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\u201cYou see Patrick doing a variety of sizes of roles at different theaters,\u201d said Michael Heaston, the Met\u2019s assistant general manager for artistic affairs. \u201cHe embraces every opportunity, regardless of the number of measures of music.\u201d<\/p>\n
His parts, even if brief, tend to offer ample material for him to dive into. But the grumbling, earthy cleric Melitone in \u201cForza\u201d is juicier than most, particularly in Mariusz Trelinski\u2019s grim new staging for the Met, which takes a character usually played for comic relief and renders him chilly and cruel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the rehearsal room,\u201d Carfizzi said, \u201cthe instruction was \u2018strip out the buffo,\u2019 which was great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of the standard amusing kvetchiness when he welcomes the beleaguered Leonora to the monastery where she seeks refuge, Carfizzi\u2019s Melitone sneers as he tosses her a thin blanket. A scene in which he distributes food to the poor has been stripped of jolliness, as he barks orders with ominous brutality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cMelitone, for me, symbolizes the darkest part of the Catholic Church,\u201d Trelinski said in an interview. \u201cNot everyone in the church is like that, of course, but he is that xenophobic, racist, divisive side. And for Patrick, who has many times played comic characters, I think this was a metamorphosis for him. He rejected the simply fun and audience-pleasing side to touch something darker.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Carfizzi grew up in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City. As a boy, he was torn between pursuing pediatrics and jazz. (He dabbled in the euphonium, trombone and tuba.) Then he filled in for a fellow student who got sick before the middle school play, and later replied to a newspaper ad seeking performers for a production of \u201cMan of La Mancha.\u201d That settled it: He began to take singing more seriously.<\/p>\n
At 16, he visited the Met for a tour. On the stage, his father told him to sing, and he powered out a few notes. \u201cI thought, \u2018I really love this,\u2019\u201d he recalled. \u201c\u2018If they\u2019ll have me, I\u2019d love to try to do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
During college, Carfizzi overcame a severe case of Lyme disease, and was hit by a drunken driver in an accident that left him seriously injured. \u201cWhat kept me sane and kept me going was singing,\u201d he said. He auditioned for the Met\u2019s young artist program and was rejected, but a few weeks later, the company\u2019s administration called and offered him his debut, as Count Ceprano in \u201cRigoletto\u201d on Christmas Eve in 1999.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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With a voice that is rich yet focused, and acting that is intelligible and engaging, he made an impression even when his time onstage was limited. \u201cEfficiency becomes even more important,\u201d Carfizzi said of comprimario work. \u201cClarity is always important in opera, but it\u2019s particularly key when you have 10 or 15 minutes max, just in terms of the story line. But it doesn\u2019t matter if the role is three lines or three hours; it all requires the same discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
When you\u2019ve spent a long time as a character actor, it can be difficult to make the industry view you as more of a leading man; it\u2019s a gradual process. Next season at the Met, Carfizzi will once more sing a run as the Sacristan in \u201cTosca,\u201d but will also give a single performance of something substantial, and new for him with the company: Dr. Bartolo in \u201cThe Barber of Seville.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at Patrick\u2019s trajectory over the years, his voice has gotten bigger,\u201d Heaston said. \u201cAnd when someone\u2019s voice grows, you start to open up different repertory for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Could Wagner\u2019s Alberich, once the subject of a genial debate between Carfizzi and his manager, come in the future? Scarpia in \u201cTosca\u201d? Contemporary operas \u2014 particularly, he hopes, the rare ones with a comic bent? Paul Plishka spent a quarter-century at the Met doing smaller parts before the house cast him as Verdi\u2019s Falstaff \u2014 a dream role for Carfizzi, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten more patient with time,\u201d he said. \u201cIf people see me that way, great. And if they don\u2019t, we keep trying. Good health willing, I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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