A voice that won’t stop

FOR those who like their opera safe and traditional, Karita Mattila is definitely not the ideal diva. The Finnish soprano radiates an exuberance that lays waste to conventional expectations. Bold and sometimes controversial, she is a hotblooded creature who holds nothing back, whether on stage or off.

“I’m a spontaneous person,” Mattila declared recently. “Some people warned me about that when I was a student. They said I was going to get hurt. And then my teacher said I have to stay the way I am. It’s one of the best lessons she gave me. To this day, I can get into such a state that I have to count to 10 before I react to something.”

Then she let out a hearty guffaw -- one of many during an interview from her home in Florida, where she was vacationing with her husband. On Thursday, she is scheduled to be back at work, making her Los Angeles Opera debut in the title role of “Jenufa” by the Czech composer Leos Janácek. It’s a signature role for Mattila, 47, who debuted in this production in Hamburg, Germany, and has since appeared in it in London and New York.

“It’s the perfect role for my voice,” she explained. “It’s a good, big lyric part.” First performed in 1904, “Jenufa” is a challenging opera that combines elements of 19th century Romanticism with Moravian folk influences. The composer even incorporated local speech patterns into the vocal writing. “It’s quite a stretched area musically,” said Mattila, who learned Czech for the role.

The opera, however, does carry echoes of Mattila’s own childhood. The young Jenufa is a headstrong farm girl who lives with her stepmother, the Kostelnicka. When this severe woman learns that Jenufa is pregnant by Steva, the town rake, she hides the girl in hopes of saving the family’s reputation. But the Kostelnicka’s actions have grave consequences, and Jenufa must ultimately learn to forgive and to transcend the pain inflicted by others.

Mattila grew up in a rural town similar to the one in “Jenufa” -- “it was a small village where everybody knew everybody’s business,” she said. She described her parents as caring but conservative. “I couldn’t have possibly stayed there!” she said. “As soon as I started studying, it was so obvious that I had to move on.”

And move on she did. She left home to study at the Sibelius Academy in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, and at 22 won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, which launched her international career. Today, she belongs to a select group of performers -- including Renée Fleming, Anne Sofie von Otter and Deborah Voigt -- who are in constant demand at the world’s premier opera houses.

Praise for a ‘singing actress’

Mattila is perhaps best known for her performances in German-language operas -- especially those by Mozart, Wagner and Richard Strauss -- but she has incorporated more Slavic music into her repertoire in the last few years, including the works of Janácek.

When she first sang his “Kát’a Kabanová,” at San Francisco Opera in 2002, Times critic Mark Swed wrote that she delivered “a performance of such shattering dramatic power and stunning vocal assurance that it seems certain Kát’a will become associated with her forevermore.”

Praise for Mattila tends to focus as much on her acting as on her voice and has earned her the label “singing actress.”

“Some singers are quite happy if you leave them in peace because they prefer to concentrate on the vocal output,” said Olivier Tambosi, who is directing L.A. Opera’s “Jenufa.” “With Karita, it’s the contrary. She has a hunger for being musically and dramatically present.” When Tambosi asked her to sing the opera’s most famous aria while lying on her back under a big rock, he was nervous that she might refuse. “But it wasn’t a problem at all,” he recalled. “She grabbed the idea and understood it perfectly.”

When discussing her role models, Mattila cites the late Uta Hagen, the actress who not only created such roles as Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” but was a celebrated teacher of acting as well.

“I got one of her books from someone who was studying in her studio, and I got totally hooked,” she said. “I thought all opera singers should read this. I always travel with her books, and they are in my houses in Florida and Finland.”

Acting for Mattila is a physical activity. “To act is to do,” she said. “Thoughts and emotions have to come out in a physical way. And for that, you have to know your body.”

Her corporeal awareness was born out of necessity. By age 14, she had grown to her present height of 5 feet 10. “I just stopped growing after that,” she said. “Lengthwise I mean, but maybe I have grown in width since then!” (Another thunderous guffaw.)

Mattila believes that the compulsory ballet classes she took at the Sibelius Academy helped her feel more comfortable with her body. She also cited the guidance of certain directors, such as choreographer Maurice Béjart, who directed her in a 1985 production of “Die Fledermaus.” “God, how he made us move!” she said. “Those kinds of experiences are crucial for young opera singers, and I was lucky to have them.”

These days, yoga and vigorous workouts help keep her in tune with her body. “I like a good sweat at the gym,” she said. “When I’m physically strong -- that gives me pleasure because I work . . . hard for it. I like the feel of my muscles. I don’t know why it used to be the man’s priority to enjoy muscles. I think it’s sexy. It gives me confidence to know I can lift my suitcases.”

All of that physical discipline paid off to spectacular effect in 2004 when she starred in Richard Strauss’ “Salome” at the Metropolitan Opera. Mattila performed the Dance of the Seven Veils as a striptease, concluding the scene naked. The performance set off a media firestorm. Critics went crazy (mostly in a good way).

In retrospect, Mattila said she wasn’t intimidated by having to strike a “slutty, two-second nude pose.”

“I first thought the Met was going to censor it somehow. And I was so proud they didn’t,” she said. “The audience had a right to see it -- and in the end, they did!” (And they will again: Mattila confirmed that she will revive the role in New York, possibly as early as the 2008-09 season.)

Not afraid to speak up

In recent months, Mattila has been following media reports about some of her younger colleagues -- stories of overwork and stress, even rumors of drug abuse. The news has disturbed her, and she has sharp words for everyone implicated in it.

“We pay our agents to have common sense. And most of them don’t,” she said. “If singers aren’t stars immediately, then that’s it. Agents are supposed to be supportive. The reality is that most are . . . “ and here she used a vulgarism. “Don’t write that, OK? Put it in a nicer way!”

But Mattila feels that responsibility for their well-being ultimately lies with the singers: “You pick up a mirror, and then you see who’s to blame for your problems.”

There is little danger of Mattila overworking. She typically limits herself to no more than 60 singing nights each year. This season, she has only one other opera engagement, Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” at the Met. But she will perform several concerts, including one with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in London on Nov. 9 under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, who has known Mattila since their days at the Sibelius Academy.

“Karita was an uncomplicated country girl when she came to school, and in many ways, this hasn’t changed,” Salonen said on the phone from Finland. “The grand diva is pretty much on the surface, and deep down she’s a down-to-earth kind of person. Musically, she does everything with maximum intensity. She has a fearlessness; she doesn’t play it safe.”

(Mattila’s L.A. Phil concert will be an all-Finnish affair, with music by Sibelius and contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho.)

Concerts provide audiences the incidental pleasure of witnessing one of Mattila’s nonmusical obsessions: beautiful dresses. Her red-carpet-worthy gowns are a subject of fascination for many of her fans. On some level, every concert and recital she gives is also a fashion show.

“I’ve always liked clothes, even when I had less money,” she said. “Ten years ago, my hobby was to design my dresses, and I had a lady in Finland who sewed them. These days, I haven’t the time. I pay for my clothes so I won’t advertise for any designer, but I have some favorites. I actually don’t buy that many designer clothes because some people may recognize them! I can go to a Florida outlet and buy a dress for $80 and then go to New York and wear it at a gala.

“I think beauty can be deep. It comes from your total attitude. I think I’m quite -- how do you say? -- not ‘balanced,’ but I’m comfortable in my skin. If that comes out, then you look good. Of course, I’m flattered whenever I get compliments.”

A brief pause and then a final eruption: “Just make sure this isn’t the most important issue in the article! But even if it is, I don’t mind! I really don’t mind because it’s a part of who I am.”

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david.ng@latimes.com

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‘Jenufa’

Where: Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 4, 10 and 13; 2 p.m. next

Sunday and Oct. 7

Price: $20 to $238

Contact: (213) 972-8001 or www.losangelesopera.com