Music that Changed Me
Soprano Rebecca Evans
Iwas a very fortunate child as I was always surrounded by classical music. My mother had been a professional singer and my father had the most incredibly resonant baritone voice, even though he wasn’t in the music world. For my 11th birthday, he bought me three recordings of MOZART operas conducted by Karl
Böhm: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. And really it was Figaro that decided my path. It became a passion. In particular I think the overture is one of the greatest ever written. It makes me feel so happy, it lifts up everybody’s spirits.
Opera was always what I wanted to do, but on the insistence of my father I did science A-levels so I had a career to fall back on. I did biology instead of music and loved it. During my school years my taste in music was different from my peers, and I wanted normality. It was really cool to like THE POLICE, and I became hooked, particularly on Message in a Bottle and Roxanne. Later on in life I did a Schumann project with Sting, and I told him about it. He said, ‘You think we were normal?’
Music was always burning inside me, but I started my nursing career training in a hospital near Swansea in 1983. I was able to maintain my singing lessons, and there was a hospital choir which took me on as a soloist. Through that I started to be invited by various choral societies, of which we have many in South Wales. I was invited by the Skewen Music Lovers to be their soloist, and I accepted the engagement and went to the rehearsal the afternoon of the concert. There was this young boy sitting next to the pianist, and I thought he was her son. But he got up, and out poured this voice. It was Bryn Terfel. He asked me what I did. I said I was a nurse, and he said I was a fool. He said I needed to go to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and that I needed to do it right then. I said OK. We’ve been great friends ever since.
I was in London for three years, then I had the opportunity to audition for the role of Gretel in HUMPERDINCK’S Hänsel und Gretel with Welsh National Opera (WNO). It was for a small tour, about 40 performances including two weeks in the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. That was another piece that completely changed my life. Later I was invited to record it with Sir Charles Mackerras and got a Grammy for it.
It was glorious to work with Sir Charles. After Gretel, I understudied the role of
Ilia in MOZART’S Idomeneo at WNO. It was such an honour to be even considered as an understudy; then the woman I was understudying withdrew and I was invited to take over the role. Sir Charles guided me from day one and shaped my career through the role of Ilia. He was an immense influence and a very dear friend, and I probably sang with him more than anyone else. He had this passion for everything he conducted; he was fresher in spirit and mind even in ripe old age than many young conductors today.
Seven years ago my mother died, and three weeks after that my father died. It was the most devastating thing that ever happened to me, as for many years until I met my husband it was only ever the three of us in the entire world. We were incredibly close. Three weeks after they died, I turned the TV on and there was a BBC Prom with Lang Lang and one of his protégés playing SCHUBERT’S
Fantasia in F minor. It started my healing process. I became almost obsessed with the piece. It made me very sad but it also uplifted me. I particularly love the Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia recording. I love Schubert song too, but this Fantasia is just sublime.