Introducing Elena Xanthoudakis, a Greek Australian opera singer taking to the stage as part of the Melbourne Opera’s Puccini Festival.
On Sunday, September 15, Elena kicked off her first performance of the 10-day Melbourne festival dedicated to celebrating the works of the renowned Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.
Taking place at the Athenaeum Theatre, the Puccini Festival, held to honour 100 years since the death of Puccini, features a fully staged production of one of his most popular and romantic opera’s La Bohème, as well as a Puccini Gala (Suor Angelica).
Running until Wednesday, September 25, Elena said the performance is one not to miss, especially for lovers of Italian operas.
“We had our opening matinee show at 3 pm on Sunday which went really well,” Elena told The Greek Herald. “It totally sold out, and everyone’s been saying incredibly great things about it.”
Who is Elena Xanthoudakis?
In an interview with The Greek Herald, the opera singer opened up about her life and how she got into classical music.
Growing up in the small town of Mount Beauty in regional Victoria, Elena revealed that music was always something she was passionate about.
“My first ever performance was when I was four years old and I did calisthenics,” Elena said. “Then when I commenced high school in year seven, I started getting into more classical music.”
From early ages, she attended music lessons, played the flute and was a part of a choir too. The now award-winning, soprano singer said because she grew up with a father from Chania in Greece and a mother from Australia, music was something she was bound to love as she was always surrounded by it growing up.
“My grandfather used to play ballet music and symphonies and my elder brother (Jason Xanthoudakis) is a professional saxophonist and clarinettist,” Elena said.
“My grandmother was a church organist, and my father used to play guitar and trombone too, and so my personal saying is all Greeks love music, right? And we make great singers because we’re so expressive.”
Elena’s opera career and achievements
Elena has been a professional opera singer for the last 20 years and has spent many years travelling the world to continue her music studies and work with other opera singers, which further inspired her to continue pursuing classical music.
In her lifetime, she has studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, the University of Melbourne, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she received her second Masters of Music.
“I have been very fortunate to have a very broad exposure to music in my lifetime,” Elena said.
“I also went to a music high school which I think was a really big help for me as we got to go and see Carmen with the school for the Victorian State Opera, as well as shows with Opera Australia which I really loved.”
She claims one of her greatest achievements was making a Bel Canto album called Jewels of the Bel Canto, with Richard Boning, a Bel Canto specialist.
What Elena loves most about opera
Elena described opera as a “huge technical challenge” and said what she loves most about it is all the elements that are combined to put on a performance.
“You’ve got the costumes, the lights, the production, and of course, the different languages, which make it even more unique,” Elena said.
“I just love the challenge of making such incredibly, beautiful moving music with a full-size orchestra, which is something very different from a musical.
“It is thoroughly enjoyable and the act of singing itself is like nothing else, and then the way that it touches people’s hearts is different from any other style of music.”
What can we expect from Elena as part of the Puccini Festival production?
Elena will be singing in Italian in one of two lead soprano roles as part of La Bohème.
“The production itself is a very heightened romantic production, and my character falls in love with the lead tenor, and it’s sort of like an ill-fated love affair,” Elena said.
“If you’ve never seen an opera before, this is a good one to start with. While it’s a tragic opera, a lost love kind of thing, it’s also incredibly funny, as well as deeply moving.
“Those who attend will just get to experience an incredible piece of theatre, as well as some of the most romantic, orchestral and vocal music they’re ever going to experience.”
Elena will be performing in La Bohème on the 18th, 21st and 24th September.
