Opera japonica/Vivica Genaux

Photo: Harry Heleotis

Vivica Genaux

The career of the young Alaskan mezzo-soprano has been greeted by unanimous critical acclaim. Her extraordinary vocal range, technical excellence and artistic committment have led to rave reviews, both in Europe and America.

After establishing her reputation singing Rossini, Vivica Genaux has concentrated on earlier music. Arias for Farinelli, her recording of rarely-performed Baroque arias made with René Jacobs and the Academie für Alte Musik Berlin, has been one of this year's most successful new CDs in Europe. It will be released in America on September 10.

Opera japonica's Maria Nockin corresponded with her in July, when the singer was preparing the title role in Handel's Rinaldo for René Jacobs both at the Montpellier and the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. They discussed her approach to Baroque music, and the demands of her booming career.

Maria Nockin: Are you the first successful singer from Alaska? Where did you study?

Vivica GENAUX: I don't think I'm the first successful singer from Alaska. There are a few of us out there, including the pop singer Jewel! My family and also the entire community of Fairbanks, Alaska, where I grew up, was very involved and appreciative of the arts. In addition to singing with two classical choirs, two jazz choirs and a stage band, I studied piano, violin, ballet, modern and jazz dance.

I only decided to study voice seriously after two years at the university studying biology. At that point it became clear to me that I really missed singing and that I needed to make it my first priority. I then transferred to Indiana University where I worked with both Virginia Zeani and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and, afterwards, met my current teacher, Claudia Pinza, at a program she runs in Oderzo, Italy for American opera students. I returned to study in her EPCASO (Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera) program for several summers, and continue to go back whenever my schedule allows.

Nockin: What was your major breakthrough?

GENAUX: I don't know that I've had any one breakthrough. My career has always progressed quite rapidly, and the challenge has always been to keep up with each new level. Dresden was certainly a personal breakthrough for me as it was my first Cenerentola, my first season of singing as a professional, and I had only four rehearsals to prepare for the five performances! Although today that would be a completely normal and an easy scenario for me to deal with, as a young singer in her first season it was quite daunting!

Vivica Genaux as Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri at the San Diego Opera in February 1997 (left), and as Arsace in Semiramide at the Minnesota Opera in April 2000

Photos: ML Hart (left) The Minnesota Opera (right)

Nockin: We are now getting to hear a much greater variety of 18th century music. Has public taste changed? Has this influenced you?

GENAUX: Public opinion about 18th century music has only affected me in that there is a large audience for this music right now. Many more theaters today are willing to produce Baroque opera and that makes it possible for me to sing this repertoire. I really enjoy singing this music, and find it very complementary to the Rossini and bel canto repertoire in general. There have always been early music groups and specialists whose work was considered very separate from other musical styles. Probably, the newer generation of singers, which includes Cecilia Bartoli and David Daniels, is largely responsible for this repertoire becoming a part of the mainstream operatic world.

Nockin: What are the characteristics of Baroque opera?

GENAUX: The main trademark of Baroque opera is probably the use of the da capo aria, but beyond that, the emphasis is really on the soloist. Not only the vocal soloist, but also every member of the orchestra is a primary interpreter. I love the musical texture, and the way the orchestra is often used to punctuate the singer's text and emotion, rather than simply to provide an accompaniment.

Nockin: Which works would you like to perform in on stage?

GENAUX: I really can't say which operas I would like to perform in the future, because most of the pieces lie outside of the standard repertoire. I have sung some of the more well-known roles such as Julius Caesar, Ariodante, and Rinaldo, as well as Handel's Arminio, Hasse's Solimano, Vivaldi's Giustino and others which I knew nothing about before I learned them. I am always very excited to learn a new role, and I rely quite heavily on people like René Jacobs to advise me as to which roles would be best for me.

Vivica Genaux as Hassem in Donizetti's Alahor in Granata in Seville, Spain in October 1998 (left,) and as Urbain in Les Huguenots in Bilbao in November 1999 (right)

Photo: Guillermo Mendo Murillo (left) and Julian (right)

Nockin: Your CD 'Arias for Farinelli' has been a huge success. How did you meet René Jacobs? What was it like working with him?

GENAUX: I met René Jacobs when I was invited to audition for a production of Hasse's opera Solimano at the Berlin Staatsoper. Maestro Jacobs was immediately very enthusiastic, and I was hired to sing the role of Selim, who has seven or eight arias each one more beautiful than the next, covering a wide spectrum of agility, range and character. It was a great challenge for me, and I learned a lot from my first opportunity to sing with a Baroque orchestra, the Concerto Köln. What made the experience most enjoyable for me was working with René Jacobs because of his unique perspective, having been a singer himself, on how to bring this music to life.

Nockin: Does the length of a 'da capo' aria make it difficult to maintain the dramatic tension on stage? How different should the repeat be?

GENAUX: The level of ornamentation for a da capo aria is really quite individual to each performer. Some prefer to ornament only certain words, others will ornament musical phrases without regard to the text. It really depends on your own personal interpretation and generally involves compromise and collaboration with the conductor, as well, so that all the performers in the piece are speaking more or less the same musical language.

I love the da capo format, and don't find the length of some of the arias difficult. It's a luxury! I love the way you are given the first statement of an idea in the A-section, have a contrasting or reactionary B-section, and then return to the A again re-stating the original idea, but often more personally, more introspectively. In this day and age when we're expected to absorb, digest and react to so many stimuli very rapidly, being allowed to spend so much time developing one idea or emotion is really quite special.

Vivica Genaux in the title role of Ariodante at the San Diego Opera in February 2002

Photo: ML Hart

Nockin: What changes must be made for today's artists and audiences? What are the major differences that affect performers recreating early opera?

GENAUX: Performance practices today are very different from what they were even twenty years ago, so to imagine accurately what circumstances were like when the music was originally performed is probably near to impossible. This is true not only of Baroque opera, but I think also with composers as prominent as Mozart and Rossini. Although we do have a number of musicological sources describing the performance practices of the day, modern performers have to take into consideration changes in the contemporary audience, as well as differences in the size of venues.

There are, of course, many different opinions as to how these operas should be presented and whether one should be concerned primarily with historical accuracy or with modern audiences expectations and/or requirements. Some argue that true Baroque music cannot even be performed today because there is too little information on what instruments were actually used, what the vocal training was, etc. For me, if this is to be considered a valid argument, then we should also require the 19th century Western European music we are so familiar with to be performed in smaller houses than the 3,000 - 4,000 seat theaters of today, and a return to the original pitch these pieces were written at, rather than the half-step higher that has been enforced since the time of von Karajan.

That said, I think maybe we idealize 'historical accuracy' too much. There are recordings of singers from the early 20th century who, while they are indisputably great artists, may not have encompassed all of the ideals which today's public esteems. The performer invariably has to find a compromise between historical accuracy and the modern audience.

Vivica Genaux in the title role of Ariodante at the San Diego Opera

Photo: ML Hart

Nockin: Have you performed any 17th century operas?

GENAUX: I have performed only one of Monteverdi's operas, Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria, and would very much like the opportunity to perform others.

Nockin: What are the most important engagements you are looking forward to over the next couple of years?

GENAUX: I am kept quite busy, travelling almost constantly from one project to the next, or studying with my teacher, but I'm very happy with what I'm doing as I'm now able to choose the projects I'm most interested in, and I try hard not to overbook my schedule with new repertoire. I had three years in a row where I added four new roles each year, and it was really too much, so I've learned to plan my seasons a bit better!

I'm looking forward to my debut at the Bastille in Paris this coming season, as well as to my appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper and to my first staged opera at the Champs-Elysées.

Nockin: How do you balance your booming career with a social life? How often do you get to see your boyfriend in Venice?

GENAUX: I think life has definitely been made a little easier for singers these days now that we have email, cellular phones and generally good travel connections. Although I am almost constantly travelling and have very little time to be at home, the fact that I can be in touch with family in Alaska, my fiancé in Venice, my teacher in Pittsburgh, and friends that I've made around the world makes the time outside of rehearsals and performances much less solitary. I'm very lucky to have a great group of people who support me and understand the sacrifices that are necessary to making this career possible!

Arias for Farinelli, Vivica Genaux's new recording of Baroque arias with René Jacobs and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin on harmonia mundi HMC 901778