‘Don’t go into opera. It’s a very lonely life’
Three veteran sopranos tell Rupert Christiansen about survival and how the opera world has changed for the worse, as they take on ‘Jack the Ripper’ at the Coliseum
‘The long‑term nurturing that you used to get from Lord Harewood no longer exists. Now you’re either in or you’re out… It’s just a rat race’
Five female victims were eviscerated and murdered by Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel in the autumn of 1888. His identity has never been established, of course, but we do know the names and something about the lives of Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly. Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel, a new opera commissioned by English National Opera, with music by Iain Bell and a libretto by Emma Jenkins, explores their tragic histories.
Of these five, only Mary Jane was a young woman of 25; in terms of the life expectancies of the day, the other four were old, in their mid-40s, and probably appeared as decrepit hags. All of them were, in Victorian terms, “fallen” – prostitutes or alcoholics, petty criminals or rough sleepers
– yet several of them came from respectable backgrounds.
Daniel Kramer’s production is casting four of these challenging roles with distinguished senior sopranos who have enjoyed long associations with ENO. In a break from rehearsals, I caught up with two of them. Marie Mclaughlin, 64, who plays Annie Chapman, is a dazzlingly glamorous lyric soprano who has enjoyed a nonstop international career since she burst on to the scene in her early 20s. Janis Kelly, who plays Polly Nichols, is also 64 and is an astonishingly versatile singing actress who doubles up as a highly respected teacher at the Royal College of Music.
Joining them was Dame Josephine Barstow, 78, currently moonlighting in Follies at the National Theatre. One of the great legends of ENO, unforgettable in the title roles of La Traviata, Salome, Fidelio and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, she will play Maud, the fictional character of a dosshouse keeper.
Rupert Christiansen: Can you remember your debuts with ENO? Josephine Barstow: Mine was at Sadler’s Wells in 1967, before the move to the West End – Second Lady in The Magic Flute. At the Coliseum, it was Idamante in Idomeneo, which I won’t forget because I came on and immediately fell down a flight of stairs. It could only get better after that. Marie Mclaughlin: I had several debuts here, in a sense, because as a student I did tiny things like singing in a chorus in the pit. But my first proper role must have been in 1981. I was the Page in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, with beautiful Valerie Masterson as Juliet.
Janis Kelly: I came in the year before you, Marie, for The Coronation of Poppea in 1980.
RC: Is there one moment in your ENO careers that stands out?
JB: For me, it would be the first night of Salome. I remember lying in terror on the floor just before my big final scene and thinking that in 20 minutes, everyone here will know whether I can sing this or not.
MM: Singing Gilda in the first performances of Jonathan Miller’s production of Rigoletto. We knew it looked lovely, but we had no idea what a hit it was going to be.
JK: Pat Nixon in Nixon in China. That was another unexpected triumph. Queues for tickets stretched into Trafalgar Square.
RC: We know that opera abounds in big egos, but is there one outstanding personality whom you encountered at the Coliseum?
JB: It would have to be Lord Harewood [managing director of ENO, 1972-85].
MM: Yes, Lord Harewood for me, too. His knowledge of all aspects of opera was phenomenal.
JK: For me, it would be the soprano Ava June, my mentor when I first came here. In those days, everyone had a mentor – an older singer who would watch you in rehearsal, give you advice and show you the ropes. She was wonderful.
RC: The Coliseum has the reputation for being acoustically difficult to sing in. Would you agree?
JB: The set makes a difference – what’s behind you, backing you up. But no, it’s not as good as Covent Garden, where the auditorium’s horseshoe shape makes you feel that the audience is coming towards you.
MM: Agreed! Though compared to the enormous American houses, where the back row can seem like a mile away, it’s easy.
JK: I think it’s more generous to sopranos than other voice ranges. It did change a bit after the auditorium was renovated in 2004. I felt a bit of ping had been lost – with too many new curtains and carpets soaking up the sound.
RC: Jack the Ripper is focused, unusually, on older women: are there enough opportunities in opera for that age group?
JB: I wish there were, though I can’t complain
– I’ve been very lucky with the Kostelnicka in
Jenůfa and Elizabeth in Gloriana.
MM: For me, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro has been bread and butter
– I’ve recorded it twice and must have sung it about a hundred times. Next year, I’m doing her again in Los Angeles. JK: Mrs Grose in The Turn
of the Screw is another good one for us, also Larina in Eugene Onegin. But no, there are not enough and we need young composers like Iain Bell to give us more challenges!
RC: What’s the key to longevity? How do you keep your voices in trim? JB: Gardening! I know it’s bad for your back, but it keeps me sane.
MM: I still work obsessively on technique. This morning I got funny looks on the train as I was warming up by humming.
JK: I try to keep fit. I’m a great believer in Pilates. And I do a lot of teaching, which constantly makes you think about what you’re doing and how you do it.
RC: What changes to the industry have you felt since you started out? JB: Opera is an odd one, because there have always been great opportunities for women in terms of roles. But as a business it’s become much more ruthless and less respectful. The nurturing that you used to get from Lord Harewood no longer exists. Now you’re either in or you’re out. People aren’t cared for, it’s just a rat race. MM: Money is an issue, too; everything is crammed in. In the old days, if you did a three-hour rehearsal in the morning – and that can be very taxing on a voice – you were always allowed a free afternoon. That’s gone out of the window now.
JK: I used to feel that everyone in the organisation knew about opera
and loved it. Not any more.
RC: Tell me a little about your roles in Jack the Ripper.
JB: Maud is an invented character, a dosshouse keeper, with a sideline as a madam and abortionist. She’s pretty unpleasant, but she’s been made so by circumstances.
MM: Annie Chapman had another life until the drink took over. She left home after a family death that she couldn’t manage. Her husband sent her 10s a week, but after he died, that stopped and she had to make it up somewhere. So she sank into prostitution – what else could she do?
JK: I’m Polly Nichols, the new girl on the block. When she was giving birth to her last child, her husband went off with the midwife. She’s spent weeks on the streets round Trafalgar Square before landing up in Whitechapel, trying to find somewhere to sleep. She’s an alcoholic and steals a bit.
RC: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to a youngster who wanted to follow in your footsteps? JB: Unless there’s absolutely nothing else you fancy doing, just don’t. It’s a very lonely life.
MM: It certainly is, and what I tell students is that making a career is not nearly as hard as sustaining one. Be prepared to make sacrifices. And work, work, work at technique.
JK: And young people today want everything to happen fast. It doesn’t, so take your time.
RC: Do you still get nervous?
JB: The fear never goes away. But when it’s going right, it’s so liberating. You can be sitting in your dressingroom feeling like s---, and then you go out on stage and the adrenalin flows and the sound flies and it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.
MM: That’s on a good night! But I remember [the Slovak soprano] Lucia Popp saying to me that believing that at 7.30pm next Tuesday you’re going to be feeling your personal best, with no hint of a cold, no period, no stress – well, life’s just not like that. I’m still terrified; even the first day of rehearsal here reminded me of the first day at a new school.
JK: I suffer from nerves less now. I’ve done a lot of self-help, meditation, yoga and so on, mainly because I wanted to learn how to enjoy performing more. Now I love it so much, I don’t want to stop. And there’s always something inside saying – come on, I know you can get through this.