It was an uncharacteristically warm autumn day on the 1^st of October in Amsterdam. Driving there from Utrecht in the late afternoon, there was only light traffic along the way, almost a cloudless sky, and it promises to be a starry night, as Angie and I made our way to the De Meervaart theater. It was indeed a special night: Filipina soprano Armela Fortuna is performing the title role in the operetta Die Csardasfürstin!


Armela played the role of the gypsy princess herself Sylva Varescu, in the Emmerich Kalman operetta. It was a rousing performance! She sang, danced and delivered her lines – all in German – to the admiration and applause of the audience. Sharing that magical night with us was Eddie and Orchid Flores, and another compatriot and her husband.





 

Speaking with her after the operetta, Armela revealed that she had been performing non-stop, 17 performances in a period of three weeks! “I was really looking forward for my Amsterdam performace because I know you are watching,” she said. “I was feeling tired already that day but I just have to ignore it because in my mind, I have to sing and not get sick.”



 

Following is an interview we did with the Filipina operetta star Armela Fortuna:

 

B.B.:  How old were you when it was first noticed that you had a talent for singing?

A.F.: I was 14 or 15. I was already part of the choir during my elementary days but it was only during my highschool days when the choir director from Batangas noticed my voice. She said that my voice stands out from the rest of the choir members. She gave me opportunities to sing solo for our highschool glee club concerts. She was the one who encouraged me to go to the conservatory in Manila.

B.B.: Did you come from a 'musical' family? Were your father and/or mother influential in 'discovering' and training you when you were younger?

A.F.: My mother used to sing in a local band when she was young just for fun. She has a beautiful untrained voice. I would say that she had a great influence in me for theater and performing. She trained me well by inviting her friends and neighbors to listen to my monologue or a piece of Filipino poem that I would recite in front of them ("performance level" as she would always remind me!).

Both of my parents would always encourage me to sing for parties which I would do to please them and also because I love to sing and see that the people enjoyed listening to the music and my voice.

I didn't get any formal musical training when I was young, not until I went to the UST Conservatory of Music when I was 17 years old.

B.B.: Can you describe your earliest years in training? What were your interests and hobbies aside from singing?

A.F.: I love theater! It was my first love before singing. I joined dramatics club and theater club and choir at the same time. I remember how many times I wasn't able to do my homework because of late rehearsals.

B.B.: How and when did you get the part of Sylva Varescu?

A.F.: In 2009, my good friend Abdul Candao (world-class Filipino tenor based in Vienna, Austria) asked me to audition in Milan for an operatic role that was not really for me. He said it will be good for me to do this for experience, and also to be heard by the impressario and the stage director. I obviously did not get the part I auditioned for. But the impressario called me and said that he is interested to hear me sing in Vienna to do the audition for an operetta production. I went to vienna to... I sang and danced Sylva's famous aria, delivered a memorized piece of German monologue as required... The rest has been a dream!

B.B.: How did you prepare for the part, and for your first performance as the title role of Die Csardasfürstin?

A.F.: There's a huge difference between singing a role in an opera and doing a role in an operetta. In opera you have to sing and act. In operetta you have to sing, act, dance and deliver TONS of dialogue. I took intensive German lessons for three months and enrolled myself in dance class because the role demands it. I had to deliver a lot of dialogue so I have to be at least at ease with the language. This was the greatest challenge in my career: to learn and understand the 46 page text in German, spoken by the different characters in the operetta. I was forced to speak and think German in 3 months! Luckily my sister speaks fluent german so she was a huge help for me.

B.B.: Were you already familiar with the role even before being chosen for the part? Was it something you had done already during your years of training?

A.F.: I know a lot of operettas but unfortunately not "Die Csardasfürstin". I am not familiar with Emmerich Kalmann's music. I have sung Rosalinda from Johann Strauss "Die Fledermaus" (in English), and Eurydice from Offenbach's "Orphee aux Enfers" (in French), plus some Lehar's famous operetta arias, but not one of Kalmann's music in my repertoire!!!

B.B.: How many performances have you done so far, and how many more are scheduled?

A.F.: I have done 17 performances in a period of 3 weeks! My last performance would be the closing show in Bad Sackingen (in Germany) on the 17th of October. That would be the end of Operettentheater Salzburg's "Die Csardasfürstin tour" in 2011.

We found out the following day that Armela contracted a virus and could not perform anymore in The Netherlands. We sent her our warmest wishes to get well soon. She will soon regale audiences again with her diva stage performances as our Filipina soprano princess!

 

 

 

 

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