Las Palmas De Gran Canaria (EFE).- The American tenor Jonathan Tetelman and the Spanish soprano Saioa Hernández have assured that with “Fedora”, the verista opera by Umberto Giordano that will be performed for the first time in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria the next 21 , February 23 and 25, they face a “complex” work that has “few references” for not being very staged.
This was expressed this Wednesday during a press conference at the Teatro Pérez Galdós, in which the Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza and the soprano Carolina López also participated, as well as the musical director, Ivan Ciampa, and the stage director, Daniele piscopo.
Tetelman has pointed out that although there are not many references, he does look with considerable admiration at the available recording of the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, who performed this opera in the 19th century at the hands of Giordano himself during its premiere.
“Having that audio available, especially ‘Amor ti vieta’, is rare and special and drives my interest in this work because it lets you know what the composer really wanted,” reflected Jonathan Tetelman.
“MASTERPIECE”
For the tenor it is a “masterpiece” by Giordano that he “adores” despite being “very short, but with great intensity from the first notes to the end”.
“It is rare to have a great story in opera. Sometimes they aren’t too interesting, but with ‘Fedora’ you let yourself be captivated by the characters, the great music, the great duets and the great arias”, Tetelman highlighted.
The soprano Saioa Hernández has highlighted that she really likes to play these “so little represented” roles, especially that of Princess Fedora, which she finds “very demanding” because she must control the center of the voice “without losing the high-pitched zone” but at at the same time “keeping a grave where to sustain everything”.
“The role demands a lot on stage on a dramatic level. You have to regulate these verista roles well and be very focused so as not to let yourself be carried away by emotion alone ”, highlighted the soprano, who indicated that she lives this type of representation in a special way, with so many nuances.
Regarding his inspirations for the role, he has indicated that he really likes to “come blank” to rehearsals and be inspired by what the directors want to contribute.
The Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza has pointed out that making operas as rarely performed as “Fedora” is always a tremendous pleasure and has stressed that his role as the French consul De Siriex “is not the baritone protagonist we are used to.”
SOME UNFORTUNATE INTERPRETATIONS
“There’s plenty of material to look at for inspiration, but there’s also a lot of unfortunate interpretations to my liking. There is a lyrical part at the beginning and a dramatic part at the end that requires a lot of skills. It is difficult to find the balance between the almost Puccinian dramatic and the almost Rossinian aria”, reflected Daza, who cited the version of the Italian baritone Tito Gobbi as a reference, in his opinion “unbeatable”.
For her part, the soprano of Bolivian-Albanian origin Carolina López has confessed that at first she did not see herself in the “crazy” role of Countess Olga, Fedora’s niece, in a role “with a lot of energy” that appears at moments with dramatic music.
“Olga is a light role and whenever I listen to Fedora I really like her parts and Olga’s not so much. She requires a very diverse preparation, she was afraid of not finding her voice, ”López said.
In general, he has said that he usually plays roles that go more with a “heroic and dramatic” character, for which reason he has had to rely heavily on the leadership of Ciampa and Piscopo to face “this great challenge.”
FIRST LEVEL
Ciampa himself, at the controls of the musical direction, has considered “Fedora” as an extraordinary opera and has valued the public from Gran Canaria, “who do not have to take a plane to enjoy top-level operas with great artists.”
He has also pointed out that he feels a great friendship with the island spectators and that this energy allows him the possibility of “taking risks” because he perceives that the public “is with him” and has “a different joy from other theaters”.
Thus, Piscopo, in charge of stage direction, has expressed that for a “young” director like him, being able to represent an opera that is “rarely” done is “lucky” that allows him to work with not very common scores and repertoires. .
“The main question is to have great singers, and here we have a wonderful group, with the most important voices in the world with whom it is very easy to work”, highlighted Piscopo.
Finally, he has pointed out that his direction is always based on what is written in the score and that he tries to be respectful of the classical production, although some more modern elements have been incorporated for the staging, but respecting the story, it is finished. EFE