What does Vittorio Grigolo have in common with Plato?
“There’s more than one road to Rome, and more than one to this opera house,” said Mr. Gelb, who said he likes the idea of popular communicators and hopes that Mr. Grigolo’s experience might address that issue of the moment: finding the next tenor superstar.
He doesn’t put it so directly, or refer to Pavarotti, but Mr. Gelb admits the need to find “stars who can stand onstage and make an audience swoon.”
“There’s very few of those in any generation,” he said, “and there’s certainly a great deal of interest in finding them. I saw the dress rehearsal of the Covent Garden ‘Manon,’ and Vittorio had that metaphysical connection with the audience. I’m convinced of his potential.”
Gelb has contracted Grigolo into 2016.
(top photo: AP)