Ferruccio Furlanetto: Lessons from a Pro at the Top of His Game by Carie J. Delmar Ferruccio Furlanetto, one of the greatest bassos of this generation, has made a name for himself singing Mozart. In this edition of Classical Singer, Furlanetto discusses how to sing Mozart effectively; why he is reverting back to his Verdian roots; the ties between music, voice, language, and text; and the importance of movement and emotional commitment in creating vital characterizations. He gives his take on today’s stage directors, speaks about his upcoming role as Boris Godunov in San Diego and Vienna, and offers some valuable advice to young singers. www.classicalsinger.com 11 12 Lessons from a Pro at the Top of His Game enowned bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is moment you start to love less and less these and I was surprised that everything was so known throughout the world for his roles.” easy, so beautiful, so fantastic. I never had that R ability to hold an audience in the palm Furlanetto sang Leporello in a concert vocal easiness before, so that is proof that the of his hand, whether he is singing Mozart’s version last spring. “I sang him in Vienna after unhappiness is purely linked to the staging Don Giovanni, Verdi’s King Philip II, or at least four years since my last Don Giovanni, of the character,” he says. “Vocally, the voice Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. He has a unique Ferruccio Furlanetto and Eduardo Chama, as Don Basilio and Dr. Bartolo, San Diego Opera, The Barber of Seville, 2006 ability to blend music and text together by way of his rich voluminous sound, clear articulation, and expressive acting and physicality, thus creating larger-than-life characters that touch the hearts of all of those who see and hear him. Next month he will open the San Diego Opera season with his much-anticipated portrayal of Boris Godunov. My first introduction to Furlanetto was when I watched his performance as Leporello in a taped production of Don Giovanni from the 1987 Salzburg Festival. His Leporello stole my heart, and I began watching every video and DVD I could find that featured my new favorite singer. I watched his portrayals of King Philip II in Don Carlo, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and in each instance I was amazed at the lush quality of his dark rich bass coupled with his dynamic characterizations. Needless to say, when Furlanetto came to Los Angeles last September to perform for the first time in L.A. Opera’s production of Don Carlo, I jumped at the opportunity to interview him. He was extremely personable and accepted my invitation to talk in the tranquil surroundings of my home near Beverly Hills. We sat around my kitchen table for some very serious conversation about the progression of his career from Mozart to Verdi and Mussorgsky. As the year commemorating Mozart’s 250th birthday comes to a close, so marks Furlanetto’s continued resolve to refrain from singing the physically demanding Mozart roles in fully staged productions, with the exception of maybe Giovanni—although he says he still plans to sing the roles in concerts and recordings. “Mozart was a big part of my artistic life in my 30s and early 40s,” he adds with a charming Italian accent. “When you are a young man, then you should be a Giovanni, Figaro, Leporello, or whatever. The roles go together with the elasticity of your body, your jumping attitudes, and your physicality. Then comes a time in your life when these kinds of things which before were giving you extreme happiness become physical fatigue, and at that photo by Ken Howard 12 Classical Singer / December 2006 13 Lessons from a Pro at the Top of His Game is more mature and bigger now. You realize Furlanetto started studying with was what we call ‘la linea di canto’ or ‘the line that Mozart roles don’t need that kind of Campogalliani three times a week. It was of singing,’ which is what makes a beautiful weight, and you don’t want to get rid of that a long trip for him because he lived in the phrase have a beginning, a development, and weight because it is so beautiful in other roles. a very healthy end. … It should be like a cello, Therefore I decided to go back to my original which makes what we call ‘noble singing.’” repertoire, the Verdis, and to open myself up “In Mozart, you have to After a year of lessons, Furlanetto won to the Russian repertoire.” some competition prizes, and a half year later use the voice in the most he was singing Sparafucile in a small theater The Beginning natural way. You have to next to Vicenza. He was then engaged to sing Furlanetto, 57, became aware of his voice Prince de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur when he was very young. “You grow up with use the words, and if you with Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras the knowledge of having a voice with a range in Trieste. When he arrived for rehearsals, that is different from normality,” he tells me. sing things very clearly, you however, Caballé wasn’t there, and the opera “That was the second half of the ‘60s and the don’t have time to go deep. was changed to La bohème. He didn’t know La beginning of the ‘70s. It was the best time for bohème and panicked because he didn’t want pop music. Every day there was a release of The word is as important to lose the opportunity. A pianist there came the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or this or that. as the music.” to his rescue and worked with him. After just I had a group. I was playing guitar so I was seven and a half hours of study, he had learned totally involved with pop music. I also did some the role of Colline by heart. professional singing because I was recording northeastern part of Italy in Friuli, but he For the first four years of his career, he sang with CBS, and I was on TV programs a few wanted to learn. in Italy. “I was doing minor roles as a young times, but I never really liked the ambiance of “Campogalliani had a voice like a crow, bass, which is good because you don’t get professional pop. There were already drugs but he was a sensational pianist and a man of exposed to the public attention in roles that are going around, promiscuity, the things that huge culture,” Furlanetto says. “His breathing too big for your age and for your experience, were not right for a kid coming from a country technique was to inhale fast and release slow, and at the same time you can build experience with a very healthy education. So I just forgot or vice versa, to inhale fast and throw it out which will allow you to face bigger roles ahead pop music and continued my studies, which fast. But the important mark of Campogalliani in your career,” he says. included ancient Greek, Latin, philosophy, Italian, literature, science, mathematics, and forestry because I had a strong passion and THE MARILYN HORNE love for nature. Such subjects open up the FOUNDATION mind to different possibilities. in partnership with “My great-grandfather was teaching me THE WEILL MUSIC opera,” he recalls. “When I was a kid, I never INSTITUTE had what you would call a soprano voice or at CARNEGIE HALL white voice. I had the voice of a light tenor, Presents g{x fÉÇz VÉÇà|ÇâxáAAAECCJ and so I was singing just to please him and to please myself because I loved to sing. I couldn’t Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Friday, January 26, 2007 have cared less about opera though because I 7:30-9:30 p.m., Zankel Hall - $20 7:30-9:30 p.m., Zankel Hall - $45/$37 thought that it was something for my great- Master Class: Barbara Cook Annual Recital: grandfather rather than for a young boy.” Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Furlanetto was a tenor until the age of 13. 5:30-6:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall - $5 Gypsy in My Soul “Then my voice changed, and I became a Duo-Recital With Special Guest Artist, Soprano Joslin Romphf and Pianist Lydia Brown bass,” he remembers. His aunt, who possessed Baritone Lee Poulis and Pianist Thomas Muraco Marcello Giordani, tenor a nice operatic voice but never cultivated a 7:30-9:30 p.m., Zankel Hall - $20 Featuring MHF Artists: career, sent him a score and a recording of Master Class: Evelyn Lear Erica Strauss, soprano bass arias, with the suggestion that he consider Thursday, January 25, 2007 Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano studying opera. He learned an aria from Simon 5:30-6:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall - $5 Leonardo Capalbo, tenor Boccanegra and went to Mantua to be heard by Duo-Recital Andrew Garland, baritone the famous voice teacher Ettore Campogalliani, Soprano Hanan Alattar and who had taught Renata Scotto, Mirella Freni, Pianist Djordje Stevan Nesic Pianists Vlad Iftinca, Warren Jones, and Luciano Pavarotti. Tenor Timothy Fallon and Pianist Carol Wong Jonathan Kelly, Donna Loewy “This guy didn’t want to listen to the 7:30-9:30 p.m., Weill Recital Hall - $20 and Jerome Tan ‘Boccanegra’ aria,” says Furlanetto. “He just Master Class: Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne, Host sat [at] the piano and said, ‘Let’s vocalize to The Song Continues… is a four-day, six-event series of recitals and master classes presented in partnership with Carnegie understand what kind of voice you have.’” Hall.