La Didone

I was thrilled to have been cast in the role of Iarba in San José State’s production of Francesco Cavalli’s La Didone. Every time that I get cast in a trouser role is yet another opportunity for me to master the art of being a man. No easy task if one aims to be credible. Little did I know, however, that most of my role would be comprised of recitativo. I opened the score to find that I had two arias lasting approximately two minutes each, and the rest of my music was all in recitativo style. All fifty minutes of it! Yes, I timed it. God help me! Cavalli help me! Gods of recitativo help me!

Not only was it a ton of “recit”, but it wasn’t like any I had ever sung before. This was early Baroque recit. You know, the kind where the stressed syllables fall on the weak beats, and where phrases never go where you would expect them to. This has a way of jarring your brain to the point where you ache to build a monument to Mozart in your backyard.

In Didone, Iarba is a North African king who experiences love, lust, happiness, anger, resentment, rejection and ultimately lunacy. IOW, it’s an emotional roller coaster. To add to all this, Iarba was originally written for a countertenor, so the part had to be slightly transposed up for me. However, the were duets that couldn’t be transposed and those parts were quite low. Our music director, Gordon Haramaki, gave me the option to sing the low parts up an octave, but I chose not to for the sake of interpretation. I felt that the duet with Dido called for a “manly” sound, so I dug deep into my low register. Dr. Haramaki also lent me the DVD of David McVicar’s Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne, with Sarah Connolly in the title role. I was blown away! I decided then to take this role of Iarba as far as I could.

Francesco Cavalli

I was also blessed to be working with one of my favorite stage directors, Daniel Helfgot. He kept pulling the man out of me every chance he could. He also kept pulling the “crazy” out of me. Singing this much recit leaves someone very exposed, and this is doubly true of Iarba. Yet I found that the only way that I could do justice to all the emotions that came with this role and arch this character as I wanted, was through recit. Halfway through rehearsals I began to find my groove and settled into it. Because the music was not vocally challenging, I was able to be as physical as I wanted without it hurting my vocalism much. There were times when I clearly had to find a better balance between both, but I found that what started as a daunting project turned into a very rewarding experience. On opening night, I found myself having more fun with this role than I ever thought I would. I found the recit exhilarating to perform more so than the arias, something I never thought I’d write. I was also thankful for such a wonderful cast and orchestra, and for all the ladies who made it comfortable for me to portray the vile side of Iarba. That was definitely not easy. I was also lucky to have a great leading lady who made it all so much fun. Thanks Sara! Last, but definitely not least, I must thank my voice teacher, mezzo soprano Layna Chianakas, for being the equivalent of a Fairy Godmother to me! Thank you all.......

Sarah Connolly as

Giulio Cesare