When last we spoke some five years ago, you were at a turning point in your career. For a time, you wanted to conduct more, but sing less. Currently you’re very active again as a singer—but there seems to be something else that indicates change: your debut as director is planned for May. Where, in your own estimation, is the real focus of your current work?

The focus is clearly on singing and for a quite simple reason: singing pays my bills. That’s an important thing which always has to be taken into account. In the field of directing, I’m still a novice, and the fees one gets under those circumstances are not in the stratospheric range. In this specific instance, it also has to do with the fact that for example in Germany, and in England also, directors aren’t paid so well. It’s actually more advantageous to go to Italy or Spain because there they expend enormous sums of money on directors in some cases. My actual pay as director—for the entire production!--is more or less equivalent to what I earn in one evening as a tenor. Economically speaking it’s therefore not a terrific assignment; but artistically speaking it’s a big challenge.

I have in mind the creative combining and incorporating of experiences based on my career up to this point. And I’m not just talking about 32 years of singing but also 32 years of actual stage experience, since I started giving concerts as early as age 12—as conductor. Directing is a good way to try and fit all of these experiences together.

“Multi-tasking” seems to be a natural thing for you, a part of your personality.

Absolutely! Working without a variety of possibilities, without a multiplicity of options is not for me. I know there are some people who are not happy with this and ask: “Why does he have to do so many things?” But by now I have come to answer that merely with another question: “Why not?” When something is done professionally and more or less well, I see absolutely no problem with it.

Nowadays, versatility is--generally speaking--eyed rather critically.

You’re right; it’s a regrettable tendency world-wide, and not only in the arts. Today, concentrating on a very specific, small part is what’s in demand to the exclusion of everything else. The personal radius gets reduced to a square meter. As a physician, you have to be specialized in a small part of the body, as engineer, in a certain technology and so on. There are great advantages to that, no question about it, since one can delve deeply into the subject matter at hand, but I consider it an immense danger and a huge risk to lose sight of the big picture. It is, at a time when we are able to communicate world-wide and faster than ever before, the exact opposite of what’s needed. We have, on the one hand, the opportunity to see an incredibly broad spectrum of the world and yet our focus is on specific points, on something very minute. Much to my regret, we have lost the spirit of the Renaissance.

You have asserted yourself, holding your ground vis-à-vis the rigid rules of the industry, but you have also had to put up with criticism because of it. How are you dealing with that—and what have you come away with in the wake of these experiences?

After the year 2000, when I broke with all the people who represented me and on top of that my record label Erato Discs was shut down, I was in essence alone in the desert. That was by no means an easy but a very instructive time for me. I was alone—and I survived in spite of it. To take full responsibility for yourself and be successful just the same: in the thinking of some in our business this does not go together at all. This kind of assertiveness means that one is breaking the rules, and exactly that’s what’s undesirable.

Fortunately, this phase is over. If anything, I am now my own person; I’m just myself—on stage as in life. That’s not without peril, but by now I’m convinced of this: If you’re a good artist, you can survive beautifully—even without having to make concessions and compromises. That is the most important lesson I learned in this phase. One doesn’t have to please everyone, and I don’t just mean that in artistic terms. Not everyone has to like me. If one is liked by everyone it’s that one has paid in some kind of way—with money or in another way.

At present we are once more in a phase with very popular Classical stars. Do you feel yourself still perceived as such—you used to be marketed as testosterone-tenor—or rather, are you quite happy not to have to go along with that kind of star-routine any longer?

Fortunately, stardom is something that doesn’t come and go quite so quickly. The fuss, the commotion that surrounds it is where the defect in the system is. Many talents get worn out fast. There are incredible promises made, there is the lure of the most super-fantastic offers until one cannot resist any longer. It wasn’t any different with me. Only that I came to realize it at some point and resisted. For me the protest phase is over and done with; today I am my own boss, take responsibility and vouch for myself. Allow me to put it bluntly: “If you need me, call me—and you’ll get a good, professional show without problems.”

Interestingly enough, since last year my telephone has actually been ringing ever more frequently; they are ‘flirting’ with me—in media circles as well as in the area of management.  They all come saying the same thing: “We recognize that you have in fact outlasted all that, have survived through all that. You have forged ahead without veering from your path. And we would be happy to once again get something started together with you.”

In the absence of management, what criteria do you use in deciding which offers to accept?

That depends on many criteria. Sometimes, the right idea or an inquiry which fits in at the right time is enough. Take for example Cologne: When Christoph Damann, who was then general director, approached me asking whether directing would be a challenge, there was nothing really new in that for me; after all, I had already brought smaller pieces to the stage in Argentina. So I said: “Why not?” Moreover, my wife is an actress who gave up her career for me, and one of my sons is presently studying in London at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. So theatre is really something we live and breathe at home. That may explain why as a singer I always try to be dramatically convincing on stage; acting comes naturally for me; it is more or less a hobby horse. Directing follows merely as the next step—much like with famous screen actors, who after years of experience with good directors change hats at some point. In film circles, this is nothing unusual and considerably more accepted than in music-theater circles.

I believe there still are several clichés in opera that should be questioned. And I harbor no illusions: With the beginning of this new activity of mine, there will surely be another wave of protest—just like with conducting before. Points to criticize will be looked for and found. But ultimately, I’ll surely be able to handle it.

Is your directing debut going to take place in Cologne simply because it was the first invitation or is it happening there quite by design because in this way it can take place in Germany, where the public’s response is much more open and receptive to innovations on the stage.

It was a combination of both. I incidentally had already directed a piece for the stage this past summer in Croatia, something we also want to issue on DVD. It was a very interesting project: we prefaced ‘Pagliacci’ with a twenty-minute monologue, spoken by me, and had dancers create a pantomime to go along with it. I then sang the Prologue myself—and afterwards naturally Canio. So Cologne can be seen to be already my second time directing opera —even if it was in effect the first specific request.

Germany is, needless to say, a wonderful place for directors, since the audience here is in fact much more open than elsewhere. But this fact also holds the risk that a director might disregard the balance between the modern and the traditional. That’s the big challenge for me, too. In my directing, it is important to me to work out -in collaboration with the singers- truly convincing portraits. That is time and again the very thing that I myself love so much about opera. And I know from personal experience that it is possible! Seen from this angle, the production in Cologne will without a doubt be very satisfactory for most members of the audience.

Why did you choose ‘Ballo’?

It wasn’t I who chose the piece; it was offered to me. And I am very happy with this choice since it is an opera which I know very well. I used to sing it myself, and I’ve conducted it as well.

A propos singing: You have just been singing Andrea Chenier in Barcelona. You had actually also had plans for another Giordano opera, ‘Siberia’. This plan did not materialize?

Unfortunately not. That was something planned long ago by the Zurich Opera, which was not pursued further, perhaps also because ‘Siberia’ is really typical Giordano and as such has many magnificent passages but then also some that are not so terrific. In ‘Chenier’ this is less evident; there is considerably more of the brilliant stuff. I think that this fact must have played a role. Instead there will now be another, far more exciting role debut in Zurich: Massenet’s ‘Le Cid’. I’m still totally involved in my studies, working as always not only through the libretto and the score, but also intensively studying and analyzing the personality, the nature of the character. It promises to be exciting for sure.

In the summer it will be followed by Puccini’s opera ‘Edgar’, the only Puccini opera which I have not yet sung—except naturally for ‘Gianni Schicchi’ and ‘Suor Angelica’…(laughs). I’m really looking forward to being able to complete my Puccini experiences with this.

Am I correctly informed; you are said to be in the process of preparing a role debut of a quite different sort: a first foray into the difficult German subject area. Is it true that you are studying ‘Parsifal’?

Your ‘secret service’ is working well indeed….-Yes, that’s correct. I will be singing ‘Parsifal’ in concert at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2010. That is a first step for me in order to see whether and how it will work. It is well known that Wagner roles indeed appeal to me but at the same time also scare me a bit because of the language. So far I’ve basically been worried that I would not be able to fulfill expectations in this regard. Vocally, Wagner is no problem, even if the length might perhaps be somewhat strenuous. The real challenge for me is the language. But since I was offered a role debut in a concert version, it was easier for me to accept because I will have the score in front of me and will be able to concentrate totally on the singing, the text, the phonetics, and all those consonants. After that, I’ll see how I manage the part- and what the response to my interpretation looks like. It’s certainly a crazy thing to want to do one’s Parsifal debut in the German capital of all places.

Some years ago, you set up your own company, Cuibar. How satisfied are you with its success so far?

Very satisfied. For one, Cuibar has the responsibility for everything administrative connected with my career whose success is made visible (on the website) for everyone to see. Besides that, it‘s about the establishment and gradual build-up of a small record label. And that’s been going rather extraordinarily well, for we were able to sell out the first three CDs.

What exactly does that mean, translated into numbers?

15,000 in the case of Rachmaninov, 17,000 in the case of Dvorak; ‘Aurora’ around 30,000 CDs. Anyway, as a result the expenditures have already been retrieved. That’s naturally small fry in comparison with the sales numbers of my CDs while I was still being marketed by a big label. The first solo CD (Puccini) sold more than 300,000 copies. But that was another time-and not only for me.

What is your next release going to be?

Last summer, I premiered my Sonetos, based on texts by Pablo Neruda. It is a small, seven-part cycle, 20 minutes in duration. I was personally surprised by its great success with audience and press. And if I’ve been speaking of challenge and respect in confronting a task, this (experience) was by far the worst; it was a trial by fire: to perform my own music myself and in front of a hometown audience at that—and on top of that based on texts by Neruda, who is naturally also highly revered in Argentina, it being Chile’s neighbor. I was bloody nervous! And I’m all the more happy with the outcome.

You are now also doing books. What’s that all about?

One of the two projects is a coffee-table book featuring my own photography. The idea came about when a Swiss publisher approached me about my pictures, which he considered to be very well done. Personally I don’t think that the world needs another book of photographs, least of all one by me. But as a person in the public eye and as an artist with a very large circle of fans, it may perhaps indeed be of interest to present this other facet of my personality. Tragically, the publisher has since died so that the project is on the back burner for the time being; but I’d still like to follow up on it.

The second book is not one written by me but one written by an Italian psychologist, who had asked me to jointly examine and analyze the characters that I sing (portray) on the operatic stage—virtually like in a real session between patient and doctor; and so we don’t talk about vocal approaches and strategies or the historical context but rather analyze the characters strictly from a psychological perspective.

Your company has, if I understand it correctly, yet another function: It produces and promotes events and shows?

Yes, but we are not an agency; rather, we are a production company. Orders come in that don’t just look to book me as one sole artist but ask for the organization of a show: anything from additional artists up to an entire production. Take for example this business in Croatia last summer. There we assembled the entire artistic team, all the singers, assistants, costume designers—a total package. This team in turn worked together with the local theater there. Last year, we also did a show in Lisbon, developing the project in concert with the organizer. Once the draft is complete and a plan is in place, we proceed to invite suitable artists.

In addition, you are also involved with up-and-coming young talent, holding classes, master classes. What is your assessment, your opinion with regard to the quality and situation of young singers today?

There are really very interesting voices out there. Every time I present a master class, I find in any given group of 30 young singers at least a small number where one pricks one’s ears and takes notice saying: “There is true potential here.” On the other hand, this business has become very tough and cruel. We have fewer and fewer small theatres where singers can really test themselves and mature. I got to experience that myself. Before I could look around, I found myself singing at LaScala, at Covent Garden— even though, artistically speaking, I was essentially still a child. It ultimately took me ten years to truly become a ‘grown-up’, mature singer.  Such an ‘education’, i.e. to sing the important roles right from the start on the big stages of the world, is not exactly without its hazards. The danger of falling by the wayside is great.

What do you develop in a master class; to what end do you work?

I am no babysitter; that’s why I don’t teach regularly but rather only hold master classes for young professionals. Whoever still has problems with singing per se is in over his head and will be totally overwhelmed by the way in which I approach this. So I make it clear from the very start: “We have two days; I will not be able to show you how to sing.” The (my) point is to awaken the singer’s sensitivity in order to penetrate into the character; to understand the nature, the essence of a part; to investigate and get to the bottom of motivation and personality of a particular role. To sing on the basis of this interpretation marks the end of the tutorial. Singers who are not open to this approach pack up after ten minutes and may quit the course. I am very demanding and exert strong pressure but only in order to generate the inner motivation to search out the theatrical effect and not just the vocal one. If I have accomplished that, the singers are able to return to their teachers, pianists or coaches and make something of their new-found insight. It’s left up to each individual whether he/she wants to continue on this path or whether he/she does want to concentrate solely on the production of beautiful sounds.

What’s become of your plans to have your own orchestra?

This dream was still based on a rather romantic notion of a career. The business has changed. To direct an orchestra of my own is still a big ambition of mine.  But for me that would also mean something of a danger, since nowadays, the boss of an orchestra also finds himself faced with a lot of bureaucratic stuff. One has to be on site, has to deal with administrative tasks instead of with what’s essential: the music making. I feel that I’m still too young to sit in an office. Given these conditions, it is not my thing right now—as much as I’d basically like to do it. At best, one possible alternative I see would be the position of a permanent guest conductor.

Where do you see yourself as artist today—and where would you like to see yourself five years down the road?

I relish the privilege of being an artist—for it is nothing less than that and I can make a living by doing what’s wonderful work. I’m also in a position to experiment. I love to sing, to conduct, and if the directing venture goes well, I’ll perhaps continue also along this line. The challenge is to continue to develop and grow in all areas. And five years from now I won’t be fifty yet—at that point, there will surely still be a hopefully long road ahead and many possibilities.

Translation: Monica B.