No More Mr. Nice Guy

Tenor Matthew Polenzani turns to the dark side in Rigoletto.


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Published: Sep 25, 2007

CAD TO THE BONE: Polenzani realized during rehearsals that Verdi's Duke was more of a jerk than he'd first thought, but with a "glimmer of a soul."

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These days, when you read about young tenors, it's usually because they've capriciously canceled performances, stomped offstage midshow, or attempted some lame crossover. Chicago native Matthew Polenzani seems unlikely to pull such stunts. An important player at the Metropolitan, where his artistry and prominence have steadily grown for a decade, he goes about tenorizing the old-fashioned way: He sings really well. Of all the young tenors jockeying for attention, the affable, clear-headed Polenzani should be voted most likely to stay the course for a long international career. He's now in demand at major European theaters, and this season at the Met he sings leads opposite three of the company's most glamorous divas: Diana Damrau, Renée Fleming and Anna Netrebko. In a coup for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Polenzani sings his first staged performances of the Duke in Verdi's classic Rigoletto here this month, returning for a song recital for the Chamber Music Society Nov. 29. We caught up with the Duke.

City Paper: What would you tell friends who aren't "opera people" to get them to check out Rigoletto?

Matthew Polenzani: Well, some of the music, like "La donna è mobile," they're going to know. And the characters are very human and understandable — it's not some abstract thing, it's about being in love, and love for your kids. And it's pretty short, so it's not too late to grab a beer afterward.

CP: Pretending to be a poor student, the Duke callously seduces Gilda, the virginal daughter of Rigoletto the jester. What is your sense of the Duke? As a lyric tenor, many of your characters are "nice guys." What's it like playing a philandering, lying heel?

MP: He's more of a cad than I'd realized — as I'm moving around the stage in rehearsal, I see he's really more of a jerk than I want him to be. But in "Parmi veder le lagrime" [when the Duke thinks Gilda has vanished] you see the glimmer of a soul — that he hasn't been completely destroyed by believing that any woman would have been lucky to had a moment with him. I did it in concert a few years ago, and a few things in it took real work, you know? It feels much more natural now. It fits just right.

CP: I have to ask about your take on Luciano Pavarotti — a great tenor and one of the great recorded Dukes. Are you inspired by recordings of historic singers?

MP: Pavarotti was one of the most formative for me — technically, one of the most secure and best singers ever. Also, when I think about good singing, Fritz Wunderlich is one of the first to come to mind. I always loved the oldsters: Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe di Stefano, Franco Corelli, Richard Tucker — even though they sang much heavier rep than I've done so far, their style is one I try to grasp. But I love it when people compare me to [the lighter-voiced] Tito Schipa or Ferruccio Tagliavini — the old Italian guys, you know? I didn't come from an operatic background. The very first opera I heard was the first one I was in. But at some point as a teenager I happened to hear José Carreras singing "E lucevan le stelle" from the Tosca recording led by Colin Davis — and I was hooked. A few years ago I worked with Sir Colin and was thrilled to tell him that his recording had gotten me interested in this kind of singing.

CP: Do you have dream roles?

MP: Britten! Peter Grimes, and I'm champing at the bit to do Captain Vere [Billy Budd]. Of more mainstream repertory, I've told my agent to look for the right conditions — right conductor and size of theater — to do La Bohème, which I can do, as long as I can hold on to my Mozart roles with a death grasp. I always want to be singing those, it's so good for the voice. Oh, and Lensky [Eugene Onegin].

CP: Your sister Rose is a folk-rocker who has appeared at Lilith Fair and opened for Indigo Girls. Any crossover ambitions of your own?

MP: Not really, though I've just done [Leonard Bernstein's musical] Candide, and I love singing in English.

CP: How did you go about choosing a program for your recital?

MP: Hopefully, it's music that inspires you. I had ideas; my pianist and I talked about a couple of things, I went and listened to them, and we cut and added some. There's very little I've done before: a set of Liszt songs and two Schubert Lieder I did with James Levine in an incredible evening at Carnegie Hall. Everything else [more Schubert, Beethoven, Britten and Reynaldo Hahn] is new. I have two months to go: I know all the music and about 75 percent of the words. I'm spending most of my free time on it. It should be a fun program.

(d_shengold@citypaper.net)

Rigoletto, Oct. 5-17, Opera Company of Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust streets, $7.50-$185 (student discounts available), 215-893-3600, www.operaphilly.com.