Opera star Danielle de Niese: I will not push my children into the arts

Opera singer Danielle de Niese has said she will not push her children into the arts.The theatre star, 47, is mother to son Bacchus and daughter Sheherazade with her husband Gus Christie, the executive chairman of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.De Niese is well aware of the difficulties of making a full-time career in the arts and said “you have to really want it”.She told the Press Association: “My daughter, who is five, is basically like a mini-me and wants to do everything I do.De Niese is well aware of the difficulties of making a full-time career in the arts (Ian West/PA)PA Archive“If she wants to do it, I will hold her up to the sky and help her fly in any way that I can.“I don’t have any desire to push my children into the arts. I know that’s a bit of a controversial thing to say but I know how hard it is.“It is such a journey and you have to really want it.“To be an artist is one of the most gratifying things if you can withstand all of that. If they want it, I will prepare them to withstand it.”She added: “They would certainly not be blamed for wanting to take it up.”De Niese, who is currently starring in the musical Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre in London (Brinkhoff-Moegenburg/PA)The soprano also discussed the rise of artificial intelligence, saying she thinks her career as a live performer is one of the few that will be safe from it.She said: “Because of AI replacing so many tech jobs, we might get to a place where a son or daughter could look up to their parent and go, ‘I think I want to do the arts’ and a parent might go, ‘that’s a good choice’.“Artists aren’t really replaceable by AI. A magical live performance in opera, theatre, ballet, art, you can’t replace it with AI.”De Niese, who is currently starring in the musical Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre London, also discussed actors who have called out audience members for texting or filming during shows, including Cate Blanchett and Rosamund Pike.De Niese’s latest project is the Sky Arts documentary The Handel Scandal (Factory Films/PA)She said: “It’s very heavily policed in Hadestown, we have an incredible usher team who are really on it so it’s very hard to pull out a phone. We should always hold on to being present in the moment.”Read MoreDe Niese’s latest project is documentary The Handel Scandal, in which she presents the story of Susannah Cibber, an 18th century singer who appeared in George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah after she had been shamed by a sordid sex scandal.She said: “It’s a story most people don’t know and most of the details are jaw-dropping, they’re shocking. You can’t really fathom that it was someone’s actual life.”The Handel Scandal: The Making Of The Messiah premieres on October 27 at 8pm on Sky Arts/Now.