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Home / Entertainment

Twelve Questions: Jonathan Lemalu

NZ Herald
31 Jul, 2013 05:30 PM5 mins to read

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Jonathan Lemalu says although he's proud of his law degree he would have been an average lawyer.
Jonathan Lemalu says although he's proud of his law degree he would have been an average lawyer.

Jonathan Lemalu says although he's proud of his law degree he would have been an average lawyer.

Born with a hole in his heart and named Jonathan, meaning gift of God, Jonathan Lemalu is one of New Zealand's most internationally successful opera singers. He is based in London with his opera director wife Sandra and their 5-year-old son Joshua. Lemalu is in New Zealand rehearsing for Don Giovanni in Christchurch next month.

1. Your voice is now incredibly deep - was it always this way?

Well it's tired this morning because I was out with a friend last night but no, it wasn't always like this. The voice is 37 and I feel it has gradually descended. I sang a lot higher five years ago and that means you have to change your whole technique and repertoire. You have to re-establish yourself in some ways. I've gone from a bass baritone to a bass. Dad has the same voice as me. I'm sure I got my voice from him.

2. Your parents emigrated from Samoa to Dunedin in the 1960s. What was it like?

Cold. Mum and Dad came to Dunedin because they had guaranteed work options, working in a woollen mill. I've no idea how that happened. Maybe a friend found it or something. The Pacific Island community is small but they were involved in the Presbyterian church. Dad would sometimes play the organ and he was in a band. For me he was "the Samoan Elvis" and I would help him pack the speakers, instruments like guitars and drums. I felt like the roadie. I'd sit beside them when they were playing and feel the bounce of the speakers.

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3. You were a boy soprano but studied law at the University of Otago. What kind of lawyer would you have been?

An average one at best. I often look back and wonder "what if?" regarding my law degree. It's one of the proudest moments for me, because it took an incredible amount of hard work and support from the law faculty and my family. Singing in a way for me is natural and instinctive. Law, alas, was not. Using emotion and feelings as a singer is great - as a lawyer, it's all about the law.

4. How were you received when you went to the Royal College of Music in London?

It was the first time I'd left home. I'd never gone flatting or anything. I felt really confident about myself and being from where I'm from, I was a novelty. On the first day I walked into school wearing a floral shirt that my mum had made for my dad and a beanie. Everyone else had shirts and blazers. But I like being different. As a performer, if you don't like being in front of people, forget about it.

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5. And now you perform at opera houses all over the world. Are your parents beside themselves with pride?

Oh yes, of course. There are photos at home of us with famous people and I send them programmes I'm in from different opera houses. They have them all in scrapbooks.

6. What's your favourite low-brow pursuit?

I would love to dunk a basketball in an NBA game, sing Nessun Dorma at pitch and be awesome at it. We have a lot of classical music at home but I listen to a lot of hip hop. Kanye West. I like Lupe Fiasco. No, I can't rap myself. There won't be a crossover album.

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7. Your wife Sandra is Bosnian - any cultural clashes?

Sandra and I have no cultural clashes. We are in a wonderful position as citizens of the world. Sandra is a very spiritual and holistic person, a traveller through time and space, bringing peace and harmony to the Earth. Her influence and support in our family is immense and she's a hugely calming influence on me.

8. I'm guessing you sing a lot about love in your line of work - what have you learned about it?

Both love and singing are extremely difficult. Loving something is vitally important to doing it, working at it, enjoying it and gaining satisfaction from it. But, to be honest, love is not as prominent as one would expect in my line of work, particularly in terms of opera roles as a bass. I am normally playing bad guys, priests and bitter, angry and comic characters. Buffoons. I fall over a lot.

9. How do you cope with rejection?

In love, or work? Rejection is a part of life that we wish didn't exist, but is a necessary part of everything we do.

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In terms of work, I hate rejection, but what can you do? You need to be thick-skinned and self-confident to the nth degree.

10. Do you know many Samoans in London?

Three. And one of them is my sister Selena.

11. Do you have any good opera diva stories?

You don't really talk about those, but have you heard the Kathleen Battle ones? Such as when she was in a limousine and the air-conditioning was too cold and she phoned her agent, in another country, to get them to ask for the aircon to be turned down? At the tippety tip top I think there's still room for divas and I'm sure if you asked my cast members about the last few days they'd say I've been a grumpy so and so. I don't know what it was. Jetlag maybe. What calms me down is ranting to my wife and every morning I Skype my son and read him two bedtime stories. That's really good for me.

12. Have you had anything to do with Dame Kiri in London?

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Dame Kiri has been very supportive of me and many, many other Kiwi musicians. When I first went to London I got a call to come around at Christmas time. I thought it was a joke, but it was in fact actually her and she gave me a homemade Christmas cake.

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