Opera Chic

Opera Chic & Sinfini Music: From Couture to Costume to Couture

"I cannot clothe them! I need models!" --> Miuccia Prada's famous battle cry aimed at The Metropolitan Opera's supernumeraries in the run up to a starry Verdi Attila that bowed in February, 2010. In her opera costumier debut, the Italian fashion designer was (apparently) horrified at the discrepancy between the teenage Amazon models, lithe & light as air, who she sends down the runway twice a year (excluding resort collections) and opera professionals who frankly can't subsist on a model's diet of Starbucks & Marlboros & Veuve Clicquot & fruit salad to crank out four hours of unmic'd (we hope) Strauss.

Although Prada's outburst could have been taken straight from the pages of a modern rom-com -- the eccentric, Ivory-towered fashion designer scandalized by seam-sabotaging curves of real women -- it doesn't mean that opera singers are banned from couture. Performers have been upping their games (since Maria Callas and Biki/YSL) through relationships with couture designers who understand the physique of classical music artists -- Lacroix, Viktor & Rolf, Zandra Rhodes and the late greats Gianni Versace and Gianfranco Ferrè.

Young (hawt) performers like Charlie Siem, Ray Chen and Vittorio Grigolo play dress-up with Giorgio Armani, whose been cultivating classical music stars well before he premiered as opera costumier at the ROH in 1995 for a modern-day Jonathan Miller production of Cosi. But what about the girls? DiDonato goes with Westwood and Renee's a couture cowgirl. Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio relies on Alberta Ferretti -- although Ferretti's never designed for opera, she creates for real-world, independent women and Giannattasio perfectly fits the bill, like in the photo above.

For classical music artists, there's no better time than now -- along with the rapidly-changing landscape of 21st century opera that increasingly assumes sartorial savvy, the fashion world's changing, too, with an egalitarian shift, a new power paradigm that invites bloggers as first row ambassadors shoulder to shoulder with the great taste-makers of the industry. Fashion is accessible, but when anyone can get backstage without credentials, it's no longer aspirational/exotic/elite (choose one), so OC predicts that fashion will bolster & buttress with arts and culture. And we've always needed fashion for its raw swerve. So what do you say we go get our symbiotic swerve on? Start here with OC's latest piece for Sinini Music on the Giannattasio/Ferretti partnership (including a little lesson from Leyla Gencer).

Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor Club at Teatro alla Scala

Milan last greeted Verdi’s final opera Falstaff in 2004. Nine years ago, Teatro alla Scala was closed, pending restoration, so the Giorgio Strehler production curtained under Muti's baton at Teatro degli Arcimboldi on the city's outskirts, dedicated to Tito Gobbi's death-year 20th anniversary for his enduring, late 1950s whiskered Falstaff with Herbie von Karajan and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

It was also the year of OC's inaugural Milan visit, and over summer break, she visited La Scala's museum, its collections temporarily housed in a stunning palazzo on Corso Magenta that overlooked Santa Maria della Grazia. The Northern Italian city of understated, un-boastful elegance struck OC as one who never tried too hard -- the very definition of cool -- and instantly reverberated with New York-based OC. Aaaand you guys pretty much know the rest of the story.

Falstaff (tonight in its penultimate replication) is the only Robert Carsen- stamped production in Teatro alla Scala’s 2012-13 season (in coproduction with Royal Opera House and the Canadian Opera Company) and as Carsen Crusaders, we weren’t going to miss it. We find his b-side, hidden track of ripe sexuality -- never vulgar or desperate (unless it has to be) -- and his fashion title familiarity a winning match for Milan, and since we’re not convinced that Falstaff needs a traditional Shakespearian director to stage it, we loved it.

We've never supported a buffo Falstaff staging and feel that it needs a delicate balance between commedia lirica and opera seria -- a fat knight mocked in his twilight, a bittersweet glimpse of flawed man too arrogant to realize it until everything converges in absolute absurdity -- tutto nel mondo e' burla -- and that's where a lot of lazy directors get it wrong.

Opera Now Magazine & OC: Carmen Giannattasio February Cover Feature

Last month in the garrulous kingdom of Naples, Neapolitan bel canto superstar Carmen Giannattasio chatted with OC on behalf of Opera Now magazine (in perfect, British-inflected English), between grueling La Traviata replications that had unfolded since Teatro San Carlo's big-bang December 5 season opener a week earlier. 

Onstage, Giannattasio projected a towering, slash & burn Violetta who smashed protons like that car-destroying bonus stage in Street Fighter II. Offstage, still under the shadow of a diva, she's adorably petite.

She's currently at Milan's Teatro alla Scala as Alice in the Robert Carsen production of Verdi's Falstaff, taking over all replications from her split-role counterpart Barbara Frittoli, who withdrew from illness. Giannattasio jives with Ambrogio Maestri and Bryn Terfel who split the Shakespearean title role. After the January 15 premiere, Corriere della Sera's notoriously cranky critic Isotta gave Giannattasio glowing reviews, calling her "la deliziosa", which earns her the OC moniker "Gianna-tasty-o".

You can read the cover feature, penned by OC, in this month's Opera Now. The Neapolitan diva shares a heartbreaking story of an almost-career-destroying eating disorder, pens an inspiring message to young singers, divulges her most coveted (future) roles and recounts days and nights with London glitterati where she currently resides. In the same issue, you can also read OC's official Lohengrin review of the Teatro alla Scala season opener from December 7, 2012.

Starlight Starbright, Carmen Giannattasio Straight Outta Napoli

(Giannattasio in Alberta Ferretti dress and shoes. Hair/Make-up Mariano Sabbatelli. Photo Alessandro Sarno in Naples, Campania.)

Last night, La Traviata at Naples' Teatro di San Carlo ended its run, but we're still (sliiiightly) obsessed after checking it out. Turkish-Italian film director/screenwriter Ferzan Özpetek's new production (think: if Violetta kept an opulent mansion in Istanbul, parquet layered in rich Turkish carpets) was honored in opening the storied Neapolitan opera house's 2012-13 season on December 5.

Maestrino Michele Mariotti restored manuscript cuts (*wink* uncut *wink*) and presented an insanely-intricate score full of swing and butt-shaking rhythm. Insanity, really, to hear such ballsy flow in a traditional, historical setting. Give this kid a turntable and he'll do damage. 

Spotlight diva Carmen Giannattasio shook plaster from the walls and gold-leaf from the ceiling as an outrageously-juicy Violetta. Hurricane Carmen, a force of nature. Nevermind the fact that the opera house announced she was fighging a flu but would sing anyway. Hometown hero Carmen, born and raised in the mountains of Avellino (now living in London), returned to her native theater after the past year of singing at The Met (Leonora in Trovatore) and Covent Garden (Mimi in Bohème) to wide open arms. We discovered her in 2009, in Erminoe (just like Ceci, she attaches herself to rarer, unconventional compositions) and we wrote about her sultry, smoky, sexy, sassy presence and unique voice, blessedly more talented than hyped, for once, slamming back Rossini and Verdi in a way that makes us cross our fingers and hope that we've found the "proverbial precious truffle."

As a byproduct of Milan's Accadmia del Teatro alla Scala (1999 - 2001), an Operalia winner (in 2002) and racking a Gramophone Opera Award, sure, on paper, it seems like victories come easy for the Mediterranean firecracker.

But Giannattasio spoke candidly to Corriere del Mezzogiorno (not online) a few days before her high-profile season opening Violetta and shared a deeply personal struggle with her fans. Here it is in OC's translation:

"Thanks to a recent article that was written about my combination of vocal skill coupled with my charisma, I've been compared to a top pop idol. But in reality, I really don't think that I match the standards of a pop model. Actually, I'd define myself as a "trop model", size 38 [that's a "medium" size 4-6 in USA conversions], a person who likes fashion, likes to have an original look, but who is also careful of my physical form, especially considering my weakness for salty foods like "salsicce e friarielli" [sausages fried with a type of green vegetable, similar to broccoli rabe, that you find in Naples], pizza and sfogliatelle [insanely-delicious ricotta-filled, shell-shaped fried pastries typical to the region, which OC ate a’plenty].

The problem, unfortunately, is that on stage, they always want you to be forever young, lean, agile and beautiful. Therefore, there are many sacrifices, but the key is that you must do it without arriving at a fevered pitch, a paroxysm, like the same kind that unfortunately often grips the world of fashion.

I have to be sincerely honest -- in fact, it's the first time that I’ve ever come out publically -- starting in my 20s, and up until about 4-5 years ago, right in the middle of my career's big trajectory, I struggled with bulimia, which at times, relapsed. Singing and my voice waere the only things that saved me: Aside from the weight loss, I was losing my voice. It was then that I realized that I risked to lose everything.

And this is why I'm outing it. I want to make an appeal to all the girls and women out there: To stay fit is, of course, important, but like everything, you need to find equilibrium. Balance. It's better to cut out the junk food from your diet and walk a little bit more. Listen, it's not a coincidence that fashion designer Alberta Ferretti thought of me to model the dresses that she designs for curvier women. I mean, these are the kind of dresses that you can wear without worrying about indulging in a tasty sfogliatella! [seriously, sfogliatella straight outta Naples are to die for]."

Courageous, really, to speak about something that doesn't get any airtime in Italy. Easting disorders aren't as rampant here as they are in the USA, but it's simply not talked about.

By the way, those photos above and below come from a recent photoshoot that Giannattasio did with Italian fashion icon, Alberta Ferretti. Giannattasio modeled the collections in the San Carlo opera house,, found on OC's computer here: C:\Users\Opera Chic\Documents\My Pictures\Opera Divas\Divas That Will Cut You\Carmen_Giannattasio.jpg. Personally, we think of Giannattasio as a young Charlotte Rampling photographed by Peter Lindbergh.

And what about that Violetta in San Carlo? Slammed it! The Financial Times was there and said: "Carmen Giannattasio is singing with such well-judged phrasing, such a melting tone, such a compelling build-up of tension."  

Italian critics raved, too, including Corriere della Sera's notoriously cranky classical music/opera legend, Isotta, who can cut down your entire career in a single sentence, usually written in Latin. Isotta, upon hearing Giannattasio, recalls divas past, just as Rupert Christiansen did, comparing her to actress Anna Magnani.

Isotta paragoned her to, honor of all honors, Magda Olivero. He writes:

"The protagonist is the girl from Avellino, Carmen Giannattasio. She's got good pronunciation, a beautiful voice and grand technique. She has, like I wrote a few days ago about Jonas Kauffman [in his Teatro alla Scala Lohengrin review], a foundation of singing "sul fiato" and "messe di voce" that gives you goose bumps. Her "Ah! dite alla giovine" burns out your eyeballs. In my opinion, she's a model sourced and inspired like one of the greatest "Grand Dames" of operatic arts, Magda Olivero."

So really, what more is there to say?

(Giannattasio in Alberta Ferretti dress and shoes. Hair/Make-up Mariano Sabbatelli. Photo Alessandro Sarno in Naples, Campania.)

Oh Carmen: Giannattasio's Ermione

Rupert Christiansen, opera gourmet and a man who does not usually take the sacred names of divas in vain, was so impressed by Carmen Giannattasio's Ermione (after being smitten by her Violetta) that he even evoked Anna Magnani's neorealismo ghost, Giannattasio's tasty, bewby soprano & presence impressed him so:

"As the enraged Ermione, Carmen Giannattasio declaimed exalted emotions with Magnani-like passion, confirming my view that she the most talented of the younger Italian sopranos".

Rossini's "Ermione" -- possibly one of the most underrated masterpieces of Italian opera -- is tailor-made for fierce sopranos of stormy coloratura -- Opera Chic's girl Alexandrina Pendatchanska a usual favorite.

Giannattasio -- whose sultry, smoky, sexy, sassy presence and truly interesting voice make her one of the rising young sopranos worldwide, blessedly via more talent than hype for once -- does Rossini and Verdi in ways that make us cross our fingers and hope that we might have found the proverbial precious truffle -- a real soprano (her official opera releases still -- somewhat -- lacking, she is blessedly very much present in the circuit of unofficial digitally recorded performances for history's record).

While we keep our fingers crossed, here's her "Come in quest'ora bruna":

David McVicar's Traviata Will Make You Feel All Tingly Down There

(Above: McVicar's Traviata, Carmen Giannattasio's Violetta - Credit Drew Farrell)

You can't stop the secksinesx & powah of David McVicar's new "Traviata"! Last week, the Scottish Opera was treated to their first new production of Traviata in twenty years: in a new co-production with Welsh National Opera and Gran Teatre del Liceu, McVicar presented a gritty, stripped-down version, devoid of the opening scene "big fashion parade" that we've come to expect. Opera Chic is an unabashed McV fan, even if his old snarks against poor Violetta -- he was quoted as calling the piece -- "'I could never do such a coarse, clumsy, reduction of this woman", he said in 2003, badly misreading Piave's and Verdi's genius work -- anyway he changed his mind and this was his first-ever production of Traviata, and who better to entrust it to than his usual homies, choreographer Andrew George & designer Tanya McCallin.

Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio -- highly praised by august Corriere della Sera's in last year's Boccanegra in Bologna -- gives Violetta a sultry Italian hawtness -- in a typically McVicarian -- McVicaresque? -- flash of laser insight she's Violetta as fast-thinking hustler, leading Alfredo as Federico Lepre and Germont as Richard Zeller through conductor Emmanuel Joel-Hornak's paces, like a Pied Piper with delicious Italian flesh instead of a silly German pipe.

After Glasgow's Theatre Royal, the production goes to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness, and finally Belfast's Grand Opera House in early in 2009.

(Above: Federico Lepre's Alfredo and Carmen Giannattasio's Carmen - Credit Drew Farrell)

(Above: Carmen Giannattasio's Violetta and Richard Zeller's Germont -Credit Drew Farrell)

(Above: Carmen Giannattasio's Violetta and Federico Lepre's Alfredo - Credit Drew Farrell)