‘Loose Woman’ Lesley Garrett
Lesley Garrett (64) is a soprano from South Yorkshire. She started her opera career in Wexford Festival Opera 40 years ago. She lives in North London with her husband, Peter. They have two children Jeremy (27) and Chloe (25)
Ialways knew that I would never be a nine-to-five person. From as early as I can remember, I knew that I would need variety in my life. So I don’t have a regular routine. I try to do something different every day and be grateful for that.
If I’ve had a show the night before, I’ll sleep in a bit, but I could be doing anything — rehearsals, radio, or TV like
Loose Women. It might just be a housework day.
We live in North London. My husband, Peter, is a doctor, and he is generally up with the lark. He’s a farmer’s son and he works harder than anybody I know, for the NHS — as both a GP and as a commissioning director of the local combined community group. He is usually out of the house by 7am.
The day starts with tea, Yorkshire Gold, and porridge. I’m a fairly energetic person. I’m on the go all the time.
Our kids, Jeremy and Chloe, have just moved into their own flat, which they have managed to buy together, with a little bit of help from mum and dad. So the house is now unusually quiet. Peter and I are living on our own again, and I find it very strange. We’ve got a certain amount of newfound freedom which we are planning to enjoy enormously. My husband is set to retire this year, and although I’m not stopping, I think I might slow down a bit, so I can spend more time with him. He can come with me on some of my more exotic and interesting trips.
He might be coming with me to Dublin when I sing with Finbar Wright in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on February 9. Finbar has asked me to share the stage with him, do some duets and solos of my own.
I’m an opera singer. I’m a soprano, but having said that, there is no music that I won’t try singing because I was brought up singing everything. I was very lucky to be brought up on the South Yorkshire Coalfield in a very musical family. My dad was a signal man in the railway, and my mother was a booking clerk.
My grandad Garrett was a railway worker like my dad, but he was also a dance-band leader. And my grandfather on my mum’s side was a classical musician. So I had these two strands of the entertainer and the classical musician. My dad, like his father, was a natural musician. He would sit down at a piano and get a tune out of anything.
I’ve always felt that wherever there is heavy industry, there has to be music. It’s as if the music balances the hardship. Wherever you have difficult, dangerous, stressful work, there almost has to be music. I grew up with men coming out of the pits and immediately going to their choirs or brass bands. They had to relieve themselves of the stress of the day by turning to music. The women also did this. All the factories had their own choirs.
There were all types of music, and that’s why it’s been easy for me to do so many different things — musicals, operas, and I’ve just finished doing a pantomime, which I enjoyed immensely.
In our house, we sang everything — opera, sacred music, pop and songs from the shows
— and I continue to do that. To me, it’s all good music. But I do find that opera is the music that I am most drawn to, because it demands the most from me. It’s complex and sophisticated. I enjoy all those elements, and I enjoy presenting them to the public in a way that makes it easy for them to understand and enjoy. I’ve spent my whole life trying to make music more accessible to the public.
This year is my 40th anniversary of being a professional soprano. I’ve never been out of work, and I credit that with my start in the Wexford Festival Opera in 1980.
I’ve always said that it gave me the start. If it hadn’t been for Wexford, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This year, I’m going back to perform there. I want to make a sort of pilgrimage to Wexford a lovely full circle of the 40 years.
When I went to Wexford, it was like being at home, because there was so much music in the community and in the people there. I felt very secure there, and very comfortable and as a result, I sang at my very best. From that moment on, I got work with all the other companies in the UK.
My working-class roots are at the core of me and I associate working class with a sense of determination and resourcefulness, a huge appreciation for education, and a powerful work ethic. I grew up with people who were determined to better themselves. My parents went to college, and both qualified as teachers. It was all about being a better self.
Every day I check out the voice, and I do vocal exercises. I still do weekly singing
“My working-class roots are at the core of me. We were all determined to better ourselves”
classes. I believe in the continuation of training, and the only reason I can sing a variety of music is because my technique is good. I’m like an athlete in regular training.
Before I go on stage, I’m more excited than you can imagine, I’m like a racehorse in the stalls, even after 40 years. I’m just dying for the gates to open and to shoot off. I just want to get on to that stage and give my all.
On stage, there is no feeling like it when you’ve taken a breath to sing and I’m going to turn that breath into sound. I’m going to make music with that blessed breath. It’s not exactly water into wine, but it is air into music.
I get a buzz from that every single time.