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In conversation with Chrinstine Goerke
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Photo courtesy of christinegoerke.com
Christine Goerke is currently wowing Houston with her fiery interpretation of Ortude in Houston Grand Opera's production of Lohengrin. She has already made her debuts with many of the worlds most prestigious opera companies like the Metropolitan Opera in New York and La Scala in Milan. I recently had the esteemed pleasure of chatting with her over the phone about her life and career as a budding (and still quite young) opera singer.
Where were you born and who were your first musical influences?
Well, I was born on Long Island. My dad used to love to play Artie Shaw around the house and I was a clarinet major before I was a singer, so I guess I started hearing that and became really interested in music. But the first time I was exposed to opera was completely by accident. I was about 13 years old and I was flipping through the channels on my lousy little black and white TV and I was watching this thing I had never seen before. It was absolutely stunning. Oddly, it was Francesca Bareillini from the Met (of all operas that would get me hooked), but it was the one.
Growing up, is that when you decided to go into opera?
It's funny because I wasn't interested in singing until I was in college.
Where did you choose to go to college and why did you pick that school?
Well, at first I enrolled for one semester at SUNY Fredonia. I went there because my high school band teacher went there and originally thats what I wanted to do, I wanted to teach high school band. So I went as a music education major on clarinet. And when I got there all of the instrumental majors had to take a sight singing test to see that we could actually read music. Go figure, you'd think they would have done that before we got there. But they were more impressed with my singing than by clarinet playing which annoyed me to no end since I never did it before. And by the end of the 4 month semester I decided to go home and change my major.
How did the Met's Young Artists Program shape you as a performer?
Oh god, in every way possible. I was so grateful to have such a safe place to be for 3 years. 3 years that were really formative. I was able to–and this is my favorite thing about the program–able to be in on rehearsals with my idols. The thing I learned really quickly? They're human beings and they make mistakes like everyone else. And I learned that the quickest thing you have to learn is not to try and hope for a perfect performance, but to know exactly how to fix something when it goes wrong. And to do it fast because its going to go wrong and these people were masters of it.
In 2001, you won the Richard Tucker Award. What did that mean to you and your career?
Oh gosh, it was huge! Absolutely huge. I mean, I had been a friend of the Tucker Foundation from the get-go, and they were amazing to me. Not just through the big award, but they also have study grants and career grants as well. The study grants are for singers just out of college and the career grants are for singers who are on their way, but not quite where they're going yet. My family wasn't a very well-to-do family and this money that they were kind enough to bestow on me really helped me in every way possible. I was able to pay for lessons...and help me pay my rent occasionally–welcome to New York City [laughs]. They are so much behind the singers that they try to help. Even if they're not able to give money out, they are so behind helping young singers. So to have been awarded that price which I didn't compete for, it was just bestowed on me by the foundations and my colleagues, was a huger honor than I could imagine.
How do you keep your voice in such peek condition?
[Laughs] Ask me on any given day and it might not be in peek condition [laughs]. All you do is try to stay healthy. Which I have 2 kids under 3 years old, thats not always the easiest thing to do, but you try to rest when you can. I just started singing this repertoire. I just turned 40 and, you know, taking on things that are too big too soon will kill you. So Im grateful that I waited for as long as I did and I really feel like I'm ready to tackle this now. It feels very healthy to me so thanks for putting it that way [laughs].
Of all your operatic debuts, which one is most memorable to you?
Oh my gosh, wow, that is really hard. I guess I’d have to say when I made my debut in Europe at the Paris Opera and I was doing La clemenza di Tito. I had never been to europe, I had never been to Paris, my french was abysmal and they let me know it in a hurry. Then it got better [laughs]. And I just remember really being floored the first day that we were rehearsing in the theatre and we were standing on stage when they brought the curtain down, I was in tears. So from that moment until the opening, I just sort of realized how unbelievably lucky I was to be able to do this for a living. And to have the opportunity to be on the stages of the world, what I’ve always dreamed about.
Which opera company do you feel is your home opera company?
Ahhhh dangerous question, sorry, can’t answer that one… You know I grew up at the Met, but you can’t really think of any one company as your home company. The company that you’re working for at that moment is your home company. You have to throw your heart and soul into every single thing that you do and if it happens to be here in Houston, if it’s in New York, if its in Paris, if it’s in Japan, or where ever it happens to be, that has to be home at the moment
With the recent accidents of Ana Maria Martinez falling into the pit at Glyndebourne and Joyce DiDonato breaking her leg during a rehearsal of Barber of Seville, do you still feel safe on stage?
I never feel safe on stage, I fall down constantly [laughs]. It actually horrifies me. Both ladies are friends of mine and I had heard what happened to Joyce really quickly, but I didn’t hear about Ana Maria for a couple of days and I felt terrible. You know, things happen, its life performance. Its not rugby, but we still do things that are very physical on stage and sometimes things happen. Those two things were so strange, those aren’t things that happen constantly in Opera. And boy did those ladies handle it stylishly, so I hope I could do the same, God forbid it happen to me.
If we could peer into your iPod or CD collection, what would we find played most often and what do you listen to when you like to relax and unwind?
Well, most often? You could probably pull up any bit of The Ring that Im absolutely hooked on right now, I cannot stop listening to it. As for as stuff to relax? I really love jazz and Im a Long Islander so you’ll probably find a bunch of Billy Joel on iPod as well [laughs].
In this current production of Lohengrin playing at the Houston Grand Opera, you play one of the evil characters. Is it easy for you to play this role, or do you prefer lighter, happier roles?
I have to say, I am a really big fan of playing the ‘baddies.’ They’re so much fun [laughs]. I find them much more interesting than the ingenues and this is my personality. I just like the range of emotion afforded by the ‘baddies.’ I do go out of my way, though, when I play a character that is quote unquote ‘evil’ to make sure that, even though thats obviously what they are and thats what’s in the libretto and in the score, I let the audience see why they are the way that they are. And I try to go out of my way to try and get one person to feel a little bit bad for me and they see why Im do what I do, then it makes the character that much more interesting.
In your career, do you get to spend time with your family often?
Im trying not to travel as much as I used to which is a little bit difficult, but at the moment my girls are with me and I have an amazing caregiver helping me. Thank God she’s here, I don’t know what I’d do without her. My husband has been flying down on the weekends from New Jersey and we’re about to give Continental our life savings, but its worth it [laughs].
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Im most proud of my girls. I really am. And Im very proud for being able to have stuck with this career for 16 years now, and doing it on my own terms. There’s lots of different ways you can go with this career. There are people who hire huge PR firms and thats becoming increasingly important now-a-days in this business, unfortunately, but its just, sort of, not my thing. Im really proud that I’ve managed to survive as long as I have [laughs] without, sort of, following the crowd.
And finally, what would you advise young singers NOT to do in their pursue of a career in Opera?
Don’t give up too soon. Sometimes it just takes time. Trust yourself and know that you know your voice better than anyone else. Trust what’s in your heart and pursue what you believe in.
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