BWW Interviews: Peter Danish and His Novel Tale of THE TENOR, World War II and Maria Callas

THE TENOR, the new novel by BWW's Classical Music Editor, Peter Danish, was recently published by Pegasus Books and is available on Amazon.com. It's a sweeping tale of a young tenor that extends from pre-war Italy to his coming of age as a soldier in war-torn Greece, and ends in 1965 with Maria Callas' historic final performance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. Based loosely on stories that Danish gathered from several of Callas' personal friends, it also includes extensive research done in Italy and Greece. I talked with Peter about the novel--how it came about and his own passion for opera.

Richard Sasanow: What prompted you to write this book, Peter?

Peter Danish: A few years ago, I was reading Ariana (Stassinopoulos) Huffington's biography of the great Maria Callas, and I was taken with a very brief but incredible story about an Italian soldier: During the darkest days of the Nazi occupation of Athens, despite martial law and a strictly enforced curfew, an Italian soldier crept out of his camp to sit below a window where he knew that a certain young girl would be practicing her singing. It became the most important thing in the soldier's life.

I was quite taken by this incredible story, but wondered if it too incredible, with its ring of romance. It sounded like one of those stories that grows through urban legend. When I read other biographies of Callas, none of them mentioned the incident with the Italian soldier.

I suddenly recalled that a family friend had been a close friend of Callas and I reached out to ask whether the story were true. To my delight, he said it was absolutely true and that Maria had a terrible school girl crush on the soldier. In fact, they would even sing together occasionally--she on the balcony, he down in the alley way. But my elation was short-lived, because I found that there was no evidence that the solider survived when the Allied Forces re-took Athens.

Well, to me, it sounded like a modern day Romeo and Juliet--complete with balcony! I decided that this soldier deserved a life and a story of his own.

RS: What do you love most about opera and the people who sing them?

PD: I was bitten by the opera bug in an odd way. WNEW-FM used to have a wonderful radio show called "Mixed Bag", hosted by Pete Fornatale, featuring off-beat music of all genres. One Saturday, the featured artist was Annie Haslam of the rock band Renaissance, who was also a classically trained opera singer. I was mesmerized when she sang the Schubert Ave Maria and Puccini's "O mio babbino caro." I ran out to Sam Goody record store with my dad to find copies of them, but there were too many choices and I was lost. With his homespun wisdom, Dad told me: "I don't know much about opera, but when in doubt, I'd go with the largest singer you can find!" And so, Monserrat Caballe's Puccini Album became my first operatic LP.

As far as what makes opera singers different and or special, I think it's the level of dedication required (without even the slightest certainty of future success) that they need to invest that makes them different. To spend thousands of hours year after year after year to train a very delicate instrument and then to have to constantly maintain that instrument, requires a mindset all its own.

RS: What's so special about tenors? Are today's singers different from their historical counterparts?

PD: I think tenors tend to get a bad rap! They walk a tightrope every night, knowing that critics are sharpening their pens, just waiting to pounce on any small imperfections in their performance.

The rhetoric is that today's singers are all pushed to do too much too soon, to take on roles too big or too heavy or too dramatic for them before they are ready. I had the opportunity once to chat with Franco Corelli and asked him about this. He laughed and said, they told him the same thing, and Del Monaco the same thing and Richard Tucker the same thing. They probably told Caruso and Gigli the same thing!

RS: Have you visited most of the places you described in the story?

PD: Researching the book, I travelled several times to both Italy and Greece. The highlight of the research was finding some incredible people, most very, very old, who had lived there throughout WWII. Their stories and remembrances of the time gave me tremendous insights with which to color the story. Ironically, virtually no one that I met with or spoke to over there had ever set foot in an opera house!

RS: What's your favorite opera house? What's missing from today's modern houses--despite all their technology, comfort, etc.--that couldn't compare with the old ones?

I can't say that I have a particular favorite opera house, so many are astoundingly beautiful. The Palais Garnier in Paris is particularly special. The old world opulence is on display from the moment you enter. Even the vestibule is one of the most beautiful spaces in the world. But I think the one opera house that was most special to me was the Estates Theater in Prague, which is very intimate, with superb sight lines and wonderful acoustics. This is where Mozart premiered DON GIOVANNI and LA CLEMENZA DI TITO and there is something extra special about seeing Mozart performed on the stage where it debuted.

RS: Who are your favorite composers? Your favorite operas?

PD: My favorite operas change constantly. I think, musically, Wagner moves me the most deeply and takes me to another world. I often say I can't give you a favorite, but I can give you four! OTELLO is to me just about the most perfect dramatic opera in every way. LE NOZZE DI FIGARO is the most perfect comic opera (but it's so much more than merely a comic opera!). I think the music in RUSALKA and DIE TOTE STADT is absolutely ravishing.

RS: Who are your favorite writers? Any particular ones who write about music?

PD: Much like my choice in operas, I tend to go through phases in terms of favorite writers. I adore magical realism and think it holds a very special place in the literary pantheon. I think a hundred years or more from now, critics will teach classes about Garcia Marques' "One hundred Years of Solitude" and Helprin's "Winter's Tale." Right now, because of all the Russian operas being done at the Met this season, I'm on a Russian jag. I've just re-read Puskin's "Eugene Onegin" (pure joy) and I'm preparing to go at "Brothers Karamazov" again next.

RS: If you had one thing that you wanted readers to take away from this book, it would be...

PD: To quote John Lennon: "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." Pino's life is a rollercoaster ride full of great triumphs and bitter disappointments. Only in the end does he realize it's the journey that counts.