Roberto Alagna Still The Man
In a recent article Juan Diego Florez said that if he were Roberto Alagna "he wouldn't have walked off stage and that he's never been booed, though he's been in productions where everyone else was booed, so he could imagine the pain. Perhaps one day it will happen to him, but so far he's had good luck. But if he were booed, he thinks it is something he could handle OK."
Oh really? I say, "keep living."
Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti might be high wire for a light lyric tenor, but if one is fortunate enough to have a career span of 10 years one will hopefully graduate to heavier music hopefully: Mozart, Puccini and Verdi something the public can chew on in lieu of drinking milk all the time. While I appreciate Florez's art, his flashy coloratura, and white tone, in my world, la creme de la creme of opera is a Puccini / Verdi diet.
Alagna is now moving into his next fach - Verdi. It is not an easy task to switch fachs. One has to feel an adjustment in the resonators and sensations and one has to have confidence. Kathleen Battle tried to switch fachs and while it may have been possible, it was not possible because one's audience must make the adjustment with the artists, training the ear to accept the familiar vocal sound in the "new fach." The patrons at La Scala paid to hear Alagna sing Radames. However, whether or not they were able to accept him in his new fach is questionable. Nevertheless, some bad karma is following Alagna, and a claque was payed to boo him. It happens. Now that it is over, Alagna needs to get back on his horse and go ahead and ride it. And until Florez gets one of these roles under his belt and move into Alagna's fach, he should have no comment towards his fellow tenor. He is just drawing karma unto himself;putting all this out there and he has not proven his longevity yet. Actually I'd like to hear Florez sing Rodolfo and see if his public can swallow his light voice singing a medium sized role. But what gall. What nerve. He said "But his voice is not changing yet, it is not getting darker or heavier." Well my advice to Florez is pray, pray, pray that yur voices does get darker and heavier. And when it does, and you try to switch fachs, and you are booed, then you will understand and you will recant your words.
posted by Pimp My Voice at 9:44 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Pimp My Voice,
While I find your remarks interesting, I do feel you confuse a number of different issues.
Florez didn't comment on Alagna's voice or choice of Fach but rather on Alagns's attitude to the paying public, his respect for the piece of theatre by Verdi and his self-centered disregard for the roughly 200 vocal and orchestral performers who were left behind to tidy up the mess when he marched offstage.
Your remark that "Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti might be high wire for a light lyric tenor" simply displays a lack of understanding on your part for this repertoire. Have you never heard of "horses for courses" - Mr. Alagna obviously hasn't.
While your assertion that "I appreciate Florez's art, his flashy coloratura, and white tone, in my world, la creme de la creme of opera is a Puccini / Verdi diet" simply reeks of an "I love opera's greatest hits" standpoint which supports the bravura, machismo attitude that caused Alagna to flounce offstage in the first place. Your world seems rather blinkered and limited.
As for the "a claque was payed to boo him", you can be sure that Alagna knew of their existence for roughly the last 150 years and likely used this as a reason to bolster his already exorbitant fee before agreeing to take on a role which he wasn't ready for.
You shouldn't berate Florez for saying out loud what most professionals in the opera world are thinking. Don't get me wrong - Alagna is a fine singer when he sticks to what is right for him. The opera world needs its Divos - but let them earn the right to be Divos by proving themselves onstage like Mr. Florez consistently does and not by being strutting peacocks who run crying to their Diva wives and lawyers.
"Alagna is now moving into his next fach - Verdi."
????
He's been singing Verdi for years. He made his La Scala debut in 1990 in La Traviata. In 1994 he sang there as the Duke in Rigoletto and in 1997 as MacDuff in Macbeth. Not to mention Don Carlos at the Paris Opera in 1996 and Il Trovatore since 2001 (Montecarlo and Florence). He first sang Aida in Copenhagen in January 2005.
when you switch "FACH'S" ....it doesn't just mean switching to a different weight/era/dramatic kind of music...it also means a natural re-sonic-ing of resonators that play into the whole resounding of tones naturally without 'pushing.' Every singer who has ever switched fach's knows that the freedom of the new sound has to switch to a comfortable 'NEW SPOT' in order for (1) the voice can have some beef and (2) the voice can still have silver to cut thru the orchestra. Its a sword that cuts both ways.
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