It’s Canada Day. I live in Toronto and am a subscriber to the Canadian Opera Company.
I was remembering examples I’ve seen south of the border at the Metropolitan Opera. Yes they import talent, bringing in Italians to sing Verdi or Russians to sing Tchaikovsky. As I look back at the different people who have been entrusted with the leadership roles at the COC, I think they absorbed this philosophy perfectly, because the COC have been very good at imitating this part of the Met’s approach to bringing in talented foreigners instead of using the talent developed at home.
I wanted to celebrate the times when the Met set a good example for the new management of the COC who recently announced the departure of their General Director Perryn Leech and the interim appointment of David Ferguson. I want to call it a lesson because this has not been the way the COC has been directed.
Decades of casting choices can’t be reduced to the few glib sentences I’m writing here, so please excuse me for oversimplifying.
The current conversation about the COC has given me a new appreciation for the choices made by Met management. I’m a big fan of Wagner’s Ring Cycle operas since my teens when I was fortunate to get to NY to see singers I idolized such as Jon Vickers or Thomas Stewart. The Met was understood to be the best opera house, if not in the world certainly anywhere in North America, regularly importing the best singers in the world. The song is right when it says “if you could make it there you could make it anywhere”, at least as far as the Met and opera were concerned.
Yet I remember being frustrated by the Met, who chose to cast James Morris as their Wotan from 1987 until 2009. I had heard and admired the Wotan of the English singer John Tomlinson, who was Wotan at Bayreuth from 1988-1992 for the Kupfer Ring, and again in 1994-1998 in the Kirschner Ring. The on-line journal MusicalCriticism.com called Tomlinson ‘the leading Wotan of his generation’ (September 2006).
Here’s a tiny peek at Tomlinson, a great singing actor, performing Wotan.
Yet Tomlinson only showed his face at the Met in 1999 for a difficult role in Moses und Aron, and would share the stage in the 21st century a few times with Morris: but playing smaller parts such as Fafner alongside Morris’s Wotan. The Met chose never to cast Tomlinson as Wotan.
What am I getting at? In 2024 I now see it differently.
The Met actually did something I have long wanted to see the COC do. James Morris is an American, a competent Wotan. John Tomlinson is British, “the leading Wotan of his generation” but never sang the role at the Met.
Why?
Perhaps that was because the Met were loyal to their American talent, casting Morris for over 20 years as their Wotan. The vote of confidence from management helped the singer perform with even greater self-assurance while also building the relationship with the audience in NY.
While I did not like Morris as much as Tomlinson he’s still quite good in the role as you can see.
Yes, I once thought of James Morris as a letdown compared to Tomlinson, wishing to see him in NY.
But now I’m thinking differently. I realize now that in fact the Met did something admirable in casting Morris. I have no idea whether there was a conscious effort to ignore Tomlinson, but by showing such loyalty to an American singer they also showed a commitment to their American audience, building their community of opera fans in the process. When you look at their history you see lots of American singers. I mentioned Thomas Stewart, another American. We assume that because they sang at the Met they must be the best in the world, and that opportunity helped their careers.
Let that be context for the job of the management of the COC, their approach to finding singers when they cast productions. The Met’s example can illustrate another approach than the one practiced since the time of Lotfi Mansouri. No we don’t need to always hire from abroad. We can promote Canadian talent, even if there might be someone with a better reputation in Europe.
I know of older singers whose careers are ending, winding down. It doesn’t help that they were not getting cast here in Toronto, singing for a supportive audience. And I know of younger ones who could use the work, who are forced to take day-jobs or to abandon their career.
Whoever is selected to be General Director can understand their position and its goals in many different ways:
Emulate Lotfi by hiring from abroad?
Or his predecessor Herman Geiger-Torel, whose COC was cast mostly by Canadians and only rarely sought talent outside the country.
I’ve heard rumblings that the COC is in debt. I wonder if the finances of the company would improve if their casts featured more Canadian singers: who surely are less expensive than imported singers.
I think in the 1970s it was exciting to see big stars come to Toronto, and this has often been understood as the best way to run the company in the decades since, even if the imports weren’t necessarily great singers or well-known to the Toronto audience. There may be a mistaken assumption that we must cast from outside Canada, as the management seem to be oblivious to the talented Canadians who can fill roles without the requirement to go outside the country. I could list dozens. Imports should only be cast when we can’t find a Canadian.
A Canadian General Director might have a greater sensitivity to Canadian talent. Perhaps it’s time to hire a Canadian in the role, and not just as their interim General Director. But whoever gets the job, Canadian or not, should be instructed by the Board of directors to make it their priority to search for Canadian singers, to build a complement of mature Canadians and not merely to hire the young singers of the Ensemble Studio to sing small parts, who are shown the door when their term is up. The COC could signal their commitment in a public mission statement. I would be happier as a subscriber if I knew my dollars were not automatically going to imported talent.
We shall find out eventually.
In the meantime let me wish you a Happy Canada Day.
barczablog 
I appreciate what Barza blog has written here but I cannot agree with it, at least not entirely… Of course, the COC could do better in casting local talent but often enough that talent is busy in Europe where they receive better chances than in Toronto. And many American singers are busy working at American opera houses of which there are many, as well as in Europe (and in Asia!), Local Canadians have very few choices to hone their talent here in Canada. Clearly, it is better for young singers to go abroad to maximize their careers. So advising the new incoming director of the COC to hire Canadian may be good advice but will not relieve the company of their debt nor provide new badly needed funds. And even today it is younger Canadian singers such as Amber Braide who was so successful in Salome at the COC and was quickly hired in Frankfurt (I think it was) to sing it there has finally established herself as a leading singer.
So at this time, I would advise our new director not to ignore possible Canadian singers but also to continue the tradition of casting from abroad. A fine cast brings in new audience which is always needed by the COC and other smaller opera houses.
Thanks for the comments, Frances, great to hear from you as always.
You said “Local Canadians have very few choices to hone their talent here in Canada.” Ah but what about the COC? Why did the COC cast all three of Ping, Pang & Pong (only one of which is really a leading role) with imports? Why must they go abroad as though it were still 1976, if there are roles going to foreigners? The bottom line should be to import ONLY when a competent Canadian is not available, not the Mansouri approach which often saw mediocrities supplanting competent Canadians. The Ensemble Studio could be used more. And there are many good singers here, although I wonder if you are aware of that. For example Ernesto Ramirez or Margarete von Vaight or James Westman or Holly Chaplin. all four of whom could sing at the Met. I’m fortunate that I get invited to a lot of wonderful performances.
Yes Ambur, bless her heart, is exceptional.
Barcza blog btw, not Barza. CZA in Hungarian is a “tsa” sound, as in “pizza.” Thanks and say hi to the family.
Thanks for bringing this topic to the fore as always. It’s a tough one…the counter argument I’ve seen by some very successful Canadian singers is that they relish the opportunities they’ve had singing freelance or as part of ensembles in European companies. The implication being that they’d never want to see those opportunities cut off if a similar ‘only hire German/French/Italian’ etc. rule was applied there. I think the big problem in Canada is (and I’m of course not the first to note this) that even at our largest company, the COC, there are just not that many opportunities numbers-wise. Think about it – it’s a six opera season – that’s it! Compared to even a modest company in a smaller German city (say, Mainz where the wonderful Canadian soprano Lauren Margison is a company member), the COC offers a paltry number of performances. Then remove roles for which there really might not be a suitable Canadian…opportunities just keep shrinking. Ideally, Canada should be able to offer one company for goodness’ sake that can support a roster of national talent…but it’s just not in the cards or the numbers. I remember quite a few years back Opera Hamilton tried something like this, and had a small troupe of singers who appeared in each production when they were doing 3-4 per season. That lasted maybe one or two years. Listen, I completely concur that in some cases all of our companies could hire a Canadian and the quality would not suffer – understatement – far from it! Maybe that’s mainly what you’re stumping for here? Related: I’ve noticed in companies I’ve had the great pleasure of visiting a lot in recent years…in Berlin, Prague, Budapest…where there’s an established roster of singers. Audiences LOVE them…support them…you can tell by the type of ovations…they’re invested in these performers. Likewise, I see this at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto…for the ballet though. The National Ballet of Canada has a regular troupe; fans see dancers in multiple roles in a given run or season. They cheer them on, feel connected to their progress and successes. We simply can’t replicate that in a stagione system with rotating guest artists no matter how accomplished many of them are. Haven’t answered anything here…and not sure where it’s all going for the many hugely talented Canadian singers out there.
Thanks for weighing in, Gianmarco. I think there are a few parts to the conversation. No question, the COC’s short season can’t be compared to the Met, but then again we’re a country that’s roughly 1/10th the size of USA. I love the big stars (Kyle Ketelsen! he was awesome in the Tcherniakov Don Giovanni a few years ago, or Tammy Wilson, a superb singer) but don’t understand some of the COC choices. My brother for instance sang Valentin back in the 1970s when he was in his 20s. Why is the COC casting Szymon Mechlinski in a role that could be sung by Clarence Frazer or Justin Welsh, to name the first two who pop into my head. If I can think of people so easily I have to wonder: is the COC even trying? Roland Wood again(?), when James Westman is a superb Canadian singer(as I mention above in my reply to Frances Henry). What I’m trying to do is change the conversation –as you have done as well recently, thank you! — to insert this idea into the COC’s guiding principles. Right now I swear it’s like Lotfi’s shadow hangs over the company, as though the impulse to import talent is the default. NO the default should be Canadians, importing only when either necessary or when the import is as outstanding as Tammy or Kyle. Thanks for your thoughtful comments Gianmarco,..! have a great summer.
Leslie,
You raise important and timely questions in your analysis, though I also question the tack you take. As a longtime Toronto resident, I regard the COC as my home company, and have supported it as an audience member since the final years of the Geiger-Torel era. You are right that his successor, Lotfi Mansouri, made a more concerted effort to give the company a greater international standing by casting both leading and lesser-known names on the international circuit in leading and supporting roles, and that has been the approach taken subsequently by Mansouri’s successors Richard Bradshaw, Alexander Neef and, albeit briefly, Perryn Leech (other COC staffers have been involved in casting decisions, but the aforementioned have been the titular heads of the company).
I, too, have scratched my head over particular casting decisions over the years, including your example questioning why Ping, Pang and Pong in the recent staging of Turandot needed non-Canadian singers. Just to take another recent example from a different angle: Canadian soprano Tracy Cantin was originally hired to cover the role of Verdi’s Lady Macbeth and only assigned a couple of performances at the end of the run. In the event, she sang more performances due to indispositions of non-Canadian imports and performed at a level that made one wonder why she hadn’t been cast to headline the role in the first place.
But while it’s certainly possible to second guess specific casting decisions in specific productions, I think if you take a broader season-by-season perspective, you’ll find overall a reasonable balance between Canadian and non-Canadian artists on stage. I can think of numerous Canadian singers whose careers blossomed under one or more of the COC’s leaders over the years and who were frequently onstage in Toronto. Mansouri may have imported non-Canadians (as, actually, Geiger-Torel did before him), but he was also instrumental in establishing the COC’s Ensemble Studio and promoting Canadian artists at home and abroad. And I think, again if you take a broader view, this has been true of his successors’ regimes.
So, I question the implicit assumption in your analysis that the COC has as a matter of policy been blind to Canadian artists and prone to favoring higher-priced imports over local talent. (Whether all the East European artists we saw at the COC in the aftermath of the collapse of Communism were more expensive than Canadians only the company’s books can tell.) As a long-time audience member, I have welcomed the opportunity to hear imported singers alongside Canadians in COC productions. To single out a couple of ideal productions in this respect from more recent seasons, I’d cite the stagings of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (the Canadian contingents led by Russell Braun and Gordon Bintner as Count Almaviva) or the revelatory staging of Strauss’s Arabella with the late Erin Wall in the title role. Would it have been possible to assign more or even all of the roles in these stagings to Canadians? Possibly. But the issue then is whether the COC or any other company has some kind of obligation to make national origin a primary consideration in hiring decisions.
You seem to be proposing that a renovated COC, possibly led by its first Canadian general director (who this might possibly be is the subject of a separate conversation), should adopt an explicit “hire Canadian” policy. I note your proviso that it’s OK to look elsewhere if no Canadians are available or able to take on specific roles, and you also appear to countenance the import of top-line international talent in as yet unspecified circumstances. But even with the qualifications, I fear you are on a slippery slope to a parochialism that is at odds with what has been an international art form since the 18th century. You only write about singers, but should you not also advocate applying the policy to the other creatives involved in productions—stage directors, lighting designers, set and costume designers, videographers, choreographers? And should there only be Canadians on the podium as production music directors? I see no reason why singers should be treated differently, but if I am taking your point too far, I don’t see where to draw the line.
We surely wouldn’t want companies outside Canada to adopt a deliberate policy of hiring local where and when possible. Canadian singers and other opera professionals have long had to seek employment in the U.S. or across the Atlantic simply because of the relative dearth of performing opportunities in Canada. It’s worth remembering that more than 90% of the economic activity in Canada’s opera sector is generated by just 10 companies, and that the COC, which after all only currently mounts six mainstage productions a year, generates about 40% of that national total. One might be tempted to argue that the economics of the business underlines the need to “hire Canadian” deliberately where possible, but the approach would put us at odds with international practice. Canada has long punched above its weight on the international opera stage in large part because companies beyond our borders have recognized our abundant creative talent in opera. If American and European companies were to adopt “hire local” policies of the kind you appear to be advocating for the COC, Canadian opera professionals would be big losers.
Finally, an anecdote to propose a different narrative to explain why the Met hired American James Morris rather than importing England’s Sir John Tomlinson to sing Wagner’s Wotan in successive Ring cycles. I share your enthusiasm for and appreciation of Tomlinson as a superb singer-actor. And I agree that while Morris may have had the finer vocal instrument, Tomlinson’s embodiment of the role was the more compelling. (There are shades of the Tebaldi vs Callas debate in the comparison!) However, I don’t think Met audiences were denied the pleasure of Tomlinson because of a “hire local” policy that favored Morris. I heard Tomlinson sing Wotan in Bayreuth a few times, and at an autograph session at one of the Bayreuth bookstores, I asked him why he didn’t sing more in North America and specifically at the Met. His answer was simply that he felt no need to go through the major disruptions to his life involved in singing across the ocean. He had all the work he could handle on London and other English stages, and on the continent where major opera centres were more quickly and readily reached from his London home. So, Tomlinson’s absence from Met Rings—and relative absence from the Met over his whole career—by his own account had nothing to do with any “hire American” policy espoused by the company. And anyway, if you look at the rest of the casting of those Met Rings, you’ll see that they included numerous non-American singers in leading and supporting roles around Morris.
Wayne Gooding
Hi Wayne thank you for the comprehensive reply. I confess my blogging sometimes may resemble something more rigid than would be practical or possible. I’m trying to insert something into the heads of the COC board and their directorship(s). Presumably there are several overlapping principles informing the decision making of the opera company, when one curates a season, attempts to fill the Four Seasons Centre, while aiming to avoid huge deficits. Somewhere in there I hope they also consider the stewardship of opera in Canada. I heard rumours of financial difficulty that may or may not be true, thinking that for the short-term what if they swear off expenses that they can’t justify..? When they bring in an unknown singer in roles that could be filled be a Canadian I question the thought process.
Yes of course, Lotfi’s impact is huge, vitally important for fund-raising, surtitles, the Ensemble Studio. I’m not saying he didn’t do anything. But he was here from 1976-1988. I’m wondering what the criteria are among the powers that be, how they judge success, as though they are still thinking of Toronto as an outpost where we must import from abroad. Richard Bradshaw articulated something that I cling to, that the COC would aim to produce the best theatre productions in Toronto: something they often have achieved, including several great shows last season.
I thought of Morris’ example principally because he’s one of several American stars, (and yes I never went to Bayreuth so missed Tomlinson of course) that might illustrate how the COC could better conduct itself in shopping Canadian. I think one may underestimate the ongoing momentum for an artist who gets hired. I used the example of Valentin in Faust. Wayne, back in Torel’s time the season was even shorter, yet people knew my brother for a few roles in Toronto (such as that Valentin), and people would often talk to me about him years after his last appearance at the COC, even if he is now known more for his teaching at UBC than his singing. If I saw that the COC’s default was to cast with the best Canadians they can get, to aim high and to upgrade that with imports when necessary, I would be ecstatic. I suggested back in 2020 –pandemic time– that the emergency would be a great time to look around for Canadians, both as a means of getting cheaper talent and to rescue artists in dire need of the work, an idea I return to on this occasion. As you must have heard, it’s been a horrific time for the artists. The COC will do whatever they wish without explaining themselves to those of us who come see their shows. Thanks again for your comments!
I’m curious. What do you mean by a “Canadian singer”? You say “No we don’t need to always hire from abroad. We can promote Canadian talent, even if there might be someone with a better reputation in Europe.” So I assume your goal is to help out residents of Canada struggling to find work here. But that’s not clear. Does Gordon Bintner (to pick one at random) qualify? He lives in Paris. He largely works in Europe. He’s not short of work. So what problem does the COC hiring him solve? Look at the numbers. The COC has maybe 25-30 leading roles in 6 productions to cast in a season. No one singer is going to get enough work out of that to fetch an Emily D’Angelo or a Gerald Finley back from Europe (even if the COC could afford either anymore).
That said, i’m with you on the Pings, Pangs and Pongs. Plenty of singers in Toronto who would make a more than competent fist of roles like that and I’m all for hiring them.
I’m not sure I like the way you’re phrasing this, in a sentence like “So what problem does the COC hiring him solve?”. We’re not fixing a plumbing leak or killing mosquitoes. The difference between (for example) Torel and Mansouri was enormous, in terms of the change in the direction of the company, an entirely different vision largely enabled by a network of contacts and a different understanding of the artform. Mansouri accomplished some amazing things but I feel the COC is still operating as though his ideal as of 1980 that included bringing in stars from abroad is still the way to go, when the talent that is available in Canada is often ignored. Hiring the underused singers is but one possible objective. Bringing back Emily or Gerald or Gordon to sing at the COC is another, not simply an attempt to repair something. Canadian singers will have a different following among audiences. I’m trying to shift the default assumption. If you’re bringing in a star from Europe look for a Canadian. If you’re casting a show look for a Canadian. That should be the default, not the exception. When the COC Board of Directors talks to their General Director, do they hire a foreigner with no allegiance to the country, or do they perhaps at least insert this principle –to seek Canadian talent– alongside other principles such as excellence or prudent financial management. Hiring a Canadian to run the company may or may not shift the company into a better alignment with the talent in this country. And while the COC roles a singer gets won’t pay their mortgage but placed alongside assorted Messiah & smaller gigs: it couldn’t hurt. I’m just trying to add a little something to the conversation. Thanks for your comments, and have a great summer!