Christopher Morley speaks to Gaynor Keeble about her life as an opera diva.

The mezzo-soprano Gaynor Keeble has long been a favourite with audiences in the Midlands, who will have enjoyed her many appearances with Welsh National Opera, among many other companies.

This University of Warwick graduate’s roles for WNO include Carmen, Maddalena (Rigoletto), Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro and Meg Page (Falstaff).

Falstaff is now again in the forefront of Keeble’s career as she returns to Verdi’s late, great masterpiece for a production at Longborough Festival Opera, cosily nestling in the Cotswolds. This time she has dropped down a notch in vocal range, taking the role of the resourceful Mistress Quickly.

I caught up with her when she was waiting at Guernsey Airport, on a flying visit to rehearse for Longborough and breaking away from a stint in the Channel Islands performing in La Fille du Regiment and Rigoletto for the Opera Diva company.

Her Mistress Quickly at Longborough will not be her first assumption of the part.

I saw Keeble in the role last autumn at Newtown for Mid-Wales Opera, a power-dressed, sassy portrayal, and very effective it was, too.

“What is it like assuming the same role in a different production?” I ask her.

Does she bring accumulated experiences to the current portrayal, or do she have to block the past out?

“Obviously having performed the role before I’ve a certain amount of acquired knowledge of the character,” she answers. “However I’m always keen to gain new insight, and working with different directors always helps with this. It’s amazing how the same character can emerge differently within a slightly different concept.”

Mid-Wales Opera’s Falstaff was designed as a touring production; Keeble has also worked as resident in