Opera singers

Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist have just had the chance of a lifetime. Last Saturday, as joint winners of Channel 4's docu-competition Operatunity , the two thirtysomething mothers got to sing leads with the English National Opera. As the curtain fell, everyone beamed.

But, apart from the winning warblers, few of the people on stage had reason to smile. The ENO recently announced it was planning to sack a third of its chorus. The singers have retaliated in true operatic style, staging a series of one-day strikes, with encores planned.

Such off-camera drama begs the question: what is it actually like to work in the grand world of opera?

It's certainly not that grand. Life at the top is swish enough. Life at the very top is positively luxurious. But for the vast majority of opera singers, record deals, million-dollar concert fees and demigod status remain the stuff of dreams. Their reality is rejections, short contracts, low pay and periods of no work at all. Only the chorus, and not all of them, enjoy the luxury of being employed on a regular, full-time basis. The rest are hired, and fired, on a freelance system.

'It is a buyer's market,' says Wasfi Kani, chief executive of Pimlico Opera. 'The brutal truth is, there are a lot of opera singers and only ever a few jobs.'

This has always been the case, in Britain at least. 'We are very good at training opera singers,' says Kani, but not very good at employing them. And it's been like this since Handel's day.'

Today, according to Equity, the union for performing artists, there are at least 1,850 opera singers in the UK, competing for opportunities with the five state-funded companies and a clutch of smaller outfits.

Most study for three to five years at a music school, but 0pera singers take lessons throughout their career. And for new productions they may have to learn a new style or slightly different technique. In addition to looking after their voices, opera singers have to stay fit.

'You are always trying to improve all aspects of yourself,' says one opera singer. 'You can't afford not to.'

Income

The pay varies: a salaried member of a chorus can earn between £16,000 and almost £30,000 a year. A principal gets from £100 to £1,000 a performance. A known name can receive £5,000, a very well known name up to £10,000. Extremely well known names ask whatever they want. Pavarotti's fees are legendary.

Advantages

'Being on stage, in character and in good voice, in front of a keen audience, is incredibly exciting,' says resting opera singer Andrew Rivera. 'There is nothing else like it.'

Disadvantages

'Dealing with rejections; struggling between jobs; facing down the fear that any job could be your last; constantly having to fine tune the instrument that is your voice, the list goes on and on', says Rivera.

The future

Some experts claim opera is becoming more popular. In 2000 the Opera and Music Theatre Forum found 6.4 per cent of the British population had been to a performance that year and that interest was growing rapidly.

Ticket sales have subsequently tapered off, due, apparently, to the world recession. But the Arts Council insists there is still strong demand for live opera and the Government con tinues to fund it to the tune of around £50 million a year.

Opera isn't going away, but even with populist initiatives such as Operatunity , it will remain a minority, perhaps largely elitist, interest. And, while music schools go on churning out too many potential Pavarottis, opera singers will stay on the wrong side of the supply equation.

My view: Anthony Marber

Anthony Marber, 42, sings lead roles all over Europe, but 10 years ago he'd never even seen an opera.

Until 1995 he was an investment banker. At a friend's suggestion he started singing lessons. His teacher encouraged him to perform in small productions.

'And it just sort of went on from there,' says Anthony. 'I have been lucky. But as for what is going to happen next in my career, I don't know. You never know.

'Of course there is no regret. And I will always remember seeing my first opera. It just blew me away. It still does.'

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