Critical Mass: Young tenor recalls recent mentoring from Pavarotti - News and opinions from Sun critics on art, theater, music, dance, media

When Vittorio Grigolo (pictured at left) sings the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s "La Boheme" for Washington National Opera’s season-opening production on Sept. 15, the spirit of the late Luciano Pavarotti will also be in the house.

The 30-year-old Italian tenor was among a handful of young singers whom Pavarotti mentored during the final months of the superstar tenor’s life. Grigolo worked with Pavarotti specifically on "La Boheme."

"I went to his house two months ago," Grigolo says. "He was in a wheelchair, but I saw Pavarotti still being Pavarotti, with the black hair and the big shirt. I saw a man who was fighting, even though he was very sick. There were always people around him, including some of the men who used to play soccer with him when he was young. He was such a beautiful person."

The role of Rodolfo was among Pavarotti’s most acclaimed interpretations, which made his advice particularly meaningful to Grigolo.

"He just had the role so inside him," the young singer says. "He told me a lot of beautiful things. He showed me a point in ‘Boheme’ where I should go a little bit slower, and how to let the high notes be a little softer, more beautiful and very shining. He worked on all of the opera with me.

"At the beginning I was nervous, but not after a while. I sang in front of him as he sat in a chair. He wanted me very close as I sang. And you know that when opera singers are very close, it is very loud. But there I was singing ‘La Boheme’ to his face."

Sometimes, Pavarotti would demonstrate a point. "He would say, ‘You have to do it like this,’ and then he was singing some little parts of the score," Grigolo says. "It sounded good. The voice never left the body."

Although Grigolo’s Washington National Opera appearance will be the first time he has sung 'La Boheme' on stage, his preparation for it over the summer was not the younger man’s first experience with Pavarotti and Puccini. As a teen, Grigolo sang the offstage role of the shepherd boy in Puccini’s ‘Tosca,’ including a performance in Italy when the Cavardossi was none other than Pavarotti.

"I was 15 years old when I first met him," Grigolo says. "He was so very, very nice and kind. When I would come offstage, he would give me advice about my future and tell me ‘you have to do this.’ That was the start of our friendship."

During his recent time with Pavarotti, Grigolo was presented with a hand-carved wooden music stand. "He said it was a gift to do our lessons," Grigolo says. "It was a big stand, big like Luciano. It was so cool."

Pavarotti had planned to make a recording of sacred arias, and Grigolo says he helped to find some of the music for it. The two men talked of doing a duet for the recording when the younger one returned from Washington. "He wanted to end his career with this album," Grigolo says.

The experience of working and socializing with Pavarotti has clearly left a deep impression on Grigolo.

"Here was a man who dedicated all his life to music," he says, "and, even though he had pancreatic cancer, he still had the energy to give me lessons. I will never forget when he took my hand and said to me, ‘Take care of this gift. It is very, very hard.’ Time was so precious for him, but he gave me so much."

(Vittorio Grigolo and Adriana Damato rehearsing "La Boheme" // Photo by Bill Puckett)