Piotr Beczała

Scofield: And now, you are embarking very big career move into heavier dramatic tenor territory. Can you tell us about that?

Beczała: That’s the next step. Actually, it does not happen overnight because I’m singing part of this repertoire in concerts couple of years, and I did my debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, it was my first big verismo role three years ago already. This is very important to make it step by step. I really planned this kind of change or development, and this started couple of years ago, and now I’m half behind also at my first Cavaradossi project last season in Wiener Staatsoper, and I’m planning really now the next steps. But it’s not my goal, not my target to be, I don’t know, the best verismo tenor in the world. Because I don’t want to quit my repertory in French and Slavic direction. I’m doing this at the same time, and this is really something what I have to think about: how to manage in one season, singing operas so differently. But you know, it’s my idea, my interests to make it right, and to make this difference in this kind of small things different between French, Italian, verismo, even in Italian direction. Verdi even have the same heaviness of the roles like Manrico or Radames, you have to sing completely differently to redo, it’s just different music. I hope really for the next couple of years, singing more and more of this repertory. It’s not only to be in charge to be an opera singer because it’s my business, it’s also very important to have fun.

Scofield: Well, you’re giving a lot of fun to the audience as well, Piotr. And I think this is a very good example of what has made you such a great singer, that you are continually challenging yourself, keeping up the demands to grow, to learn, and to develop. I think that’s what has put you up at the top and is keeping you there.

Beczała: Yeah, we have to stay in movement, you know? The stability, I know when we don’t develop as singers, we go back. And this is kind of a philosophy that we have to permanently develop the voice. It’s like walking through the mountains, you know it’s not only one peak. We go for a lifetime through the mountains as you arrived on one Peak, and then you see another, and you have to go. It’s really like a big long adventure and it makes a lot of fun.