After a Year with a Master
Susan Platts Talks About Her Year as a Rolex Protégée
What was your most important artistic achievement before you began participating in this programme?
If you look from where I began to where I am now, there’s a beautiful line [of progression] – a nice opportunity here, a nice opportunity there. Each year has been something a little more demanding. However, working with conductor Gary Bertini in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Tokyo [in 2003] took me to a different level. I’d also say that singing the Luigi Dallapiccola opera, Ulisse [Ulysses], at La Scala in 2004 was pivotal. I worked with a conductor I adored – Bertini, again – and sang a piece of music that I never thought I’d be able to sing. It’s an atonal opera and there was little rehearsal time.
How did the mentoring year progress?
It’s not like we outlined what we’d do. Each time we’ve got together, we’ve done what felt right, worked on what music I had coming up on my concert schedule. There was no period of getting used to each other. But I appreciate the time and space the Jessye wants. I’ll be there when she wants me to be there. I might go and sing for a half-hour on my own, she makes me a cup of tea, we chat, we work.
What was the best part of being a Rolex protégée?
The incredible opportunity to work with such a fabulous mentor. But I also felt looked after. Everybody I met in the Protégé programme, everyone I worked with, they’re so nice. It speaks volumes about the company. They’re doing something incredibly right and it’s wonderful to feel like you’re under their wing. And under that wing is Jessye Norman.
Is there one incident or remark that sums up or typifies your relationship with your mentor?
It’s amazing to think that I could phone Jessye Norman. I phoned her the week before going to Kuala Lumpur to sing Chausson’s Poème de l’Amour et de la Mer [a work for voice and orchestra] and went over my French with her. That was in early days with her, and I thought: “I’m trying to speak French to Jessye Norman! Am I absolutely crazy?” But there was Jessye on the other end of the phone!
What was the single most important lesson or piece of advice your mentor gave you?
To believe in myself. To have confidence in myself.
How do you think your work is similar to or different from your mentor’s? Was that a stimulus or a barrier to your relationship?
There haven’t been any barriers. Every piece of music I’ve taken to her is one that she has performed. We have two different voices. And she never sat down and said: “This is what the music is about.” She has a zone she goes to when she sings. There could be fireworks in the room and she’s still in her zone. She shares the subtext she has with the music, but what I do with it is up to me.
Did you learn from your mentor any lessons beyond the practice of your art?
For sure! We talked a lot about navigating the music industry and when to walk away from a bad situation. She gave me the strength to say life is too short for that. There’s your art and believing in yourself outside your art. They’re so closely related.
Can you describe the most beneficial aspect for you of the mentoring year?
I didn’t feel that there was any sense from Jessye of “you down there” of “me up here”. We both go into the studio and enjoy music. I often sensed that she was loving it all over again.
Has your approach to your discipline changed or developed during the mentoring experience?
There have been big changes. Jessye said: “You have it, you’re doing it fabulously, but you can do it better and with far less effort for you. I’m going to make it so that it’s easier for you and you’ll sound even better.” That’s important for a singer’s longevity.
Is there any other comment you would like to add?
I don’t quite know what I did to deserve this. I’ve gotten to know a wonderful, amazing person. And I think we’ll continue to be in touch. I don’t see her putting down the gate.