Interview: Beth Taylor
I first met the Scottish mezzo-soprano, Beth Taylor, in 2019 in Glasgow Cathedral, where we were both soloists for a performance of the Mozart Requiem, conducted by John Butt. It was very clear to me, right from the start, that this was an exceptional young singer, with a glorious voice and a great personality, and I have been following her meteoric career ever since. I was going to use her in a CD project I was planning for Autumn 2021, but, sadly, that project had to be abandoned/postponed. However, we decided it might be rather fun to present a shared recital this summer, to coincide with the much reduced Edinburgh Festival, and so we shall be singing together, along with the exciting young Polish pianist Michal Gajzler, in St Michael’s Church, Slateford Road in Edinburgh on 22nd August (Covid permitting) at 7.30pm.
To whet your appetite for this collaboration, which will feature songs by Gustav Mahler, Alma Mahler, Schubert and Respighi, and will also see the premiere of a newly expanded song cycle, ‘Songs of Edinburgh’, by Tom Cunningham and Alexander McCall Smith, I thought my readers would be interested to read an interview with Beth. Already launched on an international career, appearing in the likes of Berlin, Basel and Brussels, she is very definitely one to watch!
Brian Bannatyne-Scott: Welcome, Beth, to the Edinburgh Music Review. Could you tell us a little about your early years? Where were you born and brought up, and where did you receive your main musical education?
Beth Taylor: I was born in Glasgow. We moved a couple of times before my family were very lucky to secure a council house in the beautiful village of Killearn, north of Glasgow and on the doorstep of Loch Lomond. I feel very privileged to have grown up in the countryside. There, I went to Balfron High School and, from there, a year studying music history, philosophy, composition/theory and modern critical applications with the Open University, before studying for six wonderful years at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with my teachers Margaret Izatt and Iain Paton.
If you had told me ten (or even five) years ago that I’d be doing what I do now full-time and the things I’ve already had the immense privilege to experience, I wouldn’t have believed you.
My musical training didn’t begin seriously until the age of 16, though I had been a very keen listener of a wide variety of styles. My grandfather was a potter and always had CDs on while he worked. I used to throw myself around the living room and his workshop like an eejit, dancing to Mahler symphonies, Tchaikovsky Ballet suites and being dumbstruck by the singers he would play. The first three classical voices I recall hearing were Dame Emma Kirkby, Andreas Scholl and Marilyn Horne!
On long car journeys, my mum played Queen, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Crowded House and though nobody in my immediate household plays any instruments or sings, they’ve taught me a lot about appreciating art in all its forms. My friends still roll their eyes at me when I try to tell them how cool these artists are. I just don’t “get” a lot of today’s music... with some exceptions, of course!
I loved to sing at primary school and often sang wee solos in the choir. I suppose my stage debut was aged 10, singing Mary Poppins, which is still a dream role, if ever there was one! My mum was a huge influence in teaching me to always smile, annunciate and enjoy the bow at the end!
Up to my mid-teens I couldn’t read music or play any other instruments, learning songs solely by ear until my mum encouraged me to just roll up my sleeves and commit. I haven’t looked back.
It involved a very intense couple of years learning to read music, getting involved in as many high school music projects and local music festivals as possible, to boost my performing experience. I started taking singing lessons (thanks to a weekend job at Lush and any birthday money I received from family) with a lovely tutor named Lydia DeRosa, to whom I’m very grateful for her endless patience. Everyone’s faith in me at that point gave me the confidence to really push myself.
With this support, I was able to sit various advanced music exams in piano and singing, within a space of six months before applying to the RCS. There I really opened the door and discovered so much repertoire and my potential contributions and what possibilities really lay ahead. I was still just able to manage part-time work throughout my studies while I wasn’t being hired professionally; I worked in shops, box offices and even Burger King in-between classes to pay for my postgraduate studies. I’m not one to shy away from any work that pays bills!
I saw my first live opera performance aged 19 during my first year at RCS; Britten’s’ Midsummer Night’s Dream’. I’ll never forget it and the profound moment I realised how badly I wanted to be surrounded by live music in some way, everyday; be it performing, teaching, community music (a field I was very active in until just a couple of years ago, when performing commitments made it impossible) or even journalism. It just couldn’t be any other way. I would like to continue my work and support in community music when things allow and hope my performing career will balance this out as time goes on.
BBS: Can you tell us about your major musical influences? Do you have a favourite singer? Have you studied with any particular singers, and what have you learned from them?
BT: I feel, like most artists, it’s impossible for me to have one favourite singer, out of just so many out there.
I am just as heavily influenced by instrumentalists as by singers. I’ve always been instinctively connected to the cello. I found myself so moved by the soloists who throw their whole body and technique into expression, where they lack the gift of text and poetry, as we singers have. I’ve also had a very deep connection with the choral repertoire. I remember my first time singing in a “classical” choir during my first year at RCS: Bach cantatas 62 and 63. I was so overwhelmed by the beauty and joy in the music that I still remember all the alto parts note for note from memory, because it just connected with me instantly. The Bach family remain a favourite, forever inviting us to be better musicians. I always return to choral music as an early influence.
It’s impossible to narrow down a list of singers who have influenced me. Almost every day, I discover another! But there are times when I ‘crave’ the depth of Jessye Norman, the heart-aching honesty of Martha Mödl, the melting buttery tones of Gerard Souzay, the subtle mastery of text in Fischer-Dieskau, the utter class and musicianship of Anne Sophie von Otter, the rosy hues of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the zest and vocal acting prowess of Jennifer Larmore, the dramatic subtlety of Karen Cargill. The list goes on.
Some days, I need to immerse in a completely different style; Edith Piaf, Lauryn Hill, Melody Gardot, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Etta James spring to mind, all of whom I’ve been listening to since childhood.
I’ve had the great joy in studying with a few singers; namely Margaret Izatt and Iain Paton at RCS to whom I owe so much. Their honesty, dedication and endless patience with my own insecurities and pernickety attention to all details, make them the most wonderful teachers and advocates of healthy singing and musicianship. Their guidance has allowed me to remain honest and true about myself as a singer, both strengths and weaknesses, whilst the voice continues to evolve.
For the last few years I’ve been a student of the great Rossini Mezzo, Jennifer Larmore, who has been mentoring me whenever we can fit into each other’s busy schedules. We met at a masterclass series in Manchester in 2016 and instantly clicked. I love her attitude, joie de vivre and ability to morph into any character imaginable; she is the ultimate actress. Her knowledge and experience working across decades in all of the world’s major opera houses have just been so inspiring and I continue to learn so much from her, not only about singing, vocal stamina and acting, but also how to place artistry at the centre of a contemporary career.
I must say though, that among my greatest musical inspirations now, are the incredible young people I’ve had the joy of observing develop over the last few years, as a mentor or tutor in establishments catering for those with additional support needs. Many of these individuals are told early on in their life, due to their disability or additional support needs, that they cannot possibly be musicians. The charities I was involved with, like Paragon Music in Glasgow, work hard to overcome this prejudice, taught me so much about what being an effective musician means. The challenges many have to overcome to be able to make music are enormous, compared to my own, and I’m working to see how my own music-making can be made more flexible, accessible and relatable. I have a younger sister who has Downs syndrome and my father is profoundly deaf, communicating only through sign-language. Every day is a reminder of how much more work needs to be done to do the simplest tasks, allowing independence and freedom. It is taken too much for granted by those of us who do not face these challenges personally.
It makes me strive not only to be a better musician, but to be a better advocate for all musicians; to raise mainstream music and performance to a platform we can all shine on.
BBS: You seem to be already singing in prestigious opera houses and concert halls, with more in the pipeline. How do you balance opera with concert work? Do you prefer a particular style, or are you happy to look at whatever comes in? It is often very difficult to combine opera work with recital work. I found that I managed to sing lots of recitals at your age, but increasingly couldn’t find time between opera contracts to learn recital material. Are you a quick learner, and can you retain what you have learned? Is recital work a very important part of your music-making?
BT: I am very much at the beginning of all of this, so perhaps I’m not experienced enough to give a definitive answer!
I would say one of my strongest assets, that was pointed out to me by colleagues, is that I am a quick learner and seem to work quite well under last minute pressure… not that I would encourage last minute preparation, if it can be avoided! I think this was because, from the very first weeks at RCS, I found myself instantly involved in a huge variety of projects; opera choruses, choirs, solo song projects and a lot of sight-reading. These experiences were hugely valuable in gaining those skills that I had missed out on earlier in my teens, and my commitment always to try my absolute best, did make me a very well-liked and heavily relied upon student at RCS by teachers and project leaders. However, it often meant I didn’t have the luxury of sitting at home or in the practice room going through my own exam repertoire at a leisurely pace. Pros and cons to it all!
I love song and concert repertoire as much as the operatic work. The intimacy between the singer, the accompanist and the audience is indescribable. I’ve also noticed certain concert halls have audience “cultures”, like at the Wigmore, for example; the audience members who have returned there time and time again, have made their hall as famous and as highly regarded as the guests they invite to perform there - how wonderful!
There is far too much repertoire for me to even try and narrow down a top ten and I’m happy to give anything a go! However, I would say the composers that keep coming back in programmes are the likes of Brahms, Schumann, Berlioz, Duparc, Howells and, more recently, Maxwell-Davies, Rihm, Roussel, Respighi and Zemlinsky.
Recitals, and devising programmes for them, are amongst the things I enjoy most about being a singer. Concept performances are becoming more popular with the mainstream concert audience, and I relish the opportunity to discover a new cycle or composer, and start with a clean slate, just the text and the music in its ultimate organic state. I just hope I am able to keep some time to learn new things as often as possible. Some years, depending on who I know is in the area, it’s a case of fitting a recital in during a “day off” in between rehearsals and performances! There are several pianists I work regularly with, and they really have become my closest friends as a result of this incredible bond that happens on the platform. They become the trustees of your artistry in a single moment and forever affect your impression of yourself, the music and the craft of live music itself.
The year 2019 will always remain in my mind as the “memory challenge” year. Between the months of July-October, I had to prepare two operas (Rihm and Mozart), two competitions (song and opera), a new version of Mozart Requiem (where we met!) and 8 recitals.
By the last recital in Milan, I was getting my ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ text which I had performed weeks before, mixed up with the Arianna text Monteverdi set in his cantata. I was getting annoyed until my agent and my partner both, out of curiosity, asked me to check how many songs I had been learning for the recitals, on top of the operas and concerts; 96 songs. 70 were brand new. All had been performed from memory in every concert. Sometimes single songs, some of them were cantatas or cycles.
So, I’ve learned to be a little kinder to myself when I slip up a word or mix up a text. Of course, it’s wonderful when it all goes without a hitch but realistically, the demands of a certain season or workload will catch up with you and it won’t kill anyone!
BBS: From what I can see, you have a good agent who is already getting you a lot of work. Is it important to you to have an agent you can trust, who can advise you, as well as finding work for you? So many young singers are signed up, used and spat out. How do you plan to keep control of what you are doing? Do you have a particular voice teacher whom you trust, who you can rely on if you are getting offers from all sides? You may have read my recent interview with Freddie De Tommaso, where we touched on the dangers of burn out for young singers. What plans do you have to avoid this?
BT: My agent, Helmut Fischer, based in Vienna, is everything an agent should be. It was quite a whirlwind of an experience being signed for the first time. I had several offers within the same evening of my performance as Arnalta at the Longborough Festival Opera in August 2018. I hadn’t considered having an agent at this point, as I’d planned to go back to study within the next couple of years and suddenly, all these very tempting offers came through. Helmut was, undoubtedly, the best choice for me. The agency represents a relatively small but hugely talented bunch of artists.
Helmut has been working as an agent for quite a number of years now, despite his young age, and his wealth of knowledge and innate passion for all things opera and singing, down to the tiniest details in arias, presentation and vocal technique, make him an enviable ally to have. He is balanced in his approach of “investing” in me. He has always made the point that while I’m young and starting out now, he would very much like to still have a reliable, conscientious and respected artist (not product!) in the decades to come.
With that in mind, when offers come in that he feels are not suitable for me (too large, too much pressure etc), while he always leaves me with the ultimate decision to accept or not, he has always voiced his honest concerns about certain contracts.
However, he is also the reason that I have stepped out more as a soloist than I’d ever intended. His faith in my current and potential abilities encourages me to take sometimes bolder steps out of my comfort zone, like the Mistress Quickly at La Monnaie. There are PLENTY of other roles he would not have encouraged me to take on, but this one he truly felt was safe enough, as an exploration of a comedy character, as well as the opportunity to work with a great director, make a connection with a very prestigious house and make my own mark, even as a young lyric singer. Helmut has expressed his views on my potential for dramatic repertoire in the years ahead but is certainly not pushing me into the direction right now. He is delighted that I am making music most happily and comfortably in the Baroque world. I think he revels in his job to invest in the artist and musician and to watch the development over years, rather than the quick buck. I’m very lucky.
We are a team and, in the end I always call the shots. I have the confidence now to take charge of my vocal and mental health, rather than being the “yes man” I had become known as at college. Singers who are being offered contracts with agents should do their research; who do they represent, how many do they represent and most importantly, who is their primary concern?
Agents are absolutely not for everyone and resting on the laurels of “an agent will spot me eventually” does not excuse any young singer from learning how to make connections themselves. It took dozens of auditions (and rejections), £1 night-buses between Glasgow-London (student budget!) and even writing letters to choral societies, introducing myself, to make connections and produce jobs, and is a huge reason I am where I am and continue to maintain work. This is an invaluable skill to learn in any case and will help you become your best ally when difficult decisions have to be made. It’s never too early to get into that habit.
You must also not compare your threshold with that of others, ever. Some people may be able to prepare six roles very well in one season, whilst balancing two kids and various other commitments, compared to another, able to prepare three roles with seemingly no other big commitments- but they may have experienced a great trauma or loss that makes them struggle to get out of bed in the morning. Life still happens in all its joy and horror, singing career or not and we have to pace ourselves accordingly.
To be continued soon.
