Rita Hunter

Presenter0:00

This download is the only extract the BBC has of this edition of Desert Island Discs. The presenter was Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:09

You're from the north of England, aren't you?

Rita Hunter0:10

Yes, from Cheshire.

Presenter0:12

A musical family?

Rita Hunter0:14

Yes, mainly amateur. I think the only professional in the family was my auntie Ruth, who was a dancer, and she taught me my first dancing steps.

Rita Hunter0:23

My father was um bugle major in the Boys' Brigade Band and then in the R N V R band and he used to compose marches for them.

Rita Hunter0:31

My mother played a mandolin and it was from her that I I learnt all the the little songs of the music hall because they were great musical fanatics, you know, Getty Gaetana, G H Eliot and in fact uh later on when I was learning more serious songs uh I used to in those days we couldn't afford a an accompanist, you know, to learn them and she used to play the uh mandolin and teach me the songs.

Presenter0:52

Yeah. Did you learn an instrument too?

Rita Hunter0:54

Yes, I did. I'd have to blame you collectly.

Presenter0:58

As a youngster, what did you want to be?

Rita Hunter1:00

I just wanted to go on the stage.

Presenter1:02

From the beginning.

Rita Hunter1:03

Mm-hmm.

Presenter1:03

Had you seen a lot of theatre?

Rita Hunter1:05

Um, quite a lot of amateur theatre.

Rita Hunter1:08

My my father was interested in the the local amateurs. He produced pantomimes and he produced Barted Bride for the local amateur operatic.

Rita Hunter1:16

And I was involved in one way or another with these.

Presenter1:19

When you left school, did you go straight into the theatre?

Rita Hunter1:21

Yes. I left school uh the August that I was fifteen.

Rita Hunter1:25

And I gave an audition a few weeks later to a Manchester um producer, and I told him I was seventeen.

Rita Hunter1:33

'Cause in those days, you know, fifteen was not accepted to do, you know, principal roles.

Rita Hunter1:38

And I said I was seventeen and I got the job of uh principal boy in his touring pantomime.

Presenter1:43

At fifteen, very good. Yes. Where did you turn?

Rita Hunter1:44

Very good.

Rita Hunter1:46

Oh, southward hippodrome, Bolton

Rita Hunter1:49

Puttersfield, Halifax.

Presenter1:50

Yes.

Rita Hunter1:51

All the northern towns.

Presenter1:52

He went on tour with other musical chairs.

Rita Hunter1:57

Game Rosalinda and the Chocolate Soldier.

Rita Hunter1:59

And we toured for about six or eight months.

Rita Hunter2:03

With each.

Presenter2:03

Yes. And you sang locally?

Rita Hunter2:06

Um I did a lot of um

Rita Hunter2:08

sort of club work, you know.

Presenter2:09

Yes.

Presenter2:10

I believe you were invited to join an Italian opera company when you were only, what, eighteen?

Rita Hunter2:15

I was eighteen, yes. Um

Rita Hunter2:18

They wanted me to go to Italy with them, but

Rita Hunter2:20

It was a case of when you got there we would they would look after me, but I had to in fact get myself there and we just didn't have the money in those days, it just wasn't possible.

Rita Hunter2:28

and the guest conductor with the company, Edward Renton.

Rita Hunter2:31

He said that he didn't like to think that the voice would, you know, just be neglected and not do anything. Uh I'cause he I think he realized that I'd come to a point where I was either going to go on or give up.

Rita Hunter2:42

and he said if I wanted to go on,

Rita Hunter2:44

and I couldn't manage to get to Italy, I could go to London to live with him and his wife and their two kids and sort of be an au pair, you know, look after the children, take the wa laundry down, the launderette and wash the dishes and make the beds. And in return he coached me and taught me several roles.

Presenter3:00

Yes.

Rita Hunter3:00

and eventually got me an audition with the salve as well.

Presenter3:01

Yeah.

Rita Hunter3:04

and I was accepted as a chorister.

Presenter3:06

This must have been a whole new world opening up for you.

Rita Hunter3:09

Oh, it was great because, you know, I really then was mad about opera.

Presenter3:13

Yeah.

Rita Hunter3:14

And I remember we used to the first opera I did for the Wales was in in the chorus, of course, was Tosca.

Rita Hunter3:21

And Victoria Elliott was singing Tosca. And after we'd finished the off stage in the second act, we used to sneak up to the gallery to see the end of the opera, which was marvellous.

Presenter3:29

Yeah.

Presenter3:30

Was it hard work?

Rita Hunter3:33

Oh yes, it was. We had a lot to learn. I went

Rita Hunter3:36

When I first joined, there was then about fourteen operas which we had to learn.

Presenter3:39

Yes.

Rita Hunter3:40

And it was it was hard work. The fir first month was murder.

Presenter3:41

The fat

Presenter3:43

How long did you stay with him?

Rita Hunter3:44

Two years.

Presenter3:45

Then you moved over to the Karl Roser Company of of Blessed Memory.

Rita Hunter3:49

Yes. Edward Renton had now become a guest conductor with the Colorosa, and he wrote to me and said, I think

Rita Hunter3:57

It's time you started doing small parts, and I think you've got a better chance of doing them in The Rosa, which indeed was fostering young singers.

Presenter4:05

Yeah.

Rita Hunter4:06

And I went over and sang an audition, was immediately signed on. Um after about a month or so, six weeks, I sang my first um principal role, Ines in Trofatore.

Rita Hunter4:16

I was still as a chorister, you see, I I hadn't got a principal contract. I was just

Presenter4:16

And that's

Rita Hunter4:20

One night uh was a night of glory. The rest was in

Presenter4:24

You met your husband, John Downey, in the Carl Rosa.

Rita Hunter4:27

Yes, we both joined on the same day.

Rita Hunter4:29

He's a tenor and he used to sing with the sad as well.

Rita Hunter4:33

Chorus and

Rita Hunter4:34

He now's got his hands full looking after me.

Presenter4:37

And then eventually, very sadly, the Carl Reza was disbanded.

Rita Hunter4:40

Yes, it was terrible, dreadful.

Presenter4:42

And at this point in your career I think Dame Eva Turner came on the scene.

Rita Hunter4:46

Yes. Um I went back to London, and the Carl Rosa had been sort of amalgamated with the Saddlers Wells, and I was on a study grant with Saddler's Wells, and I got a scholarship with the Countess of Munster Trust.

Rita Hunter4:59

to pay for lessons. So in point of fact the Saddlers Wells paid for my living expenses and the Countess of Munster Trust paid for my lessons and I went to Eva Turner.

Presenter5:04

Yeah.

Rita Hunter5:09

Oh, I think for about six or eight months. Until well, until the the scholarship was

Rita Hunter5:13

Finished.

Rita Hunter5:15

Then I went to my husband's singing teacher, which is Redford Slovellyn.

Presenter5:19

Yes, I believe you had the slogger up to North Wales for your sitting best.

Rita Hunter5:22

Yes, she used to go every weekend to Aparistra.

Presenter5:25

Yeah.

Rita Hunter5:25

Yes, sir. In those days Mr. Tlorellin was teaching at the college there, but of course we don't have to do that anymore. He teaches in London.

Presenter5:31

And then he went back to Sandler's Wales as a sandwich.

Rita Hunter5:33

Yes, I did, yes.

Presenter5:34

What was the first big part you played?

Rita Hunter5:36

The first big part was Mosetta.

Presenter5:39

Yes.

Rita Hunter5:40

And I was doing a lot of mezzo roles and

Rita Hunter5:45

Eventually I sang Centre in the Flying Dutchman.

Rita Hunter5:48

And well being a rep company, I mean one had to accept this, that I sang two centres a week and maybe a mother in Hansel and two Marzolinas in Figaro.

Presenter5:57

A mark.

Rita Hunter5:58

Rise it

Presenter5:59

Now for several years you you you slogged away at Saddler's Wells playing leading parts without very much happening, but what was the the breakthrough for you?

Rita Hunter6:07

I think after my little girl was born I sang

Rita Hunter6:11

Um

Rita Hunter6:12

Leonora in Trovatore for a company called Basilica.

Rita Hunter6:16

And Andrew Porter gave me a most wonderful write-up for this.

Rita Hunter6:21

And he then was asked to do the translation for the New English Ring.

Rita Hunter6:25

and I think it was an amalgamation of Andrew Porter and Reggie Goodall, who'd heard me sing some Wagner.

Rita Hunter6:31

And they said, Would would I do the Brunhilde? and it just

Presenter6:33

And it just

Rita Hunter6:34

What happened from there, from the Valkyrie?

Presenter6:36

Now, quite quickly, great things have happened in your career. You're now an international artist.

Rita Hunter6:42

Yes, it's it's fantastic. Um, we're still a bit bowled over by it, you know.

Rita Hunter6:47

Um

Presenter6:48

There was an occasion last year when you got Covent Garden out of trouble.

Rita Hunter6:52

Oh yes, with my hair in curlers.

Rita Hunter6:54

Was Easter Monday?

Rita Hunter6:56

And they

Rita Hunter6:57

They rang up and said,'Would I stand by? for the Dutchman at the Garden' and I said,'Yes, not realizing really what I was letting myself in for,'cause I hadn't in fact sung it for seven years.

Presenter7:06

The sing centre.

Rita Hunter7:07

Yeah.

Presenter7:07

Mm.

Rita Hunter7:08

And

Rita Hunter7:09

I had a look at the score in the car on the way down, the A forty. I'm glad there were no police around me because we've never gone down there so quickly.

Rita Hunter7:18

And we got I made about two mistakes, I think not actual word mistakes, just I came in a bar too soon in a couple of places. Which I think was pretty good going, after seven years.

Presenter7:26

After seven years. And you had to sing in English while the rest of the cast sang in German, so you weren't getting any any word cues.

Rita Hunter7:32

No, um I wasn't. But the prompter there had my English score in front of him, which had the German in as well, so he was able to prompt me very efficiently.

Presenter7:42

What did that lead to?

Rita Hunter7:43

The Metropolitan.

Presenter7:44

You went to the Met and use Hangrunhilde.

Rita Hunter7:46

In the background.

Presenter7:47

The first British prima donna at the Met since Joan Sutherland, who of course is Australian.

Rita Hunter7:54

Yes.

Presenter7:54

So who was the last English prima donna they had that?

Rita Hunter7:57

I would think Eva Turner.

Presenter7:59

Before the war.

Rita Hunter8:00

I think so, yes.

Presenter8:00

Yeah.

Presenter8:01

What's in the book now? The complete ring cycle at the Colosseum?

Rita Hunter8:05

Yes. Then next December I go to Barcelona to sing some performances of Verdi's Attila in Italian.

Rita Hunter8:12

Then I go to Paris to do a television of Attila with the Barcelona Company.

Rita Hunter8:17

Then to Nice at the end of January to do my first Aidas, which I'm looking forward to tremendously.

Rita Hunter8:23

Then we go back to the Met to do get a demo in February.

Presenter8:28

When it's all happening.

Rita Hunter8:29

Me too, yeah.

Presenter8:30

Have you any one particular ambition, any one role, any one place?

Rita Hunter8:36

Well obviously um I want to sing his older.

Rita Hunter8:39

when I think or when someone else thinks I'm ready.

Presenter8:42

Yes. Where?

Rita Hunter8:44

I don't really mind where, but I think my favourite place would be at the London Coliseum, with the Saddlers Wells.

Rita Hunter8:51

Because

Rita Hunter8:52

I think, you know, if you sing it in English first it's it's marvellous, and you really know what's going on. And of course you couldn't have anyone better to study it with than Reginald Goodall. For me he's the tops.