New faces: Kathryn Rudge

Rupert Christiansen introduces bubbly mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, who plays Annio in La Clemenza di Tito for Opera North later this month.

Kathryn Rudge: 'in my dreams, I’m Carmen'.
Kathryn Rudge: 'in my dreams, I’m Carmen'.

Who is she?

A bubbly Liverpudlian mezzo-soprano who has been in non-stop demand since she graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2011 laden with prizes after seven years of study.

What’s makes her special?

Rudge has bags of personality and an attractive stage presence, married to a warmly colourful and vibrant vocal timbre.

How did she get started?

A natural performer since appearing in her primary school nativity plays, she fell in love with classical music at 13 when a teacher introduced her to Gluck’s aria Che farò. “I listened to Kathleen Ferrier’s recording,” she says. “Knowing that she was a Lancashire girl, too, was such an inspiration.”

What was her big break?

Fiona Shaw chose her to play the randy teenage boy Cherubino in her ENO production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 2011. She followed this with more trouser-wearing roles: Cherubino again for the Glyndebourne tour, and Sesto in Handel’s Julius Caesar for Opera North, where she is now rehearsing as Annio for John Fulljames’s new production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

What’s the secret of playing boys?

“It’s not just imitating the way they walk – you have to get inside their heads, too. And remember that they’re all different people!”

When will we see her in a skirt?

She’ll be playing Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Opera North this summer. “And in my dreams, I’m Carmen,” she adds.

What else fires her up?

She loves giving solo song recitals (she’ll perform at Wigmore Hall on April 2), and then there’s her devotion to Liverpool FC – “though we haven’t had the most brilliant season so far”.

'La Clemenza di Tito’ opens at the Grand Theatre, Leeds (0844 848 2700) on Jan 31