Opera star Patricia Racette looking forward to Cape visit
Patricia Racette's schedule speaks to her talent and demand.
The internationally acclaimed opera soprano sang last weekend at a gala concert with Patty Lupone during the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. Early in August she will be in Santa Fe at the Lensic Performing Arts Center; in October at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna; and in November, performing the title role in Puccini's Tosca at the San Francisco Opera.
In the midst of it all, Racette will make a visit to the auditorium of Cape Henlopen High School for a concert with Opera at the Beach.
Why is a star of such brilliance coming to the Delaware beaches?
“Why not?” said Racette in a recent interview. “I love the opportunity of having an evening performance to myself.” The Prudential Gallo – Touch of Italy Foundation is bringing Racette to Cape Henlopen on Saturday, Aug. 18, as a fundraiser for Coastal Concerts and the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center. Two years ago, the foundation's Opera at the Beach initiative brought acclaimed soprano Aprile Milo to town.
Accompanied by classical pianist Craig Terry, Racette plans an evening of opera favorites and cabaret. “I will definitely be an opera singer at the beach,” said the singer. “I did this recently in Naples, Florida and the audience loved it. I just completed a cabaret album called Diva on Detour. It's on UPS trucks as we speak, making its way to various places and also available through Amazon and other sources. We will be doing some of those pieces at the beach.
Cabaret brings her full circle
"I am an opera singer – make no mistake. But doing cabaret brings me full circle. It's like coming home because that's where I started before opera found me. So this gives me the opportunity to do an evening of music that really appeals to me – and by doing that I can offer more to the listener.”
Racette said the cabaret songs she will be singing – like The Man That Got Away, made famous by Judy Garland, Come Rain or Come Shine and Guess Who I Saw Today - offer a more intimate way of telling a story. “They are like little short stories – with a beginning, a middle and an end – in one song. I love the way that they find such resonance with people. I think people will hear that with the Edith Piaf medley. There will definitely be something for everyone – with the exception of rap. I won't be rapping.”
Racette and her partner of 15 years, mezzo soprano Beth Clayton, had just checked into a hotel in Chicago prior to her Ravinia performance when we spoke. Relaxing for a few moments after the rush of travel, Racette opened her heart about the importance of her singing.
“I need to sing,” she told me. “If I don't sing, it starts to burn inside. Singing is not a part of me - it is me.”
Whether singing a cabaret song about a woman who sees the one she loves at a bar, very much in love with another (Guess Who I Saw Today), or singing the title role in Tosca (“my favorite role du jour”), Racette said “the honesty of the emotion of that dramatic moment is key to me. Some singers feel it's important to keep a distance – to maintain their virtuosity. That's not me. I have to be in the story. It's very visceral for me. It has to be part of my being; otherwise it's just pasted on. To transport and move, it's just not effective if you can't digest and invest. You have to know your own instrument and your artistic being.”
A humbling honor to transport
For Racette, transporting, reaching and touching her audience is always her ultimate goal. “It's not always achieved, but it is always the goal,” she said. “I am not a studio performer. I need an audience. When I did the album, I had to have a studio audience. It's a real part of what I do. All of those individual emotions and energies make up an entity – the audience. And the audience becomes one body. It's a privilege and a humbling honor to transport them. It dreams its way in in bits and pieces and then overtakes you. The feeling as a performer – it's indescribable. There's something beyond the creative, beyond the athletic and the effort, something that speaks through me. And it changes shapes, in a sense. With all due respect to the participants and the material, there is a real magnificence in reaching the audience.”
Does Racette see herself as continuing to evole as an artist? “One hopes,” she said. “I think I still am. It's not always a straight and upward trajectory. I live and learn experientially and endeavor to live large and true.”
That truth has come through clearly in her personal life as she and her partner – an opera star in her own right – have always been open and honest about their relationship. In the dramatic world of opera, such relationships create lots of buzz. Racette said her partner will be making the trip with her to Rehoboth for the Opera at the Beach performance. With careers that often pull them to opposite corners of the world to pour out their hearts in emotional roles, they take every opportunity to travel together when schedules permit.
“I hope the people there are as excited about me coming as I am,” said Racette.
JUST THE FACTS
• Racette will be performing in the auditorium of Cape Henlopen High School on Saturday, Aug. 18. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the concert to begin at 8 p.m.
• Tickets are $50 and $75. Visit www.OperaAtTheBeach.com to purchase tickets.
• Tickets include a pre-performance reception of Italian delicacies and beverages plus a post-performance meet and greet with the artist.
• Proceeds from the 2012 Opera At The Beach performance will benefit the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center and Coastal Concerts.
• An Evening With Patricia Racette is being brought to the area by the Prudential Gallo – Touch of Italy Foundation.
Guess Who I Saw Today
Racette said she likes the intimate story-telling of cabaret songs. Here are the lyrics of one of the songs she likes to sing, written by Murray Grand and Elise Boyd.
You're so late getting home from the office
Did you miss your train?
No, don't bother to explain
Can I fix you a quick martini?
As a matter of fact
I'll have one with you
For to tell you the truth
I've had quite a day too
Guess who I saw today, my dear
I went into town to shop around for something new
and thought I'd stop and have a bite when I was through
I looked around for someplace near, and it occurred to me
where I had parked the car, there is a most attractive
French café and bar. It really wasn't very far
The waiter showed me to a dark, secluded corner
And when my eyes became accustomed to the gloom
I saw two people at the bar who were so much in love
that even I could spot it clear across the room
Guess who I saw today, my dear
I've never been so shocked before
I headed blindly for the door
They didn't see me passing through
Guess who I saw today?
Guess who I saw today?
Guess who I saw today?
I saw you.
