[ ClassicalX ] Classicalx Interviews Natasha Marsh

Adding a touch of glamour to any event, whether it’s Euro 2008, a meeting in the House of Commons, or a concert hall across the UK, Natasha Marsh is certainly a lady fit for the task. Despite a busy day filming and working on the promotion of her new album, Natasha spent some time talking to Classicalx’s Sarah Fahey about the new album, her passion for football and spills the beans on what it’s like to work with guys like Alfie Boe, Blake and Gardar Cortes .

You have a new album out next week on 23rd June – tell me a bit about that.
It came about because ITV asked me to sing their theme tune for the Euro championships and EMI decided to re-release my old album and more and put Queen of the Night on it as an additional track. Whilst that happened, I decided to put on a few extra tracks that I’d been recording because I’d obviously been working on my second album. So this is not a really brand new album, it’s got Queen of the Night on it and some new tracks so it’s more of a re-release with some new bonuses.

So with the new tracks, what influenced you to include those?
They’re mainly operatic tracks but there’s lots of duets with boys actually – all the boys, no girls! There’s a duet with Gardar Thor Cortes and one with Alfie Boe and one with Blake which was great. They were basically going to re-package the original album and I thought, why don’t I include the tracks that I’ve already recorded and just freshen it up a bit. It’s got a nice feel to it too, it’s still quite operatic in feel and style but it was great to work with artists definitely.

Do you have a favourite track on the new album?
I loved Autumn Leaves, that song is very close to my heart and I absolutely love it! And it was great singing with Gardar Cortes (The Prayer) we had a real giggle and I loved doing the duet with him. It’s actually nice to be singing with someone else as normally I’m by myself, so getting to do a duet with anyone is always fun.

One of the tracks you mentioned previously is the Queen of the Night Aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute and this is the song which ITV chose as their theme for Euro 2008. This is an amazingly powerful aria, but not one I would have thought to be a natural choice to represent a football championship. How do you feel the two relate?
I think there are amazing parallels between football and opera. I know it sounds obscure but I just think there’s a whole passion and beauty about football. I grew up with the game, so it’s definitely in the bones, but also having sung at loads of the matches recently, the feeling when you’re in the tunnel looking at the players, the tension in the audience and the anticipation of what’s about to happen, the fact that the players have got to deliver a great performance in about 2 hours like opera singers are expected to. There’s also the discipline of kicking a ball and practising to be really good at your craft. It’s the same with opera singing, you never stop having singing lessons and coaching. Also whether scoring a goal or hitting a high note perfectly, it’s the same feeling of elation and the same reaction from the audience – that of real excitement. It was risky for ITV to pick that particular track because you don’t often hear Mozart on television, it was definitely an interesting choice and I thought it was bold of them to do that and I was very honoured to be asked. I decided to put it on the album because people would recognise it.

Are you hoping that it will achieve a similar success to that of Nessun Dorma when sung by Pavarotti?
(laughs)That would be amazing!! It is amazing just to have it on television and to have the impact where people are singing it around you, singing the high notes – or doing impressions of me doing the high notes – I’ve actually already had lots of people do that which made me laugh. At the end of the day, if it’s making classical music more accessible then that’s what it’s all about. If someone who hasn’t heard the piece of music before hears it for the first time and is moved by it, then you’ve done your job and it’s great.

Now someone else who’s been helping bring classical music to the masses is Paul Potts who you’ve been touring with. What was that like?
It was very different from anything I’ve ever experienced before. It was different from touring with a group like Il Divo or Russell Watson, where there are so many people in the group or the crew that you’ve have loads of tour buses taking everybody everywhere. With Paul Potts it was quite intimate really; there was just a small amount of us on the road together so we got to know each other very well. He’s learning every step of the way. A year ago he was working in carphone warehouse so it’s been an incredible journey for him - and tiring!! My heart goes out to him as I think he’s done extremely well to have done an entire tour of about 70 dates in one year and he’s not been ill. It’s just a question of making sure he looks after his voice and he’ll continue to do well.

Do you think he was received well in the places that you visited?
Absolutely! They were all waiting for the Nessun Dorma moment and it was so funny as every night when the music started for Nessun Dorma you would suddenly see this sea of mobile phones coming out to video him and put him on YouTube. It was very funny, but the audience loved it!

Now you mentioned earlier, that on the album you’ve recorded tracks with Gardar Thor Cortes, Alfie Boe and Blake. What did you enjoy about working with each of these, because you have worked with them all previously haven’t you and in fact you are probably the envy of many a young lady!
Mmm, I’ve been spoilt haven’t I! I know them all quite well to be honest and I think that’s what’s so wonderful about the British crossover world, we’ve all been working with each other quite a lot either through duets or touring. You strike up relationships with them and some people you end up being quite close to and you really enjoy singing with them. I did a concert last year with Gardar in Jersey, I’d never met him before but we just hit it off as soon as we met. It was a real pleasure to sing with him and our voices seemed to work pretty well together. You have that thing where you can meet someone and there’s chemistry straight away and he was certainly one of those people. Alfie, I have known for years and years because we were at college together – oh the stories I could tell you!! But he’s lovely and we go back a long way together. Blake, I met relatively recently but we’ve done quite a few concerts together now and they are just a great giggle, they are really, really nice guys. They are ambitious and they’re doing extremely well, but the thing is they are also lovely guys and you wish them well – they are all real sweethearts.

So not a bad job for you at the end of the day – getting to sing with all these lovely guys?
No, I would never complain! It’s not often I actually get to sing on stage with them though, I’m usually off performing by myself so it’s fun when I do get to sing with them.

I read recently that you caused quite a stir in Westminster when performing a song adapted from the theme tune to Schindler’s List to mark Anne Frank day. Tell me more about this.
I think the song that caused the commotion was actually O Mio Babbino Caro because it’s obviously quite high -there were MP’s in the next room busy debating something very important, so it probably didn’t help. They kept coming into the room and very politely asking me to keep the noise down! But it was great to be there for such a fantastic occasion. The piece you are referring to is music taken from the main melody of Schindler's list and has been put to new music called, 'I Won't Light a Candle'. It’s a really strong song and echoes the legacy that Anne Frank left as it is all about hope in the face of adversity. It was one of those songs that when I first heard it I burst into tears and found it extremely moving and emotional. Luckily it had the same effect on the audience...it really is just beautiful and the lyrics are amazing. The chap that we got to write them just hit the nail on the head really and it was just very, very lovely. We have also recorded a video for this too which is now available on YouTube, so people can check it out – it’s a beautiful song.

What can we expect to hear from you in the future? Do you have any plans for future collaborations or tours?
Well, I’ve just been working with Graham Coxon from Blur, which is quite unusual and we’ve been working on his album which was quite fun - He asked me to help lay down a few tracks for that. Then there’s The Prayer, with Gardar, which he has included in his album, which is coming out at the same time as mine. Then I’ve got lots of festivals and concerts this year, certainly over the summer there’s lots of Last Night of the Proms style evenings, which is brilliant. It’s not like when you are in an arena and staring into a sea of blackness, which is what it was like when I was touring with Paul. Suddenly you’ve got your mums and your dads and nans and babies and everyone is picnicking outside and the atmosphere is always really great, as this time you can see the audience’s faces. They are always really good fun and I love them - you often get the audience singing along with you after they’ve had a couple of bottles too!

Natasha’s album is due for release 23rd June 2008.