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| Emma Matthews as Lucia |
Allerta!: Lucia is one of your signature roles.
How has your approach to it developed over the years?
Emma
Matthews:
With maturity comes stamina and the ability to trust one’s own ideas. For
example, for me the mad scene results from Lucia being unstable from the
beginning of the opera, and from having a very unhealthy relationship with her
brother. But director John Doyle has a different view: to him her madness
is more the thrill and fascination of the spectre than innate instability. Yet
he gave me the freedom to develop my own ideas, which is so much more
constructive than being yelled at. He let me create mannerisms that developed
into madness.
I've
also written a cadenza that suits my own strengths. There's some Tetrazzini in
there, some Sutherland, some Tebaldi, Melba... but mostly it’s Matthews.
Initially Christian Badea, who conducted the Sydney run, thought I was playing
it too safely, so he made me come up with new ideas until he was happy. Working
with him was exhilarating.
A: Musically,
Richard Bonynge groomed you in this role. Have you by and large stuck to his
take on Lucia?
EM: I owe
Richard my career and my love for this music, and for that I will always be
grateful. He has been much more than a conductor; I love him dearly. When we
worked together, his interpretation of roles, recorded by Dame Joan, was my
main point of reference, but emulating as much as I could of those historic
moments was an art in itself, like trying to copy a beautiful renaissance
painting. At times it was very difficult. Richard taught me that bel canto is
always beautiful, never forced, and that won't change. But now, I'm
spreading my wings a little.
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| Emma Matthews as Lucia with Giorgio Caoduro as Enrico |
A: What are Lucia’s biggest challenges?
EM: Taking the
mad scene past the brink of safety whilst keeping the singing beautiful. Badea wanted screams and mad sounds…that was
hard! You also need enormous stamina and concentration to get through the
scene, and you have to find a way not to let your heart break every night. I
feel Lucia very deeply.
A: What do you
enjoy about singing the role?
EM: I love
moulding the voice into the shapes and phrases needed to melt and cry with her.
Lucia is a fascinating woman to inhabit, surrounded by egotistical, unstable
men, and so very lonely. I also love
working with different conductors and moulding their interpretations with mine.
This year I’ve sung the role with Brad Cohen in Perth and Christian Badea in
Sydney. I learned a great deal from both conductors, and I'm very much looking
forward to working with Maestro Tourniaire in Melbourne.
A: You’ve made
a hugely successful role debut as Violetta in Handa Opera on Sydney
Harbour (HOSH) La Traviata earlier this year, and next winter in Sydney you will
be reprising the role in the beautiful old Elijah Moshinsky production. After
such a sensational role debut – you were crowned with a Helpmann award – will
you be doing anything differently in Sydney next winter?
EM: It was
quite a debut. I was very uncertain about taking on the role and I pushed
myself harder than ever. It had to be huge and I felt that I was rough on the
voice at times; I'd like to be more
intimate in my indoor interpretation. But I’ve dreamed of performing Violetta
in the beautiful Moshinsky production since I was a young artist and I can’t
wait.
A: How did you
find singing with sound enhancement?
EM: It was
tricky. I have small ear canals, so the ear piece would come unstuck as the jaw
moved and I’d hear nothing for a moment. We ended up taking off all the plastic
and keeping an ear free so that I could hear what I was doing! I did love
hearing my voice ring round the harbour though, it felt huge!
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| Emma Matthews as Violetta in Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour - La Traviata |
A: As one of
the stars of the inaugural HOSH, what do you think this outdoor extravaganza
means to Opera Australia?
EM: I think
it's a very exciting endeavour. A lot of friends who have never seen me sing
before came to HOSH, and they subsequently came to Lucia. That's a positive sign.
A: Were there
hairy moments?
EM: A bit of
slipping on the wet stage, wet bed sheets, ponchos in dressing rooms on the
night it rained. There was also going to the loo in a bucket when the loos
stopped working one night, and swallowing Gianluca’s microphone when the wind
blew us too close to each other.
AB: Your
Violetta appeared to come completely effortlessly. Yet it’s one of the most
challenging roles in the soprano repertoire, isn’t it?
EM: Much like Lucia, yes. Keeping it beautiful was very
difficult, as I was asked to make her raw, edgy, passionate. And physically
covering that vast space and singing effortlessly was insane! My heart was
generally pounding like a lunatic. Singing Violetta also requires a lot of
crying, which makes it hard for me as I really do cry.
A: What
ambitions are you still chasing?
EM: I want to
sing Puritani and Hamlet. Otherwise my ambitions have been
fulfilled. I am very proud of my career and my family. I've made a conscious choice
to stay in Australia and be a mum; my boys are very understanding when I do
have to go away, and Stephen is a wonderful dad, so they are always around one
of us. I will always sing, but I’m doing less singing and more mothering now. I
feel blessed to have that choice.
Lucia di Lammermoor is showing at Arts Centre Melbourne from 19 November to 15 December 2012. Click here for more information and tickets.
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