Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

Back in high school in Portsmouth, Ohio, Jonathan Burton was a guitar player who at one point was asked to join a production of the school’s musical as a singer. He performed well enough and so, he was asked again the following year. Soon after, he started taking voice lessons, and, once in college, he abandoned the classical guitar, opting to devote himself to operatic singing.

Today, Burton is a nationally known operatic tenor who will portray the protagonist in OPERA SAN ANTONIO’s season opener “I Pagliacci.” This will be his fifth time in the role.

“This is one of my favorite roles,” said the singer during a recent interview. “What appeals to me is the intensity of the role and the opera, coupled with the shorter length. It’s very intense but it’s over in an hour and a half. Some of the classic operas go on for three hours. It feels satisfying to have that much intensity in a shorter time.”

Burton is portraying Canio, the owner/leader of a traveling acting troupe that arrives in a town to entertain the locals with a play about love and betrayal. Unfortunately, Canio discovers that his real-life wife, Nedda, the company’s leading lady, has fallen in love with Silvio, a young man from the town. The play within the play starts to disintegrate and the reality of these characters takes over. Enraged, Canio eventually ends up murdering both the love of his life and her new lover.

Composed – and written – by Italian composer, Ruggero Leoncavallo, the opera premiered in 1892 in Milan, with the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini on the podium.

“Casio is not a man that I would like to be like, but he is a character that I am able to understand,” said Burton. “In those days, they must have had a rough life, traveling around from town to town, to entertain folks. I think Canio saw himself as the head of a large family that he takes care of and whose members obey him. But he saw Nedda as his North Star, the one thing that keeps him on track. He would do anything for her. She had his complete devotion. And I think the only thing that would push him over the edge, was betrayal by her. Once that happened, he was like a train car let lose.”

“The way I play him, he is immediately remorseful after the deed,” noted the singer.

The story may be intense tragedy but the music is beautiful. The most famous aria is “Vesti La Giubba” sung by Canio roughly mid-way through the opera.  That one contains the dramatic “Ridi Pagliaccio,” lines (“Laugh Clown with your broken love/Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart.”)  But Burton’s favorite aria is the one at the end: “No Pagliaccio non son,” which translates to “No, a clown I am not.”

Opera News said the following about his performance with Opera Omaha in 2018: “The highlight of the evening was tenor Jonathan Burton’s Canio. Burton’s voice was solid and ringing throughout the whole evening. ‘Vesti La Giubba’ was masterfully sung, ringing the hall and touching the soul. His emotion-filled breakdown after the aria, instilled sympathy in the audience.”

The opera will have two performances at the Tobin Center next week: on Thursday, Nov. 3 and Saturday Nov. 5. This kind of scheduling, allows singers to rest between performances, explained Burton. He pretty much spends the day resting, reading and drinking water to keep his vocal cords in shape. On the whole, however, he doesn’t take any special measures to protect his voice, he said, citing famous singers, like Enrico Caruso, whose career was not affected even though he was a smoker.

Though this is his first time to visit San Antonio, Burton told us he had heard a lot about our city from his father who spent some time here while serving in the military. His father often spoke about The River Walk and the friendly people of San Antonio. “He was so excited when I got this job,” said the singer, “but he is having some health issues and could not come to see the performance.”

Other singers in this production are Sara Garland as Nedda, Ricardo Jose Rivera as Silvio and Gordon Hawkins as Tonio, another member of Canio’s troupe.  Music director, Francesco Milioto, will be conducting the Classical Music Institute’s orchestra, assembled for the occasion, and Garnett Bruce is the stage director.

As for Burton, this is just one stop on his busy schedule. After San Antonio, he has an engagement with the Columbus Symphony, followed by Opera Colorado and the Pittsburg Opera.

“This season is going to be a whirlwind and I have never been so excited!” noted the tenor.
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Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. and Nov 5 at 7:30 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle; tickets $40 – $180, tickets@tobincenter.org or call 210-223-8624.