Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu was again displaying the unique Filipino brand of vocal artistry singing Oronte in Handel’s Alcina in St. Gallen, Switzerland and portraying Tamino in Mozart’s Magic Flute in Tel Aviv – all in five days’ time!




The rarely staged Handel opera was up at Stadt Theater St. Gallen  in Switzerland May 10 and  May 15 last month but  in between the Handel opera -- on May 12, 13 and 16 to be exact, he had to drive to Zurich to catch a four-hour flight to Tel Aviv for the dress rehearsal, matinee and gala night of the Mozart opera mounted by the Israeli Opera.

 Recounted the Filipino tenor of his super hectic schedule: “It was the most difficult experience for me as yet.  I can tell you now that I will never go through that situation ever again.  It was fine when I was flying non-stop from Zurich to Tel Aviv, which is only four hours. However, I had to commute from St. Gallen to Zurich for an hour and then of course I have to show up at the airport 3 hours earlier. Therefore, the entire trip is about eight hours. The first trip was easy because it was during the Magic Flute rehearsals in Tel Aviv while we are already running Handel’s Alcina in Switzerland.  The second and third trips were very very hard.  I had to fly into Zurich, spend one day, and the next day singing Alcina, then go directly to the airport to perform the first show of Magic Flute in Tel Aviv.  The third one was the most difficult because this involves me performing Alcina at 5 pm at night and then catching a flight at 10:45 pm.  I had

to ask a friend to drive me to the airport.  I arrived in Tel Aviv at 4 a.m. then have to sleep right away because I have to sing the opening night performance of Magic Flute at 8 pm that same day.  Thank God that I was tired enough to sleep well and was able to sing that performance.  It did not help a bit because I was also sick and congested.  I was in so much medication, you would never believe it.  It was the most stressful situation of my entire life to date.  So, now I can say whew!  With a deep sigh of relief.  One particular journey was long because I had to fly to Istanbul at 5 am and arriving there at 8:30, then I have to stay in Istanbul for a total of 7 hours, to catch my connection flight to Tel Aviv at 3:30 pm.  That was painful!  So, with respect to all of the things I have mentioned, I would say the experience was very very stressful.  I will not recommend it to anyone.  It is insane what I went through.  Singing sick and be able to pull it off was a mystery to me, but I thank God for making it possible.”

 Before Espiritu, only two other Filipino artists – pianist Cecile Licad and tenor Otoniel Gonzaga -- had made it to Tel Aviv’s inner music scene.

 As far as this opera buff is concerned, no other Filipino tenor has sung this Handel opera role, which according to Espiritu involves tough coloratura passages. To hurdle the part, he said he had to keep his voice lose and flexible.

  He explained: “It makes it easy because the orchestration is not so thick, so I was able to sing it without worrying about balance between my voice and the orchestra.  On the other hand, the Magic Flute in Tel Aviv was quite challenging, because it was staged in a theater, which was acoustically challenging.  I would approximate it to be about 2,500 seats perhaps but the acoustics are very dry and you won't get any feedback.  But they can hear you.  So, I had to be careful with over singing and balancing with the orchestra.  Being congested  didn't help because I had to abandon listening to the orchestra pit.  I just relied on my eyes and trusted the conductor.  I had to stick to my technique and hope to God that it will be enough.  I just ignored the balance issue and sang it in a good placement in my voice and trusted the acoustics to do its job.  It went well surprisingly, but in my heart, I knew that it could have gone better if I was not sick. That performance happened to be my company debut and it was exciting.”

Espiritu was born in Morong, Rizal and as far as Philippine opera history is concerned, he is the first Filipino tenor to make it at La Scala di Milan in 2007 as Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. Before him, the first Filipino singer to make it at La Scala was noted bass baritone Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago Font who debuted in that venerable temple of opera as Sparafucile in Mefistofele during the 1932-1933 season with a total of eleven performances.




 (Mossessgeld  -- who happens to be the  cousin of distinguished writer-journalist  Carmen Guerrero Nakpil--  got to La Scala when he won a grant from the Caruso American Fellowship Foundation to spend a year of operatic studies in Italy in 1931. Mossessgeld also sang  other roles in La Scala such as Ramfis in Aida and Lothario in Mignon, among others. The La Scala publication described Mossessgeld as one possessing a “voice of rare power and beautiful in its entire range, a magnificent actor with acute artistic sense and aplomb.”)

At no fault of his, Espiritu  never had a chance to watch a classical concert when he was still in Manila before he finished Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of New Orleans and an Artist Diploma in Music from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

Before he discovered opera singers, he was a fan of Gary Valenciano and used to mimic Rico Puno when he was still a kid.

Abroad, Espiritu ran off with many competition awards namely the George London Foundation Award , the Belvedere International Voice Competition La Scala Award 2008, Metropolitan Opera National Council Finals 2005, Irene Dalis Voice Competition 2008, National Opera Association voice competition 2005, and the Birmingham Opera Guild Voice Competition 2005.

The Filipino tenor sums up  his impressions of  the audiences and opera profile of Tel Aviv: “What is interesting about this community is that, unlike other companies in other cities, they really want to support their local artists.  This is the only opera company in Israel so all the shows are sold out.  The audience are very well informed because before each show, one  hour prior to curtain time, the opera director holds a pre-show orientation so the concept is properly explained.  I think I had a good reception.  I was feeling a bit self conscious because I was sick and was not sure if I sang to the fullest of my capabilities, but I got good reception.  The critics wrote more about the concept of the production and they did not particularly like the concept.  I think a lot of people have an acquired taste for what the operas should be like.  They liked the singing part.  So, no problem with us singers.”

The opera was conducted by Maestro David Stern, son of violin icon Isaac Stern, who also conducted Licad in a rarely heard Schumann orchestral piece also in St. Gallen.

 Said the Filipino tenor of his conductor: “Maestro (David) Stern has a deep understanding of the style of Mozart and he came up with different ideas to make it less typical musically.  The tempi were just right and keep the ensembles together.  He once said that tradition is only valid if you believe in it.  There is no map to Mozart so, interpretation is key.  How you interpret it has to be believed by the orchestra, singers alike.  When everyone works in synergy, then that particular interpretation will work convincingly.  Musically, it was great.  But the concept was not well received.”

 Espiritu is all set for his Austrian debut as Otavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni next month.

The tenor sums up what he enjoys in his singing career now: “I enjoy the opportunity to make my own interpretation of the characters I'm playing. I take time to sink my own emotions to the part I am playing and using my voice to complement that role. When you get into the part, that’s the time I have a complete idea how I should sing the role and how I should act it out. It is becoming more fun to me.”

 

 

Munting Nayon News Magazine