Opera japonica/Dario Volonté

Dario Volonté

The outstanding Tokyo debut of 2000 was that of the young Argentine tenor Dario Volonté in the Fujiwara Opera production of Lucia di Lammermoor (14, 16 January). Almost exactly a year later he returned to give two more performances as Manrico in the New National Theatre Il trovatore (17, 23 January) and he will soon be returning to Tokyo again to sing Calaf in Turandot (September 17, 21, 23, 26).

Simon Holledge met Dario Volonté on January 24 at his hotel. Most of the conversation was in Spanish. Veronica Vicente, also from Argentina, interpreted - and translated.

Simon Holledge: When and where were you born? Was your family musical?

Dario VOLONTÉ: I was born on September 1, 1963 in Buenos Aires, although my family are from Entre Rios, in the north. They were not musical.

Holledge: When did you discover that you had a voice?

VOLONTÉ: I started singing in the choir of the New Apostolic Church in 1980. This choir had some fine singers. In 1981 I saw Placido Domingo on a variety show on television. He made a big impression on me. I thought it would be wonderful to sing like him so I started to imitate his singing. I discovered that, without any previous training, I could reach the highest notes in the tenor register.

I started studying in 1983. My teacher was José Crea. He taught me the science of sound, how to project my voice, etc. He never charged me. He told me that investing in singing was like buying a lottery ticket. If you study hard - maybe you will be able to sing better in church. If in the future you can actually live off your singing - then you've won the lottery!

I used to see my teacher once a week and practice for about half an hour a day, though there were several periods when I had to stop including when I got married. All in all, I studied with him for 10 years. It was a kind of 'training of the muscles', I learnt to sing the whole repertory. Gradually I started practicing more seriously, thinking that maybe I could sing professionally. . . . but singing was only my hobby. I was doing other work, I was a truck driver amongst other things, to support myself.

The first performance - for which I was paid - was In 1994. At this time, I had some arguments with my teacher because he thought (typically for a teacher) that I was not ready. I stopped training with him but we still remained good friends and I go to him for advice even today. I changed my methods afterwards, but the basis of my singing was well established by his training.

Holledge: Which singers of the past have influenced you?

VOLONTÉ: I admire Caruso most - for his singing temperament. Also Miguel Fleta, and Domingo. Domingo I admire as a complete artist. If I have to pick one it would be Caruso. Of course there are many other artists I admire.

Holledge: Björling perhaps?

VOLONTÉ: Many people have compared me to Björling. People say that there is something in the colour of my voice that reminds them of him. I am always being compared with tenors of the past, never with tenors of the present! I am always being compared to pre-1950s singers!

Holledge: I understand you were a soldier during the Falklands/Malvinas War.

VOLONTÉ: Yes, I was survivor of the sinking of the Belgrano cruiser in 1982 [See note below]. I spent 30 hours on a life raft waiting to be rescued.

Holledge: Can you relate your war experiences to the operas?

VOLONTÉ: The war influenced me - on a spiritual level. It affects how I live my life every day. After seeing all those boys die in front of me, I try to live calmly, in a serene way. I may be becoming a personality, but that is not what I live for. My job as a singer is less important than my freedom [of spirit].

Of course, when you interpret characters in operas like Trovatore, Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor that are heroic, close to death and at the same time full of love, the experience of war, or having been through a war, does help you to understand them better.

Holledge: They are figures facing death as you faced death.

VOLONTÉ: It's not just facing death, it goes beyond that, it's the reason why they are facing death, facing their situation on a spiritual level so they are able to act courageously. These characters see death as a higher level of love.

Holledge: Why has Argentina been so good at producing tenors? We now have three, maybe more, up and coming Argentine tenors: José Cura, Marcelo Alvarez and you.

VOLONTÉ: And Raúl Giménez and Luis Lima. Many people ask me why there are so many great singers from Argentina. One of the reasons may be the mixing of different races [and traditions] in Argentina, a melting pot that has created a particular quality of voice. Also Argentina is remote, far away from everything, so we are not scared or intimidated by the structured, organized, closed world of opera in Europe. We have the courage to go out and do our own thing. We have no prejudices. We don't constantly worry about colds, our throats, the air current, cold drinks, etc. We just go out and sing!

Holledge: The Colon was one of the great houses of the 1920s and 1930s. Is there an opera revival in Argentina now?

VOLONTÉ: From about 1900 down to around 1960, the Colon in Buenos Aires was one of the important 'Grand Slam' operahouses of the world. If you did not sing at the Colon then, something was missing from your career and from your record. All the important singers worked there, had to work there. Caruso, Schipa, Gigli, Miguel Fleta, Maria Caniglia, Lily Pons. It's a large theatre - with 3,000 seats - quite challenging, so even the best singers are sometimes scared of performing there. Up until the 60s it was largely controlled by Europeans and standards were high but afterwards it was taken over by local people and it declined. It is still a great opera house but it is no longer essential for singers to perform there.

Holledge: Perhaps now we will see a revival - with so many good Argentine singers?

VOLONTÉ: In Argentina there is a new hunger for lyric voices. I have been giving about 30 performances a year in the interior of the country. The theatres there are always full. I have taken advantage of the popularity I won after being in Aurora [Colon, Buenos Aires May 99] by going on programmes that opera singers usually don't appear on; popularity shows, etc. I like to break the norms.

Paid shows do not attract more than one or two thousand people. (I am not Ricky Martin!) And yet the free performances I give in plazas, pack in about 6000 people a time. This shows the enthusiasm for good music! Even if people do not know much about music they know how to enjoy a good pianist, a good singer, etc. I have been asked many times to go back to places like Cordoba (Argentina). I prefer not to be out of the country for more than six or seven months at a time.

I think the politics of the Colon are not sympathetic to this movement, this popular interest in good music. Our local singers are not supported so they all go to Europe. Recently the house has been starting to encourage local singers a bit more. But more often than not it is inadequate. . . . American singers go to Europe but they are also supported at home. There are more opera houses in the USA. There are only two in Argentina. So singers must leave to look for success abroad.

Holledge: To continue with your own story: you were telling us that your first paid performance was in 1994.

VOLONTÉ: Yes, my first paid performance was in November 1994 in a zarzuela called Luisa Fernanda in the Avenida Theatre in Buenos Aires. At that time I got in touch with the Opera of Buenos Aires Foundation - it sounds rather grand in English but in fact it is a very small organization. Two Spanish gentlemen of the Foundation with a deep love for opera, Carlos Gusmerotti and Gui Gallardo, paid for my trip to Europe at the end of 1997 and supported my family when I was in Italy.

They believed in me and my voice. I am very grateful to them and for the fact that they did it out of pure generosity, without any commercial interest. One is 69, the other is 70, and they are still great friends of mine. They never made me sign a contract or asked anything else of me. All they wanted was for me is to have a chance to audition in Italy. And they financed a Tosca production for me. Their only desire is to see my name on the billboards of the opera houses of the world.

Holledge: How was it in Europe? Was it tough?

VOLONTÉ: I first did a six week tour of Holland and Belgium in January and February 1998. But my first contract, and the start of my career, was in Trieste at the Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi, with Tosca in April 1998. I later made my debut at La Scala in the same opera in March 2000.

I was treated very well in Italy after Trieste and things started to happen - they like the colour of my voice in Italy and the way I sing. Even my colleagues think of me as an Italian singer - Soon after Trieste, I started getting contracts, in Ireland, here in Japan, and in the USA.

Dario Volonté as Edgardo in the Fujiwara Opera production of Lucia di Lammermoor in Tokyo in January 2000

Holledge: What have been the key engagements in your success?

VOLONTÉ: Trieste in 1998 - because it was my debut, my first engagement in Europe. Also Wexford in 1998-9 because the European press all came and heard me. And Aurora in May 1999 at the Colon. Trovatore at Parma in February 2000 - because I was singing in the real Verdi country. Tosca under Muti at La Scala in March 2000. After Scala, my name was becoming known and directors started asking for me. From then on important contracts and events started taking place.

Holledge: A very fast career!

VOLONTÉ: Yes the first year was very fast because my agent was pushing me. But I was not comfortable with that kind of pace. On the contrary, I found the more rest I had the more fluid my voice became.

Holledge: How many performances are you doing a year?

VOLONTÉ: I now do about 25 operas a year and about 20 to 25 concerts. I want to sing for another 25 years, there is plenty of time and things can be taken slowly, calmly. . . . When the moment is right I may sing at the Met, in Paris, wherever. I am not in a hurry.

Holledge: You became known in the English-speaking countries through your appearances at the Wexford Festival in Ireland. What was it like singing there? Did you learn the roles in Zandonai's I cavalieri di Ekebu and Umberto Giordano's Siberia specially for Wexford?

VOLONTÉ: Singing at Wexford was like singing with a microphone in your throat. The theatre was so small and the acoustic was so beautiful. The parts were difficult to learn, particularly I cavalieri di Ekebu. Siberia was a little easier but the notes are very high. However the difficulty of the role was the reason for the media attention.

Dario Volonté as Edgardo in Tokyo in January 2000

Holledge: Your main roles now are Edgardo, Manrico, the Duke in Rigoletto, Don Carlo, Ernani, Des Grieux, and Cavaradossi but no Rodolpho, Radames, and no Mozart. In Tokyo we have now heard your Edgardo and Manrico. One person I know said she thought your voice had darkened. How would you characterize your voice? Are you a lyric? Are you a spinto?

VOLONTÉ: I am a lyric tenor with dramatic accents. Not a spinto. I am a lyric with force.

Holledge: Are you developing into a spinto?

VOLONTÉ: Perhaps in ten years . . .

Holledge: I understand you are singing Calaf in a new recording for Decca . . .

VOLONTÉ: Calaf is a lyric role for which you need a sunny, clear Latin voice . . . with dramatic accents, In my opinion, an ideal character for me. . . . Calaf is young, romantic, heroic. If Calaf is sung by a dramatic tenor, he sounds old. [impressive vocal demonstrations]

Holledge: So you wouldn't do Otello?

VOLONTÉ: No. Alvaro in Forza . . maybe in 10 years time. I'll start thinking about it. My repertory now is Turandot [Calaf], Lucia [Edgardo], Ballo in maschera [Riccardo], Trovatore [Manrico], Traviata [Alfredo], Rigoletto [the Duke] . . .

Holledge: If Edgardo is the lightest role which is your heaviest? Manrico?

VOLONTÉ: Des Grieux. Once a year is enough. Twice the effort of Calaf. One Des Grieux performance equals two of Calaf. Calaf is more lyrical. Des Grieux is more central, closer to Verdi.

Holledge: What about Rodolpho?

VOLONTÉ: I would like to do it. I was once offered it but the dates conflicted with Tosca. Houses usually prefer a more lyric voice for this role.

Holledge: What about Mozart? You would be a fine Don Ottavio . . .

VOLONTÉ: No! I don't like Mozart's operas. More than one person will hate me just for saying this but I think Mozart is boring. Mozart's characters are too light, they are not profound. . . . In general I don't particularly like watching opera. I don't go to the opera. I like to listen to the old singers like Caruso, Warren, Björling . . .

Holledge: What are your plans for your future? What roles will you add? How do you see your career developing?

VOLONTÉ: I would like to sing Ballo [Riccardo] again in a bigger production, and Pinkerton [Butterfly].

Holledge: The Björling roles!

VOLONTÉ: Yes. . . . I don't get bored with roles that I find satisfying, such as Manrico, even if I sing them very often.

Holledge: What are the most important ones for you?

VOLONTÉ: Calaf suits me, but personally I like Des Grieux [Manon Lescaut] and Cavaradossi (Tosca).

Holledge: So verismo then?

VOLONTÉ: Yes. . . No. Verdi as well . .

Holledge: What do you feel about the personality of Pinkerton?

VOLONTÉ: I don't like Pinkerton or the Duke in Rigoletto as people, their characters are the opposite of mine, but vocally they are worthwhile.

Dario Volonté as Manrico in Il trovatore at the New National Theatre, Tokyo

Holledge: There has been a controversy about the acuti [high notes] in arias such as 'Di quella pira'. What is your view?

VOLONTÉ: I defend the tradition. I think the traditional high notes should be sung. If you advertize for a Manrico who doesn't have to sing the high C you can get 3,000 applicants. You will get very few if it is sung.

Holledge: It seems a difficult area because Verdi did not write the high C, but allowed Tamberlick to sing it.

VOLONTÉ: It was [Carlo] Baucardé not Tamberlick. Verdi tried it on the piano with him and agreed that it worked. If we ask the public, 99% will say they want to hear the high notes. 'Vox populi, vox dei' - that's what I say!

Holledge: Is it frightening - contemplating singing the high passages?

VOLONTÉ: Not at all! For me it is very natural to sing the high notes. I can reach them half an hour after I get up in the morning! For me a day at the opera is like any other, despite the concentration etc. I decided when I started my career that I would only do things that gave me pleasure, that I wouldn't take on something I didn't like, or to which I am unsuited. For me the real joy is just in singing.

Holledge: Will you be coming back to Tokyo?

VOLONTÉ: Yes - for Turandot in September. It's now official.

Holledge: Will this be your first Calaf?

VOLONTÉ: No my second. I will be singing Calaf for the first time in Pittsburgh in April [28 April, 1, 4, 6 May], then I will sing it here in Tokyo in September [17. 21. 23, 26], then later at San Carlo in Naples. We will be recording it in 2002-3 with Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw.

Holledge: Who will be the other singers?

VOLONTÉ: That is something I never ask!

Holledge: Thank you for talking to us.

Note: The sinking of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano occurred on 2 May 1982 during the Malvinas/Falklands War. Preceding the recapture of the islands, the (then) Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher declared a 200-mile (320-kilometre) exclusion zone. However the General Belgrano was torpedoed outside the zone after being tracked for 36 hours. A total of 323 men died. This action has been widely regarded (not least in Britain itself) as a war crime. Even as recently as last year, the relatives of those who lost their lives in the sinking attempted to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

On this website there is also a review of the performance of Il trovatore in which Dario Volonté sang Manrico (New National Theatre, Tokyo, 23 January 2001).