Erika's journey from waitress to the top table
Opera star Erika Sunnegardh tells Alison Dayani about her remarkable rise.
Opera soprano Erika Sunnegardh’s chatty demeanour could end up being her downfall.
The loquacious singer, who takes the lead role as Salome when the Welsh National Opera performs a series of operas at Birmingham Hippodrome this week, tells me that she doesn’t protect her voice enough – because she is always talking.
“I am not one of the most paranoid singers about my voice,” says Erika. “People I know won’t eat ice cream or dairy because they get phlegm-y, whereas I am more casual about it. Singers are not supposed to do too much talking, but I talk too much, it’s my downfall. I’ll have to try and curb my phone conversations.
“I have certain things I do, like I can’t be in a smoky environment or drink alcohol a few days before a performance as it dries my voice out. When I was a waitress in New York, I hated being in the smoking section. All of us used to toss a coin to see who would have to work in it for the day, it was disgusting. The smoking ban has made such a difference.”
Listening to American-Swedish Erika talk about how she became a professional singer is as dramatic as many of the operas she now sings in.
She would wait tables by day but sing at night as her hobby dreaming of one day touring the world and performing on stage.
But auditions went well and less than two years after making an operatic debut in title role of Turandot at the Malmö Opera in southern Sweden in 2004, Erika was on stage at the famous Metropolitan Opera and in Carnegie Hall.
But she explains that she has enjoyed being able to try new things and grow while touring with the Welsh National Opera and the latest role of King Herod’s infamous devious step-daughter who used her sensuality to perform the dance of the seven veils to get the head of John the Baptist.
There is even a life-like beheaded head that Erika gets to kiss, it’s all very dramatic and dark, she tells me.
“Salome has a winning combination of qualities and complex deep characters,” says Erika.
“What’s remarkable about opera is that is combines every expressive art form. There is art and design in the set, the music from the orchestra, singing, acting, poetry and physicality.
“If you enjoy any of those artforms individually, then you will like it. When opera works, you get a tremendous kick. It is such a larger than life experience.
“Even when I was a waitress, I was singing the whole time, just not for my living though, I wasn’t a singing waitress.
“Doing what you love is important and if someone pays you for it too, it’s a blessing. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do this as a career.”
The Welsh National Opera visits Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday to Saturday performing the Marriage of Figaro, Salome and the Elixir of Love.
The opera company is also giving members of the public the chance to see a specially commissioned chamber opera, Sweetness and Badness, at the Crescent Theatre on Tuesday at 1.30pm for just £2.50.
Set in the opening of a dark railway tunnel, Sweetness and Badness is a dramatic chamber opera, which tells the stories of a young woman physically abused by her lover, a school dropout traumatised by the actions of his brutal father, and a nerdy wannabee so anxious for peer group pressure he’s willing to risk everything.
Performed by five members of WNO Chorus and six members of the group’s Orchestra, it is evocative but not suitable for children under the age 13.
* Tickets for Sweetness and Badness are £2.50 and available to buy from the Crescent Theatre, in Sheepcote Street, Birmingham at its website.
Welsh National Opera tickets at Birmingham Hippodrome cost from £15 to £46 and are available by calling 0844 338 5000 or visiting birminghamhippodrome.com
