Q & A with Adelmo Guidarelli of "The Ballad of Baby Doe"

Adelmo Guidarelli

Baritone Adelmo Guidarelli sings the lead role of Horace Tabor in Winter Opera St. Louis' The Ballad of Baby Doe. This production marks his company debut. Operatic Saint Louis recently engaged him in a Q & A session where he offers his perspective on his role and the opera.

As you found your way into this role, what aspects of the real life Horace Tabor and Latouche’s vision of the man were most fascinating and helpful to you as a singing actor?

For me, Horace is a man's man, like the venerable John Wayne, and I think Latouche did a great job of bringing that out in Horace. The emotions that Horace feels during the opera are emotions that everyone in the audience has felt at some point in their lives, which makes him a tangible character. To access those emotions as an actor was not a challenge for me. The challenge for every actor is in the art of believably conveying those feelings to everyone in the theater.

How does the role of Horace Tabor compare to your previous repertoire? Have there been any unique challenges in preparation?

I am usually cast as the happy-go-lucky guy, like Marcello in La Bohème or Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro--gentlemen who are, for the most part, one or two dimensional characters. This is my role debut as Horace so when I began digging into him I quickly learned that he is a more complex character and the arc of his journey is huge. He begins the opera a wealthy, married man. His marriage is appropriately comfortable for the time period and his station in life, but he is not romantically drawn to his wife. A roller coaster ride of events begins when his marriage tarnishes upon meeting a sparkling new woman with whom he unexpectedly falls in love. He soon gets a divorce, fathers children, and becomes involved in an ill-fated struggle against the establishment for a cause he wholeheartedly believes in. This chain of events leads him to ultimately lose everything and die alone. Having personally experienced some of those situations in my own life, gave me a wealth of senses to draw from. The learning curve I worked hardest to tackle was within the complexity of the music. In my usual Italian repertoire the vocal line most always sits within the cord structure but in this score there are so many accidentals, modifications to the notes to add drama and meaning to the text, that the learning process was a bit longer than average. Usually when a composer creates a note, or a cluster of notes, outside of the chord there is a dramatic meaning to his thinking so deciphering those intricacies added a measure of fun to the undertaking. Yes, singing opera is fun!

As the opera begins, we soon learn that Tabor has grown distant from his wife Augusta. From where do you believe this disenchantment stems? What qualities in Elizabeth turn him away from Augusta?

Augusta is a chaste New England woman who doesn't really know how to deal with their sudden wealth and so her idea of how they should behave as middle-aged wealthy people is completely different than that of Horace. When Elizabeth and Horace first meet in the opera Horace has just been scolded by Augusta outside of the Opera House in front of all of their friends while dancing around with the saloon girls he employs. Horace embraces the freedom of the American West and the fun their wealth allows but Augusta can't bring herself to be part of it. I think this rift puts him in a vulnerable and lonely place when he meets Elizabeth for the first time. Her obvious free spirited zest for life entices him to make the choice to leave Augusta and live the full menu of life available to a man of such means.

Throughout the opera, Horace Tabor makes many choices that others find risky and potentially destructive—especially ignoring the impending the silver crash. Yet, he doesn’t seem to care about others’ warnings. What do you think causes him to be so steadfast in his actions?

Hope and determination are key qualities in Horace. He is a "stick to your guns till death" kind of guy.

What musical moments in the opera are some of the most affecting and rewarding for you?

The aria "Warm as the Autumn Light" has been the aria that I have offered as my English piece at every audition since college so to finally be able to sing it with an orchestra is well worth the wait! Also, the duet between Horace and Augusta that springs from her confrontation about his dalliance with Elizabeth is a moving and telling moment in the opera. He tells Augusta that Elizabeth is a beautiful and generous woman who fills his heart with love and that her own coldness has made him feel that he is going through life as a dead man. Musically, it is one of the most beautiful moments in the score. The other moment that comes to mind is the final scene at the Tabor Opera House. Elizabeth has been told that Horace is there and appears to be ill. She finds him on the stage and he asks her if she has come to tell him that he has failed her. It has been hard to stay in character while singing this line; it brings me to tears. This is the lowest point for Horace in the entire show. He is completely broken and certain that Elizabeth will tell him that he is a failure. To go to that dark and isolating place as an actor and try to stay in the moment without thinking, “How am I going to sing when my throat is closing with tears?” is the hardest part of my portrayal of Horace Tabor. So, on opening night, the audience will hear and see the reality of that moment for me as an actor. I always allow whatever happens in that moment in time to happen naturally. I am a student of the Sanford Meisner technique of acting and if I am to stay true to myself, the scene and the character, I have to free myself and let the moment evolve on its own. I am honored to be chosen to bring Horace Tabor to life here at Winter Opera St. Louis for its St. Louis premiere. The task is great but the reward is even greater.

Visit www.adelmoguidarelli.com to learn more about Mr. Guidarelli and his upcoming career.

The Ballad of Baby Doe runs February 8th (8pm) and 10th (3pm) at the Skip Viragh Center for the Arts on the campus of Chaminade College Preparatory School (425 S. Lindbergh Blvd; map). Tickets may be purchased by calling 314-865-0038 or online at http://winteroperastl.tix.com/ $10 Student Rush Tickets available at the door; valid Student ID required. For more information on this and future productions, visit WinterOperaSTL.org