With the exception of Fiordiligi, the sensitive heroine of Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutti,” soprano Elizabeth Futral has portrayed to date the major operatic characters who share her coloratura range. Now that omission is set aright by Washington National Opera in its current production of one of the favorite and most frequently performed operas worldwide.
“She’s often cast in a heavier voice than mine, so I was never offered the role,” Futral said. “As a young singer I was often cast as Susanna [in Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’] for my lighter voice. I would have been happy to sing Fiordiligi then, but now that it comes at this time, it gives me special joy.
“On the surface, this opera is light and silly, yet it manages to explore death and the dark corners of Fiordiligi’s heart. She has self-doubt and self-pity because of what has happened to give her instability. The director, Jonathan Miller, has updated the opera to modern times, so these characters jump out at you. They are people you know and recognize for their doubts and fears, your friends and family.”
Futral’s traditional repertoire rich with Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Handel suits her range perfectly, yet her masterful approach to creating the role of Stella in the 1998 world premiere of Andre Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” with San Francisco Opera established her firmly in the contemporary world.
“My first thought when looking at the ‘Streetcar’ score was ‘I’m going to love this,'” she said. “I was thrilled to be part of the whole process and have the wonderful Renee Fleming hanging around as Blanche. It was a whole new process, like learning a new language with a wonderful composer who showed me the harmonies to remember and where the melodies go. Tan Dun was entirely different from Previn. He has an eclectic, neo-romantic style, but adds Chinese intervals and rhythms.”
After earning a degree in music performance from Samford University in Birmingham, the Louisiana native studied privately at Indiana University before joining Chicago’s Lyric Opera for several years as an apprentice. It was her performance of the “Bell Song” while singing the title role of “Lakme” with New York City Opera that catapulted her name to the forefront. Today, she is in great demand for both opera and concert engagements when she and her husband, conductor Steven White, are not relaxing at their home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Of all the roles she has sung, she regards Violetta in “La Traviata” as the most helpful in learning about her voice and herself. “That role spans the whole gamut of my voice,” she said. “There is the coloratura range of high notes, as well as the lyric and dramatic middle notes. As a character, she is so complex I can’t imagine learning everything about her, so I must draw on all I know about myself to present her as a human being. Fiordiligi requires the same effort at soul searching.”
