OPERA singer Lesley Garrett is all dressed up and with plenty of places to go. Her latest performance is at the Tower Festival, Tower of London next week with The Fron Male Voice Choir and the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble.
For the 53-year-old, dressing up is all part of the job of being an opea singer.
“People often ask if I like dressing up and I say, are you kidding? Is the Pope Catholic? What girl doesn’t like dressing up?”
Lesley, who lives in north London with her husband, Peter, and their two children, adds: “For me it’s a wonderful aspect of the job and totally needed for what I do. After all, opera was the original visual art form and I think it’s true that people listen as much with their eyes as they do with their ears.
“For each concert I wear at least three or four different dresses and it’s just the most wonderful thing coming out on stage in my latest creation and hearing that wonderful gasp of enjoyment from the audience.”
But even the South Yorkshire-born lass admits she is not immune to the problems that eventually beset us all in time.
“The flipside is that I really have to look after my figure and stay trim,” she tells me with her down-to-earth trademark wit, made familiar by regular appearances on ITV’s Loose Women. “The pounds always start creeping on slowly until eventually I think this is no good at all.
Lesley is also enjoying a successful musical career playing Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music, and Nettie Fowler in Carousel.
But surely a role in the West End is a far cry from the world of classical opera? Lesley explains: “Well, I’ve always enjoyed doing lots of things and versatility is certainly something that I’m drawn to. Many of the great opera singers travel the world and become well-known for just one or two roles, but I never wanted to do that. My aim has always been to keep all the plates spinning on lots of different sticks. And who else can say they have been a “loose woman” and a nun at the same time? That still tickles me when I think about it.”
Perhaps Lesley’s versatility can even be explained by her love for all things musical, regardless of whether it is opera or pop, which, she tells me, has developed since she was a youngster.
Growing up in Thorne, near Doncaster, Lesley remembers the many happy evenings she spent with her family around the piano. “We weren’t that well off and we didn’t have a television or anything like that, so we made our own entertainment,” she explains. “My grandfather on my mum’s side was a classical pianist and made his living from it, while my other grand-dad had a jazz band, so for me it was certainly something in the blood.”
She continues: “Both my parents were also musical, but they worked on the railways. My dad was a railway signalman and my mum was a booking clerk. Eventually they both decided to become teachers and my dad spent many hours, sitting in his booth, studying for his exams. He later became a headmaster, which is quite an achievement really, and my mum became a music teacher. I think I learned so much from their hard work and determination.”
During her teen years, Lesley loved listening to The Beatles, as well as Joan Baez, but it was when she saw a performance of Madam Butterfly that her mind became set on a career in opera.
“I just fell in love with it straight away,” remembers Lesley. “That was it, I just knew I had to do it.”
Determined to make her dream a reality, Lesley enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music and soon after graduating joined English National Opera. She has since enjoyed an extensive career, performing around the world, as well as releasing 11 solo albums. In 2002, Lesley received a CBE for her services to music.
So what next for the opera diva? Well, Lesley has another album, Amazing Grace, which will be released in the autumn, as well as a somewhat tongue-in-cheek ambition still to fulfil.
“I’d love to do Glastonbury,” gushes Lesley excitedly. “Ever since I saw Shirley Bassey at the event, I thought that looks like great fun. Plus, I have a very nice pair of wellies for the occasion, so I’m just waiting for that call.”
Tower Festival, Tower of London, Saturday, September 12, 8pm. Tickets: 0844 888 9991 or www.towerfestival.co.uk
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