
Opera Meets Film: The Follies of Acting Singers in Paolo Gep Cucco & Davide Livermore’s ‘The Opera!’
By John VandevertWhat happens when a rather questionable story where good intentions end up futile in the face of capricious behavior is re-conceptualized? “The Opera!” by directors Paolo Gep Cucco and Davide Livermore. It is a strange sort of film where the two central characters are played by opera singers (Orpheus, Valentino Buzza and Eurydice, Mariam Battistelli) who seem woefully under-prepared to be acting at all in front of a camera. Complimented by real professionals in the field, not just relatively young names plucked from the operatic world given the quasi-operatic nature of the film for a task well above their current ability level as performers. The film is a masterclass in something, the fact that not every opera singer is a competent actor nor an actor at all but just a singer, nor is every opera singer a film star in the making. While some are like Kathleen Howard and Lily Pons, many are not.
Colloquially dubbed the “singing actor,” the requirement for opera singers to be of sufficient dramatic capabilities before heading out on stage or screen is a vital skill within the industry which should be talked about much more often than it is. Although certain singers are now recognized for their stoic performances, among them the mezzo-soprano Ann Sofie von Otter, generally speaking it is not advised to maintain a sluggish facade if dwelling on the operatic stage. From the many operatic films made featuring stars like Maria “La Divina” Callas (“Medea” 1969), Gladys Swarthout (“Champaign Waltz“ 1937), Mario Lanza (“For the First Time“ 1959), and Patrice Munsel (“Melba“ 1953). The idea that an opera singer is not an actor at the same time is preposterous. The question of “Should opera singers know how to act?” seems one of the most laughable inquiries ever as in the Golden Age or really up until the late-20th century, no one would have ever asked the question about if they needed to study acting at all.
In this month’s Opera Meets Film, we will explore the dilemma at hand, namely the failure for Cucco and Livermore’s stars, Valentino Buzza and Mariam Battistelli, acting in their roles as actors. This despite their considerable achievements under their belt. The great Jessye Norman was an excellent example of the operatic total package and in her video of “Dido’s Lament” (2008), one catches a glimpse of what real emotion looks like through the operatic vision. Thus, if one juxtaposes “The Opera” with this it becomes automatically clear what has not been continued into the present. Even cinematic opera projects like “9/10: Love Before the Fall“ (“Daron Hagen” 2024) seem that much more artful when compared to higher-budget productions of a supposedly higher caliber.
A Strange Choice Given The Records
First of all, the choice made to cast Buzza and Battistelli in the roles at all seem an odd choice given the amount of other young singers there who hold much higher competencies in both singing, acting, especially acting while singing, and even acting without singing. For Battistelli, it’s not very difficult to see what the issue is when it comes to her performances, where the voice is woefully underdeveloped for her age, and her acting is hardly passable, if acceptable at all. One of the most startling performances thus far has been her cheerless Musetta at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo where a lethargic, underwhelming, and generally uninspired performance cannot be excused.
What is going on with opera today, where performances such as this are being championed by audiences who don’t know what real operatic dramaturgy looks like? Other performances by her convey similar issues in the acting department, from her mechanical performances as Adina and Norina to her shocking version of “O mio babbino caro.” There’s not much more that needs to be said on the matter that hasn’t been said. In one review she is described as having given a “subtle” performance, but this is opera and that is not quite a compliment.
On the very distant other side of the coin, Buzza stands out as a remarkable young Italian tenor whose spin is superb and will only mature over time. Acting wise, his take is a noble and understated allure which works wonderfully for him given the beauty of his voice and ability to convey emotion through simplistic but energized gestures. His versions of Filandro, Catone, and even Pompeo are emblematic of a technique of acting within opera where the voice takes center stage. That being said, on the screen he does not sing opera and because he does not sing opera, his generally nuanced acting does not serve him. While Pavarotti could do this, Buzza is not yet him.
As an opera singer, he’s nearly flawless but as an actor who sings pop music, along with Battistelli, it really is a strange time where talent does not translate on the screen and viewers are left agape in their awareness of what could have been. The trailer alone is sufficient material to demonstrate that gestures are memorized but they are not lived in. Movements are memorized but they are given the life they ought to by people presumably taught how to do such things. All in all, these two seemed the wrong choice when so many other choices could have been made. The artistic choices are stellar but the main characters are lacking, as if the bottom of a ship was forgotten.
Singing Now, Acting Later… I Think
Surpassing the issue of casting, the larger dilemma at hand is the polemic of the “singing actor” in opera and the ways in which young operatic hopefuls of today are not being taught how to embody characters through their voice and body, doing both simultaneously rather than one at a time or one over the other. Over-gesticulations are just as unjustified as no movement at all, even if one has flawless technique. Dame Joan Sutherland, Kathleen Battle, Gwyneth Jones, Angela Gheorghiu, and Kiri Te Kanawa are premiere examples of the sublime marriage of both. While one could look towards Montserrat Caballé as a good example of a tempered acting ability, her voice did most of the lifting for her and earlier in her career she had already proven herself to be skilled (“Anna Bolena“ 1966).
The point here is that not marrying superb technique and vocal choices with bodily gesticulation and facial movements renders the singer uninspired and visually uninteresting to look at, many singers presenting themselves as recording artists but certainly not operatic performers. Within the Opera Meets Film series, we have looked at several video projects where these two worlds have combined in stellar manners, one of the most salient being Mario Bergmann’s opera music video project of Polly Ott’s fantastic performance of Ophelia’s Mad Scene (2023).
In the video, one can see how over-gesticulations are partnered with vocal choices which compliment them, each working in tandem with the other rather than fighting each other or coming across as scripted. The soprano there, Polly Ott, does a remarkable thing and knows her medium and its requirements. This means she must extend the eyes, make her movements larger, and keep nothing from the camera, all while making sure her choices are reflected in the voice while she twirls, climbs on the ground, and embodies the character. Ott proves that it’s possible to be a contemporary singing actor, and previous projects like it such as Franceso Rosi’s “Carmen” (1984), where Julia Migenes-Johnson proves that operatic acting is not something estranged from the camera but a natural extension of it. We can ask then, given the many projects there are, what really happened with this film?
Why were choices made which did not help but actually harm the film’s dramatic possibilities? Perhaps we will never know but it can be said, such film doesn’t exactly boost the CVs of Battistelli and Buzza, but rather shows that there is much to be desired within the world of art, cinema, and opera today, these worlds only aligning once and in a blue moon. Time will tell if another Ottian performance will be offered on the screen, but it’s clear that not every opera singer needs to be a film star. Staying on the stage is quite okay for some, but not in front of a camera.