SOPRANOS Renée Michaela Fajardo, Myramae Tapia Meneses and Anna Dinah Migallos have different voice timbres, body sizes and repertoires, but there’s one thing they are agreed on. Their model and epitome for a diva is Maria Callas.
Migallos, 30, says, “Her life in the ’50s was wrapped in such mystery and legend.”
Meneses, 24, speaks of the US-born Callas as an example of “bonggahan na kantahan (fabulous singing).” Fajardo, 21, considers La Divina as “a diva down to the very fiber of her being,” adding that “even amidst scandal, she was still adored. People thought of her as blameless. I don’t think anyone can be better [than her].”
“A goddess, a strong, strong woman!” the petite Meneses cries as she shares book knowledge that Callas, who stood at 5’6”, was bulimic and bipolar, too.
The three women are the featured artists in the concert “Divas: The Beauty of the Soprano Voice” on April 9 at 7:30 p.m., at Ayala Museum in Makati City.
They go by the old definition of “diva,” which Wikipedia states as “a celebrated female singer; a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera and by extension, in theater, cinema and popular music.”
Absurdly demanding
What they avoid is the contemporary meaning of “diva,” which Migallos called a “difficult, demanding woman.”
Fajardo interjects: “She’s so absurdly demanding to the point that she will only perform if she has a golden bathroom backstage.”
Then, as if on cue, the three mimic pop star Beyoncé singing: “The diva is the female of a hustler, of a hustler!”
When they wonder aloud what “hustler” meant, Meneses answers, “Manggagancho,” or someone who takes advantage of others.
For their concert, their bel canto songs aren’t for the faint of heart. Among the songs lined up are Bizet’s “Habanera” from “Carmen”; “Casta Diva” from “Norma”; Menotti’s “Monica’s Waltz”; Bernstein’s “A Boy Like That”; a duet from “Romeo and Juliet”; the ladies’ trio from Mozart’s “Magic Flute”; the final scene from Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.”
Fajardo said: “We want to give these composers’ music the justice they deserve through artistry.”
All that backstabbing
Meneses and Fajardo are incoming scholars of the Guildhall School of Drama & Music in London in September. The concert is another fund-raiser for their transportation and living expenses. Both have undergraduate degrees in music from St. Scholastica’s College.
Migallos, a University of the Philippines and Royal College of Music in London graduate, is a full lyric soprano whose dream role is to do Violetta in “La Traviata.”
Meneses dreams of one day doing the title role of Rossini’s “Adina” with a full orchestra.
She has learned to deal with detractors who say she’s too small (“I’m okay with my height. It’s a Tapia trait, and I’m not ashamed of it”) or say her voice is thin and shrill. She said: “The love I receive from my few friends is still far greater than what we get from our ‘haters.’”
Fajardo agrees, “Trabaho lang ito [it’s just a job], but you must know your stuff, your music, and if you do, all that backstabbing [in the small world of music] doesn’t matter much anymore.”
One thing they’re also agreed on is how wonderful to be in small parties with their teacher Camille Lopez Molina at her Quezon City residence after a show.
Asked what their post-concert, feel-good food is, Migallos replies quickly, “Ako [Me], anything, period!” Meneses prefers anything cheesy while Fajardo likes “anything that has matcha or green tea in it.”
There had better be something ready on the night of “Divas” before the devil in them breaks lose.
For tickets to “Divas,” call Cultural Arts Event Organizer at 7827164, 0918-3473027, 0920-9540053 or 9979483 or Ticketworld at 8919999.
Students and senior citizens are entitled to discounts of 50 and 20 percent, respectively.