Monday, October 23, 2006
Vittorio Grigolo: Italy's 'Little Pavarotti' sings "Popera"
The ANNOTICO Report
Vittorio Grigolo, as a 13-year-old
played the small shepherd role in Tosca opposite Luciano
Pavarotti. The Italian press later dubbed him il Pavarottino, the little
Pavarotti. More recently he turned down an offer to join Il Divo
- the operatic boy-band - because he wanted to develop his career as a soloist
and in staged opera productions.
Vittorio insists on being considered a "popera" singer - a hybrid of popular music and opera -
and not a "crossover" act, which too often means pop singers with
classical pretensions. Apparently,a
critical difference !! :)
Italy's 'Little Pavarotti' Sings in Poppo Voce
The Australian
Matthew Westwood
October 24, 2006
AS he draws a big red loveheart on a boardroom
notepad, Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo
says he's not like other singers.
He wants to be known as a "popera" singer -
a hybrid of popular music and opera - and not a crossover act, which too often
means pop singers with classical pretensions.
"I can sing pop, but tomorrow I can sing
Rigoletto," Grigolo
said in
"If they say Vittorio
is a crossover singer, they kill all my history; they kill my opera."
The singer, who prefers to be photographed
from his left side, has a keen awareness of his career path. As a 13-year-old
he played the small shepherd role in Tosca opposite Luciano
Pavarotti; the Italian press later dubbed him il Pavarottino, the little
Pavarotti. More recently he turned down an offer to join Il Divo
- the operatic boy-band - because he wanted to develop his career as a soloist
and in staged opera productions.
Before flying to Sydney Grigolo
met in the
He has Broadway ambitions, too. Grigolo is writing a musical about an opera singer - he
will take the lead, and also design and direct - which he intends to stage on
the
For now, he's on a tour to promote his disc
of romantic songs called "In the Hands of Love". The popera voice, he said, was smooth in tone and yet taut with
musical energy throughout a song. "The voice is always the same from
beginning to the end," he said. "It's not a rough voice and then the
tenor voice. It's always keeping the same tension, not a different sound."
Pavarotti taught him some valuable lessons
about the singer's art. "He said to me, 'Study, study, study,"' Grigolo said. His first important opera engagement was in
Rossini's The Turk in
Next year, he will appear with the Sydney
Symphony in a performance of Rossini's sacred choral work, Stabat
Mater.
Grigolo's recording contract stipulates that he be allowed the
time to perform in three operas a year. He said the biggest role was always the
next one.
"It is always to come," he said.
"The biggest role is the role you have
to do in that moment, because your energy has to be concentrated in that
moment."
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