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Interview with Italy's President; Breaking Down Barriers in the Opera World; Imagine a World. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 19, 2015 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[15:00:09] CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Tonight: from the magnificent presidential palace in Italy, in the wake of the terror attack in Tunisia,

Italian tourists among the dead and wounded. My exclusive interview with Italy's new president.

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SERGIO MATTARELLA, PRESIDENT OF Italy (through translator): ISIS is a very serious danger which has to be tackled urgently because we don't have much

time.

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AMANPOUR: And later, who do you think of when you think of opera?

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): That's right; Luciano Pavarotti, even from the grave still the world's most famous tenor. But there are new voices

stepping into his limelight and I'll speak to American Noah Stewart about his unlikely journey from the streets of Harlem to the Opera House.

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AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to a special edition of our program from Rome tonight. I'm Christiane Amanpour. And what more timely

or more important moment to make this rare visit to the Quirinale, the presidential palace recently opened up to the public by the new president,

Sergio Mattarella. Now his is a largely ceremonial role. But one of his first and sad duties will be to preside over prayers and funerals and to

comfort a nation in mourning and in shock.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): Even at his inauguration last month in a blaze of pomp and ceremony, it was clear that 73-year-old Mattarella would be a very

different kind of Italian president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Italian).

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Vowing to tackle Italy's deep economic crisis, to root out corruption and perhaps most of all his own amazing story and

accidental catapulting into politics puts him in a place like no other Italian leader to tackle that most Italian of blights, the mafia.

Soft-spoken, but with a core of steel, we started talking about the fight against ISIS.

AMANPOUR: Mr. President, welcome to the program. Thank you for joining me.

MATTARELLA (through translator): Thank you. Welcome.

AMANPOUR: We sit and talk on a very sad say for you and for all of Italy, the day after Italian tourists were among the dead in Tunisia.

What is your reaction to what happened?

How dangerous is North Africa today to your country?

MATTARELLA (through translator): What happened yesterday in Tunisia is very sorrowful and also very alarming and it shows that ISIS is a very

serious danger which has to be tackled urgently because we don't have much time.

The persecution of Christians in the Middle East and in some countries in Central Africa is very worrying, too. What happened showed the serious

nature of this danger. In actual fact, it is truly disconcerting to see claims of heroism for the act of shooting on defenseless people. This

seems to be -- to me to be the highest level of barbarity there can be. ISIS, like all fundamentalist terrorism is the new true danger for

civilization and democracy and human rights.

It is no coincidence that yesterday in Tunis parliament and a museum were attacked -- democracy and culture.

AMANPOUR: How dangerous is what is happening in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria for Italy?

MATTARELLA (through translator): What we are most worried about apart from the event yesterday in Tunisia is the situation in Libya, which is a reason

for alarm for a number of reasons. First of all, for that country itself because Libyan citizens are forced to live in a situation of chaos and in

the fear of civil war.

Furthermore, ISIS is spreading inside Libya and there is a risk of it transforming that country into a basis for its terrorist activities into

Europe. And finally, the chaos there is in Libya helps traffickers of human beings, who send out to sea so many men and women and children,

exposing them to huge risks while earning huge amounts of money and the international community certainly has to support the resources of the U.N.

and the U.N. envoys so that a cease can be achieved and a true Libyan government can be established.

[15:05:07] AMANPOUR: Your prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has said that there needs to be an international force to combat this terrorism,

particularly in Libya and that Italy would be part of one if the U.N. or NATO decided to do that.

Do you agree?

MATTARELLA (through translator): What Prime Minister Renzi said was that a U.N. intervention is necessary, and this is something which is underway so

as to establish a government in Libya which can pacify the country and immediately after the establishment of this Libyan government, the U.N. and

the international community should help that government to become stable in order to improve the situation in Libya.

We're talking about a peaceful intervention. Italy is willing to take part in a U.N. operation once a Libyan government is established which can allow

a cease-fire to take place.

AMANPOUR: I want to ask you about a different form of terrorism, the kind that you have personally experienced, the terrorism of organized crime in

your own country.

The mafia is something that you have vowed to combat.

Tell me about how you personally were affected by it.

MATTARELLA (through translator): Well, my brother was a national executive of the Christian Democrat Party. He was president of the Sicilian region

when, in 1980, he was assassinated by the mafia because he was opposing their interests and their influence.

This obviously -- we were very close, something which was a great blow for me because of this. But not only because of this; I've always been

convinced that fighting the mafia is a central and a decisive issue.

Civil awareness against the mafia has grown a great deal in Italy and in Sicily. We have achieved important results. Also thanks to the action of

many Sicilians who were active against the mafia very bravely, many of whom were murdered and I would like to recall that people who are greatly

respected, like Giovanni Falcone or Paolo Borsellino were Sicilians as were many other members of the judiciary, members of the police forces,

journalists, politicians, unionists, who fought bravely against the mafia and became victims of the mafia.

But this action, this commitment, this bravery, these sacrifices led to a surge of public opinion against the mafia.

AMANPOUR: Mr. President, I'm sure it's hard to talk about this but the way your brother was killed was brazen. I think they came up to his car and

fired directly at him and you were there at the very end. I believe he died in your arms.

Can you tell me about that moment that day?

MATTARELLA (through translator): Well, it's something I've never done actually.

He was -- it was in his car and he was going to mass with his wife and his children and a assassin approached the car and shot him ,despite the fact

that the wife of my brother was trying to protect his head with her hands. And she was also wounded.

I was immediately called by one of my nephews and I went down straightaway and I took him to the hospital. But it was -- there was no chance of

saving him. He was already dead. And this obviously is a memory which is very painful for me.

AMANPOUR: You've seen the danger first-hand to confronting organized crime and the mafia. We've just described your own brother as a victim and

others who've taken them on.

Are you worried for your own safety, for your own life? Because you still want to combat organized crime.

MATTARELLA (through translator): Well, in all these years, I've always tried to emphasize and to promote the need to combat the mafia because it

is a cancer which is oppressive and which stifles everybody's freedom and reduces the possibility for the areas in which it's present to prosper and

to develop.

Obviously there are always dangers but if one has respect for one's own dignity as a person and for one's role, it's something which you need to do

anyway.

[15:10:07] Now I'm very -- I've got very good protection, of course. But in previous years, that was not the case and I've met many people who even,

though they knew that they were exposed to great danger, acted very bravely against the mafia.

AMANPOUR: What about Italy's economic situation? It's one of the countries deeply affected by the economic crisis. There's a lot of

austerity that's been demanded.

How is it affecting the fabric of society here, the unemployment, the difficult and fragile economic situation?

MATTARELLA (through translator): Well, yes, the crisis has produced really serious effects in Italy because it's led to huge unemployment. It has led

to an increase in inequalities. It's led to difficulties in many areas of society for many people. And this is something which has to be in the

foreground for politicians and representatives and institutions in my country.

The situation is beginning to show signs of improvement. The economic figures are beginning to be encouraging or at least they seem to be

becoming encouraging. The situation is still very difficult. There is extensive unemployment, particularly young people face great difficulties

and this is something which is leading the Italian government and also the European Union to work for economic proofs (ph) in order to stimulate

employment and to respond to the sacrifice people have undertaken in recent years.

AMANPOUR: Italy had a very good program, Mare Nostrum, to try to save all of these people who are trafficked or sent on the high seas, trying to get

here.

Now it's been reduced to a Triton program, which is not saving people on the high seas.

Do you think Mare Nostrum should be reintroduced, should Italy, the Europeans, be more concerned about saving lives than saving costs?

MATTARELLA (through translator): Well, this is -- we go back to Mare Nostrum, is something which the government will need to decide on or

parliament will need to decide on. What we can say is that we're very proud of Mare Nostrum, our navy saved many, many lives in the

Mediterranean.

And it was not Mare Nostrum -- was not, in fact, as many people feared, a pull (ph) factor which would increase the arrivals of migrants because in

recent months, with the Triton operation, the -- there has been an increase of 16 percent in the number of (INAUDIBLE). So it wasn't Mare Nostrum

(INAUDIBLE) the arrival of migrants. The fact is that migrants (INAUDIBLE) because they leave their land, their homes, because of wars (INAUDIBLE)

persecution because of famine and these are people, men, women and children, who come to Europe because in Europe they see a place of

democracy and (INAUDIBLE). Europe must live up to its history, to its responsibilities to -- with regard to these people who are arrive.

The first requirement is to save them. That's the (INAUDIBLE) we also need to welcome them.

AMANPOUR: President Mattarella, thank you very much indeed for joining me.

MATTARELLA (through translator): I thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): And coming up, many around the world will recognize this, the most famous Italian aria in the world.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): The legendary Luciano Pavarotti there. But next we'll introduce (INAUDIBLE) very different face of opera.

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[15:16:16] AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program. And here we are, at the ancient Caracalla Baths in Rome. Every summer, it's an amphitheater

these days, where they perform opera and ballet. And in 1990, this is where Pavarotti launched "The Three Tenors."

Now a new, young black American tenor is taking on the old guard.

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AMANPOUR: Noah Stewart's next dream is to play at the world-famous La Scala here in Italy. But right now he's on a U.K. tour, performing

Pinkerton in "Madame Butterfly" at the Royal Opera House.

And before I left London to come here, I talked to Noah Stewart about his incredible journey and his huge ambitions.

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AMANPOUR: Noah Stewart, welcome to the program.

NOAH STEWART, OPERA SINGER: Thank you. It's so great to be here.

AMANPOUR: So Noah, I know you've been asked this a million times, but the traditional vision of a male opera star is the rather portly, very white

Luciano Pavarotti.

STEWART: Yes, exactly.

AMANPOUR: Are you blazing a new trail?

STEWART: I hope so. Luciano is one of my favorite singers of all time. I remember when I was in high school and I heard his voice and I said, "Wow,

I want to do that."

I want to express myself in this way with this beautiful timbre, so unmistakably. And -- but I thought there was no one that looked like me.

Why don't I sort of sing R&B or gospel music. Why don't I just try a new path?

AMANPOUR: So you made that conscious deliberation in terms of what music you would sing.

STEWART: Sort of. I discovered classical music in junior high school and choir honestly. And my choir teacher said, you know, you have an

interesting voice. You -- if you continue to practice and your voice will grow and get better. But I think you should go into the classical music

route instead of pop music.

AMANPOUR: And how did you do that?

I mean, look, you grew up in Harlem. You didn't grow up in a family of great privilege. Opera or classical music wasn't exactly what people might

have thought would come out of Harlem.

STEWART: Exactly. My family's from New Orleans, Louisiana, originally. So jazz, gospel music, that's the music that I heard growing up.

But I didn't see anyone that looked like me on the stages of the great opera houses around the world, and I thought, you know what, I'm going to

shake things up a little bit. I'm going to change things up and -- because I knew that the world needed to see someone that looked different. I felt

like people, men of color, especially need to see heroes out there who are on other stages.

AMANPOUR: Who used to sing "Othello," the Moor?

STEWART: Well, it was Domingo. He's the greatest Othello of my generation --

AMANPOUR: But not black.

STEWART: No, not.

Classical music is -- it's an expensive art form. Voice lessons, coaching, music, clothes, there's so much that goes into it -- and I grew up in a

single parent home. My mother just retired after 44 years. She was a cashier at a grocery store.

But she said, Noah, being rich is -- does not -- it doesn't matter how much money you have in your pocket. It's what you have in your head.

And she --

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AMANPOUR: Did she encourage you in this path?

How did it happen?

STEWART: She did. She had one rule.

She said, "You are never allowed to be bored."

And so we couldn't afford a babysitter, so she said, anytime a teacher asks for volunteers for an extra activity, you're to raise your hand.

So --

AMANPOUR: Because she was working.

STEWART: Absolutely. She worked --

AMANPOUR: So you had to stay in school.

STEWART: -- yes. Each day we both took the bus from Harlem uptown, the #11 bus, all the way downtown to work and school each day.

And she got off first and then I got off last. And I went to school and she went to work. And then I went to chess. I went to judo. I went to

basketball practice and I went to choir as well.

AMANPOUR: All were free?

STEWART: All were free. And my hand was up.

So we're there -- I mean, by the end of the week they were tired of seeing Noah, I must say.

(LAUGHTER)

[15:20:02] AMANPOUR: I want to play a snippet of you singing "Amazing Grace," and then we'll talk about it.

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AMANPOUR: I mean, that is really remarkable. It's beautiful. But you've decided pretty much not to go that route.

STEWART: Absolutely.

AMANPOUR: But it is your heritage.

STEWART: Absolutely. And it's -- Christiane, gospel music was not the first music I heard. I fell in love with Broadway. I mean, the first solo

I had was "Your Feet's Too Big" from "Ain't Misbehavin'."

And I remember being on stage and hearing laughter from the audience and thinking, wow, this is great. I'm interacting with an audience.

So I have another part of my career which I love, which is the crossover side of things, which is not as formal, shall we say, as opera, but equally

as enjoyable, where I can really connect with my audiences.

AMANPOUR: Did you get pushback when you wanted to play the great parts?

I mean, I read that, at least one part you were told you'd never be able to play, I think in "Carmen," because you're not white.

STEWART: Yes, you're not French, you're not Italian, you're not European looking.

I was actually working in a restaurant as a host and oftentimes they had birthday parties and I would sing "Happy Birthday," and then this, "Wow,

you have such a great voice, what are you doing with it?"

And I'd say, "Well, I went to Juilliard and I'm auditioning."

And they'd say, "Well, what do you want to do?"

And I'd say, "I'm going to be an opera singer and sing 'Carmen' and 'La Boheme' and 'La Traviata.'"

And they'd say, "Well, you can't do that."

I'd say, "Why not?"

They'd say, "Because you're black.

"You can't sing Don Jose because you don't look like him."

And I said, "Yes, I can."

And to date, that's the -- Jose is the role I've done the most in my career. So touche.

AMANPOUR: Take that.

STEWART: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

AMANPOUR: So how much does it shock you then to see that color is still such an issue in the United States of America?

We've seen Ferguson. We've seen what's happened in New York. We've seen all these really terrible things and this amazing amount of racial tension.

Where do you come in on that?

STEWART: I feel like it is my responsibility to continue to blaze the trail. Whenever there is a situation like Ferguson, I immediately reach

out and support -- because it's me. I mean, I'm the face of Ferguson. It could have been me. It could have been any man of color, boy of color.

AMANPOUR: Do you think that you'll ever sit down for an interview and you'll stop being the rare black man in opera and you'll just be a

brilliant opera singer?

STEWART: Oh, yes. I mean, I don't think about it anymore actually. I've always been though, the one, I would say.

I remember the first time going to Italy and I was in language program and these guys came over and they said, "Hey! You must be a footballer."

And I said, "No, I'm a singer."

And they said, "No! Will Smith! Like you sing pop music."

And I said, "No, I sing opera."

And they said, "No," and I sort of said --

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And they froze and thought...

"Bravo! Bravo!"

I said, "Now that'll be 50 quid. Thanks."

AMANPOUR: That's beautiful. That is beautiful.

Noah Stewart, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Good luck with the rest of your show here, your run here.

And as we go to a break, we're going to hear another snippet of you singing "Without a Song."

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[15:26:28] AMANPOUR: And finally tonight, millions and millions of tourists come here to Italy to see the ancient sites. This behind me is

the Forum; it was the center of commerce and politics at the height of the Roman Empire.

But imagine another ancient Roman city -- but this one forgotten and deserted.

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AMANPOUR (voice-over): That's the story of Leptis Magna across the Mediterranean in Libya. It's one of the most well preserved cities on the

southern border of the Roman Empire. It was founded in the 17th century B.C. But later it was abandoned and buried under the sand for centuries.

It contains some of the finest remains of Roman architecture in the world.

But this city is once again abandoned as years of war in Libya keep tourists from exploring what is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sadly it is not surprising after the terrorist attack on the world-famous Bardo Museum in next-door Tunisia. But the government there is urging

tourists to keep coming, promising that they'll be safe.

And Tunisia has a Roman ruin all of its own, El Jem. It's home to the largest colosseum in North Africa. And so standing here we're starkly

reminded of the consequences of this war with Islamic extremists, not just the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been lost, the ancient cities

and priceless antiquities that they've destroyed across the Middle East, but also people who are trying to escape, crossing to these shores in their

rickety boats in search of a little safety, a little humanity.

And that's our program for this evening. Thank you for watching. Remember you can always see the whole show online at amanpour.com, and follow me on

Facebook and Twitter. Good night from Rome.

END