Post by MvTFan on Apr 6, 2005 22:11:51 GMT -5
I couldn't believe it when I read my local newspaper (Nashville's Tennessean) and found this! Take a look:
tennessean.com/entertainment/music/archives/05/03/67863716.shtml?Element_ID=67863716
Discovering his own sound of music
By ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer
Young opera tenor displays his musical heritage on a different stage
It's true that talented, young opera tenor Thomas Rolf Truhitte was greeted by the sound of music during the earliest moments of his life.
But it wasn't the sound of anything by Mozart, Puccini, Wagner or even French composer Georges Bizet, whose mega-popular Carmen Truhitte will help bring to life tomorrow and Saturday in a hot-blooded new Nashville Opera production.
Truhitte's newborn encounter was with The Sound of Music, the celebrated 1965 film starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and, among others, Truhitte's father, Daniel Truhitte.
Papa Truhitte appeared in the role of Rolf, the telegram delivery boy who courted the eldest von Trapp daughter before being transformed into a rabid Nazi. Incidentally, Rolf, which Truhitte bestowed on his infant son, also happens to be a family name on the mother's side.
So did the elder Truhitte's small yet memorable performance, along with the enduring popularity of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, help lure the younger Truhitte into the entertainment field?
Quite the contrary, says the California-bred tenor.
''Certainly it had an impact on me — in that I tried to avoid singing as much as possible and also avoid the comparisons that inevitably would be drawn,'' the singer said last week during a break in rehearsal.
In fact, until late in high school, Thomas Truhitte, a tall, athletic young man, was far more interested and involved in baseball and soccer and rock music (he was a longtime drummer) than in classical music or even musical theater.
But when an ankle injury slowed his baseball ambitions, and a key member of his rock band moved to Maine and opened a Wendy's, Truhitte found himself reconnecting to what you might call the family business. A recording of Wagner's opera Lohengrin given to Truhitte by his Austrian-born mother — whom his father had met during filming of The Sound of Music near Salzburg — really grabbed the teenager by both ears.
Later came schooling in music, theater and German at Sacramento State University, plus years of professional voice mentoring. Today Truhitte finds himself a rising star on the international stage, having performed throughout this country, in Europe and soon in Brazil.
It's an outcome that makes his father feel ''absolutely gratified.''
''I knew he had talent,'' said Daniel Truhitte, now living in North Carolina, ''but I think sometimes parents that are in a certain area may do less to encourage their children in that field because they don't want to push something on them.''
John Hoomes, artistic director of Nashville Opera, believes Truhitte is the real thing, and then some. In fact, the unique skills of this tenor — nicely coupled with those of mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas in the title role — have prompted Hoomes to take things a few steps further.
When approaching Bizet's frequently performed Carmen, which remains among the most popular of all operas with its familiar, catchy tunes and sultry stylishness, better directors are tempted to try something different, to burrow a bit deeper into the characters for hidden emotions and motivations.
Here, Hoomes wants a darker, deeper Carmen and is asking Truhitte, as Carmen's fateful lover Don José, and Chianakas to take some chances. Make that telling gesture, find that extra vocal texture, show some appetite. It should help their chemistry that the two have performed the work together once before in California.
Chianakas, whose parents are Greek, said that Mediterranean heritage aids her greatly in the role of the tempestuous gypsy girl tormenting the men who love her in the overheated south of Spain.
''I never had to take acting lessons, because we learned on our own how to go from extreme depression to extreme happiness in half an hour,'' said Chianakas, a lively, funny young woman performing her sixth Carmen.
The singer said she'll likely use certain vocal colors as well as ''theatricality'' in her vocal gestures to help bring this Carmen to life. As for Truhitte, he'll seek a ''productive tension'' in his portrayal of a man who goes from dutiful soldier with his life in order to a love-obsessed killer.
It's just such a character — moving from goodness to nastiness in the space of three hours — that his father played in a film released exactly 40 years ago.
Related story: The sound of memories: Daniel Truhitte looks back
Getting there
Nashville Opera will present Georges Bizet's Carmen at 7 p.m. tomorrow and at 8 p.m. Saturday in TPAC's Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St. Tickets ($17-$75) are available via Ticketmaster at 255-ARTS (2787) or online at www.nashville opera.org. Student rush tickets, when available, will be sold for $10 each at the TPAC box office 45 minutes before curtain.
Alan Bostick can be reached at 259-8038 or via e-mail at abostick@tennessean.com.
Here's the article on Daniel Truhitte himself:
tennessean.com/entertainment/music/archives/05/03/67863723.shtml
The sound of memories: Daniel Truhitte looks back
BY ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer
After 40 years, even Daniel Truhitte is surprised at how many fans still recall his rather small role in The Sound of Music.
By his own estimate, he receives 150-200 contacts a month from admirers of his character, Rolf, checking in from such places as Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Brazil.
Chatting from his home in Concord, N.C., the now 61-year-old father of six and grandfather of four couldn't say enough about his son, rising tenor Thomas Rolf Truhitte, who will make his debut with Nashville Opera this week in Bizet's Carmen.
But he also took time to recall the magical film that established him, in his early 20s, as a singer, dancer and teacher who went on to an entertainment career that continues to this day.
Ask him for the secret of the film's success and he says, without hesitation, that it's the top-notch director, cast, screenplay, composer and choreographers. His own part was filled last, he said, and he almost didn't get it because of his natural brown hair.
But a quick display of his singing ability, and a little bleach, impressed the right people. And Truhitte soon joined Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Angela Cartwright and all the others in the story of a large Austrian family made whole by a remarkable governess during the early days of World War II.
An important scene for Truhitte, of course, is his serenading of Liesl von Trapp, played by Charmian Carr, during which he sings Sixteen Going on Seventeen. But it's that late scene, when Truhitte, as a young Nazi, blows his whistle on Plummer and the escaping family, that perhaps carries the most weight.
After all, it adds a bit of much-needed gravity to a story that some have criticized for overbearing sweetness.
What made that scene particularly difficult for Truhitte, he recalled, was that it was filmed first. So instead of allowing his portrayal to proceed naturally from good guy to bad, he had to find a way to go from hardened goon to love-struck teenager.
There are other memories.
''Christopher Plummer comes home from the honeymoon and is supposed to pull down the Nazi flag and tear it,'' Truhitte said. ''Well, he was struggling and couldn't tear it. He said, 'What do you want? I just came back from my honeymoon?' ''
Truhitte also mentioned the scene when the children are pushing their supposedly broken-down car to fool the Nazis. The car was quite heavy, Truhitte recalled, and was actually being dragged, off camera, by ropes pulled by ''six husky Austrians.''
Then there was the scene when Rolf was throwing rocks at Liesl's window. After a few hit their target, a woman not in the cast who happened to be in the upstairs room opened the window and looked down, forcing them to cut and try again.
When not answering fan mail, or tending to his large family, Truhitte still teaches and performs and also handles some rental properties. This summer, he'll travel to Los Angeles to attend a reunion of the cast celebrating the film's 40th anniversary.
Related story: Discovering his own sound of music
Getting there
Nashville Opera will present Georges Bizet’s Carmen at 7 p.m. tomorrow and at 8 p.m. Saturday in TPAC’s Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St. Tickets ($17-$75) are available via Ticketmaster at 255-ARTS (2787) or online at www.nashvilleopera.org. Student rush tickets, when available, will be sold for $10 each at the TPAC box office 45 minutes before curtain.
I'm amazed to see this in my newspaper!!!!!
Paula
tennessean.com/entertainment/music/archives/05/03/67863716.shtml?Element_ID=67863716
Discovering his own sound of music
By ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer
Young opera tenor displays his musical heritage on a different stage
It's true that talented, young opera tenor Thomas Rolf Truhitte was greeted by the sound of music during the earliest moments of his life.
But it wasn't the sound of anything by Mozart, Puccini, Wagner or even French composer Georges Bizet, whose mega-popular Carmen Truhitte will help bring to life tomorrow and Saturday in a hot-blooded new Nashville Opera production.
Truhitte's newborn encounter was with The Sound of Music, the celebrated 1965 film starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and, among others, Truhitte's father, Daniel Truhitte.
Papa Truhitte appeared in the role of Rolf, the telegram delivery boy who courted the eldest von Trapp daughter before being transformed into a rabid Nazi. Incidentally, Rolf, which Truhitte bestowed on his infant son, also happens to be a family name on the mother's side.
So did the elder Truhitte's small yet memorable performance, along with the enduring popularity of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, help lure the younger Truhitte into the entertainment field?
Quite the contrary, says the California-bred tenor.
''Certainly it had an impact on me — in that I tried to avoid singing as much as possible and also avoid the comparisons that inevitably would be drawn,'' the singer said last week during a break in rehearsal.
In fact, until late in high school, Thomas Truhitte, a tall, athletic young man, was far more interested and involved in baseball and soccer and rock music (he was a longtime drummer) than in classical music or even musical theater.
But when an ankle injury slowed his baseball ambitions, and a key member of his rock band moved to Maine and opened a Wendy's, Truhitte found himself reconnecting to what you might call the family business. A recording of Wagner's opera Lohengrin given to Truhitte by his Austrian-born mother — whom his father had met during filming of The Sound of Music near Salzburg — really grabbed the teenager by both ears.
Later came schooling in music, theater and German at Sacramento State University, plus years of professional voice mentoring. Today Truhitte finds himself a rising star on the international stage, having performed throughout this country, in Europe and soon in Brazil.
It's an outcome that makes his father feel ''absolutely gratified.''
''I knew he had talent,'' said Daniel Truhitte, now living in North Carolina, ''but I think sometimes parents that are in a certain area may do less to encourage their children in that field because they don't want to push something on them.''
John Hoomes, artistic director of Nashville Opera, believes Truhitte is the real thing, and then some. In fact, the unique skills of this tenor — nicely coupled with those of mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas in the title role — have prompted Hoomes to take things a few steps further.
When approaching Bizet's frequently performed Carmen, which remains among the most popular of all operas with its familiar, catchy tunes and sultry stylishness, better directors are tempted to try something different, to burrow a bit deeper into the characters for hidden emotions and motivations.
Here, Hoomes wants a darker, deeper Carmen and is asking Truhitte, as Carmen's fateful lover Don José, and Chianakas to take some chances. Make that telling gesture, find that extra vocal texture, show some appetite. It should help their chemistry that the two have performed the work together once before in California.
Chianakas, whose parents are Greek, said that Mediterranean heritage aids her greatly in the role of the tempestuous gypsy girl tormenting the men who love her in the overheated south of Spain.
''I never had to take acting lessons, because we learned on our own how to go from extreme depression to extreme happiness in half an hour,'' said Chianakas, a lively, funny young woman performing her sixth Carmen.
The singer said she'll likely use certain vocal colors as well as ''theatricality'' in her vocal gestures to help bring this Carmen to life. As for Truhitte, he'll seek a ''productive tension'' in his portrayal of a man who goes from dutiful soldier with his life in order to a love-obsessed killer.
It's just such a character — moving from goodness to nastiness in the space of three hours — that his father played in a film released exactly 40 years ago.
Related story: The sound of memories: Daniel Truhitte looks back
Getting there
Nashville Opera will present Georges Bizet's Carmen at 7 p.m. tomorrow and at 8 p.m. Saturday in TPAC's Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St. Tickets ($17-$75) are available via Ticketmaster at 255-ARTS (2787) or online at www.nashville opera.org. Student rush tickets, when available, will be sold for $10 each at the TPAC box office 45 minutes before curtain.
Alan Bostick can be reached at 259-8038 or via e-mail at abostick@tennessean.com.
Here's the article on Daniel Truhitte himself:
tennessean.com/entertainment/music/archives/05/03/67863723.shtml
The sound of memories: Daniel Truhitte looks back
BY ALAN BOSTICK
Staff Writer
After 40 years, even Daniel Truhitte is surprised at how many fans still recall his rather small role in The Sound of Music.
By his own estimate, he receives 150-200 contacts a month from admirers of his character, Rolf, checking in from such places as Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Brazil.
Chatting from his home in Concord, N.C., the now 61-year-old father of six and grandfather of four couldn't say enough about his son, rising tenor Thomas Rolf Truhitte, who will make his debut with Nashville Opera this week in Bizet's Carmen.
But he also took time to recall the magical film that established him, in his early 20s, as a singer, dancer and teacher who went on to an entertainment career that continues to this day.
Ask him for the secret of the film's success and he says, without hesitation, that it's the top-notch director, cast, screenplay, composer and choreographers. His own part was filled last, he said, and he almost didn't get it because of his natural brown hair.
But a quick display of his singing ability, and a little bleach, impressed the right people. And Truhitte soon joined Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Angela Cartwright and all the others in the story of a large Austrian family made whole by a remarkable governess during the early days of World War II.
An important scene for Truhitte, of course, is his serenading of Liesl von Trapp, played by Charmian Carr, during which he sings Sixteen Going on Seventeen. But it's that late scene, when Truhitte, as a young Nazi, blows his whistle on Plummer and the escaping family, that perhaps carries the most weight.
After all, it adds a bit of much-needed gravity to a story that some have criticized for overbearing sweetness.
What made that scene particularly difficult for Truhitte, he recalled, was that it was filmed first. So instead of allowing his portrayal to proceed naturally from good guy to bad, he had to find a way to go from hardened goon to love-struck teenager.
There are other memories.
''Christopher Plummer comes home from the honeymoon and is supposed to pull down the Nazi flag and tear it,'' Truhitte said. ''Well, he was struggling and couldn't tear it. He said, 'What do you want? I just came back from my honeymoon?' ''
Truhitte also mentioned the scene when the children are pushing their supposedly broken-down car to fool the Nazis. The car was quite heavy, Truhitte recalled, and was actually being dragged, off camera, by ropes pulled by ''six husky Austrians.''
Then there was the scene when Rolf was throwing rocks at Liesl's window. After a few hit their target, a woman not in the cast who happened to be in the upstairs room opened the window and looked down, forcing them to cut and try again.
When not answering fan mail, or tending to his large family, Truhitte still teaches and performs and also handles some rental properties. This summer, he'll travel to Los Angeles to attend a reunion of the cast celebrating the film's 40th anniversary.
Related story: Discovering his own sound of music
Getting there
Nashville Opera will present Georges Bizet’s Carmen at 7 p.m. tomorrow and at 8 p.m. Saturday in TPAC’s Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick St. Tickets ($17-$75) are available via Ticketmaster at 255-ARTS (2787) or online at www.nashvilleopera.org. Student rush tickets, when available, will be sold for $10 each at the TPAC box office 45 minutes before curtain.
I'm amazed to see this in my newspaper!!!!!
Paula
