Much has been said about Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan’s commanding stage presence. Her voice is described as both pure and hot with complete control.
Control that comes with the occasional and much celebrated wearing of what Hannigan calls her dominatrix outfit.
Hannigan bought the costume in a Queen Street shop “where people buy these sorts of things”, she tells Bill Richardson on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.
It was for her role as the head of the KGB in “Mysteries of the Macabre.” Hannigan wanted to be a caricature, almost like a manga character.
The first time she sang it Ligeti was there and she asked permission to wear it. “As you can imagine he really didn’t mind and ever since then the problem is no one wants me to get out of that outfit!”
Hannigan’s going to wear it as long as she can and she wonders what will wear out first; her voice, or will she still fit into the outfit.
It’s come in handy for more than visual stage presence. Hannigan says wearing the outfit gives her free reign on gestures when she’s conducting and singing, as she did for that piece.
It’s only gotten her into trouble once. A customs officer in Amsterdam fished the high heeled black letter boot out of her bag and asked what she did for a living. He then held up the ridiculous boot for all over officers to see and said “She says she’s an opera singer?!”