An Update Interview with Lorenzo Malfatti
Lorenzo Malfatti serves as Professor Emeritus of Voice and Opera in the College Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. Maestro Malfatti is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Opera Theatre of Lucca in Tuscany. The following is a partial summary transcript of an interview with Mr. Malfatti on October 6, 1998.
OMT: How would you evaluate Kevin's career progress over the past two years?
LM: Kevin is making very good progress. There is no substitute for what I call the "professional gig," and Kevin is booking them--and performing well--at the proper pace. The two opera companies he debuted with both have international reputations, and Kevin's September and October, 1998 bookings with The Virginia Symphony represent important achievements that New York talent management will definitely notice.
OMT: How does singing the lead role in Fidelio rank as a career milestone?
LM: You have to think like a baseball manager to understand Fidelio--if you have a tenor who can handle the role of Florestan, you have a Big Slugger. Fidelio represents the single most difficult German tenor role to sing--a tenor who can sing the role of Florestan can sing virtually anything.
OMT: Are you saying Kevin should consider a career as a Helden Tenor?
LM: Good heavens, no. Kevin is a lyric tenor, and he is a very special lyric tenor--you won't hear a better tenor in Pittsburgh for a very long time. The size and energy of his voice do not mean that his singing is heavy. It's just the opposite. Kevin's big, energetic sound allows him to project his lyricism to the back row of a big hall without any apparent effort. As a result, he can sing the beautiful high lines of "Tamino," from The Magic Flute, and the energy of his voice brings in virility without sacrificing the high, sweet musical line. Kevin is thus well suited for the Mozart Clemenza di Tito, also, which many opera companies are featuring right now.
OMT: So Kevin should specialize in Mozart and Beethoven, then?
LM: Well, Kevin is excellent in Mozart, Beethoven and Massanet roles, but he is also perfect for contemporary works by Bernstein, or Hoiby, in large part due to his fresh, lyric sound. Remember, too, that he is tall and slim in build, so he can perform "young" roles both vocally and visually.
OMT: What other advice do you have for Kevin, right now?
LM: The only thing that troubles me is, for right now Kevin should not be doing so much [voice] teaching. I know he is a devoted teacher and he is probably very effective at it, but a voice teacher of necessity becomes concerned about his students' progress to at least the partial exclusion of his own. I realize he has to have income. It's just that Kevin has such an exceptional instrument and musicianship--and now, after two years, has made such progress as a performer--that it will break my heart if he cannot find a way to minimize the teaching. Right now he needs to coach, to develop new artistic repertoire, and to perform at the highest level this country can support, which is the level where he belongs.