This tenor's on fire

In the week before a recent interview, James Valenti had been tooling around West Palm Beach, Fla., top down on his sports car, soaking up the 80-degree breeze. Yet, as he stepped into the Minnesota Opera offices, he couldn't say enough about the beautiful morning he had just walked through.

The sun was shining, the temperature was above freezing and Valenti -- looking like a million bucks -- could not have been happier than to be in Minnesota in February. He's working with longtime friends in an opera he loves, singing for a company in which he apprenticed.

This is a good time to be James Valenti. He sings Rodolfo in "La Bohème" on Saturday at the Ordway Center. In March, he makes his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, in "La Traviata" with soprano superstar Angela Gheorghiu and baritone Thomas Hampson. Debuts at Covent Garden (again with Gheorghiu, in "La Traviata") and in Paris ("Madama Butterfly") are scheduled next fall and winter. He's bought his first home in West Palm Beach, hired a new management team and has begun to eye forays into putting his gorgeous mug to work outside the opera world. Film, endorsements, modeling.

"The sky's the limit," he said.

At 32, though, Valenti shies away from too much adulation (not adulation, period, just too much). He acknowledges the high stakes this year and the importance of navigating his opportunities wisely.

The opera voice is a fragile instrument, and he has watched as other tenors skyrocket to stardom and then fade under the pressure of too much work. Observers say he's been smart and strategic about his repertoire and his schedule. If his grand scheme works as envisioned, it will still be a good time to be James Valenti in 30 years.

"I'm not in any super hurry," he said. "I'm working a lot, I'm doing great roles at great theaters, so I'm very happy letting things go the way they're going."

An auspicious start

As he entered the "La Bohème" rehearsal, Valenti quickly directed a visitor's attention to a large wooden cart, a remnant of the company's 2002 production of this opera.

"I used that same cart when I played Parpignol eight years ago," Valenti said with the genuine pride of someone visiting an old and familiar haunt. A native of Clinton, N.J., he arrived here in 2000, at 22 the youngest singer accepted that year into the Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist Program. He sang the Emperor in "Turandot" and had roles in "Pagliacci" in 2001 and "Don Carlos" the next season. In 2002, he won the Metropolitan's National Council Auditions. In 2003 at Minnesota, he first sang Alfredo in "La Traviata," the same role he will debut at the Met.

"La Bohème" reunites Valenti with Ellie Dehn on the Minnesota stage, following their "Romeo and Juliet" two seasons ago. Again, they are paired as lovers, the tragically doomed Mimi and the insouciant poet Rodolfo. He sang the role for his 2007 debut at La Scala and loves the character so much that he admitted to wishing he could do "La Bohème" rather than "La Traviata" for his Met debut.

Rodolfo is "young, romantic, spontaneous; he's like me," Valenti said. "He's jealous, which isn't quite like me, but he's just a fun character to play. I've always had big success when I've done 'Bohème.'"

Dale Johnson, Minnesota Opera's artistic director, suggests Valenti might be better served with "La Traviata."

"I'm not so sure you want it to be 'Bohème,'" Johnson said of the Met debut. "The onus is on you with that role. You can get in there and people will say, 'Who is this guy?'"

In "La Traviata," on the other hand, Alfredo is a third wheel. Valenti admits there is less pressure on the role. Still. ...

"My dream is to sing 'Bohème' at the Met with an HD broadcast," he said. "Well, within the next 10 years."

Learning from the best

Johnson has reason to be bullish on Valenti. He discovered the young tenor in the resident artist audition 10 years ago. Valenti often calls, seeking a sounding board on his career options. Should he take the "Tosca" being offered? How about "Werther"? Seemingly great roles -- and Valenti did sing "Werther" last October in France -- they often position a tenor in a certain box that Valenti is not sure he wants to be in at this point in his career.

"I think Jimmy V. is taking the right roles," Johnson said. "He's not reaching for the 'Toscas' and the 'Carmens,' he's staying within a smaller group of lyric tenor roles, which he does very well."

He also has had the good fortune to work with superstars who inevitably force a singer to raise his game. He sang "La Traviata" with Anna Netrebko four years ago in Salzburg. He now gets the chance with Gheorghiu at the Met.

"Superstars know they call the shots, and both of them have the power, if they want, to get the conductor or other singers dismissed," he said. "They're both very sweet and it's not that they're malicious, but they know that they want the product to be at a certain level. Angela is kind of notorious for that."

He dismisses any concern, though, noting his friendship with the glamorous soprano. "She really believes in me, and she's helped open some doors and gotten my name further propelled in the business."

For the moment, Valenti is trying to look no further than "La Bohème" with Dehn at the Ordway. His poster is up all over town, the people at the Minnesota Opera treat him like their own superstar, and he gets to sing away from the harsh lights of New York. Even the biggest artists work far away, often doing concerts and recitals, which remind a singer how fun the business can be.

"But that comes later, when you have more fame and prestige," he said.

Yes. Later.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299