The British soprano discusses her experience working across the UK and US, ahead of her Met Opera debut
As a British artist, the idea of working abroad seemed utterly overwhelming while I was studying. Europe was far away, and America felt like another world. A New World! I had only once been to New York City when I first came to do a main stage audition at the Metropolitan Opera, and the experience was very intimidating. These incredible houses are, like most other American things for us Europeans, just… big. Stepping out onto the stage then – and now – the acoustic is wonderful, it’s vibrant and alive, and helps in ways many smaller theatres do not.
Last year, I was lucky enough to sing at San Francisco Opera, a company that is very close to my heart. They supported me through the pandemic and, after my debut was cancelled there in 2021, I was delighted to finally make my American operatic debut there in 2024, singing my first Micaëla in Carmen. San Francisco is a wonderful city and is home to a wonderful opera company that felt so welcoming and warm, with a team so encouraging you’d feel enabled to give Brünnhilde a go straight after Barbarina. The American ‘can do’ attitude is one we British often feel awkward about. My husband and I have observed with intrigue how upbeat the teachers are here in New York City at the nursery our daughter is currently attending. It is both strange to us and infectious, and I marvel at the confidence it instils.
“The Met is a huge, well-oiled machine, working at the highest echelons of the business”
At the moment, I am making my debut at the Metropolitan Opera at the Lincoln Center in New York, taking to the stage for the first time as Zdenka in Strauss’s Arabella. The production will be broadcast to cinemas all around the world this Saturday (November 22) as a part of the Met’s Live in HD program. The Met is a huge, well-oiled machine, working at the highest echelons of the business, with the best artists, conductors, musicians, and phenomenal behind the scenes technicians and design teams. The volume of repertoire that is put on that magnificent stage in a short space of time is frankly incredible, all thoroughly rehearsed with an attention to detail that is sometimes lacking in revivals in the major German and Austrian houses. In Vienna, for example, you sometimes might only get a few days of studio rehearsals before a live performance to thousands.
Louise Alder as Zdenka in Strauss’s Arabella ©Jonaothan Tichler/Met Opera
When it comes to styles of production, audience tastes vary hugely from the US, through the UK, to Germany. Generally speaking, I would say in the US – and to a certain extent the UK – opera is often viewed as a safer and more traditional place one goes to relax and forget about politics and the news, to get away from the daily grind. In Germany, an audience wants to be challenged, productions are often multi-layered, and at first glance not telling the original story at all. There, it is viewed as a good night if you exit the theatre feeling strongly about a production, both positively and importantly, negatively. Audiences in America are extremely demonstrative in their praise of performers and productions, and it is always a joy to meet the many hardcore Metropolitan Opera fans at stage door each night.
What an extraordinary life we singers lead, moving to different cities regularly, to become temporary residents for two months at a time or more, sometimes taking our families and loved ones, sometimes spending extended periods of time entirely alone, and exploring different cultures whilst singing on these amazing stages. I feel extremely lucky indeed.
Louise Alder stars in Arabella which forms part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD season, and will be broadcast to cinemas around the world on 22 November.
Louise Alder as Zdenka and Rachel Willis-Sørensen in the title role of Strauss’s Arabella. ©Marty Sohl/Met Opera