With his cream-colored cap, tight pants and sneakers, Roberto Alagna strode through the stage door of Geneva's Grand Théâtre on Thursday, December 5, 2024. The French-Italian tenor and his wife, Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, take on the roles of the tragic lovers in Fedora by Umberto Giordano (1867-1948), a new production that wraps up the Geneva operatic calendar year. This verismo masterpiece is renowned for its vocal demands and dramatic intensity.

"In just a short while, I'll step onto the stage for rehearsal, and my heart will race, I'll get stage fright and I'll need to overcome self-doubt," said the singer, spontaneously.

There's no vanity or false modesty in these words: After almost 40 years at the top, Alagna has remained a man profoundly moved and bound by music – despite a reputation that has occasionally overshadowed him (his impulsiveness, outspokenness and private life in the media). "I've often been misrepresented," he said, joking that he had become "something of an urban legend." He continued: "Some may have mistaken my shyness for arrogance. But those who got to know me liked me well enough. I've always done duets, not duels. Yes, I'm passionate, but I'm not ill-tempered, though I sometimes feel a bit like a vigilante," he said. He was behind the resurrection of Cyrano de Bergerac by Franco Alfano (1875-1954), restoring its flair and original version without the traditional cuts, as captured in a 2003 DVD released two years later by Deutsche Grammophon.

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