Fabrizio Melano is a rare case: an opera professional – a world-renowned stage director of four decades’ experience – who does the work only if he loves it. With his kind heart, practicality and inspiration go hand in hand; they are inseparable. In our talk, I strayed from my usual eight questions, wanting to garner all the information I could get in the short time we had. The result was a conversation so important and full of information that it wouldn’t fit into one issue. In this second part of two, Melano shares his thoughts about singers and their preparedness, and gives advice to young directors, offering this with the underlying theme of love for the art form.
How does one choose repertoire and when do you know it is a good time to move into different things?
It varies so much with every voice. Those who have potentially dramatic voices have it tougher because it’s very often clear even when they are young that they must eventually change direction. But it’s very dangerous and they’ve got to be patient. They are not going to sing all those big roles at once; it is a slow goal. It depends on what you have: size, quality, and color of voice. Sing parts that will suggest in what direction you are going even though you are not fully there. You are not going to present Brunnhilde or Elektra if you are a potential dramatic soprano, but you might present one of the other, slightly lighter Wagnerian parts, Elisa or Elizabeth. Or let’s say that if you are an Italian Dramatic Soprano you could do something like Nedda, which requires a dramatic voice but is not yet Aïda or Lady Macbeth. It’s still pretty meaty, but a young singer can do it without killing herself.
For tenors it’s the same thing. It’s more difficult for a higher voice than a lower voice because [lower voices] have a wider range of parts they can do while they grow.
The music world is sometimes crazy and unfair. What do you do to survive the insanity when it starts to get you down? And what have you seen singers do to handle adversity?
Stay centered as much as possible and don’t get distracted by all the craziness going on around you. That requires doing work on yourself. We all have to find our center in everything we do and not just as singers but as human beings. Once you have found it, stay with it and keep it solid. Spend some time meditating, even if it’s just 15 minutes in the morning. Go inside yourself. Obviously surrounding yourself with calm people in your private life is important. Our best friends or partners should try not to contribute to the craziness but, in fact, counteract it. Once you start getting into professional lives, find a manager who is not hysterical or one of those pushy people in overdrive. Find a teacher who is a good influence. I think that’s one of the things you should think about when looking for a teacher. You need someone who is steady and calming, not over-excited.
I personally try to be a calming influence whenever I can. Life is too crazy and so is this business. Go against [this prevailing craziness]. I try to create a calm focused working atmosphere. It’s really a credo for me. Usually I can succeed with this, especially if I’ve been working with a conductor who is the same way. If a director and conductor create that atmosphere they can counteract a crazy theatre.
The more centered a person is, and more solid technical equipment they have, the calmer they’ll remain. A solid technique is such an anchor. I have seen times when things are going to pieces backstage and there’s someone who really knows what they’re doing. They have that to fall back on even when they are not feeling one hundred percent. Diana Soviero said that her teacher really insisted that she had to be able to sing under any circumstances: a bad cold, an illness, or worry about family or herself. And she does that. I’ve known Diana not be able to speak and yet go out and sing Butterfly! She can do this because she is very concentrated and knows just what to do. I don’t think singers should coddle themselves too much. There are too many singers who cancel too often when they are not feeling their best or something is not quite right. Most often things aren’t going to be quite right!
Often you work longer hours, and harder, than most singers in a production, organizing technical aspects as well as the staging and planning. What habits do you have to help keep in good physical shape?
Try to eat sensibly and intelligently, not eating outside of mealtime, which is hard to do when you are on a crazy schedule. I can be very fanatical about that. I will make myself sit down and have a meal. What I learned late in life is to have a good breakfast. It’s the best thing because you can make time to do it before you do everything else. That will really see you through a large part of the day.
Exercise is good. Sleeping well and enough is also important. Now when I’m on the road I do my own exercises that I can do anywhere. Morning is always better because you can get up earlier, exercise, meditate, and have a good breakfast Then you are set for the day. You may not have that time ever again, and coming home late at night you are usually too tired. That’s when you want to relax and go to sleep. I like to get up early and prepare myself.
That’s another thing I would like to tell young singers: get to where you are going, especially to rehearsals, in plenty of time. First of all, don’t be late because you will never make up that time. But get there ahead of time so that you can adapt to the situation you’re in, not just rush in and have to go to work.
What is some advice that you wish to give a director in today’s operatic world?
Go out and see as much as you can. Experience lots of different kinds of theatre, not just opera. See a broad variety of things from other countries, like kabuki or Chinese opera. The more you’re exposed to other things, the more you will have to play around with.
If there is someone whose work you’ve really admired, try to go and work with him or her. Apprentice yourself, do anything you can just to be on a production with them. I did that. I admired Franco [Zefferelli] a lot and asked myself into several of his rehearsals; Falstaff at the Met and the Norma he did with Callas in Paris. That’s something you never forget. I was aware that it was extraordinary then, but in retrospect, to have been at the rehearsals of a production like that; it set my life. It was legendary! If you see an opportunity like that, grab it. Go after it any way that you can: save, steal, whatever! Even just watching you learn a tremendous amount. Look and see as much as you can. This can apply to singers as well.
What advice would you give the singer?
Be better prepared dramatically. Even basic skills: stage deportment, how to walk, sit and stand – all the things you need to know in opera. Learn how to use a costume. Who goes around with a sword, a long train or bustle today? Learn how to handle them and make them move with you.
Also, how do you dress for a rehearsal if you are going to be wearing a period dress? Don’t expect the company to provide you with rehearsal skirts, because they usually don’t. Wear a skirt or find an outfit for yourself that will help you simulate what you are going to be wearing. If you’re going to be tumbling on the floor don’t wear your party skirt! It’s different to tussle on the floor in a skirt than in a pair of slacks. One is not going to suggest the other. Go find someone who can teach these things to you. There are people out there who know. You can’t start learning about these when you arrive on the professional stage.
Have you any words of inspiration for operatic hopefuls?
Always bear in mind the question, “Why I am doing this?” Keep asking yourself that. Is it the music, the repertoire, the characters and the desire to communicate them? If so, everything will be geared toward doing it better. The more skill you have, the more you can put this across. As I’ve said before, love the work. It’s the people that really are in love with what they do that you like to go hear and see. If you don’t really love this art form, I go back to my question, “Why are you really doing it?” I’ve loved it since I was ten!
Fabrizio Melano, one of the leading stage directors on the international opera scene, began his continuing association with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970. Many of his productions have been seen on the Public Broadcasting System’s Live from the Met. Mr. Melano is American, born to an Italian-American mother and an Italian father. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University in comparative literature with an emphasis in drama.
Maria Zouves is a Greek-American soprano in an operatic career. She created this ongoing series, “A conversation with…” in which she interviews well-known performers and artists for Classical Singer. Ms. Zouves obtained the questions asked in these interviews from young singers in universities and training programs around the country.
