Toronto – On a chilly late March morning, as flurries came down on my way to the Tanenbaum Centre for an interview with Italian mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, I couldn’t help but cursed a little under my breath: “Enough already – the Vernal Equinox was a good week ago!” But all was forgotten a few minutes after meeting the charming 29th year old Signorina Malfi. She’s in town to sing Rosina in Barber of Seville, one of two productions in the Canadian Opera Company’s spring season.
A native of Pomigliano d’Arco near Napoli, Malfi arrived in Toronto only a few days earlier. Has the Canadian weather been quite a shock for a Neapolitan? “Yes, I’m waiting for nicer weather…I hope!” While this engagement marks her official Canadian debut, Malfi had actually sung in Canada once before, in summer 2008 at the Bel Canto Festival in the Quebec Eastern Township of Knowlton, under the baton of Kent Nagano. At the time, the young Serena was a member of the Opera Studio of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome: “it was my first concert with orchestra. We did the duet and finale from Barbiere, and the Sextet from Lucia.”
Up close and personal, one is struck by her uncanny resemblance to Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli. Her luminous eyes, luxuriant wavy hair, ready smile, and infectious laugh all recall the great Bartoli. Twenty years younger, Malfi possesses a beautiful lyric mezzo, and like Bartoli, Malfi has enjoyed a special association with Switzerland where she has had several important milestones. Given her lovely instrument, uncommon musicality, and sparkling coloratura, she’s ideal in the Baroque, Rossini, and Bel Canto repertoires.
There’s no shortage of video clips of hers on Youtube, including the complete La Salustia of Pergolesi from 2011, where Malfi sings the title role with poise and plenty of temperament. Also intriguing is a bootleg video clip of her Angelina from 2012 Teatro Colon. In both of these, her resemblance to Bartoli is quite astonishing.
“Yes I know…everybody tells me this!” Malfi says. “I met Cecilia in Zurich in 2010 when I made my debut there in Barbiere and she was singing Cenerentola. I went to her rehearsal and wanted to talk to her, (I got so excited that) I started crying” Malfi recalls with a laugh.
Since her 2009 professional debut in Salieri’s La Grotta di Trofonio at the Winterthur Festival in Switzerland, the trajectory of Malfi’s star has been meteoric. In a short six years, she has made many important debuts, including Zurich, Lausanne, Florence, Rome, La Scala, Amsterdam, Madrid, Valencia, Oviedo, Teatro Colon, Paris, Vienna, Covent Garden, Metropolitan, Berlin and Munich. Audiences and critics praise her gleaming voice and charming stage persona, as Rosina, Angelina, Zerlina, Cherubino, Despina, Dido, Annio, among others.
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JS: Your bio tells me you were born in Aversa, Italy?
SM: Well, yes…that’s where the hospital was! (Laughs) But I’m from Pomigliano d”Arco, a city near Napoli. That’s where my family is and I try to be there when I have some free time, but I’m always traveling…
JS: Do you come from a musical family?
SM: Nobody – there are no musicians in my family. I am the first singer.
JS: Do you remember when you first started singing? How old were you?
SM: My mom told me this funny story. When I was born, the nurse said to her ‘Serena has to be a soprano – she’s so loud when she cries! (Laughs) As a child I sang in the chorus, and when I was nine I started studying the piano. Later I also sang pop, jazz, “funky”, had a band and when I was sixteen, we did the pubs and restaurants.
JS: Do you have memories of seeing your first opera?
SM: I remember a period when I was in Avellino, and I remember going with my friends to Teatro San Carlo, where I saw Cosi, Nozze, Barbiere, Cavalleria, Werther….
JS: When did you start taking voice lessons, to train as a classical singer?
SM: I was about 20. I entered Santa Cecilia when I was 21 or 22, took masterclasses with Renata Scotto, and I also studied with Raul Gimenez. Now I’m four years with Mariella Devia…she’s amazing…incredible!
JS: When you were a student in the conservatory, did you have a singer you admired, someone you listen to a lot?
SM: I remember growing up listening a lot to Cecilia Bartoli. Now I love Elina Garanca, and Mariella Devia of course. I go to Youtube to listen to them!
JS: There are lots of video clips of you on Youtube. I found bits of your Despina, Zerlina, Cherubino, and Pergolesi’s Flaminio and Salustia, plus a clip of your Angelina from Teatro Colon taken by someone in the audience…
SM: I know…Now people take (it with) the phone and the day after everything is online! It’s a bit scary. You try to do your best, but we are human and sometimes make mistakes…
JS: You already have a big repertoire considering you’ve only been singing for six years. You have sung Rosina and Angelina the most. Are they your two favourites?
SM: My favourite role is the one I am singing at the moment (smiles)…
JS: Very good, diplomatic answer! How many Rosina’s have you done?
SM: This is my 5th production, after Zurich, Madrid, Staatsoper Berlin, Covent Garden and now here.
JS: Tell us something about your Rosina – how do you see her?
SM: My Rosina is a very smart young woman, intelligent, wicked and wise. You always come with an idea for the role, and then with different conductor and director, we always find something new because of the new staging.
JS: When I was doing research for the interview, it was mentioned that you sang a Rosenblatt Recital in London in 2011. Was that really your first recital? Did you do any recitals as a student in Santa Cecilia?
SM: Yes, the Rosenblatt Recital was my first. In Santa Cecilia, you do these concerts with other people, but you sing just one or two arias. A recital is very hard I think, because you are alone with piano, and you have to sing for one or two hours many different things…
JS: You’ve also specialized in baroque…
SM: Yes, I’ve sung Handel’s Agrippina and two Pergolesi operas – the role of Ferdinando in Flaminio, and the title role in La Salustia…a very long opera! I remember it was in Jesi Festival and it was so hot, like 40 degrees! And no air conditioning…it was (almost) impossible to sing in these costumes.
JS: You’ve also sung Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. What was that experience like? Does Dido fit your voice?
SM: I sang it only once, and really love this part. I’d like to sing it again. Because I do Rossini and Mozart, all happy operas. Dido is the only opera role that I can die onstage!
JS: Do you have a dream role?
SM: Carmen! All mezzos want to sing her!
JS: Do you consider yourself a lyric-coloratura mezzo?
SM: Yes, I do… I have coloratura now, but my voice changes like every six months (laughs)!
JS: I also noticed that you have a very wide vocal range. I am curious – do you go from a low G or A to a high C?
SM: Yes, I can sing up to a high C (more laughs) – I do it in warm up. In coloratura you can take it up to a C…
JS: Ah, maybe Adalgisa is in your future…
SM: Yes, maybe in the future. I’ll have to wait!
JS: After Rosina here in Toronto, where do you go?
SM: I’ll sing in Teatro San Carlo for the first time, in Cenerentola. It’s like a dream come true! I’ve sung everywhere but not in Napoli…
JS: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
SM: When I’m not singing, I come back to be with my family, and my cat Micia. I spend time with my cousin’s French bulldog – I’m her dog-sitter! And of course when I have free time, I am studying. When I want to relax, I go for a walk, or I spend time with my family and friends.
JS: Tell me, where do you live?
SM: Hmmmm…good question! I guess I live in my suitcase (laughs). I lived in Rome for six or seven years, then I left the apartment there because I am ten months traveling. So it’s complicated now… I don’t know where I want to live. When I go to Paris, I say I love Paris and I want to live here; when I go to Vienna, I say I love Vienna and I want to live here! So I don’t know…
JS: Well, maybe you want to live in Toronto…
SM: Hahahaha, yeah but it’s too cold for me!
You can catch Italian mezzo Serena Malfi as Rosina in Canadian Opera Company’s The Barber of Seville (April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 13) at the Four Seasons Centre. http://www.coc.ca/Home.aspx
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