Exclusive Interview with Diego Imperiale - Legendary Argentine Artist Arrives in Florida
What artists did you listen when you started listening to music?
Ever since I was a kid, I was fond of music that was old already. I grew up in the 90s and whilst I enjoyed the period music, I was always a fan of the 60s, 70s and 80s, The Beatles, Queen, Elvis Presley and Roxette were the first artists I became a fan of, buying my first Cassettes and CDs. Also being originally from Buenos Aires, I did listen to Tango, which is more of a thing of the past as well, but some of it was played at home and I did like it too. Tango singers were influenced by classical opera singers and I believe that has stuck and then later in life made me want to pursue the ability to sing like that, and I worked on it and achieved that sound! It has been a wonderful journey.
How did these musical influences impact on your career?
They did a lot; I have worked as a Paul McCartney impersonator for many years and have been in very successful shows touring different provinces of Argentina and Brazil as well and it is something I don’t rule out doing here in the future again. It is a lot of fun and people love a Beatles cover band everywhere. Then there’s always a little bit of Beatles in my productions for my own songs, because I grew up listening and also trying to play their songs all the time. The same with Freddie Mercury and Elvis Presley, they have been great inspirations for me at the moment of becoming a singer and pursing this career full time. You’re also a theater enthusiast and lover…
What were your latest theater appearances?
Well, I’ve been meaning to go back to the theater since the pandemic ended and I was here in Florida but got tied up doing something else, a record and a movie! So, finally this last year, 2023, I could go back to stepping on the theater stage and did two pieces. I was the lead tenor in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi in San Francisco and then I performed singing and dancing as one of the Jets’ gang members in West Side Story, here in Florida. I got to do another role there, the one of the teacher at the Gym dance scene and it was a lot of fun. As a trained singer I have always pretty much performed the bigger roles in the musicals, but when they called me to do these roles for West Side Story, a musical I personally love, I was thrilled to jump in and experience the theater doing a different type of role, having to prepare choreography and moves I hadn’t done in a while.
Tell me a little more about doing Opera, and away from home!
Yes, it was a challenge, Opera is tough, there’s a lot of preparations, learning the music, music rehearsals before the blocking, then blocking and general rehearsals, and things have to be done strictly by the book, there’s not a lot of room for bending things to make it more convenient. The whole period lasted about two full months in which I had to be in San Francisco from day one. It was a great experience and I got to perform with very seasoned singers and professionals. The theater was beautiful, it was the Historic Hoover Theater and it was a great success with four sold out shows during the Puccini Festival in San Jose, California. Fred Winthrop was directing, he has staged more than one hundred Operas in the bay area and maestro Thomas Clark, one of my voice teachers, was there performing as Gianni, the lead baritone. They both shared the stage with the great tenors Pavarotti and Domingo in their prime, so it was an honor working with them.
What are your projects for this new year?
Luckily, I am fully booked for the season, performing non-stop every weekend in Palm Beach Gardens where I do jazz, classic rock, ballads, a little bit of everything. It is very rewarding to be also singing with the people around you and having always contact with the crowd during dinner shows. I’m also working on two new albums: one is an anthology of my old songs from when I was young, in Spanish, I want to record them again and share them with everybody; the other one is Lufiend’s new record. And, of course, something in the theater but that’s always a surprise.
Tell me a little bit about Lufiend!
Lufiend is my original music project and was born here in America, the name means lover in old Shakespearean English, I found the name fascinating because I think it sounds mysterious and unique, and the meaning being a lover, I find it the lover of things, of life, of adventure, of many things, not just love in a romantic way. That is Lufiend, and it is a concept that although it is perpetrated by me alone, it feels like it has a band’s vibe and feeling. Because of this feeling that I always have that it is more a group than a solo project, I have added a guitarist and we had two shows together last year, and we are working together now and looking for other musicians to jump on board to make new music as a group.
#lufiend #amazingartist #beatles #diegoimperiale
