Queen of the Night sings to the moon

Instead of ‘can belto’ from a sixty foot tower, an accomplished soprano in demand all over the World for her Queen of the Night (Magic Flute) renditions, is coming to a drawing room near you for some intimate and more contemplative duets with our own favourite mezzo-soprano, Jenny Miller, proving that top ‘vocal athletes’ are also masters of subtlety and nuance.  HOT’s Chris Cormack interviews Penelope Randall-Davis about Barefoot Opera’s forthcoming Songfest in St Leonards.

When did you first meet Jenny Miller and what is the nature of your collaboration?

Jenny and I first met as young students when we both studied together at Snape Maltings near Aldeburgh. We have always enjoyed singing together and it has become a common event during our teaching courses together where we demonstrate aspects of operatic  and other duets in front of our students.  The accompanist, Nicholas Bosworth, has worked  as voice coach and répétiteur at Glyndebourne, Grange Farm and Garsington and sometimes assists us here at St Leonard’s.

Tell me about your own style of voice-coaching called holistic voicework

My approach is from the inside out in developing ‘inner resonance’. That is to say the voice is a reflection of who we are; the particular resonance of any one person’s voice is unique – getting in touch with that can bring untold benefits. Working with body, breath and voice opens the space inside us, so that the sounds we produce are naturally informed by our own special qualities. I use that to help people be at ease in their body and their voice, and feel at home. The techniques are good for professional singers and in tune with Jenny’s training ethos at Complete Singer classes, where integrated breath and movement work is employed. I also use it remedially for people with health problems.

In your signature role as Queen of the Night in the Magic Flute you have appeared many times all over the world. Which performance do you look back on as the most memorable?

In 2004 I made my Italian debut with Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Teatro all’Opera di Roma. It was a huge critical success in the theatre and I remember well the televised open-air performance which had me standing in high heels up a sixty foot tower over Rome’s Piazza del Popolo one balmy night! It gave me the chance to travel to Sydney for more performances of the role with Maestro Gelmetti and  the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Sydney Opera House. To me these were the most memorable, given the setting and the extraordinary Italian interpretation of Mozart’s music which gave it a warm and expansive feel that I loved.

Is there a danger of being type-cast in this role?  I suppose that directors, when staging the Magic Flute will always be looking for  a safe voice to take on the Queen of the Night role?

I prefer to look on it as a great opportunity to travel the World and sing in prestigious events with a range of top musicians.   The Queen of the Night role is an unusually demanding role for the ‘fast sprinters’ of the operatic World, using an athletic analogy.

Tell me about some of the duets which you will be singing at the Songfest next Saturday with Jenny Miller

I love singing duets with Jenny and this evening will be in the beautiful surroundings of Jenny’s Music Room at her villa in Burton St Leonard’s-on-sea.

A favourite piece for a coloratura soprano and mezzo is the Flower Duet from the Delibes’ opera Lakmé  ( Ed. – This became widely popular in the British Airways advert ) and we are singing some gorgeous duets by Dvorak including Song to the Moon.

I think the French composer Chausson will be a revelation to those not already acquainted with his music. We shall sing the amazing Reveil – Awakening based on a Balzac poem:

Mon cœur, lève-toi! Déjà l’alouette           Arise, my heart. Already, the lark is singing,
Secoue en chantant son aile au soleil.       And flutters his wings in the sunlight.
Ne dors plus, mon cœur, car la violette    Sleep no more, my heart, for the violet
Élève à Dieu l’encens de son réveil.          Raises to God its incense of waking.

I think the audience will also like Fauré’s Pleurs d’Or. Nicholas will intersperse our singing with some brilliant virtuoso pieces and, in the tradition of the high-class salon, we shall perform various arias from Fledermaus and other opera/operetta.

Barefoot Opera presents Songfest – Due Voci Saturday 11 October, 7.30pm in the Music Room, 6 the Uplands, St Leonard’s-on-sea TN 38 0HL – to book tickets  phone 07814 873968 or email: barefoot.opera@gmail.com – limited to 50: £13 pre-booked

Post script :  We are advised that this event was sold out as at 8 October 2014 Cancellations only

 

 

 

 

 

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