Last June, soprano Leah Crocetto won the first prize, Spanish Prize, and People’s Choice at the José Iturbi International Music Competition in Los Angeles. On March 14, she was one of five winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York City.
Now a second-year Adler Fellow, and 45 pounds lighter than when she participated in the 2008 Merola Opera training program (thanks to thrice-weekly workouts with a trainer), Crocetto seems poised for a major career. Shortly before she presents her Schwabacher Debut Recital in Temple Emanu-el’s Meyer Sanctuary on April 18, I caught up with her in the San Francisco Opera House.
When I first asked San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald about you, she replied, “I snatched her out of Bible school!” [Leah laughs]. What was that all about?
I actually was a student at Moody Bible Institute in 1998. I was only there for about a year, but I met my teacher there, Arnold Rawls, whom I continue to study with. He’s the one that developed my technique, and I continue to check in with him. He still teaches at Moody, and builds his renowned career as a tenor all over the world. He’s not yet been to the Bay Area, but he just finished doing Manrico in Trovatore up in Seattle. So he’s making his way.
The reason you went to Moody Bible School was ... ?
Vocal performance. They have a really excellent conservatory program there. It’s located right in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast. I went to mostly Bible-based private schools my whole life, and it was just the natural path to go to a Bible-based school. And Moody did a really good job of recruiting me. The academic demands were a little bit too much; I couldn’t do everything they wanted me to do and study music the way I wanted to study music. I left after a year and a half, but commuted twice a month from Michigan to study with my teacher. I did competitions. Then I took a bunch of years off because I, like every young person, had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
I ended up moving to New York and singing jazz everywhere. I made my debut in Sam’s Club on Restaurant Row on West 46th St. I used to sing jazz and cabaret a lot while waiting tables at the Olive Garden in Times Square [laughs].
Opera was always my passion. But I lost sight of it. I thought that my moment had passed, that at 25 I was getting too old to sing opera. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it. All my friends who were singing opera were younger, and had already done all these programs and everything. I had done Utah Festival Opera program at age 20, and that was all I’d ever done, besides winning some competitions in Chicago way back when.
After two years, my dad got sick, and I moved back to Michigan to help my mom out and live with the family. I got my degree in acting at Sienna Heights University in Adrian, Michigan. I don’t have a music degree.
Were your parents musicians? How did you get into opera?
Photo by Jason Victor Serinus
I come from a big Italian family. I’ve been listening to Luciano Pavarotti sing since I was in the womb. My dad was the most conscious lover of music. He knew about every genre, and he kept us engulfed in every kind of genre imaginable, from Bob Dylan to the Rat Pack to Pavarotti to Earth, Wind & Fire.
Pavarotti’s is the first [singing] voice I ever remember hearing. I used to pretend I was singing like him when I was 4 years old walking around the house. I would sing songs like “Non ti scordar di me” and “Nessun dorma.” I loved it from the time I was a little kid. I’ve never wanted to do anything else than sing opera.
My mom plays the piano, organ, and clarinet. Both my parents sing in the church choir, and my dad was actually in a rock ’n roll band. I’ve also got three sisters. Even my one sister who’s in politics has a really great voice. We all four have sung together with my mom on the piano. I know it sounds like a Norman Rockwell Christmas card, but it wasn’t.
What did it feel like to win first the José Iturbi, then become one of five winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions?
I never expected to win, but I did expect to do well because I prepare for competitions the way I’d train for a marathon. The José Iturbi [competition] couldn’t have been more different from the Met competition. There was less pressure, even though the prize money was greater. It was also in Los Angeles, which felt like a vacation. And it was really fun to perform, because I got to collaborate with pianist Martin Katz in the finals. We’ve formed quite a friendship, and we’re performing a recital together this summer for a Merola Signature event that will be auctioned off at a fund-raiser this spring.
The Met was a whirlwind. I still feel like I haven’t yet woken up, due to the fact that I’ve been dreaming of winning the Met competition since fifth grade when I saw my first operas, Carmen (I really identified with Micaëla) and Tosca (I wanted to be Tosca). I never expected to win, especially since I’m 30, and they never pick older people.
It was really wonderful. We were there for 10 days. Everyone wanted us to be the best we could be, from the stage manager up to conductor Marco Armiliato, and they all helped us get there.
After several days of coaching, the first competition was March 7. We sang two arias with piano. I sang “Ernani, involami,” and then conductor Marco Armiliato picked “Sombre forêt” from William Tell for me for the second piece.
After that, we worked with acting coach Peter McClintock and Armiliato throughout the week to shape up our arias and get them ready for orchestra.
At the March 14 finals, I sang “Ernani, involami” and “Chi bel sogno di Doretta.” The Met was completely full. They had me close Acts 1 and 2, so the applause was very generous. The audience wouldn’t stop applauding in the middle of “Ernani, involami,” and I had to pause before the cabaletta. It was kind of surreal.
After I won, I was schmoozing with people who paid to come to the champagne reception. This cute little woman came up to me, shook my hand, and said, “My name is Marni, and I’m a great fan of yours.” When I realized it was Marni Nixon, I was taken aback. I also met Frederica von Stade and Marilyn Horne. They were both so gracious and lovely.
Since you won the competitions, have there been a few little knocks on the door?
Yes. My career is taking off! I’m blessed and excited. I’ve got really great management, and they’re doing a great job of keeping me busy.
I’m singing Leonora [from Verdi’s Il trovatore] at Opéra National de Bordeaux in 2011. That solidified maybe five weeks ago. I’ll also do Beethoven’s Ninth [Symphony] with the Philadelphia Orchestra in August in [Charles] Dutoit’s final season. There will also be other Verdi Requiems (following my performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic).
A lot more is in the works. I can’t talk about specific houses just yet, but it looks as though I’ll be singing in Maometto II (Rossini), Traviata, Trovatore, and the Verdi Requiem. There is also talk of Manon and Lucia and Puritani in the future at some very reputable houses in America and Europe. A lot of things are stirring and brewing.
Are people seeing you as a Verdi soprano?
They are. I am completely an Italian soprano who will sing the dramatic bel canto repertoire such as Guillaume Tell, Maometto II, and other late-Rossini stuff, Lucia ... that kind of bel canto repertoire, as well as the early Verdi stuff that I’m singing now. Eventually I would love to move into Elisabetta in Don Carlo. I want to sing Ballo, Butterfly, and other Puccini repertoire years from now.
Why in years?
I believe that I should stay as light and as coloratura as I can, until I can’t sing that way anymore. Right now, I have a high extension, and my voice is pretty flexible. So I don’t want to weigh it down with heavier roles. I keep my voice balanced by singing “Regnava nel silenzio” from Lucia, “Qui la voce” from Puritani, and all such roles.
I also do some French repertoire too, which is fun. I’m covering Pat Racette this season in Faust. And the French does feel nice in the voice.
You like to sing art songs. How do we get this music to younger audiences?
This is something I’ve thought about a lot. Art songs were the pop songs of their day. We forget that. I feel if we can just get across to people my age or younger — the common man who doesn’t know art song as we know it — that art song was the pop music of its time ... and if our collaborators and accompanists and teachers wouldn’t be so boxed in with the music, and realize that because it’s an art song, it is open to interpretation and not going to be the same every time they hear it, it will be exciting.
What was it like singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the Giants in AT&T Park?
It wasn’t intimidating; it was fun. In high school and college, I used to do it for basketball games, but I’d never done it outside before. It was fantastic. I was so used to singing it in a lower key than I would sing it now, that I started it in my old key. That would have been the key to start in if I had been doing a jazz version and belting out some riffs. It wasn’t the right key to present for San Francisco Opera. But I started in the old key, and ended up throwing an extra high note in there and belted a little bit. It’s on YouTube here. Check it out.