Christopher Hillier

The Conte di Luna is frequently cast as the villain, but he is also a man of genuine passion who loses everything. Where do you actually stand on him?

I may be misreading this, but I don't believe he's really a villain per se. He is part of a tradition of Verdi baritone roles such as Germont in La traviata or Carlo in La forza del destino. Musically and dramatically, they present something of nobility, but, like all Verdi characters, human in their flaws.

Verdi gives the Conte some of the most ravishing music in the opera: 'Il balen del suo sorriso' is an aria of genuine tenderness written for a man capable of terrible things. What does that contradiction unlock for you dramatically?

It is in these contradictions that truth is found. Therefore, it is easy in a way to inhabit a character like this because as a man, I can be tender, but also jealous, aggressive and competitive. Great Verdi roles explore all these emotions as well as providing complex political, social and religious structures in which these characters have to find their place and story. It is this universality that gives the opera its ongoing relevance and popularity.

Your career spans world premiere opera through to the great Verdian and Wagnerian baritone roles. What does that range teach you about how to inhabit a character like the Conte di Luna?

I think life on stage is a microcosm of real life, so all stage experience somehow feeds into everything you do. Wagner and Verdi for me are the Kings of Opera. Verdi and Wagner express the human condition in a very powerful way. One key difference for me is the perception of the movement of time. It is a huge challenge to focus and slow down time in the huge Wagner roles as everything takes longer. But in a way that allows one to relish the emotions much more and to observe them while still experiencing them. This has taught me about stillness. Verdi is punchier and probably more experientially natural. But Verdi asks one to communicate these direct emotions while maintaining perfect vocal technique. This represents the best of Italian art, visceral yet classically refined and with little sentimentality. Achieving the perfect balance of these elements makes Verdi incredibly challenging and probably the pinnacle of vocalism.

Opera is often described as a collaborative art form, but there is something particular about bringing a production to life with colleagues you have worked with across years. What does that shared history give you on stage that you simply cannot manufacture from scratch?

This is a great question. This cast makes me smile for we are all friends, as well as the joy of collaborating many times together over the years. Helena and I have sung many things together, Steve, Ros and Sarah on many an Opera Australia production over the last 15 years and Matt Barclay directed my debut at OA as Zurga. Ray has coached and conducted me many times, and I have him to thank for my first job doing Wagner. It's just a great joy, because we trust each other and this allows us to feed off each other to hopefully create something special for the audience.

The Conte's final scene sits at the very top of the baritone's emotional and vocal range. How do you prepare yourself for that moment?

In a performance, I think one has to trust the many years of work and just go on the journey and to be as healthy as possible. Although easier said than done, I do my best to not fixate on one scene, and try to live each scene as a consequence of what has come before. Open ears, open heart and then just 'go'. Unless I'm not well, I don't think about technical matters in a performance, at least not consciously.

If you had to describe Il Trovatore in one sentence, what would you say?

Trovatore is a night full of passion, rivalry, vocal fireworks and riveting drama.