Thursday, April 16, 2009

John Andrew, 77 prepares for Verdi's Otello

From TimesOnline:

Think of Rocky for opera lovers: this summer Jon Andrew, a former star international tenor, is coming out of retirement at 77 for one last shot at Otello.

If he makes it all the way through the title role of Giussepe Verdi’s adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy Othello, he will become the oldest person to tackle one of the most demanding roles in the repertoire.

Plácido Domingo, 68, the great Otello of modern times, no longer performs the demanding role, while Giovanni Zenatello quit it in 1933 at 57 after more than 300 appearances as the Moor of Venice.

On the face of it Andrew is hopelessly underprepared. He has not sung a major solo part since he performed The Flying Dutchman in Buenos Aires in 1982 and he last tackled Otello in Munich in 1979. But his secret weapon is a ferocious commitment to fitness that would shame singers half his age.


Read all here.

Related story here.

Thanks to a former voice student, Bradley Trammel who recently performed his senior recital at USC (South Carolina) for sharing this story with me.