Born in Cooperstown, NY, he graduated from the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development program and joined the Metropolitan Opera Company in 1990. In recent seasons he has sung the Count and Don Giovanni at Vienna State Opera, Rodrigo in Don Carlo and the Count at the Salzburg festival, and the title role of Eugene Onegin at Paris’ Bastille Opera. Last season he sang Silvio in Pagliacci, Nick Carraway in the world premiere of The Great Gatsby and Pelleas at the Met, Don Giovanni at the Bastille Opera, and Jaufre Rudel in the world premiere of Saariaho’s L’amour de loin. He recently performed his first Germont in La Traviata at the Met. It was after one of these performances that I had the chance to speak with this sensitive, versatile and thoughtful artist.
How did you discover your vocation and was your family supportive?
I’d been singing since I was five years old. I decided to be an opera singer when I was about fifteen. When Glimmerglass was founded in Cooperstown, I became involved in the chorus and really fell in love with opera. My family was absolutely supportive. They knew I was musically inclined—I also played the trumpet for twelve years—and they never discouraged me.
There are so many methods out there. How did you know what was right for you?
It took me a while to figure it out. Attending SUNY Purchase Conservatory from 1979 to 1983, I was singing as a tenor and I didn’t discover until my senior year that I was actually a baritone. All throughout college I struggled to find my voice, singing very lightly to get my tenor voice to work. By my senior year, I knew more or less what I was doing, but I didn’t have any high notes. Then, I finally went for a vocal consultation with Marlena Malas and she switched me to baritone. One year later I got into the Met Young Artists’ Program. I’d been working for so long to be a tenor and to have to switch was very upsetting, but it ended up being the best thing I could have done.
Do you believe there has to be the right chemistry between teacher and student?
Oh, yes! It’s a personal relationship. I need someone who is encouraging, someone who is not putting me down, because that has such an adverse effect on singers. We need nurturing, we need to be calm because it’s stressful enough to be a singer. The last thing you need is somebody who makes you afraid to open your mouth. You find your voice by just letting go and not being afraid to make sounds whether they are good or bad. You find it when you get encouragement … I have a great relationship with Marlena Malas.
What is important for a young singer in taking the next steps after college/conservatory?
Most young singers out of college are not ready to jump into an operatic career. So, it’s important to find a way to keep studying. A possibility is going for a Master’s degree. I got a job and tried to study as much as I could. It was a struggle. For seven or eight years I was doing everything but singing. Once in a while, I sang a small tenor role with Eve Queler or at Glimmerglass in the summertime. I was very fortunate to get into the Met program because they took care of me. Suddenly, everything was free so I was singing and coaching everyday and I didn’t have to work in anything but singing anymore.
At your high professional level, do you still need a voice teacher?
I think one always does. There are times when you might have a little trouble and you need to tune up, therefore you should continue taking lessons. It’s something I’ve been thinking of going back to, especially since I am doing all these new roles. I also coach a lot.
You are married to soprano Ainhoa Arteta. Is it difficult to balance family life with all of the commitments you both have? How do you manage?
We knew it would be complicated and now it’s even more so since we recently became parents. We’re traveling all the time, trying to set our schedules so that we do not spend too much time apart. It can be stressful and difficult, but it’s worth it because we are crazy about each other.
How do you deal with stage fright?
I get nervous in a positive way. Lately … the more I perform the more relaxed I am. On performance days, I just conserve my energy. Luckily, being nervous never shows in my body or my voice. It’s always something I feel in my stomach. But I feel very comfortable at the Met. Making my debut there, singing small roles and working my way up to big roles, my confidence grew. Then, when I started singing leading roles, and realized I could do that, it was a huge confidence builder. Suddenly I felt like I could sing anywhere without being so nervous.
How do you choose your repertory and how do you know when you should move on?
It’s a natural progression. I want to have Mozart and Rossini roles in my repertory because they keep me in good shape. I’ve always liked singing “The Barber of Seville.” Eugene Onegin is another role I love and want to perform as often as I can. I just started singing some Verdi, my first role being Rodrigo in “Don Carlo.” I’ve recently done Germont, I’m going to do Falstaff this summer, and I don’t have any plans to go further with Verdi for a while. The other Verdi roles are really big steps … I’ve had some major steps in my career. Deciding to sing Pelleas at the Met with James Levine and Frederica von Stade in 1995 was one huge step. I remember accepting the contract three years before, not knowing if I could even sing the part. That was where the Met helped me again. They knew I could do it, they coached me on it and they wouldn’t have let me perform had I not been ready for it.
What steps do you take in preparing a role?
First, I translate it. Then I listen to a recording of someone I respect. If it’s an Italian opera, I make sure I listen to an Italian singer singing it, then I coach like crazy. I listen to the recording just enough so that I can start coaching the role. I like to make the role my own, finding what the composer wanted, learning the words, the music, adding the dynamics. It’s a long process, depending on how much time you have. I used to have a lot more time to learn things.
What do you do to keep yourself in good vocal and physical shape?
I don’t exercise constantly, but that is something I highly recommend to any singer. It’s just so hard to keep a regular exercise routine when you’re on the road. Vocally, if I am healthy, just singing everyday in rehearsals or coachings keeps me in shape.
Do you ever take long breaks from singing?
Yes, especially since I have a family. This fall I was supposed to sing Marcello at the Met, but I wanted to be with my wife and my newborn baby. They were very understanding and released me from the schedule. So, I took a month off and I was with my baby.
In performance, are you conscious of your technique or do you just allow the characterization to take care of everything?
When I’m healthy, I am not conscious of my technique. I take a deep breath, and just let my voice go. This approach has also been helping me to become a better actor. My favorite performances happen when I really feel I am the character and I don’t have to think about the difficult phrase or high note coming up. Obviously, when I was learning how to sing, I had to think about technique. Some teachers do not believe that a singer should be so concerned with technique, but when you’re first learning how to sing, you are trying to coordinate so many different things that, until they become second nature, you have to concentrate on each one. All through college I was struggling with coordinating these factors. Once I switched to baritone and got into the Met program, it became a lot easier to understand technique.
If you had to choose another profession, what would it be?
Sometimes, I think about how I’ve got these two little vocal chords and how my whole life depends on them. If I didn’t sing, I would definitely work in the opera field, in a company, directing, coaching, teaching.
What piece of advice would you give a young singer, something you wish someone would have told you when you were starting out?
I knew a lot of professional singers when I was in college because I was singing in the chorus at Glimmerglass. I received a lot of good advice from them. I would say: “know your voice, know what repertoire is good for you, do not sing anything too soon.” People tend to think that they can sing big operatic arias when they’re in college. They shouldn’t. The idea is to have a long career and be a healthy singer. The Met program saved me at a time when I was getting offers to sing things that were too heavy for my voice. Naturally, it’s tempting when you’re being offered money to take certain roles. My main advice is to go slowly, get a solid technique. It sounds really simple, but some young singers think they know their instrument and they believe too soon that they are ready. True, every singer is different, some mature earlier than others. However, I heard voice students performing arias that they shouldn’t have been singing in college and having huge wobbles in their voices at nineteen. They were finished before they even got out into the world. One thing is true for everyone: find a teacher you can trust, who will suit your individual needs. When I was trying to decide whether I was a tenor or a baritone, I went to two different vocal consultations. The first person I sang for told me I was a tenor and that I would never have a career as a baritone. Then I sang for Marlena Malas and that was it! A lot of it has to do with luck as well. But if you have a talent that people recognize, then it’s knowing how to be smart, to protect it, to be careful, knowing what’s right for you and, when you are ready, being conservative and trusting your instincts. It’s very simple: if it hurts you, it’s wrong for you.
This interview was first published in the SUNY Purchase Alumni magazine. Ms. Necula brought it to our attention and we agreed that our readers needed to see it as well.
