Opera star relishes homecoming
Drama very accessible
Ayoung Wellington opera star will perform her first principal role in her home town next week. Amelia Berry, formerly of Titahi Bay, sings the part of Zerlina in New Zealand Opera’s Don Giovanni, opening in Wellington on October 11.
She has performed in choruses and in choirs in Wellington, but never in a starring role.
‘‘ It’s exciting,’’ she said. ‘‘ It’s going to be great having friends and family in the audience.’’
The former Victoria University student comes to the role fresh from three years of studying at Manhattan School of Music.
‘‘The last year especially really taught me a lot. I was always singing. You learn by doing. When you have done all the theory, you have to sing.
‘‘I was learning to be on stage and be a singer.’’
Berry was an emerging artist with New Zealand Opera before New York, and also performed Zerlina in the company’s Don Giovanni show in Christchurch last year.
She said having a second go at the character was rewarding.
‘‘I find myself wanting to perform different parts of my character and make a more complex version of her, because I’ve been able to sit with it for a year.
‘‘ Also vocally my voice has progressed in the past year, because I’m young and my voice is still developing.’’
In the opera, written by Mozart, Zerlina is seduced by Don Giovanni on her wedding day. The resulting calamities suck the young couple into Giovanni’s dark world and their relationship struggles to survive.
‘‘The opera’s stood the test of time and there’s nothing in it that’s archaic,’’ she said.
‘‘You don’t have to suspend your disbelief. There’s themes of love and jealously and betrayal, but it’s real.
‘‘It’s not heightened to an extent that you lose it. You could see the stories playing out today.
‘‘There are people out there like Don Giovanni. That makes it accessible for you as a performer as well.’’
Berry said her favourite part of the opera was Zerlina’s aria in act 2, Vedrai carino.
‘‘I like being able to play the more tender side of Zerlina, because for the rest of the opera she is so feisty.
‘‘It’s scaled back. It’s just Zerlina and Masetto trying to repair their broken relationship.
‘‘ It’s a very real moment between two people on stage.’’
Berry went to Tawa College, where she sang in the school’s 200-strong choir. She went on to complete a first- class honours degree in music performance at Victoria University.
‘‘When you’re learning classically, you do go down the opera road. I started listening to various recordings of old singers and thought it was incredible that they could convey so much emotion using just their voices.
‘‘I thought, ‘I would like to try to do that’.’’
Giovanni,
Don