{"id":50417,"date":"2018-01-16T09:23:45","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T14:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=50417"},"modified":"2018-01-16T09:29:54","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T14:29:54","slug":"zero-in-anna-christy-all-singers-hit-that-wall-you-either-come-back-or-you-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/01\/16\/zero-in-anna-christy-all-singers-hit-that-wall-you-either-come-back-or-you-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"ZERO IN | Anna Christy: &#8220;All singers hit that wall. You either come back, or you don\u2019t&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_50418\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50418\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-50418 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna.jpg\" alt=\"Anna Christy (Photo: Dario Acosta)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna-768x945.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna-832x1024.jpg 832w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahead of her role as Gilda in the Canadian Opera Company&#8217;s Rigoletto, the American soprano Anna Christy shares her thoughts on the fine art of balancing career and family. (Photo: Dario Acosta)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">F<\/span>rom the archetypal tragic heroines the likes of Lucia or Gilda, to a knock \u2018em dead Cunegonde, not to mention madcap <em>seconda donnas<\/em> Morgana and Adele, soprano Anna Christy brings to the stage her trademark crystalline vocalism and striking theatricality. Toronto audiences have fond memories of her in the controversial David Alden production of <em>Lucia di Lammermoor<\/em> a few seasons ago. Her girlishly vulnerable Lucia was deeply affecting, for its pathos as well as tonal purity.<\/p>\n<p>My first experience of the Christy soprano was fifteen years ago at the Santa Fe Opera. Still very early in her career, the soprano wowed everyone with her stratospheric high notes as the young Jiang Ching, in the American premiere of Bright Sheng\u2019s <em>Madame Mao.<\/em> I\u2019ve since heard her effervescent Marie in <em>La fille du regiment<\/em>, the innocent Soeur Constance in <em>Les dialogues des Carmelites<\/em>, and last summer as an irrepressibly funny Morgana in <em>Alcina<\/em>. Anyone not familiar with the Christy stage allure would do well to check out her smashing \u201cGlitter and Be Gay,\u201d as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike (!) Cunegonde in the Robert Carsen production of <em>Candide<\/em> at the Paris Opera.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/chofHEQNgTM?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>With her back in Toronto to take on Gilda in the Christopher Alden production of <em>Rigoletto<\/em>, I took the opportunity to have a chat with her. Given the tight rehearsal schedule, it wasn\u2019t easy to find time, and our chat was kept short. But as they say, it\u2019s not the quantity but the quality that counts. We were in the Four Seasons Centre\u2019s \u201cgreen room,\u201d an unglamorous space that serves as an artist lounge\/canteen, with a few cafeteria tables and a couple of couches for catnaps. People wandered in and out, but we weren\u2019t disturbed. In our wide-ranging conversation, Anna Christy fielded my many probing questions with disarming honesty:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>First of all, welcome back to Toronto and the COC. We have good memories of your Lucia. How is rehearsal going?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks! Rehearsal is going great. I love working for this company. They take care of everything. It\u2019s very easy to do my work and the emphasis is on the right things.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Have you worked with your colleagues before?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve worked with Stephen Costello and the other tenor, Joshua Guerrero.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never sung with Roland Wood, the Rigoletto, or the others.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You\u2019ve worked with Stephen Lord, right?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, and Christopher Alden, many times. It feels like coming home.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>It seems that Gilda and Lucia are your two most frequently performed roles?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, this is only my second Gilda. Lucia I\u2019ve sung a lot.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You do tragic women, and you also do funny women.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think I do funny women more often. Because of my voice type and I\u2019m short, I\u2019m usually the younger sister or the maid. When I get the opportunity to sing a dramatic character like Gilda and Lucia, it\u2019s interesting for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do you prefer the tragic?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, I prefer the comedic, but it\u2019s a nice change once in awhile.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do you have a favourite role?\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not a fair thing to ask.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s probably Lucia, just because there aren\u2019t so many roles I sing that revolves around me [laughs] So in that sense, I can have a lot of control.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Opera has a lot to do with history. These pieces were written 150 to 200 years ago. It\u2019s a little unfair to project our current ideals on operas written when things were very different.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>This brings up a question I really want to ask you \u2013 what are your thoughts on singing these women as victims, especially in today\u2019s climate?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Opera has a lot to do with history. These pieces were written 150 to 200 years ago. It\u2019s a little unfair to project our current ideals on operas written when things were very different. I understand the disagreements, or sometimes even uproar, over the way something is staged. For example, in the Christopher Alden production we are doing here at the COC, women are used as currency. He sees Rigoletto the opera is about the repression of women, how women are used. For me, because I believe in his vision, I don\u2019t have a problem with that. It\u2019s a story; we are not talking about real life. It doesn\u2019t mean we condone that way of life.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>It&#8217;s really a period piece.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s absolutely a period piece. He\u2019s setting it in the Victorian era, when it was written. <em>Gosh<\/em>, it was a time not only of the repression of women, but repression of emotions in general. The whole piece is about repression! It\u2019s at odds with Italian <em>bel canto<\/em>, especially Verdi. What you see on stage and what you hear is such an interesting juxtaposition.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Currently, we have people who say we should re-think these standard works for 21st-century sensibilities. For example, in the production of Carmen right now at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, at the end when Don Jose stabs her, she pulls out a gun and shoots him dead. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not part of the original story! Carmen doesn\u2019t kill him\u2026 I feel, please!\u00a0 Carmen is strong enough!\u00a0 For me she is the model of a modern woman.\u00a0 You know, I don\u2019t judge other productions \u2014 it\u2019s fine! But it\u2019s a little surprising to me. For me in a production, I just want it to be interesting and to make the most sense. If a director asks me to do something and it makes sense, fine. I\u2019ll do it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Since you\u2019ve worked a lot with the Alden brothers, you must be used to the Regieoper approach. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What they bring to the table is always interesting. It might not be conventional; it might not make complete sense to some people, but I find when I watch their pieces, I am always emotionally surprised. There\u2019s always a tension on the surface, and underneath it there\u2019s an emotional quality that grabs me and rips my heart out. That\u2019s the kind of reaction I have sitting in the audience, watching their pieces. I have always responded to their work.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>When you sing a piece like Lucia or Gilda, do you draw upon your own life experiences?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sure, of course.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Is it always possible? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, not always, then you just act! [laughs] When I was studying and going to acting classes, I learned to use emotions I feel in real life and channel it (to the stage.) I think since I\u2019ve had children, these emotions have gotten stronger.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You haven\u2019t played a mother yet in opera, have you?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, I haven\u2019t. Wait! Technically I have \u2013 <em>Ballad of Baby Doe<\/em>.\u00a0 That was hard, getting through that last scene, because I have kids.\u00a0 Also, the graveyard scene in <em>Our Town<\/em>, very similar to <em>Baby Doe<\/em>. It\u2019s about life and you don\u2019t know what you have until you lose it; to be grateful for what you have.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Now, how do you draw upon yourself into portraying Morgana?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[Laughs] Morgana is fun because she\u2019s in control. I always like playing characters that are a little sassy. There\u2019s also an element in Morgana where she\u2019s jealous of her big sister, Alcina. It\u2019s a lot of fun.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>I\u2019d bet you probably find Adele fun too<\/em><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes!\u00a0 She\u2019s hilarious, and she\u2019s also in control.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>That\u2019s why I think someone like Gilda would be hard, given she\u2019s so powerless<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I find ways where Gilda can be strong. There are moments when she kind of almost stands up for herself.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Sure, it takes a lot of guts to show up at the door of Sparafucile, knowing what might happen, to sacrifice herself.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She definitely has the self-sacrifice thing down! \u00a0In the COC production, she just wants so much to be loved by her father, but she\u2019s just not getting what she needs. That\u2019s why the tenor showing up sweeping her off her feet works so well!<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>How\u2019s Gilda vocally?\u00a0 Considering you\u2019ve sung very high soprano roles, the lyric soprano Gilda must be relatively easy for you<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Gilda is a challenge. The orchestration is one of the heaviest I\u2019ve sung in. Verdi is in the heavy end for me. Mine is a Donizetti-Mozart kind of voice. Gilda is a big sing for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>But you also sing Cleopatra, and that\u2019s a big sing, right? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, but the orchestration isn\u2019t as heavy.\u00a0 For her you need stamina.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>And for Susanna in Nozze, right? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That last scene in <em>Nozze di Figaro<\/em> I mouthed a lot of it!<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Is that why you haven\u2019t sung it for three years?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nobody asked me! I am perfect for Susanna! I had a great time, so much fun. And I was even pregnant, but I wasn\u2019t showing until the end.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50420\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50420\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50420\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-721.jpg\" alt=\"Anna Christy as Lucia in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Lucia di Lammermoor, 2013. Conductor Stephen Lord, director David Alden, associate director Ian Rutherford, set designer Charles Edwards, costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel, original lighting designer Adam Silverman and lighting design re-creator Andrew Cutbush. (Photo: Michael Cooper)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-721.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-721-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-721-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-721-681x1024.jpg 681w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50420\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anna Christy as Lucia in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Lucia di Lammermoor, 2013. Conductor Stephen Lord, director David Alden, associate director Ian Rutherford, set designer Charles Edwards, costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel, original lighting designer Adam Silverman and lighting design re-creator Andrew Cutbush. (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>When I was researching for this interview, I found that your schedule on Operabase ends with this show, and your website schedule hasn\u2019t been updated&#8230;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am nearing\u2026my husband calls it \u201cthe career that would never die.\u201d Because I\u2019m now in my early 40s\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You\u2019re not retiring, are you?!\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, I am not retiring.\u00a0 I have two children, a girl (nine), and a boy (three). She\u2019s in school and can\u2019t travel with me like she used to, and I can\u2019t leave her for long periods of time. I just have to be very picky about when I leave home, so that\u2019s a bit of a damper. But it\u2019s a choice you have to make as a parent. Why would I have children if I\u2019m not going to be there for them? \u00a0I have had to turn down work.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>How about more concerts and less opera?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For sure, but that\u2019s a different circuit.\u00a0 It\u2019s something I would love to break into more. But I need the stage, the theatre, that\u2019s what does it for me. That means we have to be very picky and careful with planning. I will be Marzelline in <em>Fidelio<\/em>, in Boston in the spring, the Boston Baroque. And I have an Adele [in <em>Die Fledermaus<\/em>] in Iowa in June. It depends on the time of year.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A few of singers I\u2019ve interviewed, singers with families, tell me they home-school their kids, so they can travel together as a family. Is that something you might consider? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s just that their father is at home, and he has a full-time job \u2014 he\u2019s a physician. It\u2019s important to me that we are together as a family. He\u2019s tied down, but he has some leeway. He and the children were here with me during the winter break. He was here two weekends \u2014 he flies out, drops them off, says hello, goes back, does some work, comes back, picks them up, and goes home. Because of his work, I have the luxury of not having to sing all the time. And I want to be home with my children. That\u2019s important to me, to be there, to raise them. I\u2019ve had an amazing, long career already.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Speaking of family, I want to ask you about your upbringing.\u00a0 Your mother is Japanese&#8230; I\u2019m curious why you spent the summers as a child in Japan.\u00a0 Is it to learn the culture?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They never told me why. I just assumed it was the only time our grandparents would see us in the whole year. Now as a parent it makes perfect sense. I absorbed the culture the language. Every summer I was there for a month.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You speak Japanese?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I do. Not perfectly, but I don\u2019t have an accent.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>What about your children?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I made a point to have a Japanese <em>au pair<\/em> and had three over the course of four years. For four years, my children had Japanese spoken in the house every day. And my son, when he first started to speak, 50% of the words was Japanese. But we no longer have a Japanese girl living in our home. It was a choice I had to make. To make them bilingual would be ideal. For me, it was difficult enough to be on the road and working. To add one more thing of speaking only Japanese to them would be great but it\u2019s not something I could handle. My daughter has shown a lot of interest in learning. She gets very upset with me when we are in Japan, saying you should have taught me! She connects with the language and culture, and she has a good ear.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Being on stage, playing a character, losing myself in the moment, with the energy from the audience. It was what I was born for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>Can you tell us about your early memories of singing on stage?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is funny! Christopher Alden, who is directing this piece, directed my first opera, <em>La boh\u00e8me<\/em>, when I was ten. I was in the LA Music Center Opera Children\u2019s Chorus. I was a street urchin, singing \u201cParpignol, Parpignol!\u201d I remember this man running around yelling at us; we were petrified of him. Fifteen years later, I was sitting in rehearsal at City Opera with Christopher. He asked me when I got into opera, and I told him. He said: \u201cthat was my show!\u201d Christopher was instrumental in helping my early career. David also.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50419\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50419\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50419\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-330.jpg\" alt=\"Stephen Costello as Edgardo and Anna Christy as Lucia in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Lucia di Lammermoor, 2013. Conductor Stephen Lord, director David Alden, associate director Ian Rutherford, set designer Charles Edwards, costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel, original lighting designer Adam Silverman and lighting design re-creator Andrew Cutbush. (Photo: Michael Cooper)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-330.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-330-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/12-13-05-MC-D-330-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50419\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Costello as Edgardo and Anna Christy as Lucia in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Lucia di Lammermoor, 2013. Conductor Stephen Lord, director David Alden, associate director Ian Rutherford, set designer Charles Edwards, costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel, original lighting designer Adam Silverman and lighting design re-creator Andrew Cutbush. (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Who was your voice teacher at Rice?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I studied with Dr. Joyce Farwell. She was a real technician. When I arrived at Rice, I was singing with straight tone, as I had sung a lot of musical theatre in high school. I was young and still unformed operatically. She said \u2013 hopefully by the end of four years I\u2019ll have taught you how to sing! \u00a0Those four years were formative and important.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Who\u2019s your voice teacher now?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s Patricia McCaffrey in New York. She\u2019s also an incredible technician. With having children and everything, I\u2019ve gone through some changes in my voice.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Has it darkened?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not the colour but the weight which I now have to negotiate. I didn\u2019t have much of a middle voice when I started. Now I do. As a young singer, I had an easy voice with lots of high notes, and I could act and all that.\u00a0 But I hadn\u2019t really formed my artistry as a singer, what I want to convey through my voice. As I got older, I came to understand more the power that I have. Stephen Lord has really helped me with this, the power that phrasing can dramatically convey what you are trying to say. \u00a0Around the time I started to gain more of a middle voice, I had my two children.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A stronger middle voice, and more weight to the tone gives you more opportunities to explore other repertoire. Maybe you can sing Mimi in a few years. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s\u2019 true, but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll ever go that heavy. Maybe Musetta. It\u2019s the career that\u2019ll never die! \u00a0[laughs]<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Are you enjoying it?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am! \u00a0At this point, I am not singing to make money, but singing to keep myself happy, because I know I was born for this. It\u2019s part of my spirit. Being on stage, playing a character, losing myself in the moment, with the energy from the audience. It was what I was born for.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>When you were studying, did you have a role model, someone whose voice you admire? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The closest I came to one is Kathy Battle, because she sang all the rep I knew I was going to sing. I\u2019ve always enjoyed listening to her.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>All singers hit that wall. You either come back, or you don\u2019t. And I have, it\u2019s something I\u2019m proud of.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>It\u2019s hard for me to ask you about dream roles, if you are going to scale back\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are still some I haven\u2019t done. I would love to do Sophie in <em>Der Rosenkavalier<\/em>. I\u2019ve never sung Nannetta [in <em>Falstaff<\/em>]. And I\u2019ll have a Lauretta [in <em>Gianni Schcchi<\/em>] this summer; my first one.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do your children like music?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My daughter, more than anything else, likes to dance. When she comes to rehearsal with me, she loves to watch. But she wants to be a ballerina. My son, on the other hand, sings all the time. [laughs] I imagine one of them is going to get the gift of the stage.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>When I interview artists, I always like to ask this question at the end \u2014 what\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve been given, something that has served as your guiding light throughout your career and your life<\/em><\/strong><em>?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[Pause] Well, it\u2019s a really personal thing, because it happened at a very traumatic point in my career. It was in 2006. I was sitting in the cafeteria in La Scala. I was trying to sing Zerbinetta [in <em>Ariadne auf Naxos<\/em>]. And it wasn\u2019t going well. They gave me a choice \u2014 \u201cyou can go home and come back next year for <em>Candide<\/em>, or you can stay but we don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to go very well.\u201d \u00a0It was pretty traumatic for me; I felt very alone. But the tenor singing Bacchus, Jon Villars, came over and sat with me and said \u201cListen, I know what you\u2019re going through mentally, and I just want you to know that it\u2019s okay. All singers hit this wall at some point, but you\u2019ll get through it.\u00a0 It happens to everybody.\u201d He just wanted me to know that. At that point in my young career \u2014 I was 29 or 30 \u2014 things had gone incredibly well for me up to that point. So to hit that wall there was kind of a crusher. Just to have somebody sit with me, and say \u201cthis happened to everyone and you\u2019ll get through it.\u201d \u00a0I had no idea. No one ever tells you this when you are in school! \u00a0Coming back from that experience was difficult. My manager at the time, Matthew Epstein, also said it\u2019s <em>how<\/em> you come back from something like this that\u2019s important. All singers hit that wall. You either come back, or you don\u2019t. And I have, it\u2019s something I\u2019m proud of.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>You have, indeed!\u00a0 Thank you, Anna. I\u2019m sure your story will inspire young singers just starting out. Toi toi toi for the Rigoletto opening.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>+++<\/p>\n<p>The COC&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Rigoletto runs Jan. 20 to Feb. 23, 2018, at the Four Seasons Centre. See <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coc.ca\/productions\/13071\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.coc.ca<\/a><\/span> for all the details.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><i>Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LudwigVanToronto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span><i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LudwigVanTO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u><i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span><i>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-48756 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 35px) 100vw, 35px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right.jpg 833w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-768x1213.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/LudwigVan-head-text-looking_right-648x1024.jpg 648w\" alt=\"\" width=\"35\" height=\"55\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahead of her role as Gilda in the Canadian Opera Company&#8217;s Rigoletto, the American soprano Anna Christy shares her thoughts on the fine art of balancing career and family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":50418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14761,43,4968,63,9620],"tags":[15816,628,2843],"yst_prominent_words":[15836,8540,8545,15824,15825,15832,15831,15826,15828,15823,15830,15834,15827,15833,15821,15820,15835,15795,15829,15822],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/Christy_Anna.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-d7b","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50417"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50429,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50417\/revisions\/50429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50417"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}