The diva out front
Showtime talks to Elizabeth Smith, the artistic director of one of the mainstays of the BOV Opera Festival, Palermo's Operalaboratorio.
The first, and probably most obvious question is: How did a lady from the US get to be running an opera company in Sicily?
Love. In 1987 I married the Maestro Rammentatore of Palermo's Teatro Massimo. We were schoolmates at Milan's Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory where I did post-graduate work thanks to a Rotary International Fellowship. In 1989 I moved from Vienna to Palermo. Having been a student at both La Scala's famed opera school and at the Vienna State Opera's Opernstudio, I noticed this possibility was missing for young Sicilian singers, and went about creating a programme based on my combined experiences at La Scala and at the Staatsopern.
What is the ethos behind Operalaboratorio?
The premise involved is unquestionable devotion to opera theatre, regardless of the sacrifices involved and solidarity among people working toward the same goals. Today it's your turn to shine, tomorrow it will be my turn. We encourage healthy competition, but it must be sporting.
I believe you started out as a singer - a soprano. What motivated you to change course and become an administrator and artistic director?
Self-preservation and preservation of the species. I thought, and still do think, that economic resources can be used more effectively. I also detest the political incursions in theatre management. Our sector is often run by people who barely set foot in a theatre. They make important decisions about the future of the business without really knowing anything about the product. I grew up in Detroit with the auto industry. I doubt that the auto industry hires administrators who know nothing about cars. I realised that our administrators didn't have to be particularly specialised in theatre, but rather "connected" politically. So I thought, why not someone who is specialised?
The words opera and Italy are synonymous. But how far from cutting-edge 21st-century opera is Palermo?
It's not far at all in terms of productions. They've done some top rate opera here: Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron, Poulenc's La Voix Humaine, Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark and a wonderful Ballo in Maschera set in the Sixties. I think Palermo has always been in the forefront. I'd like to see them dare a bit more and commission something new.
Can we know a little more about you? Where were you born, grow up, go to school and college, etc.?
I was born in Norfolk, Virginia - a navy brat - but grew up near my mother's family in Detroit, Michigan. I graduated in music with bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor. A week after I finished my master's, I moved to Milan to go to the Verdi Conservatory where I studied (for) three years. My last year I was admitted to La Scala's school where I completed my two-year diploma. Maltese soprano Miriam Gauci was a classmate at Scala. That year, in 1984, I won Turin's competition and debuted at the Teatro Regio in La Bohème and Azio Corghi's Gargantua. That same September I was chosen for the Vienna Staatsoper Opernstudio where I completed two more years of apprenticeship. I also did a year of administrative apprenticeship at Palermo's Teatro Massimo under the then artistic director, composer Marco Betta.
Who is your personal favourite composer and singer, and why?
Impossible to say. I like so many composers. Maybe if I had to choose one for a desert island, I guess it would be Mozart. As to singers, there are so many good singers ... Freni, Devia, Gruberova, Marton, Capucilli, Corelli, Ramey, to name only a few. They're all very sound technically.
Whom do you consider to be the finest product (singer) to date of Operalaboratorio?
Another difficult question. I'd have to name more than one: sopranos Rosanna Savoia, Laura Giordano and Natasa Katai Ciappa, mezzos Annarita Gemmabella, Alessia Sparacio and Lorena Scarlata Rizzo, bassbaritone Maurizio Lo Piccolo and bass Ugo Guagliardo. They're all doing well in their professional careers.
The world of opera appears to be an extremely conservative one. What, in your opinion, are the prospects for modernising the genre?
I'm not sure we can or even if we should. I really don't believe opera can or should try to compete with today's genres. We live in the technical age, constantly bombarded by special effects. Children grow up with shortened attention spans, without knowing the pleasure of passing an afternoon with a book or an evening at live theatre where imperfect people do marvellous things. I feel that the perfect CD, edited to exasperation in the name of quality, and the astounding video filled with special effects have watered down the soup, so to say. It's like buying a beautiful piece of fruit, perfect to the eye but doesn't taste like anything. Rather than modernising opera, we should improve cultural education.
An opera performed by Operalaboratorio has formed a major part of the Manoel Theatre's BOV Opera Festival for some years now. How did your participation come about in the first place?
A young Maltese tenor, Juan Gambina, was studying in Italy. I heard him in a competition I judged and invited him to Operalaboratorio. While studying in Palermo he introduced us to the Manoel Theatre management.
The Manoel Theatre, while it is very beautiful, is frequently seen as rather limited as a venue for full-scale opera productions. What is your view on this?
I love the Manoel. Every time I come, I'd like to pack it up and take it home with me. I think stage direction can work around some limits. The real problem is space for a very large orchestra and space on stage for a large opera chorus.
Bearing in mind that funds are extremely limited, what would you do to improve Malta's annual BOV Opera Festival?
Maybe try an English language opera like Britten's Rape of Lucretia or a Giancarlo Menotti opera. I also might add side activities to kick up interest: conferences by experts, relevant book presentations, relevant film showings, gallery showings of costumes, props or memorabilia, even "Meet the people in the opera" events. Most people are curious about theatre people and what, why and how we do things to arrive at a finished product.
And finally, what would Elizabeth Smith like to be doing five or 10 years down the line?
No question: running an opera theatre.
Love. In 1987 I married the Maestro Rammentatore of Palermo's Teatro Massimo. We were schoolmates at Milan's Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory where I did post-graduate work thanks to a Rotary International Fellowship. In 1989 I moved from Vienna to Palermo. Having been a student at both La Scala's famed opera school and at the Vienna State Opera's Opernstudio, I noticed this possibility was missing for young Sicilian singers, and went about creating a programme based on my combined experiences at La Scala and at the Staatsopern.
What is the ethos behind Operalaboratorio?
The premise involved is unquestionable devotion to opera theatre, regardless of the sacrifices involved and solidarity among people working toward the same goals. Today it's your turn to shine, tomorrow it will be my turn. We encourage healthy competition, but it must be sporting.
I believe you started out as a singer - a soprano. What motivated you to change course and become an administrator and artistic director?
Self-preservation and preservation of the species. I thought, and still do think, that economic resources can be used more effectively. I also detest the political incursions in theatre management. Our sector is often run by people who barely set foot in a theatre. They make important decisions about the future of the business without really knowing anything about the product. I grew up in Detroit with the auto industry. I doubt that the auto industry hires administrators who know nothing about cars. I realised that our administrators didn't have to be particularly specialised in theatre, but rather "connected" politically. So I thought, why not someone who is specialised?
The words opera and Italy are synonymous. But how far from cutting-edge 21st-century opera is Palermo?
It's not far at all in terms of productions. They've done some top rate opera here: Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron, Poulenc's La Voix Humaine, Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark and a wonderful Ballo in Maschera set in the Sixties. I think Palermo has always been in the forefront. I'd like to see them dare a bit more and commission something new.
Can we know a little more about you? Where were you born, grow up, go to school and college, etc.?
I was born in Norfolk, Virginia - a navy brat - but grew up near my mother's family in Detroit, Michigan. I graduated in music with bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor. A week after I finished my master's, I moved to Milan to go to the Verdi Conservatory where I studied (for) three years. My last year I was admitted to La Scala's school where I completed my two-year diploma. Maltese soprano Miriam Gauci was a classmate at Scala. That year, in 1984, I won Turin's competition and debuted at the Teatro Regio in La Bohème and Azio Corghi's Gargantua. That same September I was chosen for the Vienna Staatsoper Opernstudio where I completed two more years of apprenticeship. I also did a year of administrative apprenticeship at Palermo's Teatro Massimo under the then artistic director, composer Marco Betta.
Who is your personal favourite composer and singer, and why?
Impossible to say. I like so many composers. Maybe if I had to choose one for a desert island, I guess it would be Mozart. As to singers, there are so many good singers ... Freni, Devia, Gruberova, Marton, Capucilli, Corelli, Ramey, to name only a few. They're all very sound technically.
Whom do you consider to be the finest product (singer) to date of Operalaboratorio?
Another difficult question. I'd have to name more than one: sopranos Rosanna Savoia, Laura Giordano and Natasa Katai Ciappa, mezzos Annarita Gemmabella, Alessia Sparacio and Lorena Scarlata Rizzo, bassbaritone Maurizio Lo Piccolo and bass Ugo Guagliardo. They're all doing well in their professional careers.
The world of opera appears to be an extremely conservative one. What, in your opinion, are the prospects for modernising the genre?
I'm not sure we can or even if we should. I really don't believe opera can or should try to compete with today's genres. We live in the technical age, constantly bombarded by special effects. Children grow up with shortened attention spans, without knowing the pleasure of passing an afternoon with a book or an evening at live theatre where imperfect people do marvellous things. I feel that the perfect CD, edited to exasperation in the name of quality, and the astounding video filled with special effects have watered down the soup, so to say. It's like buying a beautiful piece of fruit, perfect to the eye but doesn't taste like anything. Rather than modernising opera, we should improve cultural education.
An opera performed by Operalaboratorio has formed a major part of the Manoel Theatre's BOV Opera Festival for some years now. How did your participation come about in the first place?
A young Maltese tenor, Juan Gambina, was studying in Italy. I heard him in a competition I judged and invited him to Operalaboratorio. While studying in Palermo he introduced us to the Manoel Theatre management.
The Manoel Theatre, while it is very beautiful, is frequently seen as rather limited as a venue for full-scale opera productions. What is your view on this?
I love the Manoel. Every time I come, I'd like to pack it up and take it home with me. I think stage direction can work around some limits. The real problem is space for a very large orchestra and space on stage for a large opera chorus.
Bearing in mind that funds are extremely limited, what would you do to improve Malta's annual BOV Opera Festival?
Maybe try an English language opera like Britten's Rape of Lucretia or a Giancarlo Menotti opera. I also might add side activities to kick up interest: conferences by experts, relevant book presentations, relevant film showings, gallery showings of costumes, props or memorabilia, even "Meet the people in the opera" events. Most people are curious about theatre people and what, why and how we do things to arrive at a finished product.
And finally, what would Elizabeth Smith like to be doing five or 10 years down the line?
No question: running an opera theatre.