Los Angeles Opera Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera "Don
Pasquale" opens on Friday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
By John Mangum
Daily Bruin Contributor
Most people are in their cars on their way home for the weekend
at 5 p.m. on a Friday. Greg Fedderly is not most people.
Last Friday, Fedderly was on his way to a 5:50 p.m. makeup call
for an 8 p.m. rehearsal. He’s the tenor singing a lead role
in the Los Angeles Opera’s revival of the acclaimed
production of 19th-century Italian composer Gaetano
Donizetti’s comic gem “Don Pasquale.”
“Pasquale” opens this evening at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion, but as of last Friday, Fedderly wasn’t
worried. He first sang Ernesto, the lead tenor role that he will
reprise tonight, when L.A. Opera first mounted the production in
1995.
“It’s a role that I really put a lot of time into
that first time,” Fedderly said. “It’s been fun
to go back to it.”
For this revival, Fedderly is one-fourth of a cast that any
opera company would be hard-pressed to beat ““ Ruth Ann
Swenson, Thomas Allen and Simone Alaimo ““ in a production
that was originally conceived by the legendary Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
and is now directed by Steven Lawless. The story wrings every last
drop of comedy out of a bizarre love triangle between an old man,
Pasquale, who wants to marry a young woman who just happens to be
his nephew Ernesto’s beloved.
“The opera is full of beautiful, beautiful music,”
Fedderly said. “This production is very straightforward.
We’re not placing it on the moon or in some war
zone.”
“For someone who hasn’t gone, it’s a really
nice opera to see for the first one. You see it in its real
form,” he continued. “Steven has a wonderful sense of
humor that comes out in his work all the time. And I’m a huge
fan of all of these singers, especially Ruth Ann, and to get a
chance to see Ruth Ann sing this is amazing.”
Fedderly has admired Swenson for a long time. They both studied
with the same voice teacher, Dixon Titus, who kept Fedderly in the
loop about Swenson’s career. “I knew where she was all
of the time because Dixon was always following her career,”
Fedderly said.
Fedderly’s own career in opera began here in Los Angeles
after a few twists and turns during high school and college. The
Wisconsin native always knew he wanted to devote himself to music,
but he didn’t always see himself as an opera singer. In fact,
he started his college career as a music education student.
“I started taking voice lessons, which we had to do in
music education,” Fedderly said. “I started doing some
musical theater and got into that. By the end of undergrad ““
opera is not that big in Wisconsin ““ my teacher was really
encouraging me to try opera and listen to more of it, which I did,
and I got more interested in it.”
Fedderly decided to make the move from music education to
performance and auditioned for graduate school at USC. He got in,
and shifted his focus from musicals to opera.
While at USC, Fedderly performed a wide range of music,
including roles in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and
“The Magic Flute,” Haydn’s “Orlando
Paladino” and the title role in Benjamin Britten’s
“Albert Herring.” It was during his performance as Don
Ottavio, the main tenor role in “Don Giovanni,” that
Fedderly was discovered by the former head of L.A. Opera, Peter
Hemmings.
During his time in L.A. Opera’s resident artist program,
Fedderly understudied all of the tenor roles, appeared in smaller
roles in main stage productions and performed in the
company’s productions in Los Angeles area schools. Peter
Somogyi, L.A. Opera’s artistic coordinator, worked closely
with Fedderly during the tenor’s tenure as a resident
artist.
“He’s a very engaging, sympathetic, realistic figure
on stage,” Somogyi said. “He’s always very
believable in whatever he does, visually very much so, and vocally,
he’s certainly grown quite a bit over the last several
seasons.”
Fedderly’s first opportunity to showcase that growth came
during the company’s 1991-92 season. The tenor made his first
appearance in a principal role at L.A. Opera during that season,
singing the lead in “Albert Herring.”
Fedderly is now one of the resident artist program’s most
distinguished alumni. He has appeared at L.A. Opera several times
in roles such as Alfredo in Verdi’s “La Traviata”
and Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Bohème.” As for
the future, Fedderly will return next season as Monostatos in
Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and as Pang in
Puccini’s “Turandot.”
Fedderly finds working on new operas a gratifying experience.
He’s taking part in performances of Jonathan Dove’s
“Flight,” which recently premiered in England, in
Belgium next year.
“I really love new operas,” Fedderly said.
“I’ve been involved with a few productions of new
operas, and that energy, that creative energy, is so much fun.
It’s so infectious. You’re creating something for the
first time.”
OPERA: Greg Fedderly stars in L.A.
Opera’s production of Donizetti’s “Don
Pasquale” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for seven
performances April 11 to 29. Student rush tickets can be purchased
for $20 one hour before curtain, subject to availability. For more
information, call (213) 972-8001 or visit www.laopera.org.