SUMMER 2019, ISSUE 150
LIBRETTO Victor DeRenzi conducting in the early 1970s.
50 Years on the Podium An Interview with Victor DeRenzi by Lana Mullen
INSIDE WHERE ARE THEY NOW YOUTH OPERA PROFILE: WILLIAM DAVENPORT 2018-19 IN REVIEW 2019-20 PREVIEW SPECIAL EVENTS LEGACY DONOR PROFILE TRIBUTES SUMMER/GUILDS BOX OFFICE
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Lana M: This year you’re celebrating your 50th anniversary as a conductor. Tell us about your first time conducting. Victor DeRenzi: I made my debut conducting Lucia di Lammermoor on June 30, 1969, with an opera company in New York City, the Ruffino Opera. I went on to conduct 58 performances of 16 different operas in 10 months with that company. As I remember it, one performance was worse than the other. But, I did have the chance to conduct a lot of music and work with a lot of people. I had just turned 20 and was in college and still studying. Many of the operas I did were familiar to me from my years of opera going: Tosca, La bohème, La traviata, Rigoletto, so at least I had an idea about how they went. My clearest memory about my debut was that my legs were shaking a lot, and I didn’t know how they were going to stop. What I learned about performing of any kind is that if you concentrate on what you’re doing, nerves and problems go away. LM: You have known that you wanted to be a conductor since you were 13 years old, having attended performances from a very young age. How did you know at that age this is what you wanted to do? VDR: Once I heard my first opera, La forza del destino, I knew I wanted to be involved in opera. I realized how much I loved theater and music, and I would do anything that would keep me involved in opera. I knew I couldn’t be a singer because my voice was as bad then as it is now.
So, I thought if I were a conductor it would be like being a singer but singing every role, not just one. LM: What were some of your dreams and ambitions when you started out in 1969, and how have you met or surpassed them? VDR: When I started conducting, I wanted my life to be about making music and not just listening to other people make the music, and I have certainly achieved that. Most young conductors dream about running the biggest opera houses and orchestras in the world and I did too, at first. But I realized my talents were going to take me in another direction. I liked the idea of having a festival company. I wanted to create a community of performers and opera goers. LM: What do you believe is the most important aspect of a performance? VDR: The job of an artist is to take the material left by the composer and, by knowing and understanding its historical context, create a performance that moves the audience and compels it to be involved in what is happening onstage. We must present the material in a non-judgmental way that makes people understand their society and be a better part of it. Ultimately the audience’s participation makes a performance what it is. We can’t just perform to the air. The audience of a given day, the community, makes the performance unique and special. (Continued on page 9)
YOU ARE INVITED TO HONOR
Maestro DeRenzi’s 50 th Anniversary as a conductor with a tribute gift that will be recognized in the Winter 2020 edition of Libretto. Please call (941) 366-8450 ext. 231 to make a gift by phone or send a contribution of $25 or more to: Sarasota Opera, Attn: Tribute Fund | 61 N. Pineapple Ave. | Sarasota, FL 34236
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