Roberto Alagna

 

IN THE 'DEUTSCHE OPER MAG' (dated March/July 2017) | Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak will gather on the stage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 23rd and 27th May 2017, for two performances of L'ELISIR D'AMORE. The score by Donizetti became the "symbol of love" of "the new emblematic pair of the international operatic stages". Michael Horst met Roberto Alagna last December as he was performing in Carmen there. 

 

EXCERPT translated from German: 

 

"[...] Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak will gather once again in L'elisir d'amore, the eternal and powerful love potion by Donizetti, which became a signature role for the couple Kurzak/Alagna - "our symbol of love", as the tenor called it, very poetic. In a run of performances of L'elisir in London in November 2012, the two singers met and fell in love, and three years later, between two performances of L'elisir in Paris, they make a return trip to Warsaw in Aleksandra's homeland to tie the knot for life. For Roberto, 52 years old now, the love potion is obviously also a potion of youth; So much so that the role of the young man Nemorino, who is consumed by love for the arrogant farmer Adina, suits him surprisingly and particularly well. "What's great about this role is that Nemorino is never ridiculous," says Alagna. Nevertheless, the difficulties must not be underestimated: Nemorino has a lot to sing, it requires a homogeneous tone at all times, with lyrical top notes.

 

Before their marriage their daughter Malèna came into this world in 2014. Last year Alagna dedicated an album to her, entitled with her first name: an incursion into the Italian popular music. What role did he sing most often, how many roles are still composing his repertoire, how often did he perform as Nemorino? Alagna sweeps this aside nonchalantly: "Sono Artista, non sono ragioniere" - "I am an artist, not an accountant". For all that, one should not refrain from having a look at the list of the lesser-known parts he also championed in his repertory, as for instance Vasco da Gama that the tenor sang for the first time in a new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2015, but also L'Amico Fritz by Mascagni, Francesca da Rimini by Riccardo Zandonai or Cyrano de Bergerac by Franco Alfano, the composer who completed Turandot, that Puccini left unfinished.

 

Polish Aleksandra Kurzak and French-Italian Roberto Alagna form the new emblematic pair of international operatic stages. A couple determined to sing together as often as possible: "When we do not sing together, we ruin our private life. "Indeed: when one sings here and the other there, they are separated for weeks and can only see each other via FaceTime. And they want to avoid that at all costs. [...]"

 

Press Review