Future Classic Women Awards – Andrea Kmecova, Patricia Hammond

Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonti, on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today we have a double bill, we have a fantastic pianist, Andrea Vargas Mejova, and metasoprano singer, Patricia Hammond. Good morning. Hello. I'm so excited to have you both. We were planning to only have Andrea, and then actually we got the super luxe surprise of having Patricia join us today. So we're going to talk about how you two met. So let's explain. Andrea is mainly not a soloist, but a collaborative pianist. So there is two types of pianists. I mean, it's just a pianist if you like, like, but the reality is that the repertoire is so different and so difficult and it needs dedication. That's because I'm a pianist myself and I know perfectly when people ask me to play together that is not that simple. So you see a pianist— we're telling that to explaining this to the audience that doesn't necessarily know— we're all pianists, but actually the skills that you have to develop to complement someone playing with you is completely different than when you are alone on stage having to fill the hall. And at the same time, actually, when you play alone, you're so much free, and it's so much more difficult to play with someone else and make both of you to shine. Am I right? Well, you are right, but it's funny you say it this way because for me it was the other way around. I felt that my inner call was always to collaborate with other people. Yeah. I never really quite felt comfortable enough being on stage on my own. Okay. But maybe it wasn't just, yeah, comfort, there was some kind of loneliness behind also the whole process of being a solo pianist. Absolutely. You have to spend hours and hours in practice room on your own and I just felt all these hours of practicing were just, I don't know, it didn't quite make sense, they didn't satisfy me. Artistically. Well, if you like, in a way it's like when you see a tennis player who plays alone, or, you know, a football player who plays with another 11 people or even more in the team, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. It's that type of vocation. And you, Patricia, so you are a soprano, you've been invited— mezzo, sorry, mezzo soprano. Absolutely. We have been talking before about mezzo soprano. It's not that you're half a soprano. Actually, normally the mezzo is the one who has a wider range of singing, am I right? In a way it can be, it's, I guess, versatility. Yeah, absolutely. And so, and you actually made your name out of being a singer with a special repertoire specific for the '20s and '30s. Yeah. You have this fantastic album that has been featured on BBC and in so many others. Magazines and radio about the songs from the war. Yes. And so how did that come out? Well, I collected old sheet music, but before the days of recordings, or when recordings were very primitive and limited, people made music at home, and so they would buy the latest popular songs in the sheet music departments, and in order for those pieces of music to sell, these individual songs, the COVID art, the various companies, publishing companies, would vie with each other to make cover art that was very beautiful. And so as a child, I really, really loved antiques, and the only antiques I could afford were sheet music. I found very quickly, actually very luckily, that you could get sheet music for next to nothing or free. Absolutely. And so yeah, I just collected it for the COVID art. But at the same time I was studying piano just as a child and I started playing what was in it and I really loved these old popular songs from the 1910s, 1920s. Wow. And I thought they were really kind of— you got a lot of bang for your buck, you know, you play them and they wouldn't be that technically— well, I thought they weren't— you could get an effect quite quickly in that music. It was a popular song. And so, yeah, I always loved it. My singing teacher and my piano teacher, they were very kind of dismissive of it. They were saying, "This is not Mozart. It's not Beethoven. It's a waste." But I thought there was something to it, and so I kept going with it even when I was having a so-called conventional classical career. And, yeah, I just kept trying to find like-minded people who also liked this stuff. And luckily in 2012, well actually 2010, I found somebody who wanted to support it and to fund a project. Wow! And that's when I met Andrea. Andrea, right! So the first album that you recorded together, it's called? Our Lovely Day. Our Lovely Day. There are songs basically from the 1870s to 1949 is the most recent. In fact, that's the one we brought, the one from 1949. It's an ensemble album. It had many, many different artistes on it, many different instruments, and I brought on board two young— in fact, they were still— these arrangers were still at Trinity College of Music. It was their first, I think, their first project. So that was fun, and they brought on board all these other musicians they knew, and I think in all there's about 32 different instruments in different combinations. Wow. On different tracks. Oh, wow. And the pianist was Andrea, and suddenly I realized when we had our first rehearsal, I know that name, I know that name, because I'm a singer but I play the organ at a church. Yes. Because I wanted to be different to the other singers who had church gigs. Church gigs, you know, you wake up in the morning and your voice is not at its best and you're tired, and I thought, well, I can kind of play the piano, why don't I just play the organ? There was a very sympathetic priest who— Sweet priest. Yes, he didn't seem to care, and so I played the organ at this church and I thought, this is good because it keeps my musicianship, a different aspect of my musicianship awake. Absolutely. If not me, I'd be very tired. But I couldn't do every single Sunday. It was good to have an alternate. So on alternate Sundays, there was another organist who came along. Okay. And I never met her because if I was there, she wasn't there, and if she was there, I wasn't there. And it was Andrea, only she's a proper keyboard player. So, you know, yeah, but still, the organ is another instrument, isn't it? Well, absolutely. It is, but she was still better. It is, yes, and if I can, I try to use my feet too. Oh, really? Oh, cool, it's so much fun. Well, the first song we're gonna listen now is My Lovely Day, and that song composed in 1949. 1949, a show called Bless the Bride. All right, let's listen to Patricia and Andrea. This is my lovely day. This is the day I shall remember, the day I'm Shining. They can't take this away. It will be always mine. The sun and the wine, the sea birds flying. All happiness must pray. And who can tell if fate means well or the sky is lying? Just look at me and see, you will remember too that this was a lovely day. Oh, remember When the time has come for happiness to play, so let's find, oh, the door is wide. With them there will not a lonely day. A lovely day. A lovely day. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello. And welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Junie Mae Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Meg Matthews, and I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Join us for a brand new show on Women's Radio Station. It's the Meg's Menopause show. Yes, for the first time on radio, there's an entire show dedicated to the menopause. A fresh new approach where we inform you of all the choices and treatments that are out there. Supportive and empowering, this is your show. So join us every week with a host of celebrity guests, our very own resident doctor, where we talk about everything menopause. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. My name is Ingrid Marsh and I host the Radical Wellbeing Show, supporting women's wellbeing. On my show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you who are sharing their unique stories. Women who have refused to be defined by their pains, to be silenced by stigma or crushed by stereotypes, and who are taking back their power. And together, our mission is a simple one, and that's to inspire you to kick away the roadblocks too, to don your wings and be the person that you were born to be. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station, that's Women's Radio STN, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back Welcome to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, the programme where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Our guests today are mezzo-soprano Patricia Amont and pianist Andrea Barkaskova. So we didn't have the time actually, we just went straight into the interview, but you know, Andrea, where are you from? I'm from Slovakia. Mm-hmm. So how did you come to London? How did I come to London? I came to London in 2006 when I graduated from the music academy in Bratislava, and I just felt that I want to explore more of the world, and I actually came to the UK one year before that to learn English. All right. I was in Suffolk and I had 3 recitals. Oh, wow. In those 3 months. And I just felt like people really appreciate classical music in the UK, so I decided pretty much last minute that I want to come back, and I was an au pair for a year. Oh wow, nice! Before that, yeah, then I started studying at Trinity College of Music in London, and then it just started rolling from there. Wow, and you Patricia, where are you from exactly? I'm from the west coast of Canada. I say Vancouver because nobody's heard of where I come from, which is a small town north of it. But my father's Canadian and my mother came from England, so luckily she applied for citizenship for me before they changed the rules. So I have a passport, a British passport, and I'm married to a man from Bolton, so that's how I sort of cut it. I'm married to a man from Bolton and my mother was born in Bognor in and everybody always laughs and I never know whether they're laughing at Bogner or Bolton. They both begin with B. So I've been here since, oh gosh, 2000? And I just always wanted to be in England or in Europe. I love the idea of trains. I love the idea of this kind of like, it's almost like a circulation in a body where you've got things moving at all times, you can hop on at any time. Like the veins, yeah. Like veins, yeah! There's something very isolating about being in a place like Canada, you feel, you know, either you have to have a car and go for hours and days to— and some people love that. Well, it's the same in America, yeah. My husband is American. Yeah, I get stir-crazy when I go, but some people love it. I've got a cousin who moved over there from the Cotswolds and she loves it, she goes snowboarding, skating, Well, the nature, the outdoors, incredible. And here we have other things. I'll take museums. I'll take museums and concerts and old buildings very happily. And parks. My parents, when they come, they're always mesmerized by the beauty of the parks here in London. Regents Park and, you know. But doesn't Italy have wonderful parks? It's not the same. You have wonderful places to go to, but not inside the city, not this big, not this— and the museums here are free and you can go. I'm always impressed when I go to the National Gallery and you have a Van Gogh and you can basically almost touch it. I mean, I'm sure there is a laser cutting off your fingers if you try to, but you know, stuff that you would see— I was studying them in in school, in the books, and then you can see them. Victorian philanthropy. Yeah, it's unique. That's really a special place to be. Absolutely. So now tell me again, how, I mean, it's not for any child to get so much, you know, charmed by the antiquities. Well, my parents were collectors. My father collected 78 RPM records, and because he worked on boats, so he wasn't— he was a very strange collector, because usually collectors are very, I don't know, they usually don't have children and they usually have money, and he had children and not much money, so there are a lot of unclassified— unclassified? Disorganized, unfiled records, and so every night I'd take a big chunk of them, big cross-section, and listen to them. I don't know, I grew up feeling that the past was a— yeah, it was a foreign country, but a country that I wished I could visit. I see. The past seemed really interesting, and I kind of conflated the past with the outside world because we lived in a small town which was kind of cut off, and so I kind of thought of the outside world and the past in the same sort of way, that it was a place I wanted to go to, which is very odd. Well, somehow it's something that we do with classical music in general. I mean, we are keeping alive Mozart, Bach, Beethoven. Yes, keeping the past alive. Absolutely, conveying the political reasons as well and even the poetics of the Romantic period, of the classical, the baroque, you know. That's a very good point. 1st century. So Andrea, how do you like— how did you like playing this type of repertoire? Patricia's type of repertoire? Yes, it's something very different. I think I have not played songs like that. I don't think you were prepared to it at the conservatoire? No, absolutely not. You have a real romantic sense and that's good. Well, you say that, but it's really interesting. When we've done our first album 'Our Lovely Day' and there were lots of passages, you know, like 'doo doo doo' up and down and Matt went really wild. Matt is one of the arrangers and I think if we have done it today, I would have played it completely differently. You would have changed it? You know, I thought this is almost like a list and I have to practice. But I think there should be so much more freedom to it and our last album that we've done, the music that's on it I think we both agree with Patricia that we should not take it literally because you have to, you have to kind of bring it to life and you have to look at the score as just a guide. Yes. Because the score tends to be very heavy and chordy and there are lots of mistakes actually as well. Yes, popular music. A few mistakes? Okay. They churned it out. So you have to be very musical when you look at this type of repertoire. You can't really approach it in the same way as you approach a Schubert song, for example. Although a Schubert song and Schumann song as well, they were composed to be played in the salotto, in the salon, right? In the living room, at parties at home with friends. Yes, I think both approaches could feed into one another. Absolutely, you're absolutely right. Alright, so I mean the latest album is Song of the Great War? No, no, the latest one is She Wrote the Song. She Wrote the Song, but it's not the song that we're going to listen to. Oh, latest as in the next one we're going to listen to, sorry. That's okay. The next song is Chimes of Normandy, right? Yes. So that Song of the Great War? Songs from the First World War, yes. Now one question, did you have a chance to talk with your grandparents and maybe talk about the war? Yes, I interviewed every elderly person I could come across for as long as I can remember. There was even a survivor from the Titanic who lived along the beach. No way! And I just missed her. I remember knocking on her door as a little child and they said, no, she's gone to the nursing home. No, I've missed— That's incredible. And actually, you have, you shared this special a project of going into the care home. In care homes, yes. Yeah, performing there. And how— what's the reception of this type of music when you perform? Well, actually, when I first started playing, it's a sort of outreach project. There are these various charities and foundations which bring professional-level musicians into these hospices and hospitals and care homes, and we both work for a couple of them, and we've done a lot of that, but When I first started doing it, I was too old-fashioned. They were saying, "You're playing, you're singing stuff from 1909 and we want stuff from 1939, please." So, the nursing homes brought me more close to the 1930s than I would have gone, and then '40s and '50s, and now they want things from the '70s. My goodness. Yes. Well, let's listen now to "Chimes of Normandy" from the album Song of the Great War with Patricia Hammond and Andrea Vargas at the piano. The bells are hushed in silence, and my heart is silent too. Wake, oh Vesper bell, break your slumber spell. Chimes of Normandy, chimes of Normandy, Singing out again that sweet refrain, "Don't let my tears be all in vain." Each Vespertime I pray my rosary. I'm singing out for me the melody, chimes of Shines of nobility, shines of nobility. Ring out again, my sweet refrain. Don't let my tears be all in vain. Each vespa time I pray my rosary and sing, "Ring out for me, O melody." Chimes of love. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. Hi everyone and welcome to the Femaling Show. I am your host Nicole Goodman and I am a woman's identity expert and coach. As women, we fall into different phases of identity through our adult life, and during these, our challenges can look pretty similar. 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For more information on how you can sponsor or a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station. Today we're talking to mezzo-soprano Patricia Hammond and pianist Andrea Vargas-Mekova. Well, our interview is going too fast. It is. So you promised me now that you're coming back again. Yes, there is so much more. Sorry. And so now we're gonna talk about the most exciting moment in your career, the best or most exciting moment. Well, for me, um, I think there are lots of exciting— or there were lots of exciting moments. Um, I think the The first one was when I performed in the Royal Palace in Madrid for Queen Sofia. I know, I read that in your biography. It was really exciting. So you met the Queen? I met the Queen, yes, I met the Queen. Did you have a special dress? Sorry, I'm very much— I just had a very simple dress, a black sort of corset and a big black long skirt. Yeah, that was exciting. And then We performed together with Patricia at the Houses of Parliament. Nice. 5 years ago for the Southwark Jazz anniversary. Beautiful. Yeah, that was quite exciting. My little car drove into the Houses of Parliament and I was like, my God, anything is possible when you live in London, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. And central. And central, yes. And for you, Patricia? It's very funny because we mention all these sort of event, not concerts, but sort of state events sort of thing. Because for me, yes, that was wonderful at the Houses of Parliament. I mean, my goodness, what a setting. Where inside the Houses of Parliament did you perform? I forget. It was one of the many rooms. It's quite big. Yeah. It was in a room where they had this celebratory dinner. Okay. With lots of important people and they had lots of lovely food and— Yeah, that's always good for food. I mean, so for me it was also, I went for the anniversary of the, because we just heard Chimes of Normandy, which is a song from the First World War, and it was to commemorate the end of the First World War anniversary, the 100th anniversary of that, on Volkstrauertag, which the Germans, they have a remembrance day which is called the People's Mourning or Grieving Day. Which is one week after ours, which was great because I could retain the dates on the 11th. And yeah, and it was, it was in the Bundestag, the House of Parliament in Berlin, and it was broadcast live on all their major networks, television as well, and in the presence of Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel and many, many other people, including including the Prince of Prussia who called me up later and said, can you come back and perform for us? That was quite interesting. But anyway, so yeah, and it was a song about nurses called The Rose of No Man's Land because they wanted something that would include women as well in the commemoration. So The Rose of No Man's Land, I sang it in German, French, and English. Oh, wow. And that was amazing. With Matt, who arranged the last track. All right. And instead, what was the most challenging moment in your career? Well, I've just had one recently, not long ago, when I realized that although our job is, you know, it looks so glamorous when you're on stage wearing these big dresses and people can see you on posters and you know, advertise, and they all think you are a star, but they don't realize how much is going on behind in our lives. And I've gone through a miscarriage recently, and it happened on the day when I had a performance in the morning with Patricia, and then I had to open and lead a concert of my pupils in the evening, and I miscarried literally like 5 minutes before going on opening my students concert. And you just realise, okay, something's just happened, but you have to just keep going. The show must go on, literally. And that was the first time when I was actually upset that we are not allowed so often to show our true emotions and what is going on, and particularly when it comes to miscarriage. I have learned people don't talk about it. Yes, it's slightly taboo. And I think we should. Yes, it shouldn't be a taboo. It happens more than we think, and it's part of our life. Yeah. And if we spoke about it more, I think it would help women cope with it so much better. Imagine if men had miscarriages. They'd have like specials on their, you know, on their men's health magazine. They'd have like miscarriage month. I'm sure they would. Absolutely. Well, the The problem with miscarriage, yeah, I have a friend as well, two friends actually, that they experienced that. And there is sometimes, there is sort of, it's weird, no, they, I don't want to say exactly, but you know, there is many different reasons why they don't want to share it. And, and, and it's not, it's not fair. For the friends as well that are around you. For example, I discovered a friend of mine, she kept it a secret and she came out after. And it's like, but you know, it's important because I can't bring you out for a tea or for lunch or for dinner and talk about clothes when your mind is completely elsewhere, isn't it? Or complain about silly things my daughter might have been doing when— so it's very important, like with any other issue, you know, divorce or anything, that we share our experiences. The only way when you put it out not to make it to become— Yes, I think I was quite vocal about it from the very beginning, and it took me a few days to kind of come to terms with it. That's part of being a performer in a way. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, I guess so. But I just told it to my friends friends, and there were very, you know, like varied reactions. Some people didn't know what to say, some people knew exactly what to say, some people just couldn't, they just didn't know how to react, they just tried to change the subject, which that actually hurts, you know. Yes, it's not their fault, I guess, but trying to just change the topic is not the way to deal with it. Well, you don't know sometimes Maybe they had it themselves, and that's bringing up memories that you don't— yeah, that's true, actually. Anyway, there's so many things, unfortunately, so many reasons and so many, uh, you know, implications with that. And for example, I, I have a friend, she miscarried at 6 months and a half. Oh, that's very difficult. That's the most awful thing ever, because, you know, you have a baby in your tummy and you can't even for 6 months. That's most unusual actually. Yeah, well, she has other problems, so we talk about endometriosis, for example. That is something that we've never been talking before, but my sister, she has this problem and it's basically like living with cancer. And, you know, it's the pain in your menstruations and you don't realize why, and then people, you know, until my sister had it, I had no clue it existed. And that's why you have miscarriage, and she was very fortunate to manage to have a baby. And I mean, there's so much— the fact that we are able to procreate. Do you have any children? No. Do you want any children? Oh, I don't know, probably not, you know. And then there is this conversation about being a woman or not being a complete woman. Yes, children, not children. Yes, they don't talk about Batman, you You know, all these childless men, Caped Crusaders, childless Caped Crusaders. And you forget that there are women that they cannot have children. It is so difficult to have children, I can tell you that. I almost died having mine, you know. And then people say, why don't you have a second one? Lucky I had one, you see. And I had to go perform in Finland. I was performing Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto. And she was just 4 months old and I couldn't carry the luggage because of the complication from giving birth. So there is all these things and you can't tell because, you know, or I was performing until I was 6 months pregnant without telling anyone. Wow. And so I had this dress that kind of covered the fact that I was lacking. I have those dresses anyway without any children. So there is many things connected to having children, not having children, and, and it's just a woman problem. Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? I mean, it is men too. I mean, there are some men that are very considerate and very supportive. Absolutely. No, or like women that they want to keep the babies for themselves and the men would like to be involved, but you know, the relationship ends and it's tough. So it's not easy in any job, I I think. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But for us, yeah, there is no maternity, there is no— yes, well, that's kind of freelancers. Yeah, yeah. I think you asked earlier actually what is the, the beauty of the job, or, or, you know, with— and one of it is that the fact that we are so free to, to manage our time. Yes, as freelancers. But on the other hand, yes, no maternity, no— yeah, it's a trade-off. Well, unfortunately This section is already finished. Oh my gosh! So the song we're gonna play is actually called 'Can Sorrow Find Me' by Avril Coleridge-Taylor, a woman of colour from South London, born in 1903, so that's a unique composer. And a world premiere recording. And a world premiere recording. So let's listen to 'Can Sorrow Find Me.' Can sorrow find me in this far-off spot? Hidden in a mist of blue forget-me-nots. Through the deep shadows where the bluebells grow. I crept with silent feet that none should know. No ruder touch than petals from the bough of apple-blooming fall upon me now. No harsher sound than birds above. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Junie Mae Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy, and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities The possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Meg Matthews, and I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Join us for a brand new show on Woman's Radio Station. It's the Meg's Menopause Show. Yes, for the first time on radio, there's an entire show dedicated to the menopause. A fresh new approach where we inform you of all the choices and treatments that are out there. Supportive and empowering. This is your show, so join us every week with a host of celebrity guests, our very own resident doctor, where we talk about everything menopause. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishkon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. My name is Ingrid Marsh and I host the Radical Wellbeing Show, supporting women's wellbeing. On my show, I bring you ordinary women like me and you who are sharing their unique stories. Women who have refused to be defined by their pains, to be silenced by stigma or crushed by stereotypes, and who are taking back their power. And together, our mission is a simple one, and that's to inspire you to kick away the roadblocks too, to don your wings and be the person that you were born to be. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio Station, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to Future Classic Men of Worlds on Women's Radio Station. Our guests today are mezzo-soprano Patricia Amont and pianist Andrea Vargas Kumekova. Um, Patricia, we start with you. Oh, this time is the last part of our interview, and this time for the odd questions. So, do you have any hobby to free or relax your mind? Any hobbies? Gosh, oh, I mean, I suppose my career arose out of the hobby of collecting sheet music. Oh goodness, yes, I do. Oh, I love reading, I love reading. I've gone through a phase of reading— I know it's strange on a women's program, but I've gone through a phase of reading cowboy novels. Oh, cowboy novels! Guilty pleasure. And also I love reading Georgette Heyer and those Regency romances, and I found that there's a kind of a sub-Georgette Heyer called Alice Chetwynd-Ley, and I'm in the middle of it. They look so trashy. They're for like— she wrote in the '60s and '70s— bodice ripper, you know, historical romance. Like, you can imagine the tacky covers. I can show you one right in my bag. And she— it's called The Bow and the Blue Stocking. Mm. But she likes reading poetry. And so she's not very— but the flower of fashion, the Beau Devonish, is after her, and it's just so trashy and so fun. Very nice. And you, Andrea? Well, there's not much time for hobbies, I think, when you're a cellist or a musician. No! You've got 2 cats. I've got 2 cats. I suppose I love yoga, so I used to do yoga 4 or 5 times a week up to about 2 years ago. Years ago when I actually had an injury. I've, you know, I pushed myself too much and I overstretched. Yeah, my body. So now I can only do it twice a week. But, um, yeah, yoga. And I love to go to things like Gong Bath, you know, on these kind of things. No, where you just go and they play this— the gong. Ah, yes, I heard about. And you just lie down for meditation. Meditation. You're saying this is amazing. It actually is because it's the vibration of the sound that you're experiencing and the water or liquid in your body starts vibrating and it is very relaxing. Wow. Well, do you have any superstition or ritual before going on stage? Oh no, no, because that way madness lies. If you start with one, you'll, you'll, it'll just keep going. I remember, I remember I had so many superstitions on my way to a competition, which I lost. And so I threw them all away. Like, okay, gotta go down this side of the escalator. Okay, gotta step around that crack. Okay, can't use that handrail, blah, blah, blah. And then I got there and didn't make it to the finals and went, okay, well, all those superstitions can just go. Uh-huh. Thank you. Very healthy. Absolutely. I do not believe in things like superstition. I think it's all in your mind. You've got to be positive, you've got to trust that what you do is right and go on stage with the best intention. Absolutely, yeah, and prepared at the most, at the top that we can, and then, you know, whatever happens is the beauty of the live show. Yeah, exactly. Yes, fine. And do you have any fun or embarrassing moments that you can, uh, anecdote that you can share? Oh, there's loads of embarrassing moments. I mean, that would be an entire program, to be honest, in my case anyway. Well, go ahead then. Well, I remember once I forgot— I was wearing this, it was an Edwardian concert in the Buxton Festival, and the lights were very strong, and I had forgotten that my dress, my Edwardian dress, is very flimsy, and I'd forgotten my slip. So, and so I said to the rest of the musicians, I said, okay, so I took off my My underwear was black. Ah, right. And I took off the underwear and said, "So, okay, so how's this?" And then they all looked at me and went, "That's worse." And I went, "Okay, okay, right. What have we got?" And the guitarist, he had in his guitar case, he had this linen napkin he got from a gig from some restaurant or other that he uses to clean his— so I kind of hooked that like an apron underneath my corset where the corset ended so that the front was completely covered. Okay. And that was fine and I did the concert and then for the interval I turned around to leave the stage and the lights were very strong and everybody laughed. So all I can conclude is that— An X-rated concert. They saw the back side, the back side. All right. Very strong lights. Andrea, do you remember anything? No, like I've already mentioned, she's too dignified. We're having an informal chat. I, I don't really— no, Andrea is very dignified and she's classy and she'd never ever forget her slip. And she's classy. She is classy. I think I'm just not good with remembering funny things, or, or I'm just really stressful more than funny if anything like that happens. Now, what is your next project? The audio recording? Well, we're going to be kind of promoting and touring what you just heard, which is a project, it's 24-track CD, I believe it's 24-track, no, 34-track CD. 34, yeah, that's it, yeah. Well, 9 of, 12 of those are very, very, very, very tiny, tiny songs, and it's called She Wrote the Songs, and it highlights the contribution that women, because often with women composers, people people go like, where are the women symphonists and Beethovens and everything? Well, if you go back 100 years, women were not allowed to be in universities, or 150 years, universities. They weren't allowed to be in orchestras or let alone conduct them or cathedrals. So where could they try out the larger forms? But they could play the piano and sing in the so-called domestic sphere. And actually within that sphere, there's a genre called, well, parlor song, I suppose, or salon song. Absolutely, yeah. Where they reigned supreme. The main problem is, you know, some of the most successful salon song composers and parlor song composers were women, and the lyricists as well. But the problem is that form, that form of music has been belittled by critics for years, and I think it's time, especially now when we're saying people people like Sir Paul McCartney are great composers, you say, well, you know, and Burt Bacharach, great composer, and you think, okay, so you no longer have to have written an opera and symphonies and string quartets to be considered a great composer? Okay, well, it's time to reappraise these women who wrote some great tunes that were so popular within, I suppose, what you would call the pop genre of the day. Mm-hmm, absolutely. And so this is a CD entirely of that. Oh, fantastic. Well, the next song we're gonna listen to is from Éuphémie Allain, right? And it's called Chop Waltz, or known as Chopsticks, right? Yes, the celebrated Chop Waltz, absolutely. So this is the piece that many people will know, I guess, and maybe they have tried to play it. Yeah, well, the beginning at least. Yeah, absolutely. And I will never forget when we started working on this, I have never heard of it. And Patricia told me, "Oh, you must record this. I think this is going to be the absolute premiere, you know, the first ever recorded Chopin Waltz." And funny enough, 2 years— no, 1 year ago, I was flying, I can't remember where, but I was going to join a cruise ship. And you know these posh magazines on the planes? I've never been on a cruise, I'm so jealous, you know! Actually, I've just stopped because they're so in my face. Environmentally— Ah, really? Not friendly and really bad. So that was— yeah, I'm no longer— Yes, Andrea has some real sort of environmental commitments right now. She's part of a group, Musicians for the Earth. I've just created a group and I was inspired by my friend Teresa, who arranged a climate change piano recital where she spoke about the climate change and played, and it was quite something. So were you one of the rebellion? I wasn't actually. I thought, oh, this is a bit too much for me to go. She was. She was. Yeah. Okay. The facts speak for itself. I think we really have to do something for this planet, and music can do something about that. And musicians can have— we can speak. Sorry, I interrupted you. You were on a plane and you, you— oh yeah, it was amazing. Let's go back to— I think I was on a plane to Samoa or somewhere like that, and I read an article. It was an interview with Lang Lang, who in his latest CD, on his latest CD, he's recorded the very same Chopin Waltz. Oh wow! Well, let's listen to it. By a woman! By a woman, of course! By a woman, Xenia Allan. Of course! Let's listen to it then. How cute! This was Chopsticks, the Chop Waltz by Euphemia Allen, played by Andrea Vargas-Kminkova. If you have any questions that you would like to ask our guests or nominations for our future Classic Women Awards, please email presenters@womensradiostation.com or tweet us @WomensRadioSTN. A big thanks to our guests, to mezzo-soprano Patricia Hammond and pianist Andrea Vargas-Kminkova for the great chat and the beautiful music played today. Thank you for having us. Pleasure. Well, it was super fun, and I'm gonna invite you back because because we have so much more to talk. You've been listening to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, live every day at 10 AM and 10 PM London time. If you want to listen to it again or catch up on our previous programs, you can head to the presenter's page, Stefania Passamonte, Future Classic Women Awards on womensradiostation.com. 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Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio Station, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs.