Classical Music - La Scena Musicale

THIS PAGE: Silva-Marin as
Bepe in I Pagliani
OPPOSITE LEFT: Silva-Marin as
Dandini in La Cenerentola
OPPOSITE RIGHT: Silva-Marin teaching
students early in his career
TMS: How does Toronto Operetta Theatre fit into all this? It has a
very special niche, doesn’t it?
GSM: There is no other company like TOT in Canada. It sort of fell into my
lap and I wasn’t looking for it. In 1986-7, an organization produced Land of
Smiles, and it was such a success with the audience that they felt they needed
to establish a company. They asked me to take it on. I knew that by taking
on administration, it would have an impact on my career as a performer.
But I was concerned that a lot of my colleagues weren’t getting work, and
they weren’t getting stage experience to develop artistically. I firmly believe
you learn as you go; you’ve got to get onstage. With TOT I could provide
the artistic community with another option – that’s what motivated me.
TMS: As if that wasn’t enough, you also have Summer Opera Lyric
Theatre.
GSM: That also started in the late 80s. There are lots of opera singers
who do nothing in the summer, so it is a good time to recharge and to
look at new things in terms of interpretation. We don’t teach voice – it
is not a program to help singers sing, but to help singers find ways to
better conceive and interpret their roles through the structure of a
workshop. Various people, like Lorna Macdonald, Dixie Ross Neill, Stuart
Hamilton, give master classes. I also have people like Marshall Pynkoski,
who has a very special approach to acting that’s grounded in the
baroque style. In 2005, there are lots of demands on the performer. In
Mozart’s time, they were performing in Italian and it would be their natural
language. Today, artists have to know baroque, classical, romantic,
verismo, and contemporary styles. As a performer myself, I can sympathize
and understand the challenges of young singers today.
TMS: What advice would you give to these aspiring professionals?
GSM: They have to be absolutely prepared vocally. For some it may take five
or ten years; for others it might just be a couple of years. Some just get up,
open their mouths and sing, and you ask, “how is this monster born?!”
(laughs) Once that is done, they need to prepare dramatically. Today you
have directors who want Mimì to look consumptive and Mignon to look 15.
If you are not 15, you need to use your body and your technique to portray
it, because stage directors and even conductors demand it.
TMS: I find, generally speaking, singers don’t feel comfortable with
their bodies.
GSM: That’s because while actors spend most of their time dealing with
their bodies, singers spend most of their time dealing with the two little
muscles (in their throat). Looking the part and casting by type have
become a problem for many. I tell singers that they have to have a realistic
sense of where they fit in the art form. Of course they want to be able
to do Puccini, Wagner, Handel, Mozart – sometimes that’s impossible –
not everybody can be a Renée Fleming! She is one of those not afraid of
the range that is there. Not everybody is born like a Maria Callas or a
Pavarotti; these personalities are bigger than life. Let’s face it, the majority
of us belong to the general population of artists who earn a living
singing and have satisfying careers (without being bigger than life).
TMS: Tell me how you came to be involved with Opera McGill.
GSM: In 1999, because of my involvement with training singers and
through my association with Bill and Dixie Ross Neill, I was called to teach
at McGill. We did a production of L’enfant in an experimental space – a
20 Winter 2006