Facing the music: Eva-Maria Westbroek

How do you listen to music?

At home I almost always listen to vinyl records. I love the sound quality of vinyl: my husband has a huge collection, which is expanding almost every day. On the road, I mostly listen to music on my iPad.

What was the last piece of music you bought?

I think it was a CD of an amazing Catalan singer called Silvia Perez Cruz.

What’s your musical guilty pleasure?

I have many - I love latin music, Los Panchos, tangos, Victor Jara, Mercedes Sosa and flamenco. I also love Jamiroquai, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, k.d. lang and so much more.

If you found yourself with six months free to learn a new instrument, what would you choose?

I would love to play the piano really well.

Is applauding between movements acceptable?

I have no strong opinion on this either way!

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What’s been your most memorable live music experience as an audience member?

I’m so lucky to have had many amazing experiences. The most recent was a performance of Tristan und Isolde at the Royal Opera House with Tony Pappano conducting and Nina Stemme, Stephen Gould, Iain Patterson, Sarah Connolly, John Tomlinson and Graham Clark. It was just phenomenal in every way. Another mind-blowing experience was the St John’s Passion under Simon Rattle in the regie of Peter Sellars. I was so moved it took me days to get back to normal life.

What was the first ever record you bought?

Something by Caruso that I found in Paris at a flea market.

Do you enjoy musicals? Do you have a favourite?

I don’t go very often, but the ones I have seen I loved very much. Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Book of Mormon are my favourites.

How many recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies do you own? Do you have a favourite?

I have no idea how many we have in the house - probably more than we can listen to! An absolute favourite of mine is Beethoven’s 7th Symphony conducted by Klemperer.

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Which conductor of yester-year do you most wish you could have worked with?

Victor de Sabata and Wilhelm Furtwängler.

Which non-classical musician would you love to work with?

I don’t have a particular musician in mind, but I would love to sing tangos!

Imagine you’re a festival director here in London with unlimited resources. What would you programme - or commission - for your opening concert?

Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic doing Wagner and Bach and anything they feel like, Tony Pappano conducting Puccini and playing and conducting Rachmaninov 2, and of course anything else he wants to do!

What do you sing in the shower?

Mostly Diana Krall-type golden oldies.

Eva-Maria Westbroek performs in Andrea Chenier at the Royal Opera House from 20 January 2015. David McVicar’s production of Giordano’s opera will be screened in cinemas around the UK and internationally on 29 January.