Musical Muse

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This article was published 09/03/2016 (3772 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Singer, songwriter, actor, composer of soundtracks for film, television, theatre and dance, and now interpreter of Shakespeare sonnets — Rufus Wainwright really has done it all.

The world-renowned artist will be in town March 11-13, pulling from his massive catalogue of work — which spans baroque pops songs, interpretations of Judy Garland favourites and classical opera — to perform three “best of” shows with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. While he is no stranger to being backed by a large crew of classical musicians, Wainwright, who released his debut self-titled album in 1998, says performing with a symphony is still an exciting moment.

“I’ve been an opera fan — I don’t want to say for how many years — and I worked with symphony orchestras in the studio occasionally in my early career, but within the last 10 years or so, it’s become quite regular for me to play with a symphony orchestra, whether it’s in terms of my operatic compositions or doing my pop work or even just me singing other opera works, Broadway tunes. It’s really an intergral part of my artistic life,” says American-born, Canadian-bred Wainwright, the son of legendary singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright and the late Kate McGarrigle.

“I will say that initially it was very daunting and I was pretty scared, but now I’ve relaxed into it and, thankfully, though the nervousness is not as bad as it was, the thrill is still the same.”

Wainwright’s most recent project is an album of Shakespeare sonnets he performs with a collection of high-profile celebrity pals, including Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, William Shatner, his sister Martha Wainwright and actress Carrie Fisher, among others. Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespearean Sonnets — set for release April 22, near the time of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death — is an epic undertaking, filled with dramatic readings, full-bodied orchestral arrangements and soaring vocal performances all scored by Wainwright.

The project got its start in 2009, when he was asked by American theatre director Robert Wilson to compose music for Wilson’s Shakespeare’s Sonnets production, first staged at the Beliner Ensemble. That production has since become part of the ensemble’s regular repertoire, Wainwright says, and has toured internationally.

“The actors are kind of acting the music a little bit… I wouldn’t say it’s spot-on all the time, but it’s impressive,” says Wainwright of the production.

“It’s definitely a different way from the way I tend to sing songs, which is pretty athletic, tone-wise, so I felt the need to record the material myself and also work with other singers, like Anna Prohaska the opera singer, and people like Florence Welch and my sister.

“I just wanted to put out a very muscular, musical version of the theatre music. I love the theatrical version, it’s really wonderful, but this one is more up the Wainwright alley.”

Wainwright’s career has certainly taken a literal dramatic turn over the course of the past decade, as he swapped out his jangly, pop melodies and catchy hooks for classical operatic composition and iambic pentameter.

“I’m 42, and I do believe there’s a kind of shift that occurs, if you play your cards right, where you hit your 40s and as your body slowly drifts away, your mind and your experiences and your abilities and sense of mastery keeps rushing forward. You really have to latch onto it, because the physicality of life is so ephemeral, you know? It becomes about ideas, it becomes about projects, it becomes about more intellectual pursuits.

“I’m very fortunate to have set up this arena for myself to do this — and now that I don’t have to go to the gym all the time, I can actually think about things that don’t exist,” he says with a hearty laugh.

It’s a bit of a risk for a pop singer, no matter how eclectic, to jump head-first into the world of opera, and Wainwright fully acknowledges his success in that arena was not guaranteed. He is thankful his fans went along for the ride with him.

“I went to opera because I needed to, so it was a very sincere shift, and I think my fans felt welcomed because I wasn’t imposing it on them. I wasn’t like, ‘You have to do this because this is better music,’ or anything. I was like, ‘Look, guys, I gotta go here and you can come with me or stay at home.’

“And a fair majority have joined me on the journey,” he says.

“I think it’s possibly what keeps me going career-wise — now my audience is always prepared for some kind of bizarre trip.”

Despite his success in the classical realm — his second opera, Hadrian, with a libretto by playwright Daniel McIvor, will première during the Canadian Opera Company’s 2018 season — Wainwright says he’s very eager to get back to his more pop-focused roots.

“I have to say, and I think this is very comforting to a lot of my fans, is that I’m so excited to work on the next pop record,” says the singer, who plays piano and guitar. “I’ve been out there on that operatic limb, whether performing that type of music myself or writing that kind of music and doing shows in opera houses and so forth, and the longer that it prolongs, the more I miss doing pop music.

“I’ve written a ton of pop songs and y’know, I still look pretty good, so my previous comments are only a precaution — I am excited to get out there and sing for the kids in the near future as well.”

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @NireRabel