Saturday with opera singer Niamh O'Sullivan: I practice singing upside-down and running up stairs

Niamh O'Sullivan says she tests her voice first thing in the morning

Opera singer Niamh O'Sullivan: 'Once it gets closer to opening night, we will rehearse in the venue, everyone  in costume, make-up and wigs.'

07.00

The first thing I do when I wake is to test my voice. If my voice doesn’t crack and the sound comes out cleanly, then I can feel more relaxed throughout the day. My warm-up routine depends on that first sound in the morning.

Dublin is my base but I’m there altogether perhaps one month of the year. My boyfriend lives in London, so I stay with him in West London when I’m there. I might be performing in Covent Garden or with the English National Opera or I might be performing with Garsington Opera in Oxford.

I’ll usually eat breakfast on rehearsal day to give me some fuel. If it’s a performance day, I’ll get up a bit later to have as much rest as possible and have brunch. I will then try not to eat until after the performance.

09.30

I’ll arrive at the rehearsal venue at around 9.30am where I’ll do some scales and vocal exercises.

10.00

When rehearsing a new opera, we start at the beginning. It’s always fun doing rehearsals with the chorus because there’s a great buzz in the room and it’s less nerve-wracking than doing my solos.

The nerves never end; if anything, they get worse because there’s more expectation and more pressure. There’s pressure to stay at the level that you have established. It’s nearly easier to get to that level and harder to maintain.

My singing teacher used to say to me: ‘You’re only as good as your last performance.’ It’s good to think like that — it keeps us on our toes. You might think people know what you sound like but, if they’ve never heard you before and you don’t sound good that day, that’s what they might remember.

Carmen is such a popular opera and she is such a famous character that there is so much stereotype around the role. The main challenge is to find something new in her and not to do the stereotypical sexy, bold, seductive Carmen. She is so much more complex than that, so the challenge for me is to find the nuanced aspects of her character.

17.00

Once it gets closer to opening night, we will rehearse in the venue. In those rehearsals, everyone is in costume, make-up and wigs. On theatre days, we will rehearse until 10pm, with a break between 5pm and 6pm. You are trying to conserve as much energy as possible before opening night, yet conversely, the most tiring days are the days just before opening night.

18.00

After rehearsals, if the cast are going for a drink or food, I’ll go with them. If I’m feeling very tired, I will go home and reset for the next day.

Carmen I know inside out so I don’t have as much prep to do but in February, for example, I did The Handmaid’s Tale, which was completely new for me, so I spent a lot of time outside of rehearsals memorising it. There is slightly less pressure when you come back to a role that you’ve done before.

Nowadays, opera is becoming so much more physical because new directors are expecting so much more of us. We are not in musical theatre and we don’t use microphones, so sometimes we have to project our voices while singing upside down, running through a tunnel or up a stairs. This is what rehearsals are for — to develop the stamina required.

20.00

When the curtain goes up, it is the most amazing and scary feeling ever. The first night of a performance is the most nerve-wracking because the audience hasn’t reacted to it yet. Usually I can’t remember coming on stage for my first entrance but, when I’m on my eighth or ninth performance, I can relax into it and enjoy it.

Every day I feel so lucky that I get to do this as my job. I crave the adrenaline that I get from audiences and love being able to move people — that is the reason I do this. If I’ve a few days off, I love to go for walks or to the cinema. I love watching my colleagues perform, watching phonic concerts or going to see a play. I’m really interested in every aspect of the arts — I love jazz and I love musical theatre.

22.30

I might go for a drink with my colleagues to wind down and then it’s straight to bed. I will replay the whole performance in my head and I might take a phone call from my mum or someone else who was there. I love to get feedback — positive or negative.

There are better singers coming up all the time and the standard is getting higher and higher, so you have to be a perfectionist and constantly improve. The voice is always changing, there is never a dull moment, and you can never become complacent.

• Carmen runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on November 2, 4, 6, and 7. A limited number of tickets priced from €24.75 are available now: bordgaisenergytheatre.ie