We’re not all divas
There is a long-standing rumour about the behaviour of ‘diva sopranos’ in opera. Certainly, in the older age of opera singers that might have been true, but today I find we’re mostly a bunch of normal people just trying to get on with our work. Our work just happens to be singing very loudly on a big stage!
A cold can jeopardise your income
Ever heard a rumour of singers being hyper sensitive to illness? Unfortunately there’s a reason for it: one short cold can completely ruin your prospect of earning any money for the month if it falls at the wrong time. If we can’t do a concert, we don’t earn money: there’s no sick pay as a freelancer.
It can be a lonely life
As a singer, some of us can spend anywhere from three to nine months on the road travelling between different productions of operas, and concerts. It might sound glamorous, and it is fun to see so many places, but mostly it’s just being alone in your digs and waiting for your rehearsal schedule to come through
We’re not fluent in all the languages we’re singing
I can definitely confirm this! There are a lot of resources that have word for word translations of a lot of opera and songs, as well as using a trusty dictionary. We hire language coaches to assist with pronunciation and interpretation (a lot of older versions of languages are very florid and the translations make little sense)
We don’t listen to classical music all the time
Classical music is my job, and takes up the majority of my brain when I’m at work, so when I’m relaxing I try not to listen to it at all. I personally listen to podcasts about TV shows and films, and about Dungeons and Dragons and video games. Others may vary…
Soprano Ella Taylor joined Sheffield Cathedral Choir aged ten and studied at The University of Sheffield. They are now an emerging star, part of the one percent of opera singers who are trans and dedicated to performing work by people underrepresented in classical music.
