11/21/2023 0 Comments Singer nicolson model"As my father always did, he tried to get us the best. "It was a fantastic present, a beautiful poison and I'm still dying from it!" I sensed listening to the overture that this music was special." "He said, 'come on, Parsifal is over 5 hours and you don't speak German.'” But Tézier had been gifted a recording of Wagner overtures, and was obsessed at the time with the medieval legends of King Arthur, Percival and Gawain. His family couldn't afford the opera but when he was 13 he asked his father to buy him a ticket to see Parsifal in Marseilles. "For a child such an interpretation was captivating. One of his first musical memories is a recording of Gounod's Faust, with Boris Christoff playing Mephistopheles. It was probably the stories more than the music itself which fascinated me." "He was a great storyteller and I had a child's imagination so it was quite spectacular. His family weren't musicians but they were all music lovers, especially his father, a big opera fan. Growing up in Marseilles, Tézier was surrounded by music. "I was the king! Here I was, a teenager surrounded by old people wearing beautiful clothes. But you could probably be a good baritone.” "I was disappointed, but I learned that once you're born a baritone you have to get on with it." And aren't we glad he did! Influenced by singers on scratchy records "like Franco Corelli, Andre' D'Arkor (a wonderful Belgian tenor) and Georges Thill," he was eventually set straight by his first teacher. He also sings French, German, and Russian opera and has amassed a discography of more than 30 albums including a recent release of duets with Kaufmann.Īs a boy, he wanted to be a tenor. Tézier has proven to be an exceptionally versatile baritone, singing Mozart and bel canto early in his career, eventually graduating to Verdi roles for which he's been widely applauded. "With a piece that's scenically as complex and elaborate as La Gioconda, I find it very instructive to give it in concert first, so we can focus fully on the music," says Kaufmann. Kaufmann will sing Enzo at the Salzburg Easter Festival in March and they'll meet up in a new production in Naples in April. These concert presentations of La Gioconda are a preparation for their stage debuts in new productions in Europe next year. "I'm not somebody who acts in a hurry, I take my time," says Tézier, who waits until he feels truly vocally ready to take on a new role, as does Kaufmann. "We're both fairly good at savouring every moment," says Kaufmann.īoth singers are in their prime and experienced at pacing themselves. In 2019, after Chénier, they took off together to the outback, visiting Uluru. They enjoy hanging out together away from the pressures of performing. That's why I like him so much," laughs Kaufmann. They've been friends since they both sang in a production of Werther in Paris in 2010, and have proven to be an enduring double act. This time Kaufmann will play Gioconda's love interest Enzo. I was lucky to see Tézier make his Opera Australia debut as the ruthless Carlo Gérard in Andrea Chénier in 2019 alongside Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, and it was a wonderfully sung and full-realised characterisation. People in France and Germany say the English never had a great musician, and I usually say, 'They did! William Shakespeare. "Believe it or not, on French TV in the late 70s and early 80s there would be these beautiful Royal Shakespeare Company stagings in English, with subtitles. Since his childhood in Marseilles he's been fascinated by theatre, especially Shakespeare. "I emphasize the text, the diction and the meaning of the words because that's the baritone's job." Tézier relishes his range of characters and not just their music. The spy Barnabas in Ponchielli's La Gioconda who lusts after her, and is as remorseless as Verdi's Iago in his efforts to get what he wants. Ludovic Tézier, the acclaimed French baritone, is about to add another villainous character to his arsenal of baddies. Generally these are quite dark characters, very tortured, and they are very interesting to play and to create on stage." "The baritone is the character in romantic opera who is generally the one who brings evil, catastrophe or tragedy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |