“The voices have something divine”

This year, you are celebrating your 60th birthday with a slight delay, and four decades of a rich career as an opera singer. What a journey for a child of Italian immigrants, born in the Paris suburbs!

I could never have dreamed it. The good Lord has been kind to me. I was born in Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), into a family of immigrants from Sicily. My father was a mason, my mother a seamstress. After work, everyone sang, some played guitar, but no one thought we could make a career out of it! However, from the age of 15, I started performing in pizzerias, then cabarets, performing traditional Italian tunes or French hits while accompanying myself on the guitar.

How did you move from variety to lyrical singing?

The owner of an Italian restaurant judged that my tone had potential. He introduced me to Rafael Ruiz, an exiled Cuban musician who was my first singing teacher. That’s how I was introduced to classical music and opera. I worked hard, self-taught and listening to the great tenors of the past, to improve myself. In 1988, at the age of 25, I won the prestigious Luciano-Pavarotti competition in Philadelphia, United States. On November 1 of the same year, thirty-six years ago, I began my career as a lyric tenor in the role of Alfredo in The journey, by Verdi, on the English stage of the Glyndebourne Festival (in Sussex). Everything happened as if a higher force had ordered me to follow this path.

From there, your rise was meteoric. You have sung in the most prestigious venues in the world. Yet your mother wanted you to become an accountant!

Yes, even well after my debut on legendary stages, she still told me: “Roberto, you need to have a quiet job! » She wanted me to do like her brother, who was a chartered accountant. He was the only member of our entire clan to go to work in a suit and tie. All the others were workers or craftsmen and wore overalls. Nonetheless, she was very proud that I became a famous singer.

Your trajectory shows that opera is not reserved for the privileged…

Of course ! At the time of its creation in the 17th century, in Florence (Italy), it was an art open to all social strata. Whereas today, we have the impression that only the most well-off have access to it. This art should regain the popular character of its origins. It is very possible, since, coming from a disadvantaged background myself, I was able to access this world and flourish there.

How can we make people who think it is reserved for the elite want to listen to classical music?

It’s about not forcing yourself, but already being interested in it for general knowledge. Little by little, we let ourselves be taken in. Sometimes appetite comes with maturity or age. It is eternal and timeless music. Everyone can grasp it or tame it at a different moment in life.

Speaking of age, at 60 you have recorded two albums. The first is called Lord …

It’s my way of saying thank you to God for this gift he gave me: my voice. To share it with as many people as possible, last May, with this album, I completed a tour entitled “Sacred songs and sacred inspiration” in cathedrals in France and Belgium, notably with the piece Our fatherwhich I composed.

The second, under the title 60, seems more personal…

It reflects my eclectic journey, borrowing from very different repertoires and styles, beautiful canto with traditional and modern French, Polish, Italian tunes, etc. , through the opera, the cross-over (crossing of two musical genres, Editor’s note) English and South American, the variety. I sing there in eight languages…

Fourteen years ago, in our columns, you confided that you began to feel French when you were recognized abroad…

And I am very proud to be French. While claiming my Sicilian origins. When I started to have success outside our borders, I decided to fly the colors of my country. Currently, I live in Poland and perform regularly all around the world. I also consider myself a citizen of the world.

Coming back to your voice, how do you maintain your vocal cords?

The voices have something divine and come into vibration with the Universe. This is why we call divo, for men, and diva, for women, those who have the best organs. Maintaining your voice requires a perfect lifestyle, like top athletes. We must respect it, pamper it, not expose it to the four winds…

Is aging more complicated for a female soprano?

It’s true, men’s careers in opera are longer than those of women, due to the difference in the nature of their ranges. High pitched sounds can become more strident over the years. In addition, breathing problems affect singers more quickly. Furthermore, roles for older women are rare. On the other hand, at the same age, sopranos break down less often on stage than tenors.

This doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen to you…

At 61, I am only reaching the cruising speed of my career. I still work so hard to stay successful on stage. I have a 10 year old daughter. It’s motivation. I have to show him that his father is still up to the task (laughs).

Last year, you played Al Capone in the musical of the same name. Is this a character that you enjoyed playing?

I liked the dramatic aspect of Al Capone’s fate. He was Neapolitan and I am Sicilian. But he was a scoundrel. I relish my opportunity to have been able to play so many different characters. However, the one I felt closest to was Cyrano de Bergerac. Edmond Rostand concentrated in himself all the qualities that we find in different heroes of literature. He is charismatic, spiritual, courageous and ready to sacrifice for the woman he loves…

What role do you dream of playing that has never been offered to you?

That of the cowboy in the opera The West Fanciulla (The Girl from the West), by Giacomo Puccini. I already see myself on stage among horses in a western setting. It would be a real joy!

On the misfortune side, however, you have not been spared. At 19, you lose your best friend in a car accident; ten years later, your first wife dies of cancer. How do we recover from such pain?

My passion for singing allowed me to overcome these challenges. This is a trait that we share in my family. My grandparents and uncles always sang to ward off the difficulties they encountered: poverty, uprooting, bereavement. Singing together allows us to stick together, because, in the end, it is the love we feel for each other that ultimately prevails over the misfortune that strikes.

You are known to be “very family”…

I co-wrote shows with my brothers; my sister is my press officer. But generally speaking – and this is my Sicilian prism – everyone who works with me becomes my family… The real value in life is human relationships. I love people, including those who have hurt me. As a self-respecting Catholic, I practice love of neighbor!

In our hectic world, do songs and music have a role to play in easing tensions?

Artists should not get involved in politics in my opinion. We have received a talent which allows us, for the duration of a show, a concert, to make the public forget their worries. We cannot heal society. We bring him a little balm to his heart, we offer him a truce, a parenthesis, to breathe when times are hard. This is our role.