Diane Parkes chats to sopranos Harriet Eyley and Isabelle Peters about starring in Welsh National Opera’s Don Giovanni at Birmingham Hippodrome next month...

Sopranos Harriet Eyley and Isabelle Peters will share the role of Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni when Welsh National Opera tour the production this spring. And the two women have something else in common - both have benefited from the Cardiff-based opera company’s Associate Artist programme, which supports emerging performers.

Both Harriet and Isabelle knew from a young age they wanted to be musical performers. They trained in the profession before joining WNO.

Harriet, who comes from South Derbyshire, loved opera from her primary school days but also had her sights set on becoming a competitive swimmer.

“There weren’t enough hours in the day to do both, so I had to choose,” she recalls. “When I began to think of my life outside of music, I couldn’t, so I realised that was what I had to do, I had to pursue that career. I spoke to my singing teacher at the time, Coral Gould MBE, who had taken me from the age of 10, and I asked her at 17 whether she thought I had the talent to succeed as a singer, and she said yes.”

Those words were prophetic. After winning a David Clover Competition for Singers prize, Harriet was offered a place at the Royal Academy of Music, where she gained BMus and MMus degrees before studying for a second masters degree in opera at the Royal College of Music. In 2019 she was offered a place as an associate artist with WNO.

“The Associate Artist scheme is a young artists’ programme. It’s a stepping stone between college and the huge world of music which is out there. My college prepared me very well, but not everyone has the same experience, so to go straight into a scheme where you are employed and can learn so much is a real benefit. It’s a safe place in which you can explore your ideas and your musicianship, and you’re working with a plethora of different people, including directors, designers and the company. You’re treated like a principal and can learn so much.”

Thirty-year-old Harriet held the post of associate artist for 18 months. During that time she played some very different roles, from the cheeky Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale to the gypsy Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and the page Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera.

“Oscar was my UK debut. It was at Birmingham Hippodrome, the closest venue on the tour to my home town, and it was amazing. I was prepared so well for that outing, and I really enjoyed it. I’m such a fan of women in travesti roles - women in trousers and playing men or boys. That’s my passion, and I loved that role.

“My second highlight was venturing into the Cunning Little Vixen. I did that at the Royal College of Music, sung in English and was Vixen - my absolute dream role. WNO allowed me to be their cover Vixen while I was doing Frasquita in Carmen, and we did it in Czech, which was a huge learning curve for me. I didn’t get to do the role on stage, but it was amazing learning it.”

Current WNO Associate Artist Isabelle, aged 29, developed her love for performing as a child, initially favouring musical theatre until she discovered opera.

“At senior school my teacher was a former opera singer, and she asked if I sang in any other styles than musical theatre. I didn’t really know opera before then, but I realised I could combine my love for theatre with singing classically and in other languages. I went to my first opera, which was actually a WNO performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Bristol Hippodrome, and that was it.”

Isabelle, who is from Bristol, studied at Royal Northern College of Music and then took a masters at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She was a Fellow at English National Opera for their 2019/20 season before being offered an associate artist role by WNO. She began the post during the Covid-19 lockdown but says the company did everything in their power to guide and encourage her: “WNO supported us throughout the year and gave us coaching, sometimes as many as three coaching sessions a week. I studied multiple roles and art song with their language coaches and music staff - it was such a gift. I finally started doing live opera with the company in the past autumn season, with my first time on stage with WNO being in October. I’m very thankful to the company for going above and beyond under such turbulent circumstances.

“Rehearsals for The Barber Of Seville were so much fun. A highlight was performing with WNO for the first time at Wales Millennium Centre, as Berta - it felt like a special moment after having grown up watching WNO productions. Berta is a brilliant part to play because she’s amusing and real.”
In December Isabelle travelled with the company to Dubai for the world premiere of Al Wasl, by Emirati composer Mohammed Fairouz, as part of the rescheduled Expo 2020 programme. And this spring she takes to the stage not only as Zerlina in Don Giovanni but also as Jano in Jenůfa.

Janáček’s Jenůfa is one of three shows which WNO will be presenting at Birmingham Hippodrome. Performed on 20 April, it’s accompanied by Puccini’s Madam Butterfly on the 23rd and, of course, by Don Giovanni, on the 21st & 22nd.

Premiered in 1787, Don Giovanni tells the story of the title character - a famous womaniser, better known as Don Juan, who finally receives his due reward when he faces damnation for his wicked life. In the opera, Don Giovanni attempts to seduce three women, Donna Anna, Donna Elvira and Zerlina, a country girl who nearly falls for his lies.

Isabelle believes the women in the opera are stronger than they may at first appear: “I see Don Giovanni as an opera which really empowers women. They start as victims of sexual assault, rape and general oppression, but by the end of the opera they are a united front of female empowerment. That arc was quite radical for the time.

“Zerlina is noticeably different from the other women in the opera because of her peasantry status. You can hear that in her music - she appears to be quite a simple, virginal character on the surface, with an undeniably flirtatious and fun side.”

Isabelle and Harriet play Zerlina on different dates throughout the tour.  

“We need to stay true to the direction and the fundamental nature of the character,” says Isabelle, “so we will have a general feeling of being united in what we are trying to achieve with Zerlina. But there will inevitably be slight differences in how we play the role - due to differences in our voices, for example.”

Harriet, who returns to WNO as a guest principal for the production, says the female characters have a pivotal role to play in Don Giovanni’s fate: “I think Zerlina is quite a strong character. In fact all the women in Don Giovanni are strong characters. They all have their separate challenges, but it’s as if they’re knocked back for them to rise to the challenges and come back stronger. Donna Anna is pressurised into marrying Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira is depicted as insane by Don Giovanni, and Zerlina seems to be unfaithful because of Don Giovanni. But by the end, they all survive when Don Giovanni doesn’t. 

“The fact that Don Giovanni is dragged to the depths of hell inadvertently demonstrates the strength of the women. It’s partly his behaviour towards the women, and the fact that he won’t repent for it, that takes him into hell. Mozart was really good at addressing cultural issues in the guise of opera, and I think he’s raising some interesting points about male/female relationships in Don Giovanni.”

Harriet is now keen to take on other roles and perform in opera houses across Europe. She is also commencing doctoral studies at the Royal College of Music, exploring the roles of travesti in the 21st century.

“It really fascinates me,” she says. “There’s so much in society today about gender and how people want to dress and act. Opera is such a fine field to try and grab the 21st century and incorporate that into the work we do on stage. It’s so difficult being a character on stage with the music and the characterisation, but when you then add in another level - when that character is pretending to be someone of another gender - it’s a further challenge. 

“I love performing, but I also enjoy the academic side - that’s a definite passion of mine. It would be nice to perform some of the roles which I’m exploring academically, so I would love to play Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro or play Oscar again.”

Isabelle also has her sights set on other Mozart operas: “Zerlina, Susanna or Barbarina in The Marriage Of Figaro, and Despina in Così fan tutte are perfect roles for me at the moment. I enjoy Mozart’s writing so much and find so much interest in his characters, as they seem quite real to me. When I sit down to look at the libretti, I often see such multi-layered, flawed and complex characters. These roles are also extremely fulfilling for me vocally, as Mozart is certainly not easy!

“And there are so many different ways a director could steer a show. It’s exciting to think that I could hone a particular role and see a character in so many different lights. That’s really interesting to me.”

Interview by Diane Parkes

Welsh National Opera perform at Birmingham Hippodrome from 20 to 23 April.