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Mezzo Soprano Anna Pierard describes her role in Cavalleria rusticana as ‘certainly not my most noble yet!’.

“Lola takes what she can get really, and feels a heady and slightly crazed power in her ability to seduce Turiddu, despite his circumstances and responsibilities.”

Mezzo Soprano Anna Pierard describes her role in Cavalleria rusticana as ‘certainly not my most noble yet!’.

“Lola takes what she can get really, and feels a heady and slightly crazed power in her ability to seduce Turiddu, despite his circumstances and responsibilities.”

Read the TBI Q&A with Anna and her answers to the TBI community questions in the comment box below.

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Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci are opera’s most famous double bill. Nowadays, these two one-act operas are simply referred to as “Cav & Pag” – “verismo” works of great realism and high-voltage emotion featuring dysfunctional relationships Italian-style!

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

It really varies, inspiration to practise happens later in the day. Inspiration to sing just for the joy of it can often catch me unawares at any time.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?

I really can’t imagine what they might say. I appreciate beautiful things and the unexpected, which dictates my fashion sense and my appreciation of life in general. I like to buy my daughter boys’ shoes. She’s two, and recently fawned all over a little old lady’s sparkly numbers. I felt very dictatorial and utilitarian, but then, that’s my job till she’s earning enough to indulge her whims!

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

I think it’s living in the moment. When you do what we do, onstage, in front of an audience, if you’re able to fully focus and enjoy the moment without worrying about a strap pulling or forgetting your words, it can be absolutely heavenly. I really know I’m alive in those moments. And there’s a kind of simple happiness available to you if you let yourself feel it. Hard to define but very real feelings all the same.

How does your environment affect your work?

Environment influences my work to a certain degree. In London, for example, I studied at Guildhall, and the building itself is so far from inspiring I’m surprised at the pass rates. However, if the environment can be offset by the people you’re working with, by what you’ve got to look forward to when you leave your rehearsal/performance space, and by whether or not you’re focused on the job at hand as opposed to the view, you’ll be more than capable of creating wonderful experiences. I must say though, break time is much nicer in New Zealand, so I’m glad we’ve moved here.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

I think I’m a big picture kind of girl. Although, in music, I feel that if you don’t do the detailed work, you can’t create a bigger picture. Doing the complicated detailed work helps to simplify your interpretation of a role, for example, because, though all characters are complicated, at the end of the day, they’re simply people – unless of course, you’re realising Birtwhistle’s ‘Minotaur’ – clearly not a simple operatic figure!

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Trust your instinct. Just because you’re from New Zealand, doesn’t mean yours should play second fiddle to someone with more experience and cultural saturation. A fresh head often solves a problem after all.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

Every project since becoming a parent. It put it all in perspective for me.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

I’m always inspired by my colleagues, their work ethic, commitment, interpretation of a role. I’m most inspired at the moment by my 4 year old niece who thinks she’s truly lucky that she gets to have prosthetic feet instead of normal functioning feet. Her parents have had something to do with that of course, but it does remind me to challenge my own perceptions about what is or isn’t ideal in my own life, and whether I am truly looking at things through my own eyes.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I’m from a big family and we love to communicate. My family are mostly musicians, we’re very lucky to be working in a field we love. I’m married to Jose, a wonderful musician and that ‘passport’ I hold that ensures Spanish holidays for years to come is so precious to me!

We met in London studying, and following graduation, we based ourselves in Amsterdam and then Spain. After a season at the Kammeroper in Vienna in 2009, where we actually worked on the same opera, we decided to move to New Zealand. We live in Napier with our daughter Eva Maria. She’s is a little too obsessed with Erwin Schrott, a barihunk who features on the only DVD she asks ‘please?’ to watch. Le Nozze di Figaro. I have encouraged her because it’s art after all – and have you seen a photo of him?

Tell us a bit about your role in Cav & Pag.

My role is certainly not my most noble yet! Lola takes what she can get really, and feels a heady and slightly crazed power in her ability to seduce Turiddu, despite his circumstances and responsibilities. She’s actually quite unfeeling, but I think, like so many gripped by their passions, a less exciting and sad reality can be almost impossible to contemplate, along with other people’s feelings.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

I think an actress or maybe a travel writer. In Rome.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

Probably under the avocado tree at Mum and Dad’s. Lots of happy times there with family and friends. We’re risking our lives really, because I don’t know what Dad uses as fertiliser, but those avocados are huge. And Rome is always with me too.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

When I was first getting to know my husband, you know, that time when you read each other your favourite poems over the phone, and when you go to a restaurant and need to order, you say to the waitress, ‘I really don’t mind, what do you suggest?’ That time when nothing else really matters. Well, he played me a piece of Bach, I forget which, but his excitement was absolutely mesmerising. On his feet, bouncing with energy, he gave me a detailed analysis of what was happening, something I’d normally never be able to take in. Actually, I can’t quite recall what he said, I just knew I wanted that excitement in my life. So I think, sharing music, your understanding of it, and enjoying it together is the most satisfying for me.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

A WOW entry, naturally.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Yoga.

What's great about today?

I loved it and I wasn’t sure I would!

What’s your big idea for 2012?

I’d maybe like to sit down with my husband and show him how to really appreciate my hip hop collection.

Further information:

Anna was born in Tauranga, New Zealand. She studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, graduated with MMus with David Pollard then Paula Anglin. She was a semi-finalist in the Deutekom Concours, Amsterdam, and a finalist in the Mobil Song Quest (2000). Completed a two-year course with De Nieuwe Opera Academie, Amsterdam, in 2006.

Her Repertoire includes Venus: La Didone (GSMD); Hansel: Hansel and Gretel (NZO); Ruggiero: Alcina, Dido: Dido and Aeneas, Zita: Gianni Schicchi, Hermia: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (De Nieuwe Opera Academie); Eurilda: Le Pescatrici (KammerOper Wien); Frau Bergmann: Frühlings Erwachen (world premiere, La Monnaie/De Munt, Opera National du Rhin); Gertrude: Hansel and Gretel (Teatro Castelló).