“For it to truly impact the operatic community, perseverance is needed: “A swallow does not make a summer” goes a popular Spanish saying. But it is certainly a good start.”
What motivates you to participate as a professor in the International Salbek Opera Masterclass, and what excites you the most about this event?
My experience has told me that Romanian musicians and singers are very talented and I am very encouraged to discover these talents.
How do you believe your experience and expertise can influence the development and progress of the young musicians who will participate in this course?
The people who are doing this master are experienced singers and in short, the experience of an active singer or of an important international career is very significant for young singers.
What do you consider to be the main advantages of this course for aspiring young talents in the opera field, and how do you think it will impact their future careers?
The most important thing for a young singer in this case is that the opinions that teachers can give have great value if they are given through the direct experience of so many years of singing in big theaters.
What unique aspects does this masterclass bring to the artistic and educational landscape of Romania, and in what way do you think it can contribute to raising the level of training in the opera domain?
Something that I have seen that happens in Romania and in other Eastern European countries is that for some reason there is an invisible barrier to the other Western European countries. It could be the language, the culture or both, but I believe that these barriers must be broken in order to make Romania more international. This is an opportunity to contribute to it. I’m happy about this.
How do you see the long-term impact of this masterclass on the community of young musicians? What about its impact on the local community?
For it to truly impact the operatic community, perseverance is needed: “A swallow does not make a summer” goes a popular Spanish saying. But it is certainly a good start.
What do you hope the young participants will learn from this experience?
I think that if the kids learn that to be a good singer it’s not enough to have a good voice, it would be very useful for their artistic life. I mention this because many people confuse a good voice with a singer and it is not like that. The formation of a voice takes many more things to develop such as: musicality, style, diction, interpretative capacity, body expression, acting and others… and of course, a good voice is also useful.