Wm: You have been Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program since 2005 and you  were an Apprentice yourself here in 1966. From the outside, it appears that the Santa Fe Summer Festivals provide the artists chosen to be apprentices with experiences that are quite unique.

DH: I have watched this program in operation for over five years. I think that, for a summer festival situation, the Santa Fe Apprentice program is remarkable in the number of opportunities for singing that it gives young artists. We use them in small parts in the five operas we schedule each summer and as the Chorus. In addition, there are a number of outside engagements they do, and they are paid for what they do. Besides that, how many opera companies have their own swimming pool?

[Below: David Holloway, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program; resized image.]

Certainly, just becoming an apprentice, and getting that designation for your resume, puts you into a professional category. What John Crosby, Santa Fe Opera’s founding director, always said about the program, was that he wanted it to be a bridge program from conservatory to professional life. Many people make the bridge, but some people do not make the crossover.

Wm: Forty-five years ago, you were one of the Santa Fe Opera apprentice artists. Now you are the Apprentices Program Director, as well as chair of the Performance Department of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of the Performing Arts. How did you come to assume the directorship of this program?

DH: Santa Fe Opera’s former General Director Richard Gaddes invited me to be the first person to hold the title “Director” of the Santa Fe Apprentice program in 2005. For me, it was a coming home. I had not been around Santa Fe since 2000 and 2001, when Gaddes had me do some winter opera  - Gay’s “Beggars Opera” and Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore” in Downtown Santa Fe.

Wm: Would you agree that the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist program has had an influence on the way American opera companies operate?

DH: Yes, all of the training programs in every company are based on John Crosby’s original idea. He implemented his vision of a young artists’ program in 1957.

After our apprentice program came the Lyric Opera’s Ryan Center in Chicago, the New York Met’s Lindemann Center, the Domingo-Thornton program in Los Angeles, and the Domingo-Cafritz in Washington, D.C. Houston Grand Opera has the Texas Opera Theater, and there are programs in other cities based on the Young Artists model.

Wm: 1957 was also the year that Kurt Herbert Adler established the Merola Young Artists Program at the San Francisco Opera.

DH: The Merola Program is not connected with the regular San Francisco Opera season, as the Santa Fe Opera apprentices are. The Adler Fellowships, which were created 20 years later, produce the artists that participate in the San Francisco Opera’s season performances.

Wm: What does choosing the Santa Fe Opera Apprentices entail?

DH: In collaboration with the Santa Fe Opera’s Artistic Administrator, Brad Woolbright, and Conductor Robert Tweten, the Head of the Music Staff, we start choosing our singers. I personally heard 760 auditions for the 2009 season. We had 1400 applications, and our team heard a total of 900. We hold auditions all over the country.

Wm: What criteria did you use for selecting 37 or 38 apprentices?

DH: The listening process is very complicated. We do several rounds of preliminary auditions. With the help of Bob Tweten and Kathleen Kaun (of the Rice University Shepherd School of Music), we listen to singers in several cities throughout the U. S. In order for people to get into the program, they have to sing for Bob and me together in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Albuquerque.

We know when we are on the road what types of voices we will need to cover principals. Young singers do not understand very well, that it is not just having a good voice that determines who is selected. There are so many elements that have to be considered. Sometimes we have to pass over a terrific possibility for one season, then invite them to cover another artist the next year. We also invite some of our young artists to be second year apprentices.

We try to listen very carefully. We know in about 15 bars what kind of talent they have. In collaboration with our artistic directors, we cast the smaller roles and covers from people we hear at the auditions. In the case of Adina in 2009’s performances of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore”, we knew at her audition that Deborah Selig would make an excellent cover for the role.

Erin Snell was the cover for the lead role of Leslie in Morevac’s “The Letter” in the 2009 season. We knew from the 2008 summer season that she could handle difficult music. The 2009 apprentices were a particularly strong group.

Wm: When is it decided which roles will be sung by Apprentices?

DH: We develop spreadsheets that list all the characters in each of the five operas in the Santa Fe season. Some of the characters listed can stay in flux for awhile, and we have time to see if there is an Apprentice that could handle that part. I was able to suggest that the part of the Priest in 2009′s performances in Gluck’s “Alceste” should be handled by an apprentice, Nicholas Pallesen.

Wm: I was very impressed attending the Apprentice Singers’ Santa Fe Community Concert at the Cathedral Basilica in Downtown Santa Fe.

DH: Five of the local churches pay them to perform at their services. We require the young artists to learn how to engage with the people of Santa Fe. The opera is on its mountain, but the opera goes singing into the town. The young artists perform fundraising events at Vanessie’s Restaurant and in the more informal settings of Vanessie’s piano bar. I get to facilitate a variety of community-based programs in Santa Fe, such as one in the Whole Foods Grocery Store, which is operated by Tom Di Ruggiero, an opera lover!

[Below: the 2011 class of Santa Fe Opera apprentices. Director David Holloway is in the third row, third from right; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: When you were an apprentice in 1966, who were your fellow apprentices?

DH: In my summer were John Duykers, Charles Elsen (who later became a great makeup artist), Brent Ellis, Ruth Falcon, Gary Glaze, David Gockley, Rodney Godshall, Carolyne James, Samuel Ramey and Patricia Wise.

Wm: Your colleagues in that class have all made their impact on American opera. Ramey became an international superstar and Gockley the general manager of first the Houston Grand Opera, and more recently the San Francisco Opera. You, Brent Ellis and Patricia Wise had long careers. You later participated in the Santa Fe Opera in the 1960s as both a principal and comprimario artist.

DH: Yes, although at the time that I first came to Santa Fe, it was after the famous early seasons associated with Igor Stravinsky, when Ragnar Ulfung sang Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s “Rake’s Progress” and Cavaradossi in Puccini’s “Tosca”.

I made my debut at the Santa Fe Opera as Papageno in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” with Robert Baustian conducting and Bliss Hebert directing.

What is your musical background?

DH: I came from the tiny town of Gas, Kansas which is near Iola, a small town in Allen County, in Kansas’ Southeast. My sister Ruth played the piano, and so I became interested in piano at age five. I had strong musical instruction and training in piano and voice. In 1958, my parents sent me to the University of Kansas band camp, which was a revelation.  It was the first time in my life I met other kids who were as interested in music as I was. They made it seem normal to me. Before that, I felt like such a nerd – a musical nerd – because I had tremendous interest in this thing that no one else was interested in.

Wm:  Obviously, a Santa Fe Opera apprentice artist is training for a career in opera; but how did you come to be an opera singer originally?

DH: I attended Kansas University, during the time that Robert Baustian taught conducting. Although Iowa-born, Baustian had received training in Europe and had been associated with both the Zurich Opera and the Hessian State Opera in Wiesbaden. He was also a music director and conductor for the Santa Fe Opera for 21 seasons.

My freshman year at KU, I got cast as the Postman in “The Most Happy Fella”. When the performances were over in early November 1960, Robert Baustian came up to me and said “What are you majoring in, young man?” I mumbled something about piano or Music Ed and he said – and I’ll never forget this – “I think you can aspire to more. I think you should look into being a voice major.”

Well that changed everything. Of course my dad said “What’s a voice major? I’m not paying tuition for a voice major.” But he still sent my $108 tuition check every semester. At Kansas University I studied with Irene Peabody, who was a terrific teacher and a wonderful person. Since I played piano, I also accompanied singers in voice lessons taught by soprano Patricia Wise, now on the Indiana University voice faculty, but then at the University of Kansas.

Wm: And you continued to use your accompanist skills after you joined the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artists?

DH: My abilities as accompanist came in handy when I was in the Apprentice Program. When there was no accompanist available to cover Margaret Harshaw’s voice lessons in Santa Fe, I assumed that task, so that, for example, I was the pianist when David Gockley was taking his voice lessons.

Wm: For much of your performing career you were associated with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Duesseldorf, Germany where you were a lead baritone. What are some of your roles there?

DH: In Duesseldorf, I sang Figaro and Count Almaviva in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro”, and the title roles of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” and Handel’s “Julius Caesar”. At the Glyndebourne Festival in Great Britain, I sang Escamillo in Bizet’s “Carmen”. If you check YouTube, you can see me singing the Toreador Song.

Wm: As of the date of this posting, your performance of the Toreador Song has had over 747,000 YouTube views.

DH: Then I came back to the states in 1991, where I began teaching. I continued to sing for about three more years. When I finally started teaching I had five children and wanted to be closer to home. I moved to Chicago and started teaching at Roosevelt University.

Five years ago, I sang the seven nemesis characters in Britten’s “Death in Venice” at Chicago Opera Theater. Counting those roles, between Europe and the U. S. I have had over 75 major roles.

Wm: Including seven seasons at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

DH: Yes, I had debuted at the Met in 1973 and spent the year as a Met’s “plan artist”. It was a great year for famous artists. My debut role was as Yamadori in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, and sang that role in performances in which both Leontyne Price and Dorothy Kirsten starred. I was the Herald in Verdi’s “Otello” with Jon Vickers and Kiri Te Kanawa, and was Schaunard in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in this season where both Montserrat Caballe and Franco Corelli were present.

During my Met seasons, I sang Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte”, Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly” and Lescaut in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” in which Mirella Freni was Manon.  I also performed in “Manon” with Neil Shicoff and Catherine Malfitano. I returned to the Met in 1981 in Poulenc’s “Les Mamelles de Tirésias”.

Wm: Returning to the subject of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, do you find that it helps the young artists set their career goals?

DH: Yes, the apprentices get a look at the life an artist leads by being around these artists. Having a great voice doesn’t mean that one is suited to the life of an artist. I know we lose some great voices because the life is not something they want.

From my own personal experience, I know that when I was a performing artist, my wife and I moved to Europe, because that was one place where I could work steadily and come home to my family at night. But I was lucky that my wife wanted to pick up and move to another continent. Some people would not choose to live such a life.

Wm: Thank you, David.

[Below: Conductor and Santa Fe Opera Music Director Frederic Chaslin.]

Wm: You were born in Paris. What were the influences that led you into a career with musical  composition and performance?

FC: What led me into music? I think it was always in me. My first musical memory was at age four, that I was visiting with my father in an antique store and ran over to a piece of furniture that I somehow knew contained a keyboard. Soon, I was playing with the piano’s keyboard. Something tells me that I was attracted to the instrument instinctively, because no child can tell what was under a piece of furniture.

I was always attracted by church organs. First, I was too young to play one. But I was interested because of its big sound that wanted something richer than just one song. Still, I became at age nine the youngest organist in France, maybe in the world, and played every weekend the three masses in the nearest church.

Wm: Which of the Parisian churches is what you refer to as “the nearest church”?

FC: I played where my teacher was the titular organist, the Eglise Saint-Merri, which is just a few blocks from the Centre Pompidou.

Wm: You were interested in playing keyboard instruments and in conducting from childhood. When did you first become interested in musical composition?

FC: Composition was always an obvious pursuit for me. As a child, I could hear music within myself, as if I had a radio in my head that was playing music that I invented. Some people have long discussions with themselves. I had the same process with music.

Wm: You attended the Conservatoire de Paris and Mozarteum University of Salzburg and you became an assistant conductor under Daniel Barenboim at age 26 and Pierre Boulez at age 28. In addition to Barenboim and Boulez, you have cited conductor Franco Ferrara as having a decisive influence on your conducting career. How would you describe the impact of these conductors on your life work?

FC: You take something just by meeting them. You sense their greatness.  They give you a feeling of how many steps you have to climb.

Wm: What was it like to receive instruction in conducting from Franco Ferrara?

FC: Ferrara was intense. He was an extremely important influence and a great inspiration, even though I did not come to know him early enough that I could be completely trained by him. Ferrara gave me the will to always try to turn what I’m doing a notch higher. It continues now in everything I do.

[Below: Conductor Franco Ferrara; edited image of an historical photograph.]

When I myself advise younger conductors, I say that the most important thing you have to achieve is to realize that your will to improve yourself is infinite. I always want to improve, I always want to be better.  What can I improve in my conducting, my composition? When I stop wanting to go further, I will retire.

An experience I had over 20 years ago was a strong influence on me. In 1988 I visited Richard Wagner’s house and Wolfgang Wagner showed me a composition that the great Wagner had written when he was only 20 years old. Nothing about the composition was good. But the key to Wagner’s music is that through his great will he taught himself what he needed to create the new forms of music that led to “Tristan” or “Parsifal”.

Wm: Which composers influence you?

FC: I’m currently writing a fictional book on Gustav Mahler. I think he was the most incredible, intense musician. A great musician will never stop turning the knob seeking improvements.

Wm: You have expressed doubts about the future of operas, beyond Berg’s “Wozzeck” and “Lulu”, that are written in atonal or 12-tone forms. What are your thoughts about Berg’s operas, and why his successors have not been as successful?

FC: I love the two Berg operas and cannot have enough of “Wozzeck”, which is the best operatic example of a movement in musical composition that challenged the world of Mahler, who was important both to Berg and his teacher, Schoenberg. I have been attending every “Wozzeck” performance this Santa Fe Opera Festival season.  The story of “Wozzeck” is quite depressing. Just as Wozzeck’s world was collapsing around him, so it seemed that world civilization was collapsing around Berg and his audiences.  It’s not a hopeful piece.

Yet, I always have the same pathetic feeling while listening to Berg’s Operas: It is a dead end. They are operas without successful children. It’s not Berg’s fault, that no one was able to go further than him. Any opera that’s a successor to “Wozzeck” and “Lulu” in their style of composition, has a small audience and no real future with the opera-going public. I see Zimmerman’s “Soldaten” or the atonal operas of Henze as the children of “Wozzeck”, but none of these children will ever find their way into the repertory or will be widely performed. I just don’t consider the ”12 tone” style of composition as the future of opera.

Wm: I have returned to Santa Fe after hearing Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” at the Seattle Opera. Gershwin knew Berg, and studied and admired his music. Yet, is it not possible to consider Berg’s operas as “museum pieces”, the best of a genre that is no longer living art?

FC: I do agree. I am not surprised at the idea of considering “Wozzeck” and ”Porgy and Bess” together. But Berg mocked popular music, especially the waltz and honky tonk, whereas Gershwin embraced it. In “Wozzeck” the dancing scene is intended to describe a decadent world. Much of the jazz and folk music in “Porgy and Bess” is the music of hope.

What I think is surprising is the extent to which Berg is a spiritual successor to Mahler. Mahler was the composer that when he came to work in America, he developed a strong interest in understanding American popular music. There are quotes of Mahler in “Wozzeck”. Berg was a Mahler admirer.

But Berg couldn’t bring himself to meet Mahler, other than shaking hands, although Berg’s teacher and mentor, Arnold Schoenberg, had known him.

The coincidences in the Mahler and Berg deaths I find quite interesting. Both died of blood poisoning, and both were almost exactly the same age at their deaths – each a week or so over 50 years, 10 months.

Wm: Would you think that if Mahler had lived long enough, he would have approved of “Porgy and Bess”?

FC: I believe Mahler understood that by embracing music that people know, the “music of today”, you can communicate the quickest to the brain. When Mahler arrived in America in 1908 the first thing he asked was “what is the popular music of this country”. Mahler was interested in incorporating the European folk music into his big symphonies.

Gershwin’s incorporation of jazz into “Porgy” was a great example of this. And both Richard Strauss and Benjamin Britten followed the “folk music” or “popular music” paths successfully as well. Strauss, of course, was berated by many of his contemporary colleagues. “The world is collapsing, and Strauss is composing ‘Capriccio’, a charming salon opera” they might have said.

Wm: Which brings to mind, that the crucible of opera is the part of central Europe that includes France, Germany, Italy and Austria, and all of these countries were battlefields for much of the time that our standard repertory operas were being composed.

FC: An artist can either reflect the bad things of his time or decide that life goes on. What is important for a creator is not the war outside, that will eventually cease, but to keep creating for the world after the war. All of the great 19th century operas were written during periods of war. War should not stop creation. That would be the greatest triumph of war.

Wm: You are a Parisian, famous for living on a houseboat on the Seine. Yet you have accepted the role of Music Director at Santa Fe Opera. I assume you are comfortable splitting the year between these two very different locales?

FC: Very much so, and I am from next year on music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, founded for Otto Klemperer, and celebrating its 75th season, so I will be splitting my time between those three places and many more!

Wm: Paris is a city that I consider possibly the most important to the development of 19th century European opera (excepting perhaps the work of Wagner). Do you agree?

FC: I think the Germans by the late 19th century had rigidified into the idea that you had to follow the format decreed by the principles of Wagner. The Italians made a point of the big arias and the big ensembles. But it was the French (and later the Austrian Richard Strauss) who synthesized all these ideas.

In Paris, Meyerbeer invented the form of grand opera. He and his contemporary, Halevy, who created “La Juive” that tenor Neil Shicoff has revived so effectively, became a third force between the Germans and Italians. Berlioz was influential as well, through his attention to orchestration and demonstrating how one could compose music for the theater in a symphonic style.

But it was Gounod and Bizet and later Massenet who created the synthesis of all these styles and indirectly changed the course of Italian opera as well. Gounod’s “Faust” and “Romeo et Juliette” and Bizet’s “Carmen” were built on German, Italian and French ideas, and the operas they created are very open and fast moving, whereas that cannot be said of the works of Meyerbeer and Halevy.

[Below: Mephistopheles (Mark S. Doss) and Faust (Bryan Hymel) take part in the village fair in the 2011 Santa Fe Opera production of Gounod's "Faust", conducted by Frederic Chaslin.]

Eventually Massenet incorporated the German ideas of the through-composed operas without separate arias and choruses. Then Debussy incorporated the ideas about other tonal systems that had such an influence on later French opera (such as Dukas’ “Ariane et Barbe Bleu” and Ravel’s “L’Heure Espagnol”). But I believe that since the time of Debussy, French opera languished, and eventually succumbed to the early and mid-20th century atonal fashions. Later 20th century French opera never had a composer like Benjamin Britten, who could develop a unique style that attracted audiences.

Wm: In my review of the new production of “Faust” that opened the 2011 Santa Fe Opera Festival with you conducting, I said that I would be very satisfied if the Santa Fe Opera would exclusively perform French works from this point on. Granting that there may have been a bit of exaggeration in my comments, do you believe that there are more French works (beyond Bizet’s “Pecheurs de Perles” scheduled for the 2012 season) that should be done here?

FC: I’d like to see Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” done here. I’d like to find a French work that might be offered to Natalie Dessay.

[Below: Natalie Dessay as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata", which opened the 2009 Santa Fe Opera Festival with Frederic Chaslin conducting; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: Regrettably, she seems to have dropped the title role of Delibes’ “Lakme” from her performance repertory.

FC: Dessay was the perfect Lakme. When she stopped singing the role, it was a setback for that opera.

Wm: If you had the power to do so, what French operas would you schedule for performance?

FC: Certainly, “Lakme”. Then, I’d like to see some of the Meyerbeer operas revived. He really invented grand opera. I am impressed with Lalo’s “Le Roi d”Ys”, although it needs a powerful mezzo-soprano for Margared, a role that seems ten times more difficult than Princess Eboli in Verdi’s “Don Carlos” and you also need a spinto tenor and soprano. You need famous name stars if you’re going to do that opera, and very often you can’t get the right singers.

Another opera that deserves revival is Chausson’s “Le Roi Arthus” (King Arthur), which has a heavy Wagnerian influence, and I would like to see Chabrier’s operas done as well.

Wm: You yourself have gained recognition as a composer, especially of opera, in which the use of melody is an important part. You chose to write your opera “Wuthering Heights” in English. How do you decide on a subject, and in which language in which to compose the opera, and do you believe that melodic opera will regain popularity?

FC: I like composing in English because the language has such rhythm and the spoken language has an inherent musicality to it. When English is spoken, you can hear the music. I believe that you could set a telephone book that’s published in the English language to music.

I recently have composed music to several poems written by Robert Frost, who is my favorite American poet. He wrote ten songs about birds. That’s a gift for a composer. One is inspired to write music describing the big things in life, like nature, love, storms.

I think that our “Wuthering Heights”, that I wrote with my librettist P.H. Fisher, would be a good show for an American opera company. I wrote it in a cinematic style, trying to merge the influences of today’s popular music, and the style of melodic writing that has always been important in movie scores, into my own style of composition.

Wm: You earlier had worked on an opera on S. P. Somtow’s Vampire Junction.

FC: That’s an unfinished work. This, and my “Napoleon” will be completed after I finish the current works in progress.

Wm: On what operatic subjects are you currently working ?

FC: Actually, my librettist Paula Fisher is here in Santa Fe with me. In fact, she is sitting at a table nearby. [Wm: At this point, Maestro Chaslin introduced me to Ms Fisher.]

We currently are working on two projects that are based on fantastical short stories by the 19th century novelist Theophile Gautier. One is Avatar, a short story that was part of the inspiration for James Cameron’s movie of the same name. Another is Clarimonde, about a priest who falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a vampire, although this vampire is a very discreet one, requiring very little blood.

Wm: I believe these ideas would fit very well with the popular interest in subjects with such elements of fantasy.

Thank you, Maestro, for your time.

[Below: a portrait of Salvatore Licitra; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Wm: At the time of this interview, you are performing the title role of Verdi’s “Ernani”, a mid-nineteenth century Italian opera based on an early nineteenth century French play about the sixteenth century Spanish conception of “honor”. How do you approach performing an opera whose subject seems remote to modern audience?

SL: It is  difficult to convince people in our times to believe in this era when one’s personal honor and reputation meant everything. Today, no one cares about one’s “honor” in the way the characters in “Ernani” do.

I think it is important to renew opera. When we perform opera whose music is composed by Verdi, we are performing something special. “Ernani” may seem to have an impossible, stupid story. Of course, you can find stupid stories everywhere, such as in soap operas, but the music in “Ernani” is the message, not the story. “Ernani’s” music is seductive, and we have to think about why we are seduced by its music. Verdi creates emotion by the music. We must remind ourselves that we have a treasure, but that each time it is done we can see that treasure in a different way.

[Below: Salvatore Licitra (as Ernani, right) with Lyric Opera colleagues Giacomo Prestia (Silva, left), Boaz Daniel (Carlo) and Sondra Radvanovsky (Leonora); edited image, based on a Dan Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera.]

Wm: Obviously, you believe the opportunity to be “seduced by Verdi’s music” is what makes these operas relevant to contemporary audiences?

SL: In this modern world, everyone needs a break from reality.  Music can make the world better. I am very happy to be part of it.

Wm: How do you find the experience of performing “Ernani” with the Lyric Opera?

SL: This is my second time in Chicago. This theater is amazing. It is a good team. Everything is organized, making it very easy for an artist to come into this city and perform.

Wm: Obviously, you have a voice that fits the traditional repertory of the “Italian tenor”, able to sing the big roles of Verdi’s and Puccini’s operas, yet these roles often are performed with tenors with much lighter voices. How would you describe your voice, and how important is it to have a voice like yours for these Italian roles?

SL: I was born with the right kind of voice to sing Verdi’s tenor roles, such as Riccardo in “Ballo in Maschera”, Manrico in “Il Trovatore” and Radames in “Aida” and the lyric and dramatic verismo roles including Turridu in Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana”, Canio in Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci” and the title role in Giordano’s “Andrea Chenier”.

These roles really require a voice with a dark sound throughout a wide range and the ability to sing a high “C”. This type of tenor voice was considered something special and you did not do those operas without voices capable of singing those roles.

[Below: Salvatore Licitra, third from the left, is Riccardo in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" at his 1998 operatic debut in Parma; each of the opera's roles were sung by students of the famous tenor, Carlo Bergonzi, who appears fourth from the left; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of Salvatore Licitra.]

Unfortunately, you have people in this field who do not know anything about voices and the composer’s intentions. Too many times one will encounter performances, in which the title role of Verdi’s “Otello” or Manrico or Canio is cast with a tenor with a very light voice – sometimes a voice that that is amplified to compensate for its light weight.

In the past, companies could not get away with this practice, because the opera public knew what kind of voice to expect. For example, my grandmother in Italy was completely competent in her knowledge of what type of voice suited which role. People who went to a theater to see Verdi’s “Aida” knew what kind of voice to expect and knew they were being cheated if a light-voiced tenor was cast as Radames.

Wm: Is it your belief that the Italians after your grandmother’s generation do not have the knowledge of opera their predecessors did?

SL: Yes. It upsets me, as an Italian, that we have a generation of Italians of whom so few understand opera and of whom so many do not care about opera at all. Some young Italians cannot even name an Italian opera composer. It is our fault as Italians if we lose this part of our culture.

Wm: As an international star, sought after by the world’s great opera companies, you have a certain amount of power to impose your will on stage directors and opera managements. What are your thoughts about opera singers who display a lot of temperament?

SL: In opera, there are large numbers of artists who are creating something. For the creation to be of high quality, we have to all be part of an ensemble that is respectful of the other artists. Unless we share the common goal of producing a great of work of art, faithful to the composer’s intentions, it will not work well.

These are times when the performing arts are in a deep crisis. Almost all theaters have had a bad season economically.

In my experience, some artists are too difficult. It is just not necessary to play the diva or divo. Artists should be grateful that they have the opportunity to display their skills. I give thanks to God to be a part of this field. I try to relate to everyone. Each artist has something personal that can give you a different idea about a role. It is always possible, even for an artist who has achieved recognition for their work, to discover something new.

Wm: You will be adding several roles to your repertory over the next few months, including Calaf in Puccini’s “Turandot” at the Metropolitan early in 2010. How do you go about preparing for a new role?

SL: I spend hours on a score, always seeking to improve my technique, but also trying different ideas as how to make a small change in sentiment or style. Each time I start a role, particularly one of Puccini’s, my first impression is that I do not like the work. I first learned Pinkerton in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”. I didn’t like it. It seems to be just dissonance. But then, as I work on the role, wow! It starts to grow on me. Then I worked on Cavaradossi in Puccini’s “Tosca”. Day by day there was something more to find. Puccini, who personally experienced great passion and great sorrow, was a master at expressing both in his music. He wrote “Butterfly” at a time of deep regret for the suicide of  girl who had  been involved with him romantically.

Then I learned Luigi in Puccini’s “Il Tabarro”. It first seemed to me as a “cut and paste” from “Butterfly” or Puccini’s “La Boheme”. But then I got into it and discovered it was a new work, with its own magic. When I work on these operas, it is like each is a little rose bush without any flowers, then in time, a rose blooms.

[Below: Salvatore Licitra as Luigi, pursuing a dangerous illicit love affair with Giorgetta (Anja Kampe) that is ignored by Il Tinca (Matthew O'Neill, in background); edited image, based on a Robert Millard photograph, courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.]

Wm: In June, 2010, you will be performing Dick Johnson in Puccini’s “Fanciulla del West”  in San Francisco (for the opera’s 100th anniversary in a city itself created by the Gold Rush in which the opera is set). What are your thoughts about that role?

SL: I approached “Fanciulla” exactly the same way. Page by page, you discover the passion in it. Dick Johnson, who is an outlaw, has found himself to be a changed man through his love of Minnie. After his duet with Minnie, he finds he cares for her more than anything. In the sad situation, when he is about to be hung, he sings Ch’ella mi creda libero, in which he wishes something better for himself and for her.

After my performances in San Francisco, I will prepare to add des Grieux in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut”, in which there is exactly the same feeling.

Wm: Do you approach operas by Verdi and Puccini differently?

SL: The difference between the two composers is in their musical style. Verdi incorporated bel canto styles of singing in his operas up until Otello, so that I try to sing Verdi with a bel canto line. I also try to sing Puccini roles with a bel canto style, and find it’s possible also to sing Andrea Chenier that way as well.

Starting from the bel canto line, one can use different performance styles to display different emotions and even to differentiate the characters. By following what is indicated in the scores, you can use the color of the scene to form your character. When I make my debut at the Met as Calaf, I intend to make him seem to fit his Chinese surroundings. When you close your eyes you can imagine you are in China. That’s the beauty of opera.

My Dick Johnson in San Francisco will have an American feel. My Cavaradossi will seem the Romano, and you will hear the bells of Rome.

Wm: You were born in Bern in the German part of Switzerland, and did not move to Italy until you were two years old. How did your family come to be in Switzerland?

SL: My father was looking for a job, and, in fact, stayed there ten years. But when I was born, he decided to move the family to Milan so that I be raised as an Italian. Milan is where I grew up.

Wm: Who are some of the artists who have influenced your career?

SL: Conductor Riccardo Muti was very encouraging to me at a time when many in Italy were saying “Licitra will not last three months” or later “he will not last two years”.

[Below: Salvatore Licitra, left, with Maestro Riccardo Muti; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of Salvatore Licitra.]

The great tenor Carlo Bergonzi, who was one of my teachers, said to me “Do not pretend to be another voice. Everyone has to be unique. If you push your voice in ways that it is not prepared for, you will not last. If you follow your instinct as what your voice is able to do, and respect your vocal chords, you will last.” I am still here.

[Below: Salvatore Licitra, right, with Placido Domingo; edited image, based on a photograph, courtesy of Salvatore Licitra.]

Placido Domingo is one of my favorite artists, but is also one of my favorite persons. Each time we have a chance to talk, he talks to me like he is a real person, not a superstar. When he talks to me, it is like we are sharing something as one human being to another. And, of course, I would like to be able to sing like he does, so many years into a career. I plan to return to the Los Angeles Opera to repeat Luigi and also to sing Radames.

Wm: Thank you for spending this hour with me.

The facilitation of this interview by the Lyric Opera of Chicago was deeply appreciated.

For my reviews of Salvatore Licitra performances in Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, see: A Second Look: Nicola Luisotti, San Francisco Opera, Champions of “Fanciulla del West” – June 27, 2010, and also,

Voigt, Licitra Lead Sizzling San Francisco Centennial Celebration for “Girl of the Golden West” – June 9, 2010

Licitra, Radvanovsky Gleam in Lyric Opera’s Glorious New “Ernani”: Chicago, November 5, 2009, and also,

French Connection: Friedkin’s Cinematic “Tabarro” – L A Opera September 6, 2008.

[Below: Francesca Zambello at Glimmerglass, New York; edited image, based on a Claire McAdams photograph, courtesy of The Glimmerglass Festival.]

Wm: How did you become interested in opera, and in opera production?

FZ: Because my mother was an actress, I basically was interested in theater production from childhood. I worked in “summer stock” theater as a gopher all the way through high school. It was clear to me that I wanted to be a director. I became interested in opera in college, when I fell in love with the music. It was a natural connection.

I went to Germany where my parents lived then. I worked  apprentice and intern jobs. When I came back to the States, I went to work at Chicago Lyric as an intern, then as an assistant director. One thing led to another.

Wm: You worked with the great director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. How did that association come to be, and how did working with him influence your later career?

FZ: It was through the recommendation of Sarah Billingshurst, who is now at the Met, but was then at San Francisco Opera. Ponnelle had lost an assistant for a production he had scheduled in Italy and needed someone who could speak Italian. I interviewed with him in New York City.  He liked me and he hired me.

A month later we were at Venice’s La Fenice directing Rossini’s “Otello”. Then Ponnelle got sick, so I had to direct all of his rehearsals. And he came back for the last week and was happy with the work I had done. After that, I got to work with him all over Italy and Germany.

Ponnelle gave me an understanding about the craft of directing – the importance of storytelling being married to the visual. He taught that you must do all your work in the rehearsal room, that you can’t fix a problem onstage. He was a great colleague and a mentor.

Wm: Some of your earliest work occurred at Houston Grand Opera, where you developed a professional relationship with its General Director, David Gockley, which continues to the present day. How would you characterize the influence that each of you has had on the other’s career?

FZ: David did hire me for my first big show – Beethoven’s “Fidelio”. He had fired another person. He asked if I could come up with a concept of “Fidelio” for a week. At that time we had a major conflict in Central America, so I set it as if it were taking place in a Banana Republic. Even though it seems like a dated concept now, everyone seemed to enjoy it. It starred Hildegard Behrens.

[Below: Houston Grand Opera's 1984  production of Beethoven's "Fidelio"; edited image, based on a Jim Caldwell photograph for Houston Grand Opera, from francescazambello.com]

David Gockley and I did many new works together, and earlier this summer we completed Wagner’s “Ring Cycle”. He’s a great impresario in the old fashioned sense of the word, in the way he leads. He gives his inputs and thoughts to what his artistic team is doing.

Wm: Some of that your early work in Houston is of interest even today. I have done an essay on the production of Gounod’s “Faust” that you did there in 1986, and a review of a recent revival in Houston, in which you have the death of Valentin occur before the church scene, with Valentin’s body there in the church when Marguerite is bedeviled by Mephistopheles.

FZ: I loved doing that “Faust”. I’m glad to hear you liked it.

Wm: Although there have been several major stage directors who have been associated with both opera and the Broadway stage, the breadth of your accomplishments in different musical genres is unique. Do you find the creative process different for opera, for unmiked musical theater, and for Disney shows such as “Aladdin” at the California Adventure theme park or “Little Mermaid” on Broadway?

[Below: Francesca Zambello's staging of Disney's "Aladdin" at the California Adventure Theme Park at Disneyland; edited image, based on a photograph, from francescazambello.com.]

FZ: Honestly, for me the process is the same. The director has to create a world that the story can live in. That process is the same, whether it is a new work,  a musical or Wagner’s “Ring”. What’s it going to look like? How will I tell the story?

The creative work as a director is all the same, but the process after that is different. In theatre it’s much quicker. It’s under a year. In opera it can be several years between beginning planning and the final result.

The process of how the artists work is very different. The singers arrive knowing the music. The actors arrive knowing nothing and you build the production together with them.

Wm: One of your significant endeavors of the past decade has been the creation of a new production of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungs” for Washington National Opera and San Francisco Opera. One of the extraordinary features of that “Ring” are the new insights into the relationships of pairs of characters, notably Hunding and Sieglinde, and of Fricka and Wotan, as well as relationships that Wagner probably wouldn’t have imagined, such as between Hagen and Gutrune. In developing these new insights, do you develop a backstory and then invite singing actors to develop the “relationships”, or have you preconceived how those characters act?

[Below: Wotan (Mark Delavan, left) instructs Bruennhilde (Nina Stemme, right) in what he wishes the Valkyries to do; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]

FZ: I think it’s all of those. I do know what I want. I knew that Hunding, Hunding’s men, and Sieglinde lived in the film Deliverance. Wotan and Fricka lived in the television show Dallas. Hagen and Gutrune are the Scottish Couple.

[Below: Hunding (Daniel Sumegi, center), standing with his wife, Sieglinde (Anja Kampe, left), is deeply suspicious about the unexpected arrival of the stranger Siegmund (Brandon Jovanovich, right); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]

I can only give the performers a general idea of what I’m looking for. Most of the “Ring” is two people. Most of the characterizations are involved from discussions, the two singers talking with each other. Let’s translate the whole thing together. Let’s improve the whole scene. Then I may add a word.

Different pairs of actor-singers will approach the same scene differently. Let’s say that Sieglinde and Hunding had a “Stockholm syndrome” relationship. Eva-Marie Westbroek, who was Sieglinde in the 2010 San Francisco Opera “Walkuere” had a sense that that Sieglinde believed she was going to escape, What the actor thinks is happening affects how they play the scene.

Wm: When assuming the directorship of the Glimmerglass Festival, you announced several innovations, such as the Artists-in-Residence program and the dedication of a portion of each season’s repertory to the masterpieces of musical theater. Are you encouraged by the response to these ideas in your first season? How do you see this festival evolving in future seasons?

[Below: Picnickers before a Glimmerglass Festival performance on a hill above the Alice Busch Opera Theater; edited image, based on a Claire McAdams photograph, courtesy of The Glimmerglass Festival.]

FZ: I am encouraged. The artists-in-residency program has attracted even more high-quality singers to the program. The incorporation of musicals into the Festival has had detractors, but has brought in new audiences, and some of those new audiences are staying around to attend the other shows. That’s been vital.

I’m looking for ways to broaden the meaning of “festival”. A lot is to add more lectures and related events, but also to incorporate more ideas about what it means to make a group of performances into a festival.

Wm: You currently hold the positions of Artistic &  General Director at Glimmerglass, and also was recently announced as the new Artistic Advisor at Washington National Opera. These are obviously two quite different opera companies. What, in general, does an artistic advisor do, and does your advice differ depending on the company?

FZ: Absolutely! The mission of the two companies is so different. You pay attention to what your audience wants. At Glimmerglass, it means reinventing the festival. In Washington, I’m just beginning to figure out what will work. I’m excited by the challenge of working with Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and the fact that we will have the entire Kennedy Center and that we will be able to use the three different theaters.

Wm: The world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ “Heart of a Soldier” will occur in September 2011 at the San Francisco Opera. You were a motivating force in conceptualizing how the book about the events of particular people in the “9-11” events of 2011 in New York City could become an opera.

One has seen operatic commissions that have gone awry because of apparent inattention of operatic managements as to what the librettist and composer were creating. My impression is that you and San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley are working very closely with the librettist and composer to assure that this new opera will be a success. Are you feeling good about the outcome?

FZ: Theatre is a collaborative art form. If everyone is not on the same page, it just doesn’t work. I am excited by “Heart of a Soldier” and was in San Francisco last week working with the team. I know you’ll enjoy the final product.

[Below: Rick Rescorla (Thomas Hampson, front center right) and Dan Hill (William Burden, fron center left) at Fort Benning Officer Training School in a scene from Theofanidis' "Heart of a Soldier"; resized image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of San Francisco Opera.]

Wm: You have had a successful career so far, but there must be operas and other musical works, for which you would like to create new productions. What works would you like to take on over the next decade or so?

FZ: I want to do more new works. I don’t know now what my other commitments might be, but I love Richard Strauss and feel I haven’t had a chance to do all works that I would want to of his. I want to do Wagner’s “Lohengrin” and “Parsifal” very much also. And there are some of the Verdi operas that I’ve never done that I would like to.

Wm: Thank you, Francesca.

For selected reviews of Francesca Zambello productions, see: “Goetterdaemmerung”: Strong Finish to the First Zambello “Ring” – San Francisco Opera, June 19, 2011, and also,

Down and Out in Zambello’s American Ring: Sly, Theatrically-Centered “Siegfried” Satisfies – San Francisco Opera, June 17, 2011, and also,

Power Singing, Powerful Imagery in Zambello’s “Walkuere” – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2011, and also,

“Rheingold” Evolves in First Full Zambello “Ring” – San Francisco Opera, June 14, 2011, and also

Zambello’s Dazzling “American Ring ‘Walkuere’” at Kennedy Center – March 28, 2007.

For selected reviews of revivals of other Zambello productions, see: Eric Owens, Laquita Mitchell Lead Powerful “Porgy and Bess” at San Francisco Opera – June 21, 2009, and also,

Racette, Ventre Impress in Zambello-Inspired “Butterfly” at San Diego Opera- May 20, 2009, and also,

A “Faust” Surprise in Houston – January 23, 2007.

The following interview took place at the Santa Fe Opera Ranch the day before Mr Lomeli’s festival debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme”. The facilitation of this interview by the Santa Fe Opera is gratefully acknowledged.

[Below: Tenor David Lomeli; edited image of a promotional photograph.]

Wm: You grew up in Mexico City and were a little boy during their great earthquake of 1985. Was your family in the city at that time?

DL: We lived in the outskirts of Mexico City in the hills above it. We have a terrace. My mom took us out to the yard, where in the far distance we could see skyscrapers going down in the city below. My dad was at work in a building near the earthquake’s center. His building survived, although ten or 12 buildings around him were gone.

Otherwise, my family was not affected by the earthquake. In Mexico, we weren’t that experienced in preparation for and survival during earthquakes. Afterwards, earthquake safety instructions and simulated drills were pushed in schools and sports stadiums.

Wm: You came from a musical family. What are your first memories of opera?

DL: My grandmother sang opera all the time. Regettably, she didn’t pursue it as a profession, because she had nine kids and 64 grandkids. My home was one in which no particular genre of music predominated. We had classical music and salsa, as well as Mexican and American popular music, and, of course, songs from zarzuela such as No Puede Ser from Sorozabal’s “La Tabenera del Puerto”.

Wm: When did you first begin to think about the possibility of you performing opera?

DL: It came by destiny, from the angels that were there. I am  an engineer by education and went to an expensive school in Mexico City that my family couldn’t afford. At the school, I had a scholarship to play American football (I used to be heavier), but I wasn’t that good a football player.

I saw that there were auditions for performances of the Bernstein musical “West Side Story”. I learned from another guy that they were going to give scholarships for an opera company. I said I would try everything, so I learned Tony’s song, Maria. The casting director said, we can’t offer you a part, but we want you to be the tenor soloist in our opera company. That scholarship helped pay for my engineering degree. Our ways of doing things in Mexico can be very mysterious, but that’s how I came to opera.

Wm: You pursued your engineering degree and were associated with a rock band, even while you pursuing operatic studies.

DL: Again, I always have loved music. At the same time that I was doing the “operatic thing” with the University, I had several types of employment. I sang in churches and weddings. The rockband entered a competition and won all the prizes in a “Battle of the Bands”. We toured and recorded our first album. Musically, it was a great experience to work with my band buddies, but I did not feel complete, because I wasn’t using all of my capabilities.

As it turned out, every other member of the rock band went into regular jobs in “civilian” life. The band’s main composer works for CEMEX. Another is in San Francisco, working for Apple, Inc.

[Below: Rodolfo (David Lomeli, left) comforts Mimi (Ana Maria Martinez) who has collapsed in his garret; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: When were you first aware of Mexican tenor Placido Domingo’s career and celebrity? Would you assess his importance to developing young operatic singers in general and Mexican artists in particular?

DL: He is a superstar. Everyone knows about him and about Luciano Pavarotti. Even though Placido lives in the United States, he was careful never to forget about Mexico. He has recorded albums of Mexican music. His first son and his grandsons are Mexican. He is as famous everywhere in Mexico, just as he is in the United States.

He had inspired creation of a Mexican Young Artist’s Program, SIVAM, the Sociedad Internacional de Valores de Arte Mexicano, and founded the Operalia contests in 1993.

I had gone by train to audition for SIVAM, run by Pepita Serrano, the lady who mentored Rolando Villazon. She, and Cesar Ulloa, who became my voice teacher, became my mentors. They said they believed I could be a very good opera singer, and asked if I would audition for Placido Domingo himself. It was Placido who said I should enter the Operalia contest and also the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist’s program of the Los Angeles Opera.

[Below: Placido Domingo, left, founder of Operalia, with Pepita Serrano, philanthropist and the director of SIVAM (Sociedad Internacional de Valores de Arte Mexicano); edited image, based on a photograph from caras.esmas.com.]

Wm: The outcome of your following Placido Domingo’s advice that you enter his Operalia contests is that you became the first artist to win first prize in both the opera and zarzuela contests. Domingo has introduced zarzuela to Los Angeles Opera audiences through Federico Torroba’s “Luisa Fernanda”. With several opera companies now experimenting adding the older Broadway musicals, and Gilbert and Sullivan, to their traditional repertories, are there zarzuelas that you believe would connect with American opera audiences? Is there a zarzuela role that you would particularly like to perform?

DL: I think American companies have been reluctant to schedule them because they are in Spanish, but American audiences, I believe, would enjoy them. I would check with the famous zarzuela conductor Miguel Roa, who knows the performance history of zarzuelas in American opera companies, about which ones might work best.

Certainly, Pablo Sorozabal’s “La Tabernera del Puerto” with a great plot and great roles for tenor and baritone would be one, and also Manuel Penella’s “La Gato Montes”. A newer piece (dating from 1998) is Jose Maria Cano’s “Luna”, about a gypsy betrayed by his wife, with gorgeous music. Domingo has performed it and both he and Rolando Villazon have recorded selections from it. I would love to sing the principal tenor roles in these zarzuelas, perhaps with Domingo in the principal baritone roles.

Wm: Would you relate your experiences under Domingo’s mentorship?

DL: He is one of the most wonderful angels that have appeared in my life. He took me from nowhere. He got me a legal pass into the United States, and provided for my  training. He came to my dress rehearsal for the New York City Opera production of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” earlier this year.  He gave me tips on what to do singing the role of Nemorino. He is a force of happiness.

[Below: Nemorino (David Lomeli, center) visits Adina's Diner in a revival of Jonathan Miller's prodution of "L'Elisir d'Amore; edited image, based on a Carol Rosegg photograph for New York City Opera.]

Wm: You have participated in the Domingo-Thornton programs at Los Angeles Opera and the Merola program at San Francisco Opera, where you became also an Adler fellow. How did each of these experiences impact your career?

DL: Each had a tremendous effect on my career. I never had had formal training. I had some voice lessons and some solfeggio, but that was it. I never got “in the face” discipline and order that you have to have to be successful. I had to work hard and those programs gave me the tools to train properly.

My very first day in Los Angeles was August 3, 2006. The day after that, I had my first rehearsal as Lerma in Verdi’s “Don Carlo”. I was sitting there with Salvatore Licitra, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Lado Ataneli, Eric Halfvarson and Lauren McNeese. I never had conservatory training. It was my very first rehearsal in my life. Conductor James Conlon said, “let’s start”. Well, it worked out.

The L. A. Opera Domingo-Thornton program gave me a lot of insight into what I needed to do. I stayed in the program. As a “Young Artist’s” program with only a brief history, it was not that intensive. But then I arrived at San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Programs. They are intense.

They say that the Merola program is like a boot camp and I can agree with that. You are busy every day all day, rehearsing, studying acting, working on languages, having private coachings. It is intense! And when the regular day is done, you are socializing with the terrific sponsors and patrons. This was excellent training for the real world of being an opera singer. You are always busy!!

Whoever can survive the Adler Fellowship successfully is ready to sing in every part of the world. They fill your day with activities. You are attending coaching sessions; then, because you are covering a lead role, you have to take part in the rehearsals. At the same time, you have to be learning the next role, and you also have your own projects.

It is really impressive how much work we as Adler Fellows get done. We did not know we had so much voice or capability. The Adler Fellowship faculty members teach us how to learn music, how to develop the methodology to prepare for a new role down to the most precise details, even how to plan your calendar so that you have the role in your voice when you need to have it.

Wm: You performed Alfredo in “La Traviata” in the final two performances conducted by Donald Runnicles in his role as Music Director of the San Francisco Opera.

DL: Yes, in the Los Angeles Opera production created by Marta Domingo, Placido’s wife, who was my stage director. Runnicles is such a major figure in the opera world, and there was barely enough time for rehearsals with him, but he made me feel comfortable when I was onstage.

Both the Los Angeles and San Francisco opera companies trusted this inexperienced Mexican kid to take on lead roles in such operas as Torroba’s “Luisa Fernanda” (Los Angeles), and Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” (San Francisco). I will be singing the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and the Tenor in Verdi’s “Requiem” next season, and Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme” in 2014.

[Below: Rinuccio (David Lomeli, left) expresses his love to Lauretta Schicchi (Patricia Racette); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]

Wm: Your signature role at present is perhaps Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme” which you are performing at the 2011 Santa Fe Opera festival with Ana Maria Martinez as Mimi. You have also sung Rinuccio in Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” with Paolo Gavanelli and Patricia Racette.

Yet, it seems that your immediate future may not be in the direction of Puccini and Verdi, but in bel canto roles, particularly of Donizetti. Two persons I have interviewed, Conductor Antony Walker and coloratura soprano Laura Claycomb participated in performances of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” at Pittsburgh Opera’s beautiful Benedum Theater, in which you starred as Edgardo. Claycomb cited you as an artist whom she feels has a great future. Did the experience of performing Donizetti under Walker whet your appetite to explore other Donizetti roles and encourage you to take your Edgardo to other opera houses?

DL: Antony is my favorite bel canto conductor. He sings with you, and he phrases his conducting to support his singers. Bel canto fits my voice. You need substance, but still, I never have to push, I never get tired, and I never have the sense that I can’t do it. I feel comfortable in the tessitura. It’s as if Donizetti wrote for my voice.

[Below: Edgardo (David Lomeli) pledges his love to Lucia (Laura Claycomb); edited image, based on a David Bachman photograph for the Pittsburgh Opera.]

I have commitments to sing Leicester in Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” and Percy in his “Anna Bolena”. I’m discussing adding the role of Arnold in Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” in Spain.

I hope, with contemporary tenors like  Brian Hymel, Stephen Costello, Massimo Giordano and Eric Cutler singing these roles, we can revive the great Donizetti tenor roles that have not been often heard. We as a group each have very secure tessitura. And, fortunately, the Met is dictating a little bit of the newfound interest in Donizetti.

Wm: You have sung the title roles of Gounod’s “Faust” and Massenet’s “Werther” and have expressed interest in doing more in the French repertory. At San Francisco Opera you covered Ramon Vargas in Mexican Director Francisco Negrin’s brilliant new production of “Werther”, which emphasized the obsessions and ultimate creepiness of the Werther character. What did you think of Negrin’s concept, and would you like to perform Werther again in that production?

Wm: For me it was a painful process covering the role and not being able to perform it. It is always this way when you are covering, and that is part of the life. You are prepared to sing, but you cannot wish to sing, because that would mean the principal is unable to sing. Covering is a great experience, but full of conflicting emotions.

Ramon did not arrive until six or seven days before the opening. I rehearsed that production with Alice Coote and Brian Mulligan, who both were there. Negrin got me through that phenomenol production.

Sometimes it is said that Werther is such a heavy role, but with the right guidance as to how you can sort it out, a voice of medium weight can take it on. I think it was one of the best fits for my voice of any role I’ve tried.

I did perform the role for the dress rehearsal, because Ramon wasn’t feeling well. It was painful not to go on during the regular run, but, as I said, this is part of the life. Ramon, of course, sang great and is a very nice person. He was done so much. But I want to sing this role.  I hope that the San Francisco Opera revives that production and that they remember I can sing that role.

Wm: You also have expressed interest in the Czech and Russian repertories. At present, do you feel that those who make casting decisions for operas, are proposing future assignments for you that reflect the diversity of your linguistic interests, or do they seem to think of you as “an Italian tenor”?

Wm: I was offered Riccardo in Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera”, but I said I am just 30. I don’t sing things like that, certainly not in a big house. Maybe I might try the role in Zurich or Lille. I look for roles that are concentrated around my passagio and have a high tessitura, and many of those are in the French repertory. Regrettably, I don’t get offered the title roles in Gounod’s “Faust” or Massenet’s “Werther”, nor Romeo in Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette” nor  Gerald in Delibes’ “Lakme”, nor the title role in Donizetti’s “Dom Sebastien”, but would like to do them all.

Wm: In the 1970s and early 1980s San Francisco Opera’s Kurt Herbert Adler developed a relationship with the young tenor Luciano Pavarotti which resulted in six role debuts for Pavarotti in San Francisco between 1971 and 1981. If you were to find a major opera house’s general director willing to mount whatever operas you wish to make role debuts over the next decade, name six operas that you would choose to have mounted for you?

DL: Definitely “Werther”, I want to do Fernand in Donizetti’s “La Favorite”, Arnold in Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell”. I want to do Jenik in Smetana’s “Bartered Bride” and Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”.

[Below: Rodolfo (David Lomeli, standing center) raises a toast to, from left, Marcello (Corey McKern), Schaunard (Keith Phares), Mimi (Ana Maria Martinez) and Colline (Christian Van Horn) in a revival of Paul Curran's production of "La Boheme"; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: It’s probably significant that Adler mounted Donizetti’s “La Favorita”, the Italian version of “La Favorite”, for Pavarotti’s role debut as Fernando. You get one more.

DL: Then add the title role of Mozart’s “Idomeneo”.

Wm: Where do you currently call home, and how often do you get to spend time there?

DL: I’m booked well into the future, and will be working a lot in Berlin and San Francisco. What do I call my home? It’s really hard for me to get back to Mexico. My post office box is in San Francisco. I have an apartment there that I never go to. I haven’t been back to  that San Francisco apartment, with the exception of three days to change clothers.

Wm: Thank you, David.

For my reviews of performances by David Lomeli, see:

David Lomeli, Ana Maria Martinez Shine in Deeply Cast “La Boheme” – Santa Fe Opera, July 2, 2011, and also,

Gavanelli, Racette, Jovanovich In Rousing “Tabarro” at San Francisco Opera – September 15, 2009.

See part one of this interview at: Rising Stars – An Interview with Ailyn Perez, part 1.

[Below: Lyric soprano Ailyn Perez; edited image of a promotional photograph.]

Wm:  You have done back to back productions of “Faust” with two brilliant stage directors, a restaging of an established production by David Gately at the San Diego Opera, and a wholly new production by Stephen Lawless at Santa Fe Opera. For years, “Faust” was considered by some to be “old hat” and uninteresting to stage. Do you regard the approaches of such directors as Gately and Lawless to demonstrate that there is much still to be found in this iconic French opera?

AP: Absolutely! I’ve found that, not having a concept of the performance traditions, that the score itself seems very simple on the page, with so much music in major moments. Then you work with David Gately and Stephen Lawless. They just get it. They know how to bring these characters to life, how to work with romance, how to show the intensity of attraction that these characters feel for each other. Those two directors do so much preparation.

[Below: Marguerite (Ailyn Perez), back in her house after her deeply romantic encounter in the garden, confesses her erotic thoughts to the stars; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

This is Lawless’ first Faust. Some of his choices were surprising. In San Diego, as Gately’s Marguerite I talk to my baby, but there’s nothing there. I have hope and I’m waiting for Faust to come. In Lawless’ production you see that the baby’s there. Holding the baby during Siebel’s aria was a big challenge for me.

The church scenes in both the San Diego and Santa Fe productions were very dramatic and imaginative, but so different. Marguerite can’t create the dramatic situation on her own. There’s so much that has to happen around her.

Also, I think that now Stephen Lawless’ approach to the Valentin-Marguerite relationship is very different from David Gately’s. In San Diego, Brian Mulligan had to replace another Valentin with only a few days to rehearse. But in Lawless’ production, the way Valentin in conceptualized is so different. The pain with which Matthew Worth’s Valentin curses his sister shows his complete broken-heartedness and despair.

These are two directors that are inspired by the artists with whom they are working. They keep sight of the importance of the story. Thank God  for these directors.

One of the things that I appreciate about the Lawless production are Benoit Dugardyn’s set designs. Having these focal points – the coffin, Marguerite’s little house, the display cases for the jewelry box and Marguerite’s confessional – means that you as an artist do not have to work as hard to center the audience’s attention. It’s modern, and in these days of austere budgets, it’s amazing that it can be done.

[Below: Marguerite (Ailyn Perez, center) is saved from suicide by the intercession of Faust (Bryan Hymel, left) to the disgust of Mephistopheles (Mark S. Doss, right); edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: Santa Fe Opera had not done a Gounod opera ever until opening night of its 2011 season, when you, Bryan Hymel and Mark S. Doss performed it, conducted by Frederic Chaslin. Not only was it a spectacularly sung performance, it restored almost everything traditionally cut from the opera – including Marguerite’s spinning song and Siebel’s consoling aria, cut from almost all late 19th and 20th century productions and the Walpurgis Nacht and ballet, almost always cut from 21st century productions. What was it like being in a virtually uncut “Faust”?

AP: It wasn’t completely uncut, but I loved seeing the femme fatales dance the Walpurgisnacht ballet, especially since one is Manon. I have done the title role in Massenet’s “Manon”, a character, that has been called the Sphinx, who is so feminine.

How does Faust decide that he wants to come back to Marguerite? I believe it was an important idea for Faust to have this moment of regret for abandoning Marguerite, when he is surrounded by these alluring women.

Wm: You and your husband, tenor Stephen Costello, were married in 2008, and since both of your careers have engagements set well into the future, there are many times in the year that you are not together. Are you trying to coordinate operatic engagements where you both can sing in the same opera or two operas in repertory with each other in future years? Would you like to see the two of you doing the Santa Fe Festival together?

AP: I would love for the two of us to sing a festival together. Our careers have been developing independently, but sometimes we are able to at least be at the same company at the same time.  Last year, at Dallas Opera, I was Zerlina in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and he was Percy in Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena”.

But when we can be romantic leads in the same show, it’s so transformative. You know, when two artists have to perform love scenes, they negotiate such details as where each one can put their hands and touch and hold the artist, and how to act out a kiss. When you are a married couple, like Stephen and I, we can act naturally without any such negotiations.

[Below: Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez as Faust and Marguerite, in David Gately's staging of Gounod's "Faust"; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

And the married artists can bring ideas to the stage directors. In San Diego Opera’s production of Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette”, Stephen and I, who were married in the Catholic church, made the suggestion that Romeo and Juliet be married kneeling before the priest at a prie-dieu, which is just what we did at our own marriage.

I think there are unspoken advantages to having Stephen and I performing together. He’s an amazing musician, but I think when we are together, there’s even better singing and an added degree of sympathy for our characters. We will be performing Mimi and Rodolfo in “La Boheme” at the Los Angeles Opera, a company that loves the idea of us singing together.

We will do Adina and Nemorino in Donizetti’s “Elixir of Love” toegether in Vienna. It’s so important that we just keep growing. Just to be together, however, takes quite an effort in scheduling. This summer, coordinating Stephen being in Glyndebourne, England and me being in Santa Fe proves to be very hard. But our careers are at the point where we can begin to make plans for ourselves. We are talking about having kids.

[Wm: At that point, her cell phone rang, and Stephen called her from Glyndebourne, asking how her Santa Fe debut performance of "Faust" went. She said she was with me being interviewed, and he said he was with Lucas Meachem. Stephen and Lucas sent their regards to me, and I said to read my review of the Santa Fe "Faust".]

Wm: Over the past several months, you have appeared with superstar Placido Domingo and Conductor Daniel Barenboim. What was that experience like?

AP: There is nothing that I can easily describe. The Berlin Staatsoper’s director, Ronald Adler, had invited me to sing Pamina in Mozart’s “Magic Flute”.  Adler said, I will have you sing for Conductor Daniel Barenboim. I think you should be Amelia in Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra”, singing it with Placido Domingo as Boccanegra.

Meeting a master of the craft changes you. Barenboim dispelled any fears I had. I think my chest cavity expanded when I sang for him. The harmonics were beautiful. Placido and Marta Domingo came and heard me and I had sung with Placido in concert.

The simplest way of describing my experience is that each artist – Domingo and Barenboim – has more than 40 years experience performing opera.  When they are doing what they do, they aren’t worrying about who’s thinking what. They are confident in their experience and knowledge of their craft.

When Domingo is in character, he never gets concerned about the small stuff. We were singing the father – daughter duet between Simon Boccanegra and Amelia, and I could feel that Domingo has that nurturing quality with him that made you feel that love that Boccanegra has for his newly found daughter. When Domingo’s Boccanegra falls in my arms, it was personally affecting and transformed my character. Maybe one thinks it all comes to him easily. I think he works very hard. I don’t think he takes anything for granted.

You see these veteran artists that have lived these  life experiences. At their best, is it amazing, yes! What Placido Domingo does and what he’s been doing with his life – such as his founding and dedication to the Operalia prizes, of which I was a beneficiary –  is of profound importance to the future of opera.

Wm: Finally, what is your take on the Santa Fe Opera?

AP: I think it’s a most wonderful experience. It’s an American festival with mostly American singers. It changes the atmosphere of operatic performance. We American singers tend to me more open people who are more flexible in what we will do on stage. I was in Europe and in rehearsals with tenor Charles Castronovo and the stage director asked if we could do something unusual. We said no problem, and the director replied “Oh yes, you‘re American artists and that means you can do anything”

[Below: Ailyn Perez as Marguerite in "Faust"; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: Following up on “you can do anything”, my wife made the point that you displayed knowledge of how to push cloth through an antique sewing machine, and, of course, you had to roller skate in the kermesse scene in this production.

AP: Actually, before I came to dress rehearsal, I asked one of the persons in the wardrobe department, if she would show me to work the sewing machine, and it was she who showed me how to push the cloth through. The roller skating, with two professionals at my side or nearby, was no problem.

Wm: Thank you, Ailyn.

For my reviews of Ailyn Perez performances, see: Santa Fe Opera Gets Gounod At Last: Hymel, Perez Soar in Spectacular New Production of “Faust” – July 1, 2011, and also,

Costello, Perez, Grimsley and Mulligan Brilliant in Spectacularly Staged “Faust” – San Diego Opera, April 23, 2011, and also,

Costello, Perez in Passionately Romantic “Romeo et Juliette” – San Diego Opera, March 13, 2010.

Wm: You were raised in the Chicago area. When and where were your earliest memories of opera?

AP: I was born in Chicago. My parents never had known opera. When I was six we moved to Elk Grove Village, a Northeast suburb of Chicago, halfway through the school year.

[Below: Lyric soprano Ailyn Perez as Marguerite in Stephen Lawless' production of Gounod's "Faust"; resized image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

My earliest memory of the new school was the music class. The teacher decorated the room with pictures that I later came to know were musical notes, chords, clefs, rests, and the like, but when I first entered the class I didn’t know what they were. I was so lost. I thought to myself, I want to learn this. As part of the school music program, they gave the students recorders. As I progressed in the music program, I took on the cello and flute and played in the school band throughout Junior High.

I went to Elk Grove High School and joined the choir. Vocal music was something that I felt I wanted to do. I wanted to get a role in the school musical, but to be able to try out for a part, I had to take voice lessons.  I took voice lessons from Carl Lawrenz, a former heldentenor. He taught the classic means of supported sound and emphasized singing down into the words. He suggested I learn O mio babbino caro from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicci”. I could understand the text and the emotion. That was the day that I truly fell in love with opera.

Carl also had me listen to Maria Callas. When I heard the refrain from the first act duet from Verdi’s “La Traviata” that she sang with Giuseppe di Stefano, I was in love with the music and the emotion!

Wm: During that period that you pursued musical studies in the public schools in the Cook County suburb of Oak Park Village, did you attend any performances of the Lyric Opera of Chicago?

AP: No. The first time I ever attended an opera at the Lyric was in January 2010, to see my husband, Stephen Costello, as Camille in Lehar’s “Merry Widow”. However, I have this amazing Uncle Joe who would take care of my father’s family. I since have found out that Uncle Joe would buy a one seat subscription to the Lyric Opera and would share that one seat with other members of the family.

I finally met Uncle Joe this year after singing my first Marguerite with the San Diego Opera. How incredible! He said to me “Do you know how much it means to me that you are an opera singer. We are so grateful that you are connecting with the members of your family who love the Lyric” (and it’s wonderful for me also to have gotten to know family who understand what opera means to me.)

Wm: Explain the pathway from your musical experiences in Chicago-area elementary and secondary schools to your opera career.

AP: Because my family was of modest means, I was counseled to apply for a music scholarship. It was amazing to me that I was pursuing advanced vocal studies. No one else in my family had done anything like this. Carl encouraged me to audition for a vocal scholarship to the top five schools.

I was accepted at Indiana University and able to study with Distinguished Professor Martina Arroyo. With Ms Arroyo’s support and Gwyn Richards’ determination, I was able to attend school with scholarship and financial aid. I was one of two undergraduates accepted into Professor Arroyo’s studio, which in turn allowed me such a rich experience as I was around graduate students in weekly master classes. Ms Arroyo and the late Professor Leonard Hokanson’s collaborations over their careers influenced our studios to partner in his weekly graduate lied master class.

After graduating from IU, I studied with Virginia Zeani. She is a big Romantic presence, full of glamour and imagination, like an Elizabeth Taylor. She has a big soul, and is a generous woman who loves young singers.

[Below: Soprano Virginia Zeani; resized image of an historic photograph, from leoonardociampo.com.]

Zeani organized my participation in the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera (EPCASO). I also auditioned for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and was accepted. My role assignment for the first year included the title role of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”. So I went to EPCASO and prepared the role with Claudia Pinza (Ezio’s daughter), Enza Ferrari, and Maestro Maurizio Arena.

[Below: The Gina Antognoli Scanlon portrait of Claudia Pinza with her father Ezio in background; resized image, based on a representation of the copyrighted portrait at antognoliscanlon.com.]

Wm: What were the factors or influences that led to our auditioning for a position at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia?

AP: At IU,  I was in school with 500  vocal performance majors. Most students would get the Masters in Vocal Performance followed by a doctorate. It takes a lot of money, and often will lead to a teaching career, rather than becoming a performing artist. I said, maybe this is only a dream of mine, but maybe there’s another path.

The AVA is a tuition free program. I did an audition in Chicago. The AVA faculty told me that I had been accepted in the final round. I so wanted to get in, that I traveled to Philadelphia to do the final audition in person. Kevin McDowell, the  AVA school director said, you didn’t have to come here, we had planned to accept you, but I didn’t want the videotape of my Chicago audition to say it all.

Wm: AVA is known for intensity of its training, and the value of the advice and mentorship of its faculty? What did the AVA experience mean to you and your later operatic career?

AP: It meant everything. I prepared and performed over six lead roles with Maestro Cristofer Macatsoris that remain a critical foundation of the artist I am able to be today. I worked with Ruth Golden, and still coach with Master Coaches Danielle Orlando, Richard Raub, and David Lofton. They know me and are wonderful, brilliant and amazing people. My foundation in opera has been laid out for me.

You have to be prepared to perform whatever role that Macatsoris has in mind for you. His imagination is unbounded. He knows just what you need to do to get out of your own shell.

One of things about the AVA program, is that you have to decide to spend the time to hone your craft and not be thinking of money. If you are money-driven or have to earn money during the program, AVA is not going to work out. The amount of time singing doesn’t leave time to be working. If you have means, it may work.

What I went through is maybe not everyone’s experience. Everything I had to do was humbling. It’s amazing that I pulled together resources to pay my rent. But because of that experience, I feel that I am “self made”.

At AVA, I met Stephen, my husband-to-be. Stephen had family in Philly, but you have to live nearby in the central city.

[Below: Marguerite (Ailyn Perez) is bedeviled by presence of Mephistopheles (Mark S. Doss) in Stephen Lawless' Santa Fe Opera production of "Faust"; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: You entered several prestigious competitions and was the George London Foundation winner. What did that award mean to you? You and your husband, Stephen Costello have participated in fundraising activities and concerts for that foundation. How what you characterize its work in support of young singers?

AP: Yes, in 2006 I was an award winner from the George London Foundation (as was Stephen). The George London Foundation is another institution that has been important to my career. George London was an incredible artist, and his wife, Nora, continues her husband’s work with love. She is at all recitals, competitions, keeping in touch with former winners. Having performances in New York City is very important. Whenever my operatic schedule permits, I intend to “give back” through participation in their fund-raising concerts.

I was deeply honored that the George London Foundation presented me with the Leonie Rysanek award. It was very exciting to get the “Rysanek”. Rysanek’s voice was so sustained and dramatic. She gave everything for her characters. Her soul shown through her words.

I had  sung a standard aria with a simple delivery. Roberta Peters was one of the judges and said that I must sing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata”. I said that I thought for that role you needed a strong high E flat. She said to me, you have what you need to sing Violetta, the ability to bring emotion to every word she sings. At the end of the day it’s the beauty and expressiveness of the voice.

Wm: Your signature roles at this point in your career appear to be Marguerite in Gounod’s “Faust”, Juliette in Gounod’s “Romeo et Juliette”, Mimi in Puccini’s “La Boheme” and, of course, Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” – all bread and butter roles for a 21st century lyric soprano’s career.  Will you continue to sing these four roles for the indefinite future and which other roles would you like to add to your repertory, or do again?

[Below: Ailyn Perez as Juliette in the San Diego Opera production of Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette"; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Diego Opera.]

AP: Now that I found my voice teacher, Bill Schuman, and have been studying with him, I feel more confident  performing the roles I’ve been attracted to, roles in which my voice likes to dance. I really love Massenet’s Manon. For the next seven years I plan to perform these younger heroines. For now, I’ll keep dancing. One should amuse oneself. I do not want to leave these operas.

But now that I’m in my early 30s, honestly, my voice is fuller. It’s not quite as easy just to flit around, so I would like to take the title role in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” and a couple new Verdi roles – Desdemon in “Otello” and Elisabetta in “Don Carlo”.

[See Rising Stars – An Interview with Ailyn Perez, part 2 in which Ailyn compares the productions of "Faust" in which she's recently appeared, and talks about the operas in which she and her husband, Stephen Costello appear together.]

Wm: You are from South Carolina, and were raised in a musical family. When did you first become aware of opera, and how did you make the decision to pursue a musical career?

DD: My parents were a baritone and soprano, who taught at Spartansburg’s Converse College. Each summer my father taught at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. Thus, I grew up with opera from the beginning of my life.  As long as I can remember, it was always my desire, my vision, to be a professional singer. I envisioned myself as being a great Italian tenor from South Carolina.

[Below: Countertenor David Daniels; resized image of a promotional photograph.]

]

Wm: Although you had trained as a tenor at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, at the University of Michigan graduate school you made the decision to pursue the countertenor voice. By 1997 your accomplishments led to your receiving the Richard Tucker Award. I have interviewed several of the Tucker Awardees and have asked how that particular recognition advanced their career? In what ways did it prove helpful to yours?

DD: Well, I am the first and only countertenor to receive that award. Growing up as a huge Italian opera and Richard Tucker fan, it was a thrill for me and a great compliment.

How did it change my career? That award promotes you in the opera business. It has a televised gala. It put me out there in the  public eye.

Beyond that, I don’t know how to explain how it helped my career, being that my repertory isn’t in the world  that Richard Tucker exemplified.  It was so strange that a countertenor would win the award.

Wm: No Handel opera had ever been performed by the San Francisco Opera until 1978 when bass-baritone John Ostendorf sang the title role in “Giulio Cesare” for its Spring Opera Theater, using the edition that basso Norman Treigle used for his recording of that role. Four years later the opera was introduced to the San Francisco Opera mainstage with Tatiana Troyanos as Cesare. The opera did not return until 2002, with you in the title role. Thus, in a period of 24 years, the entire approach to performing Handel was transformed.

In an interview several years ago with James Jorden, you used the term “Troyanesque” to describe the singing of baroque opera as if one were singing Azucena in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”. Is it your belief now that reasonably authentic approaches to baroque music are the norm on the stages of major opera companies?

DD: The interview with Jorden was at the beginning of my career. I look back at that interview, and am horrified at how my expressions of self-confidence and my strong belief in myself comes across the way it does.

But some of the things I said (or that Jorden said I said) I would never say again. Then I was young and not giving enough thought to the questions that were being thrown at me. I’m still embarrassed that it stays on the Internet for all to read.

To answer your question, I think the present performance norm is to be stylish in an 18h century way, rather than striving for “authenticity”. I think these days that the voices that sopranos, tenors, baritones bring to the music incorporates a love and admiration for it. “Authentic” can  mean so many different ways of performing this music.  What I think is now abundant is a true and honest way of thinking about how to perform this music.

Wm: “Countertenor” is now the prevalent term for your type of voice, but not everyone agreed at first that this was the proper name for the vocal type. Are you satisfied with the term, or do you prefer something else?

DD: Yes, that’s the term I use.

[Below: Roberto (David Daniels, right) is hugged by Costanza (Isabel Leonard) in Peter Sellars' 2011 Santa Fe Opera Summer Festival production of Vivaldi's "Griselda"; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: Not only do you sing Handel, but you sing Oberon in Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? Was Britten’s decision to write for the high voice of Alfred Deller an impetus for younger artists – such as James Bowman and Jeffrey Gall – to prepare for that role, and to look for others that might fit their voice?

DD: Since Britten composed both of his parts for countertenors – Oberon and The Voice of Apollo in  “Death in Venice” – well before the revolution in performance styles of the baroque operas – I don’t think I know the answer to the question of whether Britten’s operas led to the rebirth of baroque opera or whether each developed on their own path.

However, my first engagement was covering Jeffrey Gall in 1991.  So, you could say that was a catalyst for my career. But the baroque resurgence itself proved to be a catalyst for much bigger things.

[Below: Lychas (David Daniels) counsels Dejanira (Alice Coote) in Peter Sellars' production of Handel's Hercules; edited image, based on a Dan Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.]

Wm: Not only were performance standards for Handel operas evolving, but similar changes were taking place in the performances of the earlier operas of Monteverdi and the later operas of Gluck. What do you regard as the key element of the change? Supply issues: the appearance of some male singers able to sing these roles in the original keys? Demand issues: the receptivity of audiences to the beauty of the music with the correct mix of high voices? The willingness of managements to take a chance on something they had not done before?

DD: All of the above. Everything you just said plays a part of the interweaving of the baroque “support structure” – singers who are passionate about the music, directors who are attracted to the subject, and managements willing to take a risk – that has led to the explosion of interest in baroque opera performance.

I would say the imagined “baroque risk” still scares most managements, so that they schedule fewer performances than audience interest would sustain. It’s my experience that the baroque operas scheduled then become huge hits, and the managements admit they could have scheduled more performances. I’ve found that to be the case 95 percent of the time.

Now with the downturn is the economy, I suppose the reluctance to schedule “too many” performances will continue. But I do think that managements have caught on that, with the proper conductor, cast and director, they can sell the baroque operas as well as those of the standard repertory.

Wm: There is a temptation of some to think of all pre-Mozartean opera – be it Monterverdi, Handel, Vivaldi or Gluck – as of a similar style. Yet you have noted how different a role such as Nerone in Monteverdi’s “L’Incoronazione de Poppera” might be from, say, Gluck’s “Orfeo”.  Are there styles of vocal composition that you find particularly difficult, or that you find suits your voice well?

DD: There are two roles that did not fit my voice well, and I think proved to be a mistake for me. These were the title roles of Handel’s “Orlando” and “Tamerlano”. They have a more dramatic lower tessitura that better fits a voice like mezzo-soprano Sonia Prina or a countertenor whose voice is more like Bejun Mehta’s. Neither role will I do again.

[Below: David Daniels in the title role as Handel's "Tamerlano"; edited image, based on a photograph for Washington National Opera.]

I do well with the more lyrical type of music one finds in the role of Orfeo in Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice”, Arsace in Handel’s “Partenope”, Arsamenes in Handel’s “Xerxes” and the title role of Handel’s “Radamisto”.

Wm: At Houston Grand Opera last year, you were the Arsamenes in an uncut performance of Handel’s “Xerxes”, with Susan Graham, Sonia Prina and Laura Claycomb in Sir Nicholas Hytner’s famous production spoofing 18th century London society. That production with most of same principals will be seen in San Francisco this fall. Would you agree with me that this production is a “world treasure” [For my review, see: “Xerxes” Unexcelled – Houston Grand Opera, May, 2, 2010.] and that the Houston performances were among the most successful Handel performances of the 21st century?

DD: The “Xerxes” had a wonderful group of singers in a wonderful production that has been aound for decades. We all loved it and we loved each other. Really successful opera performances are similar to sports. Successful sports teams are successful, not only because they are talented, but that they genuinely like each other. When there are singers with talent that really enjoy being with each other, such as in this “Xerxes”, it  results in one of the best performances that could be.

Wm: You will be a star of the Metropolitan Opera’s pastiche opera, “The Enchanted Island” later this year. How is that project going? Is this a concept that you think might catch on with the world’s opera audiences?

DD That’s to be seen. I really don’t know. I think this has potential to be a successful project, if audiences come to it with an open mind. It has a story that has been newly created for the pastiche, with a wonderful cast.

However, I would also would like to see new ways of working with the operas themselves in the forms that have come down to us. Doing an 18th century opera – such as one by Handel – uncut can be as exciting as this project.

Wm: Your colleague Laura Claycomb has suggested that everyone who makes it on the operatic stage is an “overachiever”, but you seem to have taken “overachievement” in opera to new heights – you taking the lead in creating what really may be a wholly new genre or at least a dramatically different approach to baroque opera in the 21st century. We don’t have 18th century castrati trained in their vocal techniques and we usually don’t have performances in the major opera houses with period instruments, so the sound that has been created and continues to evolve is something that is perhaps unique to the present day. Do you agree with this assessment, that in attempting to develop an “authentic” 17th and 18th century sound, we have created a 21st century “baroque” sound of which you are the greatest exemplar?

DD: If I were sitting with James Jorden 20 yrs ago I would probably say yes! I won’t say that this time.

However, the modern orchestras adore this repertory. Here at the Santa Fe Opera Festival, we are preparing Vivaldi’s “Griselda”. I don’t think Vivaldi’s orchestration is as good as Handel’s, but it’s something new to them. But they don’t fight the conductor when they are asked for a quick bow and vibrato - they mostly embrace it.

[Below: Griselda (Meredith Arwady, left) greets Costanza (Isabel Leonard, second from left) as Gualtiero (Paul Groves) and Roberto (David Daniels, right) look on; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

Wm: You are a sports enthusiast, and a Southerner and can imagine you and a group of Carolinian men shooting hoops and spending time watching ESPN together. You exude the confidence that you are comfortable in different environments, be it discussing “March Madness” basketball brackets with other dudes, or an 18th century castrati’s embellishments for the second verse of a particular aria. Where do you call home, and how often do you get to be there?

DD: My real home is Atlanta. I’m comfortable in both of those worlds, although I’d much prefer talking about NCAA brackets than baroque ornamentation. The ornamentation should come from one’s soul and heart and emotion, not from musical history or theory. Composing ornamentation bores me to death.

Wm: What are thoughts about the your two summers in the Santa Fe Festival?

DD: I had such a great time in Handel’s “Radamisto” in 2008 with Laura Claycomb. I had use of a wonderful house in town that year and was so comfortable. I asked if I could get the same house again this year, and I got it!

I grew up in the summer festivals of the Brevard Music Center and so am familiar with the typical music festival, but this is different.  Here you hear music and instruments with three operas being staged at the same time. It’s a great experience.

I don’t know whether turning 40 has improved my life, but it seems good. Maybe my early career came at me too fast. It took me a while to get my feet under me. Now I feel in control of my voice and my life. I haven’t missed a performance from illness in four or five years. I’m feeling confident and feel that I’m singing better than I ever have.

For my reviews of other David Daniels productions, see: Strong Cast for Peter Sellars’ Reconceptualization of Handel’s “Hercules” – Lyric Opera of Chicago, March 16, 2011, and also,

Britten’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Chicago: Enchanting, Luminous, Hilarious – Lyric Opera, November 17, 2010, and also,

Separating Art from “Eurotrash”: S.F.’s “Rodelinda” & Stuttgart’s “Alcina”.

[Below: Tenor Paul Groves; edited image of a promotional photograph.]

Wm: You are from Lake Charles, Louisiana. When did you first hear opera, and when did you first try at singing it?

PG: My father was head of the music department of the McNeese State University School of Performing Arts in Baton Rouge for 30 years. He was choral and symphonic conductor. My mom was a singer. A brother was a petroleum engineer.

The family’s classical vocal music tastes were more towards the oratorio than opera. At age seven, I was taken to the Houston Grand Opera for the first time. I saw Bellini’s “Norma”.  I wasn’t interested in “Norma”. I was interested in playing cello, piano and trombone. I always sang. I grew up in that music-oriented life.

I became interested in the recordings of the tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo when I was 14 or 15, and then collected those of Jussi Bjoerling. By the time I was 17 or 18 I had recordings from almost every operatic tenor you could buy.  But I had broader tastes than opera. I liked Led Zeppelin and other rock bands also.

Wm: You attended Louisiana State University and from there was accepted into the Juilliard School of Music. What experiences led you to consider a career in opera performance?

PG: It wasn’t until I got to college that I thought I could be an opera singer. At LSU, the opera stars Martina Arroyo and Robert Grayson both were instrumental in getting me into opera. They convinced me that I had the type of voice to succeed in the field.

[Below: Opera soprano Martina Arroyo, one of Paul Groves' mentors at Louisiana State University; resized image, based on a professional photo i.]

I had a lot of experience at LSU and at Baton Rouge Opera, which was a small regional company. When I was a junior in college the Baton Rouge Opera joined with LSU opera. We would put on productions. Some of the money for staff and productions came from the university. The students would sing the chorus parts. We would bring in the professional singers for the principal roles.

About a year into this, the Baton Rouge Opera folks realized they could save a lot of money if I sang some of the principal tenor parts. Thus, I got to sing with a lot of well known singers. I was Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme”, Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore”, Tamino in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, and sang the title role of Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann”. I really felt that I had a jump start by the time I got to Jiulliard, because I knew what it was like to be onstage with professional singers.

Wm: What were the decision points that led you to enter and then win the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions in 1991?

PG: I had entered the regional auditions in Louisiana in 1988. The competition’s rules specified that only one person from our region, which consisted of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Puerto Rico, would go to the finals.  It came down to me and a Puerto Rican tenor, and it was the Puerto Rican who ended up winning.

I wasn’t angry about it, because at least I had come in second, and because I felt I wasn’t ready to go to New York to be in the finals. One of the judges (a Metropolitan Opera singer) took me aside and said please keep on with what you’re doing, you’re singing very well.  As it turned out, the tenor who won the regionals is not known these days.

Marlena Malas was my teacher at Juilliard. I told her I had the money to fly home for the regional Met competition. She said, do your auditions in New York City. You’re doing leading roles at Juilliard, and the judges for the New York City regionals are singers from the Met, who really know voices well. I followed her advice, and everything worked out all right.

Wm: When you were a member of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Development program, you credited Musical Director James Levine with advising you to develop the light lyric repertory, especially the Mozart tenor roles?

PG: I was singing heavier repertory, and had success with it. The first time that James Levine worked with me individually, he asked if I knew Ferrando’s principal aria from Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte”. I went into the List hall with him. We worked for an hour on the opera’s aria.

At the end of that session, Levine told me that I had a chance to do something not usually heard in Mozart singers. He said that if I brought the passion from such operas as Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”, and from “La Boheme”, and “Tales of Hoffmann”, I would be completely different from a typical Mozart tenor. Since I thought he probably knew what he was talking about, I said I would. Every audition after that I got a job.

[Below: Pylade (Paul Groves, left) comforts Orest (Placido Domingo) in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride"; image from photograph for Metropolitan Opera, New York.]

Wm: As your repertory expanded, you have played an important part in the revival and re-evaluation of the French opera repertory. Which of the French roles give you the most satisfaction? Which roles have you not performed so far that you would like to do in the future?

PG: It is hard to make a career solely as a Mozart tenor. I had sung Nadir in Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”, but what really changed my career and the way I was viewed, was my taking on the role of Faust in Berlioz’ “Damnation of Faust” in 1999. I love that piece, especially its choral parts.

I love the French repertory. These days you can perform such classic French roles as the title roles in Gounod’s “Faust”, Massenet’s “Werther”, Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann” and Romeo in Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliette” and audiences will not come with specific expectations about how you are supposed to sound, as is the case with many Italian operas. It’s hard as an audience opera member to “clean the slate” when there are familiar recordings and a performance tradition for the Italian works that affect audience expectations.

I have never sung Enee in Berlioz’ “Les Troyens”. I would not want to perform it if it were cast and conducted as if it were a Wagnerian opera. However, in Madrid they will be presenting it with a cast that includes Susan Graham, Anna Caterina Antonacci and Lucas Meachem, and the vocal size and repertory of these artists balance nicely with my voice.

Wm: I saw Jon Vickers and Regine Crespin, both of whom I had seen in Wagnerian roles, in the lead “Troyens” roles.

PG: But Vickers could sing the huge stuff and still back off and sing the light lyric roles as well.

Wm: As could Crespin also.

You have been compared to Nicolai Gedda and Alfredo Kraus in your attention to the French style. Are those tenors who have been a major influence on you? Who among tenors of past and present do you especially admire?

PG: Being compared to those two guys is pretty flattering. It’s Gedda whom I’ve listened to the most and have tried to emulate. Gedda, even now, can still sing. I passed by his house in Switzerland. It’s amazing that he could sing the wealth of repertory he did and still be able to do it. In 1996 I saw an operetta concert at the Vienna Volksopera when he was over 70, and he could sing like you couldn’t believe.

[Below: Tenor Nicolai Gedda; resized image, based on a photograph, courtesy of www.handelmania.com.]

The reason I have done so much French repertory, is to try to produce sound like Gedda’s, whose voice is so right for the French language. When you hear a recording of Gedda singing in French, you know what I’m trying to do. His voice fit the French language much better than it did the Italian.

Gedda could do this incredible stuff. In vocal technique he was a perfectionist. I believe all young tenors should know everything that Gedda and Pavarotti recorded, and to regard them as the prime examples of perfect tenor technique. I have a deep interest in their careers and with whom they studied. I can still listen to these artists’ recordings and be able to say they did everything right.

Kraus was a beautiful human being, but my voice does not replicate Kraus’ style of vocal production. No one has ever sung like he did.

Wm: You were Pylade in Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s “Iphigenie en Tauride”? Was this your first time working in a Carsen production?

PG: I’d seen a lot of Carsen’s operatic productions. My ex-wife had sung with him a lot, but this was the first time I worked with him on stage.

[Wm: For my review, see: Night at the Museum: “Iphigenie en Tauride” Springs to Life in S. F. – June 17, 2007.]

Wm: Do you approach Gluck’s music in a particular way?

PG: I view Gluck as just Romantic Mozart. I love it that there is no certain style for performing Gluck. It can be sung in many different ways. Singers as different as Jessye Norman and Maria Callas can all be successful with Gluck’s music, because it doesn’t matter so much in what style you do it.

I performed in a production of Gluck’s “Alceste” with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet that was different from the production heard in 2009 in Santa Fe [See Christine Brewer, Paul Groves Lead Elegantly Sung “Alceste”: Santa Fe – August 1, 2009].

Wm: Recently, you performed the title role in Berlioz’ “The Damnation of Faust” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Stephen Langridge’s production, that, I think, solved many of the riddles of how to stage this wonderful, but chaotic work. What was it like working in that production, with your colleagues Susan Graham and John Relyea?

PG: I’ve done four different productions of “Damnation of Faust”. Every one has been successful, especially since “Damnation” wasn’t intended to be staged, there ae no expectations. It takes quite a lot of imagination to stage it.

[Below: Marguerite (Susan Graham, left) dances with Faust (Paul Groves); edited image, based on a Dan Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.]

If an offbeat approach doesn’t disturb the music and helps explain the storyline, it can work. In preparing a few past productions I had imagined that we will be booed off the stage, but that hasn’t happened.

One in particular staged by Achim Freyer, which I sang with Samuel Ramey, was really far out. We had no idea of what the public would think of it, but at the curtain calls on opening night, the audience went mad with enthusiastic applause. You only are involved in your own character, so do not have an idea of how the production will actually look. We made a DVD of it. When I watched it, I understood why it appealed to the audience.

[Below: Mephistopheles (John Relyea)  and Faust (Paul Groves); edited image, based on a Dan Rest photograph, courtesy of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.]

The production in Chicago was very enjoyable. Susie Graham is one of my best friends. She always calls me the “social director”.

When the cast members know each other so well it’s hard not to make your colleagues laugh onstage. But it’s fun. Relyea and I discuss rock and roll backstage. My friendships with other performers are one of the great attractions of the job. Sometimes I am working with certain colleagues for months and then don’t see them again for five years. There are few jobs like that.

Wm: You are one of the artists who has received the Richard Tucker Award. After you received in in 1995, how did it affect your career?

PG: The Tucker Award recognition affected my career quite dramatically. I never got to meet Richard Tucker, but, under the Tucker Foundation’s auspices, I sang for Marilyn Horne and Franco Corelli.

Every year I sang in the gala. The first American gala I did, I brought my father up to see it. He was able to join me during the five days of rehearsals, where my dad sat for three hours with Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, and Leontyne Price. Being around all those people helped my career – especially, seeing how professionally these famous people of stature reacted to the younger singers. You can learn so much from them.

The Tucker Foundation helps younger singers with money and master classes. For a singer in the early or mid-20s singers it can help a career get started.

By 1995 one didn’t have to audition to receive the award. I already had had jobs in Vienna, Paris and London, so it was not the money that I needed. The major award is nice to have. When I look at the lsit of people who won before me and won after me, I am proud and honored to be listed with them.

Wm: Santa Fe Opera has cast you in an adventurous repertory over the years, with the succession of Admete in Gluck’s “Alceste” in 2009 the title role in the original version of Offenbach’s “Tales of Hoffmann” in 2010, and Vivaldi’s “Griselda” in 2011. Do you have a special affinity for the Santa Fe Opera experience?

[Below: Hoffmann (Paul Groves, left, seated at table) pursues a romance with the doll, Olympia (Erin Wall, seated center) while Spalanzani (Mark Schowalter, right) stands by ; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

PG: I love being with casts of all these productions in these beautiful surroundings. That’s what makes it unique. My favorite part of the day is the time between noon and 2 p.m. when you can spend an extended lunch hour here in the cantina with colleagues. The camaraderie is different from every another opera company. In a place like Salzburg, I never see anyone else.

This is my third summer in a row here in Santa Fe. It still takes a few days to adjust to the altitude, and particularly to the dryness of the air. You can always take a few more breaths to compensate for altitude, but you can’t do much about the lack of humidity.

I loved working with Christopher Alden as the stage director as in last season’s “Tales of Hoffmann”. It was the decision of the Conductor, Stephen Lord, to use the original version with the spoken dialogue, but I’m unconvinced that the spoken dialogue works well with non-native French speakers. I prefer the Metropolitan Opera’s production that uses the beautfully orchestrated recitatives. I don’t think spoken dialogue can take the place of these recitatives.

[Wm: See my review at: Groves, Wall, Lindsey Excel in Christopher Alden’s Harrowing, Hallucinatory “Hoffmann” – Santa Fe Opera, July 17, 2010.]

The roles are Admete and Hoffmann have some similariities. Admete is a pretty substantial role as far as weight of voice required. I did Renaud in Gluck’s “Armide” at La Scala in 1999, which is similar to the role of Admete. But Gualtiero in Vivaldi’s “Griselda”, the role that I’m singing in Santa Fe this summer, is like nothing I’ve ever sung before. I really have had to learn how to sing it, but it’s interesting at my age to discover a new repertory and to try something out for the first time. It’s fun for me and probably it’s good for me also.

I just finished singing Faust in “Damnation of Faust” and my next opera is Riccardo in Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera” in New Orleans.

Wm: What would you like do after your performing career?

PG: I’ve decided that I would not want to teach. What I would like to do is to run an opera company.

Wm: Well, by the time you’re ready for that, several posts likely will have opened up.

Thank you, Paul.

For a review of another Paul Groves performance, see: Warhorse Warriors: John Cox’ ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ in S. F. – July 2, 2005.

For the first part of this inteview, see: Rising Stars: An Interview with Laura Claycomb, Part 1.

[Below: Laura Claycomb as Gilda; edited image, based on a Karen Almond photograph, courtesy of the Dallas Opera.]

Wm: In 1984 I saw Ruth Ann Swenson sing the comprimario role of Giannetta in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” at the San Francisco Opera and eight years later saw you as Giannetta when Swenson was in the starring role of Adina. I have long maintained that the depth of talent coming out of the Young Artists programs in the United States and elsewhere is so great, that many small parts are being performed by artists who will achieve stardom in less than a decade afterwards.

Are there artists in small roles that you have sung with recently whom you recognize have the potential to be leading opera stars of the future?

LC: That’s a fantastic question!   But the problem is that I don’t really categorize people in my brain, so I don’t think, “Ah, here’s my list of people who were young artists!”   They’re just colleagues like everyone else.   I can tell you about a few immensely talented people I’ve worked with lately.  The names are countless, but quite a few do stick out – my Alisa in Lucia was the wonderful Marjorie Owens, who is a phenomenal huge voice – one to look out for.

I sang “Rigoletto” in Pittsburgh and my Giovanna there was Jennifer Holloway, who is a wonderful mezzo soprano.  I recommended her to my agent, and her career really took off (deservedly!)  I was recently hanging out in Houston with Liam Bonner, who sang Hortensius in Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment” at Houston Grand Opera [HGO] a few years ago; he just made his Met debut this year and is booked all over the place.  Every time I have sung in Houston, there have been wonderful young artists in the “small roles.”  It’s so wonderful to meet up with them later when they’re “grown up” and see how wonderfully they’re doing.

Perhaps one of the most exciting voices and talents I have experienced lately is David Lomeli, who came through the program in San Francisco, as well.  He’s a beautiful musician, a wonderful colleague, a great performer and such a gorgeous voice.  Most of all, he’s humble and works hard.  I reckon he will go far.

Wm: You sang Xenia in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” in San Francisco in 1992 in a production based on the Tarkovsky-Dvigubsky Royal Opera House Covent Garden production that I have described as a “world treasure”. The San Francisco production revival was staged by Stephen Lawless and Sergei Leiferkus was Rangoni. That production was just shown at the Dallas Opera, with Lawless and Leiferkus again participating, in rotation to your Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto”. Appreciating that you were simultaneously rehearsing Zerbinetta at the Houston Grand Opera, did you get a chance to see the “Boris” revival, and, if you did, did it evoke memories of your San Francisco Xenia?

LC: I wish!  Since I was going back and forth between my shows in Dallas and rehearsals in Houston, I unfortunately missed getting to see Dallas’ “Boris”.   When I sang it in San Francisco, my Boris was James Morris.  My most vivid memory of the show was when I hugged him in my scene; I could hear this fantastic growl of a Ferrari motor inside him as he sang.  It was amazing.

It sounds really stupid, but when I was IN the show, I didn’t get to really see it.  So I really do regret I missed it in Dallas. I only realized recently when reviving shows I originated, that since my focus is so much out to the audience in rehearsals and performance, I really don’t remember much of any sets I’ve performed on – because they’re behind me.

It sounds like a pea-brained soprano joke, but if you think about it, we rehearse on taped lines on the floor for weeks of the rehearsals.  By the time you’re in the house on the actual set, you have two or three (maybe four) rehearsals on it before opening.  So when you’re onstage, you’re also checking out the hall and its acoustics, trying to stay with the now-further-away maestro, and deal with technical onstage challenges. You really don’t have time to look at the set.  Who spends time looking upstage (behind them) when they are ON stage?  Since most of my parts are quite demanding, I don’t have that luxury!

[Below: Giulietta (Laura Claycomb) awakes to find that her lover Romeo (Vivica Genaux) has poisoned himself in Pittsburgh Opera's production of Bellini's "I' Capuleti e i Montecchi"; edited image, based on a David Bachman photograph, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Opera.]

Back to “Boris”, I adore the music in it – ah, those choruses!!  In Dallas, I passed Stephen Lawless in the hall, and we both looked at each other strangely, and then two seconds later realized why we recognized each other!   So funny! Jonathan Pell joked (I hope!) that he knew who to call if his Xenia got sick…

Wm: In your early career, you had particular success in learning roles to cover other artists, and some of those roles in time became part of your international repertory. Such roles would include Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and the title role in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”.

As an Adler fellow at the San Francisco Opera, you covered the performances of Cecilia Gasdia as Giulietta in Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”, which led to a later engagement to cover her in the same role at Grand Theater du Geneve. Although Gasdia fulfilled her engagements in San Francisco, circumstances required you to step into the role in Geneva, which gained you international recognition. Do you feel that your success in Geneva “jump-started” your career?

LC: While an Adler Fellow, I had a few personal study projects of my own on top of my official assignments: one was the role of Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos”.  I didn’t debut it for almost another ten years, but it was worth the wait, since it had become like a second skin to me by then.

Like I said, I learned Gilda to cover in Merola my first summer in San Francisco, and I learned Lucia for my second Merola summer (although there was no way in hell at the age of 21 that I’d have sung it!) I didn’t sing either of these roles on stage until much later.

While an Adler Fellow, the first role I covered, I actually did go on – as Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s “Suor Angelica”.  I was singing the Novice at the time.  It was a heady feeling to jump in like that.   I covered tons of roles – Tytania in Britten’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Sophie in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier”, to name just a few.  I sang a stage rehearsal when the Tytania got sick, and she got better quite quickly!  ha ha!  My first Tytania came many years later, and at the last minute.   So I just had to dust off my score, and it came back to me in one coaching.  I just jumped right in.

When I was an Adler Fellow, I had to resist the urge to throw Christine Schäfer down the stairs to get to do Sophie; I only did one production of it years later in Spoleto, unfortunately.  I love that role.  Besides “La Fille du Régiment” where I did the matinee shows (and covered Kathleen Battle – that’s a whole ‘nuther story right there! ha ha!), I don’t think I immediately was able to debut any of the roles that I had covered in San Francisco.  Most of them came years later, which was great.  But one fortuitous debut did come right on the tail of my Adler Fellowship, a few years after having covered the show.

I did some rehearsals as an Adler Fellow cover for Gasdia in “Capuleti” when she came in late for rehearsals.  She didn’t like to rehearse.  Forward a few years later: I was called at the last minute to cover Gasdia, who was replacing another soprano who had to leave at the beginning of rehearsals.  Gasdia couldn’t come to the majority of the rehearsals because of a prior engagement.  I was just supposed to be a body to do the rehearsals, but Gasdia got in a car accident in Italy, and I ended up singing all the shows in Geneva.  Of course it launched my career.

[Below: Romeo (Jennifer Larmore) holds Giulietta (Laura Claycomb) in a 1994 production of Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi"; edited image of a production photograph for the Grand Theatre du Geneve.]

I had fired my agent the week before opening because I hadn’t heard back from him the entire time I’d been there, despite numerous attempts to get him on the phone to tell him I was going on. I’d had him about a month, my first agent, and he had never seen me perform onstage.  As the curtain came down at opening, there was Tom Graham, the biggest agent in the industry and my Romeo’s (Jennifer Larmore’s) agent, shaking my hand and congratulating me even before I went out for my bow; we set up a meeting for early the next morning, and I’ve been with IMG ever since.

The day after our opening night, I was on the front page of the Geneva newspaper. As a result, I was hired for the same show in Paris, a different show in Nice (which then got me three contracts in Lausanne with Dominique Meyer, now the head of Vienna Staatsoper), the conductor hired me for my Italian debut (which led me to meet my now-husband!), and I moved to Italy.  It was an amazing time in my life.  All this because the right people knew that I was prepared!

The best thing about preparing all these roles early on was that it gave them time to “settle.”  This is a very interesting concept.  Even if you’re not consciously working on a role, by letting it sit in your memory already prepared, it seems to develop on its own, even if you’re not working on it in the interim years.

It is an amazing luxury to have the music already set in your throat and brain memory.  When you finally come back to it, you’ve worked on other roles and grown technically and physically in the meantime.  Since you’ve already rendered all the music and technique to sing it automatically, you can just concentrate on adding feeling, nuance, musical gestures, etc… to it.  I can’t tell you the difference this makes in a performance.

[Below: Laura Claycomb, backstage at a performance as Tytania in Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream" with her husband; resized image, based on a personal photograph, courtesy of Laura Claycomb.]

Wm: In a South Texas newspaper, at the time of your performances as Marie in Donizetti’s “Fille du Regiment” at Houston Grand Opera, you expressed your opinion that the public pays too much attention to the tenor’s showpiece – Tonio’s “Ah! mes amis!” – and does not appreciate how difficult the role of Marie actually is. Would you comment on this?

But, since most of the Donizetti operas currently performed center around the soprano, shouldn’t the tenors have a couple of roles (including Nemorino in “L’Elisir d’Amore”) in which they have the most famous aria?

LC: Sure, give the tenors their day, but please just don’t act like high C’s are such a bloody big deal!  I’m popping off a high F, numerous C’s and D’s and quite a few long high E’s over the evening, yet everyone is just counting the stupid high c’s in the tenor’s ONE aria?  Give me a break – I’m busting my ass up there!   I just make it look easy…  Just because the tenor may look like his head’s going to pop off, I don’t think we should think that’s so much more impressive.  ha ha!

Wm: You have identified two operatic legends of the past as influential to your career – Maria Callas and Beverly Sills. Yet, both artists suffered from vocal difficulties by the time they reached their late 40s and both retired from the operatic stage relatively early in their careers.

Especially in the case of Callas, many people believe the vocal decline was the result of accepting roles too heavy for her voice. You have centered your repertory in the leggiero and light lyric coloratura repertory. Is it your intention to avoid roles of heavier weight than, say, Gilda or Zerbinetta in “Ariadne auf Naxos”?

LC: Yikes – I hadn’t thought about these two that way!  I do agree that both did too much, and taxed their voices with pretty crazy schedules and too-heavy rep.  Callas was doing vastly different repertoire in the same season.  I have to say, I think both of them had some emotionally difficult things going on in those years, as well, which can also wear on your voice.  But I also hold Edita Gruberova as a big influence, and she’s still singing Zerbinetta on stages at her age, whatever that may be.

I don’t know what my trajectory will be.  My voice has filled out a little in the past two years, but I don’t see the need to go too far from what I’m doing right now in heaviness, repertoire-wise.  I wouldn’t mind looking into other roles that are in my fach that I still haven’t done yet.

I’m looking at the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” these days, as I’ve avoided it my whole career because of preconceived ideas about the steeliness needed for that role.  My voice is not steely. But I’ve finally been convinced that I should just sing it with my own voice, and that I can bring my own musicianship and talents to the role.  Luckily (or not?), my voice has remained quite fresh and young-sounding after 20 years of career.

I started when I was 20, so I am quite proud that my voice is in such good shape after so much work.  (I worry that people think I’m ancient since I’ve been around so long in this business!)  Since most sopranos start out with that role and then move on to less stratospheric roles, I think it’s quite a testament to my technique that I can pick up the role now.

I will probably approach some roles already in my fach that I steered clear of before because I feared I lacked presence in parts of my voice.  I’m not worried any more.  I’m giving more than a look at the title role in Massenet’s “Manon” (which I learned while an Adler Fellow.)  In roles, I always need some kind of suppleness to the line, or some high, dreamy bits, so there are quite a few things left on my list that I’m interested to try out.  I know I would sing Amina in Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” wonderfully, for example!  There are some things I did earlier in my career that I wish I’d have a chance to dust off again (Rossini’s “Le Comte Ory”, for example…) and I’m very interested in having music written for me (by people I love – I don’t trust my voice to just anyone…)

So I hope to keep developing not only as a singer but as an artist.   On that count, I love what Dawn Upshaw and  Lorraine Hunt Lieberson are/were able to do – to have wonderful new composers write for them, and to find interesting repertoire that says something in the world.  I don’t want to just be singing the same old Donizetti opera ten years from now.  (!)

Wm: And to return to the subject of “Lakme”.

LC: As for Lakmé, I’d love to do it. People just don’t do it that often, and in the States it’s usually done in a smaller opera house in which I haven’t performed. Since I live in Italy and am married to an Italian, I try valiantly to keep my U. S. appearances to a minimum without disappearing entirely.  You never know, though!  I’ve studied the score! I agree with you (and Tchaikovsky!) about Delibes’ fine qualities as a composer. It is is actually quite beautiful music all the way through the opera, and the story, if you took up the whole “colonists who trod roughshod over the inhabitants’ customs” theme, it is actually quite timely!

Wm: In the 2002 Janos Gereben interview you spent a great deal of time explaining your thoughts about Zerbinetta’s view of the role of women in society and their romantic relationships with men. You were performing Zerbinetta at the San Francisco Opera then in John Cox’ production. Almost a decade later you performed Zerbinetta, again with John Cox, at Houston Grand Opera. Have you gained yet further insights into her character and her philosophy in the intervening years?

LC: That was the first time I performed the role, and although I did a lot of study on the role at the time, of course I have a lot more life experience now when I come back to this same production nine years later.  I think she’s a character that can be played so many ways, and who will reveal herself inexorably with the years. She’s a little more wise now, a little more knowing.  I also think she must always remain vulnerable at moments (at least in the prologue) in order that her brittleness doesn’t grate.

[Below: Zerbinetta (Laura Claycomb) is the object of attention of Harlequin (Boris Dyakov) in a Houston Grand Opera production of "Ariadne auf Naxos"; edited image, based on a Felix Sanchez photograph, courtesy of the Houston Grand Opera.]

I also think she is truly taken with the Composer; it’s not an act just to get the show on the road.  The aria is also a treatise on her take on life.  I found it infinitely insulting that some people I love simplified her character into “Oh, Laura’s playing the SLUT!” and laugh.

Actually, that’s exactly what Zerbinetta herself rails against – the world is weighted against someone like her who truly does love every man who sweeps her off her feet like a god, and even when she loves him, she unwittingly betrays him.  I think there’s a world of hurt hidden behind her mask that we glimpse when she allows the Composer into her confidence.

Wm: Who are some of the people who have most influenced your career?

LC: Probably my top two (besides my family) would be Patrick Summers and Peter Sellars.  Others would be the people that trusted their own ears and hired me early on when I hadn’t established my name; they helped me establish it.  Patrick is one of these, but I must also thank Hugues Gall (in Geneva and Paris) and Dominique Meyer (Lausanne) for taking a chance on me early on.

[Below: Following a Houston Grand Opera performance of Verdi's "Rigoletto", Laura Claycomb (Gilda) poses with the conductor, Patrick Summers; edited image, based on a personal photograph, courtesy of Laura Claycomb.]

Emmanuelle Haim, the late Richard Hickox and Michael Tilson-Thomas are also three biggies who introduced me to new musical worlds, and who have been my champions throughout my career.  Emmanuelle taught me Baroque style.  Period.  I did my first Cleopatra in Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” when she was still assisting Christophe Rousset, and she is the one who helped me develop my ornaments and the style of ornamentation for Handel.

Richard brought me to vastly different repertoire that I didn’t even think I could do (Ann Truelove, Gretel, Sea Symphony…) and taught me to how to en-joy (inject joy!) into making music.  I miss his mischievous eyes so much!  Michael has taught me about a whole new realm of Old World music that I didn’t think was for me before knowing him – all of this turn of the century and beginning of the 20th century German and Austrian music.  It’s not stratospheric, but it’s out of this world!  We just won three Grammies for our Mahler Eighth, to boot!

Back to my top two!  Patrick Summers picked me for Merola when I was 20 years old and still incredibly young vocally.  He heard the talent there, despite me singing inappropriate repertoire (I started with Senza mamma from “Suor Angelica” for my second round of auditions!) and he has been a mentor and support ever since.  He made my HGO debut possible, and guided my career there; I have done some of the best work of my career in that house.  He is someone that I run new repertoire choices by first, and he is always a trusted sounding board when I need one.  I trust him implicitly; he’s the person who  knows my voice better than anyone else in the world.

Now Patrick has been named the new general director in Houston.  I couldn’t be prouder.  I remember back in the day when I was lamenting him starting to conduct because he was the best coach I ever worked with, and he didn’t have as much time to coach as a result.  I think this is a fantastic move for Houston and a great place for him – with one caveat: that he will have enough staff to help him with administrative duties so he can still have time to make lots of music!

It was he who orchestrated my quick return to Houston after my big debut there, to capitalize on my success before the hubbub died down.  Boy, did he know what he was doing!  I’ve been back almost every season, since, and was the top-requested artist in a poll of HGO patrons a few seasons ago.  I think HGO is in extraordinarily capable hands.

[Below: Concept director Peter Sellars; resized image, based on an Alberto Estevez photograph for Esa-Pekka Salonen.]

I worked with Peter Sellars in 1998, and have been incredibly inspired by him ever since.  I was lucky to witness his work from many angles, as an ex-boyfriend was his assistant and dramaturg (from whom I also learned sooo much over our 10 years together!); and I have seen a ton of Peter’s body of work over the years.  Peter made me realize that opera is not just about “decoration” and naturalistic portrayal, but that opera can and should be so much more – a cathartic confrontation of the here and now in sung form.

He also spoiled me for much of the opera world’s “normal” work, because most of the time it does not touch the underlying universal themes, nor does it even try to find a correlation with today’s problems.  Most people find his work so confrontational because they don’t want to be shown their own world when they go to the theater or the opera: they want to escape.  He forces you to see that we have been struggling with the same battles for aeons, and that we must deal with our contemporary challenges front-on.  I feel lucky to call him a friend, and hope that we can come up with a project together again sometime soon.

Wm: I see on your website some information about a young Congolese singer.    Is he your student?

LC: Serge Kakudji is more like a son to me than a student.  He actually studied very little directly with me: I wouldn’t want to feel like I’m taking credit where credit is not due.  I met him in 2006 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (long story!) and with the help of many people brought him to Europe to study.  I taught him for two hours in the Congo and decided this kid deserved to be able to develop his talent – something totally impossible in the DRC, unfortunately.  So we got him to Belgium, by hook or by crook, and now I’m helping him get through conservatory in France.  It has taken a village, and my ex-boyfriend has been instrumental, as well.

Serge has since won singing competitions, done a huge tour all over the world with Alain Platel’s show “Pitié,” been named one of the 100 most influential people in the Congo by Jeune Afrique magazine and just recently filled in for Dominique Visse in the role of Tolomeo in a production of “Giulio Cesare” at Versailles with Jean-Claude Malgoire.  My husband and I are very, very proud of him.

[Below: Congolese Counter-tenor Serge Kukudji with Laura Claycomb; edited image, based on a personal photograph, courtesy of Laura Claycomb.]

He is a natural-born artist but has worked his butt off to develop his talent.  Most importantly, he’s an exceptional human being, intent on developing himself in every way.  I wanted to make sure he works on being a great person as well as an artist; otherwise for me, it’s all in vain.

Touching this young man’s life and watching his successes (and failings!) has been one of the most satisfying endeavors of my life.  All I ask now is that he try his best to develop to his highest potential and to give back to the world.  Although it’s great that he’s able to come to the “first world” and follow his dream, it’s equally important for third world countries that their best and brightest like Serge come BACK to enrich their mother country.  I think that investing in people, one at a time, is a great way to bring about true change.  We shall see!