“Music has been the greatest gift of my life. It gives me a language to express what I can’t speak,” says Metso Soprano.
The famous Metso Soprano Frederica Fontstad, who currently lives in the San Francisco area, reflects her incredible career and her legacy for classical music in an interview with Epochv’s “Bay Area Innovators” program.
“Music was the greatest gift of my life. It gave me a language to express what I can’t say,” said Von Stade, who is called Flicka by family and friends.
Born in New Jersey, Fonstad grew up in Washington and New York. She wasn’t from a family of musicians, but she loved singing since she was a young man. While she was a teenager at a Catholic school, she received formal training and has been singing ever since.
She sang in New Haven, Connecticut, and attended productions and attended college at Mann’s School of Music in New York, where she studied under Sebastian Engelberg. She called Engelberg one of the first angels in her life. She finished as a semi-finalist, leading to opportunities for her professional career to take off from there and perform around the world.
She often found herself in the right place at the right time, so luck played a major role in her career.
“I had one of the greatest managers of all time, Matthew Epstein, at the beginning of my career. He managed Marilyn Horn and managed many great names and singers,” the singer said. “And he knew what I should do, I didn’t know that he led me to a role that led to other roles.
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Fonstad lived in France for about six years, where he loved her experience.
“I love language, I love people, I love architecture, I love countryside, I love food, I love decoration.
Indeed, one of her signature works is a classic romantic French song by Edith Piaf, meaning “Pink Life” or life seen through rosy glasses.
She recalls her high school days in France.
“Part of my homework every night was reading at least 25 pages of Lamartin or Voltaire or Saint Experi. I wasn’t allowed to use a dictionary. I had a knowledge of the language and had to use my mind to imagine what it meant.”
Vonstad’s favorite opera role was the role of Cervino, a young page boy in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
“He always thinks of love and passion. Sometimes he is happy, sometimes he is sad. He has all the energy, emotions, mental instability of a teenager,” she said. “So I’ve played a lot of roles for boys that age, and it’s fun to try and deal with it, especially as a woman.”
Her favorite performance venue is the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, she said. Because she loves people who make architecture and performance possible.
“Every singer on stage, one, 10 behind them. Take me there. There’s a voice teacher, a coach, there’s a pianist, there’s a conductor, there’s a director, there’s a director, there’s a woman in the costume, there’s a woman in the wig, there’s a make-up man, there’s every stage hand.”
Von Stade’s tributes include the title of Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of Art and Letters, the highest civilian honor for the French government’s art, two Grand Prix DU Disc Awards and nine Grammy nominations. She recorded over 60 albums and performed multiple times in the White House, where she sang for four presidents, including Ronald Reagan.
“I can’t remember what I sang for President Reagan, but I worshiped Reagan. They were so kind, kind, and very special. They were very special.”
She admitted to getting stage horror, especially five minutes before the performance. But on stage, she describes the emotions as “anxious and elated.”
“Singer, we all talk about having these judges who say, oh, it’s flat, oh, it’s sharp,” von Staad said. “So our job is to silence them and focus on what we are doing and what we want to give. Because the great thing about songs and opera is that there is a story we need to tell, and the more you concentrate on the story, the happiest you become. That’s our job.
Her most challenging days are when she felt her voice wasn’t up to standard, like an instrument.
“Like life that is not in perfect sync, it will never be perfectly adjusted, you know, and most things are not perfect.
To protect her voice, she cared for her body and remains healthy.
Von Stade, who turns 80 on June 1st, is semi-retired and is giving back to her community.
“What’s good for others brings good for you,” she says.
Von Staad’s advice for young people who want to succeed in artistic efforts is to be less critical of themselves. That’s what many artists experience. Instead, she suggests creating a short list of things and working on them gradually each day.
“It’s hard to forgive (you yourself), but it’s very rewarding,” she said.
“There are a lot of people who don’t make it, people who become great teachers, and people who probably become great moms.”
