Zapata Tenor

José Manuel Zapata (Granada, 1973), better known as Zapata Tenor, is concerned that classical music, which he fell in love with as a young man and which he has lent his voice to at some of the most important theatres in the world, will die a slow death. For this reason, years ago he took on a giant battle, that of winning over new audiences. Humour is his weapon of choice. “Humour has always been part of my life and I like it to be present when I step on-stage. It comes naturally to me. Like music, humour has the power to set our memories. Both can convey everything,” he explains. His concert Gigantes, sponsored by Iberia, will go over songs capable of bringing together several generations in a symphonic format and without turning his back on humour. From Serrat to Rosalía and from Sabina to Shakira, among others. When? On the 16^th of December at Gran Teatro CaixaBank Príncipe Pío in Madrid. In a way, this tenor is making a dream come true: “I would’ve loved to be Joan Manuel Serrat or José Luis Perales. I’m a hopeless romantic.” Even though, he confesses, his first dream was another: “As a child, I wanted to be an aeroplane pilot. It’s my unfulfilled calling.”

When you were a child, your grandmother used to get you to sing to the neighbours. Is making people happy through music part of your roots?
Yes, from the depths of my roots. Making people happy and, at the same time, being happy myself. Music has always been a part of me. My grandmother, who had a beautiful voice, would get really emotional, her eyes would fill with joy when she’d see her grandson sing to her neighbours. Oldie Spanish songs, Carlos Gardel and stuff like that. They would throw me mantecados [traditional Christmas sweets made from lard] and that’s why I got a bit chubby (laughs).

However, the coupe de foudre happened at 18 after singing in a choir. A moment that had its own soundtrack: Handel’s Hallelujah. Does the power of music reside in that it is present during the most relevant moments of our lives?
For me, yes. But people don’t think about this enough. If we stop to think about it, all relevant moments in our lives, the most exciting and the ones we remember the best, feature music. Alongside our family, our friends, our first love… Imagine what your first love would be like without music! Neither love nor heartbreak would be the same. Music is the salt of emotions, it’s what brings emotion to life. I cannot conceive life without it.

“All the most important moments in our lives feature music. Music is the salt of emotions, it’s what brings emotion to life”

Even though music was your passion, you started studying engineering. Luckily, you quit while you were ahead. Did your heart win the fight against your brain?
It was more that I didn’t understand anything in class (laughs). I soon realized it wasn’t my thing. In fact, I lasted a week and a half. I ran out of there. I would have been the worst civil engineer in history. I then signed up at the Faculty of History to study Musicology and I soon discovered singing. That’s why I went to Madrid with a wonderful teacher, Toñy Rosado, one of the most relevant Spanish sopranos in the first half of the 20th century. I had a very rough voice and she told me I had a precious stone to polish. She also encouraged me to watch the audience’s reaction when I sing.

Over time, being true to your talent led you to spread your wings on some of the best stages in the world. Should we listen to our instincts more?
Always. And not just our instincts, also our talent. We’re all talented, we just need to stop for two minutes to see what it is. Reflecting on what our real talent is is essential in life. It has allowed me to perform at great theatres, sing Rossini around the world, but also to work on independent musical projects with humour, like the Gigantes concert.

The ‘Gigantes’ concert, with Zapata Tenor taking centre stage, will be held in Madrid on the 16th of December. © Courtesy of Impacta

You have declared that “classical music clients are dying” more than once. How can we fight against that trend and attract new audiences?
The material is really great. We have incredible music and when people get close to it, it moves them. What you have to do is tell it well. Telling the world that we have an excellent product, that we do a wonderful job and that they need to come to meet us. We often don’t bother to do this because we think people will come alone and that’s a terrible mistake. If any company in the world made this assumption, they would be out of business. We cannot afford this.

Rosalía has admitted the influence of Bach in Berghain, one of the songs on her latest album. Is it good for such famous artists to dare to play with classics?
It’s not only good, it’s extraordinary. I always wondered what would happen if Rosalía made a reel listening to Beethoven, Mozart or Bach… I’m sure there would be a crowd of young people who would be curious, at the very least. None of this guarantees that young audiences will come to see us, but it helps. Blessed be Rosalía! Great music is influenced by the classics because they are the forefathers of everything.

“We’re all talented, we just need to stop for two minutes to see what it is. Reflecting on what our real talent is is essential in life”

What will those attending your Gigantes concert in Madrid on the 16^th of December encounter?
They will experience about an hour and a half that they will remember for a long time. We’re going to play iconic songs that they will definitely have heard before, but never supported by the best instrument in the world: a symphony orchestra. The project is called Gigantes [Giants] because that is what the composers of those songs—Francis Cabrel, Manuel Alejandro, Pablo Milanés, among others—are. Also, since it is Christmas, we’ll sing a few carols. Míriam Cantero, a wonderful flamenco singer from Extremadura, will also be there, along with other surprises. It’s extremely exciting.

Have your innovative proposals won you more praise or criticism in the world of classical music? Is it difficult to change certain mindsets?
It goes through phases… I’ve almost got them to come around (laughs). You can do many things with respect, quality and, at the same time, humour. Changing mindsets is really hard and I don’t think it’s the audience that needs to change, rather the sector. Orchestras need to do things differently; the rites need to be different to those of the 19th century. We have to think about today’s audience and ask ourselves questions to evolve.

“Orchestras need to do things differently. We have to think about today’s audience and ask ourselves questions to evolve”

The fast trend also affects music. Is classical music the most affected?
That’s the big question. People think that, when they sit down to listen to a symphony, they can’t look at their phones. There’s an attention problem, but it’s because of the pace we live at. Even I struggle to focus when I listen to Mahler’s symphony. We don’t savour anything in life. It’s as if you are eating a wonderful steak while dusting (laughs). It’s also true that that music was designed in another social and financial context. At the end of the 19th century, people would go to the theatre to spend the afternoon. Making someone sit for two hours in a theatre now is tough.

If you could dispel a myth about classical music, which would it be?
That it’s for the rich. That’s a lie. What has that got to do with it? Or that it’s for cultured people. Another lie. I’m living proof that this is not the case. I used to work with my parents at a restaurant in Granada and didn’t have any money when I fell in love with classical music. In the end, it seeps through your pores, it gives you goosebumps and moves you. You don’t need to know anything else.