Opera royalty sings students’ praises
At the tender age of 25, an inexperienced but eager Yvonne Kenny followed her opera dreams to London.
The fresh-faced Australian hadn’t been in the country long when she was given only a few days’ notice to perform in Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
It was a big deal. And the audience loved her.
Kenny became an overnight opera sensation, and joined The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
She would go on to build a reputation as a talented interpreter of works particularly by Handel and Mozart, and became one of the most distinguished sopranos of her generation.
With such a whirlwind start to her career, Kenny appreciates how important the guidance was that she received from trusted mentors.
She is now a Professor of Voice at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, guiding other young opera singers as they navigate their blossoming careers.
Kenny has been in Wellington this week providing masterclasses to some of New Zealand’s best, young classical singers, as they prepare for the Lexus Song Quest in Auckland on Saturday, July 23.
Previous winners of the contest include Sol3 Mio’s Amitai Pati, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and Dame Malvina Major.
Kenny, who will hold a free, public masterclass on July 24, said she was delighted with the high standard of the singers.
‘‘They’re all really special young singers,’’ Kenny says, ‘‘New Zealand has a lot to be proud of’’.
But a great voice is not the only thing Kenny looks for when judging, she is also looking for the x-factor. Or, as Kenny prefers to put it, ‘‘That special communication that is completely compelling’’.
‘‘Some artists when you watch them you can’t take your eyes off them, even when they’re in a big group, the lightbulb goes off and you really feel like you connect to that person and, in a way, that’s one of the most powerful things about performance.’’
An area of classical singing which poses a particular challenge for young New Zealanders and Australians is singing in a different language, Kenny says.
‘‘Europeans often speak two or three different languages, so it’s harder for us to catch up.’’
But she finds that, because singers from Downunder work harder at it, they eventually get a better result.
For Kenny, communicating a text correctly is important, and she has seen it go very wrong.
‘‘I remember a colleague of mine was a German singer from the Eastern bloc and he was singing Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in the most terrible English, in a concert in Albert Hall. He just somehow hadn’t taken any care to remove his German accent from the English and it sounded very challenging,’’ Kenny laughs politely.
‘‘As a colleague, you can’t say anything, you’ve got to keep your mouth shut and hope somebody intervenes, but nobody did. This just went on in The Proms and I thought, ‘gosh that’s awful’.’’
Pronunciation is something Kenny is not afraid to go over with a student, as many times as it takes.
She also prides herself on being a good vocal detective, identifying and resolving issues with people’s voices very quickly.
But at the same time, she says her coaching style is supportive, and she tries to put students at ease to forget who they are singing in front of.
From hay fever remedies to travel choices, there is no piece of advice too trivial for Kenny to give a student about a career in classical singing.
‘‘The wellbeing of the student is very important, because it’s only then that they can really blossom as an artist. I do all I can to try and help them to do their best and optimise their talent.’’
Another thing she likes to incorporate in her teaching is humour, ‘‘I think people appreciate that, it’s good to have a laugh.’’
The Lexus Song Quest final takes place at Auckland Town Hall at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 23. Tickets at Ticketmaster. A free, public masterclass with Yvonne Kenny will be held in Auckland Town Hall from 2-5pm on Sunday, July 24.