It was a rare night at Teatro alla Scala with no hit-and-run romances bled in fire-and-ice betrayals, nor melodramatic outbursts punctuated by swords. Instead, the bright-eyed graduates of Teatro alla Scala's Academy took to the stage for a private concert and diploma ceremony on Sunday night.
The storied gatekeeper of the city's finest cultural export was seeded in 1813 as the Imperial Regia Accademia di Ballo, and later annexed into various satellites until 1997, when its present-day manifestation was established by La Scala’s then-music director, Riccardo Muti.
Its current 1,200, under-30 students – overseen by president Alexander Pereira and director Luisa Vinci – traverse two-year programs (eight years for steely ballerinas) in music, dance, backstage/workshops or management. Prospective singers, dancers, machinists, mechanics, stagehands, set designers, seamstresses, makeup artists, wig designers and hairstylists cut teeth on 30 professional and preparatory courses.
On Sunday night, Italian soprano and Academy teacher Luciana Serra came to cheer the young graduates among friends, family and faculty. Her Academy collaboration began two decades ago when close friend Leyla Gencer (its inaugural artistic director) came calling.
"'Luciana, you must come! The Academy needs you!'," said Serra, sweetly-affecting Gencer's voice. "So we started this beautiful journey together, I did technique and she did interpretation."
"Students who come to the academy are already formed,” she continued. “I’m not trying to change their technique – I want to improve, polish and perfect it. I'm respectful of my singers, especially my students, because being a student is tough! I went through the same journey and learned from my teacher, a baritone, how to be organized, precise and professional. The best teacher doesn't just focus on the voice, but on how everything works together – grace, composure, gesture and behavior.”
Serra's teaching style is deliberate. "I'm demanding but respectful. Often when students sing for teachers, they fear to make mistakes, so they close themselves up. I tell them, 'Don't worry – what comes will come. Help me understand your intentions and what you want to do, and if it's wrong, we'll adjust it.' That's all there is to it!"
She cites impatience as students’ biggest obstacle. "La voglia di correre," she says. Literally, the desire to run. Figuratively, impatience while pacing oneself. "Students need time to develop – and unfortunately, time is rarely present today – but if you don't study properly, you create a grand confusion with your repertoire. My teacher had a good example: he called it la stella filante. A shooting star. When you're young, you can shoot up very high, very quickly, but it risks a quick burn-out."
Between lessons, technical and interpretive skills are honed under vocal and musical foundations through masterclasses. Past guests have included Luis Alva, Teresa Berganza, Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig, Leo Nucci, Renata Scotto and Shirley Verrett.
Also present to rally students was Italian baritone Renato Bruson. "I knew that I always wanted to stay in the environment of singers," he said on his Academy association. "So when the Academy asked me to collaborate, I gladly accepted because I could transmit 53 years of an international career to young students."
He considers Academy students as ambassadors, and teaches interpretation through tough love. "Anyone can sing well in a classroom, but to sing well onstage and transmit an emotion to the audience is a completely different thing – and it's the most important thing – because you're interpreting a character who has to live within you, which you then have to transmit to the audience. If you can't do that, there's really no point."