Being a woman is also about harmony…  How better than through music?

Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić is known internationally through acclaimed performances of baroque, classical and other coloratura-mezzo repertoire as well as solo songs, and she’s been selected by the Women’s Forum and JP Morgan as one of the 20 “Rising Talents” this year.

As an opera-fan, I couldn’t leave Deauville without meeting her, and this serene-looking woman charmed me by her simplicity and the passion she expresses when talking about lyrical singing. “Singing is my first and biggest love. I was 6, listening to Verdi on the radio, and I knew I wanted to become a singer.”

And so she did, and not half-way: after studying singing at the Music Academy of Zagreb, she made a successful debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2003, where she sang Anna in Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting. A year later, she was blowing up the London scene, during the London Handel Festival, singing Dejanira in Handel’s Hercules the London Handel Orchestra under conductor Laurence Cummings. Since then, it seems nothing can stop this graceful young woman to charm Europe with her vocalises.

As a woman, is it a problem to travel so much from festivals to music theatres all around Europe? Not for Renata, who agrees her job hardly leaves her time for her personal life, but, as she beautifully says: “As a singer, you don’t work for a living: you entirely live your job. I am fortunate enough to work with amazing musicians, singers, orchestras and conductors, and this fulfils me completely.”

It’s the first time Renata attends a gathering such as the Women’s Forum, and she finds it tremendously inspiring. “It’s something very new to me to meet so many admirable and committed women, and I now feel an urge to commit beyond my job.” The Rising Talents program offers mentoring to its laureates, and Renata hopes this will help her finding what she could do “to help make things better around the world”.

In the meantime, her musical career keeps her very busy. On Sunday, she is heading to London to prepare a Lieder recital with Roger Vignoles. “Working with this pianist is simply heaven!” And so was listening to you, Renata!

Posted by Gersende - October 12, 2007
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