Edinburgh – Opera on stage 1979-1983
I come from Ol’ Blue Eyes, Nat King Cole, The Carpenters
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Edinburgh, newly married but homesick and miserable, I was desperate to find something to fill the void – I missed performing so much. I discovered that Edinburgh Grand Opera (EGO) were casting for their next performance, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) and I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) and I auditioned. Though I’d never sung opera before, I was delighted to get a place in the chorus. I performed Verdi’s Nabucco and The Masked Ball on the huge Edinburgh Kings Theatre Stage with the EGO.
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One of the most memorable occasions with the EGO must surely be when I was cast as an alluring maiden in Turandot. I also helped make the costumes, proving that I was so valuable to the company that they’d never ask me to leave. However, during one of the performances I developed a terrible cold. Knowing I had some big notes to fill, I took some night nurse medication. The result was that I stood stage right, ready to go on but in completely the wrong costume.
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Grand Opera, Grand Theatre, big singing, huge orchestra, famous soloists. Starters to stage 10 minutes, so many more notes to learn. So many more friends to make. Saving this one small person from loneliness in a foreign country. The strong smell of greasepaint through cold nursing. Family driving A1 miles in driving snow for the best show.
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History
Turandot was made ‘famous’ by the singing of Nessun Dorma by Luciano Pavarotti. His final performance of this aria was at the closing ceremony of the Italian winter Olympics in 2006. Since the first time the organisers found out that they were going to stage the games, the final song had to be from an opera and Pavarotti was the first choice to sing it. However, this would be staged in extreme cold. He was concerned that his vocal cords would not be able to stand up to the temperature, plus he was in poor health by this time. He told the committee that the only way he would do this would be if he could mime. They agreed to this with the orchestra and the conductor also miming.
“The orchestra pretended to play for the audience, I pretended to conduct, and Luciano pretended to sing,” Leone Magiera, the conductor wrote.
Not one person in the crowd was aware that this was the case as they all rose as one at the end for the ovation he so rightly deserved. However, this was to be his last performance for an audience as he died the following year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“The orchestra pretended to play for the audience, I pretended to conduct, and Luciano pretended to sing,” Leone Magiera, the conductor wrote.
Not one person in the crowd was aware that this was the case as they all rose as one at the end for the ovation he so rightly deserved. However, this was to be his last performance for an audience as he died the following year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.