Following a short break to focus on family commitments, soprano Lydia Caruana is set to return on the scene with a series of performances. Ramona Depares catches up with her.
She is known as the doyenne of Maltese classical music and a charming and bubbly doyenne she is, too.
Caruana recently took a short sabbatical to help with the preparations for her daughter’s wedding
Lydia Caruana’s attractive smile and youthful appearance belie the typical image of the larger-than-life soprano. And yet, larger-than-life she certainly is, in voice if not in stature.
Ever since she made her debut in opera back in 1995, with La Bohème, Caruana’s voice versatility and impressive range led to her being singled out for a number of challenging roles, always with highly flattering feedback.
To quote one example, her role as Elvira in Don Giovanni got her singled out on leading European opera magazine Opernwelt as “an impressively interpretative singer”.
Caruana has lent her voice and persona to popular operatic roles – from Angelica (Suor Angelica) to Mimì (La Bohème), Musetta (La Bohème), Norina (Don Pasquale), Therese (Jeannot et Colin), Graziella (I martiri) and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus).
Moreover, her stage presence and vocal abilities have taken her to festivals and concerts across Europe, including Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Bologna, Berlin, Geneva, Hamburg, Edinburgh and Dublin. The soprano also professes a soft spot for Germany, where she has performed extensively with a concert tournée.
And yet, the lady remains refreshingly down to earth, humble. As she explains how she juggles her intense schedule with her family responsibility, there is no trace of the notorious ‘diva’ personality so many sopranos are known for.
“I remain, first and foremost, a wife and mother. I consider myself lucky because my family has always been extremely supportive – I can only remember one occasion when I had to refuse an engagement that would have taken me abroad for a number of weeks. At the time, my children needed me at home so I chose to pass it on. Other opportunities didn’t take long to present themselves, so I don’t regret the choice.”
More recently, Caruana took a short sabbatical to help with the preparations for her daughter’s wedding.
She explains that she wanted to totally immerse herself in the traditional role of mother of the bride, a role she thoroughly enjoyed. Now, she is rearing to get back to business with a series of performances in Malta and abroad.
These performances are set to kick off around late March in France and, rather intriguingly, she says more details will be shortly forthcoming.
“I was at a stage in my career where I could afford to take a short break to focus on my daughter’s wedding, and for that I’m thankful. However, now I’m getting truly excited about my forthcoming performances. Apart from the mainstream, I’m planning to offer a fusion of programmes that will not necessarily be limited to opera and lieder, which is art song with piano and voice,” Caruana says with a hint of mischievous mystery.
The soprano says she was first attracted to opera because it presents a fusion of many aspects of music. The dramatic storyline, the way emotions are reflected in music, the theatrical aspect... all these, Caruana says, are elements that render the genre appealing.
“I love the fact that I can tell a story with my voice, but I’m also fond of singing lieder. Liszt, Schubert, Schumann, Rossini, Bellini and De Falla... their lieder are like a palette of colours that make up a story.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Caruana says lieder is more difficult to perform than opera. She explains this is mainly because opera is performed within a context.
The costumes, cast, storyline... these all help direct the emotions, making it easy for the audience to capture the feeling. With lieder, on the other hand, the singer has to create the tableaux from scratch.
“Because of these demands of greater interpretation, style adapatation and musical communication, recital work offers me a unique opportunity to create an intense rapport with the audience, which I find gratifying. My recitals in residence, where I perform to an intimate audience in a private residence, are all about this.”
When asked for her favourite opera or work, Caruana is understandably evasive. She professes to be very attracted to the drama element, but also enjoys the lighter libretti.
“I love Mozart, Handel, Gounod, Haydn, Verdi... You could say that when you’re preparing for a particular role you get really immersed in it. For a while, it sort of becomes your favourite and you exclude everything else. Which makes it challenging when you’re preparing different pieces simultaneously... but rather intriguing.”
In the absence of one firm favourite, Caruana reveals that Mozart and Handel make her happy, so she tends to focus on these composers when she is feeling a bit low.
Other companions during her low-ebb days are the cello concertos of Dvorak, Elgar and Bruch. And when she’s feeling mischievous? She hears jazz. This is her other passion.
Asked about the glamour of the industry, Caruana laughs; there is more slogging than glamour, she insists.
“Rehearsals and studying are the order of the day. Singing is studying; it can’t be any other way. You may have the voice and the right technique, but you still need to constantly hone the voice, the way you interpret the music and study new repertoire. It’s a never-ending routine and it can get lonely.”
The solitude of the study-rehearse-perform routine is one of the biggest challenges in the profession, Caruana says. Rather endearingly, she adds that she finds solace, particularly when travelling alone, in her religious faith.
“Being a soprano takes a tremendous toll on your social life and the schedule is rather unforgiving. Then there’s the whole balancing of your commitments with your home life, which I’ve already mentioned. But none of these are insurmountable challenges – erased on that moment on stage when you’re in direct touch with the audience through music.”
Throughout the soprano’s career, there have been many of these “moments on stage”. Among the highlights, she mentions her concert with Andrea Bocelli in Ta’ Qali.
“I’ve never performed for such a huge crowd in Malta. Abroad yes, but definitely not here,” she says. “The experience was amazing. Bocelli is a superstar and yet he is so human and down to earth.”
Caruana also mentions performing with music legend José Carreras, one of the three tenors, a concert which was described as “magical” and which received raving reviews from international magazines.
But of course, particularly dear to her heart is her experience singing with our very own Joseph Calleja in Germany.
“He is still very much the boy next door. His voice is as warm and embracing as his character. Performing with him was a tremendous experience.”
Names of conductors Manfred Honeck in particular, Martin Kerschbaum, Markus Poschner, Carlo Bernini, David Giménez, Joseph Vella, Michael Laus, and tenors Mario Malagnini and Dymtri Popov continue to come up, all mentioned with a touch of affection.
Caruana is particularly excited about her upcoming engagements in Austria, France and Malta, singing her standard repertoire. But there is more, as she confides that she is looking forward to two specific projects.
One of these involves singing rarely performed works by Maltese baroque composers who are relatively unknown in Malta, but who earned great fame in Europe.
The other project features a fusion concept that combines the opera world with other genres. Yes, the future looks bright.