EMOTIONAL HOMECOMING FOR MALLORCA-BORN AWARD-WINNING BRITISH SOPRANO

The talks to Mallorcaborn and educated award-winning British soprano Alexandra Lowe.

MALLORCA is in for a unique musical experience on May 18 at the Teatre Principal in Inca when the ground breaking soprano Alexandra Lowe takes to the stage for an hour-long performance of some of opera's most historic and famous arias in what she considers her “homecoming” performance, because Alexandra was born and grew up in Mallorca.

“My parents were living on a yacht in Puerto Andratx when I was born and for various reasons they decided it was time to come ashore. They sold the boat, we moved to Gibraltar for a bit then back to the UK and then we returned to Mallorca when I was four. We lived in Cala San Vicente and then Puerto Pollensa before settling down on a finca in Costitx and I went to the Colegio Santo Tomás school in

Inca.

Rural life

I loved it, the rural life living in the countryside, surrounded by animals. I was more into animals than anything else, certainly not music. I don't come from a musical family, my father was a builder. Growing up, I remember helping him mix cement and lay tiles, something I still enjoy doing to this day to be honest. Nothing better than a bit of DIY to keep my hands occupied. In fact, my boyfriend, who is a conductor, and I are renovating our new house in London,” she told the Bulletin this week.

Scholarship

“I think it’s a very important part of my job to keep opera alive and key to that is connecting with the general public. It’s increasingly difficult in the UK, for example, because the Arts Council fails to appreciate the value and importance of opera so doesn’t grant us the money we deserve or need.”

“However, when I was 13, my mother bought Charlotte Church's Christmas Album and it was not long before I was singing away to Ave Maria and my mother was quite impressed. So, she began looking for places where I could start taking singing lessons. She tried a few choirs and schools but didn't get very far until she came across Centre Stage Productions, who were based in the Coleman Hall at the Anglican Church in Palma and run by Conway Jones and Robert Bateman.

“That's when it all began. I was given early roles in the various musical productions we staged; I remember appearing in the Daily Bulletin on various occasions. I had a great connection with both Conway and Robert. They taught me well, they saw my vocal potential and after about two years or so, Conway introduced me to opera and that was it. I decided that I wanted to make it my career.

Sarah Brightman

“I was granted a scholarship at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester which is where I completed my A Levels while pursuing my musical education and then moved up to the Royal Northern College of Music to complete my degree and a Masters. I then joined the opera course at

Guildhall School of Music and Drama and subsequently London's National Opera Studio. And in the meantime, I was awarded one of the two inaugural Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Sarah Brightman Scholarships. That was wonderful and they both keep an eye on what I am doing and follow my career. It was interesting because Sarah Brightman sold two pieces of tiger jewellery by Cartier, formerly from the collection of the Duchess of Windsor, which had been given to her by her then husband Andrew Lloyd Webber to raise the money for the scholarships, because she wanted to promote opera and classical music outside of London, take it to the north if you like. So, yes that was special,” she said.

And if that was not enough, in 2020 she won second prize at the highly prestigious Glyndebourne Opera Cup and third prize at the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino.

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Since then, Alexandra has performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with the British Youth Opera and across Europe with some of the most highly acclaimed orchestras and conductors.

“It has not been easy and, of course, in the middle of all this we had the pandemic. But I carried on working, training and performing via zoom, for example. And I also managed to record my first album Le Voyage (centred around French

I “My parents lived on a yacht in Puerto Andratx when I was born. I grew up in Costitx and went to school in Inca before Centre Stage Productions in Palma introduced me to opera.”

Romantic song repertoire and released last season on the Champs Hill label) for which I have been shortlisted for Newcomer Award by 2024 BBC Music Magazine Awards. These are due to be announced on April 18, so fingers crossed.

Spanish and Catalan

“And having been educated in Spanish and Catalan, I am going to be performing next year with the Barcelona Symphony

Orchestra in Barcelona am also in talks regarding performances in Valencia and Madrid.

“But my first major concert in Spain will be in Inca - my homecoming - and it's going to very emotional. I will be singing in English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, German and French, guiding the audience through a bit of operatic history if you like.

“It's going to be very special and I think it's a very important part of my job to keep opera alive and key to that is connecting with the general public.

Increasingly difficult

It's increasingly difficult in the UK, for example, because the Arts Council fails to appreciate the value and importance of opera so doesn't grant us the money we deserve or need.

“They still think opera is for the elite and it's not. As performers who have toured the country, we know that first hand.

“We've just spent the past two months touring the north of the country and every performance was sold out. Opera connects with everybody whatever their background, and because of that we need to have more support from the Arts Council,” she stressed.

Kept alive

“Opera is expensive to stage and there's very little profit, but it has to be kept alive.

“It has to be accessible and affordable for all, young and old, because it's an art form which is extremely relatable and the stories we are telling are relative to every generation.

“There is a great thirst for it, always has been and always will, but we need to get away from these assumptions that it's only for the posh and the wealthy because that is not the case - far from it,” Alexandra said.

“Stunningly assured and superbly expressive”, according to The Times, Alexandra is a tour de force to be reckoned with and certainly one not to be missed in Mallorca next month.