Dinner With Tenor Saimir Pirgu, LA Opera's Rodolfo
/By Bob Bernard
10/14/2019
Photo credit: Paul Scala
Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu is in L.A. this month to sing the role of Rodolfo in Barrie Kosky’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème. He holds dual citizenship in Albania and Italy, and visits his mother and twin brother whenever possible. The following is a summary of dinner conversation at the Trump National Golf Club restaurant in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
On Kosky’s La Bohème
Mr. Pirgu recounted that he missed being in the picture at the La Bohème’s denouement to visibly share in Mimi’s demise: He favors a more traditionalist production of La Bohème and looks forward to being cast in the Franco Zeffirelli production sometime once again. Concerning the extraordinarily large stage volume Kosky’s set presented to the singers, he was not bothered: “My technique for projecting to the audience remained the same.”
Saimir Pirgu and soprano Marina-Costa Jackson in LA Opera’s La Bohème (Photo: Cory Weaver)
On Pavarotti
Mr. Pirgu credits his ability to successfully project his voice independently of a venue’s physical parameters to his coaching by Luciano Pavarotti. A native of Albania, Mr. Pirgu – as a youth - ventured across the forty-five miles of the Strait of Otranto to Italy where he matriculated into the Conservatorio Claudio Monteverdi in Bolzano (in northern Italy). Luciano Pavarotti, there as a transient enrollee in a weight-loss clinic, was spending the off-hours teaching voice to youths attending the Conservatory. Introduced by Mr. Pirgu’s voice teacher Vito Maria Brunetti, Pavarotti added him to his coachable cadre of young talents. This marked the beginning of a six-year tutoring arrangement, whenever their respective schedules matched up.
Pavarotti’s ‘recipe’ for vocal health remains with Mr. Pirgu: “Intonation. Sing at the correct pitch, and automatically your voice settles into perfect position.” He has sung roles from the operas of Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, Massenet, Gounod, Puccini, Rossini, and Berlioz. The Italian, German, and French languages clearly pose no problem for him. He even includes the role of Godefroy de Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in his repertoire. However, he has found the Polish in Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger to be difficult. In particular, he has found the variety of almost-sounding-alike consonants to be extremely challenging.
On Roles and Colleagues
Still resisting Wagner, Mr. Pirgu is content for his voice to darken a bit. Then, he would welcome a stab at Lohengrin. Thinking back, he has special good memories of working with Carlos Alvarez and Thomas Allen. Looking ahead, he would love to be paired sometime with Angela Gheorghiu, Anna Netrebko, and/or Elīna Garanča. He looks forward to working once again with maestros Conlon, Muti, and Mehta.
Sir Thomas Allen once asserted: “If I were to ask any major singer they would tell me there is one role that has a special relationship for them; one role that has got ‘under their skin.’” For Mr. Pirgu, it’s Don José in Bizet’s Carmen and he describes the role thus – “A career military man, possessed of a residual fondness for a hometown girl – but with a weakness for aggressive Gypsy women – awaits his turn on stage.”
Bob Bernard is a former chair of the LA Opera Artist Services Committee. Read his opera blog on Bob Bernard's Corner.