- Well, so ladies and gentlemen,
we do have a few minutes left,
if every -- I mean, if you want to leave,
please, you can.
But, you know, since we have a few minutes left
we could also get into a few questions
if you would like to ask me a few.
We can have a little discussion
about what we just heard, or, you know,
something else, whatever.
(audience laughs) Yes, madam.
- [Audience Member] So unfortunately Metropolitan Opera
has been getting some
not so favorable essays written about it,
especially Wall Street Journal's Terry Teachout
as many people know about,
so what's your hope for the future?
- I chose to make this big step in my life,
to come to this house, because I love it.
And because I believe in it, obviously.
So...
With any institution of that caliber,
that reputation, that history,
that it's carrying a lot of
extraordinary baggage of success,
of maybe moments not so successful,
which is also normal and part of the thing.
It carries also its challenges,
because we always, in our art,
need to ask questions about why are we doing this,
for whom, and how?
And the essential question is more the why.
Because challenges in any institution,
so for example, now, yes we would love
to have houses more full, okay.
That's one of the challenges.
But then you have to ask why.
What is the size of our theater
compared to which kind of operas we do
and all of this.
I think, I mean I could talk about this
for an hour, obviously, or more, two days,
but the important thing now
that I want to send as a message
is that in any situation,
that is more like a crisis,
there is an opportunity.
I believe that what's happening,
and for the knowledge I have of the house,
which I have now since 2009,
and before as a someone who came as a,
just, person in the audience,
and with the talent I see in the house,
and the dedication,
whether it's every member of the chorus,
every member of the orchestra,
every member of the library,
every member of the stage crew,
everyone in the, every department,
I mean, the music staff,
I see how people believe passionately about opera
and that gives me hope.
I won't be the one, I won't revolutionize anything.
I will just come and try, that
everyone else will come back
to the "why we do this."
And that will inform, hopefully,
the decisions we make in the future,
so that the Metropolitan Opera House
can remain the greatest opera house in the world.
(audience applauds)
Yes.
- [Audience Member] Hi, my question for you,
in the work that you do,
what do you separate a good singer
from a great singer? (laughs)
And what advice do you give to us young singers
who are starting to work with high stress over time?
- Well.
(audience laughs)
That's a beautiful question.
I think there are a lot of singers,
and there are a lot of violinists,
and a lot of flutists,
and there is a lot of everything in the world.
What makes it, instead of saying
"good" and "great," let's talk about
what makes it special.
And what makes it special
is to be true to yourself.
As someone who, of course,
has been through a lot of auditions,
you have to, you know,
you sit through all of these,
and they all sing "Joie de Vivre,"
and all sing (speaking in foreign language)
and you know, and it's like one of...
And then someone tells you a story,
tells her story or his story.
Now it seems a bit vague,
but what I mean by this
is that, and that's what I want to get at
as my advice,
is in order to be really, truly personal,
you have to be so prepared
and so, knowing more than the words,
more than the notes, and more than the context,
and it takes so much work, so detailed,
in order to free yourself from it.
And I still believe that in our craft as musicians,
as in many other areas,
we tend to oppose the
intellectual ones, the correct ones, and the creative ones
who are out of the book or out of the ordinary
or just, you know.
And I think art's definition, to me,
has to be when both
the mind and the heart and the soul are aligned.
So you can't skip one step.
Of course, if you stay by the book,
it's not special.
But if you're only special and ignore the book,
it is not, also.
And I think I can't stress enough that
it really shows when someone arrives
to the first rehearsal of anything,
even a small role,
you'll be given opportunities to do
like this one line here,
and I've seen, you would be surprised
how many times I've seen young singers,
very talented, say, "Oh, it's only one line,"
and they arrive and they barely know it.
How can we trust that this is gonna be special
when there is a full aria?
So, I mean, I think the work,
the work, the work, the passionate work
about going to operas, going to concerts,
going to recitals, listening to chamber music,
to symphonies, listening to organ music,
read the history books that goes with the operas,
and all of this,
and then your personality shines.
After this. Right?
(audience applauds)
Yes, sir.
- [Audience Member] I've seen hundreds of performances
of "Don Giovanni" with many different casts,
and more than any opera I know,
it's never the same twice.
I know that part of it's the conductor and the production,
but even with the same production,
each time it's different.
But I always wonder, in casting "Don Giovanni" the opera,
what values or wishes go into each role.
Because, let's just take Anna and Elvira.
If they're different personalities,
the way they play off against each other and the Don
entirely changes the opera.
What would you want in casting the opera?
- Yeah. So it's a beautiful question,
because I think you're right that "Don Giovanni"
does give, it's one of those operas
that give this possibility, this world,
and this is, of course,
all due to the absolute genius of Mozart
who, in my opinion,
put maybe the most humanity in this music.
And, I should add that, orchestrally,
that's maybe an aside,
but that also informs the question,
orchestrally it is also a very different role
than other operas.
There is more that is led from the orchestra in this
than other Mozart operas.
Even "Figaro" was this absolute masterpiece.
The orchestra sometimes does (sings)
for a long time, I'm not saying it's not good,
but I'm saying that all the counterpoint,
or just what we said at the beginning with the duets,
that his, the thought of Ottavio was led,
carried, for two bars and a half after,
by the orchestra.
So, back to the casting.
I think the most important thing,
and this is the challenge,
is that you want, in both Leporello and Giovanni
and Elvia and Anna,
these are the main, in terms of,
you want to have singers who,
ideally, could almost be...
(audience chatters)
Switchable.
(audience laughs)
Does that say?
- [Audience Member] Reversed. - Reversed.
The bull?
Interchangeable, thank you.
(audience laughs)
I blame it on my Canadian accent.
(audience laughs)
So, um.
Switchable, that's a little (grimaces).
Interchangeable, yeah, interchangeable.
So, and this happened a lot of times,
especially in the men's part,
and also in the women,
but these two should actually also be able
to really work, in the entire process of the opera,
in opposite directions.
Especially Elvira and Anna.
So I, for example, my personal taste
is to have an Anna which is slightly more,
instead of being this dramatic,
slightly more dreamy.
Ethereal, I would say, almost.
But of course, you know,
"Or sai chi l'onore" needs to (grunts).
But it's a little bit like "Come scoglio"
in "Cosi fan tutte,"
You don't want (sings gruffly)
because, that's actually, she pretends to be a rock.
She is not.
So it's the same with Anna.
I think there should be this beauty and slight fragility
that is a little more above.
And then you have the Elvira
that is constantly in the heart of things
and in the turmoil.
That's more my preference,
but you could go completely the other way
and there's a justification.
So, if you have two great singers
in each of these roles, and also in the men,
this is why, because they know the part of each other,
each other's parts, on the opposite,
they can play this,
and take charge at different times.
And it's probably why you felt that,
in more performances live, you get this real difference,
because it really is like a couple
without being a love couple.
And you have to develop, in the rehearsal process,
this complete, yeah, unity.
And I think, probably, this is,
yeah, I get here that this is time!
(audience laughs)
So thank you for your questions, and see you later.
(audience applauds)
Thank you.