Article: Summer Season 2008"Flying High: A Promising Young Tenor, Michael Fabiano Takes Flight"Courier Post (Robert Baxter) Tenor Michael Fabiano calls 2008-09 his "break-out season." It starts Tuesday evening when he sings his first Rodolfo in a concert performance of Puccini's "La Boheme" with Rossen Milanov and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center. Next up comes a five-performance run as Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata" for Opera New Jersey in Princeton. He repeats Alfredo in a semi-staged performance with the Minnesota Orchestra in August. During the upcoming season he sings his first Pinkerton in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" in performances with Opera Colorado. Then he returns to Philadelphia to sing his first Edgardo in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he is a resident artist. Debuts at the Bastille Opera in Paris and the Semper Oper in Dresden, Germany follow. "I want this career very badly," says Fabiano, who debuted at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan three months ago. "I'm working very hard." Without a pause, he adds, "I'm green and I'm young. I have a lot to learn before I become the world-class tenor I want to be, but that's my goal." Tuesday's "Boheme" marks Fabiano's debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Next month's "Traviata" brings his return to Opera New Jersey. "We are so excited to welcome Michael Fabiano back," says Opera New Jersey's general artistic director, Scott Altman. "Michael's thrilling sound and tremendous stage presence made him a crowd favorite when he sang Nemorino in "L'Elisir d'Amore' with us in 2006, and we are delighted to see that his career has continued to blossom with impressive credits such as winning the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions and debuting at La Scala." Born in Montclair, Essex County, Fabiano, 24, moved with his family to Minneapolis at the age of 10. He grew up with a passion for cars and a love for baseball. By the time he was 2, Fabiano knew the make and model of all the cars in his neighborhood. A "passionate" fan of the New York Yankees, he became at the age of 17 the youngest umpire in varsity sports in Minnesota. Fabiano aimed to follow his father and grandfather in corporate board rooms when he enrolled at the University of Michigan. He switched from business to voice after a lesson with former Metropolitan Opera tenor George Shirley. After a month of study, Shirley told Fabiano he had "a significant voice" and should pursue a career in opera. Since then, the young tenor has passionately pursued his goal of becoming a major singer. Fabiano squeezed four years of study into three and graduated early from the University of Michigan. Shirley urged him to polish off his studies at the Academy of Vocal Arts. In addition to Shirley and his current voice teacher, Bill Schuman, Fabiano credits AVA's music director Christofer Macatsoris with insisting on vocal discipline and setting the standards he needs to make a career. "Chris Macatsoris cuts you down a lot," he says candidly. "AVA brought me down to earth from cloud nine. It's a lesson-teaching institution. They put you through the meat grinder." Fabiano learned an important lesson in his first year at AVA when Macatsoris yanked him from the cast of "Rigoletto" because he was not ready to sing the leading tenor role. That happened the day his family flew in from Boston to attend the performance, but he did not sing. That proved to be an important lesson. Like most tenors, Fabiano has a highly strung temperament. "I go crazy," he admits. "I have head issues as a singer." The tenor admits he likes to be "coddled" and have his "hand held." AVA's coaches have done both. They have groomed him for an important career. Fabiano took a major step toward that goal last year when he won the Metropolitan Opera's auditions. Opera companies in Europe and the United States began to offer him leading roles. Three of the offers, he found tempting. In January, he sang Rinuccio in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" in Athens and then, after singing Rossini's "Stabat Mater" in Spoleto, repeated Rinuccio for his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Fabiano's first experience at a major international opera house proved unsettling. "A terrible experience professionally" is how he sums up his two months at La Scala. Arriving in Milan, he expected to sing the premiere and the telecast after an Italian tenor was fired before rehearsals began. Conductor Riccardo Chailly embarked on what Fabiano calls "a firing jag." Fabiano survived the firings. Then Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo suddenly arrived. Grigolo got the premiere and the telecast. To make matters worse, the conductor and the coaches at La Scala forced Fabiano to rework his technique. Midway through rehearsals, Fabiano's grandfather died. He was unable to return home to attend the funeral. "I was like a bird with clipped wings," he explains. "I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know when I was singing. I needed someone to support me and tell me I could do it. No one at La Scala gave a *&^ about me!" Fabiano finally sang three performances at the end of the run. He was cheered when he took his curtain call. Fabiano returned to Philadelphia wiser in the ways of the operatic world. Like many young singers, Fabiano is besieged with offers to sing roles beyond his capacity. After winning second place at a major vocal competition in Spain two years ago, four opera houses asked him to sing Pollione in Bellini's "Norma," a role written for a dramatic voice. Fabiano declined the offers. He also refused to make his Paris debut in another testing opera, Verdi's "Luisa Miller." Instead, he will sing Cassio, the second tenor in Verdi's "Otello." "I'm a lyric tenor," explains Fabiano. "I want my voice to stay healthy and fresh." Rodolfo and Alfredo fit the prescription. Fabiano says his upcoming Pinkerton in Colorado will "stretch" his voice in the right direction. For now, that's the limit. He wants to make his career in "La Boheme" and "La Traviata" as well as "L'Elisir d'Amore" and "Lucia di Lammermoor." "My favorite opera is Massenet's Manon. The music feels the greatest in my throat. Unfortunately it doesn't come up very much. "I don't want to be the tenor who is eaten up and spit out by the business. I don't want that. "For now, I'm taking things slowly. I'm not quite ready for a full career. I'm mentally and vocally comfortable to take that step in another year." |
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