{"id":58187,"date":"2019-01-24T11:34:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T16:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=58187"},"modified":"2019-01-25T08:29:20","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T13:29:20","slug":"interview-i-went-straight-to-elektra-in-conversation-with-soprano-susan-bullock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/01\/24\/interview-i-went-straight-to-elektra-in-conversation-with-soprano-susan-bullock\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | “I went straight to Elektra”: In Conversation With Soprano Susan Bullock"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a wide-ranging interview, the British soprano Susan Bullock shares her secret on maintaining a sense of artistic wonder in a long operatic journey.<\/p>\n

\"Susan
(Photo: Christina Raphaelle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I<\/span>n a recent conversation with British soprano Susan Bullock, it\u2019s immediately clear to me that after an extraordinary, 36-year career, the creative fire in her is burning as brightly as ever.<\/p>\n

A quick check on the internet reveals that Bullock is now of an age when most sopranos are thinking of winding down. But calling it a day is decidedly not in the cards for the soprano: \u201cI love it! I can\u2019t imagine not doing it.\u201d\u00a0 With her voice still in good shape, no doubt there are many more songs to be sung, and many more roles to conquer yet for the Cheshire, UK native. Her list of roles thus far is extremely impressive, from Queen of the Night to Mrs. Lovett [Sweeney Todd<\/em>] and nearly everything in between. Be it Pamina (her debut), Brunnhilde, Jenufa, Minnie or Emilia Marty, Bullock brings a surfeit of lyrical power and exemplary dramatic acuity to everything she does.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the role that best defines Bullock is Richard Strauss\u2019s Elektra<\/em>. She\u2019s currently in Toronto for a revival of the COC production, her eighteenth Elektra<\/em><\/a>, a staggering number.\u00a0 This time it\u2019s a little different, as she\u2019s not Elektra but the mother, Klyt\u00e4mnestra. \u201cI last sang Elektra in Prague two years ago and enjoyed it enormously. When this opportunity came up, I thought it would be a cool idea, to go from Elektra to Klyt\u00e4mnestra. I was curious how I\u2019d feel not being Elektra onstage, but actually, it\u2019s fantastic!\u201d<\/p>\n

The current Toronto gig is indeed meaningful for Bullock. It reunites her with colleagues she had previously worked with in the Strauss piece: \u201cChristine [Goerke] and I have done Elektra<\/em> together \u2014 she was Chrysothemis \u2014 at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Seiji Ozawa. We also did it in Washington DC. And here we are, the generation is moving on, and now I am the mum and she\u2019s the daughter!\u201d It also reunites her with conductor Johannes Debus. The soprano sang Debus\u2019s first-ever Elektra<\/em>, in 2007, at Oper Frankfurt.<\/p>\n

And it was in Toronto in 2006 that Bullock met her future husband, British tenor Richard Berkeley-Steele, when she was Brunnhilde to his Loge: \u201cHe\u2019ll be here later in the run, and to my concert on Feb. 19.\u201d Bullock is scheduled to sing a very special noon-hour recital. Special not just because she\u2019s a fine recitalist, but it\u2019ll mark the 1,000th concert at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre: \u201cI\u2019m doing the Wesendonck-Lieder<\/em>, some Duparc, Quilter, and Britten\u2019s folksongs, composed to French text.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I was asked to write a piece on her, I was only too happy to oblige. Having seen all<\/em> the Ring performances in 2006 and two performances of Elektra<\/em> the following year, I couldn\u2019t wait to re-acquaint myself with her voice again. Meeting up with the soprano a few days ago, I was struck by how time seemed to have stood still for her, both physically and vocally, as evidenced by the working rehearsal I attended two evenings earlier. In a wide-ranging interview, Bullock shared her thoughts on how to keep her artistic flame burning bright.<\/p>\n

\"Susan
COC Elektra rehearsal: Susan Bullock (Klytaemnestra) and Lauren Margison (Trainbearer) (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Welcome back to Toronto and the COC! \u00a0It\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s been twelve years since your Elektra here.\u00a0 And now you are giving us another side of your artistry, as Klytaemnestra.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you. This is my 18th production of Elektra but my first Klytaemnestra. I last sang Elektra in Prague two years ago and enjoyed it enormously. When this opportunity came up, and I thought it would be a cool idea, to go from Elektra to Klytaemnestra. I was curious how I would feel to be onstage but not as Elektra. Actually, it\u2019s been fantastic!<\/p>\n

I went to the working rehearsal a couple of days ago, and I find your timbre is essentially that of a soprano, which you are! How does it feel to take on this low mezzo role?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I studied it hard and took it to my teacher. When I look at the score thoroughly, so much of it is piano, ppp<\/em>, intimate and very internal.\u00a0 Her character is very vulnerable \u2014 she dares to speak to Elektra and asks for advice, trying to put her paranoia under wraps, unsuccessfully. I want to sing it with my<\/em> voice, and not manufacture some covered, dark sound. I try to bring out the vulnerability of Klytaemnestra, and I think it helps by having a brighter timbre.<\/p>\n

When I was doing preparation for this, I found an interview you gave to Michael Kennedy in the Telegraph. You said you don\u2019t like drips and nice people, like Micaela\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Laughs] I never fell into the kind of \u201cnice dress brigade\u201d really\u2026 I think I was never destined for that.\u00a0 I ended up singing Jenufa \u2014 I was always the downtrodden, beaten up one.<\/p>\n

Does that mean you never sang Chrysothemis? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[More laughs] No, never! I went straight to Elektra.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start from the beginning. When did you make your debut? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I joined the Glyndebourne Chorus in 1983, and I made my debut in \u201886 as Pamina, in Jonathan Miller\u2019s The Magic Flute.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

I read that you studied with Marjorie Thomas. Was she your first teacher? Did you work with others?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I worked with Marjorie from when I was 18 to 32. Then her health started to fail a bit and the wonderful human being she was, she said: \u201cI need you to go to another teacher.\u201d So I went to a wonderful lady called Audrey Langford. She passed away in 1994. I now work with Sherman Lowe, an American in Italy. Throughout my career, I have had a fantastic coach called Philip Thomas in Britain. He has been there for me since Day One, from my first day in ENO to now. I saw him in December just before I came here. Wonderful pair of ears; he\u2019s been instrumental in my change from lyric soprano to this repertoire, guiding me through the changes.<\/p>\n

When you were a young artist, did you have a role model? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was singing Puccini, Mirella Freni was someone I love, her simplicity and honesty. In this rep, it\u2019s Astrid Varnay.\u00a0 She was honest to the text and to the composer, very consistent with what\u2019s on the page. I just love her.<\/p>\n

You even sang Queen of the Night in the beginning, and now Klytaemnestra.\u00a0 Your thoughts on this huge transformation? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big journey. \u00a0A lot of that\u2019s just the way my voice has developed. We can\u2019t predict when we were twenty-five where we would be years later.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the natural progression of a voice, from light lyrics to full lyrics and maybe eventually to character roles. \u00a0I\u2019ve interviewed retired singers, and occasionally one or two have said they weren\u2019t interested in character roles, something to the effect that \u201cI want to retire as the leading lady\u2026.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, I\u2019m not interested in that! \u00a0I\u2019ve been the leading lady a lot. I think roles like Klyt\u00e4mnestra and Kostelnicka [in Jenufa<\/em>] \u2013 these are not character parts but real dramatic roles. These roles are coming my way now\u2026 that\u2019s great. The Klyt\u00e4mnestra scene is meaty. I would say this scene and the Orest scene are the two central ones of the opera.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a wonderful dramatic journey, doing things that give me the dramatic challenge, which has always been my principle.<\/p>\n

We in Toronto have only heard your Brunnhilde and Elektra, but you\u2019ve sung a huge number of other dramatic soprano roles. Tell us about your Minnie [in La fanciulla del West]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I sang Minnie only six months ago in Washington DC, for the Maryland Lyric Opera in a concert performance. I did it in production in the ENO, in the Richard Jones production. I\u2019ve also done it at the Edinburgh Festival. I love that part \u2014 she\u2019s Puccini\u2019s Valkyrie!<\/p>\n

How was Emilia Marty [Vec Makropoulos]?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

LOVED her! Absolutely loved it, once you learn the Czech. I sang it in Frankfurt, in the Richard Jones production, an absolutely fantastic piece of work. The hardest thing is to learn the words.<\/p>\n

Her music isn\u2019t very lyrical until the end<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s quite hard \u2014 you\u2019ve got to find a way through it, to find the person. I would love to do it again.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve done quite a lot of contemporary pieces. Do you think contemporary composers write well for the voice?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think good contemporary composers do. Iain [Bell, the composer in Bullock\u2019s upcoming Jack the Ripper<\/em> at ENO] is very open to suggestions and to changing things. Same with Turnage \u2014 just before Christmas I was in BAM singing Mark Anthony Turnage\u2019s Greek; a<\/em>\u00a0piece written in the \u201880s about Oedipus Complex but set in \u201880s London with the miner\u2019s strike. I played about six different roles.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s the music?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s great. A bit like musical theatre, with lots of quick changes, I did it at the Edinburgh Festival, and in Glasgow. I love something new.<\/p>\n

To change the subject for a moment \u2014 I found a masterclass you gave on Youtube. The student was singing Musetta\u2019s Waltz. Does that mean you are interested in teaching? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I love doing masterclasses.\u00a0 At the moment I am not in a position to teach full time. I firmly believe a teacher should be there for the students. They need regular input. If you are on the other side of the globe, it\u2019s not fair. That day hasn\u2019t come yet. I am not sure I would want to be full time in any institution. I do go regularly to all the major colleges when I am at home.<\/p>\n

\"COC
COC Elektra rehearsal: Susan Bullock (Klytaemnestra) and Christine Goerke (Elektra). (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you take private students?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Occasionally yes. People come and ask if they can have a consultation. But I can\u2019t teach regularly\u2026 we shall see! I don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll end up doing\u2026 administrative, or maybe in a casting dept.<\/p>\n

Maybe run an opera house?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, that I\u2019d love to do\u2026 absolutely! \u00a0I don\u2019t have the business acumen, but I would love to be involved in the planning and choosing.<\/p>\n

You know, your career reminds me of a British soprano I heard here many years ago, first as Violetta in Ottawa in the late \u201970s, and then as the Marschallin at the COC in the early \u201990s, Josephine Barstow\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jo Barstow!\u00a0 I\u2019m working with her when I go back. We are doing a brand-new piece, Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel<\/em>, by Iain Bell. The last time I worked with her was at ENO; I was Jenufa she was Kostelnicka. When I was at ENO, she was the leading lyric soprano. She\u2019s still going strong. Alan Opie is in it as well. It\u2019s going to be a lot of fun!<\/p>\n

Any other new roles? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am doing the Mother and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel<\/em>. I did it in English years ago and now in German. In the production I did, the Mother was a complete wreck, and the Witch was a blond bombshell. It was hilarious. I just love doing comedy, although I haven\u2019t had the chance to do a lot of it. I have done Sweeney Todd<\/em> in Houston, and I\u2019ll do a new production of it in Bergen, Norway. These things all have their own challenges.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s your favourite conductor? And your favourite opera house\u2026 I know singers hate these questions!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to single one out. Those who are prepared to come to the rehearsals and prepared to get involved. One person that comes to my mind is [Antonio] Pappano. He\u2019s a machine, at every rehearsal; he\u2019s fantastic; on the floor with the director, a real collaboration.<\/p>\n

Opera houses?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been all over the place. I have a close affection for English National Opera and Covent Garden. I did a lot in Frankfurt, my German home for awhile \u2014 the Ring, Elektra, Vec Makropoulos, Schatzgr\u00e4ber, Tristan.<\/p>\n

I also like to get your thoughts on stage directors, in the so-called concept productions. What are your thoughts on these?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If what they ask you to do are text and music-based, then you can have a go at it. If it\u2019s some random idea that has nothing related to the music, or if it\u2019s something deliberately contrary, to be subversive, I find that a bit boring actually.\u00a0 Otherwise, I am perfectly happy to roll up my sleeves and have a go at rethinking something, or looking at its polar opposite and see if there\u2019s any value in it.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019re open to new interpretations\u2026. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I think it\u2019s important as artists that we are prepared to take on new challenges.<\/p>\n

What about if they change the story? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I hate it. Composers and librettists spend a lot of time creating these pieces; I don\u2019t think any of us are above that. You can\u2019t change something just because it suits your concept \u2013 if you\u2019re going to mess with Hofmannsthal [the librettist of Elektra<\/em>], you are on dangerous ground. A story is a story, if you don\u2019t like it, write another opera.\u00a0 I am not old fashioned in any way, and am willing to have a go at it, but there\u2019s a line you don\u2019t cross.<\/p>\n

Since you\u2019ve done so much work in Frankfurt \u2013 do you find some of the Regie productions crazy? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not crazy \u2014 I\u2019ve not been in anything that\u2019s been crazy. I did do Konwitschny\u2019s Elektra<\/em> in Stuttgart, I had to push a grown man, the dead Agamemnon, around while singing the monologue \u2014 it was certainly good for the muscles! I didn\u2019t find that too weird either. Maybe I\u2019m just easy to please!<\/p>\n

You must be a directors\u2019 dream; you are so open to it.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, none of us are bigger than the piece, we just all try to do what we can.<\/p>\n

Any dream roles for the future \u2014 realistic ones and fantasy ones?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Realistically, I\u2019d love to have a go with F\u00e4rberin Die Frau ohne Schatten<\/em>. I never did it.\u00a0 Fantasy? Susanna.<\/p>\n

Susanna? In Nozze?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. She never came my way; that would have been a fun one.<\/p>\n

I guess you were never enough of a soubrette\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No, thank goodness!<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not a goody two shoes\u2026 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No, she\u2019s a naughty girl [laughs]<\/p>\n

Tell us, what defines you as a person and an artist? \u00a0I know this is a bit of a lofty question\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Long pause] Somebody who\u2019s open-minded, prepared to roll her sleeves up and work hard. Always searching, always probing,<\/p>\n

One final question \u2014 What are your thoughts on your long career, going forward? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always said, and I\u2019ve said this since I was in my thirties \u2014 the day I wake up and I am too nervous or can\u2019t rely on my voice, that\u2019s the end. If I can\u2019t do it to the standard I want, what\u2019s the point? I\u2019ve also got two or three people lined up whose ears I trust, who will tell me\u2026 At the moment I feel fit and well and am enjoying the new challenges; I don\u2019t see the end anywhere near. But, of course, the voice, like life is unpredictable, so I keep going day-by-day.<\/p>\n

Many thanks!\u00a0 And toi toi toi for the opening!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Elektra<\/em> opens January 26 at the Four Seasons Centre, for a run of seven performances to February 22.\u00a0 Details, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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