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C W-R.

Catherine Wyn-Rogers knits. And paints. And sings. Not necessarily in that order. With more time to do the two former, she tells us about the latter.

Currently I’m at home with my husband in Gloucestershire…. sadly he lost his mum during this time and as he is Dutch, this entailed going to Holland - we needed to have papers to prove why we were driving over there, but everyone was very understanding and expressed their sympathy to Chris. When we came back, I must say there was a part of me which thought why don’t I just knuckle under and stop everything - there’s something very nice about the taste of retirement I’d had for all of a week – however, I’ve started the teaching on line again since and of course it’s rewarding and it’s great to see the students again. I’m coping - I’m lucky as I have a fairly optimistic disposition but impatience with the lack of real measures to actually stop the further spread of the damned virus does make me rather cross.

I can only wait and see - the work I do have in the diary is mostly opera and I’d be so disappointed to lose it but it isn’t in my hands - therefore I try to keep cool about it. Trying to identify what I can and can’t affect is very important - I do try to stay away from too much watching of the briefing sessions and the news as one can get very dragged down by it all … I definitely think it’s important to breathe different air if it’s only in the yard or on a pavement - and to try and think of other things than singing for at least some of the day. In spite of being terminally optimistic the one thing that can bring me to tears is the thought of being able to hug my friends again.

I’m the eldest of four children - I have a brother and two sisters. I’m married to a Dutchman I met on holiday in Cornwall and through him I seem to have acquired three grandchildren (who live in Holland). We have a cat called Molly and live in Gloucestershire. I sing solo work in concert and opera, and I’m classically trained (at the Royal College of Music) and I sing music from Monteverdi to contemporary composers - my favourites would probably be Bach and Handel, Wagner, Mahler, Elgar and Britten - not necessarily in any order.

When I joined the choir at school, the music teacher was looking for someone to sing a solo in a concert we were about to do and she asked each of us in turn to sing - when she got to me she said ‘now there’s a voice’…. so I was cast…. I can still remember it now, a little recit in Purcell’s Cantata to the Moon for female voices. This sowed the seed of beginning to perform solos in public - I sang in the church choir and the local Philharmonic. I found I enjoyed standing up on my hind legs and singing to people.

I have travelled all over the world singing - I started after the College to sing mainly oratorio and recital for about ten years as I wasn’t particularly interested in opera - or rather somewhat nervous of it. During those years I sang all over Britain with the numerous choral societies and learnt all the major oratorios (I was fortunate to have also been a member of Chesterfield Philharmonic at home before attending College and then the Bach Choir during my student years - both of which allowed me to become familiar with so much of the concert repertoire). Once I began to find my feet on the stage as it were, opera became a big part of my professional life, starting out at English National and Covent Garden - Scottish, Welsh and Opera North - then in Europe and America, including many engagements at the Staatsoper in Munich, and appearances at the Met and La Scala.

It will be very strange not to sing at all, after its having been a big part of my life since I was about 12…. quite a long time ago. However, recent events, of course, have given me a taste of what it could be like. I do have other hobbies and a husband and it’s rather nice to be able to spend time with him and finally getting a chance to finish a painting or the knitting or indeed the sewing which has been lying around the house … I do continue to teach in lockdown and we do not know when we’ll be back at the Royal Academy…. it’s frustrating but better than doing nothing. I know that without the opportunity to sing works like the Messiah and the Dream of Gerontius, I will miss that connection with an audience - I’ve always loved singing religious works because of the spiritual effect they have, rather than any dogmatic proselytising - even confirmed atheists can get comfort from the spirit of these works and I’m lucky that so many of them give lower-voiced mezzos the opportunity to sing some of the best bits! I’ve also loved being part of opera productions, with the sense of working in a team - trying out timings and dramatic effects, working with directors on the theatrical interpretation and with colleagues on the relationships we establish on the stage…. this I will miss enormously. Some of my best friends are people in the business and while I do my best to keep up with them, I am a gregarious person and have always relished time spent with colleagues both on and off stage…. Technology has been a boon in the present circumstances.

We can only take precautions for ourselves and treat ourselves as if we already have the virus and assume everyone else has too - behave accordingly with masks, gloves, disinfectant, distancing etc etc - we may have to be more resourceful with ways of working, with recording and videoing items possibly becoming a bigger part of what we do until a more permanent solution is found to the problem of large gatherings which is what (hopefully!) we generally sing to - however, nothing can replace the genuine face-to-face work with colleagues when performing live music - whether it’s working with a pianist or an orchestra or on stage - and nothing can replace the contact with an audience and the intention of giving them whatever the composer intended. I hope that people begin to realise through the lack of these things, just how important they are to everyone. If people don’t realise then it’s up to us to show them - to be able to take people away from their everyday cares and preoccupations with music and drama is a great gift and we should aim to do this in any way we can. We have to never leave the audience the same as when they arrived in the hall - they should be moved - whether to tears or laughter, fear or anger - and ultimately to be uplifted by the experience of hearing live music. This should be the aim of performers - not simply to get the music right, though that of course is fundamental - but to engage the audience in this wonderful art of music.

Also C W-R .