A voice so sweet, it has its own dessert
By Nick Dent
Imagine a deconstructed version of the English trifle made with amaretti, raspberry jelly and lemon curd.
This is La Dolce Jessica – a dessert invented by Maggie Beer that is inspired by the Queensland-raised soprano Jessica Pratt.
Superstar soprano Jessica Pratt is considered one of the world’s greatest interpreters of the bel canto repertoire.Credit: Steph Do Rozario
“It has different ingredients to celebrate all the different parts of my life,” Pratt said.
“There’s the idea of a trifle from England, where I was born, amaretti from Italy, where I live, and macadamias from Australia. It’s very good.”
Beer, a longtime classical music fan, created the dish for Pratt’s Sydney Opera House debut, and it was later served at the singer’s wedding in Tuscany.
Now it’s on the menu at the Brisbane Bel Canto Long Lunch with Maggie Beer – a three-course lunch taking place this Friday with musical accompaniment by Opera Queensland.
Classical music fan Maggie Beer created La Dolce Jessica in tribute to her diva friend. Credit: Opera Australia
Bel canto means “beautiful singing” and Brisbane Bel Canto is a new festival focusing on Italian operas of the mid-19th century and the movement’s three greatest composers, Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini.
“There are few things that can connect with our emotional centre more effectively than the human voice in full flight,” said Opera Queensland artistic director Patrick Nolan, who conceived the festival.
“The virtuosity demanded by bel canto singing is the epitome of this experience.”
Pratt, who has been hailed as the next Joan Sutherland, is famous for her performances in the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.
The opera’s famous ‘Mad Scene’ is a reliable show-stopper and Pratt has performed it at both Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Pratt in Opera Queensland’s Lucia di Lammermoor.Credit: Murray Summerville
“I have around 40 roles [in my repertoire], but most of them I have only sung once. Lucia is the most famous and I’ve always sung it twice, sometimes three or four times a year,” Pratt said.
Pratt arrived from Italy last week to perform in Opera Queensland’s production at QPAC on Saturday, with one more performance on Saturday, April 27.
She will also star in Jessica Pratt in Concert on Wednesday, singing highlights from the bel canto canon by Vincenzo Bellini, including the final sleepwalking scene from La sonnambula.
Born in Bristol, Pratt grew up in Toowoomba and Brisbane with artistic parents. Coincidentally, her conductor for Brisbane Bel Canto, Richard Mills, also hails from Toowoomba.
“My dad [music educator Philip Pratt] sang with Opera Queensland in the chorus when I was in Toowong High. In fact, the first Lucia I saw was in QPAC, with my dad in the chorus,” Pratt recalled.
“I grew up with opera being a normal part of our lives. I think if I’d become a surgeon my dad would be disappointed.”
Pratt said she enjoys hometown performances where she can catch up with her family and friends, although her father’s paternal pride can raise the expectations of some audience members.
“It’s more stressful singing for my dad’s friends than it is singing in Milan or New York,” she said.
Jessica Pratt in Concert is at the Concert Hall, QPAC, Wednesday, April 24, 7pm. Lucia di Lammermoor is at the Concert Hall on Saturday, April 27, 2pm. The Rossini opera Stabat Mater is at the Conservatorium Theatre on Friday, April 26 at 7.30pm and the Brisbane Bel Canto Lunch Lunch is at Events on Oxlade, New Farm on Friday, April 26, 12pm.