The calm before the Rossini storm

Rossini is one of my favorite composers because his operas make me smile and challenge me to be a better singer. I have enjoyed performing Figaro, Dandini and Taddeo, and tonight will add the role of Fernando in La Gazza Ladra to my list. I have always had a great love of Bel Canto operas especially ones that explore how to create a character through the repetition of text, cadenzas and vocal colors. It is a big challenge to keep this music fresh and interesting, not because it is “boring,” but that it takes a great deal of concentration, imagination and study to find the nuances. Rossini was very clear about accents, coloratura phrases, dynamics and tempi, but there is still the matter of the cadenzas (a series of notes that allow the singer to “improvise” in order to enhance the character.) And after all of that, the singer must address what the text is all about.

I love doing the work of fusing the musical and the dramatic and have truly enjoyed getting under the skin of Fernando Villabella. He is a soldier on the run, a father trying to protect his daughter and in disguise as a beggar. It makes for fantastic theater and a world of dramatic choices. I have to say I love his music and his character and look forward to bringing him to the stage.

One of the first things I learned as a young singer (even when I didn’t have control over my technique) was that coloratura was not just a way to showcase how fast you can sing a series of notes, but an expression of the character’s emotional state at that moment. It took a while to learn how to sing and act together and even longer to understand how to color text, especially in coloratura passages. Musically Fernando combines lyricism and dramatic moments. It feels like a Verdi character plopped in the middle of a Rossini opera. The role is a complete musical adventure with a heavy Bel Canto flair. Act I provides lyric and dramatic singing, some great cadenzas and wonderful drama. Act II is even more challenging with his aria that alternates between a breathless fear and powerful determination, then is immediately followed by a long and exciting (did I mention “long”) Quintet with chorus that has Fernando going from lyric to dramatic to full-on coloratura and back. Finally the Act II finale demands coloratura brilliance and ends on a fun and light note (actually a lot of notes.) The tone of the opera is comedic to serious to light and offers each character plenty of show-stopping moments.

If you know any Rossini pretty well, you’ll also enjoy hearing snatches of melodies from other Rossini operas and marvel at how they fit perfectly into this piece.
Peace,

Eric