Tenor Noah plans Scottish memento

by Calum Macleod

WHEN opera singer Noah Stewart returns to New York, he expects to have an extra item to show for his latest stay in Scotland — his very own clan Stewart kilt.

He may not have found time to buy yet, given how busy he has been rehearsing for his role as dashing soldier Don Jose in Scottish Opera’s new production of Carmen, but he has already been checking out the Stewart tartan options and has every intention of buying a kilt as a memento of a fantastic time in Scotland.

Although his role in Carmen, alongside Justina Gringyte, the 2015 Young Singer of the Year at the International Opera Awards, will bring him to Inverness and Aberdeen for the first time, this is his fourth visit to Glasgow, a city where he already feels at home.

"Glasgow reminds me of New York and the people in Scotland have been so friendly and welcoming," he said.

"I grew up in New York City with tons of people from different backgrounds and nationalities and one of the joys of my job is that whenever I travel, I try to get out to the community and meet people who are coming to see me in performance. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s really the friendliness of the people here that I really take to."

If Stewart is familiar with Glasgow, then the same holds true of his role in Carmen, one he has played on stages from South Africa to London’s Albert Hall.

Yet, as he points out, every production is unique.

"Each production, whether it’s an old opera or a new opera, I always try and approach it from a new standpoint," he said.

"You are dealing with new people and their interpretations will be slightly different. And also I’ve never done a production with French dialogue, which is the most challenging thing in my opinion. The amount of time conservatories devote to acting is much less than music. Not that there is a ton of dialogue, but when you stop singing there is always a danger that energy levels drop. That’s like when you are watching a football match and it switches to a commercial, it can take you out of things. As artists we have to make sure that energy level doesn’t drop."

A couple of years on from his last appearance in the role in London, Stewart adds that he brings his additional life experience to the part as well.

"I’ve changed as a man, but I also try and bring in what we see happening in the world," he said.

"We hear about so many love triangles and crimes of passion in the news or read about them in the newspaper or know about them from friends and family. I try to bring my social awareness to these parts as well because I want people to relate to it."

The opera might be called Carmen, but for Stewart, it is his character who has the greatest emotional arch of the evening, from naive and romantic lover to the murderous jealousy that brings Bizet’s opera to its tragic conclusion.

That progression means there is plenty to challenge Stewart as both singer and actor in the role, which suits the Harlem born singer.

"By the fourth act, the music is even more dramatic, even for a dramatic tenor, so the challenge is combining all the drama of the story and the anger of the character with the vocal challenges because the tone must always be beautiful and Bizet’s music must be sung elegantly," he said.

"One of the things I love about my job is that I love to feel exhausted. If I don’t feel exhausted by the end of a show, emotionally or physically, I feel like the audience didn’t really get all of me. If they have got it, then I know I have done my job."

Brought up by a single mother in a tough neighbourhood in Harlem, Stewart began singing with a high school choir whose repertoire would go from Bach to gospel to providing backing vocals for children’s television show Sesame Street.

It was seeing videos of Leontyne Price and Luciano Pavarotti that set him on a career path towards opera, precisely because it was an occupation that was not expected for someone from his background.

"I think any person who chooses to follow a career where they do not look like a person people are used to seeing in a specific role, is always going to be more ambitious," he said.

"My mother said to me: ‘Noah, If you go into this industry, just know that you just have to be better.’ I accepted that and my love for it over rides any challenges that I have faced or will face in the future because I know why I’m here.

"Is it hard to be a black tenor in the world of opera? Absolutely it’s hard. People are still not used to it. It’s still unusual to see the final bow being taken by a person of colour.

"Do I think about it all the time? Absolutely not. I think about music and how to be the best that I can be, and I never compete with anyone but myself."

• Scottish Opera’s production of Carmen by Georges Bizet is at The Empire Theatre, Eden Court, at 7.15pm on Tuesday 27th, Thursday 29th and Saturday 31st October.

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