When did you start learning to sing and was this your first “instrument”?
I was a reluctant piano student from age 8 to 14. At the prolonged torment of my mother and Grandmother who were both my teachers. I switched to voice around age 17 after hearing the lament from Nadir in the Pearl Fishers – I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard and had to be part of that world!
From what age did you know that you wanted to become a professional singer?
Probably from around age 16. I was very aspirational and clear that that was definitely my path.
Who has been a major influence in your development as a performer? Maria Callas without a doubt. It’s perhaps a cliché, but she has it all as a performer. She provides me constant spiritual & musical nourishment.
5 Minutes with David Greco
BAMF 2025
Concert #1
6pm, Thursday, March 27
Is performing chamber music the “pinnacle of music making” for you?
Absolutely. I’m not one of the singers who is a ‘note-getter’ and who thrives for the spotlight, I thrive on musical partnership and meaningful music-making.
Have you had a most memorable concert and why?
Vatche and I did our first Winterreise 2 years ago and that was a special landmark for us, we felt we had really found our feet in this work together and made something quite intimate and special.
Have you encountered a challenge during a performance and how did you overcome it?
There was a running gag for a few years that I was ‘footwear-challenged’. I once forgot to change my Blundstone boots for my concert patent leather shoes in a performance in the Sydney Opera house with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and on one occasion I left my shoes at home for a performance with the Australian Haydn Ensemble, so sang a recital Barefoot. Who knows what will happen in BAMF this year....
Of the composers whose works you perform would you like to have dinner with (this of course includes time travel!) ?
Schubert. I think he would have been an intriguing and sensitive intellect and artist.
We are very much looking forward to hearing you perform Schubert’s “Winterreise” at BAMF ‘25 – can you describe this song cycle for voice and piano?
It has everything. It’s intense, often not easy listening but with moments of such sweet repose and introspection and lyricism. It’s a humanist manifesto.​​
For further info about David Greco visit: https://www.davidgreco.info/
Interview conducted by Catherine Barnett (BAMF Committee) January 2025