now on bbc news, it's time for take me to the opera, with zeinab badawi. i've been an opera fan for decades, and i'm on a mission to share my passion and introduce you to some of the big names today and superstars of tomorrow — and ask how they're responding to the changing world of opera. cecilia bartoli, the italian mezzo soprano who originally wanted to be a flamenco dancer, and brings flair and a female perspective. peruvian—born tenor juan diego florez, whose first ambition was to be a pop singer and brings rock—star appeal. two of the leading lights in opera. but how are they helping to define its future? we also meet a couple of rising stars — south african soprano masabane cecilia rangwanasha. she says opera needs greater diversity. and french tenor benjamin bernheim, who welcomes the use of technology, alongside the power of live performance. let me take you to the opera. i'm keen to ask juan diego florez and cecilia ba rtoli, two of the most loved and respected stars in opera today, about how they're trying to ensure that opera harnesses the power of innovation to secure its future. operatic singing i'm keen to ask juan diego florez and cecilia ba rtoli, two of the most loved and respected stars in opera today, about how they're trying to ensure that opera harnesses the power of innovation to secure its future. operatic singing cecilia bartoli is unique in opera. she's a multi—award—winning singer, a music scholar, and the first female artistic director of the famous saltzberg whitsun festival in austria, where she's been performing for 30 years. cecilia's got that mystery quality that only very few singers have of complete charisma. when you see her on stage, you look at her, and it's very hard to look at anyone else. now, when you were a young girl, you wanted to become a flamenco dancer? a little bit! yes! but it was your mother, who herself was a soprano who recognised that you had real vocal talent and she became your voice teacher. what was it like to be taught by your own mother? to study with my mother was hard. my mother, she's definitely my mentor, my teacher and she was also a guide of what to do and what not to do. i think this is also important. she was quite... i will not say severe. and this is what my mother teach me — solid technique. cecilia bartoli's mother was absolutely criticall in the creation - of her as an artist, and i think that you need somebody behind you, . and cecilia bartoli has her mother. i cecilia has a special ability to bring back to life forgotten operatic gems from the baroque period of the 17th and 18th centuries. because of this, she's known as the queen of baroque. operatic singing singing continues cecilia has single—handedly popularised the music of the famous 18th—century italian castrato, farinelli. the castration process involved the removal of a boy's testicles to maintain the purity of his prepubescent voice. the voice of farinelli apparently was incredible. he had incredible range. he had such a flexible voice. at the same time, he was able to sing very gently, very soft. he had this long breath, you know? and for me, it was fascinating. it as a challenge for women also, to sing, to perform music which was written for a man. the photo on the cover of this bestselling 2020 album depicted cecilia as a male, and she dedicated it to farinelli. cecilia bartoli is a real female trailblazer. in 2017, she was the first woman to sing solo with the papal choir at the sistine chapel. this was an amazing experience, because to sing in the sistine chapel — i mean, already the acoustic is magnificent, but then, being there, you are so inspired. it was really a unique moment in my life, in my career. in 2012, she took up her post as artistic director at the saltzberg whitsun festival. and in 2023, she will again be the first woman in that post at monte carlo opera. as artistic director, cecilia sees how technology rushed in to save the day during lockdowns — making operatic performances available online for millions to enjoy. we had to start more with using technology and using streaming, for instance. during lockdowns, opera singers had to embrace new ways of performing. the popular peruvian—born tenor, juan diego florez, sang in an empty theatre at the state opera house in vienna. such concerts were streamed and broadcast. could this become a permanent way of bringing opera to wider audiences? well, singing to the masses is injuan diego's blood. he first had his heart set on becoming a pop star. his father was a famous folk singer, and his mother ran a live music bar in the peruvian capital, lima, wherejuan diego would often perform. i was young, i was a minor. but in the end, i was playing the whole night and making everybody dance until very late. i was singing peruvian music, my own songs. i was singing elvis presley, the beatles, salsa — everybody was dancing. so for me, it was a good school. we speak via video link. juan diego is at home in vienna and i'm in london. halfway through, he gives me a rendition of marechiare — a popular i9th—century italian song. singing juan diego is a real example of how somebody can fall in love with opera unexpectedly. he became smitten when he joined the conservatory in lima. igot in, and then i discovered classical music there and i loved it. i loved what my voice could do. and then, i was asking everybody, "do you think i'm good? "do you think i could be a tenor? "i like this kind of singing, "but i don't know if i'm good enough." after studying there for three years, juan dego left peru for the first time to train in the united states with the full support of his family. my mother was always so supportive. she is a strong woman, so she was, "yeah, you have to go. we will do whatever it takes." so we sold the family carfor $1,000, so i had the money to go to america to have an aeroplane fare. juan diego blossomed in america and quickly drew attention from europe. in 1997, still in his early 20s, he visited italy's top opera house, la scala, in milan, and vowed he'd return as a soloist. i was still a student in philadelphia and i visited la scala as a tourist. and i was there, enjoying the view of this magnificent theatre. and i said to the gods, "i will sing here in ten years." and i was singing there in less than ten months. juan diego florez was a big hit with audiences, and soon after la scala, he appeared here at the royal opera house in london. i've been lucky to see him perform here. he is especially popular for his performance in la fille du regiment by donizetti. his lyric tenor voice, coupled with an impeccable technique, means he is master of the high note. singing they used to be called 'the money notes'. - you had to sing those high cs, and if you didn't, the _ whole performance was ruined. juan diego's status as one of the world's leading tenors has earned him great admiration. and he comes to the stage at the royal opera house to give masterclasses to aspiring opera stars. singing this high note is here, yeah? it's not here, it's not here. but it's not here either. it's in the middle. when you give a masterclass and you hear different singers, you already know, when you have listened to them, who might become a superstar or an opera singer and you already know who won't. though he's based in europe, peru and latin america remain close tojuan diego's heart. he even dressed in traditional inca costume at the bbc proms in london, and still uses his showmanship as a way to attract new audiences to opera. i think it's very important that more and more people come to the opera. i was singing pop music, i had a close contact with classical music, with opera, and i liked it immediately. and i didn't have a background. and i think, yeah, it's a beautiful art. and if more and more young people come to the theatre and enjoy that, it's a magical world. operatic singing one opera singer who, likejuan diego florez, believes that opera should broaden its appeal, is the south african soprano, masabane cecilia rangwanasha. after extensive music studies and winning a string of singing competitions, she moved from south africa to europe to further her career. tipped to become a superstar, she says she grew up with no knowledge of opera. applause i was in love with opera from the beginning, but i actually did not know that it was opera. i just thought it was music. cecilia, as friends and family call her, was born in johannesburg in 1993, and has come a long way in a short time. cecilia is a protege of the royal opera house, where i'm on the board of trustees. and i'm going in to meet herfor the first time. i was singing as a child. my mum said i was a singing baby — so i would, like, sing my name "ce—ce—lia" as i was growing up. and then ijoined the church choir, and ijoined the school choir. and i took part in the singing competitions. after an audition in 2019, she won a coveted place on the young artist programme here at the royal opera house. many hundreds apply, but only a handful are successful for each programme. the singers train with the very best — including the renowned music director of the royal opera house, sir antonio pappano. you've got to join the ideas because you're going, "da, da, da, da, da." you never really know whether singers will make that superstar status. but i think she's got a very good chance of going right to the top. getting to the top is tough. the opera world is highly competitive. injune 2021, cecilia took part in one of the most prestigious contests, the bbc�*s cardiff singer of the world, and appeared before the three judges at the finals. # lord have mercy, lord have mercy. # lord have mercy on me. # and i hope i'll join the band... is it your ambition to move people to tears with your performances? yes, you know, it makes me very happy to be... to make somebody cry? it makes me very happy to make somebody cry? to cry in a good way, to cry in a good way. because, you know, then you know that you have done something with your music. and i'm delighted to say that the winner of the 2021 cardiff singer of the world song prize is masabane cecilia rangwanasha. applause cecilia's talent shines through, but it has not been an easy path for singers like her. black opera singers, mostly african—americans, are amongst some of the best—known names in opera history. but over the decades, performers of colour have faced major obstacles in securing big roles. particularly through the '505 and '605, when suddenly, . there was some real talent coming out of church - choirs around america. these amazing sopranos, like marian anderson, . who was a real pioneer — - she had to iron her own clothes before she went on stage, because nobody would dol it for her. it was seen as beneath - people to service somebody from that background. # a man who wishes she wasn't wearing slacks. # wasn't wearing slacks? # wasn't wearing slacks... cecilia would like to be seen as a role model for other black artists wanting to make it in opera. so i think, slowly but surely, we are going to have more people of colour singing in these big houses. and i think there's a future for young women like me, black women in opera. in the autumn of 2021, cecilia took a major step in her career — becoming house soloist at the swiss national opera in the capital, bern. next, i meet another young opera singer seen as a superstar in the making — french tenor benjamin bernheim. he also has strong ideas about the future of opera. operatic singing when an opera singer is performing on stage, there are so many things they have to think about. the singing and breath control is, of course, paramount — but there are lots of other things they must get right. benjamin talks to me between performances at his home, in paris. we have a tonne of things to do on stage. we have to fall in love. we have to lose our beloved ones. we have to die. we have to get out of the stage, we have to fall, we have to get hurt, we have to get stabbed. we have so many things that we have to be ready for and convincing at. the person benjamin regards as his mentor is his former vocal coach, carrie—ann mathison. she companies him on the piano at a recital that was streamed live. carrie—ann is now artistic director at san francisco opera centre. benjamin has one of the most distinctive and beautiful voices that i have ever heard. somehow you can hear his soul through his voice. it's got this raw intensity, and yet incredibly flexible. benjamin's fan base is growing, and he keeps in touch with them through videos posted online. benjamin's from the next generation of superstars, but he's worried about the pressures of the internet age on opera singers. you know, today we don't have time any more. cell phones exist, internet exists, streaming exists. we are in a hurry — i am in a hurry. this is why i call the opera world "the opera business" sometimes — it's a jungle. opera is evolving with the times. willa younger generation of artists have to embrace changes in the way that opera is produced and enjoyed? technology is already providing new creative possibilities for opera and outdoor venues are now becoming more common. because of the restrictions, l it's made people much more inventive about what i an opera house can be. it doesn't have to be . an enclosed traditional theatre. i think the developments in social media or the media platform is very, very great, because that means my family from south africa can see my shows. but there are also concerns that too much opera is being streamed. the big problem i see is that, if we give to the audience everywhere in the world all the content that we have for the price of a cup of coffee, it devalues our work. and i think it's very important not to make it expensive, but to not go too far in a direction where we are not going to be able to come back. i think the way in which the pandemic hit us, obviously so severely financially, meant that we had to embrace ways of doing things that were maybe not quite as expensive. and i think that some of those ways in which we do things — for example, building sets that perhaps aren't quite so extravagant — i do believe that both digital and the live experience can exist hand—in—hand. it's been a joy to meet four of the most exciting names in opera. and it seems there's a strong belief that innovation is making opera stronger, more popular, and diverse. and you know what? as somebody who cares about its future, i hope they're right. hello. well, it's going to be cold for another day or so, and after that, things will turn a little less cold, but there's a big low pressure out there in the atlantic. you can see the cold fronts sweeping across the uk. behind it, that speckled cloud, the shower clouds, some of them wintry, carried by a pretty cold current of air coming off the north atlantic. but i think come the weekend, this next low pressure — this is another one — will come our way and will also warm things up a little bit, but until then, still the risk of snow and ice through the early hours and into friday, mostly but not exclusively northern parts of the uk. so, here's the weather map, the forecast early friday. you can see wintry showers across the pennines, the highlands, parts of northern ireland, too. temperatures close to freezing early on friday, so icy patches possible. again, mostly across the northern half of the uk and the south, it's just a little bit too mild. on the whole, not a bad day for many of us across eastern areas of the uk. out towards the west, we'll have those showers and a good old breeze at least for the first half of the day. then in the southwest, we'll see a spell of rain sweeping through during the afternoon, so cardiff and plymouth, possibly portsmouth, will be wet for a time on friday before it dries out. here's the next low pressure. that's the one that's actually moving through right now, but this is the next one on friday. and here's the weather front, the cold front that moves through during the first half of saturday across the uk. rain and wind — a really unpleasant picture early in the day, but notice that it does tend to dry out at least somewhat second half of the day on saturday, although it could stay wet across eastern areas. you can see the temperatures back into double figures, so it's not going to be quite so cold, but the wind will make it feel pretty nippy. and then, sunday, actually we're in between weather systems — one out there in the north sea, this approaching. we're in between, so sunday isn't looking too bad at all. temperatures will be a little lower, between, say, 5—8 degrees for the most part, maybe a little bit milder in cornwall and devon. but on the whole, out of the two days, i think sunday is looking better. and thereafter, it really does turn just that little bit milder with temperatures perhaps reaching 13 degrees in some southern and southwestern areas. bye— bye. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughanjones with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. # sweet land of liberty... us politicians hold a vigil on the steps of the capitol building to mark one year since the attack asjoe biden blames donald trump for the riot. the former president of the united states of america has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. russian soldiers arrive in kazakhstan to help crush anti—government protests. reports say security forces have taken control of central almaty. the clashes are taking place just a few hundred metres away from where i am standing now. you can hear the sound of shooting and explosions.

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