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What does the day before the
performance involve?
Mostly rest: I try to do as much sleeping
in as possible. I’m a night owl, so to sleep
in and not have to worry about an alarm
going off is good for me. Beyond that, I
don’t have much of a routine. I’m an easy
person when it comes to my routine before
a performance. I drink plenty of water, the
normal stuff, but nothing from too far out
in left field.
You don’t sound at all like a diva.
I’m a mezzo number one. Sopranos tend to
run away with the diva reputation. I think
it exists to some extent, but mostly because
people expect a diva kind of presentation.
These days, you see more of a down-home
diva. You don’t get the impossible-to-workwith, stuck-up kind of singer anymore.
We travel too much. We’re away from our
homes and our beds and our pets and our
families too much to give each other that
kind of trouble.
A visit with renowned mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton,
who will perform as a soloist in Mahler’s Third Symphony.
by Martha Thomas
A
native of Georgia, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton has been
described by The Guardian as “a great artist … with an
imperturbable steadiness of tone and a nobility of utterance.”
Her roles have ranged from Fricka in The Ring Cycle with
the Houston Grand Opera to Mrs. Teavee in The Golden
Ticket, based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She’s performed
with opera companies and orchestras throughout the U.S. and
internationally, and recently appeared at Wolf Trap as Julia Child
in Bon Appétit! Barton will perform with the BSO as a soloist in
Mahler’s Third Symphony (January 29–31).
8 O v ertur e |
www. bsomusic .org
You’re exercising your voice
in an extreme way.
We’re trained to do this. I spent seven years
in school and two more in a professional
training program. We’re trained to have
our voices shoot over an orchestra. The
chords work in an extreme way; hopefully,
you’ve had the right voice teachers and you
can do that in a healthy way.
Like a ballerina en pointe.
If you tried to put me on pointe, there’d be
broken toes.
What about when you’re in a production? Do you sing every night?
If you’re in a production, the busiest time
is the month leading into the actual show.
You’ll be rehearsing about six days a week,
S tace y Bo d e
Vox Singulari
Ricola, yes or no?
I don’t really like the taste. If I were trying
to keep swelling down and moisture up,
I’d probably pop something like that, but
luckily our performances tend to be spread
out, so it’s fairly easy to recover.