It was one of the warmest days of the year so far. Looking out across the River Alde in the late afternoon sun, colours and gentle sounds surrounded the artistic metropolis of Snape Maltings. Sarah Angliss’s opera Giant opened 2023’s Aldeburgh Festival on 5 June with soprano Gweneth Ann Rand still being one of my strongest memories of the production. 

She played Rooker – the androgynous manager of the Irish giant Charles Byrne, a human exhibit, curiosity or ‘freak’ during 18th century London. His body remained on display, against his wishes, until 2016.

‘There's so many different layers to that role,’ Rand reflects on the opera’s journey. ‘It was a chance to play in a way that I haven't played in a long time. For that, it was an absolute gift.’

Gweneth Ann Rand will present Messiaen's three song cycles at this month's Aldeburgh Festival | Photo: Christa Holka

Rand is speaking to me on Zoom from her home in London. It’s our first meeting, though I’ve known her as a staunchly supportive human being online, and watched her song programming with great interest. Even though we are here to talk about her projects at the Aldeburgh Festival, which begins on Friday (7 June), she first wants to know about me, asking a simple ‘how are you?’ with a sincerity that makes me quite emotional.

‘I have been known to go up to a director and say “hi, just to let you know that I’m not in the best place right now, but I'm here and I'm present”,’ Rand admits. Her vulnerability is striking and she is immediately honest about her experiences of burnout earlier this year, leading to the cancellation of a Wigmore concert and ENO contract. 

A return to the stage for her Festival residency, formed around Messiaen’s three mammoth song cycles at Aldeburgh, could be a panicked affair. But for Rand, it’s more about a celebration and support of young artists, reverence for art, as well as processing grief, trauma and connecting viscerally with an audience.

‘It's such a difficult musical landscape right now,’ Rand states. ‘It's difficult for young singers to be able to promote themselves because there's no work anywhere. We decided through these concerts that I would promote and provide a platform for as many of the young artists as possible.’

Rand has been a key part of the opera landscape of the UK, and at Aldeburgh, for years, especially known for her work within contemporary opera, creative song programmes and interpretation of Messiaen. Protagonist in Philip Venables’ 4:48 Psychosis in 2016 was followed by a key part in Laura Bowler’s opera The Blue Woman at the Royal Opera House in 2022. She’s also been in demand for her interpretation of Aida, performing the role in Bremen, Kiel, Oldenburg, Poznań and Helsinki. Then September sees Rand as Mrs Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at English National Opera.

‘We have to be able to reach people, we have to feel as though we're not alone. It's so mentally damaging if everyone just works in their little box by themselves.’

Collaborative pianist Simon Lepper accompanies Rand for two of her Messiaen concerts, with the first concert, this Saturday (8 June) being the 12 movement cycle ‘Harawi – Chant d’amour et de mort’. The second and third concerts also showcase four young artists on the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Although a tall order, this is far from Rand and Lepper’s first rodeo. ‘Simon and I did the songs when we were students,’ Rand tells me. ‘He was at his college, I was at mine. He always used to come and look moody and magnificent at the back of lieder class.’

Each of Messiaen cycles will also be performed in collaboration with acclaimed artist Rachel Jones, whose animated painting projections will accompany the performances. Rand met Jones when collaborating on an operatic project Hey Maudie with the Roberts Institute of Art, which took inspiration from Gwendolyn Brooks' 1953 novel, Maud Martha.

‘I saw her work and I heard Messiaen,’ Rand pauses. ‘It feels magical.’

Jones’s work is certainly prolific, a recent project included designing the 2024 BRIT Awards trophy. ‘But because I am vaguely ignorant in the nicest possible way,’ Rand continues. ‘I said to Rachel “There’s this place called Aldeburgh… and there’s a festival… and what do you think about maybe kind of using your art… with music?” It was that simple. I didn’t know what a beacon she is in the art world.’

Artist Rachel Jones's work will be projected during the performances of each Messiaen cycle | Photo: Eva Herzog

Work at Aldeburgh also focuses around a new role, which Rand is very self-effacing about – her work as a tutor on the Young Artist Programme. Although determined that she’s ‘not a teacher’, Rand is certainly making a stir with the young artists, placing much of her focus on communication.

‘My agent got a phone call saying “come and be a tutor for the opera course”. I said, “No, not doing that. Never done it. Don't know how that will go.”’

The thought of teaching alongside the likes of Antonio Pappano and Julia Faulkner, Rand was more than apprehensive. ‘How to feel like the little kid at school who’s got no friends and doesn't know anything! But my agent emotionally blackmailed me. So I went. And that caused a bit of havoc in the best possible way.

‘Pappano didn't have to introduce himself. He just turned up. And Julia said “I teach here and I teach at Curtis” etc, and I'm like... “I sing”. I think I followed it up with. “But if you want to know how to move an audience, I can show you how to do that”.’

Rand and Lepper also bring their skill for driving connection in young singers to a masterclass at Aldeburgh on English and French song on Wednesday 12 June. ‘I'm a bit of a Sherlockina Holmes. I love solving problems. You just have to find the right vocabulary to fit that particular person. Sometimes coaching isn't bespoke, but it has to be.

‘I’m still not a teacher, but I like helping people,’ Rand’s voice goes quieter. ‘It's such a huge responsibility, I wouldn't want to muck it up. But I can coach the bejesus out of someone. And if there's something technical that needs to be changed, I can change it.’

'I'm not a teacher, but I like helping people' | Photo: Christa Holka

It’s rare to find someone with such a focus on human connection and experience, but it is central to Rand’s third Messiaen concert, for which she has commissioned the composer Laura Bowler to write a piece about mothers, following the death of Bowler’s own mother back in 2022.

‘We have to be able to reach people, we have to feel as though we're not alone. It's so mentally damaging if everyone just works in their little box by themselves.’

This act of commissioning feels so vital to the world we are currently living in. ‘I used to check on Laura when her mother first died,’ says Rand. ‘When I thought about the programme, I said to her, “I know you're not in a good place but I know that you are composing – do you fancy writing something for mothers?” And she was like, “yes, yes, yes.” And actually the words are from her mother's eulogy. It's unlike anything she's written.

‘The aim is always to try to do something different, and it’s not always the easiest thing to do,’ Rand tells me when I ask how she keeps motivation for these massive projects. ‘Can we just dream big and see what's possible? Having Rachel on board should have been an impossibility, but it ended up being just a meeting of minds and colors and music and wonderful things.’

Gweneth Ann Rand performs Messiaen Song Cycles I on Saturday 8 June; Messiaen Song Cycles II on Friday 14 June, and Messiaen Song Cycles III on Monday 17 June. brittenpearsarts.org