Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego Opera: Ferruccio Furlanetto recital

The luxurious ache of great singing

Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Ferruccio Furlanetto.

Ferruccio Furlanetto gave his U.S. recital debut on Saturday night at Symphony Hall as part of the San Diego Opera 2015-'16 season. If you’ll recall, the last recital I was able to see at San Diego Opera, René Barbera, went quite well.

This evening could not have been more different yet was equally as moving. At the René Barbera recital we had a rising singer just starting out as a lyric tenor and accompanied by piano.

Furlanetto is 30+ years into an international opera career and now sings the dramatic bass repertoire. His recital was accompanied by the San Diego Symphony.

Video:

Ferruccio Furlanetto Sings Don Quichotte

...in Massenet's opera. Sancho, Andrey Serov. Mariinsky Theater orchestra and chorus. Conductor, Valery Gergiev

...in Massenet's opera. Sancho, Andrey Serov. Mariinsky Theater orchestra and chorus. Conductor, Valery Gergiev

Speaking of the symphony, conducted by Maestro Emanuele Andrizzi, they started the evening with Verdi’s overture to Nabucco. The overture begins with a brass chorale and I need to point out that the trumpets sounded beautiful. The trumpet tends to be an instrument of destruction. They're the tip of the spear, the bloody edge of the orchestral knife.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In this instance the section blunted the edge of the sound creating a sonority that was regal. Instead of shining forth, the tone glowed. The power of this subtle elegance would define the evening.

There wasn’t one cliché rule of recital that Furlanetto didn’t break. He touched his face, he slouched and even bent over. He sang with his arms crossed. He did all those things that a singer is taught not to do. Yet these faux pas added to the performance because he was being a human being.

Victorian posture and minding one’s manners onstage is boring, stiff, and inhumane. Furlanetto always presented a living, breathing person. His mannerisms made the audience love him even more because he wasn’t pretending to be something — he just was.

The acting ability of Furlanetto is almost ideal for opera. He uses big sweeping gestures but they always feel natural and they are always effective. One patron remarked that Furlanetto can make you feel as though he has died even though he’s standing right in front of us.

The repertoire for the evening consisted of Italian, Russian, and French. However, there were three pieces from American musical theater that fulfilled a personal dream I’ve had for a few years now.

I've been wanting to hear a world-class singer perform music from a show such as South Pacific with an orchestra and no microphone. Guess what? Old Man River, Some Enchanted Evening, and This Nearly was Mine closed the first half of the recital.

This Nearly was Mine was everything I hoped it would be. The luxurious subdued ache of Furlanetto’s voice in the final verse, “Now, now I’m alone, still dreaming of paradise,” contained the entire character of Emile de Becque in a single phrase.

Some in the audience had a special connection to the death scene from Don Quixote which was on the program. Members of the SDO family blinked away tears as they recalled the significance of this piece.

There was a point when many thought that particular music would be the last to be performed by SDO as it concluded the 2014 season after the attempted shutdown. Hearing Furlanetto reprise his performance of the death scene two seasons later stirred the emotions of those who fought for the company’s survival.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Ferruccio Furlanetto.

Ferruccio Furlanetto gave his U.S. recital debut on Saturday night at Symphony Hall as part of the San Diego Opera 2015-'16 season. If you’ll recall, the last recital I was able to see at San Diego Opera, René Barbera, went quite well.

This evening could not have been more different yet was equally as moving. At the René Barbera recital we had a rising singer just starting out as a lyric tenor and accompanied by piano.

Furlanetto is 30+ years into an international opera career and now sings the dramatic bass repertoire. His recital was accompanied by the San Diego Symphony.

Video:

Ferruccio Furlanetto Sings Don Quichotte

...in Massenet's opera. Sancho, Andrey Serov. Mariinsky Theater orchestra and chorus. Conductor, Valery Gergiev

...in Massenet's opera. Sancho, Andrey Serov. Mariinsky Theater orchestra and chorus. Conductor, Valery Gergiev

Speaking of the symphony, conducted by Maestro Emanuele Andrizzi, they started the evening with Verdi’s overture to Nabucco. The overture begins with a brass chorale and I need to point out that the trumpets sounded beautiful. The trumpet tends to be an instrument of destruction. They're the tip of the spear, the bloody edge of the orchestral knife.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In this instance the section blunted the edge of the sound creating a sonority that was regal. Instead of shining forth, the tone glowed. The power of this subtle elegance would define the evening.

There wasn’t one cliché rule of recital that Furlanetto didn’t break. He touched his face, he slouched and even bent over. He sang with his arms crossed. He did all those things that a singer is taught not to do. Yet these faux pas added to the performance because he was being a human being.

Victorian posture and minding one’s manners onstage is boring, stiff, and inhumane. Furlanetto always presented a living, breathing person. His mannerisms made the audience love him even more because he wasn’t pretending to be something — he just was.

The acting ability of Furlanetto is almost ideal for opera. He uses big sweeping gestures but they always feel natural and they are always effective. One patron remarked that Furlanetto can make you feel as though he has died even though he’s standing right in front of us.

The repertoire for the evening consisted of Italian, Russian, and French. However, there were three pieces from American musical theater that fulfilled a personal dream I’ve had for a few years now.

I've been wanting to hear a world-class singer perform music from a show such as South Pacific with an orchestra and no microphone. Guess what? Old Man River, Some Enchanted Evening, and This Nearly was Mine closed the first half of the recital.

This Nearly was Mine was everything I hoped it would be. The luxurious subdued ache of Furlanetto’s voice in the final verse, “Now, now I’m alone, still dreaming of paradise,” contained the entire character of Emile de Becque in a single phrase.

Some in the audience had a special connection to the death scene from Don Quixote which was on the program. Members of the SDO family blinked away tears as they recalled the significance of this piece.

There was a point when many thought that particular music would be the last to be performed by SDO as it concluded the 2014 season after the attempted shutdown. Hearing Furlanetto reprise his performance of the death scene two seasons later stirred the emotions of those who fought for the company’s survival.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.