Soprano Roberta CanzianSoprano Roberta Canzian and baritone Mario Cassi will be singing together at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on May 12.
Opera is not an old hat or heavy music
The two were drawn to opera in different ways; Canzian has no musical family background. An uncle of hers followed opera as a hobby and realised she had a voice worth developing.
This led to enrolling in a conservatory of music where her tutors supported her participation in various competitions. Her eventual successes led to the offer of singing Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro at Spoleto, the springboard to her career.
Until he watched Nabucco on television in 1986, relayed live from Milan’s alla Scala under Muti’s direction, Cassi had no idea opera was still performed on stage. His family is not musical and his first acquaintance with opera was through a cassette recording in his mother’s car, orchestral music from Bizet’s Carmen.
“I come from a family of teachers with a house full of books but no records. Coming from close to the edge of a provincial town like Arezzo made and still makes it difficult to follow live opera performances.”
He found it difficult to persuade his parents to support his choice of a musical career and that he could make a living out of it.
When asked whether there were any important milestones in their advancement as professional singers, Canzian recalls none in particular but says she always felt she should not force and push forward her career, also always having had the gut feeling that everything came along rather easily.
Cassi’s career took flight when he won the Toti del Monte Prize in 2002. The star-studded jury included Bruno De Simone who after the event, together with his wife Alessandra Rossi De Simone continued advising him how to improve his singing.
In order to be successful, singers have to communicate well with their audience. Agreeing, Canzian says she seeks to be as faithful as possible to what the composer wants and to nourish the audience love for this music.
When she started her studies she loved singing but knew nothing about the world of the classics, and chose it because the classics are the basis of all studies.
Cassi believes it is of utmost importance to project the feelings, emotions and thoughts of the characters created by great opera composers. This even to the extent of becoming that character’s alter ego, including their physicality and psychology and which should be the aim of today’s singers as it was in the past.
One often hears that opera is elitist and that it is doomed to disappear, so is there any hope for its survival and how could the younger generation be attracted to this wonderful art-form?
The two singers answer similarly: Canzian says opera is about feelings, passion, emotions; it is art and beauty therefore it is for everybody. To her, opera is:
“A satisfying experience to sing to an attentive but inexpert section of the public, who would still get emotionally involved with opera and maybe stimulate their curiosity towards further interest in the genre. It is equally gratifying to sing to sections of the audience who have a deep understanding of all that opera involves, the way the voice is used with all its nuances, the technique and acting required to achieve a good interpretation. The latter’s comments and understanding could lead to improving one’s performance”.
Attracting the younger generation is a must. Canzian had no knowledge of opera but fell in love with it once she discovered it.
“Knowing it and encouraging others to appreciate it is the key to loving this art,” she says.
“This is a visual and an audio experience and best experienced live. Young people should be exposed to it by direct participation. They should be guided towards refining their tastes and realise that opera is not an old hat or heavy music. Opera and classical music are very much alive and pertinent to our time.”
A last word for aspiring young singers comes from these singers, who themselves are still relatively young.
Canzian advises: “Study and love what you are doing while not thinking about fame and celebrity, but keep alive and spread a tradition that involves precious works of musical art.”
According to Cassi one needs a lot of patience, strong will to succeed and perseverance in one’s studies.
“It has been 10 years since my professional debut and I studied for 10 more years before that. I can say with pride that I have spent more time studying than singing. This could be a guide-line for aspiring promising singers who veer towards this career, without forgetting that there is no choice with such a career. It chooses you.”
Fiesole Artistic Productions, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute present Roberta Canzian and Mario Cassi, accompanied by pianist Ulla Casalini, in an evening of arias and duets from operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, on May 12 at 8 p.m.