British opera star Jennifer Johnston cuts a commanding figure standing in front of one of Wuppertal’s most iconic buildings – the five-storey flagship Primark store, a symbol of post-war urban transformation. Its curved brass façade, glistening in the autumn sun. Meeting for the first time since the heady days of Amsterdam’s Mahler Festival earlier this year, Johnston immediately puts me at ease. Nestled in the prosperous Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of Germany, this is a city at the sharp end of recent immigration surges. Its net migration rate, an astonishing 43% (2019). Carving a line through the centre, she points out the Schwebebahn – a suspended monorail and one of the few remaining symbols of the city’s illustrious past. A natural observation for one whose latest mission, in partnership with London Transport Museum, is to bring culture into our daily lives. There is more to Liverpool-born Jennifer Johnston than meets the eye.
We talk reading glasses – she has poor eyesight, and apparently Dutch glasses (I live in the Netherlands) are amongst some of the best on the market. We talk Ozempic, highlighting the pressure young singers feel to look a certain way, or to be a certain size. Does anyone actually know the long-term effects of taking a drug which saps the body of all available nutrients? Is this current fad for slimming drugs perhaps a future scandal in the making?
But it is a mutual love of Gustav Mahler’s music which focuses both our minds.
Finding her stride after time spent as a barrister in London, Johnston, who quite literally found her voice again after the birth of her daughter Ruby as a BBC New Generation Artist, is now widely regarded as the mezzo-soprano of choice for conductors in the know. This year alone has seen her feature in a number of performances of Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony: with Ed Gardner and the London Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic, and Klaus Mäkelä and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw on the 114th anniversary of the composer’s death. After more Mahler at the BBC Proms, Mahler’s Third Symphony beckoned in Taiwan before joining Osmo Vänskä in Antwerp for Mahler’s Second later this month. Quite a Mahler-filled year.
Attention this week, however, is turned towards Wagner’s Das Rheingold and the role of Fricka, the goddess of marriage. Joining their general rehearsal later that evening, I note the difference in her tone: in Wagner, she seems lighter, more nimble, expressive and definitely more animated. But one thing remains constant, when Johnston stands, an orchestra visibly exhales. How many times in her career has she stilled those turbulent waters and provided a magnet for music-making of the highest order? Johnston is a compelling presence on stage; and is most generous with her craft.
In conversation
We start by discussing current challenges faced by British musicians working in Europe and repercussions of the 2020 Brexit agreement, widely acknowledged as disastrous for the UK music industry.
Has anything changed or improved in the passing years?
“No! Hardly anything’s changed!” she retorts. “Lord Frost in particular, should be utterly ashamed. He has the nerve to turn up to watch concerts and engagements. He shouldn’t be allowed in the building! The damage he did is shocking. It’s put enormous pressure, not just on classical musicians and orchestras, but on touring bands. Most bands can’t even take merchandise into Europe because they can’t afford the charges at customs, so the impact is immense.”
Music’s contribution to the British economy is often overlooked.
“For every pound invested in music, four pounds is returned into the economy,” she argues. “But we have had a series of governments which are obsessed with fish and farming. The predicament musicians find themselves in is just one of a number of issues that have been triggered by Brexit. And I don’t know whether we’ll see an improvement in coming years.”
As a British journalist living in the Netherlands, I see first-hand the struggles younger artists make navigating the immense bureaucratic burden necessary to make your way onto a European stage.
“I think it depends on who you are,” she continues. “I’m a freelancer, I’m completely British, I don’t have a second passport, and I was established before Brexit happened. So the challenges for me are standardized.
“It’s basically the same whether you’re a tourist or working. You can work 90 days in each 180 day period without requiring a visa, and that includes holidays. So in work terms, it’s quite tricky. You have to be really careful not to go over the limit. The only thing that’s got easier is securing a visa. Portugal and Belgium’s admin used to be impossible, but that seems to have settled down,” she says. “However, if you go over the 90 day limit, you need to apply for a visa, for each individual country.”
In spite of this, Johnston is quietly optimistic about the new EU entry system, having queued for “an hour and a half” in Düsseldorf on its first day of implementation, only to be waved through because “they’d turned the system off by the time I reached the gate!”
“I would like to see a Europe-wide visa allowing cross-border travel for both musicians and crews. It’s quite complex and would take agreement at the top level. But politically, there’s been absolutely zero will. It’s shameful what happened. Musicians have been sacrificed.”
While the situation may be okay for established artists like Johnston who are in demand, she argues that life becomes difficult for younger singers who haven’t managed to establish themselves internationally straight out of college “because there are lots of singers in Europe. The opera houses don’t need to take a Brit if they don’t think it’s worthwhile”.
“A number of choruses across Europe openly state on application forms that British singers cannot apply. And then you add in the problems with UK funding, plus a reduction in the number of UK productions.
“That sounds fairly bleak. However, some excellent younger singers are still making their way through: British baritone Huw Montague Rendall – a regular at Covent Garden and Glyndebourne, and recent recipient of Gramophone’s Voice and Ensemble award; Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor – who has just made her Carnegie Hall debut; and the very international Fleur Baron – currently coached by Barbara Hannigan.
“But in all these cases, from the outset, they were the whole package,” she adds.
“Not everybody is ready to go at the age of 23 and if you’re a Wagnerian for example, you might not be ready until you’re in your mid to late 30s at the very earliest. That’s where the talent pipeline is going to fail because if you’ve not had enough grounding and stage time, few promoters will touch you.
“I was really lucky,” she admits. “I sang my first Wagner with Opera North when I was quite young, so I didn’t have to cope with singing ‘perfect German to a German audience’. Also, I experienced remarkable musical leadership from Richard Farnes, who is an exceptional Wagnerian, and Martin Pickard, who I believe is the best Wagner coach in the UK. That gave me the confidence to say ‘Yes!’ when the Bavarian State Opera said, ‘We really want you for Wagner. Will you come and sing to us on stage?’ That wouldn’t have happened without the Opera North experience and the confidence they gave me.”
Klaus Mäkelä and Jennifer Johnston after Mahler 3, Sept 2023 | © Clare Varney
Is post-graduate study in a European conservatoire the answer?
“I think that’s a slightly safer route if you want exposure to the European scene,” she replies. “But it relies on individuals being brave enough to step out outside of what they may consider to be the norm. But even in Europe, there are problems with funding cuts and consequent shrinking of the number of classical music and opera performances. So it’s not a quick or easy fix.
What is the complete package, I ask? “It’s being skilled so you can pass as a German singing German, or a French person singing French; looking appropriate for your voice type; and being social media savvy. Content creation has become standard. HDTV is also a pressure. Everything we do now is filmed or recorded, often with little rehearsal or real control as individuals over the output.”
I have often wondered whether top orchestras help in this matter, perhaps giving a clothing allowance especially for high profile events like the BBC Proms.
“No never!” she divulges. “Once you’re within an opera house, everything is provided. But if I’m in concert, as I am here in Wuppertal, singing Fricka, I wear my own dress, my own makeup, my own jewellery and my own shoes. If you’re on the BBC, there’s a makeup artist. Likewise, the RCO provided a makeup artist for Mahler 8 which was televised. But because I like to look a particular way, I did my own makeup. I am particular about false eyelashes. They almost act like a shield against the very bright lights that we have in our faces. They make my life a bit easier!”
And dresses?
“Where dresses are concerned, I’m much more comfortable in black. I would much rather people concentrate on the singing, the expression and the storytelling without worrying about what I’m wearing. Some seasons though where I’ve had over 40 concerts, the wear and tear on dresses is immense.
“I will only wear a dress, once, in each city. Before I go on stage, I always take a selfie. Not to publish, but as a record of what I’ve worn. Then, if clothes are still in good enough condition, I’m able to wear them for 15 or 20 years. Vinted though is fabulous! I’ve already found an outfit for something I’m doing in 2027. I secretly quite enjoy it all. I have a dressing room at home with a dressmaker’s dummy where I can maintain dresses. It’s a rolling program of maintenance which nobody sees, and nobody talks about. But it’s part of our job.”
Is there anything else I wonder which could make life easier for young singers on the road? Practicalities, like accommodating those with young families?
“Scheduling,” she replies, “is something I’ve always found slightly tricky. Opera directors publish daily schedules the night before and sometimes this leaves singers sitting around for days, not working, but unable to return home. You can’t plan ahead. Having said that, I’ve ended up in some fantastic houses whose scheduling is easier on family life. For a revival production at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich you do two and a bit weeks’ rehearsal, four shows and you’re done. That’s perfect! It’s only if you do a new production that you can be away for a long time, and I’ve chosen not to do so many of them in recent years. As a single mum with a teenager daughter now in her final year of school, balancing family versus work-life balance has been hard.”
With this in mind, how important then is it for female voices to be heard in the cultural industry I ask?
“It’s not so much about being a woman,” she tells me, “As speaking openly and honestly about challenges the industry faces.” I sense her steely reserve. She is no stranger to fighting her corner and those years of legal training at the bar coming to the fore.
“I think that sometimes women take a different path into issues. My view is different, and I argue differently. It annoys some men because I’ll handle myself differently, or I’ll match them, and then they don’t like that very much because a woman isn’t supposed to be able to do that. My interactions on X, formerly Twitter around the time of the Arts Council cuts, were eye opening. I was on the receiving end of real abuse from several male members of our community who felt it was their role to argue for the arts, not mine. It was jaw dropping.
“Moving forwards, if we are to forge a path of equality, it’s important that women have a voice. There has been a shift in the last year in particular, and it’s brilliant to see Abigail Pogson becoming Chief Executive of the Barbican joining Head of Music, Helen Richenda Wallace. That’s two fantastic women at the top of a major UK organization.
Has flexibility in the UK workplace improved for women?
“We’re not there yet,” she replies, smiling broadly. “One of my heroes, Gillian Moore, managed to juggle family life whilst Director of Music at the South Bank Centre, so it is possible. I actually feel that it’s very important to carry on working when you have a family. I want my daughter to realize that she can choose to live how she wants. On the flip side, it’s challenging because in the end, you can’t have it all. Very often, something has to give. In my case that’s been my personal life. Maybe that will change!” she adds with a glint in her eye!
“It boils down to privilege,” she concludes. “There is a trap, and it’s the cost of childcare. But if you look at every aspect of a freelance life, there are pressures and challenges across every aspect of the industry. There are times as a freelancer where you’re not paid quickly. A young person won’t necessarily have the credit, nor the ability to have an overdraft. There is a possibility that they would hit zero and not be able to pay the rent.
“My generation didn’t enter the profession with a huge financial burden. We didn’t have to pay to go to university, so we weren’t weighed down by debt even before we started. We were in a totally different position to those starting out today who may never be able to get on the property ladder.”
To conclude
As we part our separate ways for this evening’s performance in Wuppertal’s Historische Stadthalle with the exciting young conductor, Patrick Hahn, I check my emails and find a press release announcing the release of Decca’s new RCO recording from the 2025 Mahler Festival where I heard her last. Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony and Johnston’s Mulier Samaritana will live on, perhaps even inspiring the next generation of singers to follow in her footsteps and likewise fly the flag for UK singers around the world.
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