Everything happened very quickly, as always in New York.
I had read in the program of the Metropolitan Opera that Laurent Naouri was in NYC to interpret on stage the Marquis de la Force in The Dialogue of the Carmelitesa French opera.
I wrote to his agent and, a few hours later, I received a text message: “Hello. It’s Lawrence. How about coming home on Thursday? »
Laurent Naouri is the son of the famous pediatrician, Aldo Naouri and the brother of the equally well-known author Agnès Desarthe. After studying at Central which destined him for the engineering professions and thanks to a wonderful teacher, Annick Chartreux, Laurent finally became an opera singer, in the register of bass-baritones.
If you search the Internet, you will find many videos of him in Carmen’s Toreador. You will also see a lot of his wife, Nathalie Dessay, the famous soprano.
At the agreed time, I ring the doorbell of an apartment on the 34th floor of a building on the banks of the Hudson River, a few blocks from the MET. Laurent opens the door to me: he’s tall, his eyes clear, warm. “Shall I make you a coffee? »
The grandiose view plunges towards New Jersey.
— We bought this apartment in 2008, he explains to me. At the time, Nathalie was a regular guest at the MET and most of the time we rented ratholes (an expression which, in New York, takes on its full meaning). But imagine how American banks received a loan request from a couple of non-resident foreigners with no credit score and artists, what’s more! Finally, we went through a French bank, at a time when the euro was at its highest and it was undoubtedly the best real estate transaction we had ever done!
And as Laurent leaves in a big burst of laughter, we get a little idea of the power of his voice…
So: Paris or New York?
“People are very direct here. Relationships are easy, friendly in a professional setting.
“Isn’t that the case in Paris?”
— The MET is a much smaller House, with half as many performances, fewer speakers. The Director is in the middle of the staff. Everything is just in time. We can talk about family.
“Is the work different there?”
— American culture is very focused on systematic debriefing. The assistant conductor may come to see you at the end of a performance, to say “You were late for that bar”. It’s very useful. But in general, the first thing that is asked, in all the Operas of the world, is to know your text. It’s part of the contract. This is why I was very surprised to discover the existence of a blower. This is a function that does not exist in Paris.
– In case of forgetting?
– No ! The prompter is like the deputy conductor. He’s an excellent musician. Someone who is going to say to you, “Look at me then”, because he saw you in trouble.
– But the leader is there for that, right?
– Of course ! But we can’t always see it. When you are on your knees, crying, in front of the body of your beloved, you cannot at the same time raise your head in her direction.
— The music is not enough to guide you?
– The music ? But we don’t hear it when we sing! We only hear ourselves. »
This revelation amazes me. I barely foresee the difficulty of this job.
— Do certain contemporary stagings not add difficulty to the exercise?
— I’ve never been embarrassed by a staging, but much more by conductors who have no respect for singers by demanding things from them that they cannot do. Pulling a sentence for example, while running out of breath. Or on the contrary, make it say too quickly. I remember a singer who tried to make a conductor understand that he was playing too loud. “I NEVER play too hard,” he replied. It is always possible to adapt to a staging. Not an incompetent chef.
“Star chefs?”
– Not even ! Besides, there aren’t really any divas in our business. We all remain quite humble in front of the music. There may be a hierarchy in communications with the public. But on the set, everyone is on an equal footing.
— Is one room better than another?
— I prefer the MET to Garnier, which has very dry acoustics. We hear ourselves singing better in New York. We are not overwhelmed by the orchestra. One experiences the comfortable feeling of being in a small room, which is not the case, of course.
“Do people talk about money more easily at the MET?”
– Absolutely not. First, because it’s my agent’s job. And then because everything is negotiated upstream by the American Guild of Musical Artists, a very powerful union that prepares standard contracts. There are no surprises. My agenda is full for the next four years, which does not prevent disappointments. The MET had to cancel two shows scheduled for next year, due to lack of resources. This is something that does not exist at the Paris Opera. For now… “
We end the interview by talking about Golaud, a character from Debussy’s opera, Pelléas and Mélisande that Laurent Naouri has interpreted a hundred times. “We never get tired of it. He’s a guy who tries to do well, but who doesn’t understand a thing. And that drives him crazy.”
I thank Laurent for his availability and ask him about his plans for his stay. “Jazz! I have musician friends who are playing at the moment that I will listen to”. And as I rediscover the bustle of Hell’s Kitchen, I hear the first notes of the Rhapsody in blue the Gershwin
