Q&A
A selfie with pianoWhen did you start singing?
From what I remember I've always sung: when I was seven I had emergency surgery for peritonitis and I sang throughout the operation.
Why did you start singing?
When I was nine I was accepted at the Milan Conservatory to study piano; choral singing was, and is, one of the obligatory studies.
Which singer inspired you most when you were young?
There was only symphonic music at my house B.B. (Before Barbara), but I was taken with Mina and Claudio Villa.
Which singer do you most admire?
There's not enough space for all of them.
What's your favourite role?
The one that I'm singing when I'm asked this question: today it is Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlos; next month it will be Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra.
What role have you never played but would have liked to?
Philip II in Don Carlos.
What's your favourite opera to watch?
Turandot.
Who is your favourite composer?
Just one??? Verdi and Mozart.
Who is your favourite writer?
Oh come on! Just one here too? Ok, Dante Alighieri and Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Who is your favourite theatre or film director?
Ridley Scott and David McVicar.
Who is your favourite actor?
Russel Crowe and Mariangela Melato.
Who is your favourite dancer?
Rudolf Nureyev.
Barbara Frittoli at Stonehenge with her daughterWhat is your favourite book?
La Divina Commedia… and all the others!!! I loooooove reading!!!
What is your favourite film?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Which is your favourite city?
Cosmopolita!
What do you like most about yourself?
My hair.
What do you dislike about yourself?
The weak side of my character.
What was your proudest moment?
When, immediately after I gave birth, they told me that my daughter was healthy.
When and where were you happiest?
When my daughter was born and when my divorce came through :-)))))
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
… again just one?… but how can you choose? My daughter and my partner Ildar.
What is your greatest fear?
Water.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My tendency to be naive.
Barbara Frittoli with Ildar AbdrazakovWhat do you consider your greatest achievement?
That I've remained myself.
What is your most treasured possession?
To be independent.
What is your greatest extravagance?
To cut courgettes and carrots into thin strips because slices make me sad.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
They are all underrated, unfortunately.
On what occasion do you lie?
To not make someone worry or suffer… it's a mistake, I know!
If you hadn't been a singer what would you have liked to be?
I would like to have gone into the army.
What is your most marked characteristic?
My sociability.
What quality do you most value in a friend?
Sincerity… sometimes difficult to swallow but necessary.
What quality do you most value in a colleague?
Correctness.
Which historical figure do you most admire?
Leonardo da Vinci.
Something's cooking – Barbara with fellow singers Anita Rachvelishvili and Oksana DykaWhich living person do you most admire?
My parents (as if they were one, right?)
What do you most dislike?
Lots of things… rudeness, for example.
What talent would you most like to have?
To be able to write music.
What's your idea of perfect happiness?
To be on an island with temperatures between 5 and 26°C; a temperate sea; fish or similar allowed: dolphins, rays and whales; trees that grow books and fruit; insects allowed: bees (for honey) and butterflies (for colour); a huge kitchen; a golf course; a field of poppies; chirping birds; cows; the smell of cut grass; silence or the sounds of nature; my daughter with who she likes, and Ildar by my side.
How would you like to die?
Must I die???!!! Well, not because of illness.
What is your motto?
“Audentes fortuna juvat” [Fortune favours the bold]
Jump to BIOGRAPHY
D&R
Planting trees with Costantine Orbelian and Ildar AbdrazakovQuando hai iniziato a cantare?
Da che mi ricordi ho sempre cantato: a sette anni sono stata operata d'urgenza di peritonite ed ho cantato durante tutta l'operazione…
Perché hai iniziato a cantare?
A nove anni sono entrata in conservatorio a Milano per piano: canto corale era ed è ancora materia complementare obbligatoria.
Quale cantante ti ha più ispirato da piccolo?
Solo musica sinfonica a casa mia A.B (avanti Barbara…) ma ero molto colpita da Mina e Claudio Villa
Quale cantante ammiri di più?
Non c'è abbastanza spazio per tutti…
Qual è il tuo ruolo preferito?
Quello che canto nel momento in cui mi fanno questa domanda: oggi è Elisabetta di Valois (Don Carlos), il mese prossimo sarà Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra).
Quale ruolo non hai mai interpretato ma vorresti o avresti voluto cantare?
Filippo II.
Quale opera non ti stanchi mai di vedere?
Turandot.
Chi è il tuo compositore preferito?
Uno solo??? Verdi e Mozart.
Scrittore preferito?
Ma dai! Uno solo anche qui???? Dante Alighieri e Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Regista teatrale o (/e) cinematografico?
Ridley Scott e David McVicar.
Attore / attrice?
Russel Crowe e Mariangela Melato.
Danzatore?
Rudol'f Nureev.
Libro?
La Divina Commedia….e tutti gli altri!!!!! Adoro leggereeeee!!!!
Film?
La trilogia del Signore degli Anelli.
Which is your favourite city?
Cosmopolita.
Cosa ti piace di più di te stesso?
I miei capelli.
Cosa non ti piace di te stesso?
I lati deboli del mio carattere.
Qual è stato il momento di cui sei più orgoglioso
Quando, appena dopo il parto, mi hanno detto che mia figlia era sana.
Barbara Frittoli in the wings with tenor Eduardo ValdesDove e quando ti sei sentita più felice?
Quando è nata mia figlia e quando ho divorziato :-)))))
Cosa o chi è il più grande amore della tua vita?
…di nuovo uno… ma come si fa? Mia figlia e il mio compagno Ildar.
Qual è la cosa di cui hai più paura?
L'acqua.
Se potessi, cosa cambiaresti di te?
La tendenza all'ingenuità.
Cosa consideri il tuo più grande successo?
Essere rimasta me stessa.
Qual è la cosa a cui tieni di più?
Essere indipendente.
Qual è la tua abitudine più stravagante?
Tagliare le zucchine e le carote assolutamente a listarelle perché a rondelle mi mettono tristezza.
Quale virtù ti sembra più sopravvalutata?
Tutte sottovalutate, purtroppo.
In quale situazione dici una bugia?
Per non far preoccupare o soffrire qualcuno….ed è uno sbaglio lo so!
Se non fossi stata una cantante cosa ti sarebbe piaciuto fare?
Entrare nell'Esercito.
Cos'è la tua più evidente caratteristica?
Socievolezza.
La qualità che apprezzi di più in un amico?
Sincerità, dura da digerire ma necessaria.
La qualità che apprezzi di più in un collega?
Correttezza.
Barbara Frittoli with Ildar AbdrazakovIl personaggio storico che ammiri di più?
Leonardo da Vinci.
La persona vivente che ammiri di più?
I miei genitori (come se fossero uno , giusto?)
Cosa non sopporti?
Un sacco di cose: la maleducazione per esempio.
Quale talento ti piacerebbe avere?
Saper comporre musica.
Qual è la tua idea di perfetta felicità?
Un'isola con temperature tra 5 e 26 gradi centigradi; mare temperato, pesci o simili tollerati: delfini, razze e balene; alberi che fruttificano libri e frutta; insetti tollerati: api (per il miele) e farfalle (per i colori); una cucina immensa; un campo da golf; un campo di papaveri; uccellini cinguettanti; mucche; odore di erba tagliata; silenzio o rumori della natura; mia figlia con chi le aggrada e Ildar al mio fianco.
Come vorresti morire?
Devo morire???!!!? Beh: non di malattia.
Qual è il tuo motto?
“Audentes fortuna juvat”.
Barbara Frittoli – a biography
Born in Milan and graduated from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi with distinction where she was trained by Giovanna Canetti. Prize-winner at numerous international competitions. Highlights of her career include the roles of the Countess Rosina (Le nozze di Figaro, Ferrara, 1994), Desdemona (Otello, the Salzburg Easter Festival, 1996, and the Teatro Regio in Turin, 1997, under Claudio Abbado), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte, Wiener Staatsoper, 1994, 1997 and 2002; the Ravenna Festival, under Riccardo Muti; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1998 under Sir Colin Davis), Verdi's Requiem (with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Paris under Claudio Abbado, 1997), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, Salzburg Festival, 1999, under Lorin Maazel), Liù (Turandot, Opéra Bastille, 1997, under Georges Prêtre, and on tour to China in 1998 with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre under Zubin Mehta). In 1998 in Beirut the singer gave a recital to great acclaim together with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala under Riccardo Muti, and she later performed Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the ensemble in Jerusalem. Barbara Frittoli recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera for the role of Desdemona inOtello under James Levine. Previously she had performed the role of Desdemona in Brussels (1994, conducted by Antonio Pappano), Vienna (1999), Nice (2001) and Florence (2003, conducted by Zubin Mehta), and she recently made her debut in this role in Munich. The singer's most recent engagements include the roles of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne Festival, Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera), Elettra (Idomeneo, re di Creta in Dresden under Colin Davis), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), the title role in the opera Luisa Miller at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and returns to the Grand Opéra in Paris in productions of Simon Boccanegra and Otello.
Barbara Frittoli has performed at the Teatro alla Scala on numerous occasions. At the opening of the 2000 – 2001 season she sang as Leonora in Il trovatore; there she has also sung as Alice Ford (Falstaff), Desdemona (Otello), the Countess Rosina (Le nozze di Figaro), Anaï (Moïse et Pharaon) and again as Alice Ford, under the baton of Riccardo Muti. The conductor and the singer recently featured in a memorial concert in New York at the site of the 11 September terrorist attacks. Natale de Carolis and Giuseppe Sabbatini also performed there. Over the course of her dazzling career the singer has performed leading roles in numerous productions including Pergolesi's Il flaminio (Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 1993), Mimì in La Bohème(Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 1992; Wiener Staatsoper, 1993; Teatro Comunale, Florence, under Semyon Bychkov, 1994; Metropolitan Opera, 1995), Micaëla in Carmen (Philadelphia, 1992; Wiener Staatsoper, 1993; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1994; Metropolitan Opera, 1995), Countess Rosina in Le nozze di Figaro (Wiener Staatsoper, 1994 and 2005 under Riccardo Muti; Teatro alla Scala, 1997, also under Muti; Salzburg Festival, 1998), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 1999; Opéra Bastille, Paris, 2000 under Charles Mackerras), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 1994; Wiener Staatsoper, 1997 and 1998; Opéra Bastille, Paris, 1999 under James Conlon; Salzburg Festival under Lorin Maazel; Teatro Regio in Turin and the Teatro Comunale in Florence, 2005), Sifare in Mitridate, re di Ponto (Teatro Regio, Turin, 1994; Paris, 2000 under Christophe Rousset), Medora in Il corsaro (Teatro Regio, Turin, 1996), Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Wiener Staatsoper, 1992 and 1996), Alice Ford in Falstaff (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, 1997 under Daniele Gatti; Teatro Comunale, Florence, 1998 under Antonio Pappano; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 1999 under Bernard Haitink), Amelia in Simon Boccanegra (Teatro Comunale, Bologna, 1998 under Daniele Gatti; Zurich Opera, 2002; Teatro Regio in Turin and the Wiener Staatsoper, 2003), Marguerite in Faust (Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, 2000), Luisa Miller (Metropolitan Opera, 2002 under James Levine), Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo (the singer's debut in the role at the Teatro Comunale, Florence, under Zubin Mehta in autumn 2004) and Liù in Turandot (Gran Teatre de Liceu, Barcelona).
Barbara Frittoli's concert repertoire is also extremely broad, including Haydn's oratorio The Creation (Teatro alla Scala, 1994), Verdi's Requiem (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, with the Orchestra Filarmonica of the Teatro alla Scala under Riccardo Muti, 1995; Milan, with the same conductor, 1997; again in Milan and Vienna with Muti, 2001; Amsterdam under Riccardo Chailly, Florence under Zubin Mehta, London under Valery Gergiev, New York under Muti and Boston, 2002 and London, 2005), Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brussels under Antonio Pappano), Vier Letzte Lieder (Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Milan, 1996; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre, 2000), Mozart's Great Mass (London Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis, 1996), Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (Ravenna Festival and at the Wiener Musikverein under Riccardo Muti, 1996), Rossini's Stabat Mater (London, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1994; Amsterdam, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly, 1997), Gounod's oratorio Mors et vita (with the Hessen Radio Orchestra under Marcello Viotti, 1999) and Mahler's Fourth Symphony (Amsterdam, under Bernard Haitink, 2002). The singer recently appeared to great acclaim in an Evening of Song at the Bologna Festival, where she performed vocal works by Beethoven, Schubert and Henri Duparc.
Barbara Frittoli's discography includes such recordings as Giovanni Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (under Riccardo Muti, EMI),Turandot (the role of Liù under Zubin Mehta, BMG), Gioachino Rossini's Stabat Mater, I pagliacci (the role of Nedda under Riccardo Chailly), La Bohème (the role of Mimì under Zubin Mehta), discs of arias by Mozart (under Charles Mackerras) and Verdi (under Colin Davis, recorded on the Erato label, Idomeneo, re di Creta (under Charles Mackerras, EMI), Bellini's Arie da Camera with José Carreras (Erato), Boccherini's Stabat Mater (under Mattia Rondelli, Sony), Il trovatore (under Riccardo Muti, Sony).
The singer's DVD releases include Otello with Plácido Domingo and Leo Nucci under Riccardo Muti, Moïse et Pharaon with Ildar Abdrazakov and Giuseppe Filianoti under Riccardo Muti, Falstaff with Bryn Terfel and Roberto Frontali under Bernard Haitink, Falstaff with Ruggero Raimondi and Mario Lanza under Zubin Mehta, Turandot with Giovanna Casolla and Sergei Larin under Zubin Mehta, Turandot with Luana DeVol and Franco Farina under Giuliano Carella, a New Year Gala Concert at the Teatro La Fenice with Walter Fraccaro and Ferruccio Furlanetto under Roberto Abbado, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with Biagio Antonacci under Riccardo Muti, a Verdi Gala with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras under Zubin Mehta, Così fan tutte with Angelika Kirchschlager and Michael Shade under Riccardo Muti and Thaïs with Lado Anateli under Gianandrea Noseda.
Future seasons will see performances in the title role of the opera Thaïs (Turin), Verdi's Requiem under Antonio Pappano (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), the operas Così fan tutte (Valencia), Le nozze di Figaro (Madrid), Simon Boccanegra(Boston and New York under James Levine), Le nozze di Figaro (Opéra National de Paris and Bayerische Staatsoper), Carmenand Don Giovanni (Metropolitan Opera, Zurich Opera), Luisa Miller (Turin, Tokyo, Yokohama), La Bohème (on tour with the Teatro Teatro Regio, Turin) and Adriana Lecouvreur (Barcelona).
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.
Fantastic voice and now I see a fantastic woman too! Thanks for this.
Magnifica!!!!!!!! Brava Barbara.
I have enjoyed Sig.ra Frittoli at Covent Garden, La Scala and the Met. A glorious artist with a special voice. I just love her replies to these questions: full of spirit (and obviously very much in love!). I wish her all the best.