From club to concert hall with Jonathan Tetelman

Question: what do the Metropolitan Opera and a New York City nightclub have in common? Answer: tenor Jonathan Tetelman. With a classical education including an undergraduate degree from Manhattan School of Music and a performance studies program at The New School of Music, plus a varied and successful career, one might be forgiven for assuming Tetelman’s talents lie solely within the classical realm, but this tenor is not to be underestimated. An exciting dual career as a DJ in New York City’s nightlife scene has given him a unique perspective on the music world – across classical and electronic genres – and on what we can learn from these very different ends of the musical spectrum. I sat down with Tetelman following his Metropolitan Opera debut to find out more.

'One of the things that I admired about becoming an opera singer is how the audience is just captivated, and that's also something that drove my interest in DJing' © Ben Wolf

How did you come into contact with the electronic music scene, and how did your dual career as a DJ in New York City clubs come about?

My first exposure to DJing came during the junior year of my undergrad when a few of my friends came back from the Electric Daisy Carnival Festival in Los Angeles and showed me some of the producers and DJ's that they listened to. We downloaded the free versions of Ableton Live and Traktor and began trying to figure the software out ourselves. As musicians it was intuitive for us, so we figured out how to put our own stamp on some beats and as things progressed, I built a DJ rig and started to gig a little bit in the city just to make some money. My first DJ job was at this really crappy dive bar near Manhattan School of Music. I was there almost every weekend, then I started branching out and DJing around the city.

What we were studying at the time was very much about the rules of music, but DJing was a place where I could bend and break those rules. With the Puccini and Verdi we were learning we had rubato, but electronic music has a set tempo so you have to create the feeling of a time stretch with build-ups and breakdowns. It's a very different way of controlling the atmosphere of music, you're controlling the sense of time rather than the music itself.

Both careers, DJ and tenor, are in the music sphere – how similar were the two roles, despite being separated by genre?

I think the two roles are very similar. As a young singer, I always wanted to be that commanding presence, one of the things that I admired about becoming an opera singer is how the audience is just captivated, and that's also something that drove my interest in DJing. I didn't really have that captivating element at 21 years old because singing is about maturity, devotion, craft and experience, but as a DJ, I was the only music playing in the room and people had to listen up.

I think DJing also helped me really feel that command when I needed to later in my classical music career, because I actually got experience earlier through DJing. It’s as much about owning the room as performing as a classical singer.

'At 21 I didn't really have that commanding presence, but as a DJ, I was the only music playing in the room and people had to listen up.' © Ben Wolf

What prompted your return to the classical world?

There were a lot of red flags when I was DJing, but the main red flag was really in myself. I identified as an opera singer and would tell people that I was an opera singer, but the more I said it while not actively pursuing opera, the more I felt like I was lying to myself and wasn't being my authentic self. So I just decided one day to give myself a year to put myself together as a singer and if it didn't work out, I’d find something else. I devoted everything to it, I sold all my equipment and I never went back to DJing, I was just hyper-focused on my career and it made such a difference.

I was actually inspired to make this drastic change by some electronic music producers. I was inspired by the first album of a group called Justice because I heard that these guys basically just locked themselves in a studio and devoted themselves to making the album. It’s probably one of the greatest electronic music albums and I wanted to pull off the same sort of thing with my singing career.

You bring up the concept of being your ‘authentic self’. Do you feel that you have now reached that authenticity that you were aiming for?

I don’t think I’ll ever know. For me, it's not about arriving, it's more about the pursuit. I think all artists really want to find their authenticity, but their whole career is about searching for it. It's all about this journey of really learning who you are and projecting that person and that art to everyone else. I hope the journey takes my whole life because that's really what my craft is about.

Does the technical knowledge you gained as a DJ come into play when you’re recording classical and opera repertoire?

As a DJ I produced a couple of tracks, so when I am in the post production stages of my own recording I know a lot of the terminology and I can work with the recording engineer very closely.  We usually have about six or seven hours to sift through everything and it feels like I'm back producing things again, but it’s my voice this time and a whole orchestra – I could never have recorded an entire orchestra back in those days.

I couldn’t find mention of your DJ experience in your website biography (despite it being such a unique element in a classical music career) – was this a conscious omission?

It was a little bit more present in my bio before I signed to a record label. I think the label decided that they would like me to appear as a very legitimate classical music musician. They thought – and I agree – that it's important to really establish me as a serious classical singer and keep people focused on my singing. Now that I’ve legitimised my presence, of course, I'm very open about my past and the things that I've done. It's not like I've kept it a secret, I've definitely spoken about it, it's just not the first thing that comes up when you go to my website.

You made your Metropolitan Opera debut last month as Ruggero in Puccini’s La Rondine (set to be broadcast to cinemas this weekend) before returning to the Met next week (26 April) for a production of Madama Butterfly, what can audiences expect from these upcoming performances?

La Rondine is a less well-known Puccini opera and after becoming familiar with the role I would say there's definitely a reason for that; it's not really an opera, it's really based on the libretto of an operetta. It went through many changes and versions because the libretto itself doesn't really have the flow that's required for a real Puccini opera, in my opinion. However, it is written by Puccini so there are many beautiful arias and ensemble quartets like Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso which is a masterfully composed part of the opera.

I'm also singing in a really wonderful production of Madama Butterfly, one of my favourite Puccini operas. I’m performing with the wonderful soprano Asmik Grigorian and I’m expecting massive fireworks in response to her. Working with her in Salzburg last year was just amazing and I’m ecstatic to perform an opera like Butterfly where we're interfacing a lot. It is such a beautiful production with beautiful music and good libretto. I think that the possibilities are endless for it.

Jonathan Tetelman stars as Ruggero in the Metropolitan Opera's production of La Rondine which will be broadcast to cinemans worldwide on 20 April. He’ll also star in the broadcast of Madama Butterfly on 11 May. You can find more information about these Met Live in HD broadcasts, including tickets, here.