By Richard Burnett for Curtains Up
@bugsburnett
L’Opéra de Montréal winds down its 35th season with Silent Night, the 2012 Pulitzer-winning two-act opera by renowned American composer Kevin Puts and prolific American librettist Mark Campbell. Based on the 2005 film Joyeux Noël by director Christian Carion, the work depicts the historic and miraculous truce between French, German, and Scottish soldiers on Christmas Eve in 1914, and expresses both the absurdity of war and the power of brotherhood. The all-star Canadian cast – featuring tenor Joseph Kaiser, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch, and baritones Phillip Addis and Alexander Hajek – is led by internationally-acclaimed Montreal soprano Marianne Fiset, who went on to wow audiences around the world after winning the top five prizes at the Montreal International Music Competition in 2007. Curtains up sat down with Fiset during rehearsals of Silent Night for a fun and frank Q&A.
Curtains Up: Let’s begin with the Montreal International Music Competition in 2007. So you won the first award. Then another and another, until you had won five! What was going through your mind at that point?
Marianne Fiset: The first prize had been announced two days earlier, but the others were announced at the closing gala. I remember going up to get the first prize, then the second, and people who worked there told me, ‘Don’t go away!’ So I was like, ‘Okay!’ It was like an overdose of love. Those two weeks of competition are some of the greatest memories of my life. It’sdhard to beat in terms of love and adrenaline.
You have sung on stages across Europe. Are there differences between European and North American audiences?
It’s not even the same from city to city! Singing in Marseilles is not the same as singing in Paris. Some towns are smaller and more welcoming than others. The most terrifying audience I’ve sung for was in Marseilles because they know their music and are really attached to their opera house. They are also known to be a very critical and vocal audience. It was nerve wracking to sing for them, but it went over well. You don’t see that kind of audience reaction here: Montreal is much more polite, despite the fact we are just as opinionated. I also love singing in Montreal because I am home. This is my hometown. I live here.
Is Mimi in La bohème and the title character in Manon the roles you are most known for?
Yes, I would say so, especially Mimi which I have performed most, and also the one I prefer to do.
Is Marianne Fiset a diva?
I don’t want to disappoint you, but no! (Laughs loudly) There are moments when we all become a bit capricious, dealing with things with we don’t particularly want to deal with.
Why do gay men love you?
I suspect it has to do with the flamboyance of opera, and the visceral way I do my work. I am also a bonne vivante. I love wine, I love life and I adore my work. To get dressed up in costumes and play like we’re 15-years-old? I have an amazing job!
L’Opéra de Montréal presents Silent Night at Salle Wilfred-Pelletier at Place des Arts, May 16-19-21-23 at 7:30 p.m. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes with one intermission. Language: English, French, and German, with portions in Italian and Latin. English and French surtitles. Admission: $21.40 – $135.77. Tickets: 514-985-2258 or www.operademontreal.com.
