Baritone Mark Cotton has been performing opera for 30 years, garnering acclaim around the United States for his portrayals in some of the greatest operas. Having studied with such greats as Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli, Cotton has performed the roles of Falstaff in Otto Nicolai’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Germont in “La Traviata,” Valentin in “Faust,” Belcore in “L’Elisir d’Amore,” Figaro in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Silvio in “Pagliacci,” Alfio in “Cavalleria Rusticana,” Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly” and the title role in “Simon Boccanegra,” among others.

Now in the midst of his 2018-19 season, the baritone took some time to speak about his career and some of the roles he will be taking on throughout the year, as well what he hopes to accomplish in the near future.

OperaWire: You’ve been singing for quite some time. Tell me how you got into opera and why you decided to pursue it?

Mark Cotton: When I was 15 and just going into high school I took a summer school class with Robert Bedle who was my high school chorus teacher and a huge influence on me. A friend of mine brought in a recording of “South Pacific” with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza. I heard Pinza sing “Some Enchanted Evening” and that was my “aha moment.” I knew I wanted to sing opera. I went to the Orlando public library and checked out every recording that Pinza was on. I must’ve walked out with 35 or 40 LPs. And the opera bug bit me and I knew I had to do this.

OW: You had a busy 2018 and 2019 is shaping up to be yet another season of important commitments. Tell me about your past year and what some of the highlights were?

MC: Two thousand and eighteen was a particularly important year for me because I spent much of it in Europe. While I was in Italy, I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with both Jenny Anvelt and Beatrice Benzi from the Teatro alla Scala. I also did an “audition tour” through Germany and was hired to sing Amonasro in “Aida.” I also had the opportunity to sing some performances in Poland.

OW: You recently performed with Regina Opera. Tell me about your relationship with them and about the concert you did with them?

MC: I have always wanted to perform with them and on many occasions it didn’t work out. In 2017, Regina Opera offered me the opportunity to sing Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly,” but unfortunately, because of scheduling conflicts, I had to turn it down. Then they offered me Count di Luna in “Il Trovatore,” but again obligations started to fill my schedule up and I didn’t want to take on too much at once. So when they approached me about taking part in the concert I immediately said yes.

The program was a Broadway and operetta program. I’m not much of an operetta guy but I do love classic Broadway and good musical theater. For the program I sang “If ever I would leave you” from “Camelot,” “The impossible dream” from “Man of La Mancha,” “On the Street Where You Live” for “My Fair Lady,” “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific,” and “Stars” from “Les Miserables.”

OW: Doing opera and then musicals, what are some of the differences technically?

MC: For me, good singing technique is good singing technique no matter what the piece you’re singing. Now that may differ from person to person. But as an opera singer if I’m going to be singing some Broadway show tunes, I’m still going to use my technique. I’m not going to change my “vibrating column of air” or the way that I breathe, I’m not going to change the “placement of tone,“ I’m not going to do you anything that’s going to distort or hurt my voice.

I remember as a 16 or 17-year-old kid, or maybe a little older, listening to Eileen Ferrell sing some jazz standards. One of the most important things that I took away from that as I listened was the fact that the voice was free, well supported and “in the mask.” I think it’s very important that as a singer you learn to differentiate between changing your technique and using your technique within variations of style.

OW: You sing a lot of father figure roles in opera. Most recently you did Amonasro in Europe and will be doing it at the Burg Eppstein Burgstraße. Can you tell me how he compares to other father figures you portray?

MC: I have done a lot of father figures, especially in Verdi. I have done Germont and Simon Boccanegra and now Amonasro. But Amonasro is a bit different. He, in the pure sense of a father, loves his daughter. But he’s more than just a father. He’s the king of Ethiopia. He has a sense of duty and a sense of obligation that in a time of war exceeds his obligation and duty as a father. And at one point in the Act three duet, we see that he is expecting his daughter to put aside her love for Radamès and come to the aid of her country. In the Act three duet, he clearly is speaking to his daughter as the king of Ethiopia. And of course, he sprinkles what he says as king with guilt.

OW: What are the challenges of Verdi’s music and how does it fit with you vocally?

MC: Verdi knew how to write for the voice and I enjoy singing the long beautiful lines he gave to the baritone. It’s musically rewarding to be able to portray his characters and study the complexities of his music.

OW: You’ll be doing “Gianni Schicchi” with Opera Susquehanna later this summer. Tell me about singing Verismo versus Verdi?

MC:  Switching gears for “Schicchi” is not difficult. As far as similarities in the vocal style? Besides the fact that it’s in Italian and written by an Italian composer for me, they are totally different. “Schicchi” is almost 100 percent recitative. A great contrast to the long lines that Verdi requires in his music.

OW: What is the key to good comedy? What are some of the joys of doing it and what are some of the challenges?

MC:  I remember one of my early opera coaches telling me that timing is the essence of comedy. Very early on in my opera career, even though I was quite young, I sang a lot of the buffo roles. Dr. Bartolo, Don Pasquale, Leporello. The music for those characters and others in that genre can be incredibly fast and challenging. And there are no doubt jokes that are both verbal and action based when you play them.

The joy and challenges of doing it is that you get people to laugh. I think in general we don’t laugh enough. And the joy of doing it from a personal standpoint as a musician is that the music is incredibly challenging. “Gianni Schicchi” itself is not a real classic buffo role in my opinion. It’s not like singing Don Pasquale. I think that it is in certain respects not even a comedy. Think about it… A relative dies, they hide his body and then commit a huge fraud in order to line their pockets with the inheritance. Now you can say there’s a happy ending to it. But think about what was done to achieve that happy ending.

OW: Have you sung any other Puccini and does it differ from this?

MC: Amazingly, the only other Puccini that I’ve sung is Colline in “La Bohème” and Sharpless in “Madama Butterfly.” As a matter of fact, Colline was the very first role that I ever sang. It was at the opera workshop theater at the University of Central Florida my senior year of college and I have fond memories of it.

What’s interesting about both those roles is that even though they are Puccini, they are very different from “Schicchi.” “La Bohème” is grand opera at its finest. It’s full of love, passion, emotional tragedy, untimely death, and Butterfly is very close “Bohème.” On the other hand, “Schicchi” is rapid fire human interaction packed into a short time frame.

OW: What are some of your dream roles? What’s next and what do you hope to achieve in 2019?

MC: If you would’ve asked me 30 years ago what my dream roles would’ve been, I think you would get a very different answer today. So when I was 20-years-old and you asked me that question I wanted to sing Wotan and Dutchman. I love the stories and I love the music. But honestly, those are two roles that I will never sing. If I were to live to be 100-years-old, my voice still wouldn’t change enough to sing those two roles. Now I would say Iago in “Otello,” Macbeth,  Count di Luna in “Il Trovatore,” and of course the title role of “Rigoletto.” I hope that the 2019-2020 season brings more of the amazing opportunities that last season has brought me. I know that it has had a really great start and am optimistic that I will continue to see the upward trajectory.