(Photo: Ilenia Brunelli)

This summer’s Ravenna Festival saw the premiere of Danilo Comitini and Francesca Masi’s opera “Dilexi”, based on the life of the Roman Empress Galla Placidia. A success in its own right, the opera also showcased the talents of the young soprano Laura Zecchini, who is still completing her master’s degree at the Cesena Conservatory.

Notwithstanding her limited experience, Zecchini produced a confident and dominant performance in the title role, in which she showed off her “attractive, secure, clear-toned voice, with which she was able to spin out lines of delicate beauty and respond intelligently and sensitively to the text.” Although it was a semi-staged production, Zecchini managed to bring dramatic strength to the performance through the expressivity of her voice, with OperaWire noting that “at times she voiced her pain gently, while on other occasions she was more demonstrative, furnishing the line with strong emotional, dynamic inflections and indulging in agile leaps.”

OperaWire met up with the young soprano two months later at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, where she had just qualified for the semi-final stage of the Cesti Competition, for what turned out to be an honest interview, in which she talked candidly about her strengths and the areas that she needs to develop.

OperaWire: What made you want to become an opera singer?

Laura Zecchini: When I started studying to become an opera singer,  I had never seen or heard an opera before.

When I was 16 years old, I discovered a Pink Floyd song called “Great Gig in the Sky,” and on the track there is a woman that sings a beautifully improvised melody with a lot of high notes. As I listened to the voice, I thought maybe if I study how to sing correctly, I will be able to sing that song. This is how it all started. So, I had no intention of becoming an opera singer, I just wanted to learn how to sing well so that I could sing pop songs.

Then, when I started to study literature at university, I discovered it was not for me; I did not like the course at all, and I needed to find a way to escape. Luckily, the head of the small music school where I was learning to sing suggested that I study at the conservatory and become a professional singer. I was 20 years old at the time. My first thought was that it would be a perfect way to escape from university.

I then enrolled at the conservatory in Cesena. This was my first real exposure to opera. I had no background at all in classical music. My dad liked music like Pink Floyd and Fabrizio De Andrè and that is all I really knew.

I am still at the conservatory, where I am doing two master’s degrees, one in contemporary opera with Alda Caiello and one in ancient music with Gabriele Lombardi. When I finish them, I will have two master’s degrees, which is a little unusual, I know.

OW: What experience have you had so far in performing opera at a professional level?

LZ: I started singing professionally, outside the conservatory, about two years ago with a role in an opera by Sara Stevanovic called “Between Mirrors: Memories Blundering Merge” for soprano, ensemble, two videos and tape. Before that, I had sung roles at the conservatory and in choirs. Last year, I sang the role of the governess in Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw” in Reggio Emilia. I found this really challenging. This year I have made quite a lot of performances, including the title role in “Dilexi” at the Ravenna festival and made my first recording of an opera called “Il Pellegrino del Nulla” by Riccardo Perugini for Tactus Records. It is a new piece with many references to pop music. I play the main role called She, who is an allegorical figure without a name.

Recording the opera was a great experience, but I was very scared when I first listened to it, as I am very self-critical. I love the recording. It is a very good piece.

OW: Are you happy with your performance on the recording?

LZ: Not completely. I would like to have been able to improve the homogeneity of my voice. It is written to be sung in many different styles. Sometimes it is pure pop music, like Lady Gaga. At other times, it is very dramatic. It lasts about one hour and moves between styles frequently, and often changes from very fast to very slow. It was quite difficult to sing. I could hear all my small faults when I listened to it. Sometimes there was too much air in my voice. The composer has since told me that it has been played to many people and that they have been very impressed with my voice, which is good to hear.

The CD comes out before the end of this year.

OW: You are specializing in the areas of baroque and contemporary music. Why did you choose these areas?

LZ: I think it is because of the young me who wanted to sing Pink Floyd. Also, I sing with a band, and we tour around the local area singing pop and folk music. Obviously, I have to change the way I sing when I sing classical music, and I know that pop music is a long way from baroque music, but there are some things that are very similar; sometimes my teacher has to tell me to stop singing like Lady Gaga. In baroque music you can really play with your voice, especially its colors, which you cannot do with Puccini or Verdi as the voice has to be so lyrical and projected so strongly.

It is the same with contemporary music; you can play with your voice. I like to do this as it comes from my folk background.

OW: How would you describe your voice?

LZ: I think it is a sweet voice, a warm voice. It represents me, and I am always surprised by the amount of people who come to me after a performance and talk to me not about my voice but the expressiveness I am able to generate. I am not being egotistical here, but this is also what I look for in other people’s voices, and I don’t find a lot of singers who are very expressive in the way they sing. For me, it is the easiest thing to do! I can put my personality into my voice. I can express myself, and I find it easy. Everything else I find difficult. I have to work hard with my voice.

It is an agile voice, so I can sing coloratura without too much of a problem, but obviously I have to work on it. When I started, I had a small voice with a small extension and there was air in the voice. I am not a prodigy, and I have had to work hard at this. My talent lies in using the voice to express myself.

The most difficult thing is projecting my voice as I have a small head with small cheek bones, and a small nose and pallet; physically, I have everything that could be bad for a singer, so I have had to work hard at it.

I have difficulties with notes above high C, but I have a strong lower register with good lower notes. As a soprano, I can easily reach the lower notes.

OW: What were your impressions about your performance as Galla Placidia in “Dilexi” in Ravenna?

LZ: It was a very good experience. Antonio Greco, the conductor, whom I had worked with before, recommended me for the role, and I am really grateful to him for that.

It was difficult because I didn’t have much time to learn it. It was the most complex piece that I have ever had to sing at this point. It was a very useful experience for me. It helped me. It was very high above the passaggio. Really heavy for my voice to work on it. I had to change two notes because they were too high for me which upset me. Maestro Greco told me that I had an entire lifetime to learn how to sing the note and that what is more important is the artistry that I bring to a piece, and that I was doing this well. It was good and kind advice. As a singer, you think that you should be singing like this artist or at this level, but it’s not like that; there is always something to improve, even for the best singers. I remember being told by my teacher that people will never remember if you miss a note, but they will always remember a performance that you have put your soul into. Obviously, it is difficult to convince yourself of this.

As for the work, I loved it. There are some beautiful melodies in it. It was received very well by the public. It was performed in a large church, and it was full almost every night, and people said very nice things about my performance and the work itself.

OW: We are now here in Innsbruck where you’ll be competing in the Cesti competition.  What was your motivation for wanting to compete in the competition?

LZ: I must admit I don’t like the idea of competitions for a number of reasons, but I had heard many good things about the Cesti competition. One of my teachers also told me to apply. He said they would accept me and not to worry. He was right!

For me, it is not all about winning, as there are many people here who will hear me sing, and, you never know, I may get opportunities from this.

OW: What do you hope to gain from taking part in the competition?

LZ: I am at the beginning of my career, and this will be the first time I have sung outside Italy. I just hope someone notices me or that I can make some contacts. But more than that, I want to see how I behave and how I cope in such a situation. This is my first competition, so I hope the experience will help me grow as a singer. I have no illusions; there will be singers who will be better than me and I want to learn from this; it is a great opportunity. I am not a competitive person, but I believe I have something to offer. I will be concentrating on my performance. I will give my best, but I don’t expect to win.

OW: How would you like your career to develop in the future?

LZ: I would love to get to the position where I can decide what to sing and what not to sing. I am already very aware that, as a singer, this is a difficult position to reach. We have to accept roles as they come if we want to make a living. Also, I don’t want to do anything else. I want to be a full-time singer. At this point in my life, I think I would prefer to stay in Italy and have my home here with my family. In this way, I can have a life outside of the theatre as myself. I don’t want a career singing the same roles all the time; I want to perform new roles and sing in new operas.

It would be great if I could have a career as an opera singer but also as a pop singer at the same time. That would be my ideal

OW: Unfortunately, having made it to the semi-final, she failed to reach the final. We managed to catch up with her to find out her reaction.

LZ: I really enjoyed the competition. I didn’t feel anything negative about it. For sure, everyone was there to win, but it was entirely positive; there was a real sense of community among the singers, and I made some new friends.

I felt very comfortable on stage, which I was very pleased about, and the jury was very professional and supportive. It was my first ever competition, and after I finished singing in the first round, I was so happy I started crying. It was a very emotional experience; I felt so moved, but at the same time I had good control over my voice. It was so important to me that I was able to do this.

I also enjoyed watching the other singers perform. I loved listening to them as I was able to gain things from their performances; I really think that I now have a better understanding of what is important and what is less important when you sing. I noticed that you remember the singers that are able to grab your attention; they don’t have to be perfect! The winner, Maximiliano Danta had such a big personality and sang with a lot of expressivity, and I loved listening to him sing. He is an excellent singer and deserved to win.

The feedback I received after being eliminated was also very good, although at the time it was difficult to hear because I was sad about not qualifying for the final. It came from singers, a conductor, directors and agents and they told me a lot of things and I agreed with most of their criticisms, so I think I am on the right path. They also gave me a lot of positive feedback as well, which is very nice to hear.

I also won a prize, which really surprised me! It was a masterclass with Anna Bonitatibus, who really appreciated my voice. I feel blessed and grateful that she saw something in me among so many amazing singers.