OperaMetro (OM) had the privilege to interview Andrew Garland (AG), who sings Figaro, the famous Barber of Seville in Rossini’s comic opera by the same name. In fact, tonight!

OM: Hello Andrew! Thank you for saying yes to this!

AG: My pleasure!

OM: OK, Rossini…have you performed the role of Figaro before?

AG: Let’s see, the first time I sang Barber of Seville was the summer of 2003. If I remember correctly, I got the score in January and had many coachings, at least a dozen. I was in school and could just coach the role with my teachers. So, I’d say I spent just under 6 months preparing Figaro for the first time. In general, I’d say I take about six months to prepare a full-length new role, slowly and steadily. If I had to condense that preparation down, I could do it in two weeks, but that would be stressful, and my memory isn’t what it used to be.

OM: Are there other Rossini comedies (or Donizetti comedies) you’ve performed in?

AG: Actually, Dandini is my favorite role. He is the Prince’s valet in Rossini’s Cenerentola (Cinderella). Yes, Figaro is the leading man in Barber, yes, he is the Factotum of the city, yes, he is maybe the most recognizable name in all of opera…but Dandini has more notes and he also has more fun. How? He gets to pretend to be Prince for a day and can do whatever he wants, be as over-the-top as he can be but has no consequences. To depict Dandini’s over-the-topness, Rossini gave him so many opportunities. So many notes! My voice can move fast, and I love to have fun with these notes and even ornament them with more notes, which is standard practice.

**Andrew Garland sings Figaro in Rossini’s *Il Barbieri di Siviglia* at the Princeton Festival.**

OM: I love Cenerentola. And yes, Dandini is a real character! Generalizing: is this genre (bel canto comedies) a favorite performing choice for you (and why) or are there other genres (Mozart operas? Verdi (which ones)? French operas (dito)? verismo operas? 20th century operas? Operetta? Etc.) that are more to your liking? Why, for each?

AG: I don’t have a favorite anything, but I do love to sing bel canto. I teach at a program called Bel Canto Boot Camp where you learn all the fundamentals of singing this music: legato – which means connecting the notes, not chopping them up. I do love Mozart – The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni. Beautiful writing! Sublime! I also love some of the later standards: La Bohème and Turandot, I Pagliacci, Romeo et Juliette, Faust, to name a few. I really, as in really, liked singing Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán.

OM: (interrupting) Wow! There’s a coincidence! I and my wife are seeing Florencia en el Amazonas at the Met in the fall! Looking forward to it!

AG: You’ll enjoy it. It’s wonderful! Anyway, quite simply, these are/were all good vehicles for my voice and my way of singing.

OM: Looking back at my career, when we’re young we all have big career dreams, but as we mature the list of “this works, wow! I can do this!” narrows as the list of “nope, not working, not going there” lengthens and fades. At what age, through what experiences, did you have the dream of singing on stage in a difficult and exacting musical repertoire?

AG: I did have stars in my eyes about singing big roles on big stages. But my voice is medium-sized. I get the most resonance out of it, the most bang for my buck, but large opera houses don’t tend to cast me. At first, I thought I needed to be bigger…and taller, for some reason…but I learned what I was really good at. That’s concerts and recitals but also roles that don’t require the biggest voice and/or stay high a lot so you can sound over the orchestra. That’s Figaro. He sings high a lot and that makes it easier to sound over the orchestra. Another thing: you gotta be in shape to sing this role – at least the way James Marvel directs it. We are running and jumping.

But back to the point: I dreamed of singing a “difficult and exacting” role, but didn’t know what it was. Then it kind of fell in my lap: Angels in America. Not the 7-hour, 2-part play, but the 2 ½ hour opera. It’s difficult and exacting and so rewarding.

OM: Who are your vocal role models?

AG: I like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s singing of German Lieder. Thomas Hampson’s work is exemplary. My peers Joshua Hopkins and Lucas Meacham do great work. Simon Keenlyside and Roderick Williams are always great to listen to. Of course, there’s Will Liverman. I’m going to see him Monday night.

OM: What advice can you give for young artists looking up to a career?

AG: It boils down to knowing who you are and sticking to your values. If you have those things, you can’t go wrong. You’ll hit plenty of snags, but you can’t go wrong.

OM: When you’re not singing opera, briefly, what are your other musical preferences: Performances on stage? Favorite artists? Favorite shows? Favorite plays?

AG: Song recitals and concerts. I love programming recitals by new American composers. There are so many great ones out there. And new and classic concert works. This season I sang the Bach B minor mass, St. Matthew Passion, Brahms Requiem, Carmina Burana.

OM: When you’re not singing at all, what do you do to relax, take a break from it all?

AG: I cycle, mostly road bike. It’s great meditation, exercise, stress relief.

OM: Thank you, Andrew, for your wisdom, words and observations. I’m wishing you and your colleagues the best in tonight’s performance.

The final performance of Princeton Festival’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, performed by a stellar cast, is tonight at 7 p.m. The performance is in the Performance Pavilion.

Complete information, including tickets, can be found at Princetonsymphony.org/festival.

Support your local opera!!! All the best, OM