Jennifer Davis On The Language Of Opera

Much to her mother’s delight, Davis did decide to veer towards the stage, making the change after graduating from University College Dublin with a degree in English Literature, when she applied for a Masters in Singing at DIT’s Conservatory of Music and Drama. At that point, opera was as foreign to her as the many languages she’d be required to learn – but mastering Russian, German, French and Italian opened up a whole new way for the soprano to explore emotion. ‘Through another language you find a different kind of expression, it’s something quite remarkable. I’ve found Russian to be the most beautifully expressive language, containing such specific words for relaying emotions, and I wouldn’t have ever known that if I hadn’t learnt to sing it,’ she says. Davis’s love of literature has put her in good stead; of all the heroines in the repertory, she sees herself to be most like the bookworm Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugine Onegin – an opera adapted from the novel by Alexander Pushkin. ‘I read a lot and I think that informs me as a performer. I think you’re more open to directors and speaking about different characters if you have a big frame of reference. I believe we are singing actresses,’ she says. (via)]]>