(Credit: Angelo Contorno)

Italian tenor Riccardo Massi has rapidly achieved international recognition as one of the most exciting and accomplished interpreters of the Italian spinto repertoire, earning accolades worldwide for his interpretations of Puccini’s and Verdi’s heroes. He has performed at the prestigious Italian theaters, Giuseppe Verdi Theatre and La Scala, alongside the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House.

As a martial artist, specializing in the handling of ancient and medieval weapons, before pursuing his passion for opera, Massi enjoyed a career as a stuntman; working in several films including Martin Scorsese “Gangs of New York,” ABC’s “Empire,” and HBO’s “Rome.”

OperaWire caught up with Massi at the Royal Opera & Ballet, Covent Garden, where he is appearing as Radames in “Aida.”

OperaWire: Hello Riccardo. Thank you for taking time out to speak with OperaWire. You’re appearing here in “Aida,” how’s it going?

Riccardo Massi: I like the production very much. It’s very strange. It’s very dark…military and oppressive. It’s not the canonic “Aida” that you find in the classic productions such as Zeffirelli. But it’s very interesting. Because there are many ways to see “Aida.” The classic iconic way, you know, like the pyramids, the armies, the desert, the war, the honor, the fight, the love…all together.

Some other productions put the focus on the main theme of “Aida” which is the classic triangle, you know? The girl, the boy and the other girl. Which is basically Aida’s history. This one puts the focus on the horror of the war, not just its glory, but the horrors. And I find it very interesting to see love blossom in this, you know, disgusting thing that is war; that we carry on as a species again and again. It’s in our nature I suppose.

This production is two years old. And the Egyptians are like a people of…everybody is like in uniform. Their religion is war. So much so that before going to war they consecrate, to a god, a gun! Not a symbol, an actual rifle. And the flag that’s being used on stage, it’s a mix of the Chinese, Russian and American flag. Just to symbolize these huge superpowers. So, I think it’s very, very interesting as a production because of that very strong contrast. You know, you have this awful war….it’s  always there as a religion. And on the other hand, you have this tender love, like a flower that grows on concrete.

OW: The last time you spoke with OperaWire, you said something interesting. You said, “Singing is not a 100-meter run, it’s a marathon.” So, I wanted to ask you, how is your personal marathon going, and where are you currently in the race?

RM: (Laughs) Well, every marathon has a few bumps in the road. Sometimes you fall sick, sometimes you have an issue, and you have to perhaps be, maybe a month without singing. It’s like being an athlete. You cannot pretend to have a career without a few injuries, I mean who doesn’t?

But when I said that I was also referring to another matter. Which is, in order to prepare to be an opera singer, you have to think like an athlete and also a martial artist. Because the point is that, unlike a pianist or a violin player, the instrument is not outside of us. We are the instrument. Which means that if I decide to do this career, I have to transform myself in my own tool of work. So, I have to organize my life around my voice. What you eat, your diet, your training, your daily habits, everything. Everything you do, from the moment you decide to start to study, until you’re old. That’s what I was referring to as a marathon. It’s not something you can do for a while and then, okay, maybe leave it and then try and return to take it.

It becomes what the Latins used to call forma mentis. It’s something that involves entirely what you are.

No. I think we are blessed enough to be able to do what we do. I’m sorry for them. I’m sorry for them because sometimes, thank God we’re talking about a small portion of the people that love opera. 95 per cent of people are enthusiastic when they come to see you and they always try to see the best of what you’ve done, to enjoy the show and that’s what we like. This remaining few per cent, I actually feel sorry for them because they lack perspective. I mean you have all the right to tell me that you don’t like me; that you don’t like my voice. That’s OK. It’s part of the game. But the comparisons they make lack perspective because, for example, when Franco Corelli came along in the 1950s. All these opera fans were like:
“Who is this young guy? He’s not good. He’s no, Lauri Volpi. Aureliano Pertile was a real tenor. Or Caruso, not this young Corelli. Who is this Corelli? You see? Same thing.  So there will always be someone that will tell you: “Oh! this is crap! It was much better before.”

Okay, in some instances I can agree; we can ALL agree that Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli…. they were gods. they are gods. We are doing what we can because we are carrying a very, very heavy heritage of a golden age and a golden glory but they’re also dead my friend. (Laughing) So someone’s got to do it. We cannot live in the past.

OW: Mentioning those great Italian artists of the past, do you ever feel, as an Italian, a greater burden of responsibility considering that there are some great tenors now from America, elsewhere in Europe and even the Far East?

RM: No, I don’t. We’ve always had great singers from all over the world. You know, in the past the great gods of the Metropolitan, Merrill, Tucker, those great, great singers from like a century ago, and also the great Russian singers, the American school and the German school. The beauty of opera, of course it was born in Italy, we all know that, and that Bel Canto was born there, but the beauty of it is that it’s international. So, I never felt that opera belonged more to Italy. No. It belongs to everyone who has the right heart for it. If you can feel it, and if it moves you, you can be from Italy from India from Mongolia from China; it doesn’t matter. If it moves you and you, you can transmit to others these emotions, so nationality doesn’t really mean anything in opera. If you “get it,” there is something that somehow goes beyond the language. This is the great power of opera.

OW: You also once said: “I think no one on earth wrote better for the voice than Verdi.” Can you elaborate a little on that for me and explain why you believe that to be so, as opposed to, say, Puccini or Donizetti or some other composer?

RM: The great Italian school of bel canto is the best you can find for singing voices. Especially Donizetti. The way they write the notes and the phrases for the singer is something that doesn’t matter if you’re a tenor, mezzo, soprano, bass, baritone, doesn’t matter. That line of singing will always take you home. It will always put you on the right path. Always. Unfortunately, that is not the same case with Verismo, and what came after.

Of all the exponents of bel canto, I think that the very best one is Verdi. Because if you look at what Verdi wrote for singers, you can really only test this when you sing as a musician; you can only really understand it if you are a singer. The way he wrote the phrases, the legato, for the singers, it’s something that comes from heaven. Mozart didn’t write like this for the singer. Neither did Rossini nor Puccini afterwards. Bel canto is really healthy for the voice and among all of them Verdi is the best.

In fact, if I don’t feel very good, like for example, I feel like now I’m full of phlegm, and if I had like a flu or a cough and I had to stay silent for a couple of weeks, when I start to sing again, what do you think I would sing? Verdi! And then, when I feel myself to be more comfortable, on top of that I can put Puccini and other things, but Verdi is the main guy.

OW: So, it’s pretty well documented that you were a martial artist and a film stuntman, and as a fellow martial artist, I couldn’t NOT ask you to elaborate on that a little.

RM: Ah, the martial arts. I miss it so much! Alas, it doesn’t sit well with being an opera singer. It’s not just that of course, you have to avoid getting hit, but if body wants to go back to what it was when I was a fighter, it would be a little bit stiff, and this is totally not okay for singing. So, I had to leave that path in order to embrace all of this. It was a tough decision but if I do even like ten push-ups…the day after, I feel it. The body tenses. What we do as a singer is the opposite of a martial artist. Not just the mindset but the discipline and I miss it so much!

The stunt work was from 2000 to 2007. Seven years. mostly American productions, because they were shooting a lot of movies in Rome.

Then we did the biggest one, “Gangs of New York” by Martin Scorsese. And then HBO’s “Rome,” which was a big show. I’ve also done a lot of documentaries for your own BBC. They were coming to Italy to film documentaries about Caesar, Hannibal, all the epic battles of the Roman Empire.

Another production I was involved in that was called “Empire,” then many other Italian TV movies, you know, like three or four episodes of something historical, but yeah, that paid my bills for quite a while.