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