This week the San Francisco Opera will revive its acclaimed production of Händel’s “Partenope.” The production will star some of the most acclaimed singers in the Baroque repertoire and will showcase three debuts. Among the debuts is Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli who has performed around the world.
In anticipation of his debut, Vistoli spoke to OperaWire regarding the production. OperaWire: What does it mean to debut at the San Francisco Opera? Carlo Vistoli: Making my debut at the San Francisco Opera is first and foremost a great honor. It will also be an opportunity to present myself to the American public for the first time in a more complete manner.
Although I have already had opportunities to sing in several American cities with conductors such as William Christie and John Eliot Gardiner, these were always concerts or operas in concert form. Therefore, I am very happy to make my stage debut in this beautiful theater, with such a wonderful team of artists, and in this production by Christopher Alden, which we can already call historic. OW: Tell me about performing Händel’s “Partenope.
” CV: First of all, the role of Arsace is really a massive one. If we count the musical numbers, we see immediately that it is one of the most demanding roles that Händel wrote for a castrato, even longer than that of Giulio Cesare – with arias of great abandon or broad melodic lines, and others with tempestuous coloratura. The character is marked by profound ambiguit.
