Internationally-renowned opera singer Jennifer Holloway has a lot to thank the Beach Boys for. As a child she used to harmonise with cassettes by the influential rock band on long drives with her mother and sisters.
As she grew up, she never missed an opportunity to sing in choirs and musical theatre but it wasn’t until her final year at the University of Georgia that she was asked to sing in an opera – and that was the start of a love affair with the genre.
Jennifer will reprise the role of Salome at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday – she first played the character to great critical acclaim in 2016 in Dresden, and has since performed it in Bilbao and Leipzig.
Based on Oscar Wilde’s notorious play of the same title, Richard Strauss’ third opera Salome was an immediate, scandalous, success when it premiered in 1905 in Dresden. Salome, the teenage step-daughter of King Herod, is an object of fascination and lust for the guard Narraboth, and for Herod himself. Agreeing to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils for her step-father, she demands a macabre gift in return: the severed head of the man she herself desires, the imprisoned prophet Jokanaan – John the Baptist.
Jennifer describes the part of Salome as her favourite role, “although I always say that when I’m in the middle of a tour and forget all the other great roles I’ve done,” she laughs.
“But playing Salome is so rewarding – and challenging. The voice must be able to carry over the vast orchestra, and the role has an unusually wide range, sitting mostly very high, but having its lowest notes in the contralto register,” she explains.
“But I feed off the drama of opera, exploring all the emotions. You can hate in one moment and be completely in love the next – which makes it exhausting physically, emotionally and vocally. There are long lines and tessitura (comfortable vocal range) can be difficult, especially when you have to sustain it for a long time. Strauss doesn’t always let you breathe,” she continues.
“I love that there are so many words. I can do a scene 14 times and it will come out 14 different ways depending on what you caress and what you spit out and Salome often becomes lost in her own poetry.
“She has never truly been loved, it’s been withheld from her, and all of this causes her to take a life even though she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Jennifer says.
“I’m always aware that I’ve been given a story to tell and I hope that the audience will see that Salome is not all bad – she has never been loved truly, it’s been withheld from her. All of this causes her to take a life even though she doesn’t know what she’s doing. It’s a lesson in not judging someone on a small amount of information. There’s always a back story and more to understand.”
This will be Jennifer’s first visit to Perth – and to Scotland – and she can’t wait. “I might come a couple of days early so I can explore!” she smiles.
Salome, Perth Concert Hall, Sunday April 29
