NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When David Leigh sang 鈥淭he Impossible Dream鈥� at his father鈥檚 funeral, the moment was both a testament to his past and a harbinger of his future.
Leigh, an bass, is the son of Mitch Leigh, who wrote the score for the musical 鈥淢an of La Mancha,鈥� one of Broadway鈥檚 biggest hits in the 1960s 鈥� long before David was born.
When Mitch died in 2014 at age 86, David was studying voice in the graduate program at Yale and still finding his way as a singer.
鈥淢y dad was very anxious for my career to get going so that he could still be alive to hear me have some success,鈥� Leigh said.
Sadly, that didn鈥檛 happen. But now, at 36, Leigh is finding his dream of an operatic career is not so impossible. In fact, he鈥檚 fast establishing himself as a future star in the lowest-lying roles for male voices.
This month he鈥檒l take on a major role as the jailer Rocco in a new production of Beethoven鈥檚 only opera, 鈥淔idelio,鈥� at the which opens Friday.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be the real deal,鈥� said Francesca Zambello, WNO's artistic director, who cast him in the part. 鈥淎 bass that young with that powerful a stentorian quality is rare.鈥�
Andreas Homoki, the outgoing Zurich Opera artistic director, recalled that last year he had been looking for 鈥渟omebody special, not one of the established artists鈥� to sing the role of the villainous Hagen in the final opera in Wagner鈥檚 鈥溾�橰ing鈥� cycle.
He cast Leigh 鈥� and was delighted with the results.
鈥淎part from his incredibly powerful voice and his noticeable physical stature, (Leigh stands 6-foot-5) he is able to transmit a very special vulnerability,鈥� Homoki said. "Having in mind how relatively young he is compared to his colleagues in the same repertoire, it is hard to imagine him not having a brilliant career all over the world.鈥�
Gianandrea Noseda, music director of the Zurich Opera who conducted the 鈥淩ing,鈥� was impressed with the 鈥溾�榥obility, an aristocracy of singing鈥� that Leigh brought to his role.
In many professions, 36 would not seem young, but some operatic voices, including basses, can take years to settle in. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a longer fermentation process,鈥� Zambello said.
For several years earlier in his career, Leigh said his relative youth actually counted against him. Many of the iconic roles for basses are characters who are no longer young men.
鈥淲hen I was auditioning all the time, people would say 鈥楳ay I ask how old you are鈥�? And when I told them, they鈥檇 say, 鈥極h, you鈥檒l get to sing this when you鈥檙e older.鈥�
鈥淥nce a few gray hairs started coming in on my beard, I was very excited,鈥� Leigh joked.
The tradeoff is that many basses go on singing well into their 60s or even later. Leigh cited the example of the great Soviet bass Mark Reizen, who famously performed Prince Gremin鈥檚 aria from Tchaikovsky鈥檚 鈥淓ugene Onegin鈥� at age 90.
Leigh said he always had an unusually low singing voice, but when he first enrolled at the Mannes College of Music in New York after Yale, he said, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know what I was doing.鈥�
Joshua Greene, one of his coaches there, recalls that Leigh came to Mannes 鈥渨ith a totally unfinished voice, large but unrefined.
鈥淭he low notes were of a quality you don鈥檛 hear often, even on high-level professional stages,鈥� Greene said, 鈥渂ut otherwise it wasn鈥檛 clear what was there. It has been very exciting to see David develop over the many years we have worked together.鈥�
Now Leigh comfortably commands a range of nearly three octaves, from G above middle C down to A below low C.
Among the roles he most hopes to sing in the near future, Gurnemanz from Wagner鈥檚 鈥淧arsifal鈥� tops the list. In fact, he was scheduled to perform it with the Canadian Opera Company in the pandemic-canceled season of 2020-21.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the most beautiful music ever,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in a range where I can be perfectly expressive. I can sing every phrase and say exactly what I want to say.鈥�
Also high on his list are King Philip from Verdi鈥檚 鈥淒on Carlo鈥� and some of the great Russian roles, like the title character in Mussorgsky鈥檚 鈥淏oris Godunov.鈥�
And what of 鈥淭he Impossible Dream,鈥� the biggest hit song from 鈥淢an of La Mancha.鈥�
While his father was living, Leigh was 鈥渧ery resistant鈥� to singing it. 鈥淚t kind of felt like nepotism,鈥� he said.
That changed at the funeral, and now he happily performs it as an encore after recitals.
鈥淚t was a crazy moment,鈥� Leigh said. 鈥淚t suddenly felt beautiful for me to sing it.鈥�
Mike Silverman, The Associated Press
