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.
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. 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 hear different singers, you already know, when you have listened to them, who might become a superstar 01’ an opera singer. and you already know who won t. though he s based in europe, peru and latin america remain close to juan 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.
# 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
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 injohannesburg 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.