Paul Appleby is a smart guy. He is also performing the role of Don Ottavio in San Diego Operas Don Giovanni.

Paul went to Juilliard and then into the Metropolitan Operas young artist program. During our interview he mentioned that he doesnt like Don Ottavio to be a wimpy character. That is all well and good, but it helps to not have a wimpy voice.

There is a famous YouTube video famous among tenors at least of Jonas Kaufmann singing Un aura amorosa from Mozarts Cosi Fan Tutte. It is famous because Kaufmann is one of the leading dramatic tenors of his generation and no one associates him with Mozart at all.

Now Im not saying that some day well have the same thoughts about Paul Appleby singing Mozart but his voice definitely has a depth and richness of tone that exceeds the confines of Mozart. One thing is for sure, his Don Ottavio is no wimp when it comes to the sinigng.

We started talking about opera in general and let the opera gods guide us.

Paul Appleby: I dont know if its the artform itself or the audiences but opera is so conservative.

San Diego Reader: Ya, San Diego definitely has a conservative audience.

PA: I get the sense that there arent that many casual opera fans. I get the sense that a lot of them had a really strong experience or a strong epiphany early in their lives. When youre 13 or 14, whatever music you fall in love with at that point in your life will be with you forever. Its kind of like the first time you fall in love because its the first time nothing ever seems to match it. Because of that intense connection that opera fans have with the artform I think thats where some of the conservatism comes from. If its not the way it was when they first fell in love with opera, then they tend to not like it.

SDR: Yes, thats something Ive read about in Eckhart Tolle. He says that we as people tend to associate our ideas with who we are as a person. So we can have ideas about politics, or movies, or music, and those ideas become a part of our personality. When we come across something that pushes up against our idea of, in this case opera, we take it as an assault on our very being and our fight or flight instinct kicks in and its a strong reaction. So when someone updates our favorite opera, it feels like a personal attack.

Continued here:
Tenor Paul Appleby talks opera and the cost of living.