This interview was originally recorded on May 15th, 2025.
The Oral History Project is supported by the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation.

Fabrizio Melano, stage director

Stage director Fabrizio Melano has worked with leading houses throughout the world for more than 40 years. He began a longstanding relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in 1969 and has directed 21 operas there, among them seven new or revised productions. Much of his work has been seen in PBS’ Live from the Metropolitan Opera series, including his stagings of La bohème (which inaugurated the series in 1977), Il trittico, Les Troyens (which also opened the Met’s centennial season in 1983), and Il trovatore. Melano has worked with most of the major American and Canadian opera companies, including five productions at Lyric Opera of Chicago and four at New York City Opera. He assisted Maria Callas in her staging of I vespri siciliani at Torino’s Teatro Regio and has directed at such companies as the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and the English National Opera. In the past few years, he has directed productions in Croatia and Finland and at the Savannah VOICE Festival.

Transcript

Marc A. Scorca: Fabrizio Melano, what an honor to have you here at the National Opera Center today, and to really capture some of your stories for our Oral History Project. Thank you very much for being with us.

Fabrizio Melano: I'm very happy to be here. I'm very happy to see you.

Marc A. Scorca: I have grown up in New York and The Met was the place where I saw so many operas, and your name is all over the programs that I've saved for 50 years, and it's just really wonderful to speak to you in person. But I always ask our guests: who brought you to your first opera?

Fabrizio Melano: It's a slightly complicated story, but I'll go into it. My father was in the Italian diplomatic service, and when I was nine years old, he was stationed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, and we were in a kind of shabby, rented apartment. But in a drawer, I discovered a pile of pamphlets. I didn't know what they were, but I started reading them like they were comic books, and they were, in fact, opera libretti. My parents discovered this. They said, "Oh my God, you're not supposed to read that; that's not literature". And they locked the drawer up, but by that time, it was already too late, I was hooked. And when my 10th birthday came around, they said, "What would you like?" And I said, "I want to go to the opera". And I said, "I want to go to a specific opera". I knew it was playing at the Rome Opera. It was Tosca, of course, the most exciting plot. And so my parents brought me to the Tosca when I was 10 years old at the Rome Opera. And I never looked back!

Marc A. Scorca: I was gonna say, did it meet your youthful expectations?

Fabrizio Melano: It really did; it was very exciting. And by that time, I had practically memorized the libretto, so I knew exactly what was happening, and I was really on the edge of my seat.

Marc A. Scorca: If you know the libretto that well, it's real theater for sure.

Fabrizio Melano: It's a good way for a director to begin: starting with the plot.

Marc A. Scorca: Do you have any recollection of the cast?

Fabrizio Melano: I think it was Maria Caniglia, actually.

Marc A. Scorca: Great start.

Fabrizio Melano: Great start. Yes.

Marc A. Scorca: And you already used the word 'stage direction'. So there you were reading libretti, went to the Rome Opera, loved it. Did you want to be a singer? A conductor? Why stage director?

Fabrizio Melano: Well, that took time. From then on, I started going to the opera as much as I could when I got back to New York - to the old Met and to the City Opera in its glory days. But it was more like a passion or a pastime. I didn't think of it in terms of a career. And in fact, I started a teaching career at Columbia University. I got my master's, was going for my PhD and started even teaching freshman English. And one day a friend of mine sat me down and she said, "You know, Fabrizio, your passion is opera. Why don't you consider making it your life as well, your life's work?" And I said, "Oh, that's an idea! How? I'm not a musician. I'm not a singer". I had directed a few scenes at Columbia, in the drama department. She said, "Well, maybe a stage a director?" And it was a big decision. My parents were against it; a lot of my friends were against it. They said they didn't see me in that role. But at the end of the year, I quit the job. William (Bill) Ball then had an actor and directors' workshop at Circle in the Square, which was a very, very good workshop, and I attended it for a year and learned a lot. And the next thing that happened, I managed to get myself to meet (Franco) Zeffirelli, and I invited myself to his rehearsals of Falstaff at The Met in '63. And then I invited myself to his rehearsals of Norma in Paris with Callas in '64, where I learned a great deal. And then when I got back to New York, a friend of mine, Frank Rizzo, who was (Gian Carlo) Menotti's assistant, couldn't - he was too busy - assist Menotti on a revival of The Consul at City Opera in '65. And so he said, "Can you do it? It's just a matter of taking notes". And I said, "Sure". And I did. So that was my very first job. And then, also through Frank Rizzo, he put me in touch with John Crosby. Santa Fe Opera was looking for an Italian coach. It was the first summer in which they actually started performing a couple of operas, I think it was Tosca and Rigoletto, in Italian rather than English. And I said, "Sure, I'd be happy to be an Italian coach, if you would let me be an assistant stage director", which they didn't even have at that point. And he said, "Fine, we won't pay you anything extra, but if you wanna do that, you can". And there, I met the stage director who became my mentor, the great Lotfi Mansouri. I loved working with him. He took an interest in me. I was with Santa Fe two seasons, and then he got me my next job with the San Francisco Opera in '68 and '69. So I did two seasons in San Francisco, and in San Francisco, actually, I was given the title Stage Director for the first time because, in '69, Lotfi's production of L'Elisir d'Amore was done as a student matinee with a completely different cast and different cuts, and I directed it, and I was given the title of Stage Director. And from then, I went on to The Met. Same year, and I never looked back.

Marc A. Scorca: You know, Fabrizio, it's really quite incredible.

Fabrizio Melano: Incredible story.

Marc A. Scorca: You are an English PhD teaching at Columbia, and decide you want to become a stage director in opera. You study it, and then somehow getting to meet Zeffirelli. Starting at the top by using a little charm and determination to get in.

Fabrizio Melano: Both; I used both.

Marc A. Scorca: Really, really remarkable.

Fabrizio Melano: I learned a tremendous amount from all of this. First, from watching Franco and Callas in Paris and in New York, and then a great deal from Lotfi. And in San Francisco, I was able to work with extremely good directors. I worked with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle in his very first opera production and with August Everding. So by the time I got to The Met, I was quite ready.

Marc A. Scorca: I don't know if it is possible to deconstruct the learning process, but there you are observing masters, and how do you learn from observing masters?

Fabrizio Melano: Ah. You see how well they know the work at hand, how well they know the score, and how they're able to translate that into action. And attending rehearsals, day by day, you could see how it happens, how it's done, little by little.

Marc A. Scorca: And I assume that Zeffirelli, Lotfi Mansouri, Ponnelle - that they all do it differently?

Fabrizio Melano: All do it differently. Yes, exactly, and that was great. So I said, "When I manage to start, if I ever do, I will be able to do it my own way", whatever that is.

Marc A. Scorca: Collecting from across the spectrum of observation that you had made.

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, exactly. Exactly.

Marc A. Scorca: Did you keep notes, or did you just make mental notes?

Fabrizio Melano: I took mental notes. I was too busy watching to take notes, as I think one should watch an opera instead of looking at surtitles.

Marc A. Scorca: Now, of course, we have to credit Lotfi with the surtitles.

Fabrizio Melano: We do, and it was a very good idea, actually, of course; it helps a lot of people. I'm glad he did it.

Marc A. Scorca: You've raised so many topics. You mentioned The Met in the old house, and I don't get to talk to a lot of people anymore, who knew the old house.

Fabrizio Melano: I was too late to work there, but that's where I began to watch opera, usually up in the Family Circle.

Marc A. Scorca: What was it like as an auditorium? What was it like to be in the audience at the old Met?

Fabrizio Melano: First of all, it was a beautiful auditorium, with great acoustics, and it had a wonderful feeling, which for me, Lincoln Center does not have. Of course, it was horribly limited backstage, but I didn't know that, at that point. It was a wonderful ambiance.

Marc A. Scorca: And for that matter, when City Opera was at City Center, a very different experience.

Fabrizio Melano: I enjoyed it very much. I went to a lot of operas at City Center. I was voracious, and I didn't just like Bohème and Carmen and Aida. I heard, at a very young age, my first Wozzeck at City Opera, and I loved it. Of course, it was a fabulous story, and the music was absolutely right for it, of course. I didn't know it was Twelve-tone or what Twelve-tone was, but I loved it.

Marc A. Scorca: And sometimes it's the perfect music for the plot.

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, exactly.

Marc A. Scorca: So you've mentioned Zeffirelli, Callas, Norma, Paris. For any of us opera lovers, that just goes down in history as one of the extraordinary, extraordinary productions. What was it like to watch Callas work, to watch Zeffirelli and Callas work together?

Fabrizio Melano: It was amazing. It was amazing, because they were both so extraordinarily intense. And at one point, Franco even said, "Oh my God, sometimes I'm even scared to be standing next to her on the stage, giving her directions". And I could understand that. Once I was just sitting in the auditorium, and she came to watch because it was a scene where she wasn't in. And so she was sitting by herself, and I went and sat next to her and tried to start a conversation. She looked at me, as if "Oh my God; I'm concentrating, don't talk to me". I said, "Okay".

Marc A. Scorca: Wow.

Fabrizio Melano: No, she was very intense. We became friends eventually.

Marc A. Scorca: Really?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, we did.

Marc A. Scorca: The friendship somewhat less intense than the performer?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, somewhat. And of course, I assisted her on the only opera she ever directed, the Vespri in Torino. She asked me to do that. It didn't turn out very well, but that's all right.

Marc A. Scorca: There's a little bit of film of that Paris Norma, and it's transfixing.

Fabrizio Melano: Unfortunately, it's the year after. It's '65 when she was not quite as good. In '64, I heard all the rehearsals, the dress rehearsal, and the first two performances. She varied, of course, but the quality was quite high. It was close to close to her old level in 64; in 65, it wasn't. Then she gave it up, and then gave up singing that same year.

Marc A. Scorca: And was just so young.

Fabrizio Melano: 41, yeah.

Marc A. Scorca: In reading through what articles are available, you've worked with so many, so many great artists. And I wanted to ask you, what makes, from the point of view of a stage director, a great colleague in opera?

Fabrizio Melano: A sense of collaboration, of being able to talk things through. I always tried to say, when I was directing something, "I'd like you to listen to my ideas, and see if you like them, and I'll listen to yours and see if I like yours". I always try to talk to a singer. And I must say most of them were very, very happy to talk. I think the greatest singer I ever worked with, was Régine Crespin, who was not only a magnificent singer, but an extremely intelligent and cultured human being.

Marc A. Scorca: I didn't see many of her performances. I saw some to recognize the talent.

Fabrizio Melano: That was probably a high point of my life.

Marc A. Scorca: Any particular production come to mind that you recall working with her and thinking, "This is just as good as it gets?"

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, a couple of her performances of Werther with (Alfredo) Kraus, which I directed. Yes. I said, "This is as good as it gets". I miss her a lot. She also became a real friend.

Marc A. Scorca: What about general directors? You've talked about John Crosby and Lotfi became a general director you worked with, being at The Met and others. What makes a good general director, one who hovers with opinion? One who just stays away from the rehearsal hall? What makes a good general director?

Fabrizio Melano: I think staying away from the rehearsal hall is a good idea, because you can't have too many bosses in the same room. So I've always tried to discourage directors from attending my rehearsals, but the two greatest general managers I worked with, were very opinionated and very bossy. They were Kurt Herbert Adler in San Francisco, and Rudolf Bing. Mr. Adler - you couldn't put anything over on him. He saw everything. He did not come to rehearsals, thank God. But he was at every performance, and he really noticed everything. If there was a slightest irregularity, he would notice it. And at the end of my first season in San Francisco, he did something really extraordinary. He called me into his office and he said, "I'm planning to retire in two years time, and I'd like to groom you to be my successor". And I said, "Oh my God. Mr. Adler, give me some time to think about it". He said, "Of course, if you accept this, you'll have to give up stage directing, as I gave up conducting when I took on the job". I said, "Let me think about this". And I did. And I came back and I said, "Mr. Adler, I'm so honored and so amazed that you offered me this, but I really do want to be a stage director more than anything else. So I hope you understand". And he said, "I do understand, but you know, remember one thing: you will probably never see on stage what you have in your mind". And I said, "I'll take that risk". Maybe a couple of times - and that's enough - I have seen on stage what I saw in my mind.

Marc A. Scorca: You have to tell me what comes to mind there.

Fabrizio Melano: Well, the main one was Suor Angelica with Renata Scotto in my production of the Trittico. That was exactly what I had in mind. I'm glad it exists on DVD, because I sometimes watch and say "Oh my God, did I really do that?"

Marc A. Scorca: I saw that in person. Was that the second season that she did it?

Fabrizio Melano: The first Angelica was Gilda Cruz-Romo.

Marc A. Scorca: Exactly, 'cause it was Hildegard Behrens, Cruz-Romo...

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, it was the third season, because then came Teresa Żylis-Gara, and then Scotto.

Marc A. Scorca: Yeah, it was an incredible performance.

Fabrizio Melano: All three roles.

Marc A. Scorca: And then you mentioned Mr. Bing.

Fabrizio Melano: Yes. I thought he was a very good manager. Again, he was controlling, but he didn't get in your way. He was less controlling than Mr. Adler. But I think, in his own way, he knew as much, and it was a very, very good company that he ran. I know several singers had difficulty with him, 'cause he wasn't easy, but he certainly knew his opera. And those are great years at The Met, as you must admit. Yes, they really were.

Marc A. Scorca: He was blessed with some really great singers, season after season.

Fabrizio Melano: There were some really great singers. He made some wrong decisions like firing Callas, but, you know, there you are.

Marc A. Scorca: As a stage director, when you have a cast, and let's say the soprano has sung Tosca 60 times in 10 different productions. And here you are coming in to direct Tosca, and you worked with the greatest artist who had done dozens of performances in dozens of productions. How do you approach it in that instance where you're not really creating something new, because it is also known, and undoubtedly they have their preferences, their own interpretive angle? How do you work with singers who have that vast experience?

Fabrizio Melano: Well, I start by sitting down and talking to them. If I've seen it, of course, I know what their approach is like. I ask, "How do you approach Tosca? What do you think about Tosca? And I may have some slightly different ideas that you might or might not like". And I think then it becomes more of a collaboration. But I once - not in my own production, it was a production of Tosca I was taking over - I had Magda Olivero as Tosca. I think her last Tosca. She was 71 maybe for The Met Tour. And it was a production that had already been done that year. And I said, "Oh, Madam Olivero, I really feel embarrassed to tell you, even to give you any directions; you should really do what you want". She said, "No, you are the stage director, and this production has been done already. And my colleagues, (Luciano) Pavarotti and (Cornell) MacNeil have done it. I don't want to disturb what they're doing. If it isn't absolutely stupid, tell me every single bit of the direction, and I'll try to fit in as best I can". See, that was a great artist.

Marc A. Scorca: And a great colleague.

Fabrizio Melano: And a great colleague, yes. And a great colleague to her colleagues too.

Marc A. Scorca: You mentioned The Met Tour, and I'm gonna ask you about the telecast in a second. But you mentioned the tour and what a logistical challenge, perhaps cutting some qualitative corners here or there in order to move an entire company across the country. But what was the spirit like in those tours?

Fabrizio Melano: It was wonderful. It was really when The Met became most of a family, 'cause we were kind of all living together, traveling first on the same trains, then on the same planes, and staying at the same hotels, and it was a wonderful experience. I loved the tours and I missed them very much when they were abandoned.

Marc A. Scorca: And the audience response to them, city to city?

Fabrizio Melano: Oh, it was incredible. I mean, in places like Atlanta, where they actually adored us, and at the Fox Theater. In fact, all the cities were really very, very, very welcoming. Though we played in some extraordinarily awful sites like the Boston Convention Center, seating10,000 people. But there you are.

Marc A. Scorca: And you toured with the great singers. It wasn't as if, you know, I was singing; there were great singers who were singing. Did they manage the rigors of the tour with reasonable grace?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, most of them did, actually. There were rigors. One of the reasons why Bing fired Callas - it was not about the actual season. He knew that she didn't want to go on the tour. And in fact, (Giovanni Battista) Meneghini in his memoirs says it. He purposely tried to make Bing fire her so they didn't have to go on the tour.

Marc A. Scorca: That's a footnote to history; really remarkable. So, I think these days, perhaps more than in your early years, the identity of a production is very much defined, I think, by the stage director. It is Ponnelle's production of...and it goes on, of course, from there. And in some of your early days, it was probably about the singers. It was about Magda Olivero's Tosca, and it was about Callas's Norma. And the balance has shifted some, and stage directors seek to put their imprimatur on the work interpretively, sometimes updating, sometimes adding psychological dimensions that may or may not give us insight. So, what do you think, Fabrizio, is the responsibility of the stage director to the work, to the audience, to fresh ideas around the work? Where does the stage director come in these days?

Fabrizio Melano: For me, personally, I think your responsibility is to the composer and his intentions. So you have to study the work as well as you can, to see what his intentions were and try to fulfill those as much as possible, and as imaginatively as possible. Not necessarily reading the stage directions, 'cause they were often added later. They were not put in by the hand of the composer, but to see what the opera is really about. And I think that's more important than trying to put a personal imprint on. And I think the greatest compliment I ever received was when I did Pelléas at The Met with Jimmy (James Levine), and The Times gave it a review, praising it to the skies, saying it was a wonderful production, couldn't have been better, without mentioning me. And I thought that was great. That was great. That was the perfect compliment.

Marc A. Scorca: And because of my travels in Europe, I realize that in Europe it can be difficult, where the Traviata production is the 50th production of Traviata they've done since World War II, and the young stage director hired to do Traviata has to think about, "Okay, what has not been done? What has this audience not already seen?" As opposed to, and again, in the early part of your career, in so many cities, people were seeing these operas for the first time. You kind of had to give them the story, so that they would understand it. But what if the audience has seen it 15 times in different productions?

Fabrizio Melano: Well, you can try to see it from a different angle. I recently did a Bohème in Croatia. I put it in modern dress, in our time, and very bare bones, very little scenery. I mean Bohème can happen today, and that did bring it closer to the audience. I didn't change the story. I didn't change the characters, but I changed the setting.

Marc A. Scorca: It is interesting as time goes on, and so much of our audience still is seeing these operas for the first time, even as some of our audience members have seen these operas for half a century. It's really hard to figure out who are you playing for?

Fabrizio Melano: I still think you're playing for the composer. You're playing to make his vision as clear as possible. That's one of the things that Callas said, "If you really, really read the score carefully, all the actions are in it; the composer has told you what to do". And she was right. But that means you have to really listen carefully.

Marc A. Scorca: Now, it's one thing, of course, when you're doing operas that you know so well - Tosca from your childhood. But when you approach an opera that is, say, rarely performed, or even a new opera, is your process different Fabrizio? You probably have this mental picture of "This is how Bohème goes. This is how Tosca goes". But if you are hired to do something that you've never seen before, there's no DVD of it...

Fabrizio Melano: That's an interesting question.

Marc A. Scorca: Do you approach it differently?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, because you do it from scratch. You have absolutely no preconceived ideas at all. And I was lucky enough, I did one new opera, an opera by Sally Lutyens called The Light Princess. I did it at the Newport Festival, and she was around, so it was great to have the composer there. I didn't have to ponder the score, I could ask her. But yes, because then you're doing it completely fresh. And at The Met, I was the assistant director on the first American performance of Britten's Death in Venice, which was done just after its premiere in England, so that was something fresh too. And it is better, 'cause there are no preconceptions.

Marc A. Scorca: A particularly rewarding time for you to really start from a completely blank slate?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, I think it is very rewarding.

Marc A. Scorca: And do you deal with the singers differently, because they also come without any preconceived notion?

Fabrizio Melano: They come with no preconceptions, yes. But hopefully, they've all done their homework, and have thought about their characters.

Marc A. Scorca: Hopefully...

Fabrizio Melano: Hopefully, yes.

Marc A. Scorca: In an interview with you that I read in Classical Singer Magazine, and this is from 20 years ago, it said that you are reluctant or will not direct an opera that's in a language in which you are not fluent, and I found that really interesting and just wanted to hear you say more about that.

Fabrizio Melano: Well, I really feel it's so important to know every word, and to be able to communicate with the singers on every word. I've made a couple of exceptions. I once directed Jessye Norman in Erwartung, which is comparatively short, and only one person, so I managed to kind of memorize the text. And I directed an Ariadne. Of course, often the prologue is done in the language of the audience, so this was done in English, but also the opera proper, I had the Zerbinetta and the Buffi also sing in English. So the only people who sang in German were Ariadne, Bacchus and the three nymphs. So those were the only two exceptions.

Marc A. Scorca: And explain some more why you feel it's so important that there's fluency, or close to it.

Fabrizio Melano: Well, because otherwise it's kind of a barrier that separates you from the work. Speaking of Jessye, Jessye herself said she would not sing in a language she wasn't fluent in. She would've loved to have sung Russian songs, but she would not do it.

Marc A. Scorca: Yeah because, I guess, of the nuance. It's not just pronunciation, it's layers of meaning.

Fabrizio Melano: No, it's not the pronunciation, it's the nuance. It's all that's involved in a word, or the words.

Marc A. Scorca: You've worked around the world. You've just mentioned recently in Croatia. But what you've done in other countries over the years, as well as all of the leading American companies, is there a substantial difference between how opera is produced in different parts of the world?

Fabrizio Melano: Sometimes there is, yes. I think, perhaps outside of the United States, there's less emphasis on the visual. We've become very, very visually-oriented - for good or bad. And perhaps there's less of that abroad. I can't speak about Germany 'cause I have not directed in Germany. Germany, of course, there's Regietheater, so that's a whole different (ballgame). But no, certainly in Italy, less on the visual.

Marc A. Scorca: Interesting. And yet the rehearsal procedures and the standards...

Fabrizio Melano: They're pretty much the same. Yes, absolutely.

Marc A. Scorca: I wanna talk about the telecasts, because I know in 1977, and I was a college student, and with a fellow student or two and a professor or two, we watched the first telecast from The Met of the Bohème, with Pavarotti and Scotto. That was yours.

Fabrizio Melano: Yes.

Marc A. Scorca: And did you recognize that you were at the dawning of a kind of new age of opera?

Fabrizio Melano: I did, and so did Renata. That's when she immediately decided, after seeing it - she gave a great performance, I thought - she said, "I have to lose some weight". And what I realized is that one had to, in fact, because of close-ups, and because one was so near the characters, one had to really avoid exaggeration. You couldn't start flicking your arms out. And in fact, it was wonderful. Renata understood this right away, and she asked (Pier Luigi) Pizzi, who was the designer, she said, because she was very Italian and she liked to gesture, "I want you to put weights in my sleeves, so that I can't raise my arms too much". She did.

Marc A. Scorca: Wow.

Fabrizio Melano: Yeah, wow.

Marc A. Scorca: That is a remarkable anecdote. Just the dedication to the outcome.

Fabrizio Melano: "I don't want to look ridiculous. So please...I know that in a moment of emotion, I'm gonna start doing this (raises arm). Stop me."

Marc A. Scorca: Fascinating. And yet in a 4,000 seat theater, the large gesture is required.

Fabrizio Melano: That also showed what a great artist she was. When we did the telecast, apart from the weights, she did bring everything down. In the normal house, she made it a little bit bigger, and when we went to Boston in that horrible convention center with 10,000 people, she made it a little bit bigger still. She scaled it to the place she was singing in, which I think you have to do.

Marc A. Scorca: But this, of course, comes to that debate of whether the audience in the theater for a telecast or a transmission is losing something that day, because the artists are performing for the camera.

Fabrizio Melano: The audience probably is losing something. Yes; a little bit, yes, because the artists are performing for the camera. And I, as a director, or the TV director, will tell them what camera they'll be on at certain moments. Yes, absolutely.

Marc A. Scorca: Now, I think that's a price worth paying to reach millions of people who couldn't see the opera otherwise, but it is interesting that you're walking that balance beam between what is going on in the theater, and what's going on on the camera.

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, absolutely. It's a fine balance, but there you are.

Marc A. Scorca: Are there operas you haven't directed that you have on your list that you wish you could direct?

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, there are a couple. I would like to direct Death in Venice myself, and I very much would like to direct Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. It's a great opera and I'd love to do it.

Marc A. Scorca: And so rarely performed.

Fabrizio Melano: So rarely performed, yes.

Marc A. Scorca: You also have been working with young artists at Juilliard and recently at the Savannah VOICE Festival, and I assume you find it a rewarding experience. What do you find is the most important thing you need to transmit to the young artists?

Fabrizio Melano: That when they're performing, they have to find a way of making all their actions and reactions as if they were happening for the first time. In an opera, the character does not know what's going to happen. The singer might know what's gonna happen eventually, but they have to forget that and concentrate on the moment, and making everything immediate. And that's a hard thing to do.

Marc A. Scorca: 'Cause of course, you'll have rehearsed it for two or three weeks before opening night

Fabrizio Melano: Yes, precisely, but you have to then keep that in the background and make it fresh moment by moment.

Marc A. Scorca: And how do you rehearse not looking rehearsed?

Fabrizio Melano: Exactly, exactly. That's a good question. One of the things to tell is the great importance of how to listen on stage, how to listen to your colleague, again, as if you're hearing that for the first time. That will make your reaction real.

Marc A. Scorca: Do you enjoy watching their progress?

Fabrizio Melano: I enjoy watching the progress of young singers, yes. I believe in young singers and more and more of them are really very dedicated and want to do it well. They're not just singing 'cause they have a good voice and they wanna wear pretty clothes. They really want to do the art.

Marc A. Scorca: I was chatting with someone not too long ago. We were talking about the fact that we don't have a Régine Crespin, or a Birgit Nilsson, or a Joan Sutherland around today. Some of those incredible voices just aren't present. And it can be really hard to think about how do you cast the big Verdi operas and how do you cast the verismo operas? And the person I was speaking to, someone steeped in opera, wondered whether those characters appeal to young singers. Do the young singers want to sing those big Leonora roles? They understand the Countess and Susanna and they understand Rosina. They even have a feeling for Cleopatra or Cornelia, but do they have a sensibility that connects with Leonora one, two, or three? What's your read on that?

Fabrizio Melano: I have never thought of that, but I think you're right. I think those characters are further away from a lot of young singers. They're so close to me that it's hard for me to understand that. But I think that is true. And also, I think a lot of vocal teaching does not encourage large voices, which also puts another barrier to singing those big parts. They tend to not encourage the development of large voices.

Marc A. Scorca: Any sense of why?

Fabrizio Melano: I don't know; that's a very good question.

Marc A. Scorca: Yeah. Because I agree with you. Certainly today with young artist programs where people are singing ensemble and covering roles, the big unusual voice may not easily find a place in that scenario.

Fabrizio Melano: Precisely, I think that's true.

Marc A. Scorca: So, I always ask the people I chat with about advice. And here you've had an amazing career that has spanned many decades. You've directed great singers in great operas. "Oh, Fabrizio, I want to be a stage director. What advice do you have for me?" What's at the core of your advice?

Fabrizio Melano: To really sit down and study the work. Study the work, get the score, go over it again and again and again. Listen to different recordings. Look at different DVDs and really get into the work. And then if there happens to be somewhere on earth a stage director you admire, try to be his assistant, even without pay - just offer yourself as an assistant, because I think that's how you learn. You learn by being an assistant.

Marc A. Scorca: I was gonna circle back to that, because it was so much a key to your start, and whether that is still part of your advice, is to find the director you admire and see if you can, in some fashion, get a foot in the door.

Fabrizio Melano: Yeah, exactly. Try to work with somebody you admire and just see what he (or she) does. See what they do.

Marc A. Scorca: Great advice. What's coming up next for you? What's next on your schedule?

Fabrizio Melano: I'm going back down to Savannah, not doing an opera this time, but a series of opera scenes. And it's interesting - when I'm there, my sister comes along, who's a psychoanalyst and we work together. We also do masterclasses together, and she gives psychological input about the characters, which is very, very helpful. Singers find it very, very helpful.

Marc A. Scorca: Does she give any psychological help to the singers who may be nervous?

Fabrizio Melano: Well, she does that too, if needed.

Marc A. Scorca: How wonderful. That's fantastic.

Fabrizio Melano: It's kind of unique.

Marc A. Scorca: Well, we are so fortunate that you continue to work so vibrantly, that you are nurturing the next generation of singers. I always say opera is a story-based multimedia art form, and it belongs as a pillar of 21st century culture. So, thank you for helping preserve and make it even more vivid and vibrant for the years going forward. Fabrizio Melano, I bow to you for so many years of great work. Thank you for being with us today.

Fabrizio Melano: And thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.