{"id":66274,"date":"2020-02-05T17:11:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T22:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=66274"},"modified":"2020-02-06T16:43:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T21:43:58","slug":"interview-tenor-michael-colvin-prince-witch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/02\/05\/interview-tenor-michael-colvin-prince-witch\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Tenor Michael Colvin \u2014 From The Prince To The Witch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The veteran Canadian tenor reflects on his operatic journey that spans the romantic leads of Mozart and Bel Canto to character roles of Reimann and Humperdinck.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"(l.
(l. to r.) Simone Osborne (Gretel), Emily Fons (Hansel), Michael Colvin (Witch) (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As they say \u2014 time flies when you are having fun. Tenor Michael Colvin knows it all too well. The Canadian has already been singing professionally for over 22 years. In the second half of his career so far, Colvin has transitioned from the typical romantic leads of Mozart and Bel Canto to that of character tenor roles. Whether jolly or evil, audiences can count on Colvin bringing to each character the requisite theatricality and brilliant vocalism.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s with this new repertoire that Colvin has achieved an international breakthrough at the highest level \u2014 a check of his schedule includes opera houses the likes of Covent Garden, Paris, and Salzburg, with La Scala and Madrid on the horizon. While Tamino, Belmonte, Lindoro, and Ottavio are no longer in the cards, he\u2019s having a whale of a time with Herod (Salome<\/em>), Monostatos (Die Zauberfl\u00f6te<\/em>), Bob Boles (Peter Grimes<\/em>), Duke of Cornwall (Lear<\/em>), and now his first Witch, the Hexe in Hansel and Gretel<\/em> at the Canadian Opera.<\/p>\n

Lest you think that character singing implies a certain diminution of vocal prowess, it\u2019s simply not true with Colvin. Everything is sung, not barked, and as beautifully as the music would allow, with a fresh and youthful timbre that has always been his. In 1998 and fresh out of university, Colvin joined the COC Ensemble and made his professional debut as Flavio in Norma<\/em>. Barely a year later, the late COC General Director Richard Bradshaw chose him to sing Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville<\/em>. \u201cTalk about baptism by fire!\u201d recalls Colvin.<\/p>\n

That big break meant the start of a solid career on both sides of the Atlantic. Although these days he spends the better part of the season singing in the UK and Europe, Toronto continues to be his home, which he shares with his wife, soprano Mary Bella, and their two sons, Andrew (17) and Ben (14).<\/p>\n

The COC remains a spiritual home of sorts, given it\u2019s the opera company where he got his start. Last heard as Thomas Scott in Louis Riel<\/em> two seasons ago, Colvin is now trying on the Witch for size.<\/p>\n

Given my last interview with Michael Colvin was 21 years ago, for an article in Opera Canada<\/em>, a follow up is long overdue. Now a fully mature artist, Colvin has a wealth of experience many singers of his generation would envy. A 22-year international career qualifies him as a bona fide veteran. When I mentioned that to him in our recent chat, the morning after my having sat in on a rehearsal, he was slightly bemused by the idea. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like it was so long ago when I was a young, up and coming singer!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Colvin (Photo : Eloise Campbell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Time flies, that\u2019s for sure! I remember hearing you sing when you were still in opera school in the \u201890s, and then in the COC Ensemble Studio. Tell us about those early days\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first thing I ever did was as Flavio in Norma<\/em> at the COC in 1998. In January 1999, I was slated to sing the Officer in The Barber of Seville<\/em>, and I ended up getting thrown on as Almaviva, with Russell (Braun) and Isabel (Bayrakdarian). That was my first mainstage lead role. I also did a TV commercial for the Nissan Pathfinder, singing the last few bars of \u201cRecondita armonia.\u201d I got kidded a lot about that! (laughs)<\/p>\n

Oh I remember that TV commercial! Did you ever sing Cavaradossi (Tosca<\/em>)?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nope \u2014 I don\u2019t have a Puccini voice.<\/p>\n

Since the COC Barber gave you a head start, has your operatic journey developed the way you expected?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s an interesting question. If you had told me some 20 years ago that I would one day be singing on the stages of La Scala, Paris Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it. In that regard my career has far exceeded my expectations. Did I think I\u2019d be singing now, at age 50? Probably I would not. It\u2019s all a matter of perspective. Young artists all want to be the next star, but that wasn\u2019t the path I took. As good an actor as I am, I\u2019m never going to be six-foot tall, blond and gorgeous \u2014 that\u2019s the reality of it\u2026it\u2019s never going to change. When I look back over the years at my successes\u2026 Remember the Le Roi Ouf I did in Charbrier\u2019s L\u2019etoile<\/em> in opera school? That was one show where people came up to me and told me I was very funny. From early on, I gravitated towards those funny roles, though character roles aren\u2019t always funny. You also have to be scary and menacing.<\/p>\n

I was watching you last night in rehearsal as the Witch, and I kept thinking \u2014 someone is going to ask him to sing Mime!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to, absolutely! It\u2019s like singing Herod in Salome<\/em> or Monostatos in Magic Flute<\/em> \u2014 I love it!<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve sung a huge variety of roles, from principal roles in Mozart and Bel Canto to character roles in Britten, and now Enescu and Reimann. What are the pros and cons of taking on these so-called character roles?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I find that there\u2019s a tendency to dismiss character singers as, dare I say, not real singers. In the days of yore, some character tenors would bark their way through the music. A lot of companies often give character parts to young artists, that actually does a disservice to them. You need to have lived life, know how to act, to move onstage, and you have to know how and when to sound good, when to sound ugly \u2014 that is to sing ugly in a healthy way. On the other hand, if done correctly, a character singer can have a very long career, since the roles are not as vocally taxing.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Colvin (Monostatos); Elena Tsallagova (Pamina) COC Die Zauberfloete. (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Absolutely! In my travels to German houses where Fest artists are basically civil servants, they often start out as principals and end up as character singers, some sing until they drop! And you do sing the roles. I was listening to your \u201cRide\u201d last evening. You sang the B flat at the end, over a heavy orchestra. There was no cheating.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This role of the Witch \u2014 it goes up to a high B and down to a low B flat, all the while I\u2019m running around, riding my vacuum cleaner (laughs)!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m curious about your other two new roles \u2014 La\u00efos in Enescu\u2019s Oedipe<\/em>, and the Duke of Cornwall in Reimann\u2019s Lear<\/em>. What are they like? Is the music difficult?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enescu is not particularly difficult. The Reimann piece is hard to describe. It was composed in the 1970s, and it\u2019s tonal, with gorgeous writing for Lear himself and his daughter Cordelia, and for the Fool. I sing the role of Duke of Cornwall, with the famous scene of the blinding of Gloucester. My music is horrible \u2014 it sounds like aural assault. You listen to this music and you\u2019re shaken to the bones by it.<\/p>\n

Oh wow\u2026How artistically fulfilling is it to do something like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s challenging for sure. I\u2019ll be very honest \u2014 if I just did this contemporary stuff all the time, I think I would find that exhausting. I need to mix it up with recitals and concert work. I\u2019m still doing Messiah<\/em>! And I\u2019m doing Monostatos at the Royal Opera next season in the David McVicar production. I don\u2019t want to short change the music in Reimann as some people really like it! And it\u2019s incredibly satisfying dramatically and theatrically. These days audiences are more open in a way that they weren\u2019t in the past. To get younger people into opera, we need to explore the darker tonal roles.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Colvin in the English National Opera production of Salome (Photo : Catherine Ashmore)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Would you say it\u2019s the most challenging of all roles you\u2019ve sung?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not vocally, but certainly dramatically. It\u2019s an exhausting evening. Musically it\u2019s so over-the-top. My role is only 10 minutes of singing, but it\u2019s fff over a really large and loud orchestra.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, not great for the voice!<\/strong><\/p>\n

But if you know how to sing, it\u2019s not a problem. A lot of this contemporary stuff challenges you, to make sure you have a technique that can withstand this sort of thing. In a way, these character roles, if sung well, there are moments when the beauty comes through. The Witch in Hansel and Gretel<\/em> for example, when you are singing \u201cKomm, klein M\u00e4uslein\u2026\u201d it\u2019s like singing a Lied.<\/p>\n

You know, I\u2019ve interviewed many, many singers over 25 years. Some of them, the principal artists, said to me that they would not sing character roles, because they want to stay \u201cat the top,\u201d so to speak\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re all conditioned from an early age to always wanting to be the heroes, the prima donnas, the divos. The reality is that opera is a team sport and you need the muckers and \u2014 if I use hockey as an analogy \u2014 you need the guys to go to the corners and get the puck so that the superstars can score. I see myself in that vein. As a member of the team. I take my job very seriously. These supporting roles are essential to a good show. A supporting, character role, gets to shine, like the Witch in Hansel and Gretel<\/em>. I love the ensemble nature of opera. In my experience, the most successful productions are often the ones where people check their egos at the door and everyone works together to create a wonderful piece. Those are the most memorable moments in my career.<\/p>\n

One final question \u2014 now that you are the elder statesman (!), what advice would you give to aspiring young singers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surround yourself with people whose opinion you trust and value. Maintain relationships outside the opera world. It\u2019s very important to have balance in your life. And not getting too wrapped up in what you do. Remember you are not your voice. As performers there are times when we go through difficult periods vocally. You\u2019ve got to have things outside the opera world to sustain you during these difficult times\u2026that\u2019s very important. Finally, always maintain a sense of awe and wonder \u2014 it really is a remarkable thing, what we do! Singing, throwing our voices into these enormous halls \u2014 never lose that wonder and appreciation.<\/p>\n

Toi toi toi for opening night!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Update: After the dress rehearsal, I contacted Colvin to get his thoughts on the show. He was elated at how things went. \u201cThe final dress went very well indeed, and the audience seemed to really enjoy it. Lots of laughs in the right places and enthusiastic cheers at the end. Such a pleasure working with this wonderful team! It really is a complete team effort. I feel so blessed to do this for a living!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/h3>\n

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