Rosenblatt Recitals

Continuing our profiles on upcoming Rosenblatt Recitalists, we caught up with Matthew Rose before his Rosenblatt Recital next Wednesday to talk to his about life, his favourite works and his ambitions for the future:

When did you realise you wanted a career in music?

Music has always been a part of my life. At school I sang lots and we had a good choir that did lots of touring and concerts. But I did not really take a real interest in music until in my Lower Sixth year at school. It was then that a new music teacher arrived. I don't quite know why or how, but suddenly he lit in me an incredible desire to really "get into" classical music. And the bug definitely hit. I would spend hours in the music department listening for the first time to pieces like Beethoven's 9th, the Creation, Mozart's Requiem and The Dream of Gerontius and a whole new world was opened up to me. This coincided with my voice breaking and me being fortunate in having quite a decent voice. I left school, not really thinking about having a career as a singer. But at University I was lucky enough to come into contact with Benjamin Luxon and his wife Sheila. They encouraged me greatly to think about having a singing career and I went off with Sheila to do a language/singing course in Italy. It was here that I learnt about the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. I again was encouraged by the head of the vocal department (Mikael Eliasen, whom I owe a great, great deal!!) to go to Philadelphia to audition, which I did, was accepted and the road to becoming a professional singer began in earnest. But if it had not been for me meeting Mr Martin Essex at school, then I cannot see how any of this would have ever happened.

What one thing that has happened in your life has made the biggest impact on who you are today?

Apart from the answer above, I think that I have been lucky in that at every important junction on the "journey" thus far, the right opportunities and people have turned up in my life. I am very grateful for that.

Do you have a favourite opera?

I couldn't choose one, but if I was picking a top 5, it would consist of: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Rakes Progress (mostly for the libretto), Billy Budd and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

What was the last book you read?

A Son of the Game by James Dodson. It is a golf book, randomly given to me by my girlfriend for Christmas. She doesn't really know about golf (one of my passions!) and picked this off the shelf for me. In it, the author describes going back to Pinehurst in North Carolina, and resurrecting his journalistic career and love for the game of golf. My girlfriend read the first page and decided that she would treat me to a break in Pinehurst. We went, happened to meet the author in a book shop, went out to play golf with him and now he and I are firm friends!!

What three items would you take to a desert island?

My ipod (makes Desert Island Disks a little redundant, sorry), my golf bag (with lots of balls in it please) and some sun block

What advice would you give to any aspiring singers?

You can never know enough about the music business, about how your voice works or repertoire. So get studying!!!

How would you like your career to develop in the future?

I have been very lucky thus far. I guess I did dream about doing all the wonderful things that I have done, but the fact that most of my "goals" have been achieved is really incredible. I guess that I hope in the future that this continues and that the right roles and concert opportunities continue in the very natural way that they have been. I am also very keen on the idea of putting together my own projects. I have lots of ideas that I would love to see realised.

Which of your favourite songs to perform could you not live without?

Now that I have sung Winterreise, I have to say I would be very sad not to be able to perform it ever again. Schubert (and music) at his melodious, harmonic and melancholic best. Perfection really.

In which country would you most like to perform?

I spent about 9 months abroad last year, which was very nice and I got to do some very wonderful things with amazing people. However, and it just so happened that I was talking yesterday about this, there is nothing better for me than to work in the UK. The attitude and abilities of everyone concerned is as good as anywhere else, and yet done with humour, humility and a real sense of fun.

The best advice anyone has ever given you?

I was in a class once with John Copley the director. We were talking about being a professional singer. Someone asked him "What to we do if we get something wrong?" and he gave such a great answer:- "just don't get it wrong". You have to go into each and every project knowing the music inside out and knowing what you want to do with it. We all make the odd slip (necessarily stated in case I make some slips in the recital) but that should not be part of your mindset in preparing for work.

Highlight of your career so far?

When I was 24 I was accepted onto the Young Artists Programme at The Royal Opera House. I had done some professional work, but nowhere near on a Covent Garden level. I was sent an email with my roles for the following year, which included the role of Wagner in Gounod's Faust. I would be sharing the stage with Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Simon Keenlyside and my operatic hero, Bryn Terfel. The excitement of being involved in that show, I am sure, will never be topped. Last year singing at La scala, Carnegie Hall, and the Musikverein were pretty incredible, as well as singing in Gustavo Dudamel's first concert as music director of the L.A.Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, in front of 18,000 people. It has been a nice ride.