to the kids with the help of members of the cast, bringing to life the very catchy melodies (so many in Carmen) and the colourful characters of the plot.  Each school’s workshop package (2 per school) costs £400, and we are planning to work with up to four schools, so I’m asking for sponsorship for my ‘Plank/Squat Challenge’ to help reach a goal for at least one of the schools.

How can you sponsor? A lump sum is fine for the total reached by the end of the month. But maybe a bonus sum if I’m fit enough and mad enough to surpass the aims of the challenge.  Many, many thanks.

You can donate through the link below or by paying direct into the SPO bank account (thereby avoiding platform fees which means SPO receives all your donation).  The bank details are as follows:

Account name: St Paul’s Opera

Sort code: 16-57-10

Account: 90200172

Ref: Plank/Squat

Love and War and Tragedy in the operatic world

A few days ago we enjoyed a most convivial evening with the operatic husband and wife duo, Louis and Tanya Hurst, enjoying food and wine together (something dear to both our hearts), and chatting about their operatic lives together, including their involvement in the ENO’s productions of Tosca and Yeomen of the Guard and gaining some insight in their motivation and choices for the ‘Love and War’ gala which, due to illness, we have unfortunately had to postpone to Friday, January 20th, 2023.

 Little did any of us know what devastation was to be wreaked by the announcement of the Arts Council England to withdraw funding from ENO and many other major arts institutions, threatening both the continuation of world class productions and concerts, as well as the livelihoods of literally thousands of professional musicians, actors and administrators in the business.

We are determined to support Louis and Tanya with their concert. Please read this interview to feel their dedication and passion for the opera world and make sure you book tickets to the gala concert to show your support for them and many others in similar circumstances.

 Cast your mind back a couple of years to the late summer of 2020. The pandemic was still in full swing and, unless you were a Government minister of course, there were strict rules on how we could mix.

We weren’t allowed indoor gatherings, so St Paul’s Opera was unable to stage its regular summer opera festival inside the church. But we were allowed outdoor events, provided certain rules were adhered to.

And so, starved of months of operatic entertainment, the lower churchyard on that balmy September afternoon was packed with socially distanced groups ready to enjoy a thrilling gala concert. But what’s this? Two of the performers are most certainly not socially distancing… in fact, during their performance of the ‘rape’ duet between Tosca and Scarpia from Puccini’s Tosca they are acting very much like an unhappily married couple. He’s got his arms around her neck and, well, as in all good opera, it’s not going to end well.

So how was this close personal contact allowed? Simply that baritone Louis and soprano Tanya Hurst are a married couple and, despite on stage appearances, happily so.

Jump forward to year two of Covid restrictions and Tanya found herself at Iford Opera (Wiltshire-based opera company) singing a fund raising gala and the tenor fell sick, so Louis was drafted in, Tanya having convinced the producer that the repertoire was all the more rich and diverse than the standard Sop/Tenor regular numbers.

These performances sparked an idea: why not put together a gala concert of arias and duets that could be performed by a married couple, some loving, some sad… and a few verging on physical assault? This, as well as the chance to air some new material, as the couple continue their careers in the operatic arena, determined to keep their offering fresh and market-relevant.

So, the key question we were keen to find out was how this arrangement works for a husband and wife singing duo, in a practical sense?

“That depends on what the schedule is like for both of us,” Tanya tells us. “Currently we’re both London based and we work well together, finding our time and space to prepare for our various activities,” she adds. “But when we’re working elsewhere it can be pretty hard.  Earlier this year I had some great opportunities working away, particularly when I was with Welsh National Opera (WNO) covering the title role of Jenufa. It was such a marvellous opportunity and I relished the chance to sing the role for myself (a dream fulfilled), but it was hard being away from home. Louis and I will talk every single day but I always miss home, being in my own bed, and doing domestic stuff like cooking!”

Tanya seems to be the more frequent traveller of the couple, having completed tours in recent years  with companies such as English Touring Opera (ETO) and Opera North, amongst others.  “I love being away with such great colleagues in these companies, and we’re well looked after, but even if it’s a long late drive home, getting in at say 4am, I’d often prefer that, with the bonus of breakfast with Louis, over a comfy Airbnb in a provincial town.

“But I mustn’t complain; I’ve had some great gigs and with that the opportunities to sing dream rep and roles, such as singing chorus in Macbeth with ETO then the chance to sing the Lady Macbeth role at the end of the same run.”

We’re curious to know what happens when the opportunities take you overseas, and maybe how has this experience worked post-Brexit.

“It’s certainly a major faff,” pipes up Louis. “There’s a lot of time you need to allocate to get visas and permits sorted out.  Very often this is your responsibility and you just need to set aside the time (non-fee earning time, I might add) to get yourself to the relevant country’s embassy to queue sometimes all day to sort out the paperwork. Having said that, there are some opera houses in mainland Europe who will sort this admin for you – such as many of the German opera houses, who seem to be well versed in this sort of bureaucracy.

And is this the same for Tanya, who is, after all, an Aussie passport holder? “Yes to a degree, although I seem to slip under the Brexit radar and whilst I have to go through the immigration process, I don’t seem to see the same amount of admin, as I know most English colleagues have persistently long winded processes to balance.”

Now, we’ve been itching to ask this question: where did you two meet, and what brought you to the UK, Tanya?

“That’s an easy one. Having completed my post grad diploma from Melbourne, I did what masses of Aussies do and came to the UK to complete a vocal masters. I ended up at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), met Louis and we’re still living the experience!”

And why did you head to Europe in the first place?

“Well, many of us Aussies have the view that Europe is bigger and better thank back home, and particularly for musicians. And when you get to the UK – let’s just say for a comparison, Manchester Uni had everything I needed!” Tanya has a certain cheeky grin whilst answering this one.

“Besides, there’s infinitely more work in the UK. However, we both knew that London was where we really needed to be as there is a vast amount of music making to take advantage of – session work, church singing, opera houses, and even the touring and festival companies, nine times out of ten, rehearse in London, at least to start.”

“Yes, and of course the European cities are usually just a couple of hours’ flight time away – think about the fact that one third of all opera in the world takes place in Germany!” adds Louis.

“The ‘business’ of music should really be given a major focus in the conservatoires. It’s an essential part of this lifestyle!”

— Tanya Hurst

So why aren’t you tempted to actually live in Germany, for instance, after all, there are numerous singers who’ve made the move, even SPO colleagues who’ve sung in previous productions.

Tanya’s turn to answer this one: “Well, to be completely honest, we both really enjoy London life, both from the work opportunities and the social and cultural side too. During lockdown, I did set myself a task of improving my German (I did the equivalent of an A level at the Goethe Institute), but of course you need to live in Germany to become fluent, which I guess would be possible, but London’s our home for now.”

Speaking of lockdown, what got you through?

“Wine,” says Louis, in a flash.

Riiiiiiight……..

“No it’s not what you think. I went to work for Majestic Wine and became the manager of the store in Muswell Hill (nearest to our home). And I did the Wine & Spirits Trust exams to improve my knowledge. Tanya was a great help with the practical learning.”

“What the Aussie wines? I had a local knowledge advantage, let’s say!”

And you, Tanya?

“At the outset, I was shielding as I’m diabetic, so I worked from home online, but then we realised that the fear factor wasn’t quite so limiting, so I picked up odd jobs here and there – catering, swabbing, I even worked in a bakery for a short while, but thankfully then the singing work started to reappear.”

You both demonstrate an amazing amount of resilience in finding work. As well as purely operatic work – whether it’s the touring work, cover work, chorus work with English National Opera (ENO)….

“We’re both in ENO’s Yeoman [of the Guard] currently, but there’s plenty of other work – teaching, running choirs, church singing.”

— Louis Hurst

“Yes we’re both in ENO’s Yeoman [of the Guard] currently,” adds Louis, “but there’s plenty of other work – teaching, running choirs, church singing. It’s the classic portfolio career. To be honest, there are very few singers who purely work on the major operatic stages of the world. Roddy Williams is a prime example – yes he sings in operas, but also recitals and oratorios, he conducts, composes, teaches and also broadcasts – a superb all-rounder of the classical music world.”

“Actually,” chips in Tanya, “the ‘business’ of music should really be given a major focus in the conservatoires. It’s an essential part of this lifestyle!”

We’re curious about the repertoire choice so the conversation moves onto the specifics of the ‘War and Peace’ gala.

“Ah yes, all bangers!” is Louis’s response.

“But it’s more than this,’ adds Tanya. “Some might say it’s a rather self-indulgent choice, but from our point of view, we’re in a privileged position of having the opportunity of more rehearsal time as we live together. For a classic gala, there’s very often no time to rehearse some of these items as they’re not standard repertoire. So from our point of view it’s great to be able to sing something different, and from the audience’s point of view, they don’t have to listen to the same old numbers being banged out!”

“And as Tanya said earlier, we can explore the Soprano / Baritone rep, which again is not necessarily the standard for a gala (more often than not, it’s a Soprano / Tenor pairing),” explains Louis.

“In fact,” adds Tanya, “We’ve only sung two of these number before together, and the ‘[Eugine] Onegin’ is brand new for us both.

You said at the outset that you wanted to put the programme together as a way of preparing new material for auditions. Tell us more about this aspect.

Louis kicks the discussion off: “For my part, I want to be sure that I have enough in my repertoire to show my best ‘side’ when an audition comes up out of the blue – they do from time to time – so that, even when your feeling a bit rough (sometimes self-inflicted) you’ve got something up your sleeve to show your strengths that you can rattle off standing on your head.”

“Yes, and I feel I’ve got to an age and confidence now where I’m absolutely confident that I want to show an audition panel ‘this is my product’,” adds Tanya, “rather than trying to fit my square peg into a production’s round hole.

“Galas are really useful for polishing and extending repertoire.  In this gala, we’ve got the less explored rep and language which works well for the two of us for future auditions.”

Quick Fire Questions

Tanya Louis

What’s your favourite audition aria?

Kát’a Kabanova Ves’ tabor spit - Aleko

Your favourite operatic role?

Jenufa Gianni Schicchi

The role you’d love to sing?

Marschallin / Der Rosenkavalier Flying Dutchman

Picture by Ali Wright

“I have to add one thing here,” offers Louis, “I’m going to reveal Tanya’s superpower – phonetics! She’s the most gifted natural language coach.”

“Ah yes,” admits Tanya. “I might not always have a total command of the nuance of a language, but I just seem to have a knack of getting my tongue round the language repertoire, especially Czech and Russian. I just love it!”

It’s a certainty that ‘Love and War’ will demonstrate this particular talent in its varied programme, and the thrill of hearing these two SPO friends filling an evening’s entertainment will be beheld by our audience.

‘Love and War’ – Friday 20th January, 2023

St Paul’s Church, Rectory Grove, Clapham, SW4 0DZ

SPO's new Patron, David Butt Philip, explains how we serve young singers and the local community

Picture: Andrew Staples

When you’re studying singing, and when you start working professionally, it sometimes feels as if you’ll be a “promising young singer” forever. You feel like a child waiting to be invited to sit at the grownups table. Then one day, before you realise it, you start getting asked to give advice to “young singers” or to coach them and give masterclasses. You look in the mirror and feel like nothing’s changed, but somewhere along the line you’ve become one of the grownups.

Much to my surprise, this started happening to me around six or seven years ago, and a couple of years later I was first approached by Tricia Ninian to come and give a masterclass for St Paul’s Opera.

I rather enjoyed it, and (again, much to my surprise) they seemed to as well! It became a regular engagement, and now here we are, embarking on an exciting new chapter together. I’ve never been a patron of anything before (except perhaps my local pub), and again it feels like something a real grownup should be doing, as opposed to me, but I’ve started to come to terms with the fact that that’s just what most days feel like once you get into your forties!

Small, community-based, groups run for the love of it by enthusiastic amateurs, like St Paul’s Opera, are absolutely crucial for developing talent. Especially these days when opportunities to perform operatic roles professionally at the start of one’s career are desperately scarce, even more so than they were when I left college 15 years ago. You can learn a huge amount at a conservatoire, or from a great singing teacher or coach. Technique, style, musicality, language skills.

But one of the hardest things to learn in opera is how to actually perform a role, on stage, under pressure. Because you have to learn by doing it yourself, repeatedly, in front of an audience. Even the luckiest of us probably only get to do this a handful of times in over the course of maybe six years of full-time study.

I didn’t begin to feel truly comfortable and confident on stage until I was a young artist at the Royal Opera House, by which time I was already in my early 30s, and that’s because it was the first time I had ever had the opportunity to do it regularly for real, to build those skills and that confidence.

So the beauty of a group like SPO is that we can do two things at once. Provide vital performance and development opportunities to singers at an early stage of their career, which they might otherwise struggle to find, AND offer something wonderful to the local community, that they can feel is their own, and enjoy the results of everyone’s spirit and hard work. What could be more joyous?

It’s been particularly striking to me how the standard of singers I see in the masterclasses has risen each time. This year was absolutely the best yet. So I have no doubt that this summer’s production of Albert Herring (one of my favourite operas, and one of the first in which I ever sang a principal role!) will be a great success.

The energy and enthusiasm of Tricia, Pan and the rest of the team is an inspiration to us all, and I hope very much you will all be able to come along and enjoy the show. In the meantime, “I’m full of happiness to be here in your midst on such a day as this!”

Duet with words from our pianists...

We just couldn’t leave out hearing from our two pianists for the Gala tomorrow (Thursday), so we listened in on a conversation between Genevieve Ellis, Deputy Chorus Master for the Royal Opera, and Panaretos Kyriatzidis, voice coach at Trinity Laban and Morley colleges and, of course, Musical Director for St Paul’s Opera.  Between them they’ve been discussing their routes into the world of opera, what they love about their jobs, and a few thoughts about how that impacts personally.

Genevieve: My introduction to opera was being immersed into the world of Gilbert & Sullivan back in my school days. Every summer we would put on a full-blown production involving the whole school. Of course, we had this amazingly inspirational teacher, John Skinner, who led the whole thing. In those days I played the oboe in the orchestra, but I also got my first taste as a repetiteur playing for the rehearsals.  Then I had a long break with absolutely no opera at all until I did my post grad at the [Royal] Academy [of Music] and got into accompanying, and I found the opera rehearsals really fun – I loved all the language and drama – so I found myself drawn to training as a repetiteur.

Pan: Oh my experience couldn’t be more different. I arrived in the UK 11 years ago to study at Trinity Laban for a piano Masters and found myself spending a lot of time with singers. Then, after five years, I got an out-of-the-blue call from the Kings Head Theatre [the well-known Islington venue for fringe opera] who told me someone at Trinity had strongly recommended me which led me to where I am today, coaching singers.

Genevieve Ellis

Genevieve: We do very different jobs when you consider we’re both basically pianists but the satisfaction level must be quite similar. I love the rep calls with the chorus when it’s just us and the music – there’s never a better choral sound than when we’re in one room altogether. And then the ‘Sitzprobe’ [full musical rehearsal] also gives that tingle feeling – a fun experience as the music ‘goes’ in. And I love every day being different – rep calls one day, another day a production rehearsal, then onto stage calls.  Loads of variety. How about you, Pan?

Pan: Yep, you’re right, I love my job, but find myself moving between Trinity Laban in Greenwich, to Morley in Lambeth and individual coaching which can literally be anywhere! I love the variety from working one-to-one, then working on opera scenes with a group of students. And soon I’ll be crossing south London to Clapham to start work on St Paul’s Opera’s production of Albert Herring. Pretty crazy, at least that’s what my wife tells me! But I do love the variety, too. And something else I love is being with other people and making music together. It’s just so much fun – maybe why I never went down the soloist’s route? Anyway, I’m intrigued to know about that opera ‘light bulb moment’ – you go first…….

Genevieve: Well that’s the easiest question. Figaro!

Pan: Nooooooo, me too!!! But why? Then I’ll tell you my version.

Genevieve: OK, the first time I heard it I was hooked. I find the libretto astonishing and then Mozart comes along and brings the story to life with all its comedic potential. I never tire of it, it was such a joy learning it and every time I revisit it it’s just pure pleasure. Ok Pan, your turn.

Pan: Actually it wasn’t perhaps a light bulb moment, but Figaro was the first opera I completely picked to pieces and found such amazing detail. I still do, in fact, every time a singer brings a Figaro aria to work on, I find something completely new in the piece, it’s astonishing.  But I must confess Tosca is pretty much up there, too.  When I was working on a small, reduced version a few years back, and I’d been right through the detail of the production, I took myself off to watch a full production and I was so gripped by the whole story. I mean, good opera is good theatre enhanced by gorgeous music. What’s not to like?

Genevieve: Ha, that’s right. But can you share with me some of the demons that hit from time to time?

Pan: From time to time? I wish! Every. Single. Day. I think every single musician is sensitive and suffers from ‘imposter syndrome’, and I guess that’s compounded for me because you could say I didn’t exactly take a traditional route in. I mean, today, rehearsing for the Gala, it was an amazing treat, but at the same time completely nerve-wracking, working with singers of such a high standard. I guess we’re all in it together, but it’s sometimes easy to forget that fact. What about you Genevieve?

Panaretos Kyriatzidis,

Genevieve: I lose count of how many times a day I have doubts, crises of confidence. Of course the Royal Opera House level is so incredibly high, but you just have to take it back to ‘the dots’ with thorough practice to overcome the nerves, and being secure with the nuts and bolts means you have something to offer in this world of excellence.

Pan: So, how about the programme for the Gala? What’s your favourite aria?

Genevieve: Oh I’m really looking forward to David’s [Butt Philip] Rusalka aria – it’s new to me which is both a thrill but somewhat nerve-wracking all at the same time. And I do love the variety in a gala – you know, Puccini sitting alongside Mozart. And these four astonishing voices – a fresh treat, each one. Can’t wait!

Pan: Absolutely! Actually I’m with you with Dvorák, but my choice is the Song to the Moon. I just adore that aria, even though it might be considered by some as a bit of an ‘old chestnut’.  And I have to add in here ‘Mon coeur’, from Samson et Delilah, but that’s because I sing it to my son, poor boy!

So that’s what pianists get up to in their down time…

Tricia Ninian talks to David Shipley, the ever-youthful bass with extended shelf life

David Shipley in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for The Royal Opera in 2017. Picture: Clive Barda

David Shipley and I haven’t met before so it it’s fortuitous that our shared state of post-workout glow provides something of an ice-breaker.  He confesses to having been on a run now that he’s back in his North London home having just returned from Glasgow and Edinburgh with Scottish Opera singing Nick Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. David tells me he lives within spitting distance of the Emirates Stadium, so I have to ask whether he’s an Arsenal fan (having been a Gooner my whole life) – more ice-breaking, here: “Well I can’t confess to being fanatic about the team, but I guess I’m more of a general sports fan. However, actually it’s F1 that really excites me, and I’m already pumped up for the start of the season,” admits David. OK, introductions made; let’s get stuck into some opera talk now!

As with our soprano and mezzo-soprano friends, I’m keen to find out how David got sucked into this operatic life. “I’ve been immersed in music my whole life, but initially mainly church music. My dad (Stephen Shipley) was for many years the producer of BBC Radio 3’s Choral Evensong so Cathedral life seemed to be the norm for me. He was also Precentor at Ely Cathedral and my brother was a chorister there.  For me, having been a boy chorister at Lichfield Cathedral I was really lucky to go to Shrewsbury School which had an absolutely top notch music department (I even dabbled a bit with the French Horn there). Then for my gap year, I spent the time as a choral scholar at Wells Cathedral before going onto first the Royal Academy of Music and then to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on the opera course.

“Actually, despite his working life being pretty exclusively church music, my dad has always not only loved opera, but has a considerable knowledge of the whole genre, so I guess that was where the passion started for me,” admits David. “In fact, I think where it really started in earnest for me was my first ever visit to the Royal Opera House – about 17 years ago – to see Sir David McVicar’s famous production of Die Zauberflöte. After that, I knew I had to ‘do’ opera myself.”

The Covid issue always has a way of entering the discussion for singers of the world and David is not one to be left out of this. “The last two years have been really tough for all singers and even now, it’s still a case of we’re all still walking on eggshells. Will the production go ahead? Will I go down with Covid?  There are enough uncertainties for the singer’s life without these extra hazards to negotiate.

“I’ve got to a point in my career – which is a real privilege, I guess – where singers at the start of their careers will seek me out for advice. Sometimes it’s about repertoire and what’s being demanded of them, but I sometimes feel that the colleges are missing a trick by not putting enough emphasis on some of the other more human hurdles that can trip up a young singer. Things like how the peripatetic life affects relationships – friendships or your personal life. I’m hugely in admiration for colleagues who combine the operatic life with, for example, having a young family.

“And on top of this, this is a super-competitive world, so each individual has to build their own resilience to cope with the ever-present possibility of rejection. Now, this is possibly one time where I can rest a bit easier than some – being a bass, I have a in-built longer sell-by-date than other voices.  Those poor sopranos and tenors who spend a fortune on expensive creams in a quest for eternal youth…! In fact, I once didn’t get a part because I looked too young – ha!”

But, of course, the rewards for the successful few, are what drives them on. David explains, “I must admit, that after two years of such uncertainty, it was such a privilege to get back into a full opera, singing with colleagues, with a full orchestra behind you – A Midsummer Night’s Dream was such a joy. I do know how fortunate I am!”

We’re drawing our chat to a close, as David is dashing off to the Opera House for the ‘general’ of Peter Grimes, currently the hottest ticket in town.  But I have to ask him about his choice of repertoire for the Gala. “Oh, I have to sing some Die Zauberflöte – it’s still in my bones since that first experience as a teenager. But I’m also going to sneak in a Rogers & Hammerstein number. It’s one from a recording I have by Bryn Terfel – ‘A fellow needs a girl’ from Allegro. It’s such an uplifting number, in fact it’s my go-to for when I’m asked to sing at friends’ and family’s weddings.”

Lauren loves London Town, discovers Tricia Ninian

Lauren Fagan and I haven’t met before, but I feel I know her, even just a little bit, having seen her sing Violetta on more than one occasion at Opera Holland Park. The performance that most hit home was the 2021 production. It’s true the say that the atmosphere was somewhat rarefied, given OHP had bent so far over backwards as to make the audience feel as if they had been personally invited to an intimate soirée performance of La Traviata thanks to the individual, socially distanced auditorium. But there was more; Lauren’s understated elegance and poise was so perfect for the sense of hesitant return the opera-loving world was feeling. One pundit in reviewing the performance questioned why Ms Fagan was not headlining at the Opera House itself.

Picture: Victoria Cadisch

Nine months later, Lauren has just returned to her now home of London (she relocated here from Sydney, Australia, back in 2012), having been performing as soprano vocalist in Ballet Zurich’s ‘Monteverdi‘, a beautiful collaboration of ballet and opera, melding orchestral and operatic music of the 17th century composer (check out Ballet Zurich’s trailer https://www.opernhaus.ch/en/spielplan/calendar/monteverdi/2021-2022/).  She’s back, ready to prepare for a busy summer in the UK.

“I’m super excited about the months ahead,” she explains, “Who wouldn’t be, ahead of making your debut at Glyndebourne!” She will be singing the role of Avis in Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers, last performed on any stage some decades ago. “It’s a hugely moving piece for so many reasons: the role of Avis is unlike anything I’ve sung before. She is definitely not the heroine of this piece but rather the catalyst for a horrible murder. The style of the music is also extremely tricky, Avis goes from singing French melodies, to weird and exotic passages then thick Puccini like passages – so it’s been keeping me on my toes that’s for sure!”

So where did the passion for opera start for Lauren, back in her native Australia, or maybe when she hit British shores?

“Well, it took me a while to work this one out. I have always loved performing and back home in school days I was really lucky to have – it’s hard to believe – a number of amazing music teachers who, all in their own way, nurtured my voice. It’s just not like that for so many would be singers, meaning they never have a chance to get started.

“In fact, it really was quite a slow burn, I started out my higher education taking a business degree at Macquarie University straight after school in 2006. It was only when I was accepted into the Guildhall Opera School that I realised that singing was so in my bones that I had to do something about it.”

Lauren is quite upfront about the good fortune following her career. “Everyone in this business has to put in the hours, and then more hours, to get to any level of a professional involvement. But I also know I’ve been in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion, which has given me opportunities such as the great Jette Parker Young Artists’ Programme at the Royal Opera. I am where I am today as a direct result of that. And, despite all the ups and downs of first Brexit and then COVID, London is still the place for me to make my career happen. Besides, I’ve made my home here.  Despite all the travelling I have to do, and then the travelling I choose to do (maybe coming from Oz, the wanderlust is just in my bones), I’m still ever grateful to arrive back in London for some home comforts – to visit my close friends here as well, but also just to spend some time in my little flat in Leytonstone which I’m slowly making into a proper home.”

I’m really keen to hear what she has chosen to sing for the Gala – any slim chance of some of that sublime Violetta?

“Ah, well……no, sorry, although all four of us are singing the Brindisi.  But even better – at least in the circumstances – I’m going to sing O soave fanciulla (the Mimi and Rodolfo duet from the first act of La Bohéme). Of course, it’s been in my repertoire for years, but I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to sing this with ‘Mr Amazing Tenor’ himself, my great mate, David BP. No excuses: on this occasion, never mind the audience, we’ll be singing this for our benefit, that’s for sure!”

We’re all waiting for your Mimi-magic, Lauren.

Soprano Lauren Fagan performs 'Sì, mi chiamano Mimì' from Opera North's 2019 production of Puccini's La bohème – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEu9Hggx71I

Cooking up a conversation with Stephanie Wake-Edwards, by Tricia Ninian

I wanted to ask Stephanie Wake-Edwards, one of the rising stars in our forthcoming fundraising Gala (March 24th), a few questions but I must admit I was a little nervous about pinning her down, knowing a little of her hectic schedule. But it’s true what they say, if you want something done, ask a busy person. Having sent Steph a few taster questions by email, she pinged one back to let me know she was due a break (from rehearsals at the Royal Opera House) at 5pm that day when we could do a Facetime chat.

The first attempt didn’t go to plan, but a quick ring back, and a change in her location from the bowels of the Opera House up to the open-air Terrace gave us a perfect connection.

 I’ve known Steph for a few years, first coming across her as girlfriend of Jack Lawrence Jones  – SPO’s Count in the 2019 production of Le Nozze di Figaro. And SPO fans will remember when Steph and Jack sang for us in our Open-Air Picnic Gala back in the dark days of socially distanced September 2020. Getting to know her during this time, it most definitely was a good old chat that I was expecting, and what I got!

I wanted to pursue the idea of ‘nurturing’ with Steph and was curious to know where her passion for opera began and how it was nurtured. “I have to thank my parents and particularly my dad for my initial interest. He’s a real music lover and when I was very young, he’d find out what was going on at the music colleges and take me along to see those opera scene concerts. I grew up in Palmers Green, North London, which was a great advantage because there was obviously loads of music right on the door step.

“I also had a really brilliant music teacher at school – Julian Hinton – who got me singing just anything. In those days I was more into jazz, rock and pop, but importantly I was singing and I was good. And I was also doing Music GCSE, which meant I got free singing lessons – my ‘instrument of choice’ - funded by the local council. Sadly, they don’t do this nowadays.”

It wasn’t all jazz, rock and pop, though. It seems opera was bubbling under.

Steph’s higher education initially took her off to York University to read Sociology and Social Psychology, but she was singing throughout her undergraduate years and had her first taste of performing opera. “Oh, this is really mad; I was in a production of Don Giovanni at Uni and I sang the role of Leporello.  As a girl.  An octave up. It was insane! It was the most attended student production with over a thousand in the audience. But I just loved performing, and acting,” Steph tells me with her characteristic joie-de-vivre laugh.

It really sounds as if Steph was one to decide on what she wanted and then set a plan to do that. But she admits that it wasn’t quite like that all the way.

“Whilst at Uni I thought, I really want to do this singing thing, so applied to the London colleges to do a Masters and got rejected by all of them!”  Enough to put any aspiring singer off for ever.  But not Steph. “It just put a fire in my belly, and I thought, I’m not having someone tell me I can’t do something! If it had been easy maybe I wouldn’t be here today. Even now, if I’m told I’m not good it just makes me want to sing more and prove them wrong. Anyway, I kept the opera singing going and after Uni I came back home and got some performing experience singing with North London opera companies – Southgate Opera and Hampstead Garden Opera.”

I’m curious to know if Steph has other demons sitting on her shoulder and how she deals with them. For instance, how did she cope with Lockdown?

“Initially it was very worrying and, I must admit, I did wonder if singing was going to be my life and what I might do instead. I did a lot of cooking in that time – loads of bread, and I got really into Korean cuisine. But I was unbelievably lucky to be in the Jette Parker programme because very quickly there were loads of opportunities presented, like the gala we did for a live stream with Antonio Pappano – just amazing!”

“But the emotions associated with the pandemic were there right from the start and I guess singing was a bonus as you can express emotion where sometimes it can’t be put into words. There’s a similar feeling now with this terrible situation in Ukraine.”

So what has Steph planned for the forthcoming Gala, being hosted by our new patron David Butt Philip. “One of the numbers I’m singing is ‘Va! Laisser couler mes larmes’, Charlotte’s aria from Werther. It’s the aria I sang when I first auditioned for the Opera House. You know, it’s one of the only auditions where I just felt really good from start to finish. I guess it was meant to be!”

We’ve been chatting for a while now and Steph needs to get back to rehearsals. What is she rehearsing? “Oh, it’s Peter Grimes. I’m covering Auntie.  I have to say, I just love Britten’s operas. I’ve sung in LOADS. I never tire of them. They are just such brilliant stories and the music is nothing less than sublime.”

Just a couple of things before she’s off. I want to know what she might be doing for the opera world in terms of nurturing. “Well, I still get a thrill when my old school friends come and see me in a production and they think I’m really cool – maybe I make a small impact on introducing a new fan to opera. Maybe.”

And what of that second passion – cooking (because I’ve tasted her food: it’s seriously good)?

“Well, if I can see a decent break in the schedule I’d like to do a chef’s course. If I wasn’t a singer, then I think I’d be a chef.” Perhaps I should introduce her to my friend ‘Chez Bruce’ Poole – see the previous blog post!

 Enjoy a ROH 2020 Lockdown performance by Stephanie of ‘Where shall I fly’ from Handel’s Hercules here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA55hlBlkvE

Tricia on the subjects of community and nurturing

Tricia Ninian flanked by Bruce Poole (left) and SPO’s new patron David Butt Philip

In the run up to the David Butt Philip & Friends Gala on March 24th, SPO co-founder, Tricia Ninian, reflects on how David became such an inspiration to the Clapham based opera company.

So here we are, St Paul’s Opera has its first Patron. And at the outset of a key stage of our development, as we morph into an independent charity. You are so welcome, David Butt Philip.

In the process of getting to this stage, David and I have had a few conversations, as you’d imagine. And because of these conversations, I’ve discovered he’s somewhat of a foodie, which is personally very pleasing.

So when we got to the point of dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s of the current dialogue, I suggested we meet at one of my favourite temples of culinary excellence, Chez Bruce in Wandsworth, SW18.

Now, let me set out a reason for this choice of discussion venue.

In a former life, I worked in the world of hospitality, or more specifically, fine dining. I ran a competition for the emerging talent of the fine dining world, the future chefs and waiters. And I bet you can guess who was also involved - Mr Chez Bruce himself, Bruce Poole. He was the head of chef judges, with names involved on his judging panel that would have you wondering if we were the pre-curser to the ‘Great British Menu’. Halcyon days indeed! At least for me. One of my best jobs. Ever.

I know this is how Bruce operates. Back in the competition days, I would hear from his peers how his brigade revered him for his beneficent patriarchal manner. If he heard this said of him he’d say, “What utter bollocks are you talking?” But he’d also be proud to be recognised in this manner.

Not that long ago, I gave a talk at the Clapham Society’s Monday Night Talk event at the Omnibus Theatre. You will find a report on this in the April 2022 of their newsletter (https://claphamsociety.com). In the talk I reminded the audience about the original reason for putting on an opera at St Paul’s Church in Clapham – actually SPO’s inaugural event – when the then vicar, Deborah Matthews, wanted to get the local community, those not likely to enter the church on religious grounds, feel a wish to be part of the church. It worked, and SPO was born.

From this embryonic stage, SPO has developed into an organisation that not only continues to offer a cultural but also a participatory role to the local and wider community, but also provides an opportunity for our wonderful and talented singers to take part in performances that offer development at a crucial stage of their emerging careers.

And so enter David Butt Philip. How did he originally come to be involved in St Paul’s Opera? Well, it’s no coincidence that he falls into both camps of community and nurturing. The first introduction came by the way of his family friend, Mary Lucille Hindmarch, who is a member of the St Paul’s Church and Clapham community. As a keen supporter of SPO, she and I sat down for a cuppa and we talked about inviting David to run a masterclass. That was in 2017 and we have just recently run our fourth such Masterclass. His continued involvement with SPO means that his growing international reputation rubs off on ours too, which can only attract an increasing level of excellence to our operatic platform.

Fiona Hymns being coached by David Butt Philip at the recent Masterclass at St Paul's Church, Clapham

I was talking with David about this aspect of his role at the recent Masterclass and his comment was, “Tricia, it’s clear to me that SPO is doing a service to the opera talent of tomorrow – this year’s candidates were really polished before we even started. You also manage to pull in an audience that spans so many aspects of the community – opera industry professionals, the obviously very loyal local supporters, and even some kids who seemed totally engrossed in the Masterclass – a great tribute to SPO!”

So, as I said, here we are. St Paul’s Opera. With our first Patron. International tenor, David Butt Philip. We’re pretty chuffed!

And, for the record, one of two of my best jobs. Ever!

How massage therapy has helped St Paul’s Opera

Tricia Ninian interviews Agur Arrien, SPO supporter and driving force behind Clapham’s Pilates Sanctuary

Agur Arrien, founder of Clapham’s Pilates Sanctuary

It’s an indisputable fact that the older the house, the greater the need for maintenance.  It’s the same with the body. 

And that’s why the seeds of this interview were, in fact, sown a few years back when I eventually got around to re-energising the lifeblood for my body that is Pilates. The name ‘Agur’ had become familiar as the go-to Pilates teacher in Clapham but little did I know at that stage how our paths would cross both professionally and through personal passions.

Agur Arrien is founder and co-owner of the hugely popular Pilates Sanctuary (based at Clapham North). She is also a resident of Clapham with her husband, Glen, and her two boys Markel and Connor, who are pupils at Clapham Manor Primary School.  And in the last two years, Agur has also been a personal sponsor of the vibrant performing arts offering in Clapham, in particular for St Paul’s Opera’s summer opera festivals.

This is an amazing gesture from an individual, and I know it begs a question in many minds as to why. Let’s lay out this story and take you through a brief history of Agur’s life.

Agur grew up in Bilbao, northern Spain, and right from the outset her life was immersed in dance. “As a little girl, I would watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films with my mother, and even then I knew I wanted to dance and be part of this art. Since then, it has been my whole identity,” she tells me, with a palpable and excited glint in her eye. She now recognises that, as a teenager, she probably seemed a rather boring girl socially, because she just lived to dance.

The lure of the big city caught hold, and Agur headed to Madrid to study a professional degree in classical dance. But, as afflicts many in the dance world, she hung up her points after foot surgery and secured a more conventional future by taking a law degree. However, the dancing bug could not just be shrugged off so easily. “After the law, I decided to move to London and just have one more go at dancing.”

So, in 1998, as a young rookie in London, Agur landed a job on the shop floor at fashion retailer Mango to pay the rent but, crucially, it enabled her to enrol at the London Contemporary Dance School and attend the professional dance class at 9am before heading to work. 

“This was a good move for me,” recalls Agur.  “It was where I met the acclaimed dancer, Chris Tudor, and after a week of morning classes with him he proposed I go and dance with him at the English Bach Festival (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Bach_Festival) which was an international baroque opera company. From then I enjoyed an amazingly fruitful decade travelling around Europe with the company performing at the most beautiful venues. “We even made the movie ‘Strauss: The Waltz King’ in 2005 – all such magical years,” reminisces Agur.

Around that time, dancing and travelling back in Spain, Agur dislocated her shoulder during a show. Back in London a Pilates teacher friend convinced her to try Pilates to aid the recovery from her injury. “To be honest, I was more than a bit sceptical about this, but I was converted after the first session! I couldn’t believe the results and within a nanosecond I was looking into becoming a teacher myself to offer this miracle-cure to others,” adds Agur. Then, her future in Pilates snowballed and she soon found herself taking premises in her ’hood – Clapham – and Pilates Sanctuary was launched.

“I’ve been so fortunate to have this business in Clapham where there is such a great community,” explains Agur. “My clients have become my friends, and so too have those clients become friends with each other – they really need very little encouragement, and, let’s face it, we all meet each other so regularly on the streets of this urban village, this friendly community is inevitable.”

So what happened to the life of dance in the face of this new passion, Pilates? “Well, of course, it never left me,” Agur admits, with a cheeky chuckle. “It’s such a thrilling art form and it’s almost impossible to give it up. I’m incredibly fortunate to still have opportunities to dance at a level that satisfies my artistic needs and ambitions, but it’s hard, hard, work and demanding both physically and emotionally. And, of course, there are the demands it imposes on my family and my business. But it’s so worth it, and so I will continue to dance.”

In recent years, being at the top of her game, Agur has been dancing at Glyndebourne, notably in David McVicar productions of Carmen, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Giulio Cesare.  “I still get that teenager’s tingling feeling being on stage wearing beautiful costumes, wigs and makeup, being fully immersed in telling the story of the opera through dance,” she explains. “And I’ve met the most amazing people through this business. I so enjoyed meeting and working with two beautiful ladies in Giulio Cesare – Joélle Harvey who sang Cleopatra and the amazing Dame Sarah Connolly in the title role. “Such ambassadors for their art with such amazing work ethic,” according to Agur.

Now you see the connection with opera? She is passionate about opera, both performing in, and watching. But why support St Paul’s Opera?

“I had just returned from a Giulio Cesare rehearsal and went straight to SPO’s Così fan Tutte’” Agur tells me. “I found it so uplifting and a real contrast to the grand opera house experience. It was a production of tip-top talented singers with a strong sense of real-life story telling – the quality and professionalism was palpable. What struck me was that, even a small company with limited resources could stage such a quality production and punch well above their weight. At that moment, I knew I wanted to support this amazing organisation, right in the heart of the Clapham community. I strongly believe this is an art form that the people want and need, certainly in our neighbourhood.”

As Agur sought to develop her skills base as a teacher of personal wellbeing, complementing her hugely respected gift as a Pilates teacher by studying clinical massage therapy, she offered massage treatment to clients in exchange for a donation. And this was subsequently gifted to St Paul’s Opera to support its summer opera productions.  The donations began during the production of Le Nozze di Figaro in 2019, and commenced again early this year for the production of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, planned for the 2020 summer festival from St Paul’s Opera.

Sadly, COVID 19 has disrupted all our lives, and brought daily life and future plans to an abrupt and crashing halt. Albert Herring is postponed until there is some certainty about how to bring opera to the audience and to the performers in a safe, and let’s face it, economically viable environment.  For Agur’s dancing future, there is also some serious doubt over the planned Royal Opera House’s production of Handel’s Ariodante in November this year, in which she is due to dance.

The challenges are real, and no more so than for a business such as Agur’s Pilates Sanctuary, where personal contact is at the heart of the operation.  “As I see it,” Agur tells me, “I have to weigh up whether I view this as a danger or an opportunity.  There are days when I’d like to stay in bed and give in to the ‘danger’, but that’s not me, and it’s certainly not an option ongoing. So I get up, and load the Zoom class, and see all my amazing clients getting out their exercise mats in their homes and keep going just like I do, and I know there’s a way out of this. And then I weigh up all that is going on, and the focus is firmly back in the Opportunity camp. I must pay tribute to the warmth, support and kindness of all our clients during this time. I will never forget this, and it makes me proud to be part of this community in Clapham.

“Lockdown has challenged us all, even if we have been so fortunate as to have (so far) escaped the virus itself. Mentally, it’s a struggle for us all, but in that struggle, there is time and the space to look at what we have and, for me and my family, we have so enjoyed being in our safe bubble, learning (literally) together and having family fun in the sun.  The ultimate ‘staycation’.  And I have learned that you can always rewrite yourself and that even if the journey is hard, it will be fine in the end.  We are more adaptable than we think. I realised it’s not only OK, but also important to stop, look around, breathe more, to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the flowers, the pure air, our families, a trip for ice cream, or a walk with the boys. Pilates and dance are what I do, but I know that it is family, and the community, and the connection with people that are important in their every form.”

While COVID restrictions remain, both SPO and Pilates Sanctuary have an on-line presence with fortnightly virtual concerts by SPO singers and instrumentalists until 17th July, and on-going ‘Zoom’ Pilates classes respectively.

To hear more about Agur Arrien and her Pilates teaching, please contact her at agur@pilatessanctuary.co.uk

Quick questions

Heels or pumps? Heels – no question!!!

Paella or pie? Paella – true to my roots

Rioja or rosé? Champagne, of course, darling!

Chef or diner? Chef – lockdown has shown me a new dimension. Many will be shocked. Glen is!

Handel or Hendrix? Handel, although the boys would probably prefer Hendrix

Squats or Saut de Basque? These days, squats

Diva or Prima ballerina? Diva ballerina! 

View from the Chorus Line by Sue Roberts

Sue's performances:

2014 Turandot

2015 Don Giovanni

2016 Die Zauberflöte

2017 Orpheus in the Underworld

2018 Cosi fan Tutti

2019 Le Nozze di Figaro

Sue Roberts shares her experiences of contributing to St Paul’s Opera productions as a member of the chorus.

So, you thought that singing in the chorus must be easy?

Of course, it is – you're not going to be noticed, standing behind the principals… and they're doing all the singing.

Let me tell you, not a bit of it. To begin with you have to learn to sing all your music 'off copy' – not easy if you're used to singing with a choir and always having the score in front of you.

Then you have to know when to come in – it's always a good idea to watch the music director carefully as they usually give you a clue.

The most challenging is that you then need to coordinate this with moving on and off the stage, around the principals, re-positioning the staging and ACTING! Knowing what's happening in the scene and reacting accordingly – and all this when it's in a language with which you are unfamiliar.

To make all this work we have rehearsals. And this is the best bit, getting to know the principals, working with them, refining different moves, choosing our costumes, perfecting hair and make-up –which all adds up to creating one big team, a happy family. Everyone looks out for each other and helps one another to be the best we can be.

We get involved with preparing the staging, set painting, making props – and then there's also preparing the church on the night of the performance in readiness to welcome the audience.

During the performance there can be moments when things don't quite go according to plan, which adds to the element of excitement. For instance, on the second night of a performance when the setting had been slightly altered... but nobody thought to let me know. I was moving a bench off the stage in low light and suddenly found there was nowhere for me to go but down!

The show must go on however and I manoeuvred myself back into position for the start of the next scene, although I was rather sore. I also didn't anticipate what it would be like to receive audience appreciation for a funny moment. It turns out it's quite addictive.

I'd never had any singing training until a few years ago when I started to sing the psalm on Sundays. I was invited to join St Pauls Opera six years ago for Turandot, SPO's first performance to include a chorus (there was no chorus in the first year). It was the most exciting, nerve-wracking and intensely satisfying experience. I was persuaded to do it by SPO's founder, Tricia Ninian, who encouraged me by telling me it would be a lot of fun. She was not wrong. And six years on I can still say that.

Yes, it is a time commitment for the three, or so, months beforehand but the enjoyment, satisfaction and camaraderie are second to none.

Having always said I'd be the 'behind the scenes' support I've discovered that I secretly rather enjoy two days on stage each summer performing with St Paul's Opera.

St Paul's Opera and the Suffolk Connection

'NA' – standing for Not Available – is the scourge of every opera director trying to schedule rehearsal slots for the star performers as the performance looms ever closer.

So normally we'd be keeping quiet about members of our cast doing a disappearing act in the last month of rehearsals, but just this once we're going to celebrate their success and wish them a very productive break from our preparations for Le Nozze di Figaro.

This June, not one, not two, but three of our team have left London for a week to head for the Suffolk coast. The reason? They are all very fortunate to have been selected to join the most prestigious Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme for the "Singing Britten" week (June 16-23).

They are Fiona Hymns (soprano) and Jack Lawrence-Jones (baritone), Countess and Count respectively in our 'Figaro' production, and our Musical Director Panaretos Kyriatzidis (pianist). Click on their links to read more about each individual.

What is the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme? It was originally set up as a fully immersive experience for young artists across the music spectrum. This opportunity for young artists still holds true and is an opportunity that cannot be turned down, delivering an intense week of work, camaraderie and unique learning.

Musicians can apply for any of the courses, whatever the discipline. In previous years, the programme ran live auditions, but with its increasing international popularity, auditions are now by video application. Despite there being a small audition fee (not uncommon these days), even unsuccessful applications now garner a rare and detailed feedback – a welcome and helpful change from the usual unexplained rejection.

But for successful applicants, from then on, the whole experience is fully subsidised – right down to the train tickets. And Fiona has been selected as tour manager for the entire Singing Britten troupe – "I obviously came across as the organised one!"

The courses are of an amazing standard. For instance, the Opera Arias course is run by Antonio Pappano. "We decided not to apply for that course, as we're a bit beyond it," joked Jack.

"But the standard of coaching is amazing," says Pan. "For our 'Singing Britten' week we have international tenor Mark Padmore leading the course, with world renowned voice coach Julia Faulkner and, especially important for me, pianist James Baillieu – a fantastic line-up!"

Although the courses run from around March to October, the beauty of 'Singing Britten' is that it is held in conjunction with the Aldeburgh Festival at Benjamin Britten's home town, running throughout the month of June. This means that not only does the course have top notch coaching, but the public events attract the most discerning of music loving audiences.

For both Fiona and Jack, this will be their second time being selected as Britten-Pears Young Artists. Last year Fiona was singing Wolf Lieder for the week. "So, there is little repetition – not just the tutors but you’re also zoning in on specific repertoire and getting the best tuition from tutors who are specialists for that repertoire," she adds.

Pan interjects: "And for Jack, he previously sang a week of Brahms lieder with Thomas Quasthoff, and I was lucky enough to be invited to attend for a day because one of the pianists was indisposed. So last time I came in by the back door, you might say, but this year, it’s the full immersive experience."

"It's a week long course and at the end we get to sing a recital for the Aldeburgh Festival, which is some gig to be part of!" comments Jack. "Yeah," adds Fiona, "Singing Britten songs in Britten Land is quite something."

"And we have actually been invited to perform a couple of songs in Britten's house itself as part of Aldeburgh Festival's 'Song Moments'," adds Pan. "Playing Britten's songs on his piano will be absolutely incredible – I get goosebumps just thinking about it."

So, what's the end result? "It's so transformative," says Fiona.

"It's so much fun," says Jack, adding, "it's like a holiday – work with amazing tutors, fun with your peers, time on the beach – it's like a retreat. It doesn't get much better. And it's a great accolade to be able to add the experience to your CV."

"It's great for making connections, for networking," says Pan.

So much for those NAs which, this time, have resulted in a serendipitous collusion of three musicians who barely knew each other before the catalyst of St Paul's Opera, but realised this was the trigger to form a dream team to take to Snape Maltings for a week in June 2019. This is truly a win, win.

One last question to these three: which songs have been your hero? For Fiona, she's hard pushed to choose from the 'On This Island' cycle, but maybe she sides with the Last Rose of Summer. Pan drills down to 'Nocturne' from 'On This Island'. Jack, however, plumps for 'The Poison Tree', perhaps in preparation for the late summer exhibition of William Blake, author of 'The Poison Tree', at the Tate Modern.

The briefest of biographies of Pan, Fiona and Jack:

FIONA HYMNS

Fiona Hymns found a roundabout route to singing. After a degree in History (London – Royal Holloway) she then worked as a project manager for a museum. However, after four years, she took the plunge and applied to Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, to study a two year Masters in vocal studies. Today she is a freelance professional both in top notch choruses and performing solo as a lyric soprano, singing roles such as Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Alcina (Alcina), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore). If truth be known, she would love to add Mimi to the list.

JACK LAWRENCE-JONES

Jack Lawrence-Jones took the path of choral singing in his early years - choirs at school - then Computer Science and Psychology at Uni (Cambridge) where he immersed himself in the myriad of choral and operatic opportunities on offer. Post Uni he came to London and focused on "loads more choral singing" but decided to take the plunge and head for Guildhall for a two year Masters. Nowadays he focuses on a mixture of opera and concert work. His dream role: Pelléas!

Panaretos Kyriatzidis

Panaretos Kyriatzidis studied Law in Greece and learning piano on the side before packing his bags and embracing all that London had to offer. He enrolled at Trinity Laban to study a Masters in Piano, and then a 2 year postgrad Artist Diploma, before deciding to stay for a further two year fellowship in accompaniment. The moment he left, he was asked to become musical director for a small opera company and never looked back. He remains passionate with all things to do with the music of the voice.

Meet the Covers

Having made the selection for our principal cast from the 80 odd candidates we realised what talent we were about to reject.

The solution to this was to create a ‘cover’ (or understudy) cast and give the singers the chance to learn the roles. Very often the cover cast would not be given a performance for all their hard work.

Please take a moment to follow the links and get to know each of our cast with the role they will be singing in “Figaro”…

• Figaro - George Reynolds

• Susanna - Hannah Thomas

• Cherubino - Alexandra Dinwiddie

• Count - Thorvald Blough

• Countess - Tamsin Birch

• Barbarina - Tamzin Barnett

Meet the Cast

Back in January we auditioned close to 80 singers for roles in Le Nozze di Figaro. This process took place over a couple of weeks and involved a total of over 80 man hours. At the time it seemed like an exhausting process but the resulting cast was most definitely worth the effort. It is also a mark of how the aspiring opera singers regard St Paul’s Opera.

You will discover their singing talent when you come and hear them sing Le Nozze di Figaro next month, but it is really a joy to work with such immensely dedicated, and warm, human beings; every rehearsal is full of life and and buzzing with fun!

Please take a moment to follow the links and get to know each of our cast with the role they will be singing in "Figaro":

• Figaro - Louis Hurst

• Susanna - Davidona Pittock

• Bartolo - Gregor Kowalski

• Marcellina - Patricia Ninian

• Cherubino - Heidi Jost

• Basilio - Jeremy Vinogradov

• Count - Jack Lawrence-Jones

• Countess - Fiona Hymns

• Barbarina - Charlotte North

• Antonio - Owain Evans

• Curzio - Peder Holtermann

Revd Canon Jonathan Boardman

Jonathan Boardman served as Chaplain at All Saints', Rome from November 1999 until he joined us here at St Paul’s, Clapham in July 2018. Educated at Oxford, Cambridge and the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, he was ordained in Liverpool where he served his curacy.

Precentor of St Albans Cathedral between 1993 and 1996, he then served as Team Rector of Catford and Downham, and Rural Dean of East Lewisham, both in South London. Since working in Rome he has developed the role of Senior Tutor at the Anglican Centre, playing a part in the planning and delivery of the Centre's annual academic programme.

His book Rome, a Literary and Cultural Companion was published by Signal (Second Edition 2006). He contributes an occasional diary piece to the Church Times.

He has also been Archdeacon for Italy and Malta and was made a canon of Malta Cathedral in 2007.

An opera blog? Is that really something that anyone will want to read? Is it even something that I feel capable of or keen to write? Well, not every vicar has a thriving parish opera company, talented operatic voices in the congregation and from amongst clergy colleagues, or the same persistent interest in this art form as have I.

It started when my parents took me to see Wigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society's 1977 production of Utopia Limited starring John Cunningham and Marie Collier, both of whom went on to have 'grand' operatic careers - John first largely with ENO, and as a tried and tested comprimario at Covent Garden to this day - Marie at Opera North and Glyndebourne Touring before her marriage to Kim Begley. It didn't matter to me that what I was seeing was one of G&S's least functional collaborations - I just revelled in the complexity, and the excellent musicianship of the outfit.

From there my taste for heavier stuff came from an addiction to the Callas Gobbi recording of Tosca, trips to the Manchester City Library where I read Opera magazine from cover to cover and finally an encounter with The Royal Opera on tour to the newly restored Manchester Palace Theatre.

Over the years I've kept an opera diary off and on where I'd make brief notes of the performance and mark it in the recondite fashion of Oxbridge exams - alpha double minus; gamma triple plus - very rarely did a show earn a straight alpha though there were exceptions: Palestrina at the Garden, Falstaff at the Colly. I’ve occasionally reviewed (not for the 'Bible' - Opera Mag but for its flashier cousin Opera Now) and written about opera in The Church Times. Whilst working in St Albans I even contributed a course to the Cathedral’s study centre pretentiously entitled 'Light at the Opera'.

Tricia Ninian and her team excite me; they have established an excellent tradition and they want to see it grow and develop. Every venture of St Paul's Opera represents a step nearer to an entirely professional approach and product. I would dearly love to contribute to the further flourishing of this project and heartily congratulate Tricia, Helen Simpkiss and others for securing the recent Skipton Building Society’s Grassroots Giving award for next year's Programme.

Does this read as a worthwhile blog? Is it up to the standard set by SPO? I hope so - as, now I've done my first entry, I've got that nagging feeling that I want to do more ...

My Masterclass with David Butt Philip by Gareth Edmunds

Gareth Edmunds

Gareth Edmunds, tenor, has been a contributor to St Paul’s Opera over the last 18 months and was one of the candidates at our 2017 Masterclass with David Butt Philip. Here, he recounts the experience.

Participating in a masterclass by David Butt Philip was a rare opportunity to perform in front of a British tenor that has vast experience on the operatic world stage. On a personal level I find David's story intriguing - the fact that he started as a baritone and is now singing as a heldentenor* is truly inspirational.

I presented 'Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon' from Mozart's Magic Flute. David mentioned that it was a good audition-aria to bring as it demonstrates breath control and technical ability throughout the vocal range. After singing the aria, David was encouraging and commented positively on my musicianship, but offered much in the way of constructive criticism and ideas. We worked on some of the pronunciation of certain German consonants which were being heard slightly differently as an audience than they were to my own ears. Essentially, it became clear that the harder consonants needed a bit more clarity and energy. He also helped me with my projection and we worked on using the voice consistently throughout the tessitura (or range).

I was so grateful for his instant impact that I asked him if we could meet up again in the future. As a result, I was lucky enough to see David for a session at Covent Garden to bring along further repertoire and continue working on issues that had come up in the class. He also suggested some teachers that I should consult in my search for more regular lessons.

I owe a lot to St Paul's Opera; the company has allowed me to perform new roles and meet many new faces. The fact that this small opera company can attract singers of such calibre to invest in the next generation is remarkable. To all the candidates; cherish the chance and go for it!

*Heldentenor is a tenor voice of considerable weight and sonority, with significant strength in the middle and bottom of the voice, with some of the characteristics of a baritone but with the ability to sing high. Very often, this term also implies the singer specialises in the Wagnerian repertoire.

Così fan Tutte (2018) Character Profiles

The rise and rise of picnic opera - by Judith Strong

Originally from ‘oop north’, Judith came to London at the start of the Swinging Sixties. She taught music to individuals and classes aged 4-17 in state and private education for 55 years.

Judith started to get interested in opera in the 70’s and now a self-confessed addict, and has been a Patron of Iford Arts opera since 2001. However, she still has a soft spot for the Stones.

A Clapham resident for 31 years. Other passions: gardens (especially her own), food, art, travel. Her aim in life: to see an opera in a new (to her) opera house every year ….and to keep travelling.

Judith Strong charts the growth of the opera festival and heralds Clapham’s own contribution to the art form – St Paul’s Opera.

Should you happen to board a train heading south from Clapham Junction any early afternoon over the next three months you may be rather bewildered to encounter an assortment of people in evening dress, the men sporting panamas and carrying large wicker hampers or chiller boxes plus golfing umbrellas. Panic not! You will simply have stumbled upon one of the phenomena of the English summer season and they are en route to the granddaddy of all country house/picnic operas, Glyndebourne.

The idea of this form of opera often polarises opinion. Are they a small but significant part of the opera economy, staging innovative productions in a creative repertoire or a load of over-dressed, over accented toffs snoozing through an antiquated performance after indulging in lashings of champagne and smoked salmon? Well, there’s a bit of truth in both those ideas but one thing is certain, they have never been more popular.

It all began in the mid-thirties when John Christie, the wealthy owner of a splendid Sussex manor house, just happened to have a wife, Audrey Mildmay, blessed with a glorious soprano voice. Small scale performances within the house got a boost with the arrival of influential emigre musicians from Nazi Germany and an opera festival was born. In 1936 you could buy a season ticket for five operas for the princely sum of £11 – these days add a couple of noughts to that. In those days, the entire audience of 300 was fed in the Dining Room although they often took a glass of champagne wandering around the grounds... a precursor to the fabled picnics.

By 1950 there was a ‘real’ theatre but despite the arrival of the best singers from abroad and its glamorous image, nothing could disguise the fact that the theatre was no more than a concrete barn. Perhaps it was this, and the austerity of the post war era, that contributed to picnics becoming de rigueur.

The idea of poncing about in evening wear in a wet field setting up a sophisticated dining experience (no egg and cress sandwiches here) requires a level of English sang-froid which any foreigner encountering it views with a mixture of total incredulity and secret admiration. A young Italian doctor I took a couple of years ago was absolutely speechless with disbelief as she took in the lawns strewn with elegant picnickers on what was fortunately the perfect summer day. Being Italian, she then spent the next hour fretting that her outfit wasn’t smart enough.

It wasn’t until the period of conspicuous consumption in the late ’80s that Glyndebourne had any rivals. The first was probably Garsington, which from 1989 was attached to an Oxfordshire manor house. It became the festival of choice for those who felt Glyndebourne was getting ‘just too corporate, darling’. Two years later, Lizzie and Martin Graham built a 500-seat theatre in the gardens of their Cotswold house, Longborough, allowing 7,000 people to experience opera there every year.

Then the dynamic Wasfi Kani rented the orangery of a ruined mansion from the Baring family and Grange Park Opera was launched. Soon it had its charming theatre with the old seats from Covent Garden and a toy train running underneath the circle floor.

And now, at Neville Holt in Northamptonshire, David Ross of Carphone Warehouse is upgrading the original theatre to a new state of the art 400-seater. And up and down the country small scale festivals have developed giving opportunities to the local population and the seemingly endless stream of talented young singers emerging from the music colleges.

Where there are artistic temperaments and hard financial decisions it’s not surprising that some of these earlier arrangements came unstuck. In 2011, Garsington had a forced move to a stunning architectural box of a theatre that seemed to float above the lush pasture of the Getty Estate at Wormsley in the Chilterns. And Wasfi’s Grange Park now has a new home in the grounds of West Horsley place in Surrey, inherited by Bamber Gasgoigne from an elderly aunt. Unbelievably in two years she has raised the £8 million pounds needed to build a completely new theatre modelled on La Scala next to the old orchard. The Barings have retaliated with their own festival! It could almost be an opera synopsis.

So why do it, either build an opera house or pay the frequently large sums of money required to get a ticket? There are no government subsidies here. For the hosts and patrons, it is a mark of having arrived and perhaps, more subtly, of being a person of refinement and taste who wouldn’t waste their money on a super yacht or football team.

For the audience, in the main people who love the art form, and even a few who don’t, it is a really distinctive experience in which so many pleasures are combined: sneaking off work in the middle of the day; getting dressed up; strolling around the stunning gardens and landscapes of exquisite houses; excellent food and drink; and a performance with, in many cases, exceptionally high artistic standards and the chance of discovering an exciting new singer. It’s irresistible! But it’s also not for the faint hearted. Last year I was fortunate enough to visit Glyndebourne four times, mainly due to kind friends. The first time it was too cold, the second too hot, the third too wet and the fourth too windy. But hey, isn’t that what the English picnic is all about!

Undoubtedly tickets for the country house operas are expensive, but then so is Glastonbury or Premier League football. And they are all successful because they provide those special and exclusive experiences which people value today. But don’t get too depressed about the cost and inconvenience of the festivals. London has its own ‘picnic opera’ in Holland Park. Back in the early ’80s we sat on the grass watching brave performances on an open stage where the singers, who in those days were mostly ‘up and coming’ or ‘slightly over the hill’, battled to be heard above the mating calls of the resident peacocks. In the intervening years it has gone from strength to strength and there is now an elegant temporary theatre with the most comfortable seats and best sight lines in the business. Together with bookable tables on The Deck you can enjoy your own picnic without too much effort. The moderate ticket prices are part of the opera company’s stated aim to make opera accessible to almost anyone.

It’s regrettable in this country that the media always portrays opera as an elite art form. I can vouch for its accessibility if you just give it a try. Back in the ’70s/’80s, I took dozens of children from a state primary school in Tooting to schools’ matinees at the Royal Opera House. For the price £4, a charity subsidised ticket, they were able to see stars such as Placido Domingo in Tosca from the front of the stalls. And they took to even the most difficult operas like ducks to water and couldn’t wait to make a return visit. I still treasure the moment on the rush hour tube when a city gent, seeing the familiar red programme, asked somewhat incredulously what they thought of it and a lively discussion on the merits of The Magic Flute versus Medea ensued.

If this has whetted your appetite for a new experience but it all seems too difficult or expensive, I have a suggestion. Right here in Clapham we have our very own opera festival, which ticks most of the boxes. With St Paul’s Opera you can bring your picnic to the bucolic surroundings of the church and this year see an imaginative production of Così fan Tutti, Mozart’s perennially fresh opera, with some hugely talented young singers. And all for £25. Give it a try, bring your friends and you too may get hooked.

View from the sponsor - Bella Caridade-Ferreira

Bella is London born and bred and was brought up a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Church (and today lives close by too).

Although catholic and a member of St Mary’s Church, she spent many happy hours at St Paul’s services and events over the years.

Her parents are Portuguese and husband Jorge is French/Spanish so her family is European in every sense. She speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese fluently.

The musical backdrop to her childhood included the likes of Amalia Rodrigues (Fado), Gilberto Gil, Chico Buarque, Julio Iglesias, Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel as well as Motown and the pop music of the day.

With such an eclectic musical culture, it wasn’t long before she was drawn to opera too. Having studied Othello for A-levels, Bella’s first opera was Otello at the ENO. It remains one of her favourites today.

Bella is particularly fussy about grammar and punctuation, and loves going to the theatre/opera, disco dancing and pub quizzes.

It’s always interesting to hear why a sponsor chooses to support the arts. CEO of ComparethePlatform, Bella Caridade-Ferreira, tells us why St Paul’s Opera is a good fit:

 As I walk around the streets of Clapham, I’m often asked why ComparethePlatform is sponsoring St Paul’s Opera. To many people, this personal finance site and opera don’t mix and don’t have much in common, but for me it’s a match made in heaven. Let me explain why.

I’ve already mentioned the first reason… Clapham. I grew up and went to school in Clapham and although I spent some years away (university and living abroad), the only place I felt truly at home was here, so when I returned to the UK with my French husband, this is where we set up home. And about eight years ago, it’s where I set up my investment research business.

As a local girl and business woman, I think it’s important to put something back into the ‘community’ and give back a little bit of what I’ve taken from Clapham over the years. That may sound insincere, but it’s true. And what better way to do it than by sponsoring something that I love? Not that I would ever describe myself as an opera buff like my dear friend Tricia, but I adore all the well-known and popular operas. Opera can be an expensive habit to have, but St Paul’s Opera gives us wonderful staging, angelic singing and fabulous acting for a fraction of Opera House prices, making opera accessible to all.

And that brings me to my third reason. Accessibility. ComparethePlatform is designed to help people find the right investment platform for their specific needs. Trying to compare different savings platforms is difficult at the best of times, but when you consider that they charge for different things, offer different services, are either simple and well-designed or very complicated to navigate, it becomes a nightmare. Our tool makes finding the right one for you a piece of cake.

“I think it’s important to put something back into the ‘community’ and give back a little bit of what I’ve taken from Clapham over the years. That may sound insincere, but it’s true”

Lastly, it’s no coincidence that some of our typical users are also opera aficionados so that’s another reason for spreading the word. You might not need to use ComparethePlatform at the moment, but at some point in your life you’ll want to investigate your options and we’ll be here to help. And this is just the beginning — we’ve got more tools in the pipeline to help you make informed decisions about where to save and invest your hard-earned money.

Bella Caridade-Ferreira

CEO ComparethePlatform