AN INTERVIEW WITH ADRIANA IOZZIA

This is an article of mine which was published in Italy Magazine this week. I have mentioned Adriana before on this blog and I thought that all of you would like to learn more about her, too:

Pat interviewed Adriana Iozzia, a 23-year-old soprano from Modica, who gave her first interview to Italy Magazine.

Pat: Adri, I’ve known you since you were 6 years old but it wasn’t until I heard you sing in a church choir when you were 9 that I realised you had the voice of an angel. When did you begin to sing?
Adriana: I’ve always sung, around the house or in church.

Pat: When did you take up singing seriously?
Adriana: When I was 17 a teacher from my school heard me sing and he suggested I take some private lessons, so I did, in Catania.

Pat: Where else have you studied music?
Adriana: At the Conservatorio in Parma and at l’Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome under Renata Scotto. I also studied at the Accademia Vignola in Modena under Mirella Freni.

Pat: Are you still studying?
Adriana: Yes, at the Conservatorio in Ferrara. I’m studying for the Biennio superiore in musica vocale di camera and I’ll finish in March. But you never stop studying music if you are a singer.

Pat: You’ve won several competitions, haven’t you? Can you tell us about a recent one?
Adriana: Yes, a few weeks ago I won the Premio Internazionale Vincenzo Bellini at Caltanissetta. I sang O Caro Nome from Rigoletto.
Pat: I’ve heard you sing that on your demo CD. It’s lovely.

Pat: Do you have any favourite composers?
Adriana: Bellini as he was Sicilian but I’m always interested in discovering new music.

Pat: What about favourite singers?
Adriana: Again, I always like to find new singers but I do follow Renata Scotto and Daniela Dessi, especially if I’m preparing a role. Renata Scotto always sings the first phrase absolutely right and it helps me interpret my role.

Pat: What is your repertoire?
Adriana: Lirico leggero and bel canto. Bellini, Verdi, Rossini and Donizetti suit my voice best.

Pat: Do you sing in languages other than Italian?
Adriana: Yes, I sing in French, Spanish, German, Russian and Welsh.
Pat: Do you have a language coach?
Adriana: No, I learnt by listening to other singers though I did study the phonetics of German.
Pat: And when did you have a chance to sing in Welsh?
Adriana: At a concert in Parma in 2007. I sang Beethoven’s Walische Lieder.

Pat: I have no idea what an opera singer has to study altogether and I imagine many of our readers would like to know what your life is like.
Adriana: I can tell you it’s not all about arias! We have to do physical work on our voices, vocal exercises and so on. Then, if I’m rehearsing a particular role, I have to prepare like an athlete, working on my breathing muscles, for instance. My teachers help me with technical difficulties and then I spend a lot of time working out how I want to interpret the role. I listen to singers from the past, like Rosa Ponselle. There are so many steps in preparing a role and of course I have to be a good actress, too.

Pat: I’ve read that an opera singer’s voice has to mature. Is this true?
Adriana: Yes, the voice is enriched as you get older. My voice has characteristics that I want it to keep but I want to add to them. The trick is to do this without losing anything. It’s like adding layers to the voice.
Pat: This didn’t happen for Callas, whom I know you admire, did it?
Adriana: Callas is a special case because by losing so much weight so drastically she became weak and strained her voice. It was a tragedy.

Pat: Do you have to follow any special diet?
Adriana: No. I just make sure that I eat healthily.

Pat: You have to watch the weather, don’t you?
Adriana: I have to be careful when it’s cold because if I get a sore throat I can’t sing. But I don’t make a fuss about it.

Pat: Do you suffer from stage fright?
Adriana: No, I 'm never afraid to go on stage – I just feel a little anxious because I want to do my best. But once I’m on stage it’s a great feeling.

Pat: Who chooses your stage clothes?
Adriana: If it’s a role, the director. If it’s a concert, I do.

Pat: What are your ambitions now?
Adriana: To sing opera as a soloist in theatres and to travel to sing. There aren’t many chances to sing in Sicily. There’s the Bellini Theatre in Catania and the Teatro Massimo in Palermo but that’s all, so I’ll have to travel.

Pat: Has your family encouraged you?
Adriana: Oh, yes, they’ve always supported me, both emotionally and in practical ways.

Pat: Adri, we hope that you achieve all your ambitions. Thank you so much for giving your first interview to Italy Magazine.
Adriana: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.

SECOND TV INTERVIEW

With the help of the man from the local computer shop, I have at last been able to upload the second TV interview about the poetry book translation onto youtube. Well, he did it, really, and it took 3 hours!

Antonio Lonardo and Pat Eggleton interviewed by Fabio Pompeo Iacono on reteiblea, 11.6.09.

English transcript:

FPI: Antonio Lonardo’s poetic adventure having begun almost by chance, it is with great pleasure that we now welcome a fourth paperback volume to this much appreciated series; this volume contains an output which is lyrical in every sense of the word.

He has participated in many national and international literary competitions, for which he has entered single poems, unpublished collections and his first book, Desiderio di Luce [Wishing for Light], which has received no less than ten prizes in just two years.

For Lonardo, writing poetry is a game of chance, as is, for the most part, entering poetry competitions: whenever he takes on the challenge, his work becomes better appreciated in various parts of Italy and it is often listed among the winners in the final results, even when the competition has been fierce.

[From dust cover notes by Antonio Daniele for Le stagioni del Cuore and Il Profumo del Pensiero.]

AL: Well, I'm half a teacher and this literary intention came to me from very far away. I was born in the Province of Avellino and I became a teacher. I've been in Modica since 1983. First I taught middle school and then I taught at the Archimede Economic Liceo [ITCS Archimede]. I started writing in 1977 when I had a bereavement. My fiancée died and I was grieving over this loss. From this all the rest came about. Obviously I couldn't go on crying so I thought about new themes, those that reflected my cultural interests, such as foreign politics, the observation of reality and the heart, my own heart. I dedicated many poems to my family, friends, to others and myself. Obviously all this happened after a lot of observation and deep meditation about my great interests.

I've had the courage to enter many poetry competitions and in 3 years I've won 40 prizes, some of them quite important ones, for single poems, collections and the works I've published since 2005. The highest honour I've received is the President of the Republic's Medal, awarded at Buggiano in Pistoia 2 years ago.

PE: I write a blog about my experiences in Sicily. I happened to be at the launch of AL's second collection and I asked him if I could write about him and translate one of his poems for the blog. He agreed, read the blog article and then contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in translating a new collection. I said I would.

I found the work both interesting and demanding because it's not enough to know the meaning: you have to find the word that is exactly right, let's say the most poetic and musical word. You have to find the right word in all translation but poetry is different. For example, in the poem Metamorfosi we have the word linguaggio. In English , "language" means language in general. We don't have a word to [collectively] describe particular types of language. Finally I decided to use the word "language" in the translation and render its sense in the rest of the verse. There are always decisions like this to make.

Then there are grammatical aspects. English syntax is different, for example . Sometimes I had to change not only the word order but the punctuation - in fact, the entire verse structure.

Il Poeta is read in Italian and in English.

INTERVIEW

I have been interviewed for the Sicily Guide blog here. You may care to take a look.