How does the soprano keep her voice healthy enough to sing into a microphone? Coaching with the best you say? Juicy details are all after the jump.
"Jenkins, who has recently returned from a hectic tour of France, Germany, Belgium, Canada, the United States, Australia and South America, is between gigs right now, though she is preparing for her Christmas Royal Albert Hall appearance. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have agreed to the interview, since she doesn’t speak for 36 hours before shows, such is her devotion to safeguarding her voice. ‘I am fussy, about my diet and straining my voice,’ she says, shuffling in her seat. ‘I know, sounds a bit over the top. But I’m not as bad as I used to be. These days I don’t drink alcohol for five days before a show – very dehydrating for the vocal cords, and all that acid reflux. I used to ban it for a fortnight. Nightmare. No Malibu and Coke. And no, I don’t make outrageous demands for what I want in my room before I go on stage.’ Jenkins sighs. ‘Look, I ask for a bar of Green & Blacks chocolate because I don’t eat before shows and I need a quick sugar fix afterwards. I have no idea where this “demanding diva” thing came from,’ she says crossly."
"None the less, the rumours of being ‘difficult to work with’ persist. Jenkins’s critics – the purists who sniff at classical crossover, and in particular, ‘popera’ – seethed at her switch of recording label from Universal to Warner two years ago, in a reputed £5.8 million deal, which has seen her transform herself from sweetheart-from-the-Valleys to worldwide superstar. Her desire to do opera has given critics a fit of the vapours. (Carmen is her dream role and, this is a secret, Placido Domingo has been tutoring her.)"
(Photo: Eva Vermandel)
