The Lady Gaga of opera. A fashion Icon. An intense singing-actress. A glamorous personality.

These are just some of the great descriptions that have also been placed upon star soprano Carmen Giannattasio.

These are also some of the reasons for her rise in the opera world since her Operalia win in 2002. Sixteen years after that breakthrough, the soprano begins a new period in her career. After conquering the Metropolitan Opera, becoming an audience favorite at the Royal Opera House, and training through the Teatro alla Scala, Giannattasio is taking on her first “Tosca.”

It’s the role that she regards as the “prima donna” and one that she also considers THE role. In her San Francisco Opera debut critics have raved about her interpretation calling it “masterful.”

OperaWire spoke to Giannattasio about this big role debut, her preparation and her experience with the San Francisco Opera.

OperaWire: This is your big return to the United States after saying goodbye to “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera. Now you return to the States in your role debut as “Tosca” and your San Francisco Opera debut. What has this return been like?

Carmen Giannattasio: It’s all about developing and you have to leave some roles to start a new adventure and a new repertoire. I was very happy to have the possibility to really rehearse a lot on a new role like “Tosca” and to go really deeply into this character.

I was very happy to spend so much time in San Francisco. I am also enjoying the experience in this great city. It’s like life. We go on a journey leaving things behind and we pick up new things.

OW: This is your second Puccini role. What are the challenges of going from something like “La Bohème” to something more dramatic like “Tosca?”

CG: Mimì is not that light. The third act duet with Marcello is quite dramatic and the orchestra is quite heavy. Tosca is very dramatic in terms of its music and character so I would say Mimì is like the younger sister of Tosca in musical terms but not as a character. And that is why I waited longer to take on this role.

I was asked to sing this role when I was 27 and I think even if you have the right voice and special skills and charisma, it’s not right to take on a role like this at that age. You have to be very much you as a woman and as an artist as well. It’s such a complicated character that you need to be a prima donna in order to be that prima donna as Tosca on stage. So I think it was worth the wait.

I finally feel ready to enjoy the role and in command of the text and the music.

OW: Would you say singing such verismo works as “Mefistofele” and “Pagliacci” were good preparations for “Tosca?”

CG: Yes, because they are one or a couple of steps below “Tosca.” So it was a way to prepare this new role.

OW: How do you view Tosca? She is such a complex woman with so many different facets.

CG: Apart from reading the libretto and the score, I also read the theatrical piece by Sardou and I learned so much about the character. There are so many things that are not present in the libretto and that makes you have to assume it from the history.

What I like very much and what I have done in my interpretation is to give a little of freshness in the first act. Usually, what happens is that in the first act many singers start too heavy and too dramatic. For the way it is written it is very lyrical. There is a B Flat that has to be sung in a light way. They are a young couple and of course, she is very jealous because he is handsome and a famous painter. And of course, women become interested in him. So that is why she is jealous.

But I also find it is a joke between the two. This scene has probably happened several times. There is fire between them and we cannot forget she is a very famous singer but also a woman.

This is scene is like any couple making plans for the night. This is their private side to their life. I want to show that lightness and youth and in many ways, if you make it lighter the drama will escalate towards the third act. You have to build up the tension or else you’ll be screaming from the first act.

OW: What other things did you learn from the original play that you incorporated into your interpretation?

CG: First of all, she is very insecure because she was a shepherdess raised by monks in Verona. She grew up in a convent and as a result, has humble roots. That is why she is so religious and she does the sign of the cross all the time.

My interpretation of “Vissi d’arte” is, therefore, a discussion between God and Tosca. It’s not operatic for me and therefore I don’t think about big gestures. I believe that human beings talk to themselves to try to sort out a bad situation and that is what I am trying to do.

OW: You visited many of the actual locations where this opera takes place. Tell me how that helped your interpretation?

CG: Of course, “Tosca” is very specific about the places. But being Italian, I grew up seeing these chapels and churches all over the country.

In this production, we actually don’t set it in Santa Andrea Della Valle and instead it’s a beautiful Italian-style church. And then there is the Castel Sant’Angelo, which is a fortress and that is the real place which we got in this production. When you are in the real place in Rome, all you can think is what a jump that must be.

But it also happens on stage because it’s quite a big climb I have to do to climb to the angel and it’s quite a big jump. The first attempts were really scary and I was shaking. I had an accident for a week with my ankle.

I was also in the Palazzo Farnese by chance. It’s the French embassy and you can go there. But every year they do a masquerade ball and I was invited a few years ago so I could see all the big halls and the famous places that Tosca escaped to go to the fortress. So it’s very important to know where it all happened but with opera the sets always change so you always have a different space that you have to work with all the time.

OW: What is the biggest challenge for you in this role?

CG: I think it’s physically very challenging because you have to move a lot and you have to struggle against Scarpia. You have to get physical with him and at the same time, there is a lot to sing. There are high notes with a very loud orchestra. So you have to fight with your partner and also produce beautiful sounds. And this is difficult when you’re doing the role for the first time.

OW: When you were learning the role, what is your process like and did you go to any recordings?

CG: When I was very young I listened to many people and I’ve listened to so many great sopranos and singers in general. Then when you know who you are as an artist you try to find your own personal reading of the score and the character. That’s what I did when I started to read the theatrical piece, the score, and the libretto.

I built it up and it’s like giving birth. I was giving birth to my own creation and I wanted it to be different from the others. Otherwise for me it’s boring and it’s boring for the audience who will have to listen to another copy of another artist. The opera is 150 years old and I think it’s respectful as an artist to find your own way.

Once I was ready and had finished preparing it, I listened to three or four recordings to get some little things that I could use or had not thought about. One of them was Maria Callas, who is the goddess and who I consider no one will ever get close to. She was the complete package and almost everything she did was astonishing and unbelievable.

I also feel very close to the interpretation of Magda Olivero, who was a singing-actress. I wish I could do what she did with my voice because she had such command of the text, which left me really speechless.

OW: How did all the Bel Canto work you did in the past prepare you for the Verismo operas you are now taking on?

CG: It was necessary because as a young artist you cannot go into the verismo works immediately. If you go in immediately your voice won’t last long because it’s like going to the gym. You won’t be able to lift 100 kilos if you don’t start from one kilo. So I think you have to start with lighter things to build the muscles in your vocal chords and your body.

It also helps you build up your command of the stage and it’s always a long way to get there. The best artists like Mirella Freni took their time so they could sing these roles in a healthy way. So I think it’s a process. And I am still doing Bel Canto roles because it’s a transitional moment where you leave the Bel Canto roles to get to sing more verismo, Puccini, and Verdi. But I think it will be another few years in which I sing these Bel Canto roles.

OW: The new production by the San Francisco Opera is by Shawna Lucey. What did she bring to the work that helped you prepare for the role?

CG: I was very happy to work with her because this is a very female production. It has a female perspective of Tosca and I am very happy that we were able to show that especially as we live in the #MeToo period. It was very important to bring these aspects out. What was interesting was that even though the production is classic, it is very effective and plain. It’s not grand with big costumes or sets, which allows audiences to focus on the characters.

OW: What was it like to work with Brian Jagde and Scott Hendricks?

CG: They were very supportive from the first day of rehearsing. I was new to the opera house and this repertoire. They have done these roles several times.

Brian, for example, had two other productions in San Francisco so they were cheering me on every day. They were the best partners I could wish for and I hope I will able to work with them again because we have a special chemistry and I am very thankful to them.

OW: What was the experience of debuting at San Francisco Opera?

CG: It was fantastic and I will make sure to come back because the opera house is extremely great. They take care of every single artist and are very concerned about the final result. Everyone works in such an exceptional way to make everything work perfectly. I am very pleased with the whole experience and I think this will become one of my beloved opera houses.