{"id":60188,"date":"2019-04-27T12:04:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-27T16:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=60188"},"modified":"2019-04-27T12:48:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T16:48:14","slug":"interview-face-to-face-with-tamara-wilson-and-why-she-loves-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/04\/27\/interview-face-to-face-with-tamara-wilson-and-why-she-loves-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Face To Face With Tamara Wilson And Why She Loves Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

The down-to-earth American soprano Tamara Wilson with the big, gleaming voice reflects on her phenomenal yet unexpected career.<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Tamara
Tamara Wilson (Photo: Clair McAdams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S<\/span>ince her breakthrough in 2007 replacing an indisposed Patricia Racette as Amelia in Un ballo in Maschera<\/em> at the Houston Grand Opera, the American soprano Tamara Wilson has enjoyed an extraordinary career trajectory that is the envy of many of her peers. She is that rare breed: a genuine Verdi soprano, singing leading roles in major opera houses the likes of La Scala, Munich, Frankfurt, Barcelona, and the Met. For her Metropolitan Opera debut, she scored a triumph as A\u00efda \u2014 talk about baptism by fire!<\/p>\n

Anyone who has heard her sing is sure to be impressed by her soprano of gleaming beauty and volume, a well-focused instrument used with musicality and discerning taste. Her secure technique allows her ample flexibility, a full spectrum of tone colours at all dynamic levels, all attributes to die for in Verdi. Yet Wilson will not be pigeonholed, she\u2019s equally at home in Mozart and Strauss, and in recent years tested the waters \u2014 successfully I might add \u2014 in Wagner.<\/p>\n

Toronto opera fans have had the good fortune of hearing her early in her career, as Amelia in Simone Boccanegra<\/em>, Elettra in\u00a0Idomeneo<\/em>\u00a0and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus.<\/em> Now she\u2019s back as Desdemona in Otello<\/em><\/a>, and next season she\u2019s slated for A<\/em>\u00efda<\/em> and her first Puccini, as the icy Princess in Turandot<\/em>. \u00a0Does that mean she likes to sing here?\u00a0 \u201cI do! I\u2019m so happy to be back,\u201d Wilson says, as we sat down recently in between rehearsals for a chat. \u201cWhen Alexander offered me the contract, I thought \u2018of course, it could be anything\u2026 I could be singing the Third Norn and I\u2019d still come!\u2019 I love it here \u2014 the Company and the people are so nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you worked with your colleagues in Otello before? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, Russell Thomas and I just did Il Trovatore<\/em>\u00a0at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. And I love singing with him because our timbres match very well. He\u2019s very good – he embodies Otello\u2019s turmoil. Gerald Finley and I never worked together before, but I remember listening to recordings of his and seeing his Doctor Atomic<\/em>. The thing that makes him so special for me, besides his gorgeous voice, is the way he uses language…<\/p>\n

How do you find singing in the Four Seasons Centre, compared to other opera houses?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I like this hall for two reasons. It\u2019s small enough to be intimate with the audience but big enough so that you can have your whole range of dynamics, and you get the feedback of your voice from the hall.<\/p>\n

The Four Seasons Centre is modeled after Munich\u2019s National-theater which has great acoustics. Someone says even in some famous houses like La Scala, you don\u2019t get the feedback from the hall. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s weird; it\u2019s like you\u2019re singing into a pillow, though there are two or three hot spots (on that stage). It\u2019s amazing how the hall helps or hinders you.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start from the beginning. I must say doing research on you was very easy. All I have to do is to go to your vlog, Exit Stage<\/a><\/span> Left on Youtube.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>You offer sage advice for young singers, on everything from how to warm up properly before a show, to whether to cancel a gig if you\u2019re sick. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I let it all out there. [laughs]<\/p>\n

And I absolutely love that clip of you as a kid singing; you look like you were having so much fun! How old were you in that? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gosh, that was pre-school, I was in kindergarten, probably four or five.<\/p>\n

I noticed that you haven\u2019t done any new entries to your vlog lately.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I need to make more. When I first started, I had a month off at home and I was bored. When I am bored, I start projects, whether it\u2019s woodworking or sewing\u2026 anything! After the Tucker Award, I started learning new roles and doing concerts, and I didn\u2019t have as much time. Doing the videos is fine, it\u2019s the editing that takes a lot of time. There will be some more. I\u2019m also trying to write a book\u2026<\/p>\n

Wow, on what subject? What\u2019s the name of your book? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was doing these videos, I had younger students asking me all these questions. I thought, why don\u2019t I just write this down in one place.\u00a0 The book is called \u201cHold On!\u201d\u00a0 Haven\u2019t found the byline yet, maybe something like \u201cThe Trials and Tribulations of an Opera Singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

You are originally from Arizona, grew up in the Chicago area. You went to the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Your \u201cbreakthrough\u201d was singing Amelia in Un ballo in Maschera in Houston in 2007.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that was my first big role. Previous to that I had sung the Countess (Marriage of Figaro<\/em>) as a student in the Houston Young Artist Program. My one role in Cincinnati was Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw<\/em>. I later did it in LA and Houston\u2026 I love singing that role, and you get to be creepy! [laughs]<\/p>\n

\"Tamara
Tamara Wilson in The Force of Destiny at the English National Opera. (Photo: Robert Workman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you were a conservatory student, who was your vocal idol? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The first two people I heard on recordings \u2014 Kathleen Battle\u2019s Mozart CD, and Cecilia Bartoli\u2019s Chant d\u2019amour<\/em>, which I wore out!<\/p>\n

Interesting that your voice isn\u2019t like either of them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Exactly! Their voices are instantly recognizable, and they have amazing artistry. That\u2019s what I resonate with. The next singer I loved was Dawn Upshaw. I would break my leg to sing Anne Trulove but nobody will cast me in it. Rake\u2019s Progress<\/em> is one of my favourite operas on the planet; I wrote a college paper on it. I\u2019ve done Les Noces<\/em> a lot. I like all those turn of the century pieces, that it\u2019s modern but still in the neoclassical world.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny \u2014 all the stuff I listened to in opera, stuff that I enjoyed, is not my rep! I love Baroque singing and countertenors!<\/p>\n

The Ballo Amelia is quite a heavy role for a young singer to begin a career, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know the role, didn\u2019t know what the expectations were. I asked every teacher. They said technically you can sing it, but it\u2019s not what the role usually calls for. When I sang it again two seasons ago, it was definitely a different feeling. It worked out for me, but who knows, it could have stopped me from singing, but twelve Verdi roles later, I think I\u2019m okay.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve also sung a lot of Mozart, and now you also sing Strauss.\u00a0 And I find that you\u2019ve done a concert of Act 3 Walk<\/em><\/strong>\u00fcre. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Everybody says \u201cWait to do Wagner!\u201d I said fine I won\u2019t do it. Then I got an offer from Gergiev to do Sieglinde in Act 3 Walk<\/em>\u00fcre<\/em>. \u00a0I have since gotten a few other offers. Some I\u2019ve said no to, but others it took me a long time, but I have said yes.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favourite role?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Forza<\/em> Leonora is way up there; it\u2019s the first role that clicked, not just vocally but dramatically. I fell in love with it. I will be doing it again. I just did Ariadne,<\/em>\u00a0it will be my Scala debut in June. I can sing that without warming up, it\u2019s so comfortable.<\/p>\n

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

I\u2019ve done A\u00efda the most, but I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s my favourite anymore. To me personally, her dramatic arc doesn\u2019t go anywhere. Desdemona, for example, starts out really happy and ends up in a completely different place. The Kaiserin (Die Frau ohne Schatten<\/em>) is also way up there.<\/p>\n

I love the kernel of truth in Die Frau \u2014 the Kaiserin doesn\u2019t want to have her shadow, her own happiness, at someone else\u2019s expense.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

She\u2019s a princess, and you\u2019d think she\u2019s a brat but she\u2019s not!<\/p>\n

Of course, Turandot which you\u2019ll be singing at the COC is the exact opposite.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Laughs) Yes, she\u2019s a brat!\u00a0 I can\u2019t wait to sing it. It will be my first. Oh! I know one role I want to sing eventually, Abigaille (Nabucco).\u00a0 That\u2019ll be down the road. I was offered that way too young.<\/p>\n

Abigaille! Now that\u2019s interesting. Maybe Lady Macbeth will be in your future \u2014 you don\u2019t mind playing the bad girls?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I love it! I hate singing the prissy ones. It\u2019s way harder to be vulnerable and innocent on stage.<\/p>\n

Then Desdemona must get to you; she\u2019s such a wimp.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The modern sensibility of womanhood is not Desdemona\u2019s. But how Shakespeare wrote her, she encompasses all women \u2014 the ideals of a woman, the innocence, the virginal qualities\u2026 but that\u2019s not what she is (in Verdi). \u00a0That confrontation in Act 3 is very much Verdi\u2019s and not Shakespeare\u2019s. If you look at Verdi\u2019s operas, they are very feminist, for his time frame.<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve added Ariadne and Act 3 Walk<\/em><\/strong>\u00fcre, are you may be migrating a bit more to German things?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes definitely. I\u2019m quite happy about that. I studied German in school and I\u2019m happy that I finally get to use it. My grandparents came from the Alsace region and they spoke French and German.<\/p>\n

I noticed that you\u2019ve worked with different stage directors, including Calixto Bieito in the ENO Forza. What was it like working with him?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I told friends that I was doing the ENO Forza<\/em> with Calixto Bieito, they would say \u201cOooooh<\/em>, it\u2019ll be very avant-garde.\u201d I was thinking of the worst-case scenario for Leonora, horrible things like maybe her dad or her brother would rape her. \u00a0On the first day of rehearsal, we were already in costume and rehearsing on a soundstage in London, not in a rehearsal hall. It already put you in a different frame of mind. He told me: \u201cyou are going to come in and sit at the table, take some water and throw it at the table, break a plate and your hand is going to get cut and there\u2019s blood\u2026.\u201d I thought, Oh, that\u2019s fine! \u00a0I can do that [laughs]. It wasn\u2019t the worst-case scenario I had in my head.\u00a0 The thing I love about him \u2014 I know it\u2019s weird, as the audience either love his work or hate it \u2014 is that I find him as a person to be the safest director I\u2019ve worked with. He\u2019s very demanding in certain ways but if you give over to his vision, rehearsals are very fulfilling. I learned a lot about how far I can go acting-wise. I learned about focusing with my eyes a lot more, learned about the characters I was portraying.<\/p>\n

Does he make singers do things they are uncomfortable with?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, he wants to get me out of my comfort zone. I wasn\u2019t allowed to use makeup, to do my hair. I had to be plain and vulnerable, which Leonora is. It was a two-shower show for me \u2014 I had to take a shower at intermission and at the end because of all the blood (laughs).<\/p>\n

Another thought is, I\u2019ve noticed that you don\u2019t seem to sing recitals. Is that by design?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I just started this past year. I did one for University of Maryland and for Rice University. And I\u2019ll be doing one for Warren Jones\u2019 Source Song Festival in Minnesota this summer.<\/p>\n

\"Tamara
Tamara Wilson (Photo: Clair McAdams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are you going to sing? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The one in Minnesota is called Frontiers, exploring western frontiers and space. This year they are celebrating Walt Whitman. I\u2019m thinking of doing a song cycle based on female astronauts, and songs on nights, stars and heaven. In the second half, I\u2019m going to sing some actual 1940\u2019s cowboy songs.<\/p>\n

I see that you\u2019re scheduled to give a masterclass at the Festival, and you\u2019ve given talks on vocal technique etc. Do you think you\u2019ll become a teacher later in your career?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh definitely! \u00a0I had no intention of being in this career. I didn\u2019t do much performing in school; I thought this wasn\u2019t for me. I kind of went into music anyway because I love to sing and to perform, but I never had aspirations to be where I am today. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m very grateful for it. I was lucky that I had seven years with an amazing technician (voice teacher Barbara Honn). On a whim, I did the Met auditions just for fun and made it all the way to the finals. It was my first major opera audition. Before that, I had auditioned for the summer chorus at the Cincinnati Opera twice and never got in, while all my friends did. I literally thought I am not made for this. Twelve years later I\u2019m still singing.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve gone incredibly far in twelve years.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m very lucky, but I also hit a niche [of Verdi soprano] repertoire where there are not many singers. I was in the right place at the right time.<\/p>\n

Where do you foresee your voice going 10 years from now?\u00a0 Do you think you\u2019ll be a dramatic soprano?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I personally don\u2019t like the fach<\/em> system, categorizing everything.\u00a0 It was invented to make it easier for administrators to put singers on an Excel chart. You do need that, but if you think about the famous sopranos of the past, Nilsson, Schwarzkopf\u2026 yes, they have different volumes, but the thing that made them different was their individual voice. Schwarzkopf and Nilsson did all sorts of roles. Certain composers write well for certain voices, like Verdi. I sing Verdi a lot, and I feel I sing that repertoire well.<\/p>\n

Tell us, what\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve received?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To sing with your own voice. There\u2019s already been a Leontyne \u2014 don\u2019t try to be her, just be you, or it won\u2019t be authentic.<\/p>\n

Sing with your own voice \u2014 advice well taken!\u00a0 Anything else?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The business is 90% hard work and 10% luck. Say \u201cno\u201d when you need to, but also say \u201cyes\u201d to things that scare you but push you to become a better artist. It\u2019s a fine line.<\/p>\n

The key is to know yourself and your voice, isn\u2019t it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m lucky in that my manager (Damon Bristo) and I set up strict ground rules when I started singing. If I do a difficult role, he and I make a pact that we\u2019ll do one a season or one every two seasons, and not back-to-back-to-back. If there\u2019s a year when I\u2019m learning something long and difficult, the operas that are put in front of me are things that I\u2019ve already done so I can relax and take time and concentrate on the new role.<\/p>\n

The other question I want to ask you is your advice for young singers, which can be found on your vlog. But can you say a few words about this?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Patience! We\u2019re in a job where almost everything is out of your control except for how prepared you are. Another thing is \u2014 it took me a while to realize it \u2014 we beat the artistry out of the singers very early in the educational system. We strive for \u201cno you are doing that wrong. Change this. Fix that.” This, in turn, has singers coming out of school, waiting for conductors and pianists to put the artistry on them. I was a \u201cYes Girl\u201d when I first started \u2014 \u201cI\u2019ll fix that, I\u2019ll make it perfect\u201d \u2014 I forgot to love the music, to have fun with the musical line, I forgot to take chances to explore how we want to express things.<\/p>\n

Interesting how you put this, as I\u2019ve heard that the way students are taught today, and I tend to agree, that all the idiosyncrasies and individualities are taken out of them. Now all the singers sound generic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yup!\u00a0 That\u2019s why my teacher says \u201csound like yourself!\u201d I think it was Sondra \u2014 we were double-cast for Norma in Barcelona. Sondra told me: \u201cmy best performances aren\u2019t perfect; there are going to be flaws. \u00a0But I\u2019d rather hear something flawed and exciting than safe and boring.\u201d<\/p>\n

So \u201cpatience\u201d is Number one. Anything else?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Be as curious about everything as you can, not only in opera but in different arts. Go look at paintings, go to poetry readings, go to musical theatre. \u00a0I\u2019ve learned a lot from watching top artists in their fields doing their job, whether it\u2019s ballet or sports or whatever<\/p>\n

It tells me you\u2019re inspired by excellence, as all artists should \u2014 and I agree with you 100%! \u00a0It makes an artist more informed and more well rounded. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To sing Desdemona, I read the play and I watched Toni Morrison\u2019s play on Desdemona she did with Peter Sellars. I love to do the research, it gives my performance more depth.<\/p>\n

On that note, thanks so much Tamara, for your very interesting thoughtful answers. Toi toi toi for the opening<\/span><\/a>, and we look forward to your A<\/em><\/strong>\u00efda and Turandot next season!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on classical music and opera news and reviews? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/span>,<\/i><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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