Neda, the protagonist of Leoncavallo’s “clown,” must die, not perfect his true love.soprano Ermonella JahoDebuting at the Royal Opera House in London this month, she found the character more complex than initially thought.
“She is strong enough to fight to death for her freedom,” Jaho said in a telephone interview. “She never loses the light in herself.”
Albanian soprano, 48, captivated both Atlantic audiences with her playing depth and credibility, especially in the realism of “realism.”VerismoIs the work of Verdi and Puccini. The portrayal of her character Violetta in “La Traviata” is the role of her signature that led her to the international spotlight after she rushed into the Royal Opera House in 2008. (She returns to Verdi’s work at the Metropolitan Opera. January). On her London stage, she also debuted her role as her nun Angelica in Puccini’s “Trilogy” singing at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in December.
Jaho was selected to appear in the documentary “Fuoco Sacro,” which is currently being broadcast on French and German television stations. Arte.. Next April, she will return to the Royal Opera and sing the role of Riu in Puccini’s “Turandot” recorded for the Warner Classics label under the direction of Antonio Pappano.
And at the Royal Opera from Tuesday to July 20th, the audience will have the opportunity to experience her at Damiano Michelet. Double stand Of the “clown” and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” first seen in 2015
The Royal Opera’s longtime music director, Papano, pointed out the combination of empathy and strength victory in Jaho’s performance. “She is sensitive to all the curves of every phrase and every situation where the character finds herself, and even in painful situations,” he said in a telephone interview. “But she also has this steel-like determination that she must have in” Suor Angelica “, especially Madama Butterfly. “
“She is capable,” he said. “She can make you cry with her voice and her acting (very detailed and subtle nuances). She is very generous when she is there. She saves for anything. Is not.”
In the “clown”, the role of the soprano demands tremendous flexibility and scope. The story focuses on the Calabrian theater company of the 19th century. When Neda’s husband, Kanio, takes revenge on her unfaithfulness in both the on-stage comedy and the villagers, this work creates a meta-dramatic tightrope walk.
“This is an absolutely essential Verismo,” said the conductor. “Sometimes that part is mostly spoken, and then it digs in and becomes dramatic.”
Jaho finds it challenging to convey the complexity of her character in a two-act drama. “All these cards, all emotions need to be played and read by the general public in a short amount of time,” she said.
Soprano began to absorb Italian culture at the age of 17 and was selected as a soprano. Katia Ricciarelli To study at her academy in Mantova, Italy. Jaho enrolled in the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he studied under Valerio Papari.She was also coached by the bass Paolo Montal Solo..
“I wanted to prove to everyone that I could speak your language and sing your music, even if I came from Albania,” said Jaho, who currently lives in New York.
Growing up in the country behind the Iron Curtain, the soprano struggled in Italy with both culture shock and distance from his family. She also had to do strange jobs, be a babysitter, and take care of the elderly. “But I always kept in mind that if her dreams were big, her sacrifices and difficulties could be great,” she said.
She inherited a heartfelt gift from her father, a military officer and professor of philosophy. He told me nothing was impossible. And you have to work hard. “
Jaho believes it is destined to appear in “La Traviata” after falling in love with the opera in her hometown of Tirana, Albania, at the age of 14. Her brother she will sing the character before she dies.
To date, she has sung the role of Violetta 301 times. She said her role in her was “enriched in her life experience” and remained “like a dream of my voice.”
“For some reason, it encourages me to stay in shape,” she said.
Last fall, she said Cilea’s “Adriana LecouvreurIn her repertoire, at a performance at the Vienna Operahouse. She also sings French works such as Massenet’s “Thaïs”. But she doesn’t aim to play a role where she doesn’t have a natural affinity.
“It’s not because I don’t like the challenge,” she said. “But sometimes you need to know what kind of battle you want to win.”
Since 2012, she has offered master classes to students in both her native Albania and cities such as London, Paris and Sydney, Australia. “Today’s younger generation wants to make it so easy,” she observed. “They think it’s enough to put your face on social media — we need it — but only in a certain balance.”
She emphasized that the Covid era emphasized occupational vulnerabilities. It really has to be love from your internal organs. “
Jaho expresses childlike joy in Missieret’s staging. Missieret captures “all the details and flavors” of Southern Italy. “You forget that you are the artist singing the character,” she said. “You will be a character because everything around you helps it.”
Weave together with the director Two short operas In “Cavalleria Rusticana”, the character of “Pagliatch” appears on the stage, and vice versa. “Everything makes sense,” she said. “Their hatred, their love. The composers are different, but in the end you can’t tell the difference.”
And just as Leoncavallo’s opera reveals the fluid boundaries between art and life, Jaho believes that the singer must be “real on stage” in order to provide music. Say there is. “She can’t give to the masses without crying, loving and laughing like herself,” she said.
