The Brazilian tenor, Mr. Thiago Arancam is in San Francisco to make his debut as Christain de Neueville in Cyrano de Bergerac with the San Francisco Opera one week from this evening on Sunday October 24th. at 2 P.M. Mr. Arancam is one of a select group of international vocal artists whose path to global stardom is all but assured. COMMANDOpera is most inclined to look at artists more out of what they represent vocally as opposed to the particular houses they may appear in. A great and unique voice is the superlative mark of the worthiest artists who all eventually are invited to global houses. Mr. Arancam is most unique and unusual insofar as the artist not only possesses an incredibly singular vocal instrument of range and timbre (which has already been recognised and sought after by top tier theatres), but his dramatic presence onstage is rivetting, transmitting to the farthest reaches of any theatre. The man dominates visually like no other. COMMANDOpera determined to go with a photograph of Mr. Arancam in costume as Pollione in Norma. Here now is Mr. Arancam in an excerpt form that performance:

Mr. Arancam sings Pollione’s Act 1 recitative,air and cabaletta. Norma 2010.

COMMANDOpera began the interview by enquiring how Mr. Arancam found an interest in music, and as with other statured artist’s, it arrived early. In the case of Mr. Arancam as early as primary school where as a young member of the chorus a passionate flame began to reside, which led him to to the ‘Municipal School of Music’ in Sao Paulo. COMMANDOpera notes at this time how fortunate it is in certain countries where the musical arts are recognised to such a degree, pre university musical schools exist where an artist may begin defining their talent at an early stage. In 2003, the now developing Lyrico Spinto Tenor voice graduated from the Musical University ‘ Carlos Gomes’ (named in recognition of the 19th century Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes) which is attached to Sao Paulo University. It was at this time where Mr. Arancam met Mr. Bruno Rocella, a founder of the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo whom the artist regards as ‘the BEST piano coach I ever met!’. Mr. Rocella has been instrumental in all of the repertoire Mr Arancam initially determined to undertake, and to this day the artist duly arrives back to Sao Paulo and Mr. Rocella, to study new roles he determines to essay. COMMANDOpera felt a great necessity to enquire after the disposition of his vocal instrument given the Brazilian traditions combined with his Italian heritage. Mr. Arancam owns a keen sense of the fiery Brazilian temperament which he takes great pride in and how it asserts itself within his characterisations when called upon. Vocally however, Mr. Arancam is ALL Italian from his teachers to the vocal artists he has listened to for inspiration. A tradition Mr. Arancam finds a good deal of pleasure in noting.

Mr. Arancam sings ‘E lucevan le stelle’ Tosca 2010.

And then in 2004 arrived the invitation to attend the exclusive ‘Accademia del Arti a dei Mastieri’ which is attached to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and at the time was run by Miss Leyla Gencer. This is an extraordinary and singular accolade as only the finest of the finest of the finest are hand selected. COMMANDOpera determines it best to transcribe Mr. Arancam’s precise words on this time; ”I was going to one of the most important academies for singers. I have to thank the Accademia for giving me this chance. But I especially have to thank Leila Gencer. She always believed in me, and she found my actual voice teacher, Mr.Vincenzo A. Manno. I have been working with him since the second year of the Accademia, and he really is perfect for me”. The passing of Miss Gencer was obviously a difficult occurrence for Mr. Arancam to endure, and COMMANDOpera determined not to press a matter so personal. When asked what three things he felt the Accademia singularly imparted to him, his response was most illuminating: ”Three things…. ok: 1- To never give up 2- To dream high 3- Talent is not enough. You need to study the rest of your life if you wish to be somebody, (especially if you are a singer)!!!”

COMMANDOpera noticed the artist has essayed a wide and diverse repertoire, the list is endless Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Calaf, Des Grieux, Radames, Foresto, Pollione, Don José to name some. Nevertheless, given the weightiness of these particular roles, one might question the sheer size of repertoire at this early point. When COMMANDOpera questioned the artist in a rather concerned voice, here is how Mr. Arancam replied:“I always choose my repertoire together with my Maestro, according to my specific voice. I believe you always have to respect your natural quality of voice, and sing only what you “feel to sing”. If it’s forced, then it’s not good for you. I had great opportunities in these years, as I have been able to debut a lot of roles. I really love every role in the moment I play it. But if I have to say something… I must say I loved singing Luigi in Tabarro and Turiddu in Cavalleria this year. They are incredible roles and such an amazing music!” Mr Arancam will depart to Stockholm in December to debut yet another role: Pagliacci. At least this one will be managed in concert presentation. Although he does not currently (and depressingly) not looking at Donizetti, he does have Verdi’s Rodolfo from Luisa Miller prepared and ready for any theatre wise enough to hook him up. COMMANDOpera neglected to enquire after Giasone from Medea, whom this artist without question looks the part, and owns the requisite temperament. Mr. Arancam determines his dramatic approach largely in the manner one ascribes to all top tier artists: through the score. Once again COMMANDOpera is behooved to transcribe the artists words: ‘When I first prepare a new role, I usually refer myself to some of our great singers, like Corelli, Del Monaco, Domingo… and try to understand their different way of approaching the character, in order to fully understand the different sides of it. Then, I try to find my personal way to develop the character (also in accordance to the intentions a particular scene director wants to give). But the score is what gives you the possibility of expressing everything you want the public to feel, because in my opinion, at the end of the day, this is what really matters: the feelings you are able to transmit to the audience.”

Mr. Arancam sings ‘Quando le sere a placido’ Luisa Miller 2009. Sensational!!!!

Next Sunday, Mr Arancam will debut at the San Francisco Opera in a new role: Christian de Neueville, so naturally COMMANDOpera wanted to know how things were going in the theatre, what he thought of San Francisco, and the work Cyrano de Bergerac itself. “Cyrano is a new experience for me as it’s the first time I perform Christian; I’m really exited to make my debut at the SFO in this production, and obviously, I’m very exited about singing together with the great Maestro Domingo. I owe him a lot… He was the first person to give me the opportunity of starting this career. He really believes in young singers and makes many efforts to give them a chance. And being on stage with him… It will be something I won’t forget for all my life, because he is a great person, not only a great artist. I loved the production, and the staff at SFO is great. I truly like singing in US theatres, because of the great organization, respect for the artists and enthusiasm everybody puts in his work. San Francisco is really a fantastic town, it has a great charm! And also… the weather in this season is incredible!!! I was born in Brazil… I love the sun, the sea and the warm weather!!”

COMMANDOpera has LONG been a proponent of the wisdom of utilizing Internet media to further an artist’s presence to their audience rather than engaging a press agent. And this venue was extremely pleased to find this artist shares this belief with great relish. Mr. Arancam is extremely net savvy: there is a blog, a Facebook page, he tweets on Twitter, and he is a devoted aficionado of YouTube. All to get the message out. Ahh but how does he manage to do all this AND run the never ending gauntlet of being a top tier tenor? Her name would be Miss Michela Rovegno…. aka Mrs. Thiago Arancam. Ahh but he is a wise and dutiful husband in according her first place in his thoughts on this one: In this… “I must thank my wife!! She is the one who helps me everyday in this incredible work!!! Because this is really a huge quantity of work to do!! You have to keep all these sites updated, videos, pictures, information, agenda, press releases… When I started my career we wanted to create a place where people could find specific information, so we created the web site and the YouTube account. Then it was too static and we wanted to find a way to tell our friends what was happening, so we created the blog, with the newsletter subscription to every new post. Soon after Facebook and Twitter became part of this intention of communication. Nowadays we all use Internet for everything, and if you want to get information about something, you just Google it, and you find tons of information regarding all the artists you like, actors, pop and rock groups, films, etc… Opera can’t be different, and opera artists too!! With YouTube, Facebook and Twitter people can “really” be in contact with their idols and have them connected like friends, and this is becoming a complete new way of communication! If you want to be updated about all the news on a specific artist, you simply join him or her! We have to do the same, otherwise new generations will forget about the Opera world because they don’t find this direct connection!! They don’t want your press agent, they want you! In every place I go, I have new people connecting with me, following and supporting me everywhere I am. This is amazing!! It’s like bringing “your audience” wherever you go… and this audience gets bigger and bigger…!! I’m also really happy people from Brazil, including my family and my friends, can follow me and know what I’m doing, even if I’m not singing a lot in Brazil for the moment.”

Mr. and Mrs.

COMMANDOpera enquired after Mr. Arancam if there was a difference in theatres given this artist truly sings on all four corners of the planet. He felt there was nothing that stood out particularly as all theatres who are working to present Opera are all looking for the same thing: to do it well. He has without question taken in a great deal of culture wherever he has been and finds people throughout the globe to be warm and friendly. And with that COMMANDOpera was obliged to end the conversation and asked one final question. What was it really like to be on the receiving end of huge swells of applause from around the globe, and if there was one moment which stood out what would it be. In Mr. Arancam’s words: “The return of the audience is very important for an artist, and it is essential for me. It’s like the “fuel”: you can’t go on without it! Probably the best experience ever was in Québec Canada, at Operalia, where I won the Audience Prize. I couldn’t believe almost 2000 people could choose between 14 finalists and somehow agreed in voting me for the Audience Price. When Maestro Domingo called me for the prize, the public really exploded in a demonstration of great affection. I was moved, and I’ll keep that experience in my heart forever.”

Sweet.

After the interview, COMMANDOpera could not help but feel Mr. Arancam was the embodiment of what theatre goers look for in the persona of a top tier male vocalist: humility, strength, gentlemanly manner, and a force to be reckoned with if one ever had the opportunity to meet him in person. Mr. Arancam will be seen a great deal in America in 2011, including Washington, Philadelphia, and once again San Francisco. COMMANDOpera highly advises readers take in the ‘Agenda’ portion on Mr. Arancam’s website linked at the front of the article for all the details.