For interpreting Cavaradossi in Tosca, Giacomo Puccini“a character who enters people’s empathy for being honest, loving and faithful to his convictions and his love until reaching the ultimate consequences”, the tenor Diego Torre (Mexico City, 1979) was awarded the Opera Chaser 2024annual award for the best live productions: “This reinforces my commitment, to myself and to the people who have supported me and followed me all these years, to continue giving the best in each production that is achieved,” says the singer .
After training at what was the National School of Music of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and recognizing the relevance that maestro Rufino Montero’s guidance had in that early period to jump in search of success abroad, around the 20 years old, with auditions in the company of Los Angeles Opera and the Met in New York; after participating in international competitions that led him to debut in Europe; meet an agent who helped him get jobs in the United States and Norway, and meet Lyndon Terraciniartistic director of the House of Opera in SydneyAustralia, where he has been a resident singer for 13 years, Diego Torre is preparing today to present Turandot in Kansas City and Carmen, by Georges Bizet in the spring and winter seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
Your own story, the arc of your international successserves to contrast the opportunities that a Mexican singer has inside and outside the country’s borders.
What do you consider to be the biggest challenge for a Mexican artist abroad?
To the many challenges of adaptation, above all we must add the challenges of the career, of being well prepared musically, mentally and psychologically, and being under constant pressure, not of rivalry, but of clear competition against colleagues from other countries. . There is constant pressure to maintain a certain level to be fully competitive.
In Mexico would you have been able to reach your professional level?
What being outside of Mexico has given me is obviously an experience that is formed through the numerous occasions where one is on stage. Unfortunately in the case of Mexico there are not many options to have a constant exercise of being on stage which, at the end of the day, is where one is formed. I must say that, in my particular case, I saw that for several colleagues the preparation as such, with its foundations, was given to us by Mexico. I studied at the UNAM Faculty of Music and I already left with the necessary tools to make my way abroad.
It is true that the constant training, the constant continuous work outside the country is what allows you to maintain yourself in a profitable way at the same time.
Without a doubt, I believe that the foundations for this career were given to me by my training in Mexico.
Can this experience be used to diagnose the particular situation of the country?
Something I must comment is that Mexico has always been a source of great voices, it has always exported important voices worldwide. That’s not over. Production continues in full force.
In Mexico, compared to other places I have been, the problem is the infrastructure and government support. We see that always, every year, the budget that is focused on Culture is one of the most punished, and that itself shortens the aspirations of new values, of new singers; It ties the hands of leaders and, in some cases, organizations. That is obviously a strong problem that limits the flourishing of the great singers or the great talents that we have in the country.
There is no forum or stage to promote so many singers.
And what about education?
I left UNAM and I can tell you that preparation tools do exist. But obviously they involve the challenges of people who live in different states of the country; Obviously, moving around Mexico City is already difficult and involves some challenges and expenses where many people suddenly no longer can. In my case, I received university training that helped me stay afloat abroad in my first years. Preparation does exist in some sectors, but obviously it is not enough to cover the entire Republic.
Does this seem like a very noticeable centralization?
Name me any other institution that supports or has the infrastructure to be able to create new graduates or singers.
It is a bit difficult and also that only covers academics. We must not forget that it involves an educational issue or voice training that is often difficult to find. There are really few singing teachers who are fully committed or who have the level that corresponds to an international market. It is difficult, but not impossible. If you add the little support that can be received from government institutions for Culture, the development of artists becomes very complex.
In a scenario like this, what makes your story different?
When I was studying at university, I had classmates who came from the interior of the country. The difference between their case and mine was that, for example, I received total care from my parents, financial support where if I needed a book, take private classes or any extra expense, they supported me. I didn’t have to worry about paying rent or seeing where I got money to, I’m not saying buy a book, but to make photocopies. These are problems during this period that are important for students, who sometimes cannot fully focus on their artistic development because they are thinking about what they are going to eat or what they are going to wear or how they are going to move. There are many technical difficulties that do not allow development.
Fortunately, opportunities came up for me abroad that I took with the same support from my parents. There was an organization that helped me, at that time, with a support program for young singers. What kept me going was having my mind 100% on my development and not being distracted by other life factors.
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What does the country need most in this context?
Much more support for culture and to open support platforms to new generations; programs that are focused and aware at an international level with which they can be training new generations. It is a support to open platforms, to open a much more market, because at the end of the day the artist develops on stage; not in the classroom or reading a book. No matter how much talent there is, a showcase that exposes it is necessary so that it can become independent and generate a life or income.
The ideal would be for each state to have a real, interstate, but coordinated center to develop these artists. I think it is a very big dream. That is why there are few voices that have an international career.
There is a lot of demand, that is clear to me. There are many good singers in Mexico, but unfortunately opportunities are scarce. And to that we must also add a factor of luck.
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