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We offer 10 titles with Bergonzi:
Luisa
Miller
Un
ballo in maschera
Bergonzi Sings Verdi, with Orchestra + Interview (in Italian)
Pagliacci
Ten
Tenors
Great Tenors, Vol. 2
Corelli,
Bergonzi and Bechi
Carlo
Bergonzi in Recital
Kraus,
Bergonzi, Siepi, McDaniel, Cappuccilli
Legendary
Singers on TV
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continued
CB: I think about Callas as you perhaps do, as everyone does: she was unique
in singing and on stage.
Greg Gregory: You are the tenor of the world. I want to hear you sing
all my life. When I die, I want you singing in the background.
CB: I thank you. It would be a great honor. But I hope the occasion is far,
far away.
Eclesia Cestone: For a young singer, what’s the most important thing
in pursuing a career?
CB: First and foremost, you need great discipline to never tire of vocalizing,
to do exercises for diaphragmatic breathing, to work on vocalizes by Concone
and on sung solfeggios.
Barbara Travis: Why do singers burn out early? Could it be because of
the pace of life today or because of their impatience to make careers?
CB: Youngsters want to do, to arrive quickly, to get to the finish line
before the right time, and they burn the candle at both ends. As a result
they tire themselves out, ruining their vocal qualities. A recommendation:
When you are young, time seems to go more slowly. Never tire of waiting.
Wait until the right moment to decide repertory. It’s of no importance
if you make a career as a tenore leggero, for there is a vast repertory
for tenore leggero, as for lirico, lirico spinto and drammatico. Later,
if nature takes you from being a lirico to being a drammatico, you’ll
gradually get to do the entire repertory. But never tire of studying.
Anthony Frezola: What is required to be a Verdian singer?
CB: First of all, you must listen to the repertory a lot, to understand
the composer. For you to transmit what he wants, the music has got to enter
into your blood.
AF: Why is there a paucity of Verdian voices today?
CB: I have a contest at Busseto for Verdian voices and can assure you that
they still exist. But they don’t get ahead because young singers are
in a hurry and accept roles unsuited to their voices. Hence they are constrained
to force, and the voices lose enamel and velvet instead of acquiring Verdian
color.
SZ: Wasn’t it ever thus?
CB: I have two authentic Verdi letters, given to me by Busseto’s Carrara
Verdi, one dated 1872, the other from ’86. Verdi laments the lack of
voices for his operas. Verdi is very difficult to interpret, and it’s
also difficult to get to the point where you can emit the sounds he wanted,
particularly for tenor parts, because the music tends to sit in the passaggio,
and to sing on F-sharp, G and A-flat for an entire aria is very difficult.
That’s why there have always been few Verdi tenors.
SZ: When was Verdian singing at its peak?
CB: If an appropriate tenor, soprano and baritone came forward, it would
be at its peak today. But the material is lacking. Sometimes you can’t
play around and must tell the truth: if theaters would begin to hire young
singers for the right repertory, I assure you that Verdian, Puccinian and
Wagnerian voices would still come forward. Today, when a tenor with an easy
high C comes on the scene, they don’t consider the color—whether
it’s of a lirico leggero, a lirico spinto or a drammatico. He has the
C, so they quickly hire him for Trovatore, for only the “Pira”
is important. In Verdi, high notes are important, for he wrote them, even
though in “Pira” he didn’t put in a C but a G. However, the
C is a beautiful tradition and thus one should do it. Phrasing, portamento,
tonal velvet and the bronze of the color—these things are Verdian singing.
Not just the high C. Thirty-five years ago, when I began my career, there
were the following kinds of tenors: leggero, lirico leggero, lirico, lirico
spinto and drammatico. Today there’s no difference: they have a Barbiere
tenor sing Rigoletto and Rigoletto tenor sing Otello.
Thus the categories are lost.
Russ Tyser: Is there a tenor now singing Otello who should be singing
Rigoletto?
CB: I don’t know one.
SZ: Are there interesting singers in Italy we don’t know of here?
CB: I don’t know which young singers are appearing here.
SZ: Did any careers start as a result of the Busseto competition?
CB: Yes, Aragall, Malaspina, Gulin, Cappuccilli and others. Today there’s
a truly good lirico-leggero tenor, Vincenzo La Scola.
SZ: Has he already been engaged to sing in the States?
CB: No, but he sang I Lombardi with the contest and has been engaged
by the Paris Opéra for La Fille du Régiment and La
sonnambula and by Lisbon’s São Carlos for Rigoletto.
Stewart Manville: Carlo Bergonzi, I adore the caressing quality of your
singing. Is that quality what is meant by “slancio”?
CB: No, slancio is something felt in the person.
SZ: “Slancio” applies to interpretation, not vocal quality.
Would you care to define it?
CB: When you interpret a phrase, putting in that vocal expression, that
signifies slancio—giving expression to the words.
SM: I’d like to listen to you forever. Dr. Umberto Boeri: “Slancio”
may best be defined as “oomph,” “propulsiveness” or
“a springing forward.”
Miguel Nicoletta: I heard you sing with Leontyne Price some years ago
at the Teatro Colón. Please reminisce about those performances.
CB: I remember them with great enthusiasm. I also remember the enthusiasm
of the public, the management and the press. Thank you for calling the experiences
to mind.
Now, Stefan, I have to ask you a question: tell me something about your
career. I’ve heard a great deal about you but have never head you sing.
What repertory do you do?
SZ: I specialize in Bellini’s high tenor parts. For example, I sang
the actual world premiere of Bellini’s last setting of Adelson e
Salvini. My repertory includes Fernando in Bianca e Fernando, Puritani,
Sonnambula in the original keys, which are as much as a third higher
than those in scores published in this century. I also sing stratospheric
parts by Rossini and Donizetti, as well as music written by the 19th-century
tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini.
CB: Well, in bocca al lupo (into the mouth of the wolf), with
my very best wishes, because having gotten to know you, I’ll tell you
the truth: I’ve gotten to know someone of notable intelligence regarding
drawing distinctions and speaking of vocal technique. [For particulars about
Bergonzi’s voice placement, see Opera Fanatic magazine, Issue
1, p. 34 and Issue 2, p. 11. Issue 2 is still
available from Bel Canto Society for $3.95.]
SZ: Crepi il lupo (may the wolf croak). On behalf of the listeners
and myself, let me wish you in cullo alla balena (up the asshole of
the whale).
CB: Yes, that’s very important. Very good. Che non scorreggi (may
he not fart). (Bergonzi’s entourage applauds.)
Bob Connolly: It’s almost as much a pleasure to hear Grande Uffiziale
Bergonzi speak as to hear him sing; the speaking is so beautifully produced,
it makes me realize that most of us Americans speak and sing in the throat.
SZ: For me, it’s a diction lesson. We’re all high as a kite
here.
CB: I thank you all for listening and phoning. For me it was a real treat.
The time flew. Arrivederci. |
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