Elizabeth Llewellyn, interview: 'I wasn't afraid of arguing my corner' In a complete change of tempo and atmosphere, she joined the IT crowd, taking a job in recruitment and training, "just at the time when e-sales were beginning to boom. And, surprisingly, I loved it. Subsequently, she had several jobs organising conferences and special- interest tours. It was all going well, I felt challenged and absorbed, and I liked earning steady money, too. But then came the siren call. When I bought a flat in a new area, I joined the local choir and amateur operatic society as a way of getting to know people. Someone there told me that I ought to take my singing more seriously and persuaded me to consult the ENO conductor Lionel Friend. I wasn't getting the colds any longer and I had nothing to lose, so I went to sing for him. His enthusiasm fired her to take lessons with the distinguished coach Lilian Watson, and before she knew it, she had given up the day job and joined the Glyndebourne Chorus. After that, with help from the Peter Moores Foundation, she did a year at opera's finishing school, the National Opera Studio, where, as she puts it, "my little bit of maturity paid off: I wasn't afraid of arguing my corner." There was no messing about with small roles out in the sticks. While still at the NOS, she was snapped up by ENO to play Mimi in Jonathan Miller's new production of La Bohème, and last year she hit the headlines again when she stepped in at 36 hours" notice to sing the Countess at the premiere of Fiona Shaw's production of The Marriage of Figaro. I wrote in my review that I was "reminded of a night in 1973 when I first heard an unknown young soprano called Kiri Te Kanawa sing this role and a star was born." She recalls the occasion with pleasure. I don't have nerves of steel, but I had sung the role in Italian at Holland Park, so it was embedded in my voice and I knew I could get through. It was actually quite a fun night," she says. I enjoyed myself. At home in south London, she's a keen gardener and "helps out with the little ones" at her local church. But music takes up most of her life and she's planning strategically for the long term. More Mozart, I hope. Suor Angelica and then perhaps some Strauss. Meanwhile, she's preparing for Carmen with the formidable Bieito, notorious for stagings pervaded with sex and violence. She's ready for whatever he throws at her (a car and a crucifix are threatened), and hopes to give Micaela's anodyne personality "a few more edges than usually given credit for. She's someone who defends what she thinks is right, and I always admire that. One guesses that this is one of Llewellyn's traits, too, but professionally she doesn't crusade for her colour and race. I'm not naive. I'm aware of the issues, but I haven't suffered from them personally and they haven't affected my choices. My chief worry is that nobody will ever cast me as Desdemona, a role that one day I'd adore to sing. Unless some crazy director decides to plump for a white Otello! Carmen" opens at the London Coliseum (020 7845 9300) on Nov 21