0:00:08 > 0:00:11MUSIC: Carmen Suite No. 1 by George Bizet
0:00:13 > 0:00:15I'm Antonio Pappano.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18All my life, I've been surrounded by wonderful singing...
0:00:20 > 0:00:23..and as a conductor, it's been my great good fortune to work
0:00:23 > 0:00:25with some of the best singers there are.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28OPERATIC SINGING
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I'm on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden -
0:00:33 > 0:00:36my musical home.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40And home to all the great operatic stars,
0:00:40 > 0:00:41past and present.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46In this programme, I'll be sharing with you
0:00:46 > 0:00:48the wonders of the mezzo-soprano voice,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52a slightly lower incarnation of the soprano.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Some of the great female singers of the modern age were mezzo-sopranos.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59What secrets did they learn from the mezzos they admired?
0:00:59 > 0:01:00What makes mezzos tick?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Having flat vowels was probably a great help.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06I sang Yorkshire, in a sense.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10SHE SINGS DRAMATICALLY
0:01:10 > 0:01:11Wow, that was pretty scary!
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I'll be talking to some of the great singers of today,
0:01:15 > 0:01:16working with them, in fact,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19to find out some of the tricks of the trade.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20How do they do it?
0:01:20 > 0:01:22How does the throat work?
0:01:22 > 0:01:23How does the breathing work?
0:01:23 > 0:01:25The body?
0:01:25 > 0:01:27The soul?
0:01:36 > 0:01:38SHE SINGS
0:01:38 > 0:01:39A randy page,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41a witch, a commander,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43a suicidal queen,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Delilah, Romeo, Cinderella.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48A haggard Gypsy mother
0:01:48 > 0:01:51and a fiery Gypsy girl.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53What do these roles have in common?
0:01:53 > 0:01:56They're all sung by mezzo-sopranos.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57In opera-speak -
0:01:57 > 0:01:59witches, bitches
0:01:59 > 0:02:00and britches.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07The mezzo-soprano voice is known for its earthy quality,
0:02:07 > 0:02:13sensuality, dare I say, its erotic quality.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Ever playing the rival,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18the siren, the enchantress.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27The mezzo-soprano is the closest in sound to
0:02:27 > 0:02:29a woman's natural speaking voice.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I think a good way to describe mezzo
0:02:35 > 0:02:37is the vibration at the centre of the earth,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40that the edges of the voice
0:02:40 > 0:02:41become one with the landscape.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46The mezzo range may surprise you.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48From the very lowest notes a woman can sing.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53She also has to sing top notes -
0:02:53 > 0:02:56nearly as high as those of the soprano.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58SHE SINGS A SCALE
0:02:58 > 0:03:02SHE HOLDS NOTE
0:03:02 > 0:03:05SHE HOLDS NOTE
0:03:05 > 0:03:07You're expected to able to compete with
0:03:07 > 0:03:09the sopranos on their high notes.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12We're just not going to stay there all night long.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18MUSIC: Carmen Suite No. 1 by George Bizet
0:03:18 > 0:03:20They may share many of the same notes
0:03:20 > 0:03:23but the characters mezzos and sopranos play
0:03:23 > 0:03:25can be worlds apart.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26The most definitive mezzo roles
0:03:26 > 0:03:28aren't idealized heroines
0:03:28 > 0:03:30but recognizably real,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32flesh and blood women -
0:03:32 > 0:03:34one, most of all.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Carmen is a radical departure.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Gone are the prim and proper characters
0:03:40 > 0:03:42that are the domain of the sopranos.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Here we have a challenging,
0:03:44 > 0:03:51ballsy, capricious, fearless mezzo lead
0:03:51 > 0:03:54who challenges all the prevailing ideas of
0:03:54 > 0:03:58how a woman is supposed to act.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01And she surprises us at every turn.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04All the while singing immortal tunes.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07There've been thousands of Carmens.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11So, you must put your individual stamp on it -
0:04:11 > 0:04:14otherwise, the tunes are just the tunes.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23You could say that Carmen is to opera,
0:04:23 > 0:04:24what Hamlet is to theatre.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27The forbidding shadow of previous performances
0:04:27 > 0:04:29hangs over each new interpreter.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Here's Anna Caterina Antonacci,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33the Italian mezzo,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35in a smouldering performance at Covent Garden,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37that I conducted in 2007.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41Another Italian mezzo,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Giulietta Simionato,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46a coquettish Carmen, in Tokyo, in 1959,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49singing in Italian.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:04:57 > 0:05:00SHE HOLDS NOTE
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Wow, what a high note that was!
0:05:02 > 0:05:04The vivacious American Grace Bumbry,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08in a 1966 film directed by the conductor,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Herbert von Karajan.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13# J'irai danser la Seguedille
0:05:13 > 0:05:17# Et boire du Manzanilla
0:05:17 > 0:05:20# La, la, la, la, la-la
0:05:20 > 0:05:25# La, la, la, la, la, la, la! #
0:05:25 > 0:05:27But there's far more to Carmen
0:05:27 > 0:05:29than her surface glamour.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30I was not the type for Carmen
0:05:30 > 0:05:32because I had two flops,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34in Frankfurt and in Darmstadt -
0:05:34 > 0:05:35two flops with Carmen.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38So I had to make something out of Carmen,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40that is away from the comb
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and red roses and so on.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44This I couldn't do.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And I thought,
0:05:46 > 0:05:47"She is a free woman.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50"She does what she wants to do.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52"She has a lover, and if she doesn't love him any more,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54"she has another lover.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56"She is a free woman.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00"She is not dependent on anything in the world."
0:06:00 > 0:06:02And so I could do it.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Here's Christa Ludwig's
0:06:04 > 0:06:06German Carmen, from 1961.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12SHE SINGS CARMEN SUITE NO. 1 IN GERMAN
0:06:23 > 0:06:26The mezzo may get fewer leading parts,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29but the supporting roles she does get to play
0:06:29 > 0:06:32are cut out of the same cloth as Carmen.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Gutsy, delinquent, edgy...
0:06:36 > 0:06:37and some really scary.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43A much-admired mezzo celebrated for her dramatic power,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45as well as her definitively
0:06:45 > 0:06:46dark-tinged voice
0:06:46 > 0:06:48was Giulietta Simionato.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Here she is as Azucena,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59about to reveal that
0:06:59 > 0:07:01to avenge the murder of her mother
0:07:01 > 0:07:02she has accidentally thrown
0:07:02 > 0:07:05her own baby into a fire,
0:07:05 > 0:07:06rather than the intended victim.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Giulietta Simionato's own mother
0:07:12 > 0:07:14took a leaf from Azucena's book.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17She threatened to kill her daughter with her own hands
0:07:17 > 0:07:21rather than bear the shame of seeing her become an opera star.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It was only after her mother's death
0:07:23 > 0:07:25that she truly began her career -
0:07:25 > 0:07:27but she spent years playing minor roles,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30until recognition finally arrived.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39TRANSLATION:
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Giulietta Simionato scares me to death,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01I have to tell you.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12The force of her personality and her voice
0:08:12 > 0:08:14are quite blood-curdling.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Look at her eyes - she doesn't blink, this woman.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39A constant stream of tone.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Quite unvaried in colour,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43but imposing.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46You ask yourself, will she ever get to the top?
0:08:46 > 0:08:47Well, she can.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03SHE BUILDS AND REACHES A CRESCENDO
0:09:03 > 0:09:05See, she doesn't blink!
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Simionato was also known for the sheer power
0:09:07 > 0:09:11she could bring to the very lowest part of her vocal range.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13This is the mysterious mechanism
0:09:13 > 0:09:15that singers call the "chest voice".
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Chest voice.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19- LOW PITCHED:- Ah, yes...
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- NATURALLY PITCHED:- ..is going to be something where you
0:09:22 > 0:09:24purposefully gather your forces
0:09:24 > 0:09:26and it's going to be, literally,
0:09:26 > 0:09:27sort of, this resonance,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29the chest bone, versus...
0:09:29 > 0:09:31This is were you spend most of the time,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34you let the sound come up into what the Italians call the mask,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36all this skeletal structure here.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39You bypass that for the head voice.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40SHE SINGS HIGH NOTE
0:09:40 > 0:09:42So we are really quite in the mask here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44And if I'm going to go to the chest...
0:09:44 > 0:09:48SHE SINGS IN LOW PITCH
0:09:48 > 0:09:50..I let it settle here.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52I relax, sort of, everything.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55- LOW PITCHED:- # Oh, no. #
0:09:55 > 0:09:58It's going to be more the chest voice.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Here's Simionato in spectacular chest voice mode.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Roles like Azucena, the witches and bitches,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24are an important staple of the mezzo repertoire.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Bel canto takes second place here.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30The English mezzo-soprano, Dame Felicity Palmer
0:10:30 > 0:10:34came to specialise in playing such grim ladies on stage,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37such as the famous witch featured by The Brothers Grimm.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42# When up I spring The bat takes wing
0:10:42 > 0:10:45# The hell-cat sings The death knell rings
0:10:50 > 0:10:52# My tongue's on heat to taste the sweet
0:10:52 > 0:10:55# And melting treat of children's meat... #
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Felicity Palmer is known for her acting talents -
0:10:59 > 0:11:03not just in comedy, but in full-on tragedy too.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Greek tragedy, as realised by Richard Strauss.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11The mezzo role in his 1909 opera, Elektra,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14is a fearsome lady who took an axe to her husband,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Agamemnon, while he was taking a bath.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Her name - Clytemnestra.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Of course, she had her reasons.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23She has some axe to grind,
0:11:23 > 0:11:24if I can use that term.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- Yeah, we don't use that term with this opera!- Unfortunate.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Bringing out the horror of such characters
0:11:29 > 0:11:33places huge demands on a mezzo's vocal health.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35The role of Clytemnestra,
0:11:35 > 0:11:36one of a series of very,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38very troubling ladies
0:11:38 > 0:11:40that you tend to perform.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Yes, absolutely.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Beauty of tone is
0:11:44 > 0:11:47not the first thing
0:11:47 > 0:11:49- that one would think of.- No, no.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Because you're so locked into the words,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and if you're dealing with people who psychologically
0:11:54 > 0:11:57are somehow flawed...
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- ..it does affect the sound, doesn't it?- Absolutely, absolutely.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I've had to look at
0:12:04 > 0:12:07steaming into a, sort of,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09biting tone
0:12:09 > 0:12:10which makes it very ugly,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14to find a way of getting that anger,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16or giving orders,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18or whatever it is, across,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21without affecting the voice.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And these kind of roles
0:12:24 > 0:12:26can really be quite dangerous.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34TRANSLATION:
0:13:05 > 0:13:08How do you find the redeeming characteristics in,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10what on the surface,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12are very evil characters?
0:13:12 > 0:13:17What fascinates me more and more is how people tick.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18I'm quite interested.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And so the baddies,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22I want to understand
0:13:22 > 0:13:26why they behave as they do,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and so I think I've failed if they say,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31"Oh, you're just so evil!"
0:13:31 > 0:13:34I think one really needs to try and inhabit
0:13:34 > 0:13:37the person that one is playing,
0:13:37 > 0:13:39get into their skin, if possible.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43The very lowest female singing voice
0:13:43 > 0:13:45is the contralto -
0:13:45 > 0:13:48a subcategory of the mezzo-soprano voice,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51perhaps one woman in 1,000 possesses it.
0:14:03 > 0:14:04In the 1940s,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06a singer from Lancashire
0:14:06 > 0:14:09became one of the best loved of British performers.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Her name was Kathleen Ferrier,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and she was one of that rare breed -
0:14:28 > 0:14:29the contralto.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30A true contralto.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Not only did she have those low tones,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37those luscious, sensual tones
0:14:37 > 0:14:40that we know to be the colour of the contralto.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But there was,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45I think, a unique poignancy.
0:14:48 > 0:14:49Whatever she sang,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52whatever note, whatever dynamic,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54it just got through to you -
0:14:54 > 0:14:56it would bring tears to your eyes.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59It's no accident that Kathleen Ferrier
0:14:59 > 0:15:02became the nation's favourite during the Second World War
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and the austerity years -
0:15:04 > 0:15:07vivacious and charismatic, she was also down to earth.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12After the war, she did a series of tours
0:15:12 > 0:15:14and concerts all round Britain.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19And I think the fact that she was so often requested on programmes like
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Housewives' Choice, Family Favourites,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24showed that she could appeal,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27not just to the highbrow Albert Hall audience,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30but also to normal householders
0:15:30 > 0:15:32who just wanted to hear her sing
0:15:32 > 0:15:34cos her repertoire was enormous.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37It went from Mahler's Song of the Earth to
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Blow The Wind Southerly or
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Kitty, My Love, Will You Marry Me?
0:15:42 > 0:15:43and things like that.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44Folk songs.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Before turning professional,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Our Kath spent nine years
0:15:49 > 0:15:51as a switchboard operator
0:15:51 > 0:15:53for the GPO in Blackburn.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56She auditioned to be the voice of the speaking clock...
0:15:56 > 0:15:58and was turned down.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01No footage of her singing exists
0:16:01 > 0:16:03but the many recordings of her rich,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05sonorous voice are evergreen.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09# Why should I not speed after him
0:16:09 > 0:16:16# Since love to all is free? #
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Kathleen Ferrier first came to prominence with Messiah -
0:16:20 > 0:16:23sung at Westminster Abbey in 1943.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25The tenor was Peter Pears.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28At first I think one was simply taken
0:16:28 > 0:16:30by this adorable personality.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33She had no troubles, I think,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36in standing up and
0:16:36 > 0:16:38giving us herself.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41In the audience was Benjamin Britten.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Something that touched me the first time
0:16:43 > 0:16:45I heard her in Westminster Abbey,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and that is the only thing which moves me about singers,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50and that is that the voice is
0:16:50 > 0:16:53a vocal expression of their personality.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56I loathe what is normally called,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"A beautiful voice."
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Because to me it's like an over-ripe peach
0:17:01 > 0:17:03which says nothing
0:17:03 > 0:17:06and Kathleen never had that.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Even if she made mistakes, even if one could criticise her,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11her voice was always Kathleen.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14And the weaknesses in the voice were the weaknesses in Kathleen,
0:17:14 > 0:17:15and the glories in the voice,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17which, I've no need to say,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20were many, were the glories of Kathleen.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26# He was despised... #
0:17:29 > 0:17:31I heard Kathleen Ferrier when I was a schoolboy
0:17:31 > 0:17:34and I can hear Kathleen Ferrier
0:17:34 > 0:17:37doing Messiah, now, to this day.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40It was sensational. We hadn't heard anything like that.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46# He was despised
0:17:46 > 0:17:53# And rejected of men
0:17:54 > 0:18:02# A man of sorrows
0:18:02 > 0:18:07# And acquainted
0:18:07 > 0:18:13# With grief
0:18:17 > 0:18:21# A man
0:18:21 > 0:18:25# Of sorrows
0:18:25 > 0:18:33# And acquainted
0:18:33 > 0:18:36# With grief. #
0:18:38 > 0:18:39She was just world-beating.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45What a tragedy that she would die at the age of 41, in 1953.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49This was really a major loss,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51because she was really one of the outstanding British singers
0:18:51 > 0:18:54and, even today, her influence is felt.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59All the young mezzo-sopranos that sing...
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Kathleen Ferrier will always be a beacon.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07It was written at the time that her death
0:19:07 > 0:19:10cancelled out the euphoria of the Coronation.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14It was said that she was the second most loved woman in Britain,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16after the Queen.
0:19:17 > 0:19:25# I will lay me down in peace
0:19:27 > 0:19:33# Will lay me down in peace. #
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Ravishing.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37She was particularly admired for
0:19:37 > 0:19:41her interpretation of English repertoire.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44It has been one of the specializations of fellow mezzo,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Sarah Connolly.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Perhaps the greatest joy of listening to a mezzo-soprano
0:19:49 > 0:19:54is luxuriating in that lower middle register, wouldn't you say?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Yes, and I'd also say it's easier to get the text across
0:19:57 > 0:19:58in the lower part of the voice
0:19:58 > 0:20:01because you're not putting so much pressure on the instrument.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Which is why the likes of Kathleen Ferrier were
0:20:04 > 0:20:06so clever at interpreting the text
0:20:06 > 0:20:10so touchingly and so beautifully.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14Now, you sing in certainly every operatic language, of course,
0:20:14 > 0:20:15but you sing a lot in English.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Yes, I've chosen to do that, I think.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18And why's that?
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Partly because I have a sentimental attachment to the composers -
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Elgar and Britten, and Tippett.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It's a wonderful legacy for a British singer.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32# And on that sea
0:20:32 > 0:20:37# Commixed with fire
0:20:37 > 0:20:40# On that sea
0:20:40 > 0:20:44# Commixed with fire
0:20:44 > 0:20:47# Oft drop their eyelids
0:20:47 > 0:20:49# Raised too long
0:20:49 > 0:20:52# To the full
0:20:52 > 0:20:57# Godhead's burning.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59# The full
0:20:59 > 0:21:06# Godhead's burning. #
0:21:11 > 0:21:13It's only very rarely in the history of music
0:21:13 > 0:21:16that a singer's impact and reputation
0:21:16 > 0:21:19transcends that of pure music
0:21:19 > 0:21:22but that is undoubtedly the case with Marian Anderson.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25True, she had an exceptional voice.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28No less a judge than Toscanini said to her,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31"A voice like yours comes round only once in 100 years."
0:21:33 > 0:21:36But what secured her reputation in America,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and beyond,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40was her courage and dignity
0:21:40 > 0:21:43as a human being.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:21:47 > 0:21:50# He's got the big round world in his hands
0:21:50 > 0:21:53# He's got the wide world in his hands
0:21:53 > 0:21:56# He's got the whole world in his hands. #
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Marian Anderson, like Kathleen Ferrier,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00was a contralto.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02# He's got the moon and the stars in his hands
0:22:02 > 0:22:04# He's got the wind and rain in his hands
0:22:04 > 0:22:08# He's got the whole world in his hands. #
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Her bearing was regal.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14There was a no-nonsense, no-frills approach
0:22:14 > 0:22:17to her stage persona.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19It was just the voice.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22The voice was gorgeous -
0:22:22 > 0:22:26but it was an honest type of singing.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28There was no flailing about with her arms,
0:22:28 > 0:22:30there was no eye rolling,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33it was just plain, and simple
0:22:33 > 0:22:35and deep.
0:22:36 > 0:22:43# He bowed his head
0:22:43 > 0:22:47# And died
0:22:50 > 0:22:55# And he never said
0:22:55 > 0:23:01# A mumblin' word
0:23:03 > 0:23:09# He bowed his head
0:23:09 > 0:23:16# And died
0:23:16 > 0:23:22# And he never said
0:23:22 > 0:23:29# A mumblin' word... #
0:23:32 > 0:23:35That's not a voice, that's a cello.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40# Not a word
0:23:42 > 0:23:50# Not a word
0:23:53 > 0:23:58# Not a
0:23:58 > 0:24:05# Word. #
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Marian Anderson did have ambitions to sing opera,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16but she would have to wait a long time
0:24:16 > 0:24:19before she set foot on an American operatic stage.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24This had nothing to do with the quality of her voice -
0:24:24 > 0:24:28it had everything to do with the colour of her skin.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Marian Anderson was born in 1897,
0:24:31 > 0:24:32in Philadelphia,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34the granddaughter of a slave.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Her early career was beset by prejudice,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40but slowly the tide turned in her favour.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43In 1939, President Roosevelt himself
0:24:43 > 0:24:47engineered a concert for 75,000 people
0:24:47 > 0:24:49at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55# My country 'tis of thee
0:24:55 > 0:25:01# Sweet land of liberty... #
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Singing surprisingly high, there,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05it was not until 16 years after
0:25:05 > 0:25:07this concert that Marian Anderson
0:25:07 > 0:25:10finally got to sing an opera.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13When she was in her late 50s and, sadly,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15past her vocal prime,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Marian Anderson made history.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21She became the first African-American singer
0:25:21 > 0:25:24to sing at New York's Metropolitan Opera.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26The role was Ulrica,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29the Negro fortune teller
0:25:29 > 0:25:31from Verdi's Ballo In Maschera.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Now, it didn't matter that her voice was not in its prime.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Her mere presence on that stage
0:25:41 > 0:25:43was an inspiration
0:25:43 > 0:25:45for a whole new generation
0:25:45 > 0:25:47of African-American singers.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51I was fortunate enough to be in the audience,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53and she stood there, Anderson,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57and she sang with strength that was even more,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01with dignity that was even more,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03with excitement that was even more,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06personally, for me, that night.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10And I knew, I'm leaving from this audience
0:26:10 > 0:26:12and I am going down there,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15and I know it is very much because of her,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and I am going to be standing
0:26:18 > 0:26:20where she was singing tonight.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22And it worked out pretty good.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Marian Anderson is
0:26:25 > 0:26:28a shining example
0:26:28 > 0:26:30of a great artist
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and a courageous human being.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Two of the most celebrated American mezzo-sopranos of their generation
0:26:38 > 0:26:41cited Marian Anderson as an inspiration -
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47SHE SINGS
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Shirley Verrett's voice
0:26:52 > 0:26:54is one in a million.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Warm, velvety,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58everything that you would expect
0:26:58 > 0:27:00of the typical mezzo-soprano,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03but she had fantastic high notes -
0:27:03 > 0:27:07and we mustn't forget that in the dramatic mezzo repertoire,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09high notes are a must.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12# Ti maledico
0:27:12 > 0:27:14# Ti maledico
0:27:14 > 0:27:16# O mia belta... #
0:27:16 > 0:27:21SHE HOLDS NOTE
0:27:21 > 0:27:24# Ti maledico
0:27:24 > 0:27:28# O mia belta. #
0:27:31 > 0:27:34The sheer physicality of her singing.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Shirley Verrett was born in the Deep South
0:27:36 > 0:27:38and, as with Simionato,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40her choice of career was opposed by her parents,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42devout Christians.
0:27:42 > 0:27:43When she sang Carmen,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46they fell to their knees to beg God's forgiveness.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Like Marian Anderson, she faced racial prejudice
0:27:49 > 0:27:52but with the Civil Rights movement growing in strength,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55she faced it on her own terms.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58There were places in the United States when I began
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and there are still places in the United States
0:28:00 > 0:28:01that I have not been to sing.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04And, in all honesty,
0:28:04 > 0:28:05I don't wish to sing there
0:28:05 > 0:28:08because I have the feeling that, if someone does not want me
0:28:08 > 0:28:10to sing in a place, I don't want to go.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13You sing, but you don't sing for segregated audiences.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Who pays for a ticket, comes in
0:28:15 > 0:28:17and sits where that ticket says he can sit?
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And not because he's black,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21green or grey or whatever.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Shirley Verrett's natural acting ability,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26and her stunning good looks
0:28:26 > 0:28:28made her an ideal interpreter
0:28:28 > 0:28:31of a particular type of mezzo-soprano role.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Around the 1850s,
0:28:35 > 0:28:37composers realised that
0:28:37 > 0:28:41that husky, earthy, dark quality voice
0:28:41 > 0:28:44would be ideal for the siren,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46enchantress -
0:28:46 > 0:28:47the femme fatale.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51One of Shirley's signature roles
0:28:51 > 0:28:53is the role of Delilah
0:28:53 > 0:28:56in Saint-Saens's Samson and Delilah.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17See how she smoulders,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19it's genuinely sexy.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22And she uses her voice,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25the husky, dark quality
0:29:25 > 0:29:27in the lower register,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30to really seduce.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32To seduce Samson
0:29:32 > 0:29:34and to seduce us, the listeners.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Rewind a century before Delilah and Carmen,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and the mezzo-soprano mostly had to feed on scraps,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05playing nurses, drones, drudges, and also-rans.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10Now, the castrati had sung the leading male roles at the time
0:31:10 > 0:31:13and when they began to be ushered from the stage,
0:31:13 > 0:31:18many of their high-voiced male roles were handed to the mezzo instead -
0:31:18 > 0:31:20here was manna from heaven.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24During the 18th and 19th centuries,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27the mezzo-soprano benefitted greatly
0:31:27 > 0:31:30from the decline of the castrato tradition.
0:31:30 > 0:31:37Now they were being called upon to play the young male heroes.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42This combination of a clear, soprano-like timbre
0:31:42 > 0:31:45with a dark quality
0:31:45 > 0:31:49was perfect for the young teenage adolescent.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Now, these trouser roles, as they're called,
0:31:52 > 0:31:56took in both sides of the theatrical tradition,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59the tragic and the comic,
0:31:59 > 0:32:05with the inevitable sexual frisson caused by a female playing a male
0:32:05 > 0:32:10making love to a female female character...
0:32:10 > 0:32:11Yeah, that's it.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15One of the first, and most famous of all,
0:32:15 > 0:32:16is Mozart's Cherubino,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19the sex-obsessed page from The Marriage of Figaro.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Here, she...HE is sung in a celebrated interpretation
0:32:23 > 0:32:27by the American mezzo Frederica Von Stade.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32She's singing a song that is about asking the ladies
0:32:32 > 0:32:37to give their opinion as to whether he's in love or not.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39And he describes all the feeling of love -
0:32:39 > 0:32:43hot, cold, suffering, joy.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47He secretly lusts after The Countess -
0:32:47 > 0:32:49well, not so secretly, actually.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52VON STADE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:33:32 > 0:33:36The Countess is obviously interested.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12The trills and thrills of the hormonal teenager.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17'Trouser roles have been one of the best gifts,'
0:34:17 > 0:34:19certainly to my career.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21You have to get way outside your comfort zone.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23'You have to really inhabit
0:34:23 > 0:34:26'something very foreign.'
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Men are very angular,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31and women are much curvier.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34THEY SING IN ITALIAN
0:34:50 > 0:34:54So, if I'm thinking angles, I'm thinking lower part of the body,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57which is where the man lives.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Quicker, sharper and, often-times,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02it's in the music that way.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07Then the physicality starts to emerge as male.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14Sarah Connolly made her name playing trouser roles like Julius Caesar.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18As a performer, dressing up as a man,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21finding the way to walk like a man,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23that must take some doing, right?
0:35:23 > 0:35:25Tell me about that process.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28It's a question of lowering the centre of gravity.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Women tend to walk and control their walk from their upper bodies,
0:35:32 > 0:35:33from their waists,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36and men can walk from their hips.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39I mean, we're not talking John Wayne swagger or anything,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42but men do tend to walk,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44control their movement, from their hips more -
0:35:44 > 0:35:46their legs are looser.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49They don't... It's not up here, it's down there.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52And that little clue made a huge difference
0:35:52 > 0:35:56to my understanding of how women can impersonate men without trying.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:36:13 > 0:36:15By the turn of the 20th century,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18the sexual frisson of a woman playing a man
0:36:18 > 0:36:21making love to a woman was hard to miss.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29But not all mezzos enjoyed unsexing themselves
0:36:29 > 0:36:31to play the britches roles.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35I hated to sing trouser roles.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38I couldn't eat, I couldn't drink,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41I have to be slim
0:36:41 > 0:36:44and my female attributions had to be away,
0:36:44 > 0:36:48you know, and we had such a terrible thing around the body.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Oh, it was ugly. Oh, I hated it.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54The bosom clencher - it was like a corset.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59There is...everything away and I couldn't breathe any more.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02I don't know. I don't like it.
0:37:03 > 0:37:04Help was at hand.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Rossini had a particular affinity for the mezzo-soprano.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10He was married to one,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14and wrote one of the best starring roles in the whole mezzo canon.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18The operas of Gioachino Rossini are a gold mine
0:37:18 > 0:37:20for the mezzo-soprano voice.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Both the tragic operas and the sparkling comic ones
0:37:23 > 0:37:25are alive and well today.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29He demanded a singer that could surprise us
0:37:29 > 0:37:32with flights of fancy, coloratura,
0:37:32 > 0:37:36fast-moving notes all of a sudden,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39that would make us fly with the singer.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Frisson, hearts a-flutter.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46But these roulades, these adornments to the musical line
0:37:46 > 0:37:50needed a tremendous amount of vocal flexibility,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53taste and musicality.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58The sparkling coloratura mezzo roles with their bravura pyrotechnics
0:37:58 > 0:38:00reached a zenith with Angelina,
0:38:00 > 0:38:03the lead in La Cenerentola, or Cinderella.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05A celebrated modern Angelina
0:38:05 > 0:38:08is the superstar mezzo, Cecilia Bartoli.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11Born in Rome, the daughter of professional singers,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14she made her own debut aged eight.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Her dazzling performances of the repertoire
0:38:16 > 0:38:19of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries
0:38:19 > 0:38:21have made her one of the most admired
0:38:21 > 0:38:26and influential mezzo-sopranos of the last 30 years.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Her absolute command of that music!
0:38:29 > 0:38:34She wasn't just getting through it, she wasn't just singing it,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36she was creating it.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Without fear, without limit.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43It was as if she just tore up the rule book.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47La Cenerentola ends with a champagne aria - Non piu mesta.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Here, Cinderella - and the mezzo-soprano -
0:38:50 > 0:38:53celebrate their transformation from drudge to princess.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56SHE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:39:52 > 0:39:54'I say she tore up the rules.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56'I don't think she ever read the rules!'
0:39:56 > 0:39:59And as a result, it's this wonderful reminder
0:39:59 > 0:40:01that that's what the world wants.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05We want uniqueness, we want to hear that voice.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09We want to hear...what do YOU have to say? What do YOU sound like?
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Cinderella, Carmen, Delilah - starring roles for the mezzo
0:40:13 > 0:40:16are unfortunately few and far between.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21One option is to taste the forbidden fruits of the soprano repertoire.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24But it's not without controversy, and can lead to ruin.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28And yet it can certainly work, with the right role.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31The great German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig
0:40:31 > 0:40:35on occasion sang the soprano part in Beethoven's Fidelio.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38Leonore impersonates a jailer to rescue her husband,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40a political prisoner.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45I never woke up in the morning as a soprano. Not always.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Sometimes I was like a raven...
0:40:47 > 0:40:48SHE GROWLS
0:40:48 > 0:40:50- IN A HIGH-PITCHED TONE: - ..and never like this!
0:40:50 > 0:40:53And I think, "My God, I need to sing this evening Fidelio.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56"What am I doing? What am I doing?"
0:40:56 > 0:40:59So, slowly, slowly, slowly.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Also with cortisone, of course,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05because all the singers, they took, at a certain time, much cortisone.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11It was a certain time in the '60s - the doctors gave everything.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13All over, all over.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Not only in Vienna - in Berlin, Buenos Aires, New York.
0:41:18 > 0:41:19They gave everything,
0:41:19 > 0:41:21only that we could sing in the evening good.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28So, at 12, 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31I was in good voice and then I knew "Oh, I can sing Fidelio."
0:41:31 > 0:41:35SHE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:41:45 > 0:41:48My mother was a singer and when I was a child
0:41:48 > 0:41:51and I heard her singing Fidelio, I was eight years old,
0:41:51 > 0:41:57and I said, "I want to sing Fidelio in my life once and then I can die."
0:41:57 > 0:42:00And I made it, but I didn't die, so...
0:42:19 > 0:42:23A tinge of darkness in the middle voice
0:42:23 > 0:42:24just gives it away
0:42:24 > 0:42:27that she is a mezzo-soprano and not a soprano.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02The role of Leonore is particularly challenging,
0:43:02 > 0:43:03even for sopranos.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05It's very high.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08It concentrates in the middle voice,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13demands a singer who can project in that all-important middle voice.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18But, it is difficult, believe me, it is difficult!
0:43:18 > 0:43:21And also for the sopranos, the very last high note,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23the very last note, it is difficult, yeah.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54She does it absolutely brilliantly.
0:43:55 > 0:43:56But the next day, I was...
0:43:56 > 0:43:58SHE CROAKS
0:44:01 > 0:44:04An alternative, less controversial option for mezzos bored
0:44:04 > 0:44:08with singing the same handful of roles in the standard repertoire
0:44:08 > 0:44:11is to mine the music of the more distant past.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15It's a movement that has been gathering pace since the 1950s.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19The revival of early music has proved to be a real boon
0:44:19 > 0:44:22for the lighter mezzo-soprano voices.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24All-but-forgotten roles from the past,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27many of them originally sung by the castrati,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30have been dusted down and brought into the limelight,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33vastly expanding the mezzo-soprano repertoire.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38One ground-breaking production that emerged from this trend
0:44:38 > 0:44:42was the 1996 Glyndebourne staging of Handel's Theodora,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44directed by Peter Sellers.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Its star was the great American mezzo-soprano,
0:44:47 > 0:44:48Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Lorraine began her career as a viola player,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54becoming a professional singer at the age of 30.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57It wasn't so much that Peter Sellars cast her -
0:44:57 > 0:44:59it was the other way around.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Lorraine had sung it in Boston in concert,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and so they made a tape, and sent it to me.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06And so, you know,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08I proposed to Glyndebourne Theodora
0:45:08 > 0:45:11cos I'd just heard this tape of Lorraine.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Theodora is an oratorio not meant to be staged
0:45:14 > 0:45:17but, oh, how it works.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20Lorraine Hunt Lieberson is able to wring out the drama
0:45:20 > 0:45:24inherent in Handel's story of a Christian martyr.
0:45:24 > 0:45:30Lorraine was a mezzo-soprano with incredible gifts as an actress.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33She was a supreme musician.
0:45:33 > 0:45:38The way she ornaments, the way...she captures
0:45:38 > 0:45:45the true Handelian spirit, is, I think, remarkable.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50# As with rosy steps the morn
0:45:50 > 0:45:56# Advancing, drives the shades of night
0:45:56 > 0:46:01# So from virtuous toils well borne
0:46:01 > 0:46:09# Raise Thou our hopes of endless light
0:46:09 > 0:46:13# Raise Thou our hopes
0:46:13 > 0:46:24# Of endless light
0:46:34 > 0:46:39# As with rosy steps the morn
0:46:39 > 0:46:44# Advancing, drives the shades of night
0:46:44 > 0:46:50# So from virtuous toils well borne
0:46:50 > 0:46:56# Raise Thou our hopes of light
0:46:56 > 0:47:03# Raise Thou our hopes of endless
0:47:03 > 0:47:07# Endless light
0:47:07 > 0:47:12# So from virtuous toils well borne
0:47:12 > 0:47:20# Raise Thou our hopes
0:47:20 > 0:47:24# Of endless light
0:47:24 > 0:47:32# Raise Thou our hopes of light
0:47:32 > 0:47:38# Raise Thou our hopes
0:47:38 > 0:47:47# Of endless light. #
0:47:51 > 0:47:56These astonishing levels of sound,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00that float in a middle place,
0:48:00 > 0:48:07that use the mezzo sound, that is centred in the heart.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11And that's...Lorraine's beauty.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20Lorraine Hunt Lieberson died ten years after this performance,
0:48:20 > 0:48:22at the terribly young age of 52.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29Superb technique, innate musicality, consummate musicianship,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33dramatic flair, distinctive personality.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38Rarely do these things come together as equal partners to such a degree
0:48:38 > 0:48:42as they did with Dame Janet Baker.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46# You white clouds of Heaven
0:48:46 > 0:48:50# Oh, stay for a moment
0:48:50 > 0:48:54# And bear me away to France
0:48:54 > 0:49:02# Away from this torment... #
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Dame Janet is possibly the greatest singer
0:49:05 > 0:49:08this country has ever produced.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11And she had it all and she could do it all.
0:49:11 > 0:49:17From early opera to trouser roles, to lieder, to oratorio,
0:49:17 > 0:49:18to symphonic singing.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22The great heroines of the French repertoire,
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Handel, Purcell, Bach, Mahler - you name it, she did it.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28And she wanted it all.
0:49:28 > 0:49:33SHE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:49:52 > 0:49:54What does performing bring to you?
0:49:54 > 0:49:56It contains everything.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59It's a visual, audio experience,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01in a way that nothing else is,
0:50:01 > 0:50:03that's why it's so difficult to get right.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06You have all these factors coming together, one hopes,
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and any one of them can go wrong, and often do.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11But there's so much happening,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13and I think that's why the audience find it so exciting.
0:50:13 > 0:50:19Everything exciting is being given to them on a plate.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22You don't see them because you're all in the dark, so to speak.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25But you know there's this immense world out there
0:50:25 > 0:50:28that somehow you've got to reach.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31And it's a question of what is happening up here.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34The intention of thinking about the people up in the gods,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36that they've got to hear it too,
0:50:36 > 0:50:41it's as though you expand - you expand to the space mentally.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44I've never known anybody work as hard as Janet
0:50:44 > 0:50:45to get it right.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48It had to be absolutely perfect.
0:50:48 > 0:50:54The languages, the pronunciation, the knowledge of the role.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58SHE SINGS IN FRENCH
0:50:58 > 0:51:01She would read - I mean, we did Mary Stuart
0:51:01 > 0:51:06and it took months of reading about Queen Elizabeth and whatever.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10That's how Janet was, she was a perfectionist.
0:51:10 > 0:51:16# But you will not hear me
0:51:16 > 0:51:21# And onwards you'll roam... #
0:51:21 > 0:51:25It had to be right. She had to be the character.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28I love the story about Janet in New York.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31She and Keith, her husband, were walking,
0:51:31 > 0:51:36and somebody came up and said, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
0:51:36 > 0:51:39And Janet said, "With a great deal of work, my dear,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41"with a great deal of work".
0:51:44 > 0:51:49You're famous for having the clearest diction possible.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Talk to us about your technique.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53How do you develop that as a singer?
0:51:53 > 0:51:55When you practice at home,
0:51:55 > 0:51:59practice the libretto with the melody.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02The only sound you can make is on a vowel.
0:52:02 > 0:52:09So...somehow you have to use tricks of the trade to make to the vowels,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12the openness, as long as possible
0:52:12 > 0:52:15before you fall off the edge of the cliff, so to speak.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17You need the consonants, of course,
0:52:17 > 0:52:21but we can never be like a violinist who can go on and on and on.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24We have at some point, A, to breathe, and B, to sing a consonant,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26which snaps the sound off.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30So the trick is to elongate that vowel sound.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33And when I encourage people to do that,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37they feel ridiculous because they close off the sound,
0:52:37 > 0:52:39naturally, much quicker.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44But there's a discipline in seeing how long the note
0:52:44 > 0:52:49is and not letting go of that vowel sound until you absolutely must.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55# By mount and mead, by lawn and rill
0:52:55 > 0:53:04# When night is deep and moon is high
0:53:04 > 0:53:12# That music seeks and finds me still
0:53:12 > 0:53:19# And tells me where the corals lie
0:53:19 > 0:53:33# And tells me where the corals lie... #
0:53:33 > 0:53:39My job was to serve the composer and the poet,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41um...and I really mean that -
0:53:41 > 0:53:47to try to...remove myself, as some actors say they do.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49They remove themselves to the side of the stage
0:53:49 > 0:53:51and watch themselves playing the role.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54In other words, you're like a vessel?
0:53:54 > 0:53:55Like a vessel, yes.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58Singers are emotional creatures. That's what we are.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03We are human beings of emotional sensitivity.
0:54:03 > 0:54:10# When I am laid
0:54:10 > 0:54:18# Am laid in earth
0:54:18 > 0:54:26# May my wrongs create
0:54:26 > 0:54:31# No trouble
0:54:31 > 0:54:40# No trouble in thy breast... #
0:54:40 > 0:54:44Would you say that the emotions that you lived in your career
0:54:44 > 0:54:47were sometimes overwhelming?
0:54:47 > 0:54:50How could you not end up in a puddle of tears?
0:54:50 > 0:54:52But I mean, people don't pay money
0:54:52 > 0:54:54for people crying all over the set, do they?
0:54:54 > 0:54:56You can't do that. You can't do that.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00Somehow or other there is this... not a distance,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03but it goes into another place.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07I find it difficult to describe, because I'm a mechanic,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09I'm a working mechanic.
0:55:09 > 0:55:10Everything has to work.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14And if that happens, if I've, in my own opinion,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17done enough work, and the thing is rehearsed well,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19and the thing is going well,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21you're happy with everybody and everything,
0:55:21 > 0:55:27there is this moment when you do stand aside
0:55:27 > 0:55:33and something - I will use the word "spiritual" -
0:55:33 > 0:55:36puts the final touch on things.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39And then, if the fates are with you,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42the magic can descend
0:55:42 > 0:55:45which has absolutely nothing at all to do with you.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49You make the possibility. And that's what singing is.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54It's making a possibility for something magic to happen
0:55:54 > 0:55:55over which we've no control.
0:55:57 > 0:56:03# Remember me
0:56:06 > 0:56:11# Remember me
0:56:14 > 0:56:21# But ah!
0:56:21 > 0:56:27# Forget my fate
0:56:27 > 0:56:33# Remember me
0:56:33 > 0:56:40# But, ah!
0:56:40 > 0:56:50# Forget my fate
0:56:50 > 0:56:56# Remember me
0:56:59 > 0:57:05# Remember me
0:57:05 > 0:57:11# But, ah!
0:57:11 > 0:57:17# Forget my fate
0:57:17 > 0:57:23# Remember me
0:57:23 > 0:57:31# But, ah!
0:57:31 > 0:57:43# Forget my fate. #
0:57:51 > 0:57:54I can point to technical things -
0:57:54 > 0:57:57the manipulation of the vibrato, the legato.
0:57:57 > 0:58:04But the genuine pathos and feeling...is...
0:58:05 > 0:58:07It's heart-stopping, isn't it?
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Next time, we move from the lowest female voices
0:58:32 > 0:58:34to the lowest male voices.
0:58:34 > 0:58:40Gods, demons, tsars, tyrants, drunkards, heartless seducers.
0:58:40 > 0:58:44The mighty bass and dark-edged baritone take the stage.