Diva, interrupted

By Jennifer Williams

Cheryl Barker Photo: Keith Saunders

CHERYL Barker and Emma Matthews have a lot in common: ravishing good looks, dazzling soprano voices and a penchant for playing bloodsoaked, insane or tragic women.

They are also mums, proof positive that even opera singers with glamorous careers can have it all.

Cheryl didn’t always think it was possible, nearly giving up her singing when her son Gabriel was born. “One of my friends who had two teenage children encouraged me to stick with my career, she stressed that what I do is part of who I am.”

Thirteen years later, the celebrated soprano is glad she took her friend’s advice. “Not to say I didn’t have moments where I was racked with guilt about having to leave my son, but now he is older he is thrilled when I go out to do a performance and I’m not nagging him to do his homework,” she says.

Cheryl Barker starred as Salome in Melbourne last year. Photo: Jeff Busby

In her award-winning performance as the bloodthirsty 16-year-old Salome last year, Cheryl was even able to draw on her experience as a mum.

“Watching my son through the years, I know all about the hammering on for what you want and not taking no for an answer. Salome does just that when she asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter!”

At 13, Cheryl’s son Gabriel is old enough to enjoy the blood and gore of the opera, but he still attends “under sufferance.”

Emma’s two boys Brendan and Jack are yet to develop that boyish taste for blood. “When I was doing Luciaand I had stained red hands for most of the year, Brendan would say ‘You have blood on your hands, it’s sooo gross!’” Emma laughs.

Emma Matthews

Her two boys are now 8 and 11, and it’s a big relief for Emma that they’re now old enough to watch her leave the house without tears. “When they’re happy and well, and my husband is happy and well, it’s wonderful to come home to a house full of love,” she says.

That’s the upside of a life that involves constant compromise between work and family life, Cheryl says. “Knowing that I have my husband and son to come home to after a performance is the payoff.”

Cheryl is married to the acclaimed baritone Peter Coleman-Wright, and with such a musical pedigree, one might expect 13-year-old Gabriel to be a budding opera singer.

Things certainly started that way – at four years old, Gabriel made his debut alongside his mother playing Cio-Cio San’s child in a Houston production of Madama Butterfly. “He had the last bow at the curtain calls and loved that, but these days he prefers to listen to alternative and dance music than opera.”

For Cheryl and her husband Peter, the reality of international careers and an Australian family life make life logistically difficult. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. Despite her many career highlights, including a recent Green Room Award for her performance in Salome, Cheryl still calls Gabriel her biggest achievement. “It outstrips any opera performance.”

Emma Matthews performs the mad scene in Lucia Photo:Jeff Busby

Emma credits her boys for bringing her busy life balance. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Her boys see all her shows (except the recent Partenope– “that one’s a bit rude”) and are proud of their mum. While Jack’s showing promise as a footy star, Brendan looks set to follow in his mum’s footsteps. “He’s my competition now, he’s always singing,” Emma says. “I can’t get a note in at home!”

While an average night’s work might see Emma don a glittering ball gown, at home, she spent the first few years of motherhood with a tea towel tied around her face.  “When they’re young, you pick up every bug they have. That was really hard. You have to function on stage at your best.”  

It does all get easier in time, Emma says, a fact most mums will attest to. But having two energetic boys certainly diminishes the “me time” you might expect a diva to demand.  “You don’t have time to have facials and get your hair done,” Emma laughs. “All the things you think divas get to do with their time!”

Singing is still her passion, but Emma says her children come first. “It’s not the be-all and end-all thing for me anymore. My voice is such a huge part of me and expression of who I am ... but being a Mum is my most important role.”