Sunday Times 2
A lifelong passion
Being a performing artiste is a full time job. Working hours are not limited to a “nine to five” basis and one’s office doesn’t comprise a cubicle, desk and chair. Instead you travel around the globe, performing for thousands, juggling nerves, anxiety and passion held together by endless rehearsals and practices. Opera singer Helen Massey and pianist Caroline Jeya Ratnam arrived in Sri Lanka to take the stage with the De Lanerolle Brothers on Monday, September 23, at the duo’s annual concert dedicated to classical music.
The glamourous evening at the Water’s Edge saw them rendering songs of their choice and a few collaborative numbers with the brothers, holding the audience captive with their excellent performances and sense of humour, on par with that of the brothers.
Hailing from England, both Helen and Caroline were discovered at a tender age. Helen was, surprisingly, not the singing sensation in her family. The younger of two girls she recalls listening to her older sister sing. “It came naturally to me. Almost like breathing,” she says. Growing up in a home where music was always encouraged it was no surprise that she followed her sister. “We were known as the Massey sisters” she smiles remembering the many times the two would stand up at family functions and entertain friends and family with their singing.
Having been encouraged by her family, school and choir Helen went on to study at the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music, excelling in her field. She has starred in operas such as Le Nozze di Figaro, Falstaff and Parnaso Confuso and has performed around the globe from India to Italy.
Sri Lankan-born Caroline Jeya Ratnam was discovered to be musical while still a baby. “I was about six months old when my mother realised that I could pick up a tune very easily.” An introvert by nature Caroline’s mother went out of her comfort zone to nurture her daughter’s talent. “She taught me how to play the piano and would take me up and down for different classes,” Caroline remembers. Caroline is also an accomplished singer and violinist, having performed several violin concertos while at school and university. She read music at Cambridge University and completed her Masters Degree and was later appointed the Geoffrey Parsons Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music. Music has taken her around the globe and she has also appeared on television and radio and performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
In Colombo, they were on a tight schedule of interviews, news conferences and rehearsal time. Helen and Caroline first met in school and have been friends ever since. Both are perfectionists, but tend to have their own way of doing things. Caroline is a self-confessed procrastinator. “I always wait for the last minute to do anything,” she admits. “Of course, on the bright side it makes you a very sharp sight reader. But on the other hand I tend to get worried and over anxious about a performance.” Helen believes that focus is key, to be being prepared for a performance, preferring to rehearse while multitasking, often practising her pieces while driving or running errands.
The most challenging part of performing for the two, is in forming a connection with their audience. Classical music and opera, they agree is not always the most popular genre or easily understood. “The sad part is when people come to watch an opera ‘to be seen’.
The true worth of an art form is when a performer feels the raw appreciation of her audience,” explained Helen speaking about the types of audiences they encounter. “I once rehearsed a piece at a school in front of a class of little children,” she said, recounting how they stared at her with eyes wide with wonder, even though they had no understanding of what she was singing. Caroline shared a similar sentiment feeling that even if a piece is beyond the audience, if it is delivered with sincerity, it can be appreciated by anybody.
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