Opera like you've never known it

Opera like you’ve never known it

The newly launched online platform Opera Live At Home continues to host its monthly opera recitals over the coming months with concerts by the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Loveday Song Prize winner, soprano Milly Forrest and pianist Ian Tindale, mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries accompanied by Ashley Beauchamp and future sessions in the pipeline with Jette Parker Young Artist (ROH) baritone Germán Alcántara and mezzo-soprano Samantha Oxborough. Founded by former opera singer and entrepreneur Helen Astrid, the platform offers a stage for talented opera singers and their pianists, who lost out on major engagements with the UK’s major opera houses and festivals, while filling a void for opera loving audiences.

Milly, when was your last trip abroad for a performance?

- My last trip was to Shanghai for a production of Semele by Handel with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

How have you used your time during Lockdown?

- During the first peak of the virus in April 2020, I worked at Watford general hospital as a porter when I heard they were desperately short of staff. Musically, I spent last year learning about audio engineering and making recordings for my YouTube channel. In the summer of 2020 I was in a production of “The Impresario" by Mozart. This year I have been teaching most days and preparing for my summer contract with Garsington Opera.

What piece of music cheers you up and you can recommend listening to?

- It’s got to be 'Zadok the Priest' by Handel - it makes me weep every time I hear it!

Joanna, when was your last trip abroad for a performance?

- I was supposed to be heading to Amsterdam for a week of workshops at Dutch National Opera last March just as the pandemic halted everything. My last trip before that was to Vienna, to sing some Haydn.

How have you used your time over the last months?

- I’ve been lucky to continue making some music, despite everything. Mostly these have been digital or filmed projects – quite a new area for me, as I’m used to live performance. One of these was Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with VOPERA and the London Philharmonic Orchestra; another the role of Cherubino in a remote recorded production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro; and just before Christmas I co-produced and performed in DEBUT/Horizon Project – a livestream concert of opera scenes and interviews under the baton of ROH Jette Parker artist Thomas Payne. I also recently recorded a role in a new opera adapted from a play by Michael Palin called The Weekend. Aside from music, I’ve been keeping up my running and making cheese!

What piece of music cheers you up and you can recommend listening to?

- One of my favourite's is Handel's “As with rosy steps” from Theodora. I’ve also compiled a great musical theatre playlist that I go running with!

Joanna Harries

How do you feel about performing online?

- In some ways it’s more intimate, having people watching from their own homes and living rooms. It’s meant that audiences can watch from anywhere in the world. The pandemic has forced us to develop new ways of working and watching performances that are hugely beneficial.

Apart from your performance with Opera Live At Home, what else is coming up?

- I’m performing a programme of Russian song at the beautiful Pushkin House as part of their online music festival in March. Also, I’ll be performing in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Longborough Festival Opera this summer – they’ve adapted this year’s festival to performances in a giant Big Top tent (like a circus!) allowing for more social distancing and ventilation. I've a few more projects up my sleeve which I’ve been planning over the last few months, and hope to announce soon. As long as it’s making music and being creative, I’m happy.

Joanna's concert is 30 March: link here