It’s going to be a treat for Italophiles and lovers of classical music, with an evening dedicated to the country’s greatest composers and a tribute to Verdi. Albert Storace interviews opera singer Orazio Mori prior to his upcoming performance at the Manoel Theatre.
It will be an evening focusing on the best music that Italy and its composers have to offer at the Concerto all’Italiana, with opera singer baritone Orazio Mori giving his own tribute to Giuseppe Verdi to celebrate the 200th anniversary from his birth.
I cannot but presume that I must have some kind of DNA similar to his, so viva Verdi forever
Asking Mori what Verdi means to him, he was very emphatic in saying that he was born in the same region as the great opera master himself.
“Because of this, I cannot but presume that I must have some kind of DNA similar to his, so viva Verdi forever.”
This may be true, for one is born with an innate inclination towards music and all that is related to it. He says that his own earliest musical memories are connected to his grandmother Peppa, who sang alto in the local choir and who, while holding him on her lap, would sing themes from Carmen or La Bohème to lull him to sleep. Then, as early as his primary school years, he would take part in the end-of-year concerts coached by his teacher Elisa Forte.
“She was the first who taught me rudimentary theory, solfeggio and piano leading me up to entering the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito of Parma. I spent five years there and graduated with a diploma in singing under the tuition of Clelia Castellana Zotti. Then I had to have my obligatory spell in the army and made my debut as Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème in Reggio Emilia under Gavazzeni. My career moved on smoothly until finally, in 1975, I started singing at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.”
Mori’s connection with the temple of opera was to last many years. He considers himself as very lucky that his career was always one of continuous development and increasing success. His career was to take him to the world’s greatest opera houses such as in London, Paris, New York, Venice, Verona, the New York Metropolitan, Florence, Seville, Barcelona, Catania, Berne, Peking, Mumbay and Tokyo. He says he does not have any particular preference for a role or a composer.
“My repertoire covers some 150 roles, some very well-known, others rather more obscure. I categorise my repertoire under principal and secondary roles and what we used to call utilité roles.”
I asked him whether he ever had any problems with artistic direction, which is often capricious, as it may seem to aim rather more at glorifying the director at the expense of the composer’s wishes. Without any hesitation, Mori replies that he has never done so and has always adapted himself to what needed to be done.
Looking at his repertoire, one is impressed by the variety and different styles involved. It cannot be otherwise, when one finds Verdi in all his phases from Luisa Miller, Macbeth, La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Forza del Destino to Falstaff among others. He has sung leading roles in Tosca, La Bohème, Manon Lescaut, Gianni Schicchi. La Fanciulla del West, Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’Amore, Don Giovanni, Boris Godunov, Il Barbiere di Seviglia and many others.
He reminisces proudly on collaborating with orchestra directors like Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Georges Prêtre and has sung alongside great tenors like Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Alfredo Kraus.
He also features in films such as Tosca (1981), Macbeth (1997) and La Bohème and Manon Lescaut (both in 1998).
When asked if opera is an artistic and musical genre for the elite, and whether it could attract the younger generation this is how he reacted:
“Opera and melodrama will always remain the prime expression and manifestation on stage. It is so when looked at in its entirety, from various angles and facets whether artistic and educational and is always relevant to the younger and future generations. As for some advice for young, aspiring singers, I tell them that their voice is a treasure, bestowed by God and nature. I encourage them to go for it with full enthusiasm and to be ready to face without fear any difficulty which could come their way.”
This will be Mori’s second appearance at the Manoel Theatre for Fiesole Productions. For this occasion, he will also be accompanied at the piano by his daughter Debora Mori.
The younger Mori is a graduate of Milan’s Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, an acclaimed pianist and very adept at writing arrangements. Asking him whether such collaboration is frequent and whether working with a close family member could in some way be problematic, he says that this was far from being the case.
“I often work with my daughter,” he says, adding “she is a great professional musician and she cannot but be a source of great pride and joy to me. I greatly look forward to my second appearance in your lovely Manoel Theatre and I shall do my best in reconfirming the confidence shown in me through this invitation.”
Concerto all’Italiana is being organised by Fiesole Artistic Productions, in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and the Italian Embassy, on Saturday at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, at 7.30pm. Orazio Mori will perform with soprano Tiziana Scaciga della Silva and pianist Debora Mori.
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