'Innate sob' signature sound of opera star from St. Charles

Sondra Radvanovsky cites three pivotal moments on the road to success as an international opera superstar.

The first occurred in St. Charles when her mom and grandmother gave 4-year-old Radvanovsky her first record player.

"I bought my first record, the Carpenters' greatest hits album, and that was it!" Radvanovsky said. "To this day, I can probably sing every one of those songs."

The second pivotal moment occurred when 11-year-old Radvanovsky saw Plácido Domingo perform the opera "Tosca" on TV.

"I remember sitting there in front of the television set with those knobs you actually had to turn," she recalled. "I was like a foot away from the TV just staring at it, going 'Wow! What is this?'"

A third moment was more tragic. Her father, Robert Radvanovsky, died when she was 17. Her loss continues to shape her performances.

"I always think of my father when I sing arias about loss and love and longing," she said. "It gave me that definite deep sorrow that one can only get from life experience, you know?"

Starting Saturday, she will sing the title role in the tragic opera "Anna Bolena," playing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago through Jan. 16.

Someone once told Radvanovsky that the tone of her voice carried "an innate sob."

"I think that's true," she agreed, "and it's from losing my father. Acting teachers will ask, 'What emotion can you pull out of your pocket today?' A very big one is in my pocket. Innate sadness.

"Would I rather have my father right here now? Absolutely. But I do think it (his passing) made me grow as a person and as an artist."

The opera star confessed that she still offers a prayer to her father before each performance, asking to do the best job she can that day.

Radvanovsky's growth as an artist also received support from an unlikely mentor: Plácido Domingo, the singer whose work on the televised production of "Tosca" inspired a St. Charles girl to become an opera singer.

"When I look at the concerts that Placido and I have done, I mean, you just pinch yourself! He's the reason I'm doing this," she said.

Radvanovsky has nothing but praise for Domingo for being a proponent of opera who helps and guides young singers "more than anyone else in the business," she said.

"Most of all, he helps you with all the small things that nobody tells you in the business," she said. "Like how to pack for traveling. What's the best way to warm up?

"Should you sing every day? Every other day? Little things, like should you eat before you sing? What should you eat before you sing? Stuff that no one else teaches you."

Radvanovsky has been called one of the leading Verdi sopranos of her generation, a vocalist who specializes in bringing 19th-century Italian operas to life onstage.

"I have the best job in the whole world," Radvanovsky said, "because I get paid to do something I love. How many people do you know who can say that?

"If I can transport audiences for the three or four hours they're at the opera, to make them forget all of their worries, the bills they have to pay and all that, then I've done my job. That, for me, is very gratifying."

Radvanovsky was born in Berwyn. She lived in St. Charles from the age of 4 through 11 before moving with her family to Richmond, Indiana.

During her junior year in high school, Radvanovsky's family moved to southern California. ("It was terrible!" she told us. "You wouldn't want to grow up in southern California!")

No matter where in the world she travels, Radvanovsky, who now lives in Canada with her husband/business manager Duncan Lear, said she can spot a Midwesterner, especially a Chicagoan, every time.

"The accent gives it away," she said. "I worked very hard to get rid of it. As a singer, you have to sing without an accent. I used to worsh my clothes, you know?"

But more than accents set Midwesterners apart, she said.

"This is my test: You get in an elevator. The people who talk to you in that elevator I guarantee will not be from L.A. or New York. They will be from the Midwest, 100 percent of the time.

"I think Chicagoans have a great set of values. You know what I mean? Kindness. Morals. Ethics. People in Chicago do the right thing. If somebody falls on the street, someone will actually stop and help them up. That doesn't happen in certain other cities."

- Dann Gire

Jamie Sotonoff and Dann Gire are looking for Northwest suburbanites who've made a mark in showbiz. If you know someone who would make an interesting story, contact them at jsotonoff@dailyherald.com and dgire@dailyherald.com.

Keeping her head

Former St. Charles resident Sondra Radvanovsky said playing the title role of King Henry VIII's wife in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of “Anna Bolena” is as much a marathon race as performance art.

“Vocally, it's a very challenging opera,” she said. “It is quite long for me, a long evening. There are two or three scenes I'm not in. I have to really work on stamina and the arc of the character.

“You can't give too much too soon or you can't sing the 17-minute scene later. You have to pace yourself.”

“Anna Bolena” runs Dec. 6 through Jan. 16 at the Lyric Opera, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. Go to

lyricopera.org for tickets and schedules.