Q&A
When did you start singing?
I don’t remember exactly when…
Why did you start singing?
Because it felt good.
Which singers inspired you most when you were young?
ABBA.
Which singer do you most admire?
The great mezzosopranos.
What’s your favourite role?
There is not a favourite, I love them when I am doing them.
What role have you never played but would like to?
The Rossini roles I still have not played, like Arsace in Semiramide, Malcolm in La Donna del Lago and many others by Rossini.
What’s your favourite opera to watch?
Difficult to say… it’s between Tosca, La Traviata and one that a friend is singing in.
Who is your favourite composer?
That’s between Handel, Mozart and Rossini.
Who is your favourite writer?
Metastasio.
Who is your favourite theatre or film director?
Peter Jackson.
Who is your favourite actor?
Johnny Depp.
Who is your favourite dancer?
Fred Astaire.
What is your favourite book?
The Bible…
What is your favourite film?
The ones that go right with food…
Which is your favourite city?
San Miguel de Tucumán.
What do you like most about yourself?
That I think too much.
What do you dislike about yourself?
Also, that I think too much.
What was your proudest moment?
When I manage to wake up early.
When and where were you happiest?
Sharing with my friends and family
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My friends and family.
What is your greatest fear?
To have no fear…
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
The fact that sometimes I think too much!
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My friends.
What is your most treasured possession?
My scores…
What is your greatest extravagance?
More scores….
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
The artificial path to eternal youth.
On what occasion do you lie?
When is not a good moment to tell the truth.
If you hadn’t been a singer what would you have liked to be?
An architect.
What is your most marked characteristic?
I’m sociable and like to share good times with friends.
What quality do you most value in a friend?
Nobility.
What quality do you most value in a colleague?
That they’re in a good mood…
Which historical figure do you most admire?
St Paul the Apostle (Saul of Tarsus).
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother, and mothers in general…
What do you most dislike?
Meanness.
What talent would you most like to have?
To speak many languages.
What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
Peace.
How would you like to die?
In peace.
What is your motto?
“Let’s go!”, as my father used to say…
Follow Franco Fagioli on his site and on Facebook.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
