JAMES STRECKER: This fall you are singing the character of Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Opera Atelier after doing the role in Paris not long before. You have said that Zerlina is one of your favourite roles, so first of all, what is there about Zerlina that appeals to you as one who is doing her, in music and in libretto?
MIREILLE ASSELIN: Zerlina is one of those roles that you encounter constantly, at least in bits and pieces, as a young soprano in training. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I’ve sung “La ci darem la mano” (the famous duet between Don Giovanni and Zerlina) in gala performances and house concerts over the years. and same goes for her arias “Batti batti” and “Vedrai carino” – they are all part of the soprano training regimen! And so, consequently, one can’t help but saddle her with a million other peoples’ opinions – about her character, how it should be sung, etc. And I’d never really bothered to step back and figure out who I thought she was until I finally performed the role in its entirety this year. And it’s been something of a revelation! As with all of the Da Ponte/Mozart collaborations, there is a ton of complexity and nuance in the text and the music for Zerlina, and I’ve discovered that she can be a sort of chameleon who grows and changes from show to show. She can be flirtatious, she can be defiant, she can be sexy, she can be genuine and sweet… she has strong feelings, she hates being told what to do, she feels like she deserves a good life and is willing to bend certain scruples to get there. I’ve really enjoyed finding multiple ways of delivering the same text, and the genius of the piece is that it does support multiple readings. I also love that the role, like Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, has both saucy, fast, chatty moments of singing, as well as moments of great legato and line. I’ve particularly fallen in love with her second aria, which is simultaneously incredibly sensual and, I feel, a moment of poignant sincerity and forgiveness amidst the chaos that Don Giovanni sows around him.
JS: How do you make connection with and get into an operatic role like Zerlina? Is it through the libretto, the score, the guidance of the director or conductor, your own instincts?
MA: It’s a bit of everything, to be honest. I connect initially through the music and my own vocal preparation, of course, but the real joy of the process is in the rehearsal room with the other singers, the conductor and the director, who all inform the ultimate product. I firmly believe that you have to tailor your version of the character to the production you find yourself in, because otherwise everyone is doing their “own” show, and it just doesn’t hold together as a coherent piece of theatre. So, in the end, what you see is both my and my colleagues’ version of Zerlina!
JS: What is there about you, Mireille, that you bring to your take on Zerlina? Are you alike? Are you different?
MA: We have enough in common that I feel able to portray her – we both don’t like being told what to do, for example! She’s lively, smart, practical. all things I can relate to in some way. On the flip side, she can be very combative and her relationship with her fiancée, Masetto, is tempestuous and by turns both cruel and sweet. Her combativeness is something that I find very different from my own personality, but is such a fun thing to play on stage.
JS: Could you and Zerlina be best pals? Why or why not?
MA: I think she’d be fun to invite to a party, but I wouldn’t trust her… there’s something about Zerlina that I think I’d find incredibly intimidating in real life!
JS: Please describe and explain your relationships as Zerlina, first with Don Giovanni and then with Masetto.
MA: This really gets to the crux of her arc in the opera. As I mentioned earlier, she’s a very smart, practical girl who comes from humble origins. She’s a self-starter and is not above using her charms to get a leg up in life. I also think, crucially, that she’s pragmatic and not romantic – and so when she encounters Don Giovanni, she sizes him up immediately and sees her chance to move up a few rungs of the social ladder. I think she finds him attractive, yes, although it’s not about that. It’s about him being a powerful man who might be her ticket out of Dodge. But when she ultimately gets a fuller picture of his character, she turns on him and knows she’s got a much better thing in Masetto. Speaking of Masetto, I think she really really loves him, and finds him incredibly attractive, even more than she finds the Don, but they also drive each other crazy and their relationship is a constant rollercoaster of fights and making up from fights, which they seem to both love. Theirs is a relationship fraught with sexual tension! And so even after behaving very badly to one another, they always kiss and make up.
JS: Does any aspect of your performance change over a run of a specific production, or do you have the given character as you want it soon into the run?
MA: Live performance means things will always be slightly different every night – it’s the nature of the beast! But I do think that the development of the character has to happen primarily over the course of the rehearsal process alongside my colleagues, because once we’re out on stage together we need to be able to count on each other to be on the same page and deliver a coherent show. I don’t mean to say that there aren’t real moments of discovery over the course of a run of shows – there always are, which is what makes the job so wonderful! – but the real work happens before the curtain goes up. I do find however, that characterizations deepen and become more complex over the course of a run.
JS: As you sing Mozart’s music over the years, how does your opinion of him change, if at all?
MA: As I’ve matured, my understanding and appreciation of his genius has grown. I can come back to his operas time and time again and always find something new and thrilling. I feel like I’ve grown up with some of his characters, and they’ve evolved along with me. On a purely technical note, his music is incredibly challenging to sing and it remains the best vocal test to make sure I’m singing freely and well.
JS: How does having seen and heard an opera you are about to do help or hinder you?
MA: It’s always more difficult, I find, to take on a piece that is very popular and done frequently. Everyone has an opinion! Or a favourite recording that you will just never live up to! In many ways it is more challenging to approach a role like this with fresh eyes and ears, because it seems loaded with preconceived notions and expectations. So, the challenge is to forget everything and try to bring the best of yourself to the piece instead of being a poor imitation of someone else’s ideal.
JS: What specific parts of your training and previous experience help you the most in doing Zerlina?
MA: It really brings it all together – vocal technique: needing a strong middle register, and an ease with fast paced “patter” singing, good line, a good handle on negotiating the passaggio (the break in a singer’s voice); as well strong acting skills, TONS of energy, and my dance background and years of experience working with OA really help as well!
JS: What are the differences between an audience in France and the Toronto audience?
MA: Every country has their funny audience etiquettes and traditions. In France there is a tradition of clapping all in sync if the show is well received, and that’s a very exciting thing to experience from the stage! But I really do love the audiences here in Toronto and am so happy to be singing this great opera for them on home turf.