Chances are if you haven't graced the fabric seats and mood lighting of an Opera House you may not be familiar with one of its finest talents Damian Whiteley. GetFrank didn't know too much about Opera, but as a firm appreciator of all form of culture we thought we'd go straight to the top to ask some questions. Damian Whiteley has been all over the world from an established career in Australia to London, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Lyons, Milan, Brussels and Tokyo. 

So what's a day in the life of an internationally acclaimed opera bass like exactly?

I'll let you know when I've got to the top of the tree: I'm still on my way up! It takes many years for an real bass to mature: it's been a long and winding road, and although I am now performing internationally (debuts in New York & Madrid next year, Paris last year), it'll be a while before I can be declared a national treasure! 

You spend a lot of your year living in Zurich - is that home for you now?

Home is in my suitcase! Zurich is a very special place for me. I was accepted into the Internationales Opern Studio at the Zurich Opernhaus, and then was asked to stay on as a repetiteur (while studying voice further with a wonderful teacher in Bern, Denis Hall). Eventually I was on a full time contract with the Opernhaus. Those years there gave me the precious gift of time to grow and learn from the amazing range of singers, conductors and directors who work there: the time that my first singing teacher in Sydney, Maureen Callinan, predicted I would need!

Are you excited about the NZ season of mozart & ME?

Absolutely! This will be the first international appearance of a show into which I have invested a lot of time and energy since Melvyn Morrow (Shout, Dusty) first suggested the idea of writing a solo show for me, having seen me perform for Sydney's Pinchgut Opera in 2005. I plan to take this show everywhere and am really happy that New Zealand will be first stop on this odyssey.

Following the plot lines in Opera is difficult, take your latest production how deep was the plot?

[My character in mozart & Me] Lorenzo da Ponte! This man's story is so outrageous that you couldn't make it up if you tried... Born penniless into a Jewish family in 18th century Italy, he converted to Christianity to get an education, joined a seminary, became a priest, was a friend of Casanova in Venice, partying, gambling, fornicating and 'rapping' politically revolutionary poems until he was banished.
Set up in Vienna where he wrote inspirational libretti for the greatest composers of the age (Mozart, Salieri, Martin y Soler), had affairs with the opera diva of the day, hob-nobbed with the Habsburg nobility before again being banished for revolutionary sentiments.
Arrived in Paris with a letter of introduction to Marie-Antoinette shortly after the Bastille was stormed, ended up in London where he earned and lost a fortune after setting up an Italian bookstore on Pall Mall, escaped debtors' prison and sailed to America, lost a fortune selling alcohol (!?!... go figure!), ran a boarding school for young ladies, helped set up New York's first opera house and became the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University.
A genius 'loser' who never gave up in the face of adversity!

What's the most challenging thing about being an Opera performer?

Getting through to the end! On stage, singing, playing piano, acting (& rapping!) for an hour and a half: that's longer than just about every role in the operatic repertoire. It's Wagnerian in its scope even though the music is mostly Mozart. I can only compare it to a triathlon!

Have you spent much time in NZ - what do you think of Kiwi audiences?

Believe it or not, this will be my very first visit to NZ! But I know many Kiwi singers from my time studying in Manchester and from the opera world (so much talent in a relatively small population...something of which to be very proud!) They all have a great sense of humour, so I think that I'm going to love the audiences here.

Did you always know you wanted to sing for a crust?

I always knew I wanted to perform: starting age 5 with Old King Cole at the Wellington Eisteddfod (NSW not NZ!) in a costume made by my grandmother. I sang a lot as a boy soprano until, quite late, at age 15, my voice slid (no embarrassing yodeling for me, just an embarrassing little boy voice!). Suddenly my nickname at school was "four-balls". But unable to sing the lead roles in school musicals (written for tenors and high baritones), I just thought I had no voice and concentrated on piano, violin, composition and theatre until, during studies at the University of Sydney I ended up as the male lead in an Alan Ayckbourn play with music. My piano teacher, Neta Maughan, came to see it, proclaimed me her discovery and sent me off to singing lessons...et voila!

Any tips for aspiring opera singers out there?  

Where do I start...? Discipline! In the words of my good friend Tamara-Anna Cislowska (an acclaimed Australian pianist) "If you're not practicing, your pretending!". In other words, keep training your instrument like a top sportsman. Also, be like a sponge: soak up as much about the art form, see/hear as many performances as you can. Another word of advice arises from the harsh reality of today's opera world. If you are carrying a few extra kilos, get rid of them NOW...I know so many wonderful singers who don't get opportunities because they are 'larger than average'...It's not fair but that's how it is!

Do you sing in the shower?

Of course! Doesn't everybody?