20 July 2010

The tenor Stephen Costello enthuses about the varied roles he is singing

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'It's a fantastic experience', American tenor Stephen Costello enthuses from Cincinnati, where he is currently working with the legendary opera director Jonathan Miller on Puccini's La Bohème. 'Of course, you get nervous when you work with someone like Jonathan Miller, because of his fame and reputation. But he is so open to ideas. He really lets us go, and trusts our instincts and interpretations. At the same time, he is very clear about what he wants from us, acting wise.' Miller's emphasis on a 'much more realistic style', doing away with more melodramatic, stock opera gestures, has clearly been something of a revelation for rising star Costello. 'Like when Rodolfo and Mimi meet for the first time, he has us just talking to each other in a chair,' he explains. 'It's so simple, and so intimate.'

Miller's approach resonates with Costello's own training; like his wife, soprano Ailyn Pérez, Costello studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia with the inspirational Christofer Macatsoris, who was focused on intention. 'He told us to focus not on technique, but on the words and the meaning, and that will put the voice where it needs to be,' he recalls. 'Assuming the technique is there, everything else will fall into place. He also made me understand that the gestures opera singers usually employ are a crutch, and they actually end up creating more tension.' Contemplating how exposed singers might feel without such 'crutches', however, he gives a chuckle. 'That said, it's a higher risk--asking the audience to really relate to us as real people. But if it works, it's so much more moving; it makes us all seem younger, more playful, and ultimately more vulnerable.'

Lest you should think, for one moment, that Stephen Costello is someone who needs to worry about seeming 'younger', fret not. The 2009 recipient of the Richard Tucker award--previous winners include Reneé Fleming, Joyce DiDonato and David Daniels--is a sprightly 28-year-old, although the critical successes he has already enjoyed at houses including Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera somewhat belie the fact. This year, Costello's star has continued to rise: just prior to Miller's Bohème he created the role of Greenhorn/Ishmael in an acclaimed new version of Moby Dick at Dallas Opera; next up, he will play Roméo in the Salzburg Festival production of Roméo et Juliette, conducted by the peerless Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Costello describes Moby Dick, which was rapturously received in Dallas, as one of the 'greatest experiences' of his career to date. 'With a new work like that, you sign on blind and it's a big risk. But as soon as I heard Jake Heggie's music, I knew it was going to be a great thing.' And how did he find the experience of creating a role? 'Incredible. Of course I love to do the traditional repertoire, I'm never going to get tired of singing Rodolfo. But the idea that nobody has done it this way before, that there can be no comparisons or preconceived ideas about what it should be, and that right now we're the only opera house unleashing this amazing new work to the world; well, that's a pretty cool feeling.'

It is 'vitally important', Costello believes, for opera houses and artists to encourage new work and stay relevant--'I told Jake: if you write anything, no matter how small a part, I will do it!' he jokes. Meanwhile, there is certainly no shortage of other stellar opportunities coming his way: after Salzburg, Costello tells me, he is looking forward to returning to the Met and Covent Garden, and making his debut in Vienna.

It could be easy for Costello, at this gilded juncture in his career, to sit back and start taking his future for granted, but it turns out he is wise and humble as well as supremely talented, citing singers such as Jonas Kaufmann, as 'a great example of someone who doesn't just stand there and sing', or Sir Thomas Allen, with whom he recently worked on Gianni Schicchi, as an artist who really 'brings a production to life'. He clearly has scant regard for singers who think 'well, it's just Bohème' and "phone in" a performance. In fact, he reflects that one of the best pieces of advice he ever received was: just because you can sing something doesn't mean you should. 'You know, you never stop learning,' he muses. 'You watch, and you listen, and you watch, and you listen. The moment you stop, I think your career probably goes into decline.' Referencing Plácido Domingo as another major inspiration, he points out that that the greatest singers 'ultimately retire not because they have to, but because they want to.' Thankfully, retirement is something that Stephen Costello won't have to worry about for a long, long time.

© Clemency Burton-Hill