{"id":15717,"date":"2014-03-12T11:14:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T00:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=15717"},"modified":"2014-03-12T11:14:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T00:14:51","slug":"news-from-catherine-carby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/","title":{"rendered":"News From Catherine Carby"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

She has been a versatile and popular performer on Australia’s opera stage – as Carmen, she memorably tied up Stuart Skelton’s Don Jose; wore a beard as Baba the Turk in The Rake\u2019s Progress<\/em> for which she won a Helpmann Award; consoled Cheryl Barker’s Cio- Cio San as Suzuki in Madame Butterfly <\/i>\u00a0and received a Green Room Award as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare; <\/em>she donned the pants as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus<\/em>, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier<\/em> and Arsace in Partenope<\/i>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In recent years, mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby has been living and working in London where she has made her name as a soloist, appearing in some quite exceptional productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SoundsLikeSydney caught up with her via this Q and A:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0SLS: What are you present projects?\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CC: I’m currently working on Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten<\/i> at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. It’s a new production directed by Claus Guth and co-produced with La Scala. Semyon Bychkov is conducting and Johan Botha plays The Emperor. It’s part of the ROH’s commemorations of Strauss’ 150th birth anniversary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As well in March, I’m singing the role of Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti ed i Montecchi\u00a0<\/i>for Chelsea Opera Group at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the Southbank Centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also in March I am the soloist with the City of London Sinfonia at Southwark Cathedral\u00a0 in Supernatural Songs<\/i>, which features the music of Sir John Tavener, Gavin Bryars and Arvo Part. This is with the Hilliard Ensemble and the Holst Singers conducted by Stephen Layton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then it’s back to the Royal Opera in May for the Dialogue of the Carmelites<\/i> under Simon Rattle with Deborah Polaski and Sir Thomas Allen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SLS: Describe the experience of working at the ROH Covent Garden – what has it mean to you?\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CC: Working at Covent Garden is really the pinnacle, isn’t it? It is one of a handful of great opera houses that you dream of working at as a young singer. My first job there was covering Christine Rice as Ariadne in Birtwistle’s The Minotaur<\/i>, which is a fiendish piece of writing. It was a real baptism of fire – I had 9 weeks in which to learn it, from being offered the role, to the first day of rehearsal and it took every spare minute of those 9 weeks! Luckily I learn quickly and was well prepared. I jumped in at the last minute and sang at one of the sitzprobes<\/i>, which was nerve wracking in the extreme! After my last vocal entry I just slunk away quietly (well, wobbled away really!) and went home. The next day conductor Ryan Wigglesworth came looking for me and said “Where did you get to? I wanted to make a big fuss of you and get the orchestra to applaud what a great job you did!” So it was quite an introduction!\u00a0<\/p>\n

SLS: You recently sang in a production of ‘Elektra’ with Christine Goerke who performed the role in Sydney last month. What was your reaction to singing in this production?\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

CC: I loved every minute of this show. Such a great piece, in a great house with a great cast. Every single role was luxury cast, right down to the tiny one liners. I watched as much as I could from the side stage, when I wasn’t getting bloodied up! I was very interested to watch Christine; she has a really large instrument, but treats it like Mozart. Her approach to the technical demands of heavy repertoire is a masterclass in itself. Adrianne Pieczonka as Chrysotemis was another revelation to me. The final duet was thrilling. And we all had a hoot! Those Straussians know how to have a good time!\u00a0<\/p>\n

SLS: What has been the highlight \u00a0of your time in the UK thus far?<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n

CC: Probably opening night of Elektra.<\/i> Making a debut at a major house in such a triumphant production can’t be easily topped.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SLS: How hard or easy would you say it has been to obtain roles in the UK?
<\/i><\/p>\n

CC: I haven’t found it too hard, but the first year I was here I mostly did concert work, which made for a nice change – but opera is really where I like to live.<\/p>\n

\u00a0SLS: What are you long-term plans?<\/i><\/p>\n

CC: Well, we’ve just bought and are in the process of renovating a house in East London, so I think we are settled here for a bit! Our initial plan was to stay until our daughter finishes primary school, but as that’s only another 4 years away, I can’t really see it happening now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  She has been a versatile and popular performer on Australia’s opera stage – as Carmen, she memorably tied up Stuart Skelton’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-15717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\nNews From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"News From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  She has been a versatile and popular performer on Australia’s opera stage – as Carmen, she memorably tied up Stuart Skelton’s…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\"},\"headline\":\"News From Catherine Carby\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":799,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/carby-049-192x240.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/\",\"name\":\"News From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/carby-049-192x240.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/carby-049-192x240.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/03\\\/carby-049-192x240.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/news-from-catherine-carby\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News From Catherine Carby\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"description\":\"Connecting with Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":361,\"caption\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/author\\\/admin_2plt3rl9\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"News From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"News From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney","og_description":"  She has been a versatile and popular performer on Australia’s opera stage – as Carmen, she memorably tied up Stuart Skelton’s…","og_url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/","og_site_name":"Sounds Like Sydney","article_published_time":"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e"},"headline":"News From Catherine Carby","datePublished":"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/"},"wordCount":799,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/","name":"News From Catherine Carby - Sounds Like Sydney","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-12T00:14:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/carby-049-192x240.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/news-from-catherine-carby\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News From Catherine Carby"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","description":"Connecting with Music","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","width":1000,"height":361,"caption":"Sounds Like Sydney"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au"],"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/author\/admin_2plt3rl9\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15717"},{"taxonomy":"sls_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sls_format?post=15717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}