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‘I never dreamed of being an opera singer,’ she says, ‘but music and theatre were always a huge part of my life. My parents took me to my first opera aged 16 and I was enthralled. My mother was a dancer and my father a singer/songwriter. I always knew that I wanted to be in the performing arts in some way.’
After school Kate went to the Guildhall School of Music and then the National Opera Studio — a high-profile showcase and stepping-stone for promising singers. In 2004 she won the Kathleen Ferrier and John Christie awards, to name but two. Sir Simon Rattle ‘spotted’ her in Idomeneo at Glyndebourne, while she was in the chorus. ‘Amazing what three bars of singing can do,’ says Royal. ‘He wanted to meet me and work with me to help develop my career. He gave me extraordinary guidance.’
As with many young singers before her, Glyndebourne, with its long run of operas throughout the Festival, provided a lucky break for the young soprano. In 2006 she wooed the audience when she stepped in at four hours’ notice to sing Pamina in a production of The Magic Flute. ‘I was so nervous it would have been easier to jump out of a window,’ she says; ‘I couldn’t speak, but somehow I could sing.’
Kate’s ease on stage is very obvious and she attributes it to her theatrical and dance background. ‘It was a useful tool to begin with. I always felt comfortable on stage. I have always felt free and in touch with my body.’ She is passionate about other singers being part of the action on stage. ‘I hate selfishness in a singer. Some singers still think that it is all right to stand and sing on the stage, bow and walk off. It is not. Singers like Simon Keenlyside are quite different. He gives of himself, helps and challenges the other singers in a constructive way.’
She also combines a ‘classic’ lyric soprano voice with the intellect and insight to interpret text and lyrics. She is dedicated and focused in her preparation and clear about the decisions she makes regarding repertoire and the pace of her career. But, in the cut-throat world of singing, is she ever afraid to say ‘no’? Royal laughs. ‘Absolutely not!’ she says. ‘You must trust yourself. You need to sing the right repertoire, have the right amount of time for rehearsal. In fact, I am always begging for more time for preparation. Although I am very lucky that I can more or less pick and choose what I sing.’ She cites Mozart, Handel, Schumann, Debussy and Strauss as composers with whom she has the most affinity.
Royal dedicates a full five months a year to recital singing. ‘It is an all-consuming passion,’ she explains. ‘It’s my special treat and is a very big and important side to my life. It balances out the dynamics of the opera world — it is like a boiling-down of the opera genre. It is that uniquely intimate connection with the audience in recital which makes it so special. Many of them know the songs better than me. Just the simple act of walking on to the platform alone with a pianist to share the poetry and the music is everything.’
But while Royal is keen to present herself as a contemporary young woman, dressing fashionably and listening to Prince, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder in her spare time, she is critical of some ‘crossover’ artists. A person who is not on a stage who sings ‘a three-minute aria with a microphone is not an opera singer’. Royal is actually a puritan and a perfectionist. Bona fide, old-fashioned and authentic. She also believes that classical CDs will continue alongside ‘downloads’: ‘I think that people buying classical music like to add to their actual collection, to have the pamphlet in their hands, complete with the artwork, background, details and possibly the lyrics and poetry. I don’t think that will change.’
Last year Kate Royal made her debut with the Royal Opera House in Thomas Adès’s The Tempest, recorded a cycle of Schumann songs, sang at her third Prom as well as the title role in The Coronation of Poppea at English National Opera. In 2008 she has appeared as Pamina in David McVicar’s production of Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House and is presently on a recital tour of North America with Roger Vignoles; she will take the role of Micaëla in Carmen at Glyndebourne and will sing with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle in Vienna. But she is very cautious about taking on new repertoire recklessly. ‘As a young singer, my voice is changing all the time. It’s easy to forget that you are still training. You never stop training. Being a professional singer in your twenties is young’ — she has been out of college for only three years.
When asked about the future Royal says, ‘I don’t know. I never really expected this. I am very, very lucky to find myself in a career that I absolutely love. I find it almost funny the things I am allowed to do; I am let loose in the Royal Opera House and the Wigmore Hall. I never imagined this. As dreams go, this is it.’
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