FEATURE
Dame Sarah Connolly: celebrating song Since graduating from the Royal College of Music in the 1980s, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly has gone on to perform at some of the most prestigious venues and events in the classical music world. Upbeat talks to the opera star about finding her voice and her latest release, Come to Me in My Dreams – a stunning song collection that pays homage to 120 years of British composers who either taught or studied at the RCM.
1950s, and he loved Britten’s War Requiem. Mum preferred chamber music and the intimate artistry of Hermann Prey, Dame Janet Baker, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Daniel Barenboim’s piano recordings. By the time I went to the RCM I was familiar with many of these artists – it was a bit of a golden age! You studied piano and singing at the RCM and ultimately decided to follow your voice, but do you still sit down at the keyboard?
Above Dame Sarah Connolly Photo: Christopher Pledger
You came to study at the RCM in the 1980s, but can you tell us a little about your early musical education growing up? Was this the career path you always had in mind? I knew my destiny involved music making from around ten years old. I had passed Grade 5 piano with distinction and the die was cast. I was also composing a lot of piano pieces in the style of my favourite composers, Debussy and Mozart. I loved listening to pop too, especially soul, David Bowie and rhythm and blues. I’d worked out how to play them all on the piano -- to the delight of my friends! At home, dad played opera on his record player all the time, anything from Mozart through to Britten. He proudly talked about the production of Tosca he saw at La Scala in the
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UPBEAT AUTUMN 2018
I don’t practise the piano anymore but I accompany myself learning repertoire and try to play as much of the score as I can to get the feel of the piece. That’s a great advantage because I can sense the geography quickly. I can also transpose and read a figured bass, which has proved very useful in early music operas that haven’t been edited or transformed into official vocal scores. I had thought I’d become an accompanist, never a solo pianist, but Sir David Willcocks – my principal at the time – persuaded me to become a singer. How did your career and your voice progress after graduating? After graduating I joined lots of professional choirs and took part in live radio shows like Friday Night is Music Night as a soloist and chorister. It was a lot of fun, but my confidence as a singer wasn’t great. Even after leaving the BBC Singers aged 29, I was aware my technique needed taking in hand. I noted who the best singers were and who taught them. Most were taught by Gerald Martin Moore. He gave me what I needed, and he’s still my teacher. I was also working a lot with Philippe Herreweghe as one of his regular mezzo soloists. He helped me understand Bach from an
