CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE

CONFERENCE/BULLETIN Volume 27, Number 1

CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE

AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

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The MetropotttM Opera GaiM'* Fiftieth AwUveray

New York - NoTfber I u d 2 , 015

Sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council

Central Opera Service • Lincoln Center • Metropolitan Opera • New York, NY. 10023 • (212) 799-3467

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Sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council

Central Opera Service • Lincoln Center • Metropolitan Opera • New York, N.Y. 10023 • (212)799-346?

CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE

Volume 27, Number 1 Spring/Summer 1986

CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE NATIONAL CONFERENCE

AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

In Collaboration With "Opera News"Celebrating

The Metropolitan Opera Guild's Fiftieth Anniversary

New York - November 1 and 2,1985

This is the special COS Conference issue. The next number will be again a regularnews issue with the customary variety of subjects and a performance listing.

CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE COMMITTEE

FounderMRS. AUGUST BEL MONT

(1879-1979)

Honorary National ChairmanROBERT L.B. TOBIN

National ChairmanMRS. MARGO H. B1NDHARDT

National Vice ChairmanMRS. MARY H. DARRELL

Central Opera Service Bulletin • Vol. 27, No. 1 • Spring/Summer 1986

Editor: MARIA F. RICHAssistant Editor: CHERYL KEMPLEREditorial Assistants: LISA VOLPE-REISSIG

FRITZI BICKHARDTNORMA LITTON

The COS Bulletin is published quarterly for its members by Central Opera Service.

Please send any news items suitable for mention in the COS Bulletin as well as performanceinformation to The Editor, Central Opera Service Bulletin, Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center,New York, NY 10023.

Copies this issue: $12.00Regular news issues: $3.00 ISSN 0008-9508

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Friday, November 1, 1985WELCOME 1

Margo H. Bindhardt, Central Opera ServiceKatharine T. O'Neil, Metropolitan Opera GuildMartin E. Segal, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

KEYNOTE ADDRESS 4John Brademas, New York University

MOVERS OF OPERA I 11Byron Belt, Newhouse Newspapers - ModeratorBruce Crawford, Metropolitan OperaArdis Krainik, Lyric Opera of ChicagoBeverly Sills, New York City OperaSir John Tooley, Royal Opera Covent Garden

GUEST SPEAKERS 37Martin E. Segal, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - IntroductionMrs. Mario M. Cuomo - Personal Greetings from The GovernorRobert L.B. Tobin, Central Opera Service - IntroductionKitty Carlisle Hart, New York State Council on the Arts

NEW FRONTIERS I 45John Ludwig, National Institute for Music Theater - ModeratorDominiek Argento, ComposerChristopher Keene, New York City Opera; Artpark, Lewiston, NY

MOVERS OF OPERA II 59Byron Belt - ModeratorDavid Goekley, Houston Grand OperaEvelyn Lear, SopranoNikolaus Lehnhoff, Stage DirectorWolfgang Sawallisch, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich

Saturday, November 2, 1985NEW FRONTIERS H 77

John Ludwig - ModeratorJohn Eaton, Composer; School of Music, Indiana UniversityPeter Sellars, American National Theater, Kennedy Center

MOVERS OF OPERA HI 89Maria F. Rieh, Central Opera Service - ModeratorJohn O. Crosby, Santa Fe OperaItalo Gomez, Teatro la Fenice, VeniceLotfi Mansouri, Canadian Opera Company, TorontoGerard Mortier, Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, BrusselsThea Musgrave, Composer; Virginia Opera

GUEST SPEAKER 115John T. Lawrence, Jr., Metropolitan Opera National Council - IntroductionHarold Prince, Stage Director; National Institute for Music Theater

NEW FRONTIERS HI: IN SEARCH OF YOUNG TALENT 124Byron Belt - ModeratorBetty Allen, Harlem School of the ArtsGrant Beglarian, National Foundation for Advancement in the ArtsMargaret Harshaw, Indiana University, BloomingtonJoseph Polisi, Juilliard- School of Music

CLOSING 147

Laurence D. Lovett, Metropolitan Opera Guild

COS ANNUAL OPERA SURVEY (Appendix A) 149

COS MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION & PUBLICATIONS LIST 151

Notes to this Issue

The TRANSCRIPT OF THE COS INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM is published in responseto the many requests for a permanent record of this unique meeting. Rarely does onefind so many distinguished, diverse opera leaders together, and rarer still are we allowedto share in their frank and open discussions. The written record is therefore extremelyvaluable - especially since listeners not infrequently miss some of the points made ordiscussed in so large a forum. We hope that this transcript will offer not only fascinatingreading, but that it will also act as a guide and stimulant to opera producers, directors,conductors, performers, composers, audiences and supporters alike. In addition, theattentive reader will find a number of surprises in the positions taken by some of thespeakers, and will also discover several occasions for chuckles and amusement.

This is the second COS Conference Transcript published complete in the COS BULLETIN.The first was a record of the 1981 St. Louis Conference "A Guide for Opera Admnistrators,Boards of Dirctors, Trustees and Volunteers." We believe that the current volume willprove equally informative, and will be found to contain many useful facts with practicalapplication for opera professionals and supporters.

When quoting from this publication, credit must be given to '1985 Central Opera ServiceNational Conference' and to the speaker(s).

This is Number 1 of the new Volume 27 series. The next issue of the COS BULLETIN willbe again a regular news issue (Vol. 27, No. 2) with the customary variety of subjects anda performance listing.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

photos by Maury Englander

(left to right)

John Brademas

front inside cover

Bruce Crawford, Beverly Sills

Byron Belt, Ardis Krainik,Bruce Crawford

Martin Segal, Mar go Bindhardt,Katharine O'Neil, Bruce Crawford

Sir John Tooley Mrs. Mario M.Cuomo, Kitty Carlisle Hart

Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Evelyn Lear John Ludwig, Christopher Keene,Dominick Argento

back inside cover

Harold Prince, Peter Mark, Thea Musgrave Kitty Carlisle Hart, Robert L.B. Tobin,Betty Allen

Peter Sellers, Gerard Mortier Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Wolfgang Sawallisch,Evelyn Lear, David Gockley

Maria Rich, Italo Gomez 500 in the Sheraton Centre Ballroom

Grant Beglarian, Margaret Harshaw,Sherrill Milnes

David Polisi, Lotfi Mansouri

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - 9:00-9:30 a.m.

WELCOME

MARGO H. BINDHARDT, National Chairman, Central Opera ServiceKATHARINE T. O'NEIL, President, Metropolitan Opera GuildMARTIN E. SEGAL, Chairman, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

MARGO BINDHARDT Good morning ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Central OperaService, a vital part of the Metropolitan Opera National Council, I welcome all of youto the annual Central Opera Service National Conference. We are truly delighted tohave this marvelous registration and this miraculous line-up of panelists and speakers.A record four hundred and fifty attendees representing the United States, Canada, Italy,Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Over 200 organizations are represented.The registrants include general directors, composers, stage directors, artist managers,service organization members and officials, singers, educators, trustees, Guild andMetropolitan Opera National Council members, music publishers, press and patrons. Infact, the registration is exemplary of what Central Opera Service represents. A truecross section of the entire opera world. Our annual conferences have taken us to SanFrancisco, Houston, Miami, St. Louis, Toronto, San Diego, and Washington. In 1983 weheld our conference here in New York City to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera'sCentennial. Last year we had the privilege of being in Chicago to celebrate the thirtiethanniversary of the Lyric Opera Company of Chicago and now here in New York, our1985 Conference has the honor to be held in conjunction with Opera News to celebratethe first half century of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. We all join in the congratulationson this milestone fiftieth anniversary.

We have a few program changes. We received the following telegram: "You may haveheard that I was recently elected Mayor of the City of Florence. I am truly overtaxedby the duties of my new office and this is why I find myself forced to cancel my visit toNew York. Would you please accept my sincerest apologies and also convey them equallyto the participants. I am wishing you a great success in your undertaking.' Signed,Massimo Bogianckino, Administrator General of the Opera of Paris. We are, however,very fortunate to welcome Italo Gomez, Artistic Director of Teatro La Fenice in Venice-He will be on the panel in Mr. Bogianckino's place. Jo Ann Forman, Director of Educationfor the Metropolitan Opera Guild will graciously replace June Dunbar. Bob Jacobson isrecovering nicely and sends his greetings to all of you. We will certainly miss hispresence. His moderating tasks will be covered by Byron Belt, John Ludwig and Maria Rich.

We look forward to a very superb conference and I thank you all for being here. It isnow my great privilege to introduce the President of the Metropolitan Opera Guild,Katharine O'Neil, a dynamic lady. [Applause]

KATHARINE O'NEIL Thank you Margo and congratulations to you Margo for pulling thiswonderful symposium together and for bringing so many people from all over the worldhere to the Sheraton Center. I would also like to say a hearty congratulations to adynamic woman. I am sure that you have all met her even though it is just a little afternine o'clock. You will continue to meet her as she is a mover and shaker of the CentralOpera Service, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and the Metropolitan Opera, Maria Rich.[Applause] She has done a whale of a job bringing people in from all over the world. Itis not an easy task. She has done it extremely well and she deserves enormous creditfor this job well done.

I believe this symposium is going to be fascinating, enlightening and I hope that you allagree that it is kind of a once in a lifetime. I have never seen such a roster of speakers

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as well as of attendees. I can not think of a more important and more appropriate personto kick off this conference than Martin E. Segal.

He is the Chairman of the Board of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is avery distinguished man of arts and letters in his own right. He is a champion of educationwherever he goes. A trustee of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, a memberof the Visiting Committee, School of Public Health, the John F. Kennedy School ofGovernment, and the Board of Overseers at Harvard College, and a member of the Boardof Visitors, Graduate School, and the University Center of the City of New York. He isalso a member of the Board of Advisors of the Library of America. Mr. Segal wasChairman of the Mayor's Committee on Cultural Policy in 1974 and was the first Chairmanof the Commission for Cultural Affairs of the City of New York, established in 1975.From 1939-1967 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Martin E. SegalCompany and has continued as Chairman of the Board of that company. From 1967-1982, Mr. Segal was a part of Wertheim <5c Co. and subsequently Chairman of WertheimAsset Management Services, Inc., investment advisors. Martin Segal holds doctoratedegrees from the Pratt Institute, the Mannes College of Music and the City Universityof New York. Born in Vitebsk, Russia, he arrived in the United States in 1921. Martinis self-educated, after leaving high school at the age of sixteen to work full-time. It ismy great honor and privilege to introduce to you Doctor Martin E. Segal. [Applause]

MARTIN SEGAL Thank you, Katharine, very much. I am somewhat embarrassed by thatintroduction and I want to level it appropriately for you by telling you about my experiencetwo years after I was elected Chairman of Lincoln Center. Of course, I knew before Igot the job that it was unpaid - as one of my children said, 'You always said that youwould get what you deserve.' I learned that one of my privileges was a free parkingspace, but I had to call in advance the Security Office to tell them that we were coming.On a particular Sunday I forgot. So I called the Security Office and I said, 'I am sorryto say that we did not call in advance to occupy our parking space, but may I use itSunday evening anyhow?' The Security Officer said, 'What did you say your name was?1

I said, 'Well, you would not know me. My name is Martin Segal. I am Chairman ofthe Board.' There was a long pause and he said, 'You are right, I do not know you.'[Laughter]

. . . the New York International Festival . . . from the middle of June until roughly themiddle of July of 1988 and the theme will be the Twentieth Century.

The opportunity to accept the invitation this morning was one I seized immediately,because I was asked to do two things. But before I do either, I want to say a word aboutthe extraordinary woman who introduced me. Katharine O'Neil is not only the Presidentof the Metropolitan Opera Guild, but she is as dynamic as was described by Margo. Aperson who brings to the Board of Lincoln Center great insight, intelligence and energyand demonstrates it over and over again in every discussion we have. She led ourtwenty-fifth anniversary last year in a way that would make all anniversary celebrationsbe somewhat concerned about leadership thereafter. It was marvelous.

My two opportunities this morning are to tell you briefly about the New York InternationalFestival for the Peforming Arts that we are planning in 1988, and then to have the realhonor of introducing your Keynote Speaker.

Briefly, the New York International Festival will be under the jurisdiction of a new andindependent non-profit organization, with a small board of directors and large board ofadvisors from all fields in the performing arts. The first festival will be from the middleof June until roughly the middle of July of 1988 and the theme of that festival will be

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the Twentieth Century. This is not a doleful group and so I am not going to say thatmost people believe that this century is devoid of creativity. But, when you look backat what has happened in the world of the performing arts in this century, I think it isa century in which we can all be proud, that we can witness the music that was writtenand the drama that was written, the operas that were written, the dance choreographed,the plays written and performed for the first time in this cent'^y, and the film thatwas produced. We hope to illuminate the performing arts of the Twentieth Century.The festival will occupy the halls of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academyof Music, Town Hall, Broadway theaters and, indeed, any space appropriate for whateverwill be presented. It will not be representative of the world. It would be presumptuousto have a festival that represents the world. It will be representative of the best inthe performing arts that are available at this particular time. What we hope to accomplishis to establish an annual festival or bi-annual one in which there is an opportunity forpeople who are interested in the arts to see what the arts have done in the past and tolook to the future with great confidence.

I come to the pleasure and the honor of introducing your Keynote Speaker.

When I talk about looking to the future with great confidence, I come immediately tothe pleasure and the honor of introducing your Keynote Speaker. This society of oursis dependent on leadership. It is dependent on people who see the world as it is, andknow how to express the way it should be. That, indeed, is the primary characteristicof our Keynote Speaker. He was born in Indiana in 1927 and has remained a very lustyperson ever since. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1949 andfrom 1950-53 he was a Rhode's Scholar at Oxford University. Then, for twenty-twoyears, he served in Congress as a United States Representative from Indiana and thelast four as the House Majority Whip. In Congress he was a principal author of legislationaffecting education at all levels, affecting the elderly and the handicapped, federalsupport for libraries and museums, and he was a prime architect and supporter of NEA,from the very day that the National Endowment for the Arts was conceived right throughthe time that it became the important representative of the arts on a federal level.

He serves on the board of a number of public companies and a number of privateorganizations, and non-profit organizations as well. He is Chairman of the Board ofDirectors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Chairman, by appointment ofthe Governor, of the New York State Council on Fiscal and Economic Priorities. Heholds honorary degrees from thirty-four colleges and universities. I could go on. But itis clear that we see in this man, who is now President of New York University, we see inhim not only someone who has done in the past what the civilized society requires by wayof leadership on all levels but, in addition, someone who is devoting himself now to thefuture of our city, our state, our nation, and the world. I am delighted, indeed, topresent to you President John Brademas. [Applause]

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - 9:30 a.m.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS[Introduction on preceeding page]

JOHN BRADEMAS, President, New York University

JOHN BRADEMAS I am honored to address this national conference of the CentralOpera Service, and I am for several reasons glad to be here.

First, I want to salute the Central Opera Service, which in little more than three decadeshas become our nation's most important source for information on all aspects of opera.And may I congratulate the Metropolitan Opera Guild, as it celebrates its fiftiethanniversary. You and I know that the productions of the Metropolitan continue to inspireopera companies across the land with their excellence and artistry. Often, for many,their first exposure to opera has been the Met, either through attending a productionin New York or seeing one on tour, or by tuning in television and radio broadcasts. Iextend special greetings to COS officers, Robert Tobin and Margo Bindhardt; to theExecutive Director of COS, Maria Rich; to Katharine O'Neil, President of the Guild; andto Martin Segal, Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Morever, I'd liketo welcome all the leaders of opera here today - from both America and abroad.

When Mrs. Rich invited me to be here today, I thought immediately of a marvelous bookI found nearly fifty years ago in my grandfather's library in a small country town inIndiana. It was The Victor Book of the Opera, published by the Victor Talking MachineCompany. I still have the book - the 1924 edition - with its photographs of Caruso asVasco da Gama, Martinelli as Radames, Melba as Rosina, Gluck as Mimi, Galli-Curci asLakme, Farrar as Manon, and Schumann-Heink as Fides, and as a child I read with fascina-tion the summaries of Rigoletto, Otello and Das Rheingold. So my education in theopera, though modest and fitful, began at a fairly early age and I certainly never thoughtthat I would be appearing, even talking, not singing, before so many luminaries of the opera.

If during my time in Congress I was active in shaping legislation to assist opera and theother arts, I am pleased to tell you that in my new role as President of New YorkUniversity, my commitment to the arts continues. As some of you know, New YorkUniversity, located in the heart of Manhattan, with fourteen schools and divisions thatrun from upper Fifth Avenue through midtown to Washington Square and down to WallStreet, is, not surprisingly, blessed with a diversity of outstanding programs in the artsof every kind. The Tisch School of the Arts at NYU is one of the nation's foremostcenters for education in the performing and communications arts; its film and drama andtelevision graduates are setting a fast and highly successful pace both in Hollywood andNew York. Our School of Education, Health, Nursing and Arts Professions providesstudents a wide range of arts education courses and is the home of our graduate programin museum studies. The Kurt P. Reimann Opera Studio at New York University presentsfully staged operas. Recent productions include Giannini's The Taming of the Shrew,the New York premiere of Kirke Mechem's Tartuffe and the world premiere of SteveCohen's score based on O. Henry's The Cop and the Anthem. Our Institute for VerdiStudies, the first in the United States to be devoted to the works of the prolific Italiancomposer, is a valuable archive of some twenty thousand letters, documents, scores,librettos and other materials. New York University's Institute of Fine Arts is, of course,the number one center in this country for the study of art history and conservation.And our Grey Art Gallery on Washington Square is as fine a gallery for the exhibitionof serious art as can be found at any university in the United States. So I speak toyou today from the dual perspective of one who, as a Member of Congress, for manyyears helped mold our nation's policies toward the arts and who now leads a universitywith a special commitment to them.

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. . . I want to say a few words about the challenges facing opera and the other arts inour country, and then offer some thoughts on how we Americans should respond to thesechallenges. I should, at the outset, warn that I intend to speak just as candidly as I liketo think I did when I was on Capitol Hill.

This morning I want to say a few words about the challenges facing opera and the otherarts in our country, and then offer some thoughts on how we Americans should respondto these challenges. I should, at the outset, warn that I intend to speak just as candidly asI like to think I did when I was on Capitol Hill. First, allow me briefly to reminisce withyou about what we in Washington sought to do for the arts during my own years ofservice in Congress. In the two decades from 1961 to 1981, five Presidents of theUnited States - Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter - as well as bothDemocrats and Republicans in Congress, championed support for the arts from our nationalgovernment. As you may know, I was one of the sponsors of legislation that gaverecognition to the importance of the arts - through the National Endowment for the Artsand other measures - and for ten years I chaired the congressional subcommittee withresponsibility for these initiatives.

The focus of Federal encouragement to the arts has, of course, been the National ArtsEndowment, the twentieth birthday of which we celebrate this year. Legislation creatingthe NEA and its companion, the National Endowment for the Humanities, was probablythe single most important measure ever enacted in our country in support of the life ofthe mind and of the imagination. The law establishing the two Endowments puts thecase for the use of Federal tax dollars for these purposes succinctly: 'It is necessaryand appropriate for the Federal government to help create and sustain not only a climateencouraging freedom of thought, imagination and inquiry but also the material conditionsfacilitating the release of this creative talent.'

I was also, with my Senate colleague, Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, author of twoother measures that opened new doors to the arts. One, the Museum Service Act offers,through the Institute of Museum Services, modest but invaluable grants for generaloperating support to museums of every kind - art, history, science and technology - andto zoos and botanical gardens. The other statue, the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act,provides indemnification by the Federal government to protect arts and other artifactsfrom foreign countries exhibited in American museums. Since its enactment in 1975,this program has indemnified some two hundred exhibits - including the Dresden,Tutankhamen, Picasso, Pompeii and Vatican shows - with only one request to pay a claimfor loss or damage.

Let me say a few more words about the impact of these several vehicles of Federalsupport for the arts. From the outset, the legislation authorizing the Arts Endowmentmakes clear that private initiative should continue to be the principal source of fundsfor the arts. The Endowment was envisioned as a catalyst, with special Challenge andTreasury Grants requiring a match of three non-Federal dollars for each Federal dollar.This formula has been immensely successful in attracting private support for and instimulating public interest in the arts. In 1965, when the Endowment was created, therewere relatively few professional non-profit performing arts organizations in the UnitedStates. In so large a country as ours, there were but twenty-seven opera companies,fifty-eight orchestras, twenty-two professional theaters and thirty-seven dance companies.There were only seven state arts agencies. But today, twenty years later, we have onehundred and sixty-eight opera companies, one hundred and ninety-two orchestras, threehundred and eighty-nine theaters and two hundred and thirteen dance companies. Andin every state in the Union there is now a full-time state arts agency.

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For opera this extraordinary growth has been accompanied by a similar explosion in therange of the repertory performed, the number of performances and the size of audiences.The latest COS opera survey reveals that the total repertory for 1984-85 consisted offive hundred and seventy-eight different operas as compared to three hundred and thirty-one operas in 1964-65. The number of opera performances annually increased from 4,176to 10,642 over the past two decades. Last season, 14.1 million people went to the operaas compared to 6 million in 1970. Moreover, last year there were operatic seasons inall fifty states and the District of Columbia. Maria Rich, in her annual opera survey,appearing in the current issue of Opera News, tells us succinctly how widely availableopera has become in the United States. She says:

'Boris Godunov in Arizona, Salome in Mississippi, Der fliegende Hollander in Hawaii, andseventeen productions of Aida in cities in Delaware, Wisconsin, Indiana, Texas, Ohio,California, New York, Louisiana and Michigan are representative of the scope and stateof opera in the United States in 1984-85. While the major companies are expected tomount the 'grand' operas, it may come as a surprise to find such works as Otelloperformed in Reno, Providence, and Rochester (NY), Falstaff in Omaha, and Cooperstown(NY), Trovatore in, among other places, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, and Charlotte, andFidelio in Sarasota.'

It must be obvious that opera as well as arts activities and culture generally in theUnited States, stimulated by an enlightened policy on the part of the national government,blossomed and flourished after 1965.

For the past four-and-a-half years, however, we have had a different picture. We havehad a President of the United States determined to reverse the bipartisan commitmentto the arts I have just described to you. Indeed, Ronald Reagan is the first President ofthe last quarter century to have mounted an assault on programs to support the arts.Presidents Nixon and Ford, Kennedy, Johnson and Carter - all called for increased Federalspending for the arts. Although an actor, Ronald Reagan broke that bipartisan tradition.Recall if you will that immediately on coming into office, President Reagan announceda radical change in Federal policy toward education and toward cultural activitiesgenerally. Urging more private, state and local support, he proposed slashing funds forthe two Endowments in half and said we should simply abolish the Institute of MuseumServices.

As you know, Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined to reject such drastic actions.

As you know, Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined to reject such drastic actions.Nevertheless, significant cuts were made in funds for the National Arts Endowment, and,after 1981, for the first time in the history of the agency, its budget declined. Insubsequent years, the Reagan Administration has continued to press for reduced supportof the arts. This year, for example, Mr. Reagan sought to cut the NEA budget by 11.7percent, from $163.6 million.to $144.5 million, and he still wants to eliminate the Instituteof Museum Services. Of particular interest to all of you should be that President Reaganwants to slash support for opera and musical theater by nearly a fifth, to $4.9 million.The reaction to his proposal in the opera community was, not surprisingly, swift andangry. 'I'm just appalled', said Beverly Sills, General Director of the New York CityOpera. 'It will be very difficult for any of us to recoup the amounts we lose, but forthe smaller companies, for whom the percentage of government support is a bigger percentof the budget, it may be a disaster', said Tony Bliss, former General Manager of theMetropolitan Opera. Dr. David DiChiera, General Director of Detroit's Michigan OperaTheater, remarked, 'There's no financial margin for us...and this is where...public supportone gets from the Endowment is so important.' And Martin Kagan of Opera America,

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a trade association for professional opera companies, noted that opera is 'the mostexpensive of all the art forms to produce.'

Much of the Administration rhetoric justifying its reductions contends that the arts mustbear their share of bringing down the Federal deficit. But the $200 billion deficit, Iremind you, is the direct effect of the huge tax cut of 1981 on which Mr. Reaganinsisted combined with the huge increase in military spending which he also demanded.That $200 billion deficit is certainly not the result of wild-eyed spending on the arts,humanities and museums! Still another Reagan rationale for attacking Federal funds forthe arts is that state and local governments together with private philanthropy can makeup the difference. But that's just not so. It is certainly true that these other sourceshave increased their contributions to the arts, and we are all glad of that.

But despite this growth in non-Federal support for the arts, it is nonsense to expectthat state and local governments, corporations and foundations can fill the immense gapin funds for the arts, education and social services that would be the consequence ofthe budgets Mr. Reagan proposes. In this connection, according to the respected non-partisan Urban Institute, support provided by the Federal government to non-profitorganizations in the United States during the current fiscal year is a full $17 billionbelow that made available in 1980. That drop alone - $17 billion, to repeat - is morethan double the $7.8 billion contributed to organizations such as hospitals, colleges anduniversities, museums and opera companies by corporations and foundations last year.

Recall if you will the solemn warning of corporate and foundation leaders that theinstitutions they represent simply cannot make up for the reductions in Federal support,and that the arts in particular may suffer. 'There is no way we can underwrite all thatour art-hungry nation demands', says Frank Saunders, Vice-President of Philip Morris, atraditional supporter of the arts. 'Foundations have little leeway to help', notes AlanPifer, President Emeritus of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. A 1983 survey ofcorporate CEOs predicted that in the future, corporate philanthropy would focus moreon medicine, education and social services and less on culture and the arts. The largestcorporate philanthropist, Exxon, decided to transfer over $3 million that year from artsand public television to other types of philanthropy.

But the Administration's attacks on funds for opera and other arts are not the onlyactions that should alarm us. I draw to your attention the implications for the arts ofthe Administration's so-called 'tax reform' plan submitted to Congress last spring andnow under consideration in the House Ways and Means Committee. I would note particularlythe danger to the arts in the proposed new provisions on charitable contributions, tax-exempt financing, business expenses and the deductibility of state and local taxes.

The Reagan plan would in two ways weaken incentives to individuals to make donationsto the arts. First, as you know, the Administration wants to deny taxpayers who donot itemize their deductions the right to claim charitable contributions, a move thatwould reduce total giving to the arts and for other philanthropic purposes in 1986 aloneby an estimated $6 billion. I should note that the House Ways and Means Committeehas voted to modify the President's plan by allowing non-itemizers to deduct contributionsin excess of $100. Second, Mr. Reagan would work a special hardship on museums,colleges, universities, and other educational and cultural institutions by changing the taxrules for persons on whom such institutions very much depend - the ones who would paythe new alternative minimum tax. Under Treasury II these persons would be taxed onthe appreciated portion of gifts of property, significantly diminishing their incentive togive. Moreover, both the Reagan and House Ways and Means proposals would severelylimit access on the part of all private, non-profit entities, including opera companies,theaters, museums, hospitals, social service agencies, and colleges and universities to thetax-exempt bond market.

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The House Ways and Means Committee, just last Friday, adopted a provision that wouldimpose statewide and institutional caps on tax-exempt financing available to private,non-profit groups. Under the statewide cap, in New York State, all such organizations,taken together, would be guaranteed only $440 million in tax-exempt bonds. New YorkState last year issued a total of slightly over $3 billion in such bonds for these independentnon-profit groups. The result of this cap would be to pit independent arts, charitableand education institutions against one another and against other non-governmental entitiessuch as mass transit for access to a vastly diminished tax-exempt bond market. Thesecond volume cap in the Ways and Means plan would be a limit of $150 million pereach institution, except hospitals. And as most of you know better than I, there is deepapprehension in the theater and opera community about the proposed elimination ofbusiness deductions for tickets and other entertainment expenses. Finally, the proposalto disallow deductions for state and local taxes is not only a savage blow at local publicschools in every school district in the United States. To the extent that there has beenan increase in state and local support for the arts, elimination of deductibility wouldstifle that growth as well.

The fact is that Ronald Reagan's budget and tax proposals contradict Ronald Reagan'sown philosophy. A President who justifies cuts in Federal funds for opera and the otherarts assumes that private philanthropy and state and local governments can meet theshortfall. On the contrary, all the evidence is that the changes he has asked in the taxlaw would reduce contributions to the arts from non-Federal sources, not increase them.Now, of course, government aide for the arts goes - appropriately - to individual personsand organizations. But I want here to remind you that such support serves a publicpurpose as well.

[The above tax plan has not been adopted by Congress.]

. . . 'If history tells us anything, it tells us that the United States, like all other nations,will be measured in the eyes of posterity less by the size of its gross national productand the menace of its military arsenal than by its character and achievement as acivilization.1

For it is the arts that celebrate the vast and manifold talents of Americans and bindus together as a people over time. The historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., put the pointrecently in eloquent words. Said Schlesinger: 'If history tells us anything, it tells usthat the United States, like all other nations, will be measured in the eyes of posterityless by the size of its gross national product and the menace of its military arsenal thanby its character and achievement as a civilization.' Schlesinger went on to acknowledgethat, 'Government cannot create civilization. Its actions can at best be marginal to theadventure and mystery of art. But public support reinvigorates the understanding of artas a common participation, a common possession and a common heritage.'

Let me acknowledge and salute some of the members of Congress of both political partieswho are leading the way.

Now, if I have told you of the present Administration's assault on the arts, I must alsotell you how heartened I have been to see the reforging of coalitions in the country andon Capitol Hill in support of the arts. The success that arts and opera advocates havehad during these past four years in fending off the most drastic attacks on the arts isan encouraging sign that there is a strong constituency in America for them. Let meacknowledge and salute some of the members of Congress of both political parties who

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are leading the way. I think, for example, of such persons in the Senate as RobertStafford, Republican of Vermont, and Paul Simon, Democrat of Illinois. In the House ofRepresentatives, among the most effective friends of the arts are Congressman ThomasDowney, Democrat of New York, and Jim Jeffords, Republican of Vermont, Chairman andVice-Chairman, respectively, of the Congressional Arts Caucus, one of the largest caucuseson Capitol Hill; and Pat Williams, Democrat of Montana. Here I must single out forspecial mention my old friend, Sidney Yates, Democrat of Illinois, Chairman of the Housesubcommittee with responsibility for appropriations for the arts, for in the early Reaganyears, Congressman Yates was the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike, defending thearts and humanities and museums against the onslaught. Some of you, indeed, may recallhow last February, at the annual meeting of Opera America, Congressman Yates asked,'How long can companies last without adequate help from outside sources, including theUnited States government?1 He promised he would press to hold spending for opera atcurrent levels adding, 'I don't think you will have to reduce the sextet from Lucia to aduet for the sake of economy.1

So I am very pleased to remind you that in recent months both the House of Representativesand the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to maintain support for the arts nearpresent levels. I am encouraged, too, by the growing support for the arts demonstratedby the nation's governors and mayors, state legislators, and business and foundationleaders. I should mention, for example, that thanks in large part to Mayor Koch, thetotal arts budget for New York City rose from $97.4 million to $129.7 million for fiscalyear 1986, the largest sum the City has ever given to the arts. And on the state level,we count on the brilliant leadership of today's luncheon speaker, Kitty Carlisle Hart,Chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, who is a great champion of the artsin Albany. That Mrs. Matilda Cuomo will bring greetings from our distinguished Governoris also evidence of the strong support for the arts, shown by the highest official of NewYork State, who, in the past year, increased state funds for the arts from $35.3 to $40.3million. We should acknowledge as well the work of such organizations as the AmericanCouncil for the Arts, on whose board I sit; the American Arts Alliance; the AmericanAssociation of Museums; the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the NationalAssembly of Local Arts Agencies. And I know that statistics from COS have proveninvaluable for arts advocates.

I should like to offer a few words of counsel for the Americans here this morning as welook to the days ahead. What should we be doing now? . . . It will be up to each of youand those you represent to make clear that the arts matter.

Finally, of course, we must salute the artists themselves, many of whom have beeneloquent witnesses for the arts before Congress, and in other forums. Certainly, theSenate Appropriation Committee will not soon forget the appearance of Leontyne Pricebefore them in 1981. She sang her testimony to the tune of 'God Bless America'. Bythe way, you may be interested to know that Miss Price is a member of the Board ofTrustees of New York University. Despite the difficulties we face, all these efforts areencouraging. And that is why I believe that with your help and the help of people likeyou all over America we can preserve the momentum for the arts built up over the pasttwo decades.

As I conclude, I should like to offer a few words of counsel for the Americans herethis morning as we look to the days ahead. What should we be doing now? First, wemust broaden linkages within the cultural community. There are currently more thanone hundred and fifty-eight different national service organizations working on behalfof the arts. We must bring these groups into closer collaboration. Second, we mustcontinue to urge individual patrons, private foundations and the leaders of business and

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industry to help opera and other cultural institutions more generously than ever before.Let me reiterate, however, that I realize that corporations and foundations can notreplace the reductions in Federal support for the arts, and they should not be expectedto do so. My third observation is this: You and I must make the case with our electedrepresentatives in Washington, D.C. And what is the case? That the arts are essential;the arts are not something to be thrown a bone after everything else is taken care ofbecause everything else will never be taken care of.

We must remind Mr. Reagan, too, of the close connection between Federal support forthe arts and the wider public interest that they serve. This Administration simply failsto see this nexus. So it will be up to each of you and those you represent to make clearthat the arts matter. For what is, I think, obvious from the record of the NationalEndowment for the Arts and the other Federal programs to support culture is that ournational government, with modest amounts of money, without stifling bureaucratic controland without unwarranted intervention, can provide support for the arts in ways thatgreatly enhance the quality of American life.

. . . 'I look forward to an America which commands not only for its strength but forits civilization as well.1 It is for such an America that we must all strive.

I close then with words spoken by President John F. Kennedy in October of 1963; 'Ilook forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we rewardachievement in business or statecraft . . . I look forward to an America which commandsnot only for its strength but for its civilization as well.' It is for such an America thatwe must all strive.

* * •

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon

MOVERS OF OPERA I

BYRON BELT, Music Editor, Newhouse Newspapers - ModeratorBRUCE CRAWFORD, General Manager, Metropolitan OperaARDIS KRAINIK, General Manager, Lyric Opera of ChicagoBEVERLY SILLS, General Director, New York City OperaSIR JOHN TOOLEY, General Director, Royal Opera Covent Garden, London

MARGO BIHDHARDT Thank you Dr. Brademas for an important keynote address. Youhave set a level and a tone to start this conference which I am sure the other panelswill have a hard time living up to. I thank you very much for taking the time from yourvery busy schedule to be with us today.

I saw that Ardis Krainik has arrived from Chicago. Her plane has landed and she hascome directly to the auditorium. If you will just keep your seats we will go immediatelyto the first panel.

BYRON BELT I am Byron Belt and I am really touched and moved to be moderator forthis particular panel. I have two words to say prior to our beginning.

One, I am rather astonished that we are underway for a full hour and the.name of Mrs.August Belmont has not been mentioned - that gracious lady who did more to bring ushere today than any other single person. Her portrait adorns the Belmont room at theMetropolitan. I think she really adorns the hearts and minds of anyone who has beenconcerned with the furtherance of opera as a worldwide beloved art form. Mrs. Belmontcame from the most aristocratic of families and she saw to it that opera became themost democratic of art forms in America. I think we owe her a deep debt of gratitude.[Applause]

Secondly, the person I am replacing, Robert Jacobson, could not say for himself what Ican say. That is that Opera News has never been better edited than by this man.Robert not only has the professional skills, but he has the moral vision and artisticintegrity to write each week an opening column of great brevity and tremendousintellectual insight. I want to pay my tribute to Bob. He will be fine and we lookforward to future conferences with his deep intelligence and warm leadership. [Applause]

I have on my panel two of the women who have been most profoundly important in mylife. Not every moderator can say he loves his panelists. [Laughter] But, I think it issafe to say, and probably a few of you share these feelings, I clearly love Ardis Krainikand Beverly Sills. We are going to run the gamut today, since just seeing them andbeing close to them is itself an exciting privilege.

I won't say as someone once said, when Elisabeth Schwarzkopf walked out on stage inOrchestra Hall, when I was back in the dim days of concert management, Elisabeth lookedso gorgeous and the woman next to me, who was a total stranger, said, 'And she sings,too!' [Laughter] Well, these women sing, too.

Ardis is lesser known as a singer than Beverly perhaps. [Laughter] I will tell you anintimate story about Ardis Krainik. Years ago, Chicago had a little night club wherepeople got up and sang. Everybody talked, moped and clanked their glasses throughevery performance. There were some wonderful people who sang at this place. Ardisstood up one evening after having said for forty-five minutes, 'Do not ask me, do notask me', she said, 'Aren't you going to ask me to sing?' [Laughter] So, I said, 'Ardisplease sing', and she sang 'My Hero' from The Chocolate Soldier. It was the first and

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only time in the history of this place that no one breathed. Ardis was and is a verybeautiful artist as well as a wonderful and gifted administrator. I want you to knowabout her singing career because I do not have to tell you anything about the careerof Beverly Sills - about which the more said the better, but the less said today -- so wecan get underway.

I grew up in Chicago and was for a number of years Assistant Manager to Carol Fox atthe Lyric Opera. Ardis survived twenty-five years or so with that gallant, heroic andcontroversial lady and has become one of the most distinguished managers in the worldof opera today. In Chicago we had a great symphony orchestra before Sir Georg Solti,although from the press, sometimes, you would not know that that was true. FrederickStock, who was one of the great educators and conductors of the twentieth century,ruled the Chicago Symphony with a long and heavy and brillant hand for many years.He was the guest every year of the Businessmen's Orchestra, an amateur organizationthat played a concert or two at Orchestra Hall every year. He was always happy toconduct them. He only said, 'Do not make me go to dinner with them. Those businessmentalk only music' [Laughter] I was thinking of that vaguely this morning, because whenthe public and audiences come together they want to talk about art and artists. Whenopera managers get together, they tend to talk about money.

Now, I have made myself a promise that money will only dominate this program forfifteen minutes of any person's given time. They can say anything they want. As amatter of fact the way we are going to run this is each of our participants is going tohave some opening remarks on, as Maria Rich put it, 'Anything that is in their head' andwe will hope that some interesting things are in their heads this morning. Then we willhave some repartee between the panelists and then we will open it to the floor. Whenwe go to the floor, would you please go to one of the two microphones and identifyyourself and state your question or thought as simply as possible. This will make for amuch more effective presentation.

I am going to ask Miss Krainik to speak first. Ardis not only was a classmate of mineat Northwestern and a colleague at Lyric Opera for many years and a dear friend, shehas been described as a miracle worker by almost every writer in America including thisone. She runs a company of great artistic stature and with astonishingly efficient means,keeping it in operation financially and as a public entity. I would like to introduce withgreat pleasure, Miss Ardis Krainik. [Applause]

ARDIS KRAINIK Thank you very much, Byron, for that very beautiful introduction. Itmakes me feel very special and I feel very special being here today on this celebrationof Central Opera Service and the Metropolitan Opera Guild and I congratulate all of you.I think it is a marvelous occasion and I am very thrilled to be up here on this distinguishedpanel of colleagues, all of whom I love.

I am bullish on opera in America.

I would like to start out with something I said at the National Endowment panels. Notso long ago I was the Chairman of the Overview Panel, and I was supposed to make alittle speech to the National Endowment Advisory Council. I started out by saying that Iam bullish on opera in America. I really am. You know you can talk about a half emptycup or a half full cup. I think we ought to talk about the half full cup. In fact, it is alot more full than that.

In 1954 when Lyric Opera was founded by Carol Fox, there were only about fourteenor fifteen opera companies in America. I can tell you today as a Vice President of

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Opera America that Opera Ame.'ica reports that there are ninety-six professional operacompanies in America today, sixty of which are considered fully professional and thirty-six are considered correspondent. That is not to mention the hundreds more organizations,most of whom are represented here today as members of the Central Opera Service.

Of course there are some troubles. . . . But there are just as many and more companiesin the black. . . . We went from nearly one-half million dollars in debt to 3.2 milliondollars in the black last year. ( think that America is no longer a frontier, culturally.

Of course there are some troubles. I do not pretend there aren't any troubles in opera.There is always trouble in opera, that is the nature of our business. I know that Portlandand Boston have tremendous deficits. I know that Washington Opera has cut back inseason. I know that the Met has some problems. But there are just as many and morecompanies in the black. There are great strengths that are evident. First of all, theMet has gone ahead with its one hundred million centenary fund drive. I am not surewhether you have made your one hundred million or not but that does not matter.However many million they have reached, it is that many more million than they everhad before. I think that is a truly remarkable feat.

There are two opera companies that have pulled themselves out of very great difficulties.Beverly has surmounted all sorts of financial difficulties - fire and many other things.Terry McEwen in San Francisco has retired his two million dollar deficit in just oneyear. Santa Fe, St. Louis, Mitimi, always operate in the black. Lyric Opera has hadfour very fine years, back to bai:k years of in-the-black operation. We went from nearlyone-half million dollars in debt and a fund of 2.5 million dollars wiped out, to 3.2 milliondollars in the black last year. I think that America is no longer a frontier, culturally.Opera has dug in deep roots. If you want to look at the evidence, one thing that isclearly evident is that the National Endowment for the Arts is celebrating twenty yearsof government partnership with the arts.

I do not like to be all lumped together with everybody else and homogenized in the bunch.I am a great defender of the individuality of every opera company.

I think that the major issues foi opera in America in general and for each one of us inparticular are staying alive and faying our bills, serving the public, serving our community,and then growing and progressing and moving forward. I really do not think that weshould generalize where we have been and where we are going, which is the topic ofthis conference. I do not liks to be all lumped together with everybody else andhomogenized in the bunch. I am a great defender of the individuality of every operacompany. So, the answer to where we are going is as different and individual for eachcompany as is its nature and its goals.

The question is not so much, 'Should we use surtitles? Should we do opera in English?Should we do more contemporary opera? How should we treat traditional works? Shallwe hire avant-garde stage directors?', but rather 'What kind of a company are we? Whatis our philosophical stance?' When you think about some of the great opera companiesof America - and if I may, I am joing to speak primarily about American opera companies- when you look at Santa Fe and St. Louis and Minnesota, Kansas City, the New YorkCity Opera, which is truly a ne.tional opera company, each is unique and individual inits nature. On the other hand, companies like the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco,Chicago, and many others are international companies. By international I mean thosethat compete in the international market place, have very long or longish seasons, use

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international artists, and adopt international standards. I would like to look at whereopera in America is going and where it should go, through the eyes of, if I may, my own,the individuality of my own company.

I think it is very important for an opera company like Lyric Opera to chart its coursevery carefully. When I took over as General Manager we had two problems. One ofthem was clearly financial but the other was that we were in kind of a slump. We werefast becoming invisible on the national and international scene. The first order ofbusiness was, of course, to turn the opera company around, financially, as fast as wecould. Much to my complete surprise, we turned it around in one year's time. I couldnot imagine something like that happening. That it did, I was very grateful. A lot ofpeople asked how we did that. I have told everybody how we did it. It is really verysimple. I am sure everyone at this table understands it very well. You do not spendany money when you do not have to. That is a simple little thing I learned at myBohemian daddy's knee. You never spend anything you do not have to spend. My motheroperated that way, too. You examine every hundred dollars of expense, not everythousand or every hundred thousand, but every hundred dollars of expense. Not necessarilyI, but certainly each one of your department heads. You make your budget and thenyou come in under. That is always what you strive for, to come in under the budgetthat you make.

A balanced repertoire helps bring about a balanced budget . . . Success artistically andfinancially gives the community confidence in you and brings success in fund-raising.

In Chicago, we have lovely responsibility reports. I have heard that this is unique. Ican not imagine why, because it is the only way that you can really track what youare doing. You make your budget. You feed into your computer what you expect tospend each month and then you check every month to see if you are on target. If youare not on target, why? Then we also have weekly reports that are handed in to meduring the opera season, where we are able to look over each area, throughout theentire opera season, on a weekly basis. Under this circumstance, each department head,of course, has to be tuned in both artistically and financially.

Byron, I am awfully sorry, but you know everytime you make an artistic decision you havea financial repercussion. So, I can not leave money out of it even while I really wouldlike to talk only about art. The person who said that by the way, every artistic decisionhas a financial repercussion, was Rudolf Bing. It was Verdi himself who said, 'Alwayswatch your box office figures.'

There are some very interesting things in turning a company around. A balanced repertoirehelps bring about a balanced budget, because with a balanced repertoire you havewonderful ticket sales. With an imbalanced repertoire you do not. Success artisticallyand financially gives the community confidence in you and brings success in fund-raising.All those things have to go hand in hand.

After we turned the company around, we faced the future. How best to serve ourcommunity, which I think has to be the first thing in your thought . . .

For me, the big romance of opera is first smashing artistic decisions, wonderfullyimplemented and brought about, but backed up by smashing financial success. Like Romeoand Juliet, art and money can go hand in hand. I think that is the real fun of runningan opera company. Of seeing that everything comes out neat at the end.

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After we turned the company around, we faced the future. How best to serve ourcommunity, which I think has to be the first thing in your thought - what you are doingfor your community, and then how best to progress and forge ahead. Number one on ourlist was expansion. We have expanded, as I think most of you know, from seven operaslast year, to eight operas this year, to nine operas next year. From fifty-five to sixty-sixto seventy-five performances. This expansion must be funded somewhere and it is beingfunded by a twenty-five million dollar capital drive, the interest of which will keep thedeficit in hand. Right now we are nine million dollars along on this and I expect it tobe very successful. But, as I said before, however much you put away for a capital driveis something you did not have before. Drawing interest on fifteen million dollars ortwenty million dollars is just as nice as drawing interest on twenty-five million dollarsbecause it will fund the expansion that we have planned.

. . . to get yourself visible from years of not being visible. It is collaboration withyour colleagues in the city. . . . Ravinia, the Symphony, the Art Institute . . .

The next thing that I thought Lyric Opera had to do was to resume its place on theAmerican and international scene. High visibility through excellent programs. First ofall, we have many collaborations with other companies. The Handel Samson, that wasjust produced in Chicago last week with another performance tonight which I am goingback for, is Jon Vickers' twenty-fifth anniversary. It was produced in collaboration withtwo people at this table, Sir John Tooley, who originated it, and it will soon come to youin New York to the Metropolitan Opera. The Vera Storia which is a new opera byLuciano Berio, was produced on September 30 in Paris in its first Paris version with anew physical production which is shared by Paris, Florence, and the Lyric Opera ofChicago. Orlando, the physical production for Orlando is being built by Terry McEwenin San Francisco and Lyric Opera. Falstaff by San Francisco, Houston and Lyric Opera.Anna Bolena by Canadian Opera and Lyric Opera, and I hear from Lotfi it might even goto London one of these days. These collaborations have two side effects. One of themis that the world perceives us as an international opera company, dealing with itscolleagues in a wonderful way. The other is that it also helps the budget.

There is another thing that is very important when you are trying to get yourself visiblefrom long, long months and years of not being visible. It is collaboration with yourcolleagues in the city. In Chicago, nobody had ever collaborated. In all the years ofRavinia, the Symphony, the Art Institute, the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Two years ago,Ravinia and Lyric Opera, at my instigation, because I am a big collaborator, did acollaboration on a concert with Luciano Pavarotti. It was a wonderful success. It madeeverybody very happy. We had sixteen thousand people there. We all came home withone hundred thousand dollars apiece. [Laughter] I have another collaboration plannedthat does not make a cent for anybody. In fact, it just spends money. And that I amnot going to tell you just what it is but it is planned for 1987. It is going to includethe Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Art Institute and the Film Festival in Chicago,which I think is a very interesting kind of thing to do. It is innovative and keeps yourvisibility high.

Artistically, Lyric Opera never did any contemporary work, never did any Americanoperas, never did much twentieth century music. So, our program includes doing thetwentieth century masters that we have not done already. Not repeats, but new ones,for instance, for us, Lulu. Works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Jandcek, then Americanpremieres. La Vera Storia will have its American premiere in Chicago in fall of 1986.We want to do little done American works. We are talking about Antony and Cleopatra.Another composer I would like to present to Chicago, because I think Chicago has theright to hear his work, is Philip Glass, who is so popular now.

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. . . many of you have heard about our innovative composer-in-residence program.

I hope someday, after my board of directors gets over the million dollars we lost onParadise Lost many years ago before I took over, I hope to have a world premiere ofan opera that we commission. But, I have sneaked one in on my board of directorsunbeknownst to them. I am sure many of you have heard about our innovative composer-in-residence program. We took a young American composer, hopefully, as a service tothe field, to teach a young man how to write for the theater. He turned out to bewonderful. He is going to have his work finished. We are going to produce the worldpremiere of an American opera by an American composer on June 6, 1986. It is not goingto cost very much money. Bill Neel is the composer.

. . . a Mikado in which the Mikado enters in a red Toyota and all of the gentlemenfrom Japan are dressed in identical Brooks Brothers suits.

We would like to do baroque operas. We are doing that especially in this Handel year.I think that every company, Lyric Opera especially, must do innovative things. WhenMatthew Epstein said, to me, 'You ought to pay attention to this guy Peter Sellers. Ithink that you ought to consider him for Mt/cado', which was the first thing that myadministration did from scratch. Matthew said, 'I saw him on the street. We weretalking about the Mikado and Peter would like to do a Mikado in which the Mikado entersin a red Toyota and all of the gentlemen from Japan are dressed in identical BrooksBrothers suits.' [Laughter] That attracted me immediately. For many reasons, not justbecause it was an innovation for innovation's sake, but because this was a new name onthe musical and theatrical horizon that had never before been in an American operahouse. So we took this brilliant genius, Peter Sellers, and put on his brilliant, hystericallyfunny Mikado in Chicago in 1983. And we began a new era for our opera company withthat very simple and fun work, moving away from tradition towards something that isinteresting, worthwhile and, in this case, very successful. About two inches thick ofpress notices throughout America - if you are looking for visibility for a company thatis trying to move forward, that is certainly another way to do it. All of this has to bedone, of course, within a nice balanced framework of tried and true, and not so fast sothat you lose your audience. We do not want the audience to desert us.

American opera's future, I believe, is secure because we are a house of stone, built onthe solid foundation of artistic excellence and good management.

Other important planks for Lyric these last five years have been our educational program,with special emphasis on our Lyric Opera Center for American Artists which is a year-round studio for young Americans; then, of course, radio and TV. We do not make anymoney on radio and TV, but what we do is demonstrate to the world that we are aninternational opera company. This year we did Eugene Onegin and next year we willdo Madama Butterfly, and every spring we have a radio syndication, which, I am sure,most of you hear in your cities.

I used Lyric Opera of Chicago as an example of what I think is being done and shouldbe done in America today. Not because I want to put Lyric Opera forward as somegreat important thing, more important than anyone else. Not at all. The things we aredoing at Lyric Opera of Chicago for opera in America is not at all unique. I feel thatthese efforts are being duplicated by every forward looking opera company all over

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America. Yes, I think that American opera is going somewhere. We are not just a houseof cards that is going to fall down together at the slightest touch. American opera'sfuture, I believe, is secure because we are a house of stone, built on the solid foundationof artistic excellence and good management. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Miss Krainik is clearly a woman not only of ideas, but the ability toexpress them. She was trained as a theater person at Northwestern University. Shehas made good use of that training in every day of her life.

A new voice in the world of opera has come to the Metropolitan as its new GeneralManger and I would like to ask Mr. Bruce Crawford to speak next. Mr. Crawford sort ofput his feet in the water at the Chicago Conference. I think those of us who spoke withhim and who listened to him realized that it is indeed possible and probably wise for aperson of business background to come into a crucial position of power in the country'slargest opera company. It is with great pleasure that we welcome him as a guest forthis fiftieth anniversary Guild celebration and the hundred and second season of theMetropolitan Opera. [Applause]

After six weeks we will have probably played to about one hundred and fifty thousandpeople who would have spent between five and six million dollars . . .

BRUCE CRAWFORD As usual I can not differ with Ardis on anything. In fact, she didme in on a rather commercial note using a famous advertising metaphor, the cup half fullor half empty. I will only attempt to say a few words following the general directionthat Ardis has taken, which is, that certainly in my involvement and entry into this fieldI am nothing but optimistic, although, indeed, there are plenty of problems to be solved.There is also a tremendous demand, a tremendous interest in opera which is still, if youwill, in an infant stage. I think that a lot of figures have been cited this morning aboutthe number of opera companies as opposed to twenty years ago; the number of liveperformances, etc.

I think we sometimes lose track of just how much demand there is. For instance, at theMet we are now finishing our sixth week of the season. After six weeks we will haveprobably played to about one hundred and fifty thousand people who would have spentbetween five and six million dollars in those first six weeks. I think it is remarkable thatwe are able to mount a new production such as Khovanshchina, which has not been atthe Metropolitan Opera for thirty-five years, a difficult opera, indeed nowhere near anystandard repertory and unknown to most of our audience today, and yet the first tenperformances, although not sold out, but still playing to about thirty or thirty-fivethousand people who will spend about one million and a half dollars. That certainlysays something to me about vitality.

. . . very important and a very large future in terms of the broadcast media. . . . operaspackaged for home viewing . . . is no threat to live performances. In fact, I think thatthis is a great opportunity to build audiences.

I think that basically our optimism has to be centered not only on what our opera houseswill be able to do in terms of the live performance, but there is a very important and avery large future in terms of the broadcast media. I think that already we have seen, andI think this is extraordinarily important, audience building just as radio has done for thelast forty odd years. We, at the Met, have now had over forty original telecasts onpublic broadcasting with one repeat each. We are involved now in distribution in laser

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discs and have signed finally an agreement with Paramount for distribution over the nextthirty months of eighteen operas of the forty tapes that we have. I think that we willsee all of this broaden. In this country, we also have operas from Europe being distributedby Thorn EMI. We find a lot of opera on television other than the Metropolitan Opera.I think that probably in another five, six years the whole video entertainment industrywill really come to maturity in this country. We will see pay-for-view television inwhich operas will be able to be packaged in subscription form for home viewingentertainment. This is no threat to live performances. In fact, as I said, I think that thisis a great opportunity to build audiences.

I believe that there will be a great many more developments. I think that probably thegreatest need at the Met and at other opera companies, and for all the people that workon behalf of opera both here and abroad, is better and better organization, bettermanagement, more dedication and certainly more optimism. I have no reason to believethat there is any major impediment to achieving what we are all trying to do. [Applause]

BYRON BELT The lady who needs no introduction is going to come next. If you sawthat exquisite production of Rondine and - incidentally I have told Ardis this, I thoughtthat the production of Eugene Onegin was one of the most gorgeous things I ever sawon television from Lyric. The City Opera's La Rodine was certainly an opera made fortelevision, and made for the New York City Opera, coming late in its life to both theNew York City Opera and to Lyric this year. On that show a lady in a lovely greengown looked perfectly smashing. Beverly has looked perfectly smashing to me ever sincethe first time I saw her and that was many - that was a few seasons ago, [Laughter]when she was a girl named Baby Doe. Speaking of stars, with Norman Treigel, FrancisBibel, Beverly Sills and Walter Cassel you had a terrific cast in the days of the so-called starless company.

New York City Opera does play a very special role in America. We have the EnglishNational Opera in London and we have the Royal Opera in London and we have theMetropolitan Opera in New York and we have the New York City Opera in New York. Ina sense, each of these is a truly national institution. As spokesperson, after years ofbeing one of the great and divinely gifted stage performers of all time, Beverly Sills isone of the most energetic and certainly one of the most articulate spokespersons forthe arts. Not only in Washington but right here this morning. [Applause]

We are a feeder company to all the great companies in our country and in Europe aswell. . . . an extremely happy occasion when we can crisscross across the plaza.

BEVERLY SILLS Thank you. You have me in a very mellow mood today. Yesterday wasmy thirtieth anniversary of my debut at the City Opera. I woke up this morning feelingone hundred and four. [Laughter] I am not going to take much of your time. I amvery happy to find myself head of one of the two opera companies at Lincoln Center,because Mr. Crawford and I have had some very nice luncheons together and are enjoying,I think, a very nice, special relationship. We are two different companies. We bothrecognize that. I want to put to bed the question of whether I resent the fact that theMet has a great many of our singers. Quite the contrary. We are both very proud andpleased of the exchange. We are a feeder company to all the great companies in ourcountry and in Europe as well. So, I find it an extremely happy occasion when we cancrisscross across the plaza.

I am also quite euphoric today because we have only sixteen days left to a twenty-one-week season, which, thank heaven, from an artistic and a financial point of view hasbeen most successful. We, of course, did have the catastrophe of a seven million dollar

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fire, destroying the costumes for seventy-four productions. In a sense, it is a new startand we are trying to look at it from that point of view.

. . . the three panelists with me - I would like to tell you a little bit about their reactionto the New York City Opera catastrophe. As the ashes were still smoldering . . .

But, this gives me an opportunity to do what I have been hoping I would have a chanceto do. I never dreamed I could do it in one fell swoop. The three people sitting next tome, not Byron whom I do love too, but the three panelists with me - I would like to tellyou a little bit about their reaction to the New York City Opera catastrophe. As theashes were still smoldering, Mr. Crawford phoned me and made one of the most generousoffers. That is to allow our costume person to go into the warehouse and make aselection of what we thought we could use. He would see what he could do aboutarranging it. The magnitude of that gift will be announced in January. It is anastonishing gift and I am very touched by it. It really will save our lives for the '86season. Five minutes after that call, Ardis phoned me and said, 'Short of sewing, which Ido not like to do, I will do anything I can to help you.' A few days later, one of themost touching letters came from Sir John Tooley, saying that his costume person would bein touch with our costume person to see what could be done to help us out of thetrouble. So, this gives me an opportunity to thank you. I was very touched. I do feelwith this spirit of caring for one another we will survive.

Having said those nice things, I would like to just touch very briefly on the other side ofthe coin. Because I, too, serve on a lot of panels and conferences and so forth. As amatter of fact, I was just leaving the panel as Ardis was coming on at the NationalEndowment.

. . . there is quite a lot of back biting and bad-mouthing of each other on these NEA panels.

The one unpleasant aspect that I would like to discuss very briefly is, that I find thereis quite a lot of back biting and bad-mouthing of each other on these panels. We areless supportive than we should be. I was really rather astonished, and I do not considermyself to be a naive, unworldly woman. I was very upset by some of the descriptionsof some of my colleagues' work when their applications were discussed. When theNational Endowment asked that for the next panel would I invite one of our boardmembers to come, because they thought it would be an interesting experience for aboard member to see the inner workings of the NEA, and, of course, I did. We supplieda board member, who came back trembling from the experience. It seemed that some ofthe panel members did not realize that he was from the New York City Opera board andhad some interesting things to say. It is not to our mutual advantage to put each otherdown. It is to our mutual advantage to get as much as we can for each other, becausethe higher level we achieve for the next fellow, that sets the precedent when our ownturn comes. So, I just want to call that to everyone's attention. Perhaps it is the heatof the competition for the fund-raising. We are all so busy with our tin cups that wemay lose sight of the fact that we really are a part of one rather large family trying todo exactly the same thing. As Ardis pointed out, at different levels and in differentmanners and styles, but nevertheless, it all boils down to the same thing. I find that avery unpleasant and very unsettling trend which I hope will come to an end just asabruptly as it seems to have entered our lives. Apart from that I am very pleased to behere and see a lot of old friends whom I have not seen since my old singing days. It isnice to be with you again. [Applause]

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BYRON BELT Those of us who are fortunate enough to travel in the world of opera,probably always have a special thrill when we sit at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden.For me, seeing those magnificent red curtains with ER II as they part is a moment ofspecial magic. The relationship between the English opera companies and American operacompanies is far more intimate than we think. The exchange of artists, as Ardis indicated,on the international level is remarkable. On any given day you can find productions orsingers or conductors or stage directors and designers appearing in London, Paris, Chicago,Houston and New York. This does not make for the sameness that Ardis said we mustavoid. It seems to make for a challenge because each of these artists is in a newsituation however familiar the scenery or the colleagues may be.

As director of one of the world's great opera companies and one that is visibleinternationally because of television particularly, it is a great pleasure to have as ourvery special guest from England, Sir John Tooley, the General Director of the RoyalOpera Covent Garden. [Applause]

. . . it is encumbent upon all of us to keep asking the question 'Has it not becomeunnecessarily expensive?'

SIR JOHN TOOLEY Ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure and honor for me tobe here today. Now, I do not propose to talk about Covent Garden at all. I would like,on the other hand, to make a few general comments about opera, opera as I see itworldwide. Statements which, because of time, have to be generalized, and obviouslythere are exceptions to what I am about to say. But, I believe there are points whichdo concern us all.

We are all aware that the art form which enthralls us either as managers, performers oras spectators, is the most expensive that man has ever devised. I believe, nevertheless, itis encumbent upon all of us to keep asking the question 'Has it not become unnecessarilyexpensive?' I think it behooves us to ask that question in a world which is increasinglyunstable, politically and economically, where politicians are more and more hard pressedto protect the arts in countries where they are working. It is quite clear that in theUnited Kingdom, for example, where the economy of the country is not as good as wewould all like it to be, where there is a tremendous drive to cut taxation and at thesame time to reduce public expenditure, it becomes increasingly difficult for all politicians,whatever their convictions may be, to defend the arts and the level of subsidy whichthe arts would ideally require against cuts in the health services, cuts in education, cutsin all sorts of public services. Therefore, with that sort of background, and that Isuggest does apply to America, where there is very little direct public funding of thearts, but where you are dependent on indirect public funding, politicians and politicians'reputations are still at stake, as they stand up to defend the whole question of director indirect funding.

. . . underneath that gloss the real truth about opera is in danger of being lost.

As we ask that question, 'Is opera unnecessarily expensive?' - I do it for reasons otherthan purely financial - I have a terrible feeling in my bones. This is a sweepinggeneralized statement but nonetheless, I will make it. I have a terrible feeling that thereis a gloss that is now going across, generally, a gloss which tends to be the product ofself-indulgence on some people's parts. It tends to be a gloss as a result of peoplebeing unwilling to rehearse as much as we ideally want them to rehearse. I believethat underneath that gloss the real truth about opera is in danger of being lost.

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. . . t h e whole point o f opera . . . i s t h e ques t o f drama through music.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, the whole point of opera, I suggest, is simply this. It is thequest of drama through music. I do believe that that very basic fundamental point aboutopera and this art form to which we are all devoted, is in this day and age in dangerof being set to one side. Set to one side for all sorts of reasons, not necessarilyeconomic, because again I am of the view that perhaps with more innovative approachesto opera, with approaches which are searching out the truth all the time and are notconcealing those truths because people have other ideas about how a particular operashould be presented, that maybe we can achieve for ourselves, at the end of the day,a better artistic as well as financial outcome.

This is going to require acts of faith on the part of management which maybe we havebeen reluctant to put forward. Some of us sit and preside over institutions which, youmight say, are a bit conventional, a bit staid. There is a public expectation for somethingwithin that view of what an organization is. I believe that we have reached a point inour lives, and this is not only the result of artistic pressures, I believe it is this continuoussearch for artistic integrity that we have to look again at what we are doing.

. . . on opening night we can truthfully say to ourselves that this is the best we can do.We have sorted out the truth about the piece and can be proud of the achievement.

In urging that notion upon you, I hope that this can lead to a discussion about opera,the nature of opera. That in pursuing this idea, we are going back to certain basics,to certain principles of the presentation of opera through conductors, producers, designers,working as a team, being together right from the beginning. For them to have time totalk to each other, time to plan, time to be at every rehearsal that exists. Singers tobe present at every rehearsal there is. So that in fact, when we get on to the stageon opening night we can truthfully say to ourselves that this is the best we can do. Wehave sorted out the truth about the piece that we are presenting, and we can standthere and be proud of the achievement.

I somehow feel at the moment that not all of us can actually do that, for a whole massof reasons. Some of the reasons are beyond our control such as the jet age. We allknow about that. We know the increasing pressure to which singers have been exposed asa result of the ease of travel. We know, too, how desperate people are always to behere, there and everywhere. I think we have reached a point where we need to lookat ourselves again, to reform ourselves and to go into the decade with maybe differentattitudes and the achievement of certain objects, which I believe lie behind the real andserious presentation of opera. Thank you. [Applause]

Very often the opening night tends to be a dress rehearsal. . . . Why aren't we quite ready?

BYRON BELT Thank you, Sir John. If we may pick up from something just indicated,and that is a feeling that management is, or if it is not should be, apologetic for anopening night performance. Very often the opening night tends to be a dress rehearsal.We have just gone through that in San Francisco, both with the opera and the symphony,at a point in which management discussed with the press this problem of not being reallyquite ready. Why aren't we quite ready? Is it strictly financial? Is it because peopleare flying in at the last minute? Each person here may have a different answer.

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SIR JOHN TOOLEY I think that one has to be careful about the kind of generalizationin which I have just indulged. Because you must accept the fact, as I certainly do,that singers, stage producers, conductors, those directly involved with the performances,are very serious people. But I think that there is a danger today of people believingthat, 'Well, you know, I have sung this role thirty times. What is so and so going to tellme about it. How can I do it differently? Somebody else wants me to sing during thefirst week of rehearsal. Maybe I can come to some arrangement with the managementand maybe that management is going to be very generous to me and let me go off and singa couple of performances.1 And so days get lost, or, at the end of the day, valuabletime has been lost.

. . . a very special skill on the part of producers and musicians of deciding exactly howfar you go in rehearsal.

Yes, I think that sometimes we get to first nights where things are not as well preparedas we perhaps would like them to be. On the other hand, there are some who believe inthis technique of leaving people in a not totally completed situation as far as rehearsalis concerned. They leave them slightly on the edge of their seats, wondering what, infact, is actually going to happen. Because, by that method you can sometimes achievea most startling performance. That was a technique which the late lamented Sir ThomasBeecham used to indulge in with his orchestra. He was not a very good rehearseranyway. What he fervently believed in was a situation in which you went through certainpieces, if in fact that was indeed necessary, but you did not over-rehearse it. Becauseas Sir Thomas used to say, 'It is very important that they do not know what I am going todo and I do not know what they are going to do. [Laughter] And therefore you get agood performance.' I am not suggesting it for something quite as complicated as opera.But I am sure Beverly would agree with this point that there is a very special skill onthe part of producers and musicians of deciding exactly how far you go in rehearsal.

Sometimes you can go way over the top. I had one first night quite recently which wasactually less good than the general rehearsal, because the general rehearsal was really,too good. Instead, we should have actually opened on the general rehearsal and madethe first performance the second performance. No general rule to that.

BEVERLY SILLS I'll be next. I wish I had two heads to put my two hats on, because, asa singer, I was, of course, a guilty party to that instant opera. There was a productionof The Daughter of the Regiment which I believe I took to thirty-six cities. Generally,arriving on Monday, dress rehearsal Thursday, performing Friday night and Sunday matinee,taking home an enormous sum of money and moving on to the next. It was called aTTMAR, 'Take the money and run.' It was very unsatisfactory from my own point ofview, since I used to consider myself a singing actress or an acting singer. There wasa period of time where it was printed that I was the highest paid opera singer in theworld. Therefore, I thought I would cash in on it and make my fortune, which I did.

I would be hypercritical not to in some way defend the side of some of the superstarstoday, because I was a culprit as well. Yet, you must admit that we serve our purpose . . .

From the managers point of view, the side of which I was not sitting on at that moment,I was called the loss leader. What that meant was that there were five operas to be soldon subscription and you wanted to hear Beverly Sills, whoever she used to be, sing inThe Daugher of the Regiment, you had to buy the entire subscription. Therefore, hire

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good old Beverly and you sold out your season. So, we served a purpose for each other.I got rich and you sold all your subscriptions.

Now I will put my hat on the manager's head. Because from my point of view, of course,I find that abominable. [Laughter] Therefore, you must realize how fortunate I am. Iwork in a company that does not have a star system. We are a repertory company.Seven-eighths of my people are employed on a weekly salary for the entire season.There are the few others like Sam Ramey, as an example, who is coming in for DonQuichotte, has given me a five-week rehearsal period, and two and one half more weeksto get three or possibly four performances in, if I can, depending upon how the subscriptionseries work. But, I, of course, do not have the problem of the superstar who can takethe jet plane and command any fee and walk in and do his performance of whatever. So,as Ardis was saying before, each one of us has unique problems. I have other problemsthat are unique that would not either touch Bruce or Ardis or Sir John. But the oneproblem I do not have is the flying-in superstar, because we do not have any. We donot employ them. So, from that point of view we do a little bit better.

But I certainly am in sympathy with you. I would be hypercritical not to in some waydefend the side of some of the superstars today, because I was a culprit as well. Yet,you must admit that we serve our purpose, as I served my purpose. Every once in awhile somebody would come up with a project that so fascinated me that I was willingto give any amount of time, if somebody would just ask for it. When Mr. Adler came tome with a project that really intrigued me, Mr. Gedda and I stayed in San Francisco forsix solid weeks, but we were in on the new production. We watched it being constructed.It was a fascinating time for us. Perhaps the time has come to be more demanding.Unfortunately, I can not really speak to the problem and, thank heaven, as a manager Ido not have to.

. . . if the tenor is late, the soprano will be sick.

BRUCE CRAWFORD Well, certainly my recent experience has been that, if the tenoris late, the soprano will be sick. Consequently, rehearsals will be eight days late, and wedo indeed have that problem. I think beyond that problem, however, there is a feelingin most of the people at the Met, connected to any new production, that it would be alot fairer if, as on Broadway, there were three or four performances before the reviews,because the rehearsal period is never long enough. It is particularly not long enough ifthe director happens to be someone who is used to Glynebourne or some place wherehe really can take a great deal of time. But, on the other hand, for our new productions- the Figaro that is coming up, etc. - it is not as limited as people might think. Weare talking about three or four weeks, usually about four weeks of rehearsal time, andfor an international house that is quite substantial.

. . . on balance . . . at the Met with four new productions, lateness, illness, all of that,really only influences one out of four.

Actually, we are on the semi-stagione system which permits us to do many more rehearsalsthan some houses. But it is not enough. There is no doubt the feeling of everyoneinvolved is that it would be better if the first night were the fourth night and they arealways going to feel that way. We are always going to have, I think, superstars that donot adhere to the rehearsal schedule and other problems.

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I would say, however, on balance, if I look at the current season and when we take aseason at the Met with four new productions, that lateness, illness, all of that, reallyonly influences one out of four. Three out of four go pretty much the way we wouldexpect them to do. Everybody is there on time. Everybody has been there from dayone even including our opening night this year, the tenor and the soprano, Luciano andMadame Caballe', were there for the first day of rehearsal, though Madame Caball6 wasexcused for a couple of days. I think that this only affects maybe twenty-five percentof any given year. But I think we will never have enough time. That is particularlytrue with certain directors.

. . . there has to be some reform of our approach to production methods. . . . runningan opera house is an endless battle; that is what makes it stimulating, rewarding, andgenerally exciting.

SIR JOHN TOOLEY I do not disagree with what Bruce has said at all. All that I amsaying, on the other hand, is that if opera is to progress into the next decade and indeedinto the next century as a really serious art form in pursuit of that j'e ne sais quoi, I keepon repeating 'drama through music', then I think there has to be some reform of ourapproach to production methods. That is what I am saying. I will continue to say that.I think it is going to be an endless battle but, running an opera house is an endlessbattle; that is what makes it stimulating, rewarding, and generally exciting.

In Chicago, frankly I like to have a good general rehearsal.

ARDIS KRAINIK I agree with John wholeheartedly. I think we all agree, becauseeveryone's desire is to put on a product that is the most, the highest form of the art; todo the best you possibly can. In Chicago, frankly I like to have a good general rehearsal.I come from the world of theater. If you have a good general rehearsal it means thatyour performances are going to get better, hopefully. We believe in rehearsal. We arevery fortunate in Chicago because we can do it almost like a festival situation. We donot perform seven times a week like the Met does. We perform only four times a week,sometimes five. So, we have more time for rehearsal and we spend it.

. . . a very ser ious public re la t ions problem. . . . i s c a n c e l l a t i o n s of a r t i s t s . . . . if t h epublic l o s e s c o n f i d e n c e in y o u t h e y wi l l not buy your subscript ions . . . g iv ing funds issometh ing that t h e y might not b e s o i n t e r e s t e d in.

I think one of the problems that we are all facing is the competition which all of theseinternational opera houses, those on the biggest level and those of the smallest numberof performances who deal in the international artist, we are all in competition for thesame people. Maybe this has always been so but, since we have more opera companiesoperating now in the United States in addition to the rest of the world, that competitionis going to become more and more fierce. I have heard a couple of my colleagues, myinternational colleagues say - perhaps we all talk the same way, 'Think how nice it wouldbe to go somewhere where you only do three operas a season instead of eight or nine orten or twenty, in which you have no superstars, in which you could rehearse all youwant.1 It seems that this would be the ideal situation but, we are always makingcompromises because we have to. It is because of the nature of the business.

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There is another problem that comes to mind which opera companies must face and that isa very serious public relations problem. That is cancellations of artists. I got a blisteringletter yesterday that just skinned me alive, for something that I did not have anything todo with and that I had no control over. But, these are very difficult times when artists,who have too much to do and too many other enticing offers, find themselves tornbetween what they have promised they would, what they want to do and not to mentionillness that happens because of all of the pressure of activities and the pressure of fame.I feel that this is one of the big problems in our profession today that must be faced upto because, you know, if your public loses confidence in you, I do not mean you ArdisKrainik, I mean you as an opera company, they are not going to buy the tickets. Theyare not going to buy the subscriptions. If say, the headliner, if Beverly Sills cancelsevery year, the public is going to lose confidence. Beverly never canceled.

SIR JOHN TOOLEY She was always there.

ARDIS KRAINIK She was terrific. [Laughter] Wish we had more like you Beverly. But,if the public loses confidence in you they will not buy your subscriptions which are thebasis of all your ticket sales. They also will find that giving funds is something thatthey might not be so interested in. It is a problem that all of us have to face and I amnot so sure I know what the answer is.

I have to have that singer next year and I want her no matter how terrible she was to you.

BYRON BELT In relation to stars, I recall some situations not only when I was in Lyricbut in the years since, where Beverly's comment on a lack of cooperation and a sort ofbackbiting has frightening ramifications. Take an artist who has become prettyirresponsible and who cancels for reasons that we discover are absolutely totally invalid,a singer singing in Berlin the very night that she was too ill to sing in Chicago orsomething like that. Then the manager discusses going to the unions to complain aboutthis and having a colleague manager say, 'If you complain about that I will never workwith you again. I have to have that singer next year and I want her no matter howterrible she was to you. I do not care.' Is this an area where cooperation could improvethe situation or am I exaggerating? Or does the situation even exist within companies?[Silence then laughter] And that says a mouthful!

In any conference of the Central Opera Service, in all the years I have been around,you could always get the most lively battle started about discussing whether opera shouldbe sung in English or not. I think today we have a different angle of that. I think thatit really must be discussed and I am going to lead it off by making the most outrageousstatement that Beverly Sills ever heard. I simply detest supertitles. There is no way Iwant to see words on the proscenium, whether they are on the side as they are in Chinaand Japan, or whether they are on the top as they are in San Francisco at every singleperformance except at those blessed events directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle who doesnot permit them. Bless him forever and ever. He is losing the battle as am I. We dohave several points of view here. We have the Metropolitan on record as generallyopposed to supertitles. We have Miss Sills on record as definitely supporting them. Wehave Miss Krainik saying, 'Well, we are going to try. [Laughter] We are going to dothem with La Rondine this year.1 Since everybody here has to be a little bit of theLord Poo-Bah, Lord everything else, I would like to be the devil's advocate and simply sayI really do not like them. I think, they are part of the gloss that Sir John spoke of. Ithink they diminish the attentiveness of the audience to the product on the stage. Forsomething that is supposedly getting the audience in deeper I find, particularly last nightat the Norma when a lot of the captions did not appear and people sing, sing, sing, andnothing is up above, I found myself looking up and I noticed that the people around me

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were doing the same thing. Now, do we need this as an aid? Should we go back to theold battle of opera in English and that is a losing one, too, because I understand weare going to supertitle our next opera in English, tonight, and I am looking forward toCasanova. [Applause] Now that I have been unintentionally a little bit aggressivelyrude, Miss Sills.

. . . it is impossible to please all the audience when you sing in English. What they donot know is that it is just as impossible to please them in Italian, French and German.

BEVERLY SILLS Not at all. You have not been. If I may, I am glad to have theopportunity to begin. First of all, as a singer, it is not so long ago that I have forgotten,it is impossible to please all the audience when you sing in English. What they do notknow is that it is just as impossible to please them in Italian, French and German. Theyjust do not understand the language, so what they do not know they do not miss. Whensingers get above the staff all words go to the devil. It is impossible to sing p's and b'sand m's when you are trying to shriek out a high B or a high C. To answer one part ofthe question, I detest opera translated into English. I do not like the translations. WhenI was singing, I learned five translations of everything, because every opera company hadits favorite translator. This one is more literate. This one is not literate. This onethe public understands. This one, hopefully, the public won't understand. [Laughter] Ican not tell you how many Don Giovanni s I learned in my career until finally I said,'Enough, Italian or nothing.'

. . . subtitles, surtitles . . . whether we should all do it? I would have to tell youno. . . . We should look at our audience. . . . My house wants them.

As to the subtitles, surtitles, whatever they are called, you said you found yourselflooking up. Who asked you to? [Laughter and applause] I have not smeared yourtelevision set, utilizing one third of it with this text. I have put a rather discreet littlescreen up there. If you would like to know exactly what is going on, it is there. Whenthe screen is blank it means it is the repetition. Would you like to read it again? I wouldbe glad to play the slides again. It does not cost me one penny more.

Now, the question as to whether we should all do it? I would have to tell you no. Weshould not all do it. We should look at our audience and ask ourselves, 'What does thataudience require?' If it is a kind of audience that would like to have the subtitles, itdoes not make sense to deprive them. My house wants them. The survey was sooverwhelming, the attendance rose by such huge percentage, that it would have beenabsolutely ridiculous on my part not to do it. I think this gentleman, Bruce, and I havehad conversations about this, whetHer the Met should have it. From my point of view,no, the Met should not. I am a subscriber at the Met, which is the mainstay, as we allknow, of all our opera companies. I know the subscriber at the Met does not want them.I have been to the Met. It is a different audience we are looking at. When Ardis says,'We are going to try it', she is very wise. She may have an overwhelmingly negativeresponse. Why force it down their throats.

. . . the sophisticated opera-goer. He does not have to look up at it.

I am not forcing it down. All I am getting is a thirty-seven percent overall increase inmy attendance. You multiply that by the amount of money that every percentage point

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means to me and you will see why the City Opera is going to announce in March that itis debt free, for the first time in its history. I can only tell you that this is the first timein our lives that we have had money in the bank. I even have a line of credit to borrowmoney from a bank. Can you imagine? [Laughter and applause] Most of the bankers,when they saw me, used to run to the other side of the room. While I can not say I oweit all to the subtitles, I can say that I owe the increased percentage substantially to it.But, we took surveys, and you have to look at your public. Byron, you have to admitthat there is an audience reaction now to funny stories. I am not playing the subtitlesfor you or for the sophisticated opera-goer. He does not have to look up at it. It is notin his way. He can just lean back and enjoy Tmviata to his heart's content. Do you thinkI read them? [Laughter] After the first two performances, when I am checking forerrors, and checking on timing, and make my notes for the projectionist, I never lookat them again. I have sung these operas more times than these people will ever seethem. But there is certainly an element of that audience that is having the time of itslife. When a man writes me and says he normally bought four seats and this year hehas come for twenty-seven tickets, he is going to get his subtitles up to his kazoo.[Laughter and applause]

SIR JOHN TOOLEY Essentially, I am not in favor of subtitles or surtitles, but I doagree with Beverly's assessment of the situation. In London we do use them for children'smatinees. [Laughter and applause] Interestingly enough, some children have written mesaying that they do not like them because they said they are getting tired of puttingtheir head upwards. [Laughter] Frankly, a lot does depend on where you sit in thetheater. If they are above the proscenium and you are sitting in a tier or circle thenprobably they sit quite conveniently.

Just a point about singing in English. I absolutely agree with what Beverly has said.There are many, many things that you cannot articulate clearly at certain points of thevoice. But the real truth, I suggest, is this, that if a singer is singing in your nativelanguage and you would only get a small percentage of the words you feel a terribledeprivation. All you can think to yourself is, 'Oh, he is no good. She is no good. Whycan't they sing our language more clearly.'

I am a sophis t icated opera-goer . . . . I watched , I l i s tened, and I thought, 'I really wishI knew what was going on.1

ARDE5 KRAINIK I am a sophisticated opera-goer. I have been to the opera a lot, sevenor eight performances of everything, every season, because I go most every night. Ispeak Italian pretty well. I sit in the front row of Lyric Opera of Chicago, so I am notvery far away from the singers. Wednesday night, when we did our premiere of AnnaBolena with Joan Sutherland, which I had seen in Toronto for its premiere of the physicalproduction with surtitles, I watched, I listened, and I thought, 'I really wish I knew whatwas going on.' Now, if I feel that way, I know a lot of my public must feel that way. Itis not that I did not know what was going on with Anna Bolena, but it is a lot easierwhen you see it as it happens. I went to San Francisco on the fourteenth of September,because we have this co-production of Orlando, and it has surtitles which, of course, weare going to use in Chicago in 1986, and people laughed. So I, who was bitterly opposedto opera in English and very much opposed to surtitles, I am sort of beginning to turnaround now, because I am not just looking at my audience. I am looking at my ownreaction. As I said, I will wait and see, but my responsibility, as Beverly says, is toserve my audience - not to serve myself, but to serve my audience, and I will see ifthey really want surtitles.

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At the Handel Samson, which was given in English, a very important businessman inChicago said that he was able to resist only two acts of it because it was very unusual.Not everybody likes Baroque opera. My board president said to me, 'Why don't we havesurtitles? It would be much clearer to people, because the English in Handel's Samsonis sometimes very archaic and difficult to understand.' So, I am listening. I think it isthe responsibility of the General Manager to listen. I want to do what pleases the artform and the people who come to hear it.

BYRON BELT Do you want to say something about the Met's position?

. . . surtitles and subtitles, in television in particular, are a wonderful marketing tool.They are a wonderful educational tool.

BRUCE CRAWFORD I think Beverly has pretty well stated the Met's position as wellas her own, [Laughter] and very ably so. I believe that surtitles and subtitles, intelevision in particular, are a wonderful marketing tool. They are a wonderful educationaltool. I think that they are entirely appropriate to a great many theaters.

I can only have a position with regard to the Metropolitan Opera and that is, at thistime, we have no intention of using surtitles. That is for a number of reasons. Onewas cited by Beverly, which is that our research among our subscribers shows no particulardemand for it and no particular interest. Even when confused articles appear in theNew York press, we do not get very much response. That, which we get, is equallydivided, one for and one against. Beyond that, the configuration of our house alsocertainly makes the use of surtitles quite impractical. The height of the proscenium,the horseshoe shape. It would be indeed a difficult thing for the majority of our audienceto have a good experience in the practical use of surtitles. Beyond that, there is thevery real discussion that is indulged in by people in the opera world as to theirappropriateness in terms of excellence of performance. Is this the right thing to do?There is no doubt that it is enlightening. There are a lot of questions. I do not seethe point in getting into a long argument or dissertation on that right now. I think theanswer is no. We have no plans and it is for a multiplicity of reasons. But, on theother hand, I think that they do a wonderful job for opera and they are entirelyappropriate for any number of houses and any number of uses such as television.

BYRON BELT I want to open the session to questions from the floor, but you must obeythe rule. You must go to the microphone nearest you, there or there. You must statewho you are clearly and ask your question or make your statement briefly. Under thoseterms, the first guest please.

Operathons are increasingly popular. I think every company, here in America at least,is using them . . .

QUESTION I am Lola McCann with the Northwest Indiana Opera Company, with thestate board and on the lecture corps of Lyric Opera and my boss is over there. I think,maybe, the audience would like to know some of the other means that we have in bringingin money to Lyric Opera. I believe Ardis did not really elaborate enough on it. It is notjust the corporate business. Ardis has a lot of volunteers, believe me. We have theforty elite ladies, the lecture corps. We go to the school system and hold lectures.We also go to the libraries, which also brings in money. We have eighteen guilds inChicago, which are required to bring in a great deal of money. We have children'sperformances and we have La Rondtne on the ninth and the thirteenth. Would you like

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to say some more about some of the wonderful things we are doing in terms of manyvolunteers. Maybe many of you have volunteers, but we have a great deal in Chicago,with the fine leadership that we have on stage. Our Operathon is tomorrow and I won'tbe there. I am awfully sorry.

ARDIS KRAINIK I am going to be there and I start at 7 a.m. in the morning and get onthe radio and I am on until 1 a.m. The opera guilds, all the chapters, probably threehundred or four hundred people strong run this marathon. We raise over $200,000 in oneday and everybody participates. All the artists, all the musicians. The orchestra isgiving us a gift of $2,000 for the Operathon.

BYRON BELT Operathons are increasingly popular. I think every company, here inAmerica at least, is using them, the City Opera, the Metropolitan and Lyric. TheMetropolitan's is national, as behooves a company heard widely on radio broadcasts.

QUESTION My name is George Heymont of San Francisco. First, I would like to makean observation about surtitles. A couple of weeks ago I flew to New Orleans to seeLohengrin done with surtitles. I see a lot of opera around this country and write aboutit. Lohengrin is one of my favorite operas. I had seen it at the Met in a wonderfulperformance without surtitles and really resented not having them there. Although Ihave been seeing opera around this country for twenty years, I think it is invaluable ifyou can understand everything that is going while it is going on. My education in operacame as a standee, seeing it happen night after night. Most people have done theirhomework at home and then come into the auditorium after a days work when they maybe tired. They do not have the libretto running in their heads simultaneously. I think itis invaluable to be able to absorb so many layers of text. I have to say that the levelof appreciation I had for that opera was very different, although vocally and musicallythe performance in New Orleans could not match what I saw at the Met last year, it wasa more meaningful experience to me. That is as someone who has seen this opera lotsof times.

. . . product identification of an opera company with its city . . .

The question I would like to ask is directed mainly toward Ardis and Mr. Crawford andhas to do with the product identification of opera. Ardis had a situation where Chicagowas not known as an opera city, for a long time. I think now it is. Mr. Crawford is fromthe advertising field. The people on the board represent major cities. Many operacompanies in smaller cities are now starting to take a stance in that city's profile. Iwould like you to address the problem of that kind of product identification of an operacompany with its city, which I think is very important.

ARDIS KRAINIK First of all, the eighty-eight percent of the tickets that are sold inChicago are sold to people who live in the metropolitan area or near one hundred andfifty miles. So, the product identification of Chicago has got to be with the Chicagometropolitan city because those are the people who come. We do not have a big touristtrade. I am not exactly sure what you mean, but I feel I have to give Chicago what itwants to hear and see. I have to say that we did have a big history way back in the olddays of Rosa Ra'isa, Edith Mason, and Georgio Polacco, there was quite a history ofopera. There were a lot of different companies, but always a love of opera in Chicago.I have heard that Chicago does not clap enough. [Laughter] All the artists say, 'Well itis Tuesday night, we won't get another curtain call tonight.' I suppose that is true, butthe interest and love of opera in Chicago is very strong, evidenced by the number oftickets that are sold and the support we have.

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BRUCE CRAWFORD We do not seek, if you will, product identification with New York.What we attempt to do, of course, is exercise our responsibility to New York, which isour primary audience and our home. We are certainly not trying to identify ourselves asthe New York Metropolitan Opera. We are THE Metropolitan Opera.

. . . What do you suggest to composers as a way to present our scores to you?

QUESTION My name is Judith Martin and I am a composer. I am here from New YorkWomen Composers of which I am Vice-President. I have brought a question from thatorganization. We are interested in networking and making our music available toperformers and performing organizations. I am wondering what you suggest to composersas a way to present our scores to you. How do you like to be approached and what arethe considerations that go through your mind when you consider a new work. I thinkthat information would be helpful to composers, if they knew more about it.

BEVERLY SILLS We would like first to see a libretto. It helps if you mail us a librettoand a curriculum vitae, your background. You would be astonished how many amateurcomposers send in funny little scores with notations that would be impossible to evendecipher. So it does help if you give us your credentials and a libretto, a scenario. Ifthe scenario is interesting and we feel that we can go to the next step, I will then writeyou and ask you to send me a vocal score, if you have one, or at least the next step inyour preparation. Wherever you happen to be.

. . . give us your credentials and a scenario. . . . Written for the forces that I canaccommodate.

What it takes for us to be genuinely interested in a work, is the theatricality of it.Our capabilities to mount it. Somebody sent me the other day an opera which requireda chorus of one hundred and fifty voices. There is no way that I could even costumethem. Never mind find them. There will be some orchestrated scores that will requireperhaps the same number of instruments that our orchestra contains except they willwant fifteen percussionists. So it has to have a practicality.

I will give you a perfect example, if I may, and I am sure Philip Glass won't mind this.When he came to see me with Akhnaten, he came with a novel on which he was basingthe opera. At the time I said to him, 'Philip, how long is the piece?' He said, 'Well, itwill be a happening. I would like one orchestra in the pit and one on the stage and Iwould like it to be continuous. Very much like Einstein mi the Beach. I would like it togo on for about four or five hours.' I said, 'I can not do that because it would bankruptus. I can not put an orchestra on the stage and I can not put one in the pit. I simplycould not afford this kind of production. What I would like is, if you would go back andput it in a traditional form, not the music, just the traditional form of an act at a time.Written for the forces that I can accommodate. Then we could consider it.' Philip and Iare now very, very close friends, but at the time we barely knew one another. I thinkhe thought I was a bel canto queen and he just decided to leave me alone. He was surethat I could not comprehend what he was trying to do, which, incidentally, was not true.

I was trying to deal with a four and one-half million dollar deficit and a man waspresenting me with a need to get at least one hundred and fifty musicians in the houseat the same time. He later did put it into a traditional form and I flew to Stuttgart tosee it, where it received its world premiere. I tell that story to show that while it isdreamy to envision your music sung by one hundred and fifty voices and a huge orchestra

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and so forth, you have to take a look at the personality of the company to which youare sending this score and be practical as to whether they can accommodate it, even ifthey were absolutely nuts over it.

. . . if any of your composers are interested in the Composer's Residence Program atour company, we are going into the second round.

ARDIS KRAIMIK On a practical basis, if any of your composers are interested in theComposer's Residence Program at our company, we are going into the second round. Assoon as June is over we will take another composer for either two or three years. TheComposer-in-Residence Program is predicated on the composer being recommended by acomposer already in the field, as sort of senior composer who recommends a youngcomposer. If any of your people want to be considered for the Composer-in-Residenceat Lyric Opera they should find a senior composer of note to recommend them.

J. MARTIN Yes, that program was of great interest to me when you spoke of it. Doeither of the gentlemen have any comments for me?

. . . if a composer has an idea for an opera it is sensible really to go and talk to amanagement. . . . it is essential to work with a theater producer from the beginning.. . . The risk and cost of failure is gigantic, and managements obviously can not do verymuch about producing operas by relatively unknown composers. Even by well establishedcomposers, the prospects of performance in this day and age are not what they ought to be.

SIR JOHN TOOLEY Yes, I have some. I endorse what Beverly has just said, but myown view is that if a composer has an idea for an opera it is sensible really to go and talkto a management. Go at least with a scenario if not a complete text, because my ownadvice to any composer, young or well established is, it really is essential to work witha theater producer from the beginning. Composers, quite frequently, can not see things ina certain way and they are constantly looking for another dimension in an opera whichmaybe only a theater producer can provide them with. Therefore, collaboration, I think,is all-important. The risk and cost of failure in all of this is gigantic, and managementsobviously can not do very much about producing operas by relatively unknown composers.Even by well established composers, the prospects of performance in this day and ageare not what they ought to be. Therefore, consultation and discussion is all-important.Composers must be practical. They must not ask for crazy forces which no managementis likely to be able to provide. I think, equally, composers should not be worried, andBenjamin Britten always used to say to us, 'Never, ever hesitate to tell a composer whatyou actually want.' If we want an opera with no more than six soloists, no chorus, andthirteen instrumentalists then tell him. If he does not want to respond to it, findsomebody else.

BYRON BELT The next questioner is an artist of great distinction in her own right anda perfectly wonderful woman. Probably the funniest woman alive, and incidentally MissBetty Allen was a great mezzo and heads the Harlem School for the Arts. Miss Allen.

QUESTION Thank you. I do not even have to announce myself now. I think you are goingto be surprised by what I say. As an artist who sang for thirty-three years, my programswere always what I thought of as models of intellectuality, spirituality and great broadcatholic knowledge. However, I found that not everybody was equally able to savor mygreat catholic knowledge. [Laughter] I give you a very small anecdote.

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I had a concert series at Hunter College which was known for its intellectuality and itsgreat esteem, and I provided what I thought of as a perfectly wonderful evening.Beginning with the Schoenberg Book of the Hanging Gardens it was really ratherintellectual. Then I went on to a DvoFak song cycle, on to a French song cycle andlastly winding up with one finally in English, written for me by Virgil Thomson. I hada friend who took her sixteen-year-old son and she sat all evening nagging him. Pokinghim in the ribs saying, 'Isn't she perfectly wonderful? Isn't she marvelous? Don't youjust love her?' Finally, in exasperation he said, 'Yes, I think she is wonderful, but Idon't know what the hell the chick's talking about.' [Laughter] At which point out ofthe mouths of..., I decided perhaps I ought to sing in English. I went back to Columbia andI said, 'I am really ready to give a whole concert series entirely in English', which theybooked with great enthusiasm and with great advantage. At that particular point Ilearned something. The fact that I speak five languages, some of them better than theother, but most of them really rather understandably, did not prove that everybody elsecould equally understand me. So it behooved me, to understand what everybody else,sitting in the audience, felt and could feel. Therefore, just about a week ago, vehementlydefending Beverly's surtitles, I want to say to a lady who was very annoyed at them,'Well, honey you do not have to look at them.' Those who do want to look at them andwho need them, are looking at them, are responding and are doing better than you thinkbecause of this.

BYRON BELT You left us speechless, Betty. Thank you.

QUESTION My name is Les Miller and I am a Met patron and Public Service Directorat WGBH radio in Boston. As one of many who has seen the Met on tour and knowingthat City Opera tours, I have a question for Bruce Crawford, please. How will thecancellation of the Met's tours affect the Met's status nationally?

We definitely want to appear outside of the New York house for several weeks each year,if we can possibly arrange to do it.

BRUCE CRAWFORD One has to look at what the Met tour is as of now, which is fourcities. That is not a very large part of the United States and consequently, unless wewere able to do extensive touring and get to a great many more cities, I do not think thatit would have much effect in terms of the national presence of the Met. We definitelywant to appear outside of the New York house for several weeks each year, if we canpossibly arrange to do it. It is, however, impractical to do the old tour that has beendone for so many years and that really was made impossible by the fact that Detroitand Washington no longer could take us. So, that simply leaves Atlanta, Cleveland,Minneapolis and Boston, and both Minneapolis and Boston had advised that they probablycould make it for one more year and then would not be able to match the fee. Atlantaand Cleveland are more optimistic. But the tour, as it has been known, is indeed out ofthe question.

People are hungry for something new and exciting [as offered at Brooklyn Academy],but you can not deny the lack of content in a lot of these works. This content does existin the repertoire of the Met, of the Lyric, and yet . . .

QUESTION My name is Dain Marcus and I am a designer. Recently, I have attendedsome performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music here in New York which tends toshow people such as Pina Bausch and Robert Wilson. My experience has been that theperformances are usually very well attended, often sold out. That they are visually

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exciting, socially very exciting. A lot of young people, people of all ages are goingthere, but there is a lack of content. People are hungry for something new and somethingexciting, but you can not deny the lack of content in a lot of these works. This contentdoes exist in the repertoire of the Met, of the Lyric, and yet, when I go to thoseperformances there is a lack of that kind of immediacy and excitement that I thinkpeople are hungry for. Besides supertitles and Toyotas coming on the stage in The Mikado,I think there have to be other ways of generating this excitement artistically, which Ibelieve will generate ticket sales and press coverage. I was just wondering what kindof decisions, artistically and financially, some members of our panel are considering, tobring this kind of immediacy into their opera.

BYRON BELT May I make a first comment and that is that I fear, very seriously fear,that the very popularity of those works is based on the fact that they are contentless.I think, the reason minimal music is very popular today is because it makes so littledemand on people. If you are having a good time not having to think, I am a littleconcerned.

ARDIS KRAINIK I just have one thing to say. I will defend that Mikado I did to mydying day, but there is one thing I would like to ask, 'Since when is opera not anentertainment?'

D. MARCUS I do not mean that the one is entertaining or that the other is not valid,but when you go to the Met or to City Opera you just do not have that sense ofexcitement and the immediacy that something terrific is going to happen that evening.

BYRON BELT That is a pretty sweeping statement. I have been mighty excited justthis week at the Met and the City Opera. [Applause]

BRUCE CRAWFORD Have you seen Giuseppe Taddei do Falstaff or the new Khovanshchina[Applause] or such works as Porgy and Bess, Casanova.

D. MARCUS No. I have seen excellent ones. I just saw Der Rosenkavalier and I loved it.

I think, the mission of the Met is to take a great work, and find it an extraordinaryperformance, both in the pit and on the stage.

BRUCE CRAWFORD That is what I am saying. I think, our mission, the mission of theMet, is to take a work like Falstaff which has not been here for ten years, a greatwork, and find it an extraordinary performance, both in the pit and on the stage. Andagain, to try wherever possible, to take a work such as Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina andgive the public that opportunity, or to do what you saw in a Rosenkavalier, that is, justhave some absolutely superb performances in it. I am not saying that we have reacheda pinnacle, I am not saying that at all. I am simply saying that I think this fall thereare some extraordinarily good performances. I think that is what we should be doing.I certainly think that is part of the fulfillment of our mission.

QUESTION My name is Lionel Wernick. I teach law at New York University. I would liketo start with a personal note. I worked for the company where Mr. Bruce Crawford wasthe Chief Executive Officer and I just want to say that he was the finest Chief ExecutiveOfficer any company could have hoped for and I think the Metropolitan Opera shouldbe proud to have him. [Applause] My question is this. I would like to hear a shortdiscussion among the panel for our benefit of what additional efforts you might considermaking to educate and expose opera to university students. I must tell you the mostdisconcerting thing in the world is to see academic zombies walking around with a

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. . . what additional efforts might you consider making to educate and expose opera touniversity students.

walkman clamped to their head listening to the Led Zeppelin. I think that there is a lotthat can be done to expose opera to university students who are your next audience. Thisis where the bucks are going to come from, speaking commercially. I think, certainly,you have the expertise with someone like Bruce Crawford and perhaps he would like toaddress himself to that question, of how opera can position itself and market itselfsuccessfully to university students.

BYRON BELT Can we include high school and grade school, too?

L. WERNICK Yes. I think that is a good addition.

BRUCE CRAWFORD Of course, the first thing is that one would like to be able to do,more, as when we play out of house we would love to play in university environments.We do, for instance, in Minneapolis play the University of Minnesota campus. We wouldlove to be able to build programs around that, if we could find the solution economically.We certainly want to do a lot more in terms of television; we have an inventory offorty tapes which can be used. We do believe, obviously, that educating not only atthe university but at the secondary school level, etc. is important. We obviously wouldlike to do more student performances. The Metropolitan Opera Guild does have marvelousprograms of bringing students to rehearsals and taking opera to schools and we would liketo help them expand it further, but again, in an art form that is plagued with financialdifficulties there are parameters. I do believe that those are the general areas whereone could make an effort.

BYRON BELT I believe also later panels will bring this subject into focus.

BEVERLY SILLS Right now we have a company called the New York City NationalCompany which is playing in thirty-eight different cities in seventeen states. Most ofthe engagements are at universities. We play with a reduced, twenty-six piece orchestra,twelve or fourteen in the chorus who double in small roles. We are doing Faust thisseason. We have done Bohkme, Rigoletio last year.

In addition, we have the usual student performances; yesterday's dress rehearsal ofCasanova was before two thousand students, with the cooperation of the City, whohelped us get them in. We are all doing things like that. I do not cite that as unique.We are all trying to bring as many young in as we possibly can. I have got seats inthe theater for four dollars. I have got a student rush program where half an hourbefore curtain, whatever is not sold, regardless where it is in the theater, can be boughtfor five bucks, because I would rather have somebody sitting in it than an empty seat.Sometimes I am happy not to be able to give out student tickets because it means weare sold out, but a great many times they do benefit. I think we are all doing as much aswe can.

It would be wonderful if somebody would just come along and say, 'Why don't you justdo free performances for youngsters? I will underwrite the whole project.' Unfortunatelythat, for some crazy reason, does not seem to be appealing. Whether they feel it isnot enough visibility in terms of the individual or corporate donor, I do not know. Butone would think that the educational part of your system would be the easiest part tofund. It is not. It is primarily supported by either the City or the Guild volunteers whojust make it their business to see that youngsters are going to have this opportunity. But

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it is a costly process, unfortunately, and it is a neglected area. I think there is not asingle one up here who would not be grateful for any way to expand the program.

I find that touring accomplishes a great many purposes. This is not a tour of themagnitude of the Metropolitan Opera going on tour, or even the mother company of theNew York City Opera going to Wolf Trap or wherever it goes. This is a whole differentbag. It is really a bus and truck show, that we are talking about, with scenery paintedon all four sides. So that it is minimal. We are not discussing opera the way most of usin this room know it to be. It has just become very expensive to do that. That kind oftour is easy to fund because so many great corporations want exposure where they havefactories and where they have employees. So, if I can just find out what the leadingplant in that city that we are booked into is, it is very easy to get underwriting. Butan educational program where you bring youngsters in is a whole other bag. But, weare trying, all of us, we are all making the same effort for it.

SIR JOHN TOOLEY All the processes which Beverly and Bruce have just talked aboutare important, and all of us, - when I say all of us actually this is not true of Europegenerally but it certainly is true of Great Britain - are making strenuous efforts toreach the young with opera and with ballet. I think we actually have to go furtherthan this. What we have got to strive to do is to get this woven into the educationalsystem as a whole. What we are doing at home is to direct quite a lot of our effortstowards teachers rather than children or students. So that in fact, you can begin to geta broader spread of people who are enthused and who are in turn able to infuse thosearound them. It is a very long slow process, but one, I believe, of vital importance, andone on which we can not spend enough time, energy and money when it becomes available.

Just as an aside, miracles do happen. This is actually for ballet, but never mind, thesame point would apply. Paul Hamlyn, a publisher of German birth who now lives inLondon, he and his wife have always gotten great pleasure out of going to opera andballet. Paul is fifty next year and in celebration of his fiftieth birthday he has now givenus sufficient money to enable the disadvantaged and, ideally, people who have never beento the ballet before, to come to six performances at a maximum cost of three poundsper head. This Is a magnificently generous idea. It is opening all sorts of doors to allsorts of people. What is more, is that he has agreed to do it for a second year in '87.

. . . we have largely decided to do no preparation of this audience at alL

The only other point I want to make in relation to that is, that we have largely decidedto do no preparatory work, no preparation of this audience at all. Although we willrespond to certain requests for some preparatory work, as a matter of general policywe have simply said, 'Here will be these twelve thousand people coming to ballet forthe first time. Let them just come and see what they make of it.1 That is anotherapproach to that particular problem.

. . . listening to what Beverly said . . . there is going to be a student rush program inChicago from now on. I think it is a terrific idea.

ARDIS KRAINIK I just have one quick thing to say, listening to what Beverly said. Thereis going to be a student rush program in Chicago from now on. I think it is a terrificidea. [Laughter and applause]

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But, you and your communities are the only ones that can get the arts back into theschool system.

BYRON BELT Prior to our last question, I simply want to reiterate. I think this all hasto be in education and until we get the arts back as a major part of the public educationsystem in America, our future is indeed less bullish than I think it should be, to useMiss Krainik's term. But, you and your communities are the only ones that can get thearts back into the school system. I grew up with great musicians and great music allmy life. How could I not have been captured by it? Who is going to capture a person witha walkman in his ear at the age of twenty-two? Sorry, it is too late.

QUESTION My name is Harry Wagner. I am the editor of the publications of the WagnerSociety of New York. The question I have comes, I guess, somewhat from the successthat we have heard today, how opera is becoming much more popular if you are goingto increase the number of companies and the number of performances. Where are yougoing to get the singers and the performers who are going to man these companies andgive really credible and very exciting performances of opera? Is there anything thatorganizations such as the one I belong to, the Wagner Society, can do to help peoplewho are interested in being singers, become singers? Is there some program that theycould go into? Can we give recitals for them that give them public exposure? How canthe public in general try to help, what I think must be a really serious problem?

BYRON BELT I am going to answer quickly by saying that tomorrow afternoon's finalpanel is almost completely devoted to that very subject, but we will take one-minutestatements from anybody on the table if they have them to make.

ARDIS KRAINIK I have a one-minute statement that might cover both Bruce and me.We have, both of us, opera centers where we train young Americans and welcome youngAmericans. We are all now fighting for all the young American singers. I think that weare turning out some wonderful ones.

BYRON BELT This has been a most interesting and valuable discussion, but our time isup. Thank you very much. [Applause]

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - Luncheon

GUEST SPEAKERS

MARTIN E. SEGAL, Chairman, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - IntroductionMRS. MARIO M. CUOMO - Personal Greetings from The GovernorROBERT L.B. TOBIN, Honorary Chairman, Central Opera Service - IntroductionKITTY CARLISLE HART, Chairman, New York State Council on the Arts

MARGO BINDHARDT We are most honored to have so many distinguished registrants atour conference. You all bring something very special to this interaction, and we operadevotees and workers for our great art are all delighted to be gathered here today. Iwould like to briefly introduce a few of our registrants. I would ask them to stand,but please hold your applause. Among those we know from the great performances thatthey have given us are Madame Rose Bampton, Adelaide Bishop, Blanche Thebom, andAndrew Foldi. [Applause] Among those who have composed our beautiful music are ElieSiegmeister, William Mayer, and Robert Ward. [Applause] And last but not least ourown Rise Stevens. My very first Carmen and now the dynamic and fearless leader ofthe Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions and the Met's Young ArtistDevelopment Program. [Applause] I would ask Mr. Martin Segal to please come up again.

MARTIN SEGAL Thank you very much. When I learned that I was going to have theprivilege of introducing a lady I will tell you more about in a moment, I said to myself,'Well that will take about a half hour, if I am going to say all the things I should say.'Then I was reminded of an experience I had not so long ago when I made a speech outof town and I got sort of desultory applause which is what I deserved. A lady came up tome afterward, she said, 'Oh, I loved what you said.' She said, 'You were so educationaland you were so amusing and so superfluous.' [Laughter] I said, 'Superfluous!' 'Yes,'she said, 'you were magnificently superfluous.' [Laughter] I said, 'Well, do you thinkwell enough of what I said for me to publish what I said posthumously.' [Laughter]'Yes,' she said, 'the sooner the better.' [Laughter] Well, I will resist going on atlength, but I want to tell you that it is a delight, indeed, to have the privilege tointroduce the First Lady of the State of New York.

In that capacity, she does what First Ladies are supposed to do. They entertain peoplefrom the state, from the country, and from the world-at-large. She maintains TheMansion. She appears for the Governor at various important occasions, like this one,when he can not be here. But, this remarkable woman goes far beyond that. She hasgiven an additional dimension to her role as First Lady of the State. Never in the historyof the State have we had a First Lady who has devoted herself independently and onbehalf of the people of this State to a wide variety of other important affairs. Forexample, she is the Honorary Chairman of the New York State Council on Children andFamilies. She co-chairs with the State Social Services Commissioner, Cesar Perales, theCitizen's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. She has established a Clergy AdvisoryCommittee to serve both the Council and the Task Force. She has been recently selectedto serve as a member of the Board of Governors of the National Committee on thePrevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. She also serves on the Commission on ChildCare and she is an active member of the Governor's Task Force on Adolescent Pregnancy.One of her primary interests has been the development of a nutrition education curriculumfor grades kindergarden through twelve. And her work in connection with the ExecutiveMansion indicates that she is not only interested in substance, but recognizes the needfor appearance as well. Because wishing to preserve that historic monument, the ExecutiveBuilding, for future generations of New Yorkers and tax payers, she has established theMansion Preservation Society to raise private funds for the restoration and improvementof that extraordinary building. In addition, in Albany she has designed and initiated theAlbany Experience. That is a program to bring school-age children to visit their capital

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in Albany and it provides free overnight accommodations and those of you, who all arechildren at heart, are eligible.

All in all, Mrs. Cuomo has given style and pace to her position, and certainly has setthe example for a model of a First Lady of the State of New York and it is a delightto present her to you. Mrs. Matilda Cuomo.

MRS. MARIO CUOMO Thank you very much, Martin. The Albany Experience, I haveto explain. Being a teacher myself, I learned that children coming to Albany fromdownstate - and we have a beautiful, magnificent diversified state - need an overnightfacility. You can not just see Albany and all the environs in one day. As I told MayorKoch, you know, the capital of New York State is Albany. It is not New York City. So,I have to have the children remember that. They can go to Washington and Philadelphiabut we want them to see this state, especially their capital, Albany.

This is truly a group whose message has been understood and heard around the world.On behalf of my husband, I want to welcome you to the music capital of the world. . . . hiscommitment to the arts is unflagging and his full partnership in the support of the artsin New York is steadfast and alive. . . . one of the Governor's primary initiatives is tostrengthen cultural education in the performing arts all across New York State.

Katharine O'Neil, Kitty Hart, Beverly Sills, Bruce Crawford, Bob Tobin, Laurence Lovettand other good friends, all of you, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am delighted to be here withall of you, at this vibrant and vital international gathering of distinguished and renownedmusical personalities. This is truly a group whose message has been understood andheard around the world.

On behalf of my husband, I want to welcome you to the music capital of the world.Governor Cuomo regrets that he is unable to be here with us, but you can rest assuredthat his commitment to the arts is unflagging and that his full partnership in the supportof the arts in New York is steadfast and alive. In fact, one of the Governor's primaryand on-going initiatives is to strengthen cultural education in the performing arts allacross New York State. I am sure, if he continues to follow the magnificent example ofthe Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Central Opera Service of the Metropolitan Opera,Governor Cuomo will be the best friend the arts have had in the Governor's Mansion ina long time. Because the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Central Opera Service ofthe Metropolitan Opera have shown the kind of vision, determination and loyalty it takesto establish and support the finest in opera productions and traditions.

The Guild's fiftieth anniversary is a glowing example for all of us who realize that thearts are the essence of civilization. Future generations will judge our time by morethan economic trends. They will look to our art. They will explore our concert hallsand amphitheaters, and they will listen to recordings of voices we have raised measureby measure. Without organizations like the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the findings ofposterity would greatly be diminished and disappointing. On this fiftieth anniversary ofexemplary service to opera in New York, particularly the Metropolitan Opera, Icongratulate you and salute your outstanding contributions. Both Governor Cuomo andI extend our warmest and most affectionate wishes for the golden years yet to come.[Applause]

MARGO BINDHARDT Thank you so very much, Mrs. Cuomo. We are most grateful foryour coming and your warm greetings. - At the end of the luncheon, we shall be hearingfrom our other guest speaker.

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ROBERT L.B. TOBIN I am Robert Tobin, the Honorary Chairman of the Central OperaService, and it is a joy to be a part of this splendid conference, given with the Guildcelebrating its fiftieth anniversary. I should have yielded to the wish of the First Ladyof New York that she introduce our guest speaker today, but after twenty-three yearsof putting on conferences with Maria, Matilda would you forgive me if I claim, that Istill wanted to introduce our guest today. It is a very special privilege that I do claim.

I was asking our guest what she had done since I had seen her, which was Monday night,when she did Jerome Kern's Centenary Celebration for the benefit of the Morgan Library.I knew that she was going to Albany the next morning at 6 o'clock, that she was goingto work during the day, that she was going to have a party and speak to the Stateemployees that night. She said she did until 12:30, and then she had to present herbudget the next morning. Then she went through that entire day and invited two hundredand fifty people to dinner, people that had been associated with the New York StateCouncil on the Arts, and came back to New York yesterday and had a dinner for eightpeople, and is here today. Tomorrow she will be in Portland, Maine, to give the MossHart Award to the New England Opera Theater Group. This is a rather typical week forour guest, and one of the reasons that I am immensely proud to know her.

She is, according to the Morgan Library, an actress and singer with a brillant record ofachievement in the arts and public service. That is the understatement of all time. Ithink the best way of summing up all of our debt to this remarkable individual was oneafternoon about five years ago - we were at a Sunday matinee of Falstaff at the NewYork City Opera - and a very good friend of ours was singing Falstaff. We were standingat the bar having a coke and a nice lady came up and she said, 'Oh, you are KittyCarlisle and you're at the opera.1 [Laughter] I thought, you know, that is quitewonderful. The woman went on and she said, 'You made my entire weekend. I can notwait to go home and tell my daughter that I not only saw Kitty Carlisle, but it was atthe opera.' [Laughter]

I think that it was not only the great pride that I had escorting this beautiful lady, thegreat pride that New York feels in Kitty Carlisle, and also, that Kitty Carlisle was atthe opera, which gave it a certain stamp of approval for us as an afternoon occupation,which I thought was really quite wonderful. Well, later on that afternoon we went backto the house and we were supposed to have members of the cast, a small party.Unfortunately the caterer had misjudged the time very badly and was quite late. SoKitty Carlisle turned into a waitress quite suddenly and organized the cocktail party.I think it is this part of Kitty that I love the most, and this is the reason that I simply hadto share my great love and my great affection and the affection of everyone in NewYork, and our deep, deep pride in a person that has not only been a distinguished actresson the stage and screen and opera, but also has been our leading advocate. I understandshe is being nominated as Lobbyist of the Year. She has been an advocate not only forthe arts in New York, but for the arts all over the United States. She has gone from oneend of the country to the other, speaking out for the arts. It is with the greatestpossible pleasure and privilege that I present to you Mrs. Moss Hart. [Applause]

KITTY CARLISLE HART Thank you very much. Thank you, Bob, for that marvelousintroduction. You not only made me feel tired but rather old, [Laughter] which bringsme to what happened to me the other day. I was going off to do something on anairplane and I always dress up when I have to go on an airplane, because you neverknow what can happen. [Laughter] I got to the first traffic light in the taxi and thedriver turned around and he looked at me and he said, 'Are you Kitty Carlisle?' Ipreened slightly and I said, 'Yes, I am.' He said, 'That's nice. Had another old-timer inthe cab last week.' [Laughter]

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. . . the Governor said, 'Art has tremendous affect on raising man's spirit and is worthyof government support. Even as we struggle with such problems as the homeless, it mustbe remembered what art can do for us.1

You know, it is not often that I have the pleasure to be in the same room, at the sametime, with so many extraordinarily distinguished friends. To my charming friend RobertTobin: thank you for your introduction and your very kind words. Mr. Tobin is one ofthe best friends the Metropolitan Opera has ever had, and I consider him a very specialfriend and a wonderful human being. Another dear friend, Matilda Cuomo, hasdemonstrated once again why we are all so truly blessed to have her as the First Ladyof this great state. Her warmth and her radiance are equaled only by the qualities foundin her husband, as he leads this Empire State of ours in his unique, dynamic andcompassionate manner. The Governor and Mrs. Cuomo deeply care about every memberof the family of New York. They have the same concern for every visitor who is drawnto our state from every corner of the globe. Since the first day I met them, I haveobserved how they interact with their fellow human beings. A fourth grade studentexpressing his fears about nuclear war gets just as much attention from the Cuomos asdoes the Nobel Prize winning scientist. They both possess a remarkable grasp of theworld we live in, with its many problems and its many opportunities for greatness, andthey both understand how important the arts are for ourselves and our children and thegenerations to follow. I would like to give you a quote from the Governor, because oneevening he had gone to the Museum of Modern Art to look at their renovated quarters anda reporter asked him the usual question, 'Why taxpayers money to fund the arts?' AndI quote, the Governor said, 'Art has tremendous affect on raising man's spirit and isworthy of government support. Even as we struggle with such problems as the homeless,it must be remembered what art can do for us.' End of quote. I must also tell you thathe has given the New York State Council on the Arts an extraordinary new program,Arts and Education. He has put money where his words are. He has given us twomillion dollars in order to implement this extraordinary program, which he invented.[Applause]

As Chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, I am delighted to be here withyou this afternoon. This International Opera Symposium is cause for jubilant celebration.As Mrs. Cuomo has pointed out, we are here to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary ofthe Metropolitan Opera Guild and that very special group of dedicated individuals whodo more than their fair share to make the music at the Met one of the most glitteringjewels in this state's artistic crown. I would like to take this opportunity to salute eachand every member and volunteer of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. You know I have beena volunteer all my life. I do not know what we would do without volunteers in thiscountry. I think that hospitals would close. The arts would close. Bravo volunteers,including me. [Applause] That is more than I expected. May you have many moreillustrious anniversary celebrations in the years ahead.

We are here to also celebrate the work of the Central Opera Service, under the fineleadership of its Executive Director, Maria Rich. [Applause] Yes indeed. The CentralOpera Service of the Metropolitan Opera National Coucil is indeed the keeper of theflame - and the scores and the costumes and set designs and so very much more. If,for example, someone wanted to know when I made my debut at the Met, who else wasin the east, who designed the costumes for that evening, who conducted and who playedthe instruments, the Central Opera Service could answer those questions and many more.The Service has information on more than thirty thousand operas, where they wereperformed and by whom. In fact, in and of itself, this is incredible.

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In connection with the Opera News, the Service is presenting this international gatheringof artists, patrons and administrators for three remarkable days. If I were to discussthe distinguished roster in detail you would never be able to get on with your panelmeetings today. I would want to thank Marty Segal for his stewardship of Lincoln Center.I would have to congratulate Beverly Sills for her fabulous job she is doing with theCity Opera. I would have to tell you that Rise Stevens and I once went to the samesinging teacher, Madame Schon-Ren6e. I would stand outside and listen to Rise's lessonsand then I would go in and say to Madame Schon-Rene'e, 'Why don't you give me thosebeautiful pianissimos like Rise has got.' She would say to me, 'My dear', in her wonderfulGerman accent, 'they come from God.' [Laughter] That is the truth. I would have tothank so many of you for the innumerable times I have sat out front and you haveenchanted me so.

The arts in general and opera in particular have been enriching my life for as long as Ican remember. My first memory of my mother is her sitting in a rocking chair in NewOrleans, a tin music stand in front of her, her long black hair streaming down her back,playing the Vivaldi violin concerto and rocking away as if the devil were after her. Shestarted me on the piano when I was five years old. I can not say that I was totallydedicated to the arts at that age as she was rapping my knuckles over the wrong notes,and everybody else was out on the street rollerskating and I was practicing the pianofor two hours a day.

My mother was a woman of lightning decisions. . . . She said, 'You are not the prettiestgirl I ever saw. You are not the best singer I ever heard and you are certainly not thebest actress I ever hope to see. But, if we put them all together we will make a careeron the stage and maybe you will find a husband on the stage.1

My father died when I was ten years old and my mother did not do what her New Orleansfriends expected her to do, which was to sit on her front porch and rock and wait foranother husband and bring up her child. My mother tucked her violin under one arm andme under the other and made off for Paris. I don't quite know what pushed her, butAmericans in those days were flinging themselves into the sea like lemmings in an effortto get to Paris. In fact, there were so many Americans going to Paris that a joke wentaround. Lady says to her husband, 'If one of us dies, I am going to Paris.' [Laughter]

My mother was a firm believer in culture for me. When I would often say to her, as anonly child very often will, 'What will I do today? I haven't got anything to do today?'Mother would say, 'There is a museum on every corner in Paris. Go to the Ope>aComique or go to the Louvre or go to the Salle Pleyel.1 Mother always had her feetfirmly planted under the bridge table. [Laughter] She believed in lessons. I had lessonsin everything. I had piano lessons which I hated, singing lessons which I loved, andelocution lessons which weren't too bad. Like many of you here today, my real educationdid not take place in the classroom. It took place in the museums and the opera housesand in the national monuments in London and Paris and the eternal city of Rome.

Then suddenly we lost what little money we had. I had to earn a living for my motherand myself. My mother was a woman of lightning decisions. She came to me the dayafter we had lost all the money, I was then eighteen, and she said to me, 'It is obviousyou are not going to make a brilliant marriage.' [Laughter] She said, 'You are not theprettiest girl I ever saw. You are not the best singer I ever heard and you are certainlynot the best actress I ever hope to see. But, if we put them all together we will makea career on the stage and maybe you will find a husband on the stage.' [Laughter] Well,she was right. I did marry a prince and he was a prince of the theater. I never said noto my mother and I had never thought of going on the stage. We scraped together what

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was left of a few pennies and she sent me to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts inLondon to learn how to be an actress. I think also she thought, maybe, I might marrya duke, because in those days chorus girls, who were called Gaiety Girls in England, allmarried dukes and revitalized the British aristocracy. [Laughter] Well, I was at RADAabout three months when I got the lead in the school play which was Trelawny of theWells and I was only in the third act because there were too many of us. We had to divideit up. So, mother came all the way from Paris to see me and I stood backstage withbated breath. What would the verdict be? She came toward me and she looked at meand she said, 'My dear, we made a ghastly mistake.' [Laughter] Well, you know,sometimes it is good not to have an alternative. We had nowhere to go but up.

The money ran out very soon after that, and I had to go back to New York and get a joband support my mother and myself. I did get a job in a big musical. We toured thecountry for eight months and I came back and I waited and I waited and I waited. Youknow, when you are very young, time passes very slowly. Mother once said to me, 'Onceyou pass fifty, every fifteen minutes it is breakfast.' [Laughter] And that is true. I gota job in a musical on Broadway, in a theater that does not exist any more. It was atthe Morosco Theater. It was called Champagne, Sec, but it really was Die Fledermaus.I played Prince Orlofsky in black tights up to here. [Laughter] I hoped for good noticesbecause I had worked very hard on my singing, and I did indeed. I got brilliant notices onmy legs. [Laughter] I went straight to Hollywood.

While I was in Hollywood I had a bit of luck. I had four hit songs in each one of the moviesI made, and the last movie I made was A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers. Itwas on the stage at the opera one night, that two gentlemen came along and the stagemanager said that they wanted to meet me, because they were looking for a leading ladyfor their new musical. One was called Moss Hart and the other one was Cole Porter.Well, I got so excited at meeting my two heros that I started to run. As I ran, you knowa movie set is one big booby trap, I fell flat at Moss's feet. Every time I saw him afterthat I kept falling down. When he married me, he said that he finally set me firmly onmy feet. [Laughter] I had heard a great deal about him, because he was the kind ofperson that people followed and quoted and talked about. He was larger than life. Thelast story I had heard was that he bought a charming eighteenth century stone farmhousein Bucks County. Adorable, but it was set in the middle of a corn field. There wasn'ta tree or a bush on the place. Moss was a very impatient man, so he planted twothousand fully-grown pine trees. His collaborator, George Kaufman, came over to seehim one day. He looked around and he saw all the trees and he said, 'Well, Moss, itis exactly what God would have done if he had the money.' [Laughter]

Then, all of a sudden one day, I found the Prince, and we had two wonderful children.Then I was left alone.

Little did I know that A-Night at the Opera was my last movie. I did many things inthose years after I came back to New York. I was in night clubs. I was in summerstock. Then, all of a sudden one day, I found the Prince, and we had two wonderfulchildren. Then I was left alone.

I came back to New York and I had two small children looking at me with big eyessaying, 'Mama make a life.' I had gone straight from my mother's hands to my husband'shands and I had never made a decision in my life. But, never having said no to mymother stood me in good stead. I never said no to anything that anyone asked me to do.I was on more boards than you could shake an agenda at. I was on everything you couldthink of. The Girls Scouts, the Visiting Nurses, the Red Cross, the Third Street MusicSchool, you name it I was on it. Then, one day, Governor Rockefeller asked me if I

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would like to be the Vice-Chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts. I saidyes. Then Governor Carey came along and appointed me Chairman, and then GovernorCuomo, thank heaven, reappointed me Chairman. I have been the Chairman of the NewYork State Council on the Arts now for nine years. It has been one of the mostrewarding jobs I could ever have, because it is rarely given to anyone in life to be ableto give back in a field from which they have been given so much.

You know, when I was first coming along many people helped me. People whom I couldnot help, because they were well established. Grace Moore, whom you are far too youngto remember, coached me. George Gershwin made all kinds of arrangements for me invaudeville. Sinclair Lewis gave me reading lists. To be able to help these young peoplewho are coming along behind me is an extraordinary, rewarding experience.

When I first came into the Council we had a budget of twenty-seven million dollars.We now have a budget of over forty-four million dollars. It is the largest that any statehas ever allocated to its state and funding agency in the history of the Republic.

When I first came into the Council we had a budget of twenty-seven million dollars.We now have a budget of over forty-four million dollars. It is the largest that any statehas ever allocated to its state and funding agency in the history of the Republic.Obviously, we are very grateful for this vote of confidence in our Council, which reflectsthe profound belief that New York is the arts capital of our Nation, and we have nointention of relinquishing that distinguished and preeminent position. Since, today, weare celebrating so many things, I would like to tell you that we are also celebratingthe twenty-fifth anniversary of the State Council. We were there five years before theNational Endowment and we are very happy and we hope to celebrate another twenty-five years.

Tourism is one of our state's second largest industries and it is responsible for nearly halfof our state's visitors. They come here for the arts and they extend their visits, thanksto the arts. The arts mean more jobs for most of our citizens and the arts help revitalizecommunities all across the state. I only have to ask you to look at Lincoln Center andyou will see that the arts are good for the economy. Lincoln Center has been replicatedall over the state. There are downtown areas in every city in our state that have beenrevitalized by arts institutions, many Lincoln Centers.

I want to talk to you for one moment about our pluralistic system of support for thearts. . . . Everyone can play his part in the funding of the arts in America.

I want to talk to you for one moment about our pluralistic system of support for thearts. We are the only country in the world that has this extraordinary system, where Ifeel that it is rather like a symphony orchestra, every instrument is unique and yetevery instrument plays its part in the symphony. It is very important to know that wehave municipal, federal, we have corporations, foundations, individuals contributing, andthis means that no one person's prejudice or bias maintains. Everyone can play his partin the funding of the arts in America.

There is one thing that I know for sure. The theater has blessed me. It has brought memy husband. It has brought me my children, and it has brought me here today to bewith you. It has given me everything that I treasure in this world. Singing has beenimportant and the arts have meant everything in my life. I just hope that I have beenable to convey to you the pride that I feel in having my job and being able to help all

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of those coming along behind me. Thank you for having me today and God bless you.[Applause]

MARGO BINDHARDT Thank you so much Kitty Carlisle Hart. The New York State ArtsCouncil is good for New York and you, Mrs. Hart, are very good for the New York StateArts Council. [Applause] We will take a ten-minute break and we will resume theconference back in the other room. Thank you very much.

* • •

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - 2:00-3:00 p.m.

NEW FRONTIERS I

JOHN LUDWIG, Executive Director, National Institute for Music Theater - ModeratorDOMINICK ARGENTO, ComposerCHRISTOPHER KEENE, Music Director, New York City Opera; Artpart, Lewiston, NY

JOHN LUDWIG Good Afternoon. Introducing people you have known for many yearspresents many unexpected difficulties. For one thing, you discover that you do not knowall that much about them. You know a lot about them, but you start thinking of thevital statistics that are customary to rattle off at an introduction and great blanksappear. In looking over the data about Dominick Argento, I was struck by the fact ofhis association with three communities, three cities. The first, of course, is the onewhere he began, York, Pennsylvania, almost threescore years ago, not quite. The nextis Baltimore, where he attended the Peabody Conservatory and came in contact withtwo fellow artists who contributed to many of his efforts, the composer Hugo Weisgall,who was Artistic Director of the Hilltop Opera Company and the stage director, JohnOlin-Scrymgeour, both of whom worked with Dominick in Baltimore in that opera company.Then John collaborated with Dominick on several of his operas. The city of Florence,Firenze, also plays a role in trying to describe this gentleman to you, because, while heis an American to the core, he has also drunk heavily, so to speak, at the springs ofEurope. Finally and most importantly, the twin-cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, wherehe has lived and worked for almost twenty years.

Dominick's works include many scores for the theater, particularly for the Tyrone GuthrieTheater, working with Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Douglas Campbell; works in large and smallscale format, such as his song cycle, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, for which hereceived the 1975 Pulitzer Prize. It is his operas, of course, that most of us would befamiliar with, Colonel Jonathan and the Saint the first, The Boor, The Masque of Angelsdone in Minneapolis, Christopher Sly, Postcard from Morocco, A Waterbird Talk, TheVoyage of Edgar Allan Poe, and now Casanova's Homecoming, called in its secondproduction here in New York City simply Casanova. It is having its New York premieretonight.

There is a very special relationship between the community and the composer, whichreminds me of what I like to think existed as a relationship between many of the greatopera composers of the nineteenth century and the communities to which they related.

Dominick owns Minneapolis/St. Paul and Minneapolis/St. Paul owns Dominick. There isa very special relationship between the community and the composer, which reminds meof what I like to think existed as a relationship between many of the great operacomposers of the nineteenth century and the communities to which they related. Dominick,would you comment for us a bit on the relationship between you and your community.

DOMINICK ARGENTO Well, it has been a love affair. I must admit. I went toMinneapolis twenty years ago, and within a matter of two or three years we werepestering a director of a very well-known institution, the Walker Arts Center, which doesa lot of the vanguard shows of different sorts. All we really wanted to do that firstyear was to have a performance of Albert Herring, which a lot of us young turks thoughtwas a wonderful piece, and now some of us old turks still think it a wonder piece, andperhaps a little baroque opera, something like Venus and Adonis by John Blow, which Ithought was a wonderful work. We just wanted to put on an evening of chamber operas.Mark Friedman, a director of the institution, finally gave in and allowed us to put on

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the production in the brand new Guthrie Theater, which had opened up. It turned outwe could not do Albert Herring, but we gave a double bill with Venus and Adonis, andto make up the gap, I wrote a work called The Masque of Angels, which would be thesacred masque to go along with the profane masque. We opened with a double-bill inthe Guthrie Theater and were going to an ad hoc basis situation, but I think we had toschedule additional performances. We had editorials in the paper about this new operacompany that never knew a youth or a beginning. We were fully established and itbecame sufficiently successful. Then, the next year, they had to bring in a man namedJohn Ludwig to become the manager of that organization, and the rest of it, I think, ishistory of the Center Opera Company, nowadays the Minnesota Opera Company.

. . . sitting in an auditorium, I learned an awful lot about timing and pacing and scenes,and what works and what does not.

What I learned in that situation was that the work that I could do with the GuthrieTheater was invaluable to me. Sir Tyrone Guthrie was very daunting, but, sitting in anauditorium, I learned an awful lot about timing and pacing and scenes, and what worksand what does not. I had that opportunity, which I think might not have happenedelsewhere. We were allowed to form a new, fairly adventurous opera company, and we,in the first dozen seasons and more, did almost nothing but contemporary works. I thinkthe majority were premieres. So, that was, in a sense, part of my education. The sametime that that was going on, we were educating the audience. The audience acquireda certain feeling from these works. As John says, I may own Minneapolis, but Minneapolisowns me.

. . . in that audience of about seventeen hundred people some fifteen hundred had heardmy pieces somewhere before. They came having certain expectations. . . . came out ofan interest, not just curiosity. All of the gamble was taken out of it for them. That isalso true for me as a composer, when I was writing works for what I considered my company.

One of the great satisfactions about the situation is that, for instance, in April, whenCasanova was premiered there, in that audience of about seventeen hundred people, inthe Ordway Theater, I am convinced that fifteen hundred were people who had heardmy pieces somewhere before, by the symphony, by the choral society, by anything. Theycame having certain expectations. For me as a composer, that was a most reassuringthing, that the people thought that they might like to hear the piece that they weregoing to hear, and were coming out of an interest, not just curiosity. If they had somedoubts, these were doubts that the piece might not be as good as they thought it mightbe, or it might be better, but they had a general idea of the kind of work I write, whatthey could expect. Consequently, I think all of the gamble was taken out of it forthem. That is also true-for me as a composer, when I was writing works for what Iconsidered my company. I knew every singer. I knew most of the instrumentalists couldplay. I began to realize what happened in the nineteenth century, when Donizetti wouldarrive in town in a carriage with a lot of white manuscript paper, or Bellini, or earlyVerdi, you get to know your singers as you write for their strength. You create a workthat you know is going to be done in that particular community. You gear it to that.Frankly, I do not think this means writing down, but very often the composer writes upto that group. I have just found it a very beneficial situation. I do not suggest that itcould be emulated in other cities all over the country, but to have an association withmy community has been perhaps the central most important thing in my career, or mylife, and I have no intention of abandoning it.

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It is wonderful to be here in New York. One of the things that does concern me, tonightfor instance, there will be three thousand people sitting in the theater and, I am afraid,there are not going to be hundreds upon hundreds who know my music, who know whatto expect. It disturbs me a little bit to say, there will be two thousand people who showup thinking that this may be something to the left of Philip Glass, or something else,but have no idea what to expect and consequently are much more apt to be disappointed.That more or less summarizes my position. I have liked the idea of being communitybased. I have noticed that it seemed to have beneficial effects for an important mantoday named Peter Maxwell Davies in Orkney, and it did the same thing for BenjaminBritten in Aldeburgh, and it has happened several times. I can see why it is somethingto celebrate and I just rejoice in the fact that I have been benefitting by it.

JOHN LUDWIG Our theme here is new frontiers, and it seems to me that communitiessuch as Minneapolis/St. Paul - and, very encouragingly, it is happening more and morearound the country - they are becoming frontiers for the rediscovery of the possibilitythat a composer and a community can enter into a relationship. The kind of relationshipthat produces what we now think of as the standard repertoire. , It is something thathas always existed. Those works came out of relationships, some cordial, some not socordial, one thinks of Wagner. The relationship that now developed is a kind of a newfrontier in which opera is being created, and one hopes one of many new frontiers.

Introducing an old friend in his home town is nontheless difficult. I should tell you, mostof you I presume are New Yorkers, that Christopher Keene is the Music Director of theNew York City Opera Company. He has also conducted the Santa Fe, Houston, St. Louisand other opera companies throughout the United States, and abroad in Edinburgh, CoventGarden, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, and the Netherlands Opera. He is a Californian, whowas educated at the University of California at Berkeley. Immediately upon graduation,just a few years ago, he launched his career by founding an opera company. This is anindication of the extraordinary mix of talents, both artistic and managerial, that residein this one gentleman. He went right on with his career, joining the conducting staffsat San Francisco and San Diego Operas. Christopher has described himself in at leastone publication as a champion of the underdog, which is a very self-effacing way, I think,of saying that he has extremely highly developed tastes that may not accord with thoseof the general public. This questing intellect, perhaps, has led Christopher to be involvedwith an enormous number of world premieres. He is rather a walking new frontierhimself, and as he has himself frequently quipped, many have been world derrieres. Thisis too bad. As someone who lives on the frontier, I think his comments would be veryapropos for our subject this afternoon.

. . . the difficulties confronting the presentation of contemporary opera, both Americanand foreign, are not diminishing. They are increasing.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE Thank you very much, John. I have just come from rehearsalsat the City Opera of Philip Glass's Akhnaten. So, you will forgive if I say the samething four hundred and seventy-six times in a row. [Laughter] Tonight is the New Yorkpremiere of the really important new American opera, Casanova, at the City Opera,composed by Mr. Argento. We are looking, next week, at the revival of Philip Glass'sAkhnaten. Our complete recordings of Glass's Satyagraha and Bernstein's Candide areeither in the record shops today or about to hit them. There is much to be proud of atthe City Opera about American music. We have laid plans through 1990 for new worksand revivals of important American works, and we feel that we are in a sense catchingup with where we would have liked to have been all along.

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The theme of this conference is the past fifty years and the next fifty years. There isno question that a great deal in this country has been accomplished, and equally noquestion that a great deal remains to be done. As all of us here involved with operaknow, the difficulties confronting the presentation of contemporary opera, both Americanand foreign, are not diminishing. They are increasing. They begin with the problem ofthe box office. All of us with administrative responsibilities are ever mindful of thefamous and unforgettable words of the immortal Sol Hurok about the public. 'If they donot want to go, nothing will stop them.' [Laughter]

We confront the possibility of an overload of contemporary music on our schedules withextreme vigilance and reluctance. . . . symphony orchestras have a certain latitude incomparison with opera companies.

We confront the possibility of an overload of contemporary music on our schedules withextreme vigilance and reluctance. Administrators and conductors and artistic directorsof symphony orchestras have a certain latitude in comparison with opera companies. TheNew York City Opera presents eighteen, nineteen, perhaps twenty works in a givenseason. A symphony orchestra will present more than one hundred. Therefore there iswider opportunity for a presentation of unusual and new music for a symphony orchestrawithout overloading one's artistic budget, than there is at the opera house. In the operahouse we have to plan very carefully which works we can present as new works, whichworks we can present in conjunction with other companies, and which works we canafford to revive.

The question of revivals is exceedingly important. There is a kind of myth that everygreat work immediately establishes itself as such, and enters the repertory, recognizedby everyone as a work of genius. This is very far from being the truth. In fact, LaBoheme, Carmen, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, to name but a few of the staples ofthe repertory, all met with either disastrous or at least indifferent responses at theirfirst performances. Had they not enjoyed a second set of performances they would beas obscure today as many of the other works already are. Therefore, we feel at theCity Opera that the presentation of second and third and fourth sets of performances,in many ways, is more important than the world premiere.

. . . there has been a kind of mistaken chauvinism on the part of all companies, whichwere all willing to give the premiere of a work, but very few wanted to touch a workonce it had been heard. . . . we hope we can address this problem by joining with othercompanies from the very beginning in consortia to make possible multiple productions ofa work, to allow it to be revised, and allow it to be heard all around the country.

An example of such activity is tonight's performance. The world premiere of Casanovawas given in St. Paul by the Minnesota Opera which commissioned the work. We, fromthe very beginning, wanted to be a part of presenting this important new work, and weare delighted to give the New York premiere tonight. I think there has been, in the past,a kind of mistaken chauvinism on the part of all companies, which were all willing togive the premiere of a work, but very few wanted to touch a work once it had beenheard. In a sense, there is a cynicism that the attention and the reclame and theexcitement of giving a world premiere is worth the losses at the box office, but thepossibility of giving the second or third production interested nobody. This is a veryserious problem and one, that we hope we can address by joining with other companiesfrom the very beginning in consortia to make possible multiple productions of a work,to allow it to be revised, and allow it to be heard all around the country.

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This is not always possible, given the varying requirements of the theaters. The NewYork City Opera, for example, while it has an extremely active schedule, has extremelylimited physical facilities. The smaller companies who do fewer productions often canmount bigger and more lavish productions than we can with our cramped backstage andunrelenting schedule. Therefore, other companies may not wish to join in with us in aproduction that they feel would be more lavish, were they to go into it alone. We haveencountered this in the past. It is a very complicated problem, but I think, an essentialone. Especially where we do not enjoy massive state subsidies. When, for example, Iconducted the German premiere of Hans Werner Henze's We Come to the River in Berlinin 1976, there were already twelve other German theaters lined up to give new productionsof the same work. That would be unthinkable in America today. We have to find refugein mutual joint productions to provide the work with the opportunity to travel about thecountry, to be revised, and to find its own level eventually.

People often ask me if there is a more receptive audience for new music in Europe thanthere is in America. . . . there is not. There is a greater commitment on the part ofgovernment subsidies and on the part of Intendants and managements to see that newmusic is done, but the audience is no more widespread than it is here.

People often ask me if there is a more receptive audience for new music in Europe thanthere is in America. I have to say that there is not. There is a greater commitment onthe part of government subsidies and on the part of Intendants and managements to seethat new music is done, but I doubt that the audience is any more widespread than it ishere. Very often we find concerts of contemporary music - what George Szell oncereferred to as the mass grave of the contemporary music concert - which are attendedby the same three hundred people all over Germany. Those people who are trulycommitted to the cause of new music. As John said, I have conducted the world premieresof some nineteen operas, of which only two or three ever saw second sets of performances.I am not conducting Mr. Argento's work. So, perhaps it has a chance tonight. [Laughter]In fact, I had conducted so many world derrieres, as I said, that one unkind music criticonce called me the 'Coroner of Modern Music'. [Laughter] Actually, if anything, I haveoften found that performing artists are even a more conservative force in Americanmusic than the audiences themselves. A great deal of the resistance to modern musiccomes from orchestral players and from singers. It is no wonder that an audience cannot find much to enjoy in a performance given by people who look like they are undergoingroot canal. [Laughter] I find, however, that American orchestras are far more gameto take things on than European orchestras.

For example, when Philip Glass's Satyagraha was presented in its world premiere in theNetherlands in 1980, the orchestra literally mutinied before the third act and had to beordered back by a court injunction into the pit. This was one tough orchestra. [Laughter]It was called the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra and I dealt with them on several occasions.They once brought me absolutely to a stop. We were rehearsing The Gambler byProkofiev. It was ten in the morning and this was about the sixth rehearsal and it wasgoing badly. The Dutch orchestras love to have coffee. They drink coffee every sixor seven minutes. [Laughter] On this occasion when we began, it limped along and sortof creeped to a halt. About six minutes after 10 o'clock in the morning the first violaput up his hand and said, 'Mr. Keene, could we stop and have a cup of coffee?' I wasoutraged by the affrontery of it, and I said, 'Absolutely, but why don't we stop. Justgo home and come back and sight-read the performance. It could not possibly soundworse.' I said, 'You people are really impossible. I do not know what to do with you.What should I do?' The same man put up his hand and said, 'We think you should have acup of coffee.' [Laughter] Well, I knew when I was licked. So, I said, 'Let's have a cupof coffee.' I went off and I sort of sulked in a corner. Finally, the solo violists came

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over to me and said, 'You know Mr. Keene, we like you very much. You are veryprecise and you are very pleasant. It is nice to have you here.' I said, 'Well, if you likeme, why don't you play better?' and I said, 'Besides which, I was simply screaming atyou just now and I seemed to make absolutely no impression on you. What does it taketo get you people to move?' He had a sip of coffee and said, 'Mr. Keene, we survivedAdolf Hitler and we will survive you, too.' [Laughter] So, I do find that the Americansymphony orchestra musician is, if resistant to new music, at least willing to give himselfup to it if approached with a certain amount of enthusiasm.

I find also that the American public, in many ways, is astonishingly ignorant about thearts. We have read recently that studies are performed as to why people go to thetheater, why they go to the opera. Why do they go to the symphony? Somethingbetween one and two percent of our general audience actually goes to hear music,because they like and know something about music. This is an astonishing statistic.Ninety-eight percent of the audience is there for some other reason.

Paul Hindemith once said that the real index of culture in a country is not the amountof professional music making, but the amount of amateur music making. There is noquestion that we are in a very severe situation with regard to music education, amateurmusic making and general knowledge of music on the part of the public. . . . if Americansare shockingly ignorant about the arts, they are also eager to learn.

We find that amateur music making is perhaps at the lowest level in this country'shistory. The peak sales of pianos in this country were in 1911. More pianos were soldseventy years ago than are sold today. Paul Hindemith once said that the real indexof culture in a country is not the amount of professional music making, but the amountof amateur music making. There is no question that we are in a very severe situationwith regard to music education, amateur music making and general knowledge of musicon the part of the public. There is no question also why this has happened. Seventyyears ago there was no radio. There was no television. If people wanted entertainment,to a great degree, they had to create it for themselves. This produced a whole strata ofthe educated consumer of music which is missing from our society today. We oftenforget that the piano music of Mendelssohn and Chopin and any number of composers ofthe nineteenth century was not written for the Horowitzes and the Rubinsteins of theirtime. It was written for teenage young ladies as a part of their general education. This isa very severe problem confronting us. Unfortunately we do not chose the times in whichwe live or exercise our art. It is something that we have to accept. I find that ifAmericans are shockingly ignorant in many ways about the arts, they are also eager tolearn. We have a nation of people who perhaps are more anxious and ready to learnabout things that they do not know than any other nation in the world. If we can find away to bring the information to them without lecturing them or hectoring them.

For this reason I am absolutely in support of subtitles. I find that it makes it possibleto enjoy opera for an enormous number of people who might otherwise never go back tothe theater after their first experience. In fact, by a curious set of mental processes,I even find that I myself, fluent in both Italian and German, understand the Italian andthe German better because of the subtitles. I often also realize how poor the diction ison the part of our cast. I was listening to Kitty Carlisle talk about the golden age andsome of its personalities. I thought of my favorite story from the thirties in the theater,which is about George Kaufman who went to see one of his plays that he had directed.He sent a telegram to the leading man which arrived backstage during the intermissionbetween the first and second act. The telegram read, 'I am watching your performancefrom the back of the auditorium. Wish you were here.' [Laughter]

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DOMINICK ARGENTO May I piggyback on something Maestro Keene said. I did notexpect the issue to come up, but I am very pleased to hear about the idea of revivalsand what was said about the need for second performances. Not only for personalreasons. When I agreed to speak here today, I did not know what the topic was going tobe, and then it came in the mail and it said, 'New Frontiers'. I thought they had pickedthe wrong man to talk about new frontiers, because I thought they were talking aboutexperimental, avant-garde operatic composition in which I am not notoriously famous. Idid think about the term for a moment. I do not like the word new to begin with. Itmakes me think of all those fading albums of the 1920's called 'new music', and it alsoreminded me that today it has become one of the canned words, as 'new romanticism',which does not seem to mean anything. It is like 'nouvelle cuisine' where I think thenew means under-cooked. [Laughter] And that applies to all of those other activities.

. . . there are a lot of operas. . . . American operas that have been written . . . and manyof them are really right for revival. . . . they do deserve a second chance.

But the word frontier had another resonance in my mind. I think most people mygeneration, when they hear the word frontier, automatically hear John F. Kennedy'svoice talking about the conquest of space. That was a wonderful undertaking for most ofus who saw that man land on the moon in that ghostly silence - I always wished therehad been a background score written for it, it seemed so unreal. [Laughter] That hada dramatic payoff. It obviously was worth doing and it was a genuine frontier conquered.But I do remember many of my friends at that time, and I think many of my friendstoday, said to spend those billions on a conquest, that money could have been betterspent trying to do things like cure cancer, eliminate poverty or eliminate injustice.Those, unfortunately, are frontiers that do not have a whole lot of catchiness to them.We work on them, but they do not have any dramatic payoff. There aren't any televisionshots of it.

But in light of that thinking on my part, I agree with what Maestro Keene said, there area lot of operas. I teach the history of opera at the University of Minnesota. I am awareof most of the American operas that have been written, that are in a library or in themorgue, and many of them are really right for revival. They may not be wonderfulworks, but the one thing that they do deserve is a second chance. As I was hearingmy colleagues speak of a genuine frontier, one or two works immediately came to mymind. Just maybe one of the works City Opera has premiered, that I saw here in 1960,a work called Six Characters in Search of an Author by Hugo Weisgall, which I thoughthad to be one of the most splendid pieces composed. It went down. The reason it wentdown may be due to a million things. It may have been that that was not the time forthe piece. It may not have been the right performance. All sorts of reasons. But a workin which the composer invests five or six years of his life certainly deserves a secondopportunity. There are other works that I can speak for, but I am delighted to notethat this is happening. It made me understand that this is possibly one of the newfrontiers that we ought to really consider since many of us are in a position to examinethese pieces that have been written in the last forty and fifty years.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE Because of peculiar relations with labor forces and the attitudetowards recording, there is, in fact, a whole archival aspect of our cultural history whichis unavailable to us. The music of the twenties and thirties and forties and fifties andsixties is not even to be found on recordings in libraries. There is a whole aspect ofour social and intellectual history which has not yet been written, and we are very muchon a new frontier. We are still in the wild west in this country as far as the fine artsare concerned. We always have been, in a way. The overwhelmingly practical problemswhich confronted people in creating this nation out of the wilderness and out of its vast

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spaces, left very little time and gave us a determinedly pragmatic and down to earthapproach to life in general. I think it is time for us to begin to recognize what hasbeen done and to make it available as part of our own cultural history.

. . . the argument for second, third and fourth productions is not that the composersdeserve them, but that we deserve them. We, as an audience . . . Yet, the business ofcosts seems always to intrude.

JOHN LUDWIG Speaking of pragmatics, Sir John Tooley commented on the relationshipbetween art and cost, and between the economics of the society and the kind of art itcan and does produce.

He was speaking of defining opera and his words were, which I wrote down because Ienjoyed hearing them, 'Opera is the quest of drama through music.1 'Drama per musica'we hear all the time, but the notion of the quest, trying to seek, to find, had a niceresonance and yet we know that it is exceedingly costly. One is tempted immediatelyto draw the conclusion that a major reason for not having the second, third and fourthperformance, for not allowing new shows the chance to get going, is not only becausethe creators deserve that chance. I think, I can say very comfortably that they do notdeserve anything, without meaning to be mean. I think the argument for second, thirdand fourth productions is not that the composers deserve them, but that we deservethem. We, as an audience, deserve the opportunity to see if indeed there is somethingthere that we can enjoy. Yet, the business of costs seems always to intrude.

'All we can manage to give you, however, are eight musicians in the pit and, say, eightsingers on stage.1 . . . after thinking it over he agreed to the commission on those terms.

I remember some seventeen years ago, when Dominick was writing or getting ready towrite Postcard from Morocco, our company, the Minnesota Opera which produced thepiece, had very slender resources indeed, and we went to him and said, 'Dominick, doyou think that you could write us another piece?' It was his second piece for thecompany. 'All we can manage to give you, however, are eight musicians in the pit and,say, eight singers on stage.' I think, if I recall correctly, he pondered that for a bitand after thinking it over agreed to the commission on those terms. Those terms madecertain things possible.

I would like to hear Dominick and Christopher answering this one question, then I intendto shut up and hope that you will come with questions using the microphones, as therule was announced this morning, so we can all hear. Dominick and Christopher, whatcomments would you have on the relationship between costs - the pragmatic side ofproduction - and the necessity of getting a new work out?

The most desirable thing from a composer's point of view is that somebody wants hispiece or her piece. . . . it is that desire by the artist to be a member of the community,to be a useful person, someone who has got a product that is desired.

DOMINICK ARGENTO In line with what Sir John said, I would agree one hundred percent.I can not imagine any composer who would not be flattered by having someone in aposition such as his, or John's at the time, wanting an opera from him. The mostdesirable thing from a composer's point of view is that somebody wants his piece or her

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piece. I have no inclination, I never had, to sit back and write a great gigantic opera fora chorus of two hundred, an off-stage full symphony, all sorts of things. There havebeen moments when I fantasized about it. But the most flattering, most honorable thingis when an organization, such as Minnesota Opera did at that time, says, 'We would liketo have a piece from you. Would you mind, however, if we curtail you to eight singersand eight musicians.' They could have offered me one singer. [Laughter] Consideringthe size of the commissions, that is what it should have been.

. . . you who are in a position to give out commissions, and can make only a very modestproposal, you would discover that the creator on the other side of that proposal wouldbe thrilled to get it. I have worked best, when I know exactly who I am writing for . . .

But it is that desire by the artist to be a member of the community, a community inthat sense, to be a useful person, someone who has got a product that is desired. Ithink those of you who are in a position to give out commissions, and can make only avery modest proposal, you would discover that the creator on the other side of thatproposal would be absolutely thrilled to get it. In my own case I know I have worked best,I have functioned best, when I know exactly who I am writing for, exactly who is goingto play it, who is going to be in the audience. I have been doing it that way for thelast seventeen years, and the most important part of that whole thing is that your workis wanted.

. . . composers very often respond in the most grandiose way to the challenge of writingan opera. . . . they said that only opera houses possess the resources to do the kind oftheater which is in their mind.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE If you are looking from the opposite side, which is from aninstitution that has certain ongoing costs, an orchestra and a chorus of a certain size,what is surprising is that composers very often respond in the most grandiose way tothe challenge of writing an opera. Very often we would welcome the opportunity to havea chamber work, if we thought it would go in our theater, things like the Turn of theScrew. The thought of having a cast of thousands and the use of all the extravagantresources of the opera house is very appealing, not only to composers but to directors.We have seen examples of, Hal Prince, for example, saying that only now in the operahouse is it possible for a director to operate on the scale which he once could commandon Broadway. Robert Wilson and Philip Glass have said the same thing to me, that onlyopera houses possess the resources to do the kind of theater, create the kind of theater,which is in their mind. I do not think it is always the institution which imposes uponthe composer a grandiose vision. In fact, as history shows, those pieces that werewritten specifically for the Grand Opera of Paris, which was a very clearly outlined artform involving a ballet in the second act and a certain number of choruses, a certainnumber of orchestral interludes, very few of those works have survived. Whereas worksthat were made to measure, such as Britten's works for the English Chamber OperaGroup or Dominick's works for the Minnesota Opera, have indeed survived.

JOHN LUDWIG Christopher, do you think on this frontier, new or old as it may be, thatit will be necessary or desirable, one or the other or both, to seek out new performancevenues that are comfortable for smaller pieces and to encourage the creation of opera ina smaller, more affordable context or is this something to be avoided?

CHRISTOPHER KEENE It is certainly not something to be avoided. I think both theMetropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera have repeatedly said in public that

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. . . both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera have repeatedly saidthat they would give anything to have a smaller theater . . . We depend upon the size ofthe theater to produce the insufficient income which enables us to stay in business at all.

they would give anything to have a smaller theater in which they could present works ina more appropriate framework. For instance, our theater really is too big for appropriateperformances of Mozart, but we have not found any way to make that economicallypossible or financially even feasible. We depend upon the size of the theater to producethe insufficient income which it does, which enables us to stay in business at all.

JOHN LUDWIG Questions from the floor are most welcome.

QUESTION I am Professor Don A. Edwards, William Patterson College, Wayne, NewJersey. My question is, 'How do you plan a season?' How does it happen that you havean operetta like Kismet day and night and day and night, and then, I understand, youare going to give The Marriage of Figaro when the Met is going to do a new productionof it.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE We are not going to do it at the same time of the year. It isnot going to conflict in that sense. There will always be some overlap between theMetropolitan and the New York City Opera with the staples of their repertory. Bothcompanies need Boheme, Carmen, Butterfly and The Marriage of Figaro to keep theirdoors open for a hundred or two hundred and forty performances a year. As far as howwe plan a season, what is instructive about it is to discover how little discretionaryrepertory there actually is in the course of twenty operas. Simply the logistics of thattheater and our budgetary restrictions make it necessary that about half of our seasonalofferings are carried over from the season before, and of the remaining nine or tenproductions at least half have to be productions that we already own, that we do nothave to fund by themselves. That brings us down to about four or five operas a yearwhich we can actually choose out of the air as things that we want to do. That is onepart of your question.

The other question is why we have an operetta like Kismet that runs day in and day out.We require two pieces each season that can go for a one-week run to allow us to prepareand rehearse the repertory for the rest of the season. We can not play Figaro eight timesa week. It would certainly be far preferable from an artistic standpoint, as far as weare concerned, to have eight Figaro's than eight Kismet's, but it is not logistically possible.

QUESTION I am Karlos Moser, Wisconsin University. I want to ask either Mr. Keene,when he has conducted new works, whether he has had intransigence from a composerwho did not take his suggestions and if so, how he got around it, or for Mr. Argento,whether he has ever had suggestions from a conductor that he did take.

. . . the most rewarding opportunities of my life have been the performances I have givenof new works with the composer present. . . . I very rarely made a suggestion that acomposer found outrageous, although they have often rejected them.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE I can begin. I would say, the most rewarding opportunities ofmy life have been the performances I have given of new works with the composer present.It is the most exciting, the most creative kind of activity a conductor can enter into. Ivery rarely made a suggestion that a composer found outrageous, although they have

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often rejected them. Very often composers are simply so delighted to have their musicplayed that everything sounds good to them. The most ferocious of all of them wasSamuel Barber, who not only knew every note that he had written, but heard what wasbeing played and what was not, which I can not say is true for all composers. He oncestopped me dead in my tracks at an orchestra rehearsal of Antony and Cleopatra andsaid, 'Mr. Keene.1 I said, 'Yes, Mr. Barber.1 He said, 'The third horn will undoubtedlycontinue to play F sharp until you ask him to play F natural.' [Laughter]

DOMIHICK ARGENTO I guess I have the opposite view from Mr. Barber's. I foundnothing but aid in listening to conductors, singers, mainly because I am quite aware ofthe fact that they have a more objective view of what I have done. I get too close toit. They can see it with a fresher eye and they are often right. I like taking theirsuggestions. I have not ever disagreed, I think, with a conductor. I may have disagreedhere and there with a singer. That may not be a theory you can put much faith in.My teacher Bernard Rodgers, years and years ago said, 'Dominick, you think so manypeople mean well for you, that you are the exact opposite of a paranoid, and that is sorare we do not even have a name for it.' [Laughter] But my feeling has been all alongthat people, who have taken the trouble either to conduct my music or perform it orstage it, do mean well by it, mean well by me, and I have found that they have veryinsightful, important things to say.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE In my experience, the composers have ranged from totallyintransigent, which I would say is true of Aribert Reimann who composed Lear, whichwas just produced in San Francisco - I conducted his Melusine in Santa Fe and he wouldsimply brook no changes, editorial or suggestions whatsoever from conductors, to GianCarlo Menotti, who, as we all know, could barely bring himself to finish several of hisoperas and certainly did not want to be asked questions about them. I once recall askinghim, during a difficult passage when he was busy writing the third act while we wererehearsing the first, I said, 'Maestro, do you want me to play this passage an octave upor where it is written?1, and he said, 'Oh, for God's sake, you are the conductor. Figureit out and leave me alone.' [Laughter]

JOHN LUOWIG George Heymont

. . . opportunities or the flexibility of writing, by a contemporary classical composer,for the video phenomenon as opposed to possibly for an opera house situation - its appealand lack of appeal.

QUESTION I would like to ask a question of both men. Of course, when you mentionthe fact that many productions only see life once, one of the problems is, that only onevisual memory is implanted on those people who see it. So that before it even getsconsideration for another production, sometimes the visual angle gets attached to it. Ithink a very good example is Mourning Becomes Electro, which, I think, was a verybeautiful opera. Very often, when I ask people why isn't it revived, they all agree thatit was a very beautiful opera and they say, 'But you know that that was written for theMet stage equipment and since the sets burned we probably won't ever see it again.'However, one of the things that is happening now is that music video is becoming moreattractive as a medium to compose for and, yet, that will definitely implant one firmvisual image in an audience's mind. I would like to ask how both gentlemen feel abouteither the opportunities or the flexibility of writing, by a contemporary classical composer,for the video phenomenon as opposed to possibly for an opera house situation - its appealand lack of appeal.

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DOMINICK ARGENTO I have not done it and I am not interested in doing it. Thedimension is lacking for me on video. Watching La Rondine the other night, or theobvious cassettes, there is simply no sense of occasion about it. There is, in opera forme, something about having a shower, a cocktail, a dinner, dressing up better than usual,getting there, paying the money, sitting through it, and coming home. All of that is partof the operatic experience for me, and somehow to come in your jogging things stillsweating and turn on a TV and watch an opera, it is not the same thing. I do not thinkit will ever be the same thing. Also, the scale is so wrong. The television, no matterhow big your set is, is a puny scale for opera. Opera requires the big frame. Evenchamber opera requires the big frame. I do not think that TV will ever quite capture it.

I think the participation of the audience in the performance is the most essential part ofall of the performing arts. . . . The very ephemeral quality about music, that must becreated over and over again . . .

CHRISTOPHER KEENE I think the participation of the audience in the performance isthe most essential part of all of the performing arts. It is the fact that those peoplehave chosen to spend their time and their money, and to arrange their lives to get thereon that evening, to share with the performers that specific event. The very ephemeralquality about music, that must be created over and over again stands in contrast to thefrozen videotape. There is no original Beethoven's Fifth to haul out and put on apedestal. It has to be made by human beings and shared with human beings, that iswhat makes the art such a convincing metaphor for civilization itself, and for the samereason television does not interest me as such.

DOMINICK ARGENTO In fact, I can even extend that, I think, a little bit to recording,but we are not talking about opera. I remember as a young composer, I used to think, 'Ican not wait to get my works recorded, then I can hear them every night. I am just goingto put on my records one after the other and listen to them.' I now have accumulatedwhat looks like the Harvard five-foot shelf of cassettes of my works. I can not listen toa work of mine. I get a cassette; I usually listen to it once after it has been broadcast.I never listen to them anymore, and what is missing is the fact that I am not sitting therein the audience finding out whether the people behind me are breathing a little heavieror getting restless. I just miss that participation.

JOHN LUDWIG You were next.

QUESTION Thank you. I am Allan Ericson, Royal Opera Stockholm, Sweden. I would liketo tell you about our example in promoting contemporary opera. Just a short statement.Our opera company is, for European standards, a medium sized company. We have renteda small theater very close to the main house, and there is always a fringe resource thatwe can draw from the main house to produce new works and to let composers workdirectly with us at this little stage. Last year we had a season of six months and sixpremieres of new works. Three of them were commissioned by us. This year we havetwo commissioned works where the composers work directly with us and our singers. Onthe financial side, it is not expensive because we can draw on the resources from ourown workshops. The fringe, the resources are not small, as our staff is working on apermanent basis with our big productions. But everybody can not be working at thesame time and naturally there are quite a lot of fringe benefits. Also, on the artisticside, there are a lot of singers who can not sing all the time at the big stage. Theycan come and work with us, directly with the composers commissioned to do the newpieces, and it seems to work very nicely. Thank you. [Applause]

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JOHN LUDWIG Betty Allen

What do you do when you find that the term 'grand opera1 has produced an extreme ofrange, an extreme of style, so that it is almost beyond the capabilities of the singer, andthe singer is too afraid of making waves, to say that this is so?

QUESTION I just want to add something, on behalf of all the singers who, for manyyears, have sung new works only to see them die in a grave after one performance, andwho worked with composers often times who are very much less than intransigent andoften, on the other extreme, worked with composers who are extremely helpful andextremely willing to work with the singer. I speak at this particular moment of aproblem. A young singer in whom I am interested, sang a performance of a work thissummer which was practically destructive to this singer's voice, and certainly not helpfulto his career and reputation, because the newspapers spoke of it as though the work'sfailure was his fault. I wonder what Mr. Argento would say, whose works certainly donot lie in this vein, because my singers and I have sung a great deal of his music andwe think it is wonderful. What do you do when you find that the term 'grand opera'has produced an extreme of range, an extreme of style, so that it is almost beyond thecontext of the singer and almost beyond the capabilities of the singer, and the singer istoo afraid of making waves, to say that this is so? I have had the experience of singingwith Mr. Keene one of Mr. Reimann's works which was almost in this same vein. Iwonder what you think about the composer who goes to the extremes of the range andthe extremes of complexity in order to say what he or she has to say.

DOMINICK ARGENTO I do not feel I can speak for them, because I think that there aretwo different approaches perhaps to compositions. I think there are a number of composerswho are simply born to be experimental. There is an inclination in them to discovernew things and to open up resources, and I suspect this is the kind of composer you aretalking about, in that case. There are other composers, I suppose I am one of them,who find that there are certain rules in the art and if a singer is comfortable in aparticular range that is fine for me. It is my job then to find something within thatrange that has either been done before or is done perhaps a little better than it hasbeen done before, but working within the boundaries. I do think there is that distinction.There are composers who are not interested in remaining within the normal, prescribedboundaries and who feel, for them, the more useful thing to do is to go beyond. I cannot say that one is superior to the other. I think there will be a leavening effectproduced simply by performers. There will come a time where performers decide that it isa little more graceful to sing a song by Samuel Barber than one of the pieces that seemto be a threat to their esophagus.

CHRISTOPHER KEENE I have two answers, because very often we encounter music thatis simply too difficult to be performed. If it is performable, it is at such a cost thatthe expressive qualities which make music music can not be brought out within theframework of conventional rehearsal time. But on the other hand, all of us, if we areserious about being artists, need to be stretched constantly. We need to be presentedwith challenges that make us work a little bit harder and seek out new parts of ourequipment and our brains and our artistic responses. A little bit like the four-minutemile which everyone said could not be done ever until one person did it and suddenlywe discovered that a lot of people can do it. The same is true of musical challenges.We read that Wozzeck took for its first performance in Berlin in the twenties somethinglike one hundred and twenty eight rehearsals for the orchestra to master it comfortably,whereas any symphony orchestra today, can put Wozzeck to bed with five rehearsals. Ithink it is too soon to announce what can be done and what can not be done. We have

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to keep an open mind. Of course, if a person's voice is actually being damaged theyshould withdraw from such a situation.

B. ALLEN I guess that is what I was asking.

JOHN LUDWIG Christopher Keene, Dominick Argento, thank you both very much. Wehave orders from our master of ceremonies that the next act, if I may put it that way,is about to come on. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your participation.[Applause]

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Friday, November 1, 1985 - 3:00-5:00 p.m.

MOVERS OF OPERA U

BYRON BELT, Music Editor, Newhouse Newspapers - ModeratorDAVID GOCKLEY, General Director, Houston Grand OperaEVELYN LEAR, SopranoNIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF, Stage DirectorWOLFGANG SAWALLISCH, Opera Director, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich

BYRON BELT We are the movers and shakers. Before we begin I have been asked, bypopular demand, to request most strenously that we have no speeches on the floor. Thefloor is for questions, brief and succinct questions to the panel and not analysis, please.It is the only way we can be fair to more people.

This distinguished group of speakers has probably done as much for contemporary operaas any group we could have assembled. They are not exclusively devoted to that byany means, nor are their reputations dependent upon it. But each has, within the realmsof working with Mozart, Puccini, Strauss, Wagner, and Verdi, managed to do new works,and old works in interesting ways. So we are going to ask each of them to make astatement, then a little discussion between them, and then a discussion in answer toyour questions from the floor.

This year, San Francisco became, at least for a month, the opera center of the universe.Those of us who were there for the San Francisco Ring have to consider it one of thesupremely glorious opera production accomplishments. There were several people involvedin it, naturally. A brilliant cast, a cooperative management, a splendid conductor whois still learning the Ring but learning it well, and a most brilliant young director whoseconceptions illuminated without blinding the text and the drama. It was, from myexperience seeing the Ring numerous times at Bayreuth and in London and in Chicago andin New York and in Seattle, by all odds the most satisfactory in every way. It wasvisually an absolutely stunning achievement and it was directorially, I think, the work ofa young genius. We are fortunate to have that young genius with us now. NikolausLehnhoff is going to begin with his remarks and we will proceed down the table, and Iwill give you the surprising news of each person as we reach them. Mr. Lehnhoff.

I guess you would like to know if I, as a stage director, find it right or wrong to putLohengrin into a tuxedo, or BrOnnhilde and her sisters on a motorbike, to use the BerlinWall as the scenic metaphor in Fidelio and have the prisoners at the end with slogansof human rights of the United Nations run towards the audience. To tell you right away:I hate it.

NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF Ladies and Gentlemen. I feel very honored that I got an invitationto this conference. Coming over in the plane, I made a couple of notes of some generalideas about staging and opera direction because, as you might all be aware, operadirectors are becoming more and more the troublemakers in opera. I guess you would liketo know if I, as a stage director, find it right or wrong to put Lohengrin into a tuxedo,or Briinnhilde and her sisters on a motorbike, to use the Berlin Wall as the scenicmetaphor in Fidelio and have the prisoners at the end with slogans of human rights ofthe United Nations run towards the audience. To tell you right away: I hate it. I thinkall these directions are superficial and simplifying, and do not throw any new light oncharacters or dramaturgical situations. [Applause]

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There is a general feeling that opera directors are becoming too important, and to say ita bit provocatively, in Bakunin's famous revolutionary code, 'The Joy of Destruction'- the urge of destruction is a creative urge. I mean Michael Bakunin, who was one ofthe first social revolutionaries and a close friend of Richard Wagner in his Dresden time,and who heavily influenced the first Ring concept. This revolutionary code is put onthe artistic flag of many prestigious opera directors, ergo, opera directors as operaBakunists? This may be here and there the case in middle Europe, but as far as thiscountry is concerned, and I am not well enough informed but I have gotten a feelingover the last years, audiences do not yet suffer much under the dictatorship of directorsor any kind of iconoclasm, Bildersturm. But the storm, in one way or another, will alsoreach your shores.

I still remember, I worked at the Metropolitan Opera at the end of the sixties. There wasa strike in '68, and Mr. Bing said, 'It is because of the great singers that people come tothe Met.' I must say, when I did go over to the Met last night and had a little time, andI peeked at the calendar, I got from the schedule all information about singers andconductors but nothing about producers. I could not find out, I had to guess, if theLohengrin is directed by Peter Stein or if, let's say, the Khovanshchina is produced byLubimov.

. . . what came to my mind, is that style in staging opera is quite a new art form.Actually, it has not existed much longer than, let's say, fifty years . . .

Now, what came to my mind, something which I think normally one never thinks muchabout, is that style in staging opera is quite a new art form. Actually, it has not existedfor much longer than, let's say, fifty years; or do you know of any important operadirectors of the nineteenth or the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century?Therefore I thought I might sum up in short the historical situation, the developmentswhich led to staging and opera direction. There, one pretty soon finds out, quite to asurprise, that the movers of staging were musicians - conductors - and the Wagner caseagain is a very telling one in this respect.

Wagner in Bayreuth became more and more frustrated because he could not realize hisscenic visions on stage. You all, maybe, know his outcry, his famous slogan: 'After Ifound the invisible orchestra, I will find the invisible stage.' Though he made this remarkduring the Parsifal rehearsals at the end of his life, it gives notice of his deep depressionthat, after the scenic disaster of the Ring in 1876, nothing really had changed much acouple of years later. Also, his intention to compose only symphonies towards the end ofhis life expresses his disappointments with the theater, and the way he looked upon it- though I am positive he never would have written any symphony, even if he had livedlonger. When Wagner died - and now it becomes very interesting and important for thedevelopment - Cosima, the keeper of the flame, became the high priestess of the Churchof Bayreuth, singing her reactionary 'Casta divas' night and day. Everything the Meisterhad done she declared sacred. So that, with a few exceptions, until Wieland Wagnerand until after the second World War, we were shlepping around worldwide a traditionthat left already Wagner himself unsatisfied. Wieland Wagner said, when he did his firstMeistersinger production in Bayreuth in 1956, 'Until now every kind of Meistersingerproduction looked like a fatal melange of Reichs-Parteitag and Lortzing.'

Now, opera direction is quite new, as a style, as an art form, it is new. You can askme what happened with Mozart, with Wagner - yes, he staged Lohengrin and all theother operas later, and at this time he got help from the straight theater. There werea couple of great directors. Seeing this basically through middle European eyes, he gothelp from Heinrich Laube and Dingelstedt, famous people from the theater who worked

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. . . I would like to mention Gustav Mahler and Alfred Roller. Here again we have aconductor, Mahler, who directed, the same as Wagner, and got Roller to do the designs.. . . ten days before the world premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, Max Reinhardt fromBerlin was asked for help.

at the Burgtheater. They helped at the Vienna State Opera, they helped in Munich andso on. But it actually was a compromise and it ended more or less in a rather poorchoreographic arrangement, often with very strong personalities on stage, but withoutany strong conceptional ideas. Again, I must say, there were a couple of exceptions suchas Adolphe Appia, but as we all know he was turned down, excathedra, by Cosima Wagner.

Last but not least, talking about exceptions, I would like to mention Gustav Mahler andAlfred Roller. Here again we have a conductor, Mahler, who directed, the same asWagner, and got Roller to do the designs. So he started to shape a new way of presentingopera. These are the exceptions. But I am sure you know, after Mahler died, there wasthe world premiere in Dresden of Der Rosenkavalier. This was 1911, and there was adirector, nobody I am sure knows his name, it was Toller and with this kind of new styleof conversation play he could not cope. So they fired him ten days before the worldpremiere of Der Rosenkavalier, and Max Reinhardt from Berlin was asked for help. Herushed in at the last minute before the silver rose was totally drowned in the silver floodof the music.

. . . talking of Otto Klemperer, again a conductor, who became head in Berlin of theKroll Opera . . . the famous experiment at Kroll lasted only but four years, from 1927to 1931.

The next step which became important in the development of staging took place in Berlin.I think this was the first important, great impetus as far as opera direction and operaaesthetics are concerned. I mean Appia or Edward Gordon Craig, these people, of course,gave a lot of impulse, but here it is for the first time that these ideas were realizedon stage. I am now talking of Otto Klemperer, again a conductor, who became head inBerlin of the Kroll Opera, and we must remember that this was only for a very, veryshort time. A lot of people now talk about the famous experiment at Kroll, but cometo think of it, it lasted only but four years, from 1927 to 1931. In this time, Klemperer,being head of the Berlin Kroll Opera, conducted and directed himself. There was a veryfamous Fidelio production which he directed; Diilberg did the designs. Klemperer wasthe first who invited guest directors because he knew something had to be done withstaging opera. It is a different vein than staging straight theater. So he thought, maybeone can build a bridge by bringing in famous but musical people from the straight theater.He invited the genius director of Germany of the first fifty years, and maybe of thisentire century; I am sure a lot of you do not know the name, it is Jurgen Fehling. Heinvited Jurgen Fehling and he invited Gustav Griindgens, both head figures in the straighttheater as well, and not just in staging, but also as far as aesthetics are concerned - Imean, how the design and the overall aspect of a product has to look. He also invitedpeople from the fine arts for stage design. Artists from the Bauhaus group like OskarSchlemmer or Moholy-Nagy, who did Tales of Hoffmann. I remember here at theMetropolitan Opera a revival of an old production of Tales of Hoffmann, where I wasassistant stage director to Cyril Ritchard, and he was a very funny, witty gentleman.We had a lot of talks and he told me, 'Oh, I have been in '29 in Berlin and I have seenthese Tales of Hoffmann in the Kroll Opera. It was horrible. All the students sitting ata chrome steel bar.1 So, Moholy-Nagy from the Bauhaus was there, and people likeDiChirieo, too. This was the idea of Klemperer, to open aesthetically new windows in

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producing opera. But the whole thing lasted, alas, only four years. The Nazis cameand killed any attempt of avant-garde and re-thinking. Experiment Kroll was a short, but,I think, a very important divertimento for opera, as an artistic style, as an art form.

. . . there were two schools of style; the two great antipodes at that time were WalterFelsenstein and Wieland Wagner.

Now I come to a person, again a conductor, who I, and also Wieland Wagner, think wasthe first real opera director. This was Heinz Tietjen, the head of the Berlin Opera andlater the artistic partner of Winifred Wagner in Bayreuth. He was a conductor as well asa director. He found a system, a method for directing opera. He choreographed, heillustrated music to the extent of ballet. Of course it was a misunderstanding, but atleast a consequent way of directing opera.

To give you a little example, the way he staged Loge in Rheingold, the god Loge wasdancing around through his flickering fire music; it was ballet, dancing through the part.And Mime, the dwarf in Siegfried, behaved more or less like a lovable witch from Hanseland Gretel, and you never got the feeling that Mime is, after all, the third contestant,real politisch, in gaining the ring and world power.

. . . it would appear that a new inclination, an awaking to sensitivity is emerging afterall the provocation, important though it had become in its spectacular effects and orgiesof directing.

These are a couple of ideas about what I think became important in shaping, in findingthe roots of directing an opera. I would like to give, maybe, a brief word to thesituation we are in now. The kind of rigid demarcation between stylistic trends thatwas the hallmark of the fifties and the sixties no longer exists. In that period, therewere two schools of style; the two great antipodes at that time were Walter Felsensteinand Wieland Wagner. Musical theater has entered a state of flux since then. New,important influences have reached opera. Drama directors from the theater, film makers,set designers, jostled for the director's rostrum in the opera houses, because this wasthe place where they could live out and set the scene for their melodramatic yearningsin the most glittering way. Music was often secondary to these directors, and thedirector's hubris, scenic hubris took off independently at the expense of the music. Butall these stylistic tendencies were thrown together upsetting everything, and yet givingopera tangible vitality. If it goes too far on many occasions, it is annoying. But it isa natural consequence of iconoclasm. At the moment, I think, the waves seem to calmdown somewhat and it would appear that a new inclination, an awaking to sensitivity, anew kind of sensibility, is emerging after all the provocation, important though it hadbecome in its spectacular effects and orgies of directing. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Our guest, Maestro Sawallisch, who is here in America currently withthe Vienna Symphony, has a concert at Avery Fisher Hall tomorrow. Just weeks ago hedirected one of the most glorious concerts in the San Francisco Symphony's history andan orchestra refused to take bows. They loved him so, they just wanted to applaud himas much as the audience did. His position as a musician is, without any need toexaggerate, one of the highest, and we are very fortunate to have him in the musicworld and, of course, fortunate to have him here today. He has done many premieres.He and Mr. Lehnhoff will be creating a new Ring for Munich in 1987. It should beinteresting, at least it should be well rehearsed, one of those problem questions thatcame up this morning, because Mr. Lehnhoff says that they are going to have six months

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of preparation and all the operas will be premiered, boom, boom, boom in one week. Thatis unheard of internationally these days and sounds rather crazy to me. But, at any rate,we are very pleased to have him. He has done recently, in Munich, a premiere ofHeinrich Sutermeister's King Berenger at the Cuvillier Theater, my favorite theater inall the world. If all opera houses sat only 600 people, Byron Belt would be happy andopera would be bankrupt. But he has in Munich the facilities of at least three theaters, asI recall. We are very honored to have him here today for his thoughts on the world ofopera as it stands today. Maestro. [Applause]

I have to divide myself. On the one side I am a conductor, on the other side I am anopera director with all the responsibilities for stage directors, for designers, soloists,ballet, chorus, and so on . . .

WOLFGANG SAWALLE5CH Ladies and Gentlemen. I am at this moment in a verydifficult situation. Why? Because I have to divide myself. On the one side I am aconductor, on the other side I am an opera director with all the responsibilities for stagedirectors, [Laughter] for designers, soloists, ballet, chorus, and so on and so on. But Iwill say frankly that, for me, new productions of well-known operas should continue thetradition, not in the sense of one hundred years ago, but in the sense of the composer.This is my opinion as a conductor, because for me it is impossible to change a score.A score is written by Mozart, is written by Wagner, by Richard Strauss and all the otherbig composers - more or less big composers - and I have to follow this printed and thiswritten music. I think that all the very big composers, first of all Mozart, and thenPuccini and Richard Strauss and Wagner and Verdi, at the moment when they wrote themusic for an opera, had an impression in their mind of what is going on at this momenton stage. This was necessary for them, and I can only follow the score, and accompanywith the right music what happens at this moment on stage.

. . . for me, new productions of well-known operas should continue the tradition, not inthe sense of one hundred years ago, but in the sense of the composer. . . . A score iswritten by Mozart, by Wagner, by Richard Strauss and I have to follow this writtenmusic . . . . they had an impression in their mind of what is going on at this moment on stage.

For instance, when Richard Wagner wrote "Waldweben", in the second act of Siegfried,or in the third act of Parsifal "die Aue", he certainly imagined a silent, spring atmosphereon stage, when he wrote the music. I am sure that nowadays a stage director says - andit happened in Munich, it was a performance of The Flying Dutchman conducted bymyself with a new modern stage director - and he said, 'You make music.' Everybodyknows that water music at the beginning of the overture, the beginning of the first act,and you see immediately, by hearing the music, what should be on stage. He said to me,'No! I do not like twice the same idea. I do not like a water music describing wavesand wind and a stormy situation. I do not like it.' 'Good', I answered, 'What should Ido with my poor orchestra? I shall conduct a wind music and a water music and astormy music and the stage is absolutely silent with no emotions, with no moving, witha piano on stage covered by a white cloth.' I, as a conductor had to conduct againstthe stage, and this is a moment for the conductor that is better not described. [Laughter]Believe me, it is really sometimes impossible to do.

Now I come back to my job in Munich as director of the opera house. We have threehundred twenty performances every season, and we have between five and seven newproductions of old, well-known pieces and, of course, world premieres of new pieces. ButI always think that perhaps there is one person in my opera house in Munich listening for

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I always think that perhaps there is one person in my opera house listening for the firsttime to a Don Giovanni . . . And even if it is only one single person, it is absolutelynecessary to bring Don Giovanni by Mozart and not a naked Zerlina on rollerskates.

the first time to a Don Giovanni, for the first time to a Zauberflote, for the first time toa Lohengrin or any other, for us well-known, opera. And even if it is only one singleperson, I believe it is absolutely necessary to bring for this one person a Don Giovanniby Mozart, so that he will go out and say, 'I have seen a Don GiovannV, and not anaked Zerlina on rollerskates. [Laughter] All this happens and I am absolutely against it.

We have to create new works. I am not a director who says that Munich must be thefirst opera house for a world premiere. I am ready to be the second or the third; ifthe world premiere was really a success.

My opinion is, of course we have the duty, we must continue to build opera. We haveto create new works. I personally, I am not a director who says that Munich must bethe first opera house for a new production, for a world premiere. I am absolutely readyto be the second or the third; if the world premiere is outside of Munich, of Europe,outside of Germany, this does not matter, if it was really a success. I will bring it backfor my Munich people. I am not so proud as to say, only a world premiere or nothing.I believe that we must try to find new ways of production. We have a small, experimentalgroup in Munich, an experimental stage where we can try bringing in new technicalpossibilities, new multi-media possibilities on a small stage, and if this experiment provesto be successful, we take it immediately into the bigger houses.

. . . I am looking really with very great interest for new composers, for new works.But they must not be based on a libretto of the 18th century . . . I am looking for newlibrettists, for plays of our time, and together with them, for new music.

I speak, of course, now for my Munich house, for one of the first European houses, whenI say that it is absolutely necessary in Munich, where Richard Strauss and Mozart andRichard Wagner are the house gods since decades, since centuries, it is necessary toalways include their works. For instance, we did in 1982-83 all thirteen operas byRichard Wagner. We included the first three, Die Feen, Liebesverbot, and Rienzi andeverybody knows that, for instance, in Bayreuth it is absolutely impossible to bring outthese first three operas. It was an enormous success, but stage directors did it in thenormal way, not in the sense of 1885 or 1890. They did it in the sense of 1982-83 and itwas a big success. My idea is now, for the first time in any opera house in the world,to bring out all sixteen operas by the Munich-born Richard Strauss, during the festivalin July '88. The two versions of Ariadne, the two ballets, it means all stage works byRichard Strauss. And of course, we have the complete Mozart repertoire, the completeVerdi repertoire, and I am looking really with very great interest for new composers,for new works. But they must not be based on a libretto of the 18th century, becausesometimes the music of today with a libretto based on Goethe or Schiller or Shakespearehas at best a fifty percent chance of success. The libretto is so important. I am lookingfor new librettists, for plays of our time, and together with them, for new music.

I am sure that our commissions for new operas for every year could be a success. It isa little bit dangerous because we spend a lot of money for new productions, for newcompositions. You know, the complete system of opera between your country and my

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We are subsidized one hundred percent by the government and we are obliged to takein between twenty-five and thirty percent of this governmental subsidy. . . . if not, thestate is able to lower the subsidy . . .

country is different, one hundred percent different. We are subsidized one hundredpercent by the government and we are obliged to take in between twenty-five and thirtypercent of this governmental subsidy. This means we have a very important duty tocontinue our way of opera performances, but also to sell our tickets. We must bringback thirty percent of the subsidy, if not, the state is able to lower the subsidy, andwe must avoid this, of course.

. . . even if we are not so convinced that this new music is really good . . . we have to doit. This is a problem with commissioned works. This is the reason that I am absolutelyready to perform a second or third production . . .

As for commissioned works, each composer writing a new piece certainly has a personin mind for whom he is writing the music. For instance, Aribert Reimann, one of thebest examples for me, was writing his new King Lear in '78 to be performed for thefirst time in the Munich opera house, my house. It was written for Fischer-Dieskau andthe complete tessitura of this work was written for him, and certainly all composers ofour day have some idea of a very important singer who will sing the leading role intheir new piece. The opera company must plan for it in advance. We must engage, avery long time ahead, all the singers, the stage directors and so on. Then half a yearor four months before the fixed premiere we must take the space - even if we are notso convinced that this new music is really good and will work for the future of opera.But we have to do it. This is a problem with commissioned works; they must be produced.This is the reason, too, that I am absolutely ready to perform a second or third productionafter the world premiere somewhere else, in America, or wherever in this world.

As a conductor and as a director of a big opera house, I am looking very, very seriouslyfor new works, for new composers. This season we do three new productions, that meanstwo operas and one ballet, a complete ballet for two hours with electronic music. InJanuary, we will do a new work by a German composer, Volker Kirchner, an old Biblestory written for modern people. It is a very important, very interesting work for me.In July of the next year we will premiere the newest opera by Aribert Reimann, and wejust commissioned new operas for the next years, 1987 and 1988, and I hope they willbe successful.

. . . we must convince all stage directors that they are not creative people - they arerecreative people, like conductors. It is only the composer who was the real creator . . .

But I feel we must continue our opera work generally without losing the tradition, andwe must find a way, as my friend Nikolaus Lehnhoff said, we must convince all stagedirectors that they are not creative people - they are recreative people, like conductors.It is only the composer who was the real creator, a genius creator, and we have anobligation towards him. Therefore we must uphold some traditions, while giving newworks the chance to be heard and I am looking for new works. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Thank you, Maestro. I hope that the Maestro realizes his delicateposition, because this room is filled with contemporary composers, each of whom may

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be following you down the escalator as you depart this evening. Maestro, thank youvery much. The Reimann Lear was done in San Francisco, of course, now with ThomasStewart in its second season, with incredible success. In my opinion it was one of themost glorious interpretations I ever heard of any role. As much as I admire Mr. Fischer-Dieskau, I can not imagine him as Lear. For me, for the rest of my life, Thomas Stewartis Lear. His wife is going to speak last and I will ask David Gockley to speak to us now.

It seems like decades ago when, a very young, boyish looking kid came to me and he wasnew in Houston, and Houston Opera was just beginning to be recognized in the world, andI thought how anybody this young, is as brave and foolish as this lad, and how younghe looks, and how old he will look soon after some years in opera management. David,you and the devil obviously have a pact. He has not aged a minute and the HoustonOpera has indeed become a formidable force on the international scene, not only for itspresentation of standard operas, but for resurrection of many works by Rossini andbaroque composers as well as a lot of contemporary works. We are interested to knowhow you do all this. You do not need to explain how you stay young.

Our job is not to continue with tradition, but to start a tradition. . . . sometimes thatis easier, because you are not measured against so many different kinds of things.

DAVID GOCKLEY Thank you. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to be withyou this afternoon and with such distinguished colleagues from across the Atlantic, whoare literally in the cradle of opera. Out where I am, I can hardly call it the cradle ofopera, although it may be the cradle of a few other things.

. . . we have spoken about a proliferation of opera companies in America. . . . thesecompanies are beginning to do much better work . . .

Our job is not to continue with tradition, but to start a tradition. In a way, sometimesthat is easier, because you are not measured against so many different kinds of things. AsI reflect, as Maria Rich asked me to do, about where the last fifty years have broughtus and where we go from here, I approach it not from the point of view of an artisticcontributor, such as Nikolaus or Maestro Sawallisch - although he is also an intendant- but more from the point of view of what an American general manager is coping within today's milieu.

In a young city like Houston where the average age is twenty-eight, the average age ofthe audience for the Houston Grand is over twice that much. . . . there is the threat ofthe socio-cultural isolation of opera within a culture that is taken over by television,by film, by mechanically reproduced everything.

I think we have seen and have spoken about a proliferation of opera companies inAmerica. It seems as though every city of any size has got to have its opera company,however large or however small. I would say, a lot of these companies are beginning todo much better work, having much better production values, even though they may onlydo two or three productions a year. This phenomenon is causing more permanent workin America for our American trained singers and, heaven knows, in the last fifty yearsour great conservatories and great state universities have done a magnificent job inturning out singers, conductors, directors that have not only served us on this side ofthe Atlantic, but also enriched the world of my colleagues as well.

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. . . the immorality of high ticket costs for opera, and what it does as far as limiting itto the kind of people who can afford it.

In the face of this, however, I see opera in our particular city reaching only one or oneand a half percent of the population. In a city, a young city like Houston where theaverage age is twenty-eight, the average age of the audience for the Houston Grand isover twice that much. This is a phenomenon that discourages me greatly. In the articlein the New York Times Magazine, James Levine was quoted as kind of throwing up hisarms in possible frustration and saying, 'Are we presiding over the last generations ofGrand Opera in the grand style?' I think he feels the same way I do, that in our countrythere is the threat of the socio-cultural isolation of opera within a culture that is takenover by television, by film, by mechanically reproduced everything. Therefore, what weprovide for a very few people at a very significant cost, becomes less and less economicallyadvantageous. The high cost continues to go up, because we continue to be a handcraftedindustry. There do not seem to be ways to reduce costs. Even with our great technologythat is making projections and now three-dimensional projections, etc., it seems that thelabor costs associated with handling technology in the theater to create scenic andlighting effects, is more expensive laborwise than what it might save. So, whenever adesigner comes to me and says, 'Let's do a technological production with all these fancynew projectors.' I say, 'Oh, my God! That is even more problematic than using traditionalscenery'.

. . . it is very hard to be able to rationalize huge marketing budgets to advertise, whenthe income from it is so small.. . . but how, in this multi-media world, do we communicatewith our audiences . . . the new materialism among young people, the yuppie phenomenon,is very strong in our particular city . . .

So, the income-expense gap in opera companies continues to grow, and that means thatwe have to continue to raise prices and we have to continue to try to add performancesand raise more contributions from all different areas. Of course, the government inAmerica is not responding - at least not on the federal level. There are some wonderfulexceptions statewide and citywide in this country. But something I also feel stronglyabout is the immorality of high ticket costs for opera, and what it does as far as limitingpeople to have the opportunity to see it, limiting it to the kind of people who can affordit. And that all adds up to a kind of dead end of conservativism, of fear at steppingout, fear at taking chances. We, of the American opera companies, recently commissioneda study that Martin Mayer wrote, and he discusses the fact that in the 1980's, with theFederal Government pulling back, with the nation in recession, with the contributionsharder to obtain, that there has been a remarkable - what has been called an artisticdeficit, the lessening of an ability to be imaginative, innovative, creative in our field.Of course, that is the very thing, the only hope that we have of not being a dinosaur,and moving off down a blind alley in an evolutionary sense.

Other things that I am finding is that it is very, very difficult to do business with theeducational bureaucracies in this country. It is very difficult to encourage very highquality programs for young people. We can get them to come to the theater, and we canget them to get certain things into the classroom, but it has no real core of intellectualsupport within the educational process. That is very, very worrisome.

Marketing difficulties and communications difficulties work against us, because we findit very hard to be able to rationalize huge marketing budgets to advertise over media,radio, television, newspapers, when the income from it is so small. So, the question is

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how, in this multi-media world, do we communicate with our audiences in a way thatwill get them inspired to want to attend. Also, I think all of us are reading about thenew materialism among young people and about the yuppie phenomenon, or whatever thisis. I can see it very strongly in our particular city, and it is almost an anti-intellectualismthat makes a younger generation very eager to go out and get their jobs, and make theirliving, and get married, and have the wife work, and once they have made their smallfortune they go off and have vacations on the beach someplace. That is troublesome.

Another thing that is troublesome in our particular world is the kind of personality cultthat can crop up and distract from the essence of the art. I will not cloud the fact thatI am talking about superstars and the problems that superstars have in making good operaand good art - the typical things of coming late for rehearsals, not being prepared,dictating this, dictating that. When are we going to take a stand?

BYRON BELT You should have been here this morning with Ardis and Beverly Sills.They are concerned, too.

There has to be money in budgets that is earmarked for innovative projects. Nocorporation can exist without research and development monies to provide for thefuture. . . . We have to be extremely clever in creating a sense of event with ourproductions. Things get old very quickly here.

DAVID GOCKLEY Things that we are addressing ourselves to in Houston is arecommitment, after getting burned recently very, very seriously, a recommitment to doensemble value work, virtually without exception. By maintaining, musically anddramatically, the integrity of the whole production, it always allows us the latitude toexperiment, even while doing the main core of our activity. There has to be money inbudgets that is earmarked for innovative projects. No corporation can exist withoutresearch and development monies, and research and development staff to provide for thefuture. I look at that kind of work happening in diverse locations, at diverse prices,and having the kind of accessibility afforded by different locations, whether it be in apark, in a warehouse, etc., and I find that it begins to bring along a new generation ofaudience. I am convinced that under the right circumstances there are people out therewho can be fascinated with new works, under the right conditions. I think we have tobe, especially in America, extremely clever in a marketing sense, in creating a sense ofoccasion, a sense of event with our productions. Things get old very quickly here. Whatwas an innovation last week is humdrum this week. The imaginativeness of capturingthe spirit of the public, this is very, very important.

. . . general managers of opera companies must integrate the opera company into theoverall life and overall goals of their city. . . . participation in civic events . . . andtaking our rightful part in working with the chambers of commerce and the economicdevelopment authorities, downtown developers, etc.

I think, politically, people who work as general managers of opera companies mustintegrate the opera company into the overall life and overall goals of their city. Wecan not be in an ivory tower. Participation in civic events, being involved in theeducation system, being involved in promotion of the city as far as encouraging theeconomic climate, recruiting people to come in and work in the city, all that is part ofit. So many of our cities are in the process now of trying to improve activities downtown- improve and revitalize - and we have to take our rightful part in working with thechambers of commerce and the economic development authorities, downtown developers,

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. . . fascinating new theatrical productions of traditional operas do work without damagingthe musical values. . . . semi-notorious production . . . on the narrow line that existsbetween sacrilege and fascination.

etc. We can not be out of the mainstream of life, business, cultural, political life ofour cities.

As far as new ways of producing operas, I believe that stodginess and encrusted waysof doing things, very much like Nikolaus was saying that Cosima maintained a traditionfor its own sake almost as a strange cult, a strange religion, are counterproductive, andthat without going to craziness and to the extent that Professor Sawallisch was saying,fascinating new theatrical productions of traditional operas do work without damagingthe musical values. We all have heard various productions. One semi-notorious productionthat we did last year was a revival of the Ken Russell Madame Butterfly, which some ofyou may have seen in Spoleto. In my opinion, it was on the narrow line that existsbetween sacrilege and fascination. What it was able to do was to open a piece to ourparticular audience in a way that they received the essence of the work. I think backto what happened to New York audiences when they first saw that Peter Brook MidsummerNight's Dream, for example. Just because we are hearing of the terribleness of stagedirectors does not mean that everything has got to be done according to some kind ofbook. What I mean to say is, theater has come an awfully long way in the last hundredor hundred and fifty years and it is absolutely crazy to avoid or lose out on what hashappened, as far as the ability to re-emphasize the values of traditional works.

. . . the only hope for our long-term future is a repertoire that is relative to our owntime. . . . new libretti, new music that relates to today, are essential.

In closing, I join Professor Sawallisch in saying that the only hope for our long-termfuture is a repertoire that is relative to our own time. That does not mean that therecan not be timeless themes. But I agree that new libretti that relate to today, newmusic that relates to today, new theatrical ideas, are essential. I was delighted to sitwith John Tooley at lunch and learn that his Donnerstag [Stockhausen] production inLondon was a wonderful success, artistically and audience-wise. When we did the PhilipGlass Akhnaten last year, Akhnaten out-sold everything else in the season except forMagic Flute, and aside from the traditional members of the audience there were probablythree to four thousand new people who came into the opera house for the very first time.It was one of the first things that gave me hope that there can be an extension of therepertory, that can involve young people and also fascinate regular opera-goers - and,of course, there were the people who walked out on it. But that is fine, too.

. . . In Houston, we are involved now in five major commissions.

By the way, we are involved now in five major commissions. We are working again withPhilip Glass on the making of the Representative from Planet Eight, after Doris Lessing'snovel. We are working with composer John Adams, and director Peter Sellars on Nixonin China, about Nixon's opening of the relations and diplomacy with China some yearsago. We have the pleasure of working with Dominick Argento, Meredith Monk and ayoung man by the name of Stewart Wallace, who has come out of the pop and rockworld. So, we are trying to keep a very broad feeling. My judgement, the feeling thatI look for whether something really clicks and something should be pursued, is how does

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the audience respond to it viseerally; not how the critics respond, because I feel thatcritics more often than not are on the side of Cosima, as opposed to on the other side.That is about all I have to say. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Thank you David. If anybody keeps world records for the Guinness Bookof Records, this day's session has gone the longest of any in COS's history withoutmention of the word critic, until now. You have helped to establish history in a verypeculiar way, David.

When the curtain goes down on act one of Der Rosenkavalier, I am sure we have allspent half a lifetime wondering exactly what was in the mind of the Marschallin as shelooks into that mirror, knowing her life is going to be entirely different, not quite readyto give up her current life-style, but not quite certain that she wants to go forward. Ican not imagine what went on in the mind of Evelyn Lear, our guest, as she looked inthe mirror on that occasion, when she decided herself it would be her own farewell tothe Metropolitan. One of the reasons Miss Lear is one of the few singers on these panelsis that she is an extraordinarily intelligent woman and artist, and she has had a widevariety of experience through her training. Her early and her mature years have evolvedaround the music of Mozart and Strauss and every important major composer, but shehas also probably been involved in more premieres and perhaps more single performancesof some than many a singer. With her intelligence, her artistry and her experience, Inow ask Evelyn Lear to conclude our afternoon.

EVELYN LEAR I do not know what to say after that build up, that is fantastic. Thank you.

Yes, I have been very fortunate to have been given, by the dear Lord, a great wealthof intelligence which I then used to further and enlarge my own intellectual and musicalscope. I was also blessed with a voice and I was also blessed with the ability to usethat voice to portray the various roles that I did in my lifetime. Now, if that soundsvery boastful, it is not meant to be boastful. I think all of us have to take what weare given and use it to the fullest. I think I have used what I have been given in apretty full way since I can say that I have had a career now of over thirty years and Iam still going strong.

When Byron mentioned my farewell to the Met, that is just a clarification for those ofyou who were not in New York at the time. I decided to make my farewell appearanceat my home house, the Metropolitan Opera, in which I have sung since 1967, doing theworld premiere of Mourning Becomes Electra, which some of you have seen, I am sure.When I decided to make my farewell, I decided to do it with a role with which I havebeen identified, which I recorded and which I have sung all over the world and whichis very, very, close to my heart, and that was the Marschallin. At this point in timewith the great Maestro Levine at the Pult, with Tatiana Troyanos and Kathleen Battlein the cast, when I am still in what I consider pretty good voice, I decided this was a timeto say good-bye and leave in a blaze of glory, rather than have people come up to me ortalk behind my back and say, 'Do you remember Lear five years ago? Oh, my God, I wishshe would quit already.' I decided to jump the gun and to direct my own life and said,like George M. Cohan, 'Just leave 'em when they want more.'

I am still singing opera in regional houses throughout the country and in Europe, whichleads me to the wonderful topic of my darling director here, Dr. Klaus Lehnhoff, withwhom I had the great joy and pleasure of doing Der Kirschgarten, The Cherry Orchard,based on the great Chekhov play, written by a Swiss composer, Rudolf Kelterborn, andKlaus Lehnhoff, who has directed many operas in which my husband Thomas Stewartappeared, this was the first time we had ever worked together. My only regret is thatit was the first time because I wish that I had known Klaus twenty-five years ago whenI was in the beginning of my career. He is a great director and it was such a success

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that we have been asked to do it again next season at the Zurich Opera as well as inDresden at the Semper Oper. I am very thrilled about that.

Why the heck don't you just sit down and say we have had it with these fifty and sixtythousand dollars a night stars. . . . I tell all my young singers, 'You are nothing but a hunkof meat waiting to be bought, and do not ever forget that when you get any delusionsof grandeur.'

David Gockley is a man who is very innovative, who brought the wonderful ThomasPasatieri opera, another opera based on Chekhov, The Seagull, to the Houston Opera.David is also a director who believed in young American singers and brought them here.I listened to you speak. I listened this morning to Beverly and Ardis, and you all bemoanthe fact that you have to put up with superstars. Well, let me tell you something! Iam tired of hearing you bemoan the fact. Why the heck don't you just sit down and saywe have had it with these fifty and sixty thousand dollars a night stars. We are puttingon opera. We are not putting on stars, superstars. The people of my category, and I amnot a superstar, I am kind of a little star, have really suffered in the kind of thing thatwe have been trying to do. I personally, and Thomas Stewart, and James King, and allthe singers of my generation have tried to be able to combine singing the classic workslike Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with a Mourning Becomes Electra, doing DerRosenkavalier combined with Der Kirschgarten in Switzerland. These are the things thatnone of your so-called superstars are ever required to do and it is you, the managers ofthe opera houses, that just promote this kind of thing. We have no power, we are hiredby you. I tell all my young singers, 'You think you are so smart. You think you areso great. You are nothing but a hunk of meat waiting to be bought, and do not everforget that when you get any delusions of grandeur.'

Nikolaus mentioned before that Richard Wagner said the ultimate was to have an invisibleorchestra, possibly an invisible stage, and I am waiting for the next moment when it isgoing to be invisible singers. That is going to be the next step, I am sure.

BYRON BELT With some of our current lighting, I think that is what we have got onthe stage.

I really think that I was very fortunate in that at a time when my husband and I startedour careers, regional opera was in its infancy. So, we were forced to go to Europe tomake our careers and be submerged in this fantastic tradition of centuries of opera . . .

EVELYN LEAR Right. [Laughter and applause] Well, you know the old Birgit Nilssonstory, when she was doing the Ring with Karajan, she came on stage wearing a miner'shelmet because she could not find her way.

I really think that I was very fortunate in the fact that at a time when my husband andI started our careers, people like David Gockley did not exist, because regional opera wasin its infancy in the late 1950's, almost thirty years ago. So, we were forced to go toEurope to make our careers, to find and live and bathe and be submerged in this fantastictradition of centuries of opera, of music, of culture, of art. All the things that we didnot have where we were. Had we started our careers and there had been a HoustonOpera, Boston Opera, New Orleans Opera, Canadian Opera, we might not have been putinto that wonderful situation. I am very grateful that we were forced to go there andget that knowledge and that experience, and to have been thrown into the deep ocean

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and come up swimming. We were cast into a lot of parts that we were hardly ready forand forced to come up and produce.

American singers are very, very competitive and they are determined never to fail.

I think a lot of that has to do with the American know-how. I do not mean to disparagemy two illustrious colleagues on the right, but American singers are a very special breed,as you probably know, you have some in your house in Munich. American singers arevery, very competitive and they are determined never to fail. They want to succeedmore than anything else. It may have something to do with the fact that, in Americaespecially, there is no room for anybody to fail. You are not allowed to fail. Everytime you appear on stage it has got to be a hit. It has got to be picked up by the media.It has got to be written up. This is the event of the year. It is a very, very crucialsituation. Maybe it exists in Europe, too. People are not allowed to experiment, to havea failure, to learn from your experience. You have got to be great every time. That isa tremendous pressure. Some of us have sunk down a little bit and then come back upagain through this pressure.

But I think that we are very lucky, and I think American singers are especially verylucky who have been exposed to the Strausses, and to the Levys, and to the Argentos,and to the Mozarts, and have been forced to be proficient in every style, in every phaseof opera. Because if we are not, nobody is going to hire us. I am very, very proud that Iam an American and yet am steeped in all that beautiful European tradition. I am verygrateful for it, and I am very happy with my life and I am going to go on to betterand beautiful things. Somebody gave me a cup and it said, 'The best is yet to come.1

Thank you. [Applause]

BYRON BELT The world is not always full of articulate people. We have had a lot ofthem today and we are very fortunate. Thank you very much, Evelyn.

I want to say that I was interested this morning and pleased, when Ardis announced thatone of the operas she wants to revive is Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, whichwas an opera, by now everyone agrees, that was destroyed by its production. It has agreat wealth of potential in it, as certain revivals have demonstrated. It would bewonderful to have Lyric do it. My nomination for the Met, however, is Mourning BecomesElectro. We do not have the two ladies that made that night so electrifying and ayoung Sherrill Milnes, but I think Marvin David Levy's opera is one of the terrificachievements in American opera and it has never been done again. I do not understand.It is a mysterious world we live in. Something of quality comes along and then justdisappears, and something garbagey may catch on, or may not. End of sermon.

My young colleague here wants to get into the discussion that we began this morning onthe matter of supertitles. I think we can have another spark or two.

NIKOLAUS LEHNHOFF You will be amazed. I like them. The supertitles worked onme. When I first was confronted with them, it was Siegfried in San Francisco last year,I hated them. They were blended in in the last moment, in the last rehearsals. It wasSiegfried's third act and we had a lot of problems, and then I saw the supertitles. Isaid, 'What is this nonsense all about?' They were not done very carefully. It came tothe scene you all know, when Wagner turns into a Rossini opera, the moment Siegfrieddiscovers Briinnhilde and screams, 'Das ist kein Mann!' Now in this moment there was'This is no man'. I said, 'This is absolutely ridiculous.' I did not look at them anymore,but this year, having the whole cycle in San Francisco, I was very much exposed to it.I must say they worked on me and I think they are a great, great help.

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Madame Fricka Wotan goes to Loge and says, 'Is it of any use for jewels'. That is thetext by Wagner. And this time in San Francisco the audience, not laughed, but smiled.. . . 'Why not have supertitles in German, in Wagner operas, in Munich and in Vienna,and you will see how little people know and how much more they will enjoy it.'

I will tell you, because Ardis mentioned something this morning, where she said, 'My God,I laughed. Should I laugh? That is not what opera is all about.1 There was a little scenein Rheingold which made me think of the reaction of the American audience. It is inthe second god's terrace, you know the situation when Loge has his narration tellingthat there is something which can get Wotan out of his homemade trap. There is goldwhich is the new powerful word and so on. The gods listen to that solution and now wehave a reaction from Madame Fricka Wotan. She could not care less about the wholepolitics of her husband. She goes to Loge and says, 'Is it of any use for jewels'. That isthe text by Wagner. And this time in San Francisco the audience, not laughed, butsmiled. You could feel it. I said, 'My God! How refreshing!' It is a naivete which weall lost at home.

We are sitting in these performances and everybody thinks they are sophisticated opera-goers in Munich and Vienna. Do not believe in that. They know about C's and B's, butdo not know the text that well. In the third Ring performances we had a lot of Germanpeople coming, and they talked to me about it and mentioned Fricka's question, too.They said, it is exactly what you wanted. There were a lot of layers of satire wethought up for Rheingold. In this situation she says, 'Is it of any use for jewels?' andthen she is weaseling down to her husband and says, 'Can I have the Cadillac and drive upto Tiffanys?' and he turns to her and bitches, 'Don't you know Tiffany is closed by 6:00on Thursdays', something like this. I am not putting you on. This is all in there. Youshould laugh. You should smile. It is entertainment. That is what I was looking for inthe Ring, too. Not sitting there as if ready for prayer, having the Ring bible and justbe serious about it. You have to get entertained and there I thought these supertitleswere of great, great help. This is only just one little example. The interesting fact isthat a couple of so-called sophisticated opera-goers from Germany came, and I got someletters from Germany, too. They said to me, 'Why not have supertitles in German, inWagner operas, in Munich and in Vienna, and you will see how little people know andhow much more they will enjoy it.' [Applause]

BYRON BELT Did ever a wrong cause have such eloquent spokespeople? No, actuallyin that Siegfried, even with the bad titles, I found out how little I knew about whatwas going on in Siegfried, too. There is a place for everything and everything in itsplace. We will let it go at that.

My admonition to keep no statements and questions brief has been taken care of by theclock. We will have two or three questions if you have them. If you will identifyyourself and state your question, please.

QUESTION My name is Terry Glaser. I am a stage director and a director of an operaconservatory in Arlington, Virginia. I do have a question and it just requires one sentenceof perspective. It is addressed to Maestro Sawallisch in particular. You mentioned thatdirectors and conductors are recreators and the composers are the creators. I wouldposit the position that it is all of us who are alive, who suffer and experience joy, whoare the only creators and the composers are just as much recreators as directors. It isthe artistry at that moment of recreation for composers and directors that distinguishesthe great from the ordinary. My question to you is, could you elaborate on productionsyou have seen in which the direction was not 'traditional', was innovative in someilluminating way, but that worked for you.

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I do not think that you must produce Wagner now with helmet and all this. But thegeneral line must be kept according to the musical sense by the stage director and, Iam sorry, I hate stage directors who are not able to read a piano score.

WOLFGANG SAWALLISCH I worked very closely with Wieland Wagner. I worked veryclosely with two German stage directors, Oscar Fritz Schuh and Giinther Rennert, verywell-known at the Metropolitan Opera, too. I felt that, for example, these three bigproducers of our day worked absolutely in the traditional sense, but with eyes of thetwentieth century, of 1960, '65, '70, with absolutely new ideas, without violating theoriginal idea by the composer and the librettist. I do not think that you must produceWagner now with helmet and all this, as Wagner has written in the score. But thegeneral line must be kept according to the musical sense by the stage director and, Iam sorry, I hate stage directors who are not able to read a piano score. [Applause]

'Dear Maestro, please can you go on forward. There is too much music between thetwo words.1

I remember, I did at La Scala in Milan a new production of the Ring and I had a verywell-known producer, and he had a small booklet, on the left side the German words, onthe right side the Italian translation, absolutely without music. Sometimes he asked,'Dear Maestro, please can you go on forward. There is too much music between thetwo words. [Laughter] I have two words here. Why is music in between? I do notunderstand.' 'Please, can you read the score?' 'No.' 'Oh, good.' [Laughter] In theend - and this is a true story - Ingrid Bjoner, the Briinnhilde, asked him about Grane,her horse Grane, the name given it by Richard Wagner. He asked Ingrid Bjoner, 'Whatis Grane? I can not understand. What shall I do with Grane?' You understand what Ifeel in such a situation.

EVELYN LEAR He must have been the director that I had in Firenze, when I did Lulu.He was a film director and had never heard Lulu, never heard the music, and he didnot understand the German text. So, he had his libretto, and I think Andy Foldi, whowas Sehigolch, helped him, because he only spoke Italian. Unfortunately, we had to dothis opera in Italian and if you can believe Lulu in Italian, it is really an experience. Hedid not understand any of what Berg was trying to do and he staged everything accordingto his Italian libretto. He said, 'Well, couldn't you move or go through this door?' Isaid, 'But there is music. Somebody else is singing.' 'Oh, well couldn't we wait?' Andhe asked the Maestro, it was Maestro Bartoletti, 'Couldn't we hold it?' At least M.Bartoletti could read the music and told him, 'No. I can not do this.' [Laughter]

WOLFGANG SAWALLISCH In the same production of the Ring, in Siegfried, I neededthe "Waldweben" in the second act, a good atmosphere on stage. This was the dyingFafner - in a garage. [Laughter] No wood, no forest, nothing on the left and rightside. Siegfried knocked on the garage. [Laughter] 'Who is it?' After the death ofFafner, he took his sword and dipped it in the blood of Fafner and then he took out ofhis jacket a five or six meter long red flag. [Laughter] He was swinging and waving thisflag for two or three minutes on stage. This was the reason I refused to conductGotterdammerung after the Siegfried. [Laughter and applause]

EVELYN LEAR This is the problem all of us face. It is no longer Mozart's Idomeneo,or Verdi's La Traviata. It is, just to mention and this is not any castigation about theseparticular directors, but it is Karajan's Rheingold or Zeffirelli's Traviata. It ceases tobe what the basic intention is, the work by a composer and a librettist, and we, the

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conductor, the artists, the director are all recreating the original intention of the personwho has created the piece.

WOLFGANG SAWALLISCH You can not be sure, but without music nobody will bringon stage a Trovatore. [Laughter]

EVELYN LEAR Or without singers. [Laughter]

BYRON BELT Or without directors. Let's face it. - We are being directed right thismoment. Tomorrow morning we have one of the gentlemen who will stir your blood,both pro and con. Peter Sellers is one of the most stimulating creatures in the business.That is at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I hope to see you all here then. Have agood evening.

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Saturday, November 2, 1985 - 9:00-10:00 a.m.

NEW FRONTIERS U

JOHN LUDWIG, Executive Director, National Institute for Music Theater - ModeratorJOHN EATON, Composer; Professor, School of Music, Indiana UniversityPETER SELLARS, Artistic Director, American National Theater, Kennedy Center for the

Performing Arts

KATHARINE O'NEIL Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a very lively panelto start off the morning session. It is my great pleasure to introduce you all to Mr.John Eaton, composer, professor, School of Music, Indiana University, and Mr. PeterSellars, the Artistic Director of the American National Theater at the Kennedy Centerin Washington. Mr. John Ludwig is the moderator and the session now goes to them.

JOHN LUDWIG Thank you. I first met John Eaton in a tacky storefront in a run-downsection of Minneapolis, where we were making some pretty sleazy pictures to illustratethe passion between Jocasta and Oedipus for an appropriately ill-fated piece we haddone or were in the process of doing. John was telling me about microtones and otherthings he works with to make his operas. These kinds of things prompted Andrew Porterto say, 'He is the most interesting opera composer writing in America today.' Andrewput his money where his mouth was by collaborating with John in his most recent work,The Tempest, just premiered in Santa Fe this past summer, and due for its secondperformance later at Indiana University, where John teaches.

This is an international conference and while John Eaton is claimed very warmly by theUnited States as one of its composers, his music has been featured in Italy at the VeniceFestival, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, RAI, in Germany the Hamburg Opera, France,England, Spain, Portugal, Czechoslovakia at the Prague Festival, Mexico, Peru, Brazil,Chile, Venezuela, the Soviet Union - an international musician.

Opera is an area in which John is particularly active and effective. When we weremeeting in that storefront in Minneapolis, he was telling me about a work he had recentlydone and left me a video tape of Myshkin, an opera for television. His other workshave been largely for the stage. They have been very demanding works such as Heracles,Danton and Robespierre, Cry of Clytaemnestra and for young people, Androcles and theLion, and his most recent work, The Tempest, based on Shakespeare and, as I said, witha libretto by Andrew Porter.

John has a number of questions in the back of his mind, but he is going to begin withsome comments on the kind of music he makes and why he makes it. [Applause]

There are three new frontiers that have engaged me as an opera composer. The firstis electronic music. The second one is the use of scales or notes outside of the chromaticscale. . . . The third . . . operas written especially for television . . . throughout musichistory and in Europe in general today, opera has always engaged the most adventurousideas of the most adventurous composers, the freshest, newest musical materials.

JOHN EATON There are three new frontiers that have engaged me as an opera composer.The first is electronic music. The second one I would like to talk about is the use ofscales or notes outside of the chromatic scale. That is, the notes represented by thewhite and black keys on the piano keyboard. The third I would like to talk just verybriefly about, operas written especially for television which use that medium in a creativeway.

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Banality, not relevance, tends to be the rule. Pat manipulative cliches or meaninglessrepetition rather than high invention is a standard [for American opera composers].

Before beginning, however, as an introductory remark, I would like to say that it seemsto me, throughout music history and in Europe in general today, opera has always engagedthe most adventurous ideas of the most adventurous composers, the freshest, newestmusical materials. In the dramatic context of opera these new materials can immediatelytake on human significance and relevance. It seems to me apparent, that Mozart wouldtry many things in his operas which later, in the realm of abstract music, would thenhave added relevance to them, again, as I say, in dramatic and human terms. Alas, thistends not to be true of American opera in general, although it certainly has changedgreatly in the last ten years or so. Without disparaging or even commenting on theworks that tend to be produced here, American composers who are generally performedare either ultraconservative, or cease being adventurous for some reason when they turnto opera. The medium that would elicit the freshest ideas in general from composers,in America tends to act instead as a damper on what they might ordinarily do. Banality,not relevance, tends to be the rule. Pat manipulative cliches or meaningless repetitionrather than high invention is a standard. Here we have in our possession a reallywonderful world of new musical techniques which have been developed since 1960, buthow little these are usually used in contemporary American opera scores.

At the head of the list of new techniques developed in this century is electronic music.

At the head of the list of new techniques developed in this century is electronic music.I am sure the average response of an opera-goer would be very different to the responseI got some years ago when I was just beginning to play synthesizers myself in Rome.Two friends had asked me if I would play the bridal chorus from Lohengrin at theirwedding. They were such good friends that I said, 'Well no, I can not possibly doanything as simple as that. I will write you a 'Here Comes the Bride1 for one pre-recorded electronic synthesizer and one which I play live.' So I circled the little churchof St. Bartholomew on the island in the Tiber with speakers, and there was a kind ofbell-like music, the festive music that circled the church; then I performed the weddingmarch with it. The priest at the church thought that this was absolutely marvelous, butthe choir director came rushing in and said, 'Stop! Stop! You can not play that music inthis church!' I said, 'Well, why not?' He said, 'Because God does not like electronicmusic' [Laughter] So I thought, 'This is my opportunity to really discover somethinghere', and so I said, 'What kind of music does God like?' The choir director said, 'Heonly likes Gregorian Chant.' [Laughter] Well, fortunately I had put in the music circlingthe church a little bit of Gregorian Chant and I pointed this out to him. He said, 'No',I thought very inaccurately actually, 'God only likes Gregorian Chant as you find it inthe Masses of Palestrina.' I looked at him and I said, 'God must have very narrowtaste', and without batting.an eyelash he looked back at me and said, 'God does.'[Laughter] In fact, my experience with the average opera-goer is that they do not havevery narrow taste. They are very excited when the music, which is very fresh andcharacteristic of the twentieth century in many ways, or at least the medium of electronicmusic, is incorporated into opera. It is after all as much a part of our time as 'StarWars', God save us, and anything which depends upon technology. As I say, it is insome ways the most important of the new means developed in this century for making music.

To be sure, there were hazards to be faced when just tape alone was used. I have thisconstant nightmare that keeps recurring, where an opera of mine is being performed andjust as the most intense moment is reached and the beautiful mezzo-soprano is about to

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. . . there were hazards to be faced when just tape alone was used. . . . But nowsynthesizers can be played in real time with the number of voices that practically anyonewould want to use, like any real instrument under a conductor's baton. . . . you can nowget a synthesizer from the cost of an upright piano . . .

expire, the tape breaks. There is nothing left. This actually did happen in a numberof performances. But whether the tape actually broke or not, the fact is, that tape asa medium is difficult to incorporate into a performance, because it is not easy to keepit subject to a conductor and to allow the real dynamics of the performance to developspontaneously. But now more sophisticated and complex synthesizers have been developed,synthesizers which can be played in real time with the number of voices that practicallyanyone would want to use, like any real instrument, or like any mechanical instrumentunder a conductor's baton. With miniaturization, the cost has gone down enormously,too. In fact, you can now get a synthesizer from the cost of an upright piano to that ofa good grand, depending upon what you need. It would fill almost any opera company'sneeds.

Now, second application of electronics or electronic music is to voices. Extending theirrange dynamically, dramatically and in terms of color by a host of various kinds of unitssuch as digital echo units, harmonizers, vocoders, imulators, and so on. The sound ofelectronic music is so special, that I have always used it for some special purpose inmy operas. For example, in my most recent opera, The Tempest, it is only used whenProspero is working his magic, or to extend the voice of his magic servant Ariel.

Every folk or vernacular music in the world uses microtones . . .

Turning to the second thing: the use of notes other than those found in the chromaticscale, although in western music it is relatively new, in the music of the world it isthe most prevalent kind of thing. Every folk or vernacular music in the world usesmicrotones, notes outside the range of twelve tone equal temperament. They are asnatural to the people who perform the music of southern India, or blues singers, orperformers of middle-eastern music as breathing. One of the great pioneers of twentiethcentury music, Edgar Varese, asked, 'Why must our music be confined to a prison cellof twelve bars when singers all over the world are using other intervals with great andvery natural effect. Imagine the gain one has in psychological nuance or control overdramatic rhythm that these other pitch inflections can afford.1

. . . singers have not had a difficult time learning microtonal music and my mierotonaloperas . . . The only time contemporary music is bad for voices is when singers do notknow it and are straining after pitches that they have not absorbed in their ear.

I would like to begin by clearing up a misconception right away. No composer turns tomicrotonal music because of the fact that he wants more dissonance. Really, what wesearch for is more consonance and that is incorporating closer intervals or closer notesto the members of the natural harmonic series - more consonance and a greater varietyand range of harmonic motion. My experience has been that singers have not had adifficult time learning microtonal music and my microtonal operas, and the highly chromaticones I wrote that immediately preceded them. We have now done five of them at IndianaUniversity with, in general, all student casts. There has been absolutely no problemwhatsoever in the singers learning this music. Generally, what I do is, first I give the

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singers a cassette to listen to the intervals they have to sing to absorb them by ear. Ithink the only time when contemporary music is bad for voices is when singers do notknow it and they are straining after pitches that they have not absorbed in their ear.Maybe I will comment more about that later. But after one or two coachings, the newmusic gets in their ears from listening to the cassette and, as I say, they can, generally,sing it very naturally. I have used two pianos tuned a quarter of a tone apart forcoachings and stage rehearsals, up to this point. However, in the future, with theaccuracy and cheapness of the new digital synthesizers - I noticed that the people fromKurzweil are here and that they have a room number 701. If any of you are interestedin pursuing this, it is very worthwhile going up and hearing what this remarkable instrumentcan do, which is mainly conceived along the lines of duplicating conventional instruments.That is, if you need a harpsichord or something, it can make it readily available, orsomething like a Yamaha DX7 can be bought, I think, for about $1,300. Instead of usingtwo pianos tuned a quarter of a tone apart, in the future I may turn simply to usingtwo synthesizers, because there you can also give the singers their cues in terms of theprecise orchestral color that they are going to hear, even though it is an equivalent andnot an exact replica, of course, of what happens in the orchestra. It will be close enoughto make that pitch identifiable when they get caught in the orchestral web, so to speak.

Finally, I want to talk just very briefly about the challenge of operas written especiallyfor television. Yesterday we heard some discussion about cooperation between variousopera companies. I think the one exciting adventure I have had in this area is anillustration of the way that opera companies can also cooperate with the local media.Of course, not only television, but radio, AM and FM, and things like closed circuittelevision, cable television, these are commonplace in educational institutions now.

We received a grant from the Public Broadcasting Corporation to do an opera, and thegrant was given jointly to the School of Music at Indiana University and to WTIU, thetelevision station. The result was an opera based on The Idiot of Dostoyevski. I beganwith an idea that would work best in terms of the medium itself, I thought. All of theaction takes place within the mind of Prince Myshkin, who is a central character ofthat novel, hence the name Myshkin. When he is in an irrational state, when he is inthe state of idiocy or having an epileptic fit, I have used electronic music. I have usedkinetic lighting sequences that take you within his very disordered mind. Otherwise Ihave used more conventional kinds of staging and an orchestra which is tuned in quartertones. The two kinds of music weave in and out of each other depending upon Myshkin'sstate of mind.

. . . television opera as an experience will never replace the experience of going to atheater and yet, I think, it is a very valid art form in itself . . .

Now, naturally, television opera as an experience will never replace the experience ofgoing to a theater and yet, I think, it is a very valid art form in itself, which extendsgreatly the audience for opera. Myshkin has been shown, I think, twice on nationaltelevision. It has been shown all over the world and has reached an audience of anestimated fifteen million people. This is probably more people than will see my stageworks in my entire lifetime. I think opera companies have new opportunities throughthe use of works created for television. I do not just mean shooting a stage performance,which does not really accept the challenge, for me, although again, it can be done verywell or very badly. But there is a potential audience out there for video cassettes.There is a potential audience for operas that use the medium of television in a creativeway. So, therefore, I believe that these new experiences can be used by opera companiesto reach a new audience, to reach and excite the audience that they have, and I willleave it at that. [Applause]

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JOHN LUDWIG John, thank you very much. John is certainly on a new frontier wherewe should want to join him. There may be some special significance furthermore in thefact that he is the only composer since Bach to be a double Aries.

Peter Sellars has directed all sorts of things, an enormous variety of works. Just lookingat the operatic work he has undertaken, works as diverse as Handel's Orlando, TheMikado of Gilbert and Sullivan and Der Ring des Nibelungen of you-know-who, but asone reporter observed, Mr. Sellars has little patience with traditional production styles.It is, therefore, important to note that this Orlando of Handel was set in Cape Canaveral,that The Mikado was done in a style best described perhaps as JAL modern, and DerRing des Nibelungen was given as a series of four forty-five minute segments withpuppets. Mr. Sellars has also done a lot of new work. The Lighthouse by Peter MaxwellDavies received its U.S. premiere under his direction at the Boston Shakespeare Company.He is working on rock videos with such artists as Herbie Hancock, and is now in theprocess of bringing into being a new opera by composer John Adams on the subject, aswe heard yesterday, of Richard Nixon in China which is, I gather, not really aboutRichard Nixon in China, but about other really more fundamental aspects of human life.

Peter, yesterday, there was a question from the floor to which, perhaps, you might react,as I know you had to be elsewhere working and did not hear it. We were asked by agentleman, why it was he perceived there to be more excitement to be found in the lobbyat the Brooklyn Academy of Music than in some of the other institutions further uptown,particularly, as in his view there was more substance offered by the works given in thesame uptown institutions than in some of the downtown institutions. To spite the impliedsuperiority of the uptown repertoire, the downtown scene seemed to be more full oflife. Do you have any notion as to why that might be?

. . . there is no substitute for a living composer. . . . We all have reached the point atwhich we say, 'My God, I wish I could have talked to Mozart about what this passagemeans here.1

PETER SELLARS Well, for one thing, because the creators are alive. I think the mainissue is that there is no substitute for a living composer. I mean, there just is not anysubstitute. We all have reached the point at which we finally say, 'My God, I wish Icould have talked to Mozart about what this passage means here.' Finally, you just say,•Couldn't somebody have taken Mussorgsky aside in the cloakroom last night and askedabout scene two of act two of Khovanshchina.1 You want to get closer to the work,because this thing called culture exists not to keep us at a distance from our lives, butto bring us closer, and our task is to come as close as we possibly can in our lifetime tothe fact that we are living right now. We are living at this moment. We did not liveone hundred years ago. We won't be living one hundred years from now, and the questionis, when it is all said and done, what will we have left, what will they look back at andsay, 'Oh, they did that.'

We are living at this moment. We did not live one hundred years ago. We won't beliving one hundred years from now, and the question is, what will they look back at andsay, 'Oh, they did that.' . . . Are we accomplishing as much as it is possible to accomplish,or are we not pushing ourselves to discover anything in our lives?

But more importantly than that, what are we doing for ourselves? Is this the life thatwe want to be living right now? Are we accomplishing as much as it is possible toaccomplish, or are we being lazy and not pushing ourselves to discover anything in our

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lives? Are we basing our lives upon things that we already know, or are we genuinelyinterested in finding out more about the world, because right now we live in a time thatis unprecedented in human history, a time of total information. We have complete accessto Egyptian mysteries at the same time as we have complete access to a TV commercialfor shampoo. All of these things are the scene right now, and we have to be in contactwith all of them and understand that at the moment our culture should be moving aheadfaster than ever before and in more depth and with more range, because there is somuch more to draw on.

How long will we satisfy ourselves with pseudo-events . . . we have to treat both livingand dead composers as if they were alive, instead we are treating now both living anddead composers as if they were dead.

Right now, the question is: Are we spending a lot of money to do things that areapproximately cultural, that are approximately what we want them to be? Last night'sKhovanshchina, at what level was it an approximation of the events or at what level wasit an event? How long will we satisfy ourselves with pseudo-events, with somethingthat pretends to be a living event in time, but which, in fact, is barely resuscitated withan attitude that, what we are working with is dead. I think the point is, that we haveto treat both living and dead composers as if they were alive, instead we are treatingnow both living and dead composers as if they were dead. The dead composers we donot want to hear from, and we do their operas as if, 'Oh well, may he rest in peace. Hecan not speak for himself so we might as well, you know1, instead of treating these piecesas if they were alive, and these people are our colleagues and our task is to see howalive we can make these pieces. Because our real task is, how alive can we makeourselves? How can we snap out of this sleepwalking that we live our lives in? And wedo. The purpose of art is, every once in a while, for a moment, to give us a momentof wakefulness. Plato was not the first person to pose the material world as a dream,a sleep.

. . . opera is the one art form which demands that a spiritual life exists, becauserealistically it does not make sense. People do not walk down the street singing and, yet,in a very profound sense, people do. We all come into the world with a small song. . . . Inthe most profound sense, opera is this undeniable indication that there is a spiritual life,and that a human being is more than what they look like, and that for once the maddening,numbing stupidity of materialism does not count.

What is so important about opera is, that it is the one art form which demands that aspiritual life exists, because realistically it does not make sense. People do not walkdown the street singing and, yet, in a very profound sense, people do. We all come intothe world with a small song- Maybe it will become a great aria. In the most profoundsense, opera is this undeniable indication that there is a spiritual life, and that a humanbeing is more than what they look like, and that fat people can fall in love and that foronce the maddening, numbing stupidity of materialism does not count. The sad thing is,that opera has become so much about selling the furs and the minks and the little dogsand the limousines, which is too bad, because it is not that. It is the least materialisticof art forms. It takes the most amount of money to do, but is completely evanescent.We all go to the supreme effort for something that vanishes immediately, and is aboutonly one thing, that we are alive at this moment and we feel that this is the mostimportant thing we could possibly do. Because, let's face it, if you are spending thisamount of money on opera, it better be important. You do not spend this amount ofmoney to redecorate the bathroom. It is a crucial function in one's life, and if we are

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going to prioritize it this way and devote more money to it than we devote to anythingelse, well, then it better be very, very important and it better be saying something thatwe really want to say and that needs saying and that can not get said otherwise.Because, if it is not expressing that inexpressible thing that we do not have any otherway of expressing in our lives, then what is it doing? Do we go to that amount oftrouble for window dressing? I hope not.

Right now one of the crises . . . is that everybody plays Mozart concertos 'espressivo'al l night long.

Right now the issue is not opera as a generalized wave of emotion, you know, afterforty-five minutes, 'Oh, that was pretty.' No, a composer goes to the trouble of makingan extremely exact score. Right now one of the crises in the total sellout of theclassical music scene is that everybody plays Mozart concertos 'espressivo' all night long.The point is, in the middle of the second movement there are two bars marked 'espressivo1

and at that moment it is allowed to melt, and not until. It is not just this generalizedlovely thing that we listen to in a swoon. There are ideas. There are different levelsof discourse. And right now, the issue is that opera is that complex, but because theofficial opera scene has lost track of living composers, because directors, conductors,were not in the room with living composers, we tend to think that there is less detailthan there is in a modern score. In fact, in a Mozart score there is as much detail,and preparing a Mozart opera is as hard as preparing Lulu, is as hard as preparing aJohn Eaton piece. The fact that the operatic world has been serving us for fifty yearssomething warmed over, that it is not that complex, is a scandal and is a crime againstMozart - to say that Mozart is simpler than what we are looking at now. The point is,in every period, every composer, every major composer has demanded a level of incrediblecomplexity on multiple levels. When did we last see an opera that was staged orconducted with any indication of that kind of emotional range, that the colors can changebar by bar? It is not enough just to get through the piece and make a big noise. Rightnow, a whole generation of singers is being trained that way and, more terrifying thanthat, a whole generation of audiences is being trained that way. An opera is somethingyou go to. It lasts a few hours and by the end you say, 'Well, that was something', andthere was no indication of what it was.

. . . music is the most specific, expressive tool in the world. It is more specific thanwords. It is more specific than visual rendering. . . . Therefore the people who arepresenting opera have to honor the composers whose names they are using to sell theirseasons . . .

The point is, that music is the most specific, expressive tool in the world. It is morespecific than words. It is more specific than visual rendering. It is that sense ofmusical exactitude that we need from our performers and from our public. Thereforethe people who are presenting opera have to honor the composers whose names they areusing to sell their seasons, the public whose money they are using to pay for their fellowartists' careers, whose future is in their hands, by aiming for a maximum level of ambitionin the production of old and new works simultaneously.

One of our great tragedies about the Brooklyn Academy of Music is, it's the ghettoizationof the avant-garde. All of that stuff is over there and, meanwhile, all of the other stuffis over here. It serves neither well. The point is that Philip Glass needs a context towrite better operas in. His operas are dramatically so staggeringly stupid, one does not

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One of our great tragedies is the ghettoization of the avant-garde.

know where to begin. Why? Because he has had to develop entirely outside of theoperatic tradition and that is a scandal. He has not been rubbing shoulders with Verdi;he has not been rubbing shoulders with Mozart. How would he know? Who would havetaken him aside to say that Verdi or Mozart are more interesting than that? Right nowwe have to honor our composers by producing the traditional repertoire in a way thatit inspires them to create more sophisticated pieces.

I do not accept productions which are high concept . . . We do not go to see thedirector. We do not go to see Madam so-and-so. . . . It is this notion that a bunch ofpeople, who have not met each other before, can come together and work together andcreate something which is a metaphorical and an actual representation of harmony.

Right now we are producing the traditional repertory in a way that would never inspireanyone to want to go and do anything but jump in the lake. There is no way in whichyou come away from it fired up to engage in a creative act, and that is a scandal. I mean,I do not accept productions which are high concept and, you know, the director haslarge ideas plastered all over the stage and says, 'See another idea, ladies and gentlemen.In five minutes we will have another big idea coming up.' No, that is not what I amtalking about. I am talking about a level of production in which nobody's idea is moreimportant than anyone else's. We do not go to see the director. We do not go to seeMadam so-and-so.

We go to see this astonishing thing that opera can do, in which the final result is moreimportant than any one person in the room. It is the most profound metaphor forgovernment that we have in human existence. It is this notion that a bunch of people,who have nothing in common and have not met each other before, can come togetherand somehow work together and create something which is a metaphorical and an actualrepresentation of harmony. As such, it is the most important art form that we canfoster for the health of our nations. It is not a trivial thing. It is absolutely centralto world history and to human well-being.

. . . 'Everything should be stated just as simply as possible and no simpler.1

Every time we cheat, every time - my favorite Einstein quote is, 'Everything should bestated just as simply as possible and no simpler.' [Laughter] Every time we cheat, andtry and make it a little simpler - we did not have enough orchestra rehearsal, you know,so we kind of get through the act, but that is that - every time we cheat, we cheatourselves. The reason some singers resist modern music is, because they can not engagein the same slovenly habits. If Verdi were alive today, he would have them by thethroats. He would say, 'Don't you dare behave in such a slovenly manner on my stage,during my opera.' Right now we have been stealing from the dead to abuse the living.[Laughter] I think that finally God's taste is the only point, and I am very happy thatJohn brought it up. [Laughter]

In opera, the only valid point is that for a moment we wake up out of this slumber ofour lives. Where we wake up every day and pretend to live a life, and pretend to talk toa bunch of people who are only pretending to talk, too, in opera, for a second we wakeup and we experience a moment of, yes, reality. Actuality. Not approximation, but

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. . . we wake up every day and pretend to live a life . . . in opera, for a second we wakeup and we experience a moment of, yes, reality.

actuality. The French actuality. The only thing art is about is for a moment saying, 'Iam alive at this minute' and for a second you sense with the greatest, most intensepossible depth-charge that you are alive, right now. You will never have this momentagain. Then the issue becomes the question, 'Is anything we are doing with our livesgood enough?' The answer is, of course, no, we are not good enough as people. We haveto be a lot better than we are. We are getting away with murder. We are gettingaway with murder as nations. The point of the performing arts is to say, 'Ladies andgentlemen, there are standards.' These are Olympics for human possiblities. You know,my mother can probably run the mile in a time that is good for her, but it is not Olympicstandard.

Our task is to give people some courage to say, 'Yes. It is possible to do more thanthe world tells us we are allowed to do.1

The point of opera is to set this colossal Olympic standard for human achievement, thisastonishing thing which they said could not be done. Miraculously, these people by dintof supreme effort and years of careful work, study, and practice, are somehow pullingit off. Our task is to give people some courage to say, 'Yes. It is possible to do morethan the world tells us we are allowed to do.' [Applause]

JOHN LUDWIG The loss to organized religion is incalculable. [Laughter] I am happy itis our gain. We have an extra five minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, the microphonesare there. You are exhorted to use them and if you line up, I will call you as youappear. Madame Allen.

I want to ask Mr. Eaton a question about instrumentation and the way one writes forsingers today. . . . Do you consider them and their limitations and their very real problemswhen facing this new music?

BETTY ALLEN I could not agree more with Mr. Eaton and Mr. Sellers. We have notdone enough. We have not set our standards high enough; however, there are peoplewho are trying. There are singers who are doing even more than one can possibly think.I think that it is wonderful to be experimental, to push our limits as far as possible, tobe exciting, to be different. However, I speak in defense of the singers. You know, weare always rather paranoid, because our only instrument is the body which you seestanding before you, as imperfect as it may be. Unfortunately, whenever we are attackedor criticized, we do not take it as well as when the Steinway is attacked or whenanother instrument is attacked. It becomes a personal diatribe which we are veryindignant about. I want to ask Mr. Eaton a question about instrumentation and the wayone writes for singers today. Do you have to be excessively careful of them? Do youconsider them and their limitations and their very real problems when facing this newmusic? Do you see a way that they can be trained, so that, when they do this newmusic, they do not become a cropper? So that their lives and their instruments andtheir reputations survive a downfall? I asked a similar question yesterday of anothercomposer, and I do not mean to pick on you personally, but I do want to know how youwork with singers. I do want to know what you think about the extremities and thelimitations which may have to be observed, when you are composing for them.

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JOHN EATON I would like to say that I have never written an operatic role withouthaving a specific voice in mind - a specific artist who would sing it. This has alwaysbeen my practice. I know what a specific singer can do and I take that very much intoaccount. However, the job as a composer is to realize a vision that you have whichhaunts you. You must do that. That is your first responsibility. So, we are alwaysstretching. We are stretching the capabilities of instruments, we are stretching thecapabilities of singers, we are stretching the capabilities of conductors, and we arestretching, hopefully, even the capabilities of the audience. I think this has always beenthe case in the history of music. John was pointing out to me a few minutes ago howthe first singer who did Tristan apparently expired several months after the firstperformance, and they put the blame at Wagner's doorstep. Mozart was blamed bysingers; Wagner was blamed by singers; Verdi was blamed by singers.

I certainly do not think that I stretched the human voice nearly as much as Wagner, ornearly as much as Verdi did, in terms of the singing technique of their day. You simplyhave a different kind of sound in your ear and you have got to realize that. What Ialways will do, if a singer asks me, is write optional notes. If they do not have high notes,I will give them lower notes. What does happen sometimes is that a singer will bemiscast, for instance in a part that calls for a very lyric soprano you find yourself witha dramatic soprano, or something of that kind. Then the composer really can not dovery much. That is all I have to say on that.

. . . Is opera intellectualized to such an extent that it has become a kind of barrier to alot of people?

QUESTION I am a singer. I wanted to ask Mr. Sellers a question. I have a feeling thatopera is intellectualized to such an extent that it has become a kind of barrier to a lotof people, opera people, potential opera fans, so that they can not really understand it.When I was about fifteen, I saw a production of Le Nozze di Figaro and when the Countkneels and says, 'Signora, pardona', I felt as if they were alone on stage. There wasnothing there but these two people, even though there were eight or ten other peoplearound. For me there was no set; there was no orchestra in the pit; it was just thisbeautiful, beautiful moment. I wanted to ask you, perhaps with today's avant-gardestagings of operas, aren't we in danger of taking away the essence of the music? I amnot saying it as did Louis B. Mayer, who said, 'If I want a message, I will call WesternUnion.' It is not a message we are looking for. Is it? It is a visceral feeling thatcomes from our hearts in opera. I wanted to ask you, aren't we perhaps talking aboutthe trappings of opera, when we are talking about modern staging today, and not reallythe essence and the feeling that opera should be expressing?

PETER SELLARS I think the question is more importantly addressed to our lives becausein opera it just produces a few bad opera stagings. In people's lives it is more serious,when they start to think that the intellectual faculties are separate from the facultiesof the heart. The point is, they have to be simultaneous and when they are not, what is it?

JOHN LUDW1G Are they that complex?

PETER SELLARS Ask yourself that in the bathroom mirror tonight. I really think thatevery moment in our lives is as complex as possible. I think we live complex lives. Ithink the human being is the most complex thing ever invented on the face of the earth,and those are the basic facts that we are given to work with. One either tries to honorthat complexity and begins to understand it, or one just says, we will accept a cardboardfacsimile. I must say, I do not wish to have any diatribe against singers in particular,

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The question is more importantly addressed to our lives . . . Every moment in our lives isas complex as possible . . .

because I learned everything I know from them. Fortunately, when I just got out ofcollege, I worked with a group of singers who really did teach me everything I knowabout music and my whole feeling about opera. They were willing to go as far aspossible, and it is a task for us now to be better. If we have more ideas, we also haveto have emotional generosity to go with them.

The purpose of the performing arts is to explain to the public that large issues, profound,moral issues are not abstract.

Again, as I said, I really do repudiate the director as star and a whole series ofproductions which pretend to be about something and are only these ideas glommed onall over the stage. That is not the point. The point is that people have lives and largeissues. I will tell you, the purpose of the performing arts is to explain to the publicthat large issues, profound, moral issues are not abstract. They are the most concretepossible things in the world. So, our task is fulfilled when the audience comes awaysaying, 'This was an idea that I have never understood before, and for the first time,though I did not understand it, I felt it.'

QUESTION I am Andrew Lundquist, and I have a question for Mr. Sellars. I would likeyou to address the situation that I find myself in frequently, in the upper balcony ofan unnamed opera house, in which you are looking into this vast, very dark space througha scrim.

PETER SELLARS I hate scrim. [Laughter and applause] I just want to get out mypen knife and run up on the stage and slash through it.

A. LUNDQUIST I look around the balcony and I find one-quarter to one-half of thepeople have fallen asleep. I say to myself as an educated musician, 'This is great artand this is beautiful and why is everybody sleeping? Why can't I see it?' [Laughterand applause] Then, when I speak with the stage director, he says, 'Well, the lightingdirector' and when I speak to the lighting director, the lighting director says, 'Well, thestage director.'

PETER SELLARS It is very simple. Everything is to be blamed on one person only, andthat is the stage director, always. The other people are just taking orders, but theproblem with the international opera scene frequently is, that they would be takingorders, but they do not meet often enough. So sometimes, they have to put up withthings on their own. The main situation there is this incredible thing of getting fartherand farther away from the work, and putting the public and the artists at arms distancefrom each other which is inexcusable. Opera is about human contact and the only thingthat one regrets about the balcony of the hall that you referred to, is that it is too largeby half, and that you experience in a European house, in one of the great Europeanhouses, the physical force striking you as it does at a rock concert. It is that level ofsheer energy transferal. Increasingly, in the big money opera world, the energy is appliedto banking and does not somehow make it to that crucial thing across the footlights.

QUESTION I am Don Edwards. As someone who must be surely the oldest person inthis room, because I heard Mary Garden and Lucrezia Bori, I have a question for Mr.Sellars. You have shed a most brilliant light on opera. I am a professor of English, so

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I know something about language. As a director, how do you serve the work and yourselfand live with yourself.

The director's job is parallel to the movement in certain religions . . . The ultimate goalis, one works as hard as one can work to hopefully achieve some kind of transcendencewhere one vanishes.

PETER SELLARS I will tell you. It is very simple and I feel very strongly about it.The director's job is parallel to the movement in certain religions in the world. Theultimate goal is disappearance. The ultimate goal is, one works as hard as one can workto hopefully achieve some kind of transcendence where one vanishes. That transcendenceis only achieved with a maximum amount of effort, but somehow when it occurs, it hasto appear effortless.

QUESTION My name is Jane Whitehill. I am a stage director. I have a practicalquestion for both panelists. The work that you are describing, where, how would you getit on? Mr. Sellers talked about the ghettoization of the avant-garde. I can see, ofcourse, the impulse that drives people to say, 'I can not go into the opera house. Theywill dilute it. The people who come to the opera house do not want to see it anyway.'You go into the opera house and who comes? What happens? Where do you do it? Whocan see it?

. . . wherever human beings can be human, opera can happen.

PETER SELLARS You do it wherever there are human beings. My attitude is, humanbeings will come, if they are human. [Laughter] I am very lucky. Next summer I am doinga new opera at Glyndebourne, The Electrification of the Soviet Union. They are givingme everything that I am asking for in terms of working conditions, just astonishing. It isa joy to work on it. Next year, Nixon in China will happen at the Houston Grand Opera,at the Kennedy Center and the Brooklyn Academy and, again, I have every workingcondition I could ask for. At the same time, each house has a public, because a publicis only attracted by quality. That is the only marketing.

JOHN EATON I am going to do a little dance around that question, if I can, by saying,one of the most natural and beautiful operatic experiences I ever had was watching mychildren play one day in the backyard. They said, 'I am the cowboy. You are theIndian. Dum-da-dum-da-dum.1 And they were off. They sang through the entire playexperience. In other words, wherever human beings can be human, opera can happen.

JOHN LUOWIG A terrific note on which to end this panel. Peter Sellers, John Eaton,thank you very much. [Applause]

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Saturday, November 2, 1985 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon

MOVERS OF OPERA HI

MARIA F. RICH, Executive Director, Central Opera Service - ModeratorJOHN O. CROSBY, General Director, Santa Fe OperaITALO GOMEZ, Artistic Director, Teatro La Fenice, VeniceLOTFI MANSOURI, General Director, Canadian Opera Company, TorontoGERARD MORTIER, Director, Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, BrusselsTHEA MUSGRAVE, Composer; Virginia Opera

MARIA RICH Before I address my panel members and this morning's subject, I would liketo ask your indulgence, for me to make a few personal remarks - if I may claim thisprivilege as the originator or coordinator of this symposium. First of all I am delightedto tell you that Bob Jacobson, who was going to moderate this session and who, as youknow, has been ill, is very much improved and on the mend. [Applause] He sends hisbest greetings to all, and I had to promise to give him a detailed report tomorrow.

My replacing him and being up here gives me the opportunity to thank him mostemphatically for his help in planning the conference, for his ideas and suggestions, andthe many times he was available when I would call on him, and we would sit togethertrying to unravel some suddenly arisen problem. I would also like to thank KatharineO'Neil, who approached me a year ago with the suggestion of planning a joint conferencein celebration of the Guild's anniversary - with the mandate of making it a smashing anda most memorable conference, of unprecedented international scope. [Applause] I thankher for her confidence, and her continuous support throughout the many stages ofpreparation - and I thank Palmer LeRoy for his help with so many tedious details.[Applause] He kept us on our toes with his periodic visits and questions of, 'Whoaccepted? Anyone cancelled?'

Turning to our own Central Opera Service, I am delighted to have this opportunity tointroduce to you the two new members on our staff. You may have met them atregistration and, although this is the first time that they have been working with me onour national conference and although this is the largest conference we have ever held- it was as if they had been doing this all their lives. Their untiring work, their goodspirits, their help in organizing and keeping registrations, reservations, speakers, delegatesand me in order, was no mean task. They have my sincere admiration and warmestthanks for a difficult task under pressure and I know they have your thanks also forthe efficient and smooth running of the meetings. [Applause] They are Cheryl Kempler,who has taken Jeanne's place, and you will also find her extremely knowledgeable in allmatters operatic when you call with your inquiries, and our newest and youngest staffmember, Lisa Reissig, who handled all your registrations and correspondence. [Applause]

As most of you know, COS is dependent on its volunteers and I am happy to be able toofficially recognize them on this occasion. Fritzi Bickhardt, our faithful volunteer oflongest standing, who keeps our opera files current, and who, together with Norma Litton,also keeps her watchful eyes on the endless pages of required proofreading; Egon Klein,who keeps our records on European seasons, and Gertrude Fellner who keeps our recordsin order. My sincerest thanks for the countless hours, for their selfless dedication duringthe years, and here at this conference, too. [Applause]

Last but not at all least my warmest feelings and deep gratitude to Margo Bindhardtand Robert Tobin, my truly ideal chairmen, who allow me a free hand, but are alwaysthere when help or advice is needed, with support and imaginative ideas in cases ofemergency or slightly less dramatic catastrophes. Please know how very much this isappreciated. [Applause]

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Now I must thank you, the audience, for helping me thank and celebrate these friendswho are so important to me and who all help to make COS a reality, and I ask you to letme add one more person, one more name, that of my husband, Martin Rich, who, withinfinite patience and good humor weathered my tribulations, nerves and frantic moods.I could not have come through these crazily hectic times without his loving comfort andencouragement. [Applause]

I have been very privileged to get a wonderful panel of very, very distinguished guestsand visitors. Without much discussion about topics - I think everybody will have acertain subject that they will want to respond to regarding what has been talked aboutbefore, and also what I had originally asked everyone to do: to speak about their primeconcern for opera today and for the future. I hope that we will get a lot of different ideas.

First on my left, is Signor Italo Gomez from La Fenice, in Venice. It has been a terribleimposition because we called him so late and he has been very, very kind and I doublyappreciate his coming specially from Venice for this conference. He is the ArtisticDirector of La Fenice, the Phoenix of Venice. He was born in Columbia, has studiedin Florence. He studied composition and cello and he started out as a cellist. He laterturned to administration and in 1967 founded the International Autumn Festival of Como.In 1977, he was chosen as consultant for musical activities for the whole Lombardyregion. The following year found him as artistic administrator for the Teatro alia Scalain Milan, a position he held only one year, because he was called to La Fenice as artisticdirector. He has created other festivals, and he has added to the program of La Fenice,the dance programs, Festival Venezia Danza Europa and the Teatro e Danza La Fenicedi Carolyn Carlson. They have become a very important part of the season at La Fenice.I think we will let him tell the rest of the story.

ITALO GOMEZ Thank you very much. First I want to apologize for my poor English. ButI think that when people speak about music all becomes very easy. I can use Italian,the universal language for opera, then if sometimes I can not explain my opinion abouttoday's theme in English, some Italian word can be said and I think you will understand.

I feel that my responsibility as artistic director of my own theater is to give the publicsome of what I perceive as important works, important in our time.

Well, this important symposium puts on the table the problem of opera organization, ofopera public, and a look at the possibilities for the future. That means that we needto speak about opera as one expression of contemporary art, not only as something thatcomes from the past. Then for composer, producer, manager and artistic director thefirst question is to be pertinent, to relate to our time. I was very pleased to hear beforeme some people speak about current trends. I feel that my responsibility as artisticdirector of my own theater is to give the public some of what I perceive as importantworks, important in our time.

For me, the first obligation of the manager or artistic director of an opera house is tolove and believe in his work. Sometimes people ask me how I chose one piece, how Iput together an opera season. My answer always is 'I must desire to see this piece inmy theater.' The first and foremost public for any artistic director must be he, himself.He must remain true to himself and be very sure in his work. If this is so, all thequestions involving an opera organization in today's world - political, financial, andartistic questions - all can be resolved, but he must be the first involved in chosing,casting and producing, in hearing or seeing the piece to be performed. It is hisresponsibility.

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Producing an opera means putting together into one physical structure a group of peoplecoming from different kinds of cultures and with different specializations, which, ofcourse, may condition their way of working.

The problem for a contemporary composer, if we speak about the present trends, is towrite the opera; the problem for the theater manager or artistic director is producingopera, choosing from the traditional repertoire in a new way that goes with today'scontemporary vision. I am convinced that this subject has different characteristics whenwe speak about European theater, and when we talk about American theater. Producingan opera means putting together into one physical structure a group of people comingfrom different kinds of cultures and with different specializations, which, of course, maycondition their way of working.

. . . American theaters and European theaters, or better, old and new theaters, have toface completely different problems.

In Europe in general, and in Italy and France especially, theaters have historical buildings,that is, they preserved the structure which was considered suitable for the eyes and earsof people two and three hundred years ago. We must work in these places. After thesecond World War, new theaters appeared in some European countries, but they almostalways were constructed in the same way as the earlier ones. In America, most of thetheaters, I think, have been built according to modern demands, or at least they havebeen built in this century. So, in my opinion, American theaters and European theaters,or better, old and new theaters, have to face completely different problems.

The first difference is in the audience capacity. In Europe, theaters have normally acapacity of one to two thousand people. In America, I think, it is usually from two tothree thousand people or more. It is clear that in Europe, if theater managers want abig audience, they are obliged more and more to look for alternative places, such as bigstadiums that can seat four or five thousand people, as for instance the Arena di Verona.

The second difference is in technology, that is, the opportunities offered by new stagetechnology. There is no problem in introducing new technology in a modern structure,but there are a lot of problems if you try to introduce it into an old building. Also, ithas been revealed that the historical dimensions give you very few possibilities. Anykind of expansion is like fighting against a mountain of physical or human possibilities.

They organized, in the same building, the casino, the game room and other more non-conventional activities. This means that opera performances were not a permanentactivity but seasonal, often allotted to special occasions. . . . there are repertoiretheaters which open their doors for performances three hundred and more times a year,and are obligated to chose standard productions, to satisfy everybody.

Keeping in mind these two clear differences, you might easily follow me in anotherprocess, which is very important for opera managers at this moment. The concept ofthe development of opera throughout the centuries is typically European. At the beginning,lyric opera addressed only a few people and very often it was organized and paid forby mecenate, patrons of the arts. In other cases, such as in Venice, my town, thetheater managers, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, were also involvedin other kinds of affairs through which they could take care and pay for the expenses of

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the opera. They organized, in the same building, the casino, the game room and othermore non-conventional activities. This means that opera performances were not apermanent activity but seasonal, often allotted to special occasions. Consequently, inthe course of this history, lyric theater was always a seasonal theater and, naturally,was very expensive even if the staff was seasonal. Today, the only word in operabusiness to define the situation about cost is terrific or, from the point of view ofeconomy, the word is absurdity. Opera is one absurdity. Trying to balance as much aspossible the situation, the theater manager is obligated to progam works with a long run,to equalize the ratio between cost, profit, and audience.

Now you may understand why, in Europe but also in America, there are repertoire theaterswhich open their doors for performances three hundred and more times a year, and whythey are obligated to chose standard productions, that is productions able to satisfyeverybody. But standard productions mean also less quality. For me, the real operafrom the beginning to today is the opera that introduces and follows an idea. Thismeans seasonal opera. Why? Because in the seasonal opera you can give your artists- singer, director, producer - time to think, to realize the best of their work, and givethis to the public. When you have a repertoire theater you have less time, more problems,and you must limit conditions more and more for your singers, producers, and conductors.

We have a budget of about twenty million dollars, which comes sixty percent from thecentral government, twenty percent from the local goverment, and twenty percent frompublic and private people. We divide this amount of money into three parts: fortypercent for staff, forty percent for artistic costs, and twenty percent for general costs.

I want to explain very fast, because the time is running out, about my work in Venicefrom five years ago to today. When I arrived at the Teatro La Fenice it was down,completely finished; it was in bad condition. Then we begin to reconstruct this theater ina new way. We have comparatively few people on the staff of the theater, only a totalof three hundred and fifty people. We have a budget of about twenty million dollars,which comes sixty percent from the central government, twenty percent from the localgoverment, and twenty percent from public and private people. We divide this amountof money into three parts: forty percent for staff, forty percent for artistic costs, andtwenty percent for general costs. I think this is the best division of a budget for operalirica. We produce about fourteen titles in the complete year. We do not have divisionsin the year, we run all year. There are fourteen titles in about ninety performances;about fifty performances of ballet, all contemporary ballet. We have two programs incontemporary dance; one is Carolyn Carlson, as you said before, and now we are planningto bring to Venice the group that has been here just now, Pina Bausch, in a joint programwith Paris and Wuppertal, and this will be a new experience for European producers,connecting three theaters in the same project. And then we also have about fiftysymphonic concerts and about thirty or forty chamber music concerts.

There are ninety opera performances; about fifty performances of contemporary ballet.. . . presented in two theaters, the Teatro La Fenice and the Teatro Malibran . . . We areon average giving three hundred performances in a stagione program . . . We are not onlyan opera theater, but also a concert theater, a dance theater, an avant-garde theater,a chamber music theater. . . . our obligation is to eliminate frontiers: there is only onemusic . . . Our business is music, it is not operatic or symphonic.

We present these kind of productions not only in one, but in two theaters, the TeatroLa Fenice and the Teatro Malibran, and this allows us to have a new kind of programming.

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We start one opera in La Fenice and when one opera starts we do not change from operato opera. We transfer our people and work in the other theater, and we start with theother opera in the second theater. While we go on with performances of the opera, inthe middle of the run, we play symphonic concerts and we give dance and we give alsochamber music. In this way, with very few people, we can produce a lot of things. Weare now on average giving three hundred performances, but not three hundred performancesof repertoire theater, but three hundred performances arranged in a stagione program.This is very important.

This is only possible if a theater is not only an opera theater, but is also a concerttheater, a dance theater, an avant-garde theater, a chamber music theater. This is veryimportant, because I think our obligation, now, is to eliminate frontiers. I am not atall pleased when I am called to speak about opera, and then I go to speak about symphonyand then about chamber music. There is only one music, and we must work in music.Our business is music, it is not operatic or symphonic. This is the way I work for fiveyears at Fenice. Normally, when planning a theater, the first thing is to work on thestage. It is easier, there is more to show when you invite the designer and producer.The orchestra is not news and it is more difficult to publicize an orchestra. Now, afterthe third year, we begin to have a good average, a good balance in this medium ofstage, orchestra and singer.

I now ask you, and myself also, why some American singers do not have the popularity,the famous names in America, they found in Europe?

The last thing that I want to speak about is singers. It was something that I wasthinking about today, I have a meeting to hear new voices and audition singers. I nowask you, and myself also, why some American singers do not have the popularity, thefamous names in America, and why they found this in Europe? There is something wrongin this, because at this moment, America is one of the more important places for voices.Here, there is a political use of the voice; your artists have to go to Europe first andthen come back to sing in America. Something like this happened with people in Europesome years ago. Italian people who arrived in America and then came back to Europe tobe famous. Now this is no longer a problem of the Europeans, but maybe it is anAmerican problem, because America does not use really its own strong voices that arecoming up more and more. This could maybe be discussed another time. I am sorry aboutmy English and I hope you could understand what was on my mind. [Applause]

MARIA RICH Thank you very much. That was most interesting. Your accent was verycharming and I think you were very well understood. - Next we will hear from GerardMortier, who comes to us from Brussels. He is the Director of the Theatre Royal dela Monnaie and the Bgjart Ballet. This is a similar situation to the one Signor Gomezwas just explaining of ballet and opera under the same roof. Something that, of course,London also has; and it is particularly interesting to hear about it from the two gentlemen.I just want to give you a very quick background. Mr. Mortier was born in Ghent,Belgium. He studied at the University of Ghent and mind you, he studied, and has degreesof Master of Law and of Mass-Media. The year he graduated he decided to go into thearts, and became Manager of the Flanders Festival. In 1971, he left for Germany to workas Artistic Manager with different companies. Beginning in '72, he worked for six yearsin Frankfurt with Christoph von Dohnanyi, who is now the conductor of the ClevelandOrchestra. He was Artistic Manager at the Frankfurt Opera and later at the HamburgState Opera for two seasons. In '78, he joined Rolf Liebermann as Artistic Manager forthe Paris Opera where he succeeded Joan Ingpen, who at that time came to the Met.In 1981, he was appointed General Manager of the Opera in Brussels, the position thathe holds now. He has also been nominated by Francois Mitterand, the French President,

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as a consultant for the project of the new French Opera de la Bastille. You may haveheard of the new opera house that is being built, that is in the planning stages now inParis and is supposed to open in 1989 for the two-hundredth anniversary of the FrenchRevolution. Monsieur Mortier. [Applause]

GERARD MORTIER Thank you for this introduction and I think it will be difficult forthe public this morning, because my English is not so much better than Italo's or evenworse I would say. [Laughter] I brought for that a dictionary, [Laughter] because if Iwant to be as clear as possible, and it is many times very difficult to speak about opera,which is a very difficult art, in a very simple but very clear way.

. . . when we are speaking about the next fifty years of opera, we can not simply reactto very important questions with small words.

To be honest, yesterday evening I was a little sad. Sad, because I thought there were alot of questions coming from the public yesterday, which were not considered well enough.You know, in Europe I am still considered a little bit an outsider among the operadirectors, but I think it was very important when I heard this morning Peter Sellers andItalo speaking. I subscribe to every word they said. I could stop at once, because theysaid everything that I think of opera in our time.

It is too simple to tell a composer, 'Send us your scenario, and we will have a look at it,and if you are realistic maybe you have a chance.' Can you believe what would havehappened if Richard Wagner would have sent his scenario dealing with dwarfs and giantsand dragons, [Laughter] and asking for an orchestra of one hundred musicians?

But it was too simple, I think, when we are speaking about opera for the future. It istoo simple, when a composer asks what he should do, to tell him, 'Well, send us yourlibretto, your scenario, and we will have a look at it, and if you are realistic maybeyou have a chance.' Can you believe what would have happened if Richard Wagnerwould have sent his scenario about dealing with dwarfs and giants and dragons, [Laughter]and asking for an orchestra of one hundred musicians? He knew, and so he built hisown opera house, and did not send his scenario. [Laughter and applause] I must tellthis, because I think this symposium is very important, when we are speaking about thenext fifty years of opera, and we can not simply react to very important questions withsmall words.

. . . I would say that there are more conductors who do not know about theater thanstage directors who do not know about music.

Another question, earlier, was about composers and stage directors. I must tell you thetruth, that it is always between stage directors and conductors. I worked very longwith Christoph von Dohnanyi, who is not only a conductor but a very big theater man.He proved that this summer with his Magic Flute in Cleveland. But I think that it isvery simple for conductors to tell stage directors that they do not know anything aboutmusic. I must tell you, that all the great stage directors I know, know very well apiano score, and I would say that there are more conductors who do not know abouttheater than stage directors who do not know about music. [Applause] It is veryimportant to state these facts so that we do not go on with this conventional beliefabout stage directors and about conductors.

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Even when we speak about composers, about the initial intention of the composer, dowe really know what it was? If you are listening to George Szell conducting Mozart,and then the same symphony conducted by Bruno Walter, you could think there weretwo different composers. In any case, both interpretations are very interesting. Thesame came to my mind yesterday when I saw Licia Albanese, and I thought of herTraviata we know so well, and that, when she sang it the first time on record withToscanini, a lot of people hated it, because they thought it was not the intention ofthe composer to do it this way. Therefore I thought that it would be very important togive the public a chance to ask these questions again.

. . . the performing arts means that there is communication. . . . at the end of thetwentieth century, we have, on one side, a century that has developed so muchcommunication . . . and, on the other side, we have never heard so much talk aboutloneliness of people.

So, if I could ask three questions, the first question would be, '.What happens today?What happens with the opera?1 We all say there is a big demand for opera, but weshould reflect a little bit, why there is this big demand. There is a reason for it. Itdoes not fall from heaven at once. Fifteen years ago, when I was a student at theuniversity, I was a very rare bird. Everybody was looking at me, that I went to the operato see Norma and to see Aida; that was something very strange. Now it is normal foryounger people to want to go to the opera. So, there is a reason why, suddenly, infifteen years, in America and in Europe, all the places are sold out. We should thinkabout this briefly before we start to think about the future of opera in the next fiftyyears. I think that opera is now in such big demand because it gives answers, it fills a lotof gaps in our society.

Theater is a form of religion . . . a form where ritual, cult, where some actions in aspecial form are again very important.

Let's see, what is this famous art that we call opera? The opera is, first of all, an artthat belongs to the performing arts and the performing arts means that there iscommunication. In the performing arts there is, on the one side, the performance and onthe other side the public. If there is no communication between public and performers,then there is no performing arts. Then the communication does not work. It is verytypical that this research concerning communication in the performing arts comes at amoment, at the end of the twentieth century, when we have, on one side, a century thathas developed so much communication: we have highways; we have airplanes that crashtogether more and more; we have telstar; we have telex; we have telephone. We hatethe telephone because it is so dreadful. It was one of the most beautiful inventions andwe do not know how to use it anymore. So, we have so much communication and, onthe other side, we have never heard so much talk about loneliness of people. I think, oneof the first reasons why people come back to the performing arts is because they findtheir way back to the community. I would say, the community is something differentfrom social life. If you are together here it is not a social event, it is an event ofthe community. And that is the first important thing.

The second point is that the opera is a form of theater. Let's think two minutes aboutwhat it means - theater. Theater is a form, and I will prove it with some examples, it isa form of cult. It is a form of religion and therefore I understood so well what PeterSellars was talking about. I think you have understood this very well, too. It is a formwhere ritual, cult, where some actions in a special form are again very important. We

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can see that in different examples. We have in the opera still the curtain; we have inthe opera the applause. All these elements are typical elements of a cult. The curtainis the veil and we are waiting for the curtain to rise. It is one of the most beautifulmoments in the opera, in the theater, when the public falls silent and waits for thecurtain to rise. And what is it waiting for? It is waiting for answers to the mystery oflife. It is as simple and as complex as that. Always in human life, the veil, the curtainhides, then reveals mysteries. It was the veil in the marriage, and now, when we makea statue, we unveil it. It is in a lot of religions that the curtain stands.

Applause. We know that the applause is a very old custom of people to drive away badghosts. It is still, and the more frenetic the applause, the more the community in thetheater has felt what happened on the stage, what it was all about, the mysteries thatthey have seen on the stage. That means, of course, that once we are standing in thattheater, it becomes a form of religion and of cult, and everything that happens in thetheater should be so considered. That has nothing to do with the intellect. That has todo only with feeling and with ourselves, and with, I was so pleased to hear it, with ourwhole spirituality and not only with materialism. It is for this, that we go to the opera.

My second point is that, in our life, we have lost a lot of formality. We are not formalanymore. In Europe we lost really what was formal, but we found it again. Again thetheater, the opera as a form of theater, brings us back to everything we have lost.

. . . music is one of the most important forms of communciation for the humanbeing. . . . We know also that singing begins when people want to say somethingimportant. . . . twenty years ago the people said, 'Oh, that is absolutely ridiculous, theopera. When they are dying, they are still singing.1 But now they speak completelydifferently. They say, 'They are dying while they are singing.'

A third point is that the opera is not only a performing art, it is a form of theater, a formof music theater. I think that music is one of the most important forms of communciationfor the human being. The example that Peter Sellars gave is one I always give. Whenthe baby is born, the first thing he is doing is singing, even if it is a cry. But in anycase, the whole music is based on what we have in our body. If music, if harmony, is fourto one in a classical measure, it is also because, if we are living in harmony, we havefour heart beats on one breath. Everything goes together. We know, we do not hearit anymore in our big cities, we know Pythagoras has spoken about music living in thecosmos. You know, there were a lot of theories that were developed that everything hasa harmony, and if you want good acoustics in an architectual space you will always havegood architecture if it is based on the principles of the golden mean.

In music, what is the most simple and direct expression of music is singing. And it isthe singing that is maybe the most emotional communication by human beings. We shouldnever forget that the only God and the only one among artists who have shown us this,was the singer Orpheus. We forget that. It was only by singing that Orpheus couldbring back his girl Eurydice. That means, when mythology stands up in a society, it isbecause it has a great meaning, and therefore we have created the myth of Orpheus, totell how important singing is in human beings.

We know also that singing begins when people want to say something important. If wewould do the whole conference singing, we should maybe talk less and say more. [Laughter]It is very significant that people are singing in the important moments of life, when thereis a marriage, when somebody is dying. It is very strange that twenty years ago when Iwent to the university, the people said, 'Oh, that is absolutely ridiculous, the opera.When they are dying, they are still singing.' But now they speak completely differently.

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They say, 'They are dying while they are singing.' The dying in our society is so clinicalthat you find back to what dying can be in the opera. Because singing can only expresssome very important things in the human life, the opera will always talk about love anddeath, which are the most important things in our life.

On the second question I will only say very quickly - what could happen. The opera isa very young art. We forget it many times. The opera is only five-hundred years old.Music and dancing and acting are as old as human beings, but the opera is a very youngart. It started at the beginning of the cultural civilization we now call modern times,which started in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The modern times meant thatthe economic level was settled by the general use of money instead of the exchange ofgoods. The change on the political level was the parliamentary democracy replacingabsolutism, and on the cultural level it was the sciences. You will see that the operahas exactly the same components. The opera needs a lot of money, it is not somethingwith which you can make a profit. Into the opera houses you bring all the social classesof the parliamentary democracy. And opera has a music form for which you need a lotof knowledge. In any case, we see first of all that the opera is a form of art tied toa certain period of civilization in human beings.

. . . the Greek tragedy, nobody writes anymore a Greek tragedy, but it is still somethingvery pertinent. It could be that there is a period where we will not write any moreoperas, but where opera will still have something very pertinent to tell about us. . . . weshould think of it when we are discussing the next fifty years, that the opera could bethe testament of our civilization.

That brings us to the next point. It could be that when this civilization is going awayand we change into another one - and we can be sure that this will happen, it wouldbe crazy to think that the civilization of the Egyptians, which lasted three thousandyears and disappeared, that we, our civilization, should live for eternity - it could bethat in a next civilization the opera will no longer be a form of communication for artists.I want to say that this is not negative, because you know, the Greek tragedy, nobodywrites anymore a Greek tragedy, but it is still something very pertinent. It could bethat there is a period where we will not write any more operas, but where opera willstill have something very pertinent to tell about us.

I will finish the second question by telling you that maybe the opera, and we should thinkof it when we are discussing the next fifty years, that the opera could be the testamentof our civilization. With testament I mean something very positive. A testament is togive what you have built up to other people. You must think of the Bible and Jacob andhis child to know what it can mean, a testament. In doing opera in the next fifty years,we should think of that, we should create such good works in the future, so that in twothousand years from now maybe when people are listening to Don Giovanni or to anotherMozart or Verdi opera, that they will know about us. That the same thing happens asit does now when we see a cathedral or cloister and what we feel about the medievalperiod, or when we see the pyramids in Egypt and it tells us about that culture, or whenwe see a Greek tragedy that we learn about the Greeks. Then, I hope, that the operawill be a testament of our civilization, because all the arts of our civilization are in it.

So, to conclude, I would say that we should work for the next fifty years on threepoints. We should work, first of all, on the education, general education in the schools,and I know that there is a lot more happening in the States than in Europe, but also onthe specific education, and here I look to all the people who are working with singers.But we need much more than only working with singers. We need schools for painters.We do not find anymore painters in Europe to have scenery painted. There are only,

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and Italo can tell you, in Italy there are three painters living, and if I must have abeautiful painting in Belgium, I must ask a painter in Rome to make it. So, in a periodwhere we have so much unemployment, I do not understand why the government is notthinking of all these employment opportunities that could be found in the theater.

The second thing we should do is always confirm the modernity of the opera. I mustnot speak about that, because Peter Sellars has told you exactly what is the modernityof opera. The opera was always pertinent. We should not 'reactualize' an opera. DonGiovanni was always pertinent to every period in which it was played. In another stylemaybe, but it was always pertinent. All people who live will feel it.

The last point that I am going to make concerns economics. We spoke a lot about moneyyesterday and about the money we need for the opera. In a civilization, we have threesystems and we must defend this idea. We have the economic system, which makes therules for the goods, the production of the goods, and the changing, the interchanging ofthe goods. We have the political or the legal system, which rules the relationshipsbetween human beings. And we have the cultural system, that combines all the individualtalents to form the basis for the whole society.

. . . the three systems . . . Fraternity in the economic system, egality in the politicalsystem, and liberty in the cultural system. . . . when a civilization does not accept thatthese three systems must live in harmony with each other, then the civilization mustdisappear. It is our only argument, that no political system and no economic systemmust ever be allowed to cut down the cultural system, because this is suicide for thecivilization.

It is clear that when you are speaking about three great ideas of the French Revolution,on the one side fraternity, on the other side egality and liberty, we do not understand atall what it means. When you put them into the three systems, then you know exactlywhat it means: Fraternity in the economic system, egality in the political system, andliberty in the cultural system. It means also that when a government, and we have thesame problems in Europe and I am defending it everyday, when a civilization does notaccept that these three systems must live in harmony with each other, then the civilizationmust disappear. It is our only argument, that no political system and no economic systemmust ever be allowed to cut down the cultural system, because this is suicide for thecivilization.

Excuse me, I could not speak shorter. I wanted to say something. Thank you forlistening. [Applause]

MARIA RICH You have given us a great deal of material for thought. It was awonderful presentation and I thank you very much. There was a lot of philosophy, and Iam afraid that we will not have the time to go into all the details, but I do knoweverybody is going to leave here with new ideas and fresh inspirations. Thank you so much.

For our next speaker I would like to call on John Crosby, who, as you know, is thefounder and General Director of the Santa Fe Opera. He is also chief conductor. Hecreated this festival in 1957 and anybody who has been out there will remember thebeautiful setting that he has found for the theater and the lovely theater itself. Withouta backdrop, you watch the sunset and the Sangre di Christo mountains coming up, theirsilhouettes instead of a backdrop for the theater. The design itself is a wonderful andvery original one. The repertoire is another thing that is particularly outstanding. Wewill hear more from Mr. Crosby about it, about the mixture of new and standard andrarely performed works. There are either some world premieres or American premieres

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almost in every season. This past year, in fact, there was a world premiere and anAmerican premiere. It is a very ambitious program. I will make it a brief introduction.Mr. Crosby was born in Bronxville. He studied at Hotchkiss and graduated from YaleUniversity. He received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Cleveland Instituteof Music and from the College of Santa Fe, an Honorary Doctor of Letters from theUniversity of New Mexico. I would like to add that he is, since 1976, the President ofthe Manhattan School of Music here in New York, and from 1975-79 he served as Presidentof Opera America. Mr. Crosby. [Applause]

JOHN CROSBY Thank you very much. I have been listening to our colleagues withvery great interest and I would like to perhaps try to express my reaction or highlightsome of the remarks that they made.

I think we in the United States, if we translate the economy of the Teatro La Feniceas expressed by Mr. Gomez, should realize that there would no longer be any need forfund drives, and ticket prices for operas could be cut in half of what they are now.That would give a tremendous opportunity to the management of opera to be far moreexperimental than it, perhaps, can be in many situations in the United States, because ofthe forces of our economics. Mr. Mortier has given us a very beautiful example in hisreference to liberty, 6galite and fraternity, and the vital importance of the arts andculture.

. . . what right do we have here in the twentieth century to enjoy the fruits of the artsof the ancient world . . . unless we also make a contribution to the arts of our owncentury. I think that that is a perception that we must address today.

I would like to fall back on an argument that I have used on other occasions, which isvery basic to my own thinking, and that is, what right do we have here in the twentiethcentury to enjoy the fruits of the arts of the ancient world, of ancient China, of ancientEgypt, of the Renaissance, and of other times unless we also make a contribution to thearts of our own century. I think that that is a perception that we must address today.

If you will permit me, I will give you a few examples of the arithmetic and the art ofthe Santa Fe Opera. The arithmetic is that it costs about five million dollars a yearto operate the Santa Fe Opera. By operating the Santa Fe Opera, I refer to producingonly five different operas every summer for a total of only thirty-five performances ina period as brief as eight-and-one-half weeks. The Santa Fe Opera does operate atraining program for young singers, which, although representing a key element in itsactivity, is not the reason that the Santa Fe Opera exists, but the operation of thatprogram does consume quite a bit of our effort financially and administratively insofaras approximately one thousand young singers apply for that program and about eighthundred are auditioned across the country from Boston to San Francisco, and of theeight hundred who audition about forty are accepted for the program.

The opera company is somewhat unusual in the United States insofar as it owns andoperates its physical plant. Since it is in a rather remote part of the country and quite abit away from the center of its home town, by operating its own plant it also does suchthings as operate its own water system, its own sewage disposal system, its own motorpool, in fact the only utility that is delivered to the premises is electric power. So wehave a few special activities to undertake that are slightly unusual.

It would not make very much sense to try to operate a museum of opera in a smallmountain town in northern New Mexico. Therefore the Santa Fe Opera has tried to be abit experimental in its past twenty-nine years of operation. In the course of being

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. . . the Santa Fe Opera has tried to be a bit experimental in its past twenty-nine yearsof operation. In the course of being experimental, it has probably forfeited substantialearned revenue . . .

experimental, it has probably forfeited substantial earned revenue, and it has shoulderedthe exceptional costs of producing premieres or producing little-known operas, where youcan not fall back on sources of rental costumes and where a great deal of administrativetime must be devoted to searching out the intricacies and coping with the productionproblems of brand new musical material. However, it seemed to be a natural course forthat company to follow, and the company has developed a very loyal audience and, I think,a loyal group of contributors who are keenly concerned that the company continues thatpolicy. More specifically, of the five operas presented at Santa Fe every summer, onlytwo are from what we might call the standard repertory, and three are from the definitelynon-standard repertory. One of those three is usually a world premiere or an Americanpremiere and the other two of those three are operas that have sat on the shelves oflibraries for a long time and not been produced. That sounds rather exciting, but comingback to basics, the two popular operas account for at least twenty of the thirty-fiveperformances, so that the three unpopular operas obviously can only play about fivetimes each. And that is in a theater that contains less than two thousand seats, atheater that is much more along the lines of a European theater with about eighteenhundred seats.

Under this formula, the total annual operating expenses of the company, which I mentionedwere about five million dollars, are generated approximately fifty percent from earnedrevenues. A little bit less right now, but in round numbers two and one-half million.The other fifty percent is unearned revenues and of those unearned revenues, federal,state and local government support counts for less than five percent. Most of theunearned revenues come from the contributions of private individuals and a very smallamount, a little over five percent, comes from the corporate sector. But, of course,there aren't any large corporations in Santa Fe, so that source of funding is really notvery readily available to that particular opera company.

. . . the Santa Fe Opera may prove to become a key test case in the United States, asto whether our kind of repertory can be sustained over a long period of time. . . . 'Canan opera company with a repertoire such as Santa Fe continue in the United States or canit not?' . . . There are three alternatives.

Where are we going? It is very difficult for me to say. I think that the Santa Fe Operamay prove to become a key test case in the United States, as to whether this kind ofrepertory can be sustained over a long period of time. I think we will see the answerscoming out in the next twenty-four to thirty-six months. I would not have made suchremarks five or ten years ago. I do not like having to think about those things now, butto me, the handwriting is on the wall, and we are going to come down to having to bitethe bullet on that question which will be, 'Can an opera company with a repertoire suchas Santa Fe continue in the United States or can it not?' There are three alternatives.One alternative is to continue. Another alternative is to stop, period. A third alternativeis to turn around one hundred and eighty degrees, cut costs as greatly as possible andproduce just a few operas, all of which can play to sold out houses, and thereby increasingearned revenue materially.

What, perhaps, we fail to recognize at times is the growth of the performing arts inthis country over the past thirty years and what some of the birth pangs of that growth

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But truly, how secure is that [greatly increased] activity and to what degree have theleaders of those activities been forced into positions where gambling on artistic repertoireis simply not possible?

really represent. Thirty years ago, there was practically no activity in classical music,in opera, in the summer time in the United States of America. Thirty years ago, I thinkthat the total operation of the San Francisco Opera was approximately a six-week seasonin the fall. I do not think that there was any Spring Opera. There was no summerseason. There was no Western Opera. There was not a major fall season as there is now,of some three to four months length. There was no opera in Seattle, the way we knowit now. There was no opera in San Diego. We are just looking at the West Coast inthat analysis. If you continue eastward, I believe that thirty years ago, perhaps, twooperas were performed in Houston for a total of two performances each in a season.The Houston Grand Opera now presents a major season and is a full year activity. Youcan come on back further east through St. Louis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Washington,Baltimore, and think of what was not happening thirty years ago and what is happeningtoday, and you see a great, great deal of activity. But truly, how secure is that activityand to what degree have the leaders of those activities been forced into positions wheregambling on artistic repertoire is simply not possible?

What does it mean for the United States, as we move into the twenty-first century, ifwe have to be entirely dependent upon a very narrow and limited popular repertoire?

What does it mean for the United States, as we move into the twenty-first century, ifwe have to be entirely dependent upon a very narrow and limited popular repertoire?What does that really mean for the future of opera? I think it is a very, very seriousconsideration to which we have to direct our attention. I am entirely sympathetic withmy colleagues producing opera in the United States, who are pinned against the wall inthe budget problem, and where the subject of a second dress rehearsal with an orchestrais simply out of the question, financially. When it comes down to selecting a repertoire,a board of directors has to insist upon the most popular fare in order to keep theoperation running. I think when we are in that situation, we are heading for trouble.Thank you very much. [Applause]

MARIA RICH Thank you Mr. Crosby. It is rather an ominous picture, a bit frightening,that you are talking about. Ardis yesterday seemed more optimistic and let's hope thatyour cautious, shall we say cautious pessimism, does not become a reality. The repertoire,generally speaking, has been greatly increased throughout the country. We have hadmore and different works performed. I would like to get into music theater at somepoint, but I think we should continue at the moment.

Next, I would like to call on Lotfi Mansouri, from Toronto, an old friend of all of us. Heis the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company, a position that he assumedin 1976. Born in Iran, he studied in California, at the University of California in LosAngeles. I doubt that many of you know that he also studied with Lotte Lehmann atthe Music Academy of the West and was almost on his way to becoming a successfultenor. But he turned to administration and particularly to stage direction, and, of course,is a leading international stage director. I can't enumerate all his credits and the placeswhere he has staged performances. He started as a resident stage director in Zurichin 1960, was then invited by San Francisco where he has staged a total of thirty-oneproductions. In '66, he became stage director of the Grand Theatre de Geneve. Healso established there a studio for young singers with Herbert Graf and a lot of young

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American singers received their training at that studio. He made his Metropolitan Operadebut in 1976, and has staged opera throughout the United States with every one of themajor companies. He went to Australia, Stratford, Rio de Janeiro. He has been a verybusy man, travelling a lot, besides taking care of his own company, which has been mostsuccessful and has greatly expanded its activities. He will also tell us about a programthat he has for young artists. This current season, if I may jump the gun on him, heopened with Hamlet with Joan Sutherland, a production that he staged, he producedhimself. There was a very nice story attached to it. May I tell it?

LOTFI MANSOURI Please do. Especially after Mr. Sellars1 affection for scrims, it isquite appropriate. [Laughter]

MARIA RICH There was a scrim and apparently Joan took one look at it and was notquite happy with it. Lotfi said, 'Oh, but it will make you look so beautiful. It is softlighting.1 She said, 'If you want me to look like a sixteen-year-old you better put upburlap.' [Laughter] With that I give you Lotfi Mansouri. [Applause]

LOTFI MANSOURI Thank you very much. Actually, I had borrowed the idea from theHollywood films. Whenever they wanted to photograph Marlene Dietrich or Lucille Ballin her last picture, Mame, they put her behind layers and layers of gauze and she lookedabsolutely ravishing. That was my whole motivation for Miss Sutherland, but she didnot appreciate it. Actually before that introduction, I was going to apologize for myCanadian accent, like my colleagues. [Laughter]

We are a kind of combination of the European model and the UJS. model, because part ofour total budget comes from three levels of government . . . Of our annual budget ofclose to thirteen million, about two and one-half million had to be raised from privatefunds, from corporations, from foundations . . . Total subsidy is rather conducive tolethargy, and may turn them a little complacent. For them, when the curtain comes up, itis not a matter of life and death - for us it is.

Contrary to some beliefs in the United States, Canada is not the fifty-first State of theUnited States. [Laughter] It is a country north of the United States and it is, I think,one tenth the population. I think what I will try to, perhaps, give you a little bit ofa picture of the unique way opera is produced in Canada, and the way that our companiesare run, to put a little perspective on it.

We are a kind of combination of the European model and the U.S. model, because part ofour total budget comes from three levels of government, from the Federal, the Provincaland the Municipal government. That all adds up to, usually, somewhere between twenty-five to twenty-seven percent of our total budget depending on their generosity. Ourbox-office receipts usually account for about forty-five to about forty-eight percent ofour budget, and the rest then has to be raised by fund-drives. Of our annual budget ofclose to thirteen million this year, about two and one-half million had to be raised fromprivate funds, from corporations, from foundations, and it is not the way it is in theUnited States. There is a very special topic that, I hope some day, perhaps CentralOpera Service would pick as a discussion: What is better? Is it better total governmentsubsidy? Is it better total private support of the arts or, as I personally believe, acombination. Because having worked in many European houses, I found that some ofthis concept of total subsidy is rather conducive to lethargy, and may turn them a littlecomplacent. For them, when the curtain comes up, it is not a matter of life and death- for us it is. If one performance fails, if we do not have our audience in those seats,we are just sunk.

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Regarding our own budget, my board gives me the mandate, for example, this year'stotal budget for the entire year is based on ninety-percent attendance of a house of3,200. When you are doing that, it would be very, very difficult to try to take some kindof a risk and to have a world premiere, an unknown commodity or, perhaps, to have avery, very strong avant-garde style of production. It sometimes forces you into a cornerof trying to play it safe, which is a point my very dear friend John Crosby just broughtup. But what we do in Toronto, we have about seven major productions which arespread throughout the year. Our season starts about the middle of September and goesto about June, and so you say that, perhaps, it is a stagione form of performances.

We have also a smaller touring branch of the company, that used to travel all acrossCanada until all the different regions developed their own opera companies. There areopera companies now in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, even Hamilton, whichis forty-five kilometers from Toronto. So that touring company that had really no morepurpose to serve, goes now only through the Province of Ontario. We have a residentensemble which is again a kind of combination of the principle of the European modelsand the models of the United States. The training aspect is more like the Americanmodels, where singers get a great deal of training in their theatrical principles, in theirdiction, in their body movement and in musical styles. They realize that you can notsing Verdi the way you would sing Mozart, or Wagner, and so on. But at the same timethey are under a full year's contract and they do perform parts in the main season.They tour across the province and they do a great deal of what we call communitywork; they are ambassadors.

In Canada, what is exciting is the fact that we are in a position of pioneers. Operais new. . . . So there are endless opportunities of producing new repertory; evenMeistersinger can be considered as new repertoire.

In Canada, what is exciting is the fact that we are in a position of pioneers. Opera isnew. The Canadian Opera Company this year celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary.The Hamlet, which Maria was referring to, the opening night was actually supposed tobe the thousandth performance of the Canadian Opera Company. We have some telecasts,and we have all of our productions broadcast on the radio, which I think some of you inthe United States might have heard.

We try to balance our repertoire as much as we can between the traditional pieces, suchas the Aidas and the Butterflys and the Bohemes, and every year we have at least oneor two twentieth century works, things like The Rake's Progress. Sometimes peopleforget that Canada is not in the United States. When we got the rights to the three-act Lulu after my esteemed colleague Mr. Crosby did the American premiere, I got acall from the Metropolitan Opera saying, 'Mr. Mansouri, I am sorry you can not do that,because after Santa Fe we have the American rights.' I said, 'Yes, but I am in Canada.'[Laughter] That part of it we sometimes have to fight for, and at the same time it is avery exciting situation. Like this year, we produced, for the very first time, would youbelieve, our first Meistersinger in Canada. So there are endless opportunities of producingnew repertory; even Meistersinger can be considered as new repertoire. Out of theseven or eight productions that we do in a year, quite a few of them are really for thefirst time in Toronto or in Canada. As I recall, even Hamlet had not been previouslyproduced in Canada. I think we did the first Tristan; we did the first Peter Grimes,Death in Venice and things like that. It is wonderful to be in a position where everythingis practically new.

I have to say this. After all the discussions yesterday and today, I am the guilty partythat started the whole process of surtitles. [Laughter and applause] I happen to believe

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I am the guilty party that started the whole process of surtitles. I happen to believethat opera is music theater, and the basic rule of theater is communication.

that opera is music theater, as all my colleagues do, and the basic rule of theater iscommunication. I am very, very simplistic. I can not go into the philosophical,psychological, sociological discussions of opera, but I can tell you that I think operasshould communicate and that we are doing it for our public. I went to Khovanshchinalast night and I saw everyone around me, basically, falling asleep. It is a beautifulpiece, beautiful opera, and I desperately wanted it to have some surtitles. All thisvariety of characters and conflicts and interrelationships, I doubt if about eighty percentof that public really knew what was going on.

As a stage director, I think the reason I came into the process of the surtitles was outof sheer frustration, because you spend hours and perhaps days in rehearsals trying towork on nuances, trying to work on motivations, tri-character relationships, all the reallybasic rules of the theater, and then you play it in front of the public and nothing ishappening. There is no communication. There is not that kind of sense of live theater.There is always a distance. They are sitting there. Of course, opera having startedin North America with private source support, it had this terrible elitist kind of animage, and there was this lack of communication.

As a stage director, I was very frustrated. We were planning to do the Coronation ofPoppea, which is one of the greatest masterpieces ever created, and the text is sobeautiful. It is such a wonderful, wonderful piece of music theater. Here we werekilling ourselves and I said, 'Well, probably at least eighty or ninety percent of theaudience will not know what the hell we were talking about.' So, my conductor said,'Why don't you play the performance with house lights half up, and then they can readthe libretto.' Now, that is an insult to any stage director. [Laughter] I was watchingtelevision and my wife, who hates Wagner, was watching The Ring of Patrice Chereau,and she said, 'You know for the first time I really like this, because I know what isgoing on.' That was it. If they can do it on television why not do it in theater. Westarted it with Elektra. I am delighted, within just three years of its inception, I sawfrom the wonderfully correct list published by COS, that about eighty-three companiesin North America are using it. We also went to Australia and installed it for theAustralian Opera. Some of my colleagues in Germany are going to use it next year.

. . . from attending these kind of panels, yesterday and today, we do get new ideas orinsights. What is wonderful about opera is its diversity. . . . All of us get out of it whatwe want. Thank God that there are so many views of opera. . . . Any art form withoutthe process of rejuvenation will die.

So, this is a nice situation and I am delighted to be in Canada. It has that sense ofpioneering. I had some letters from my colleagues from Europe, one of them was HaroldRosenthal, the Editor of Opera magazine from London. He called it the plague fromCanada. [Laughter] I wrote him and I said, 'Yes, I completely understand that Londonor England does not need this device, because they are so beautifully educated and theyhave such wonderful tradition. [Laughter] Unfortunately we do not. We are justbeginners and we are adolescents in this field. Please let us have our learning period.'And that is what it is all about.

I do not want to take too much more time, but I wanted to give you a couple of myimpressions about opera, because, you know, from attending these kind of panels, yesterday

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and today, we do get new ideas or insights. What is wonderful about opera, and thisis something that we should never, never loose sight of, is its diversity. Mr. Sellarswas saying that music is specific. I happen to think opera is not really specific, becauseit depends on the emotional framework, the psychological, sociological, whatever else,from which you come. All of us get out of it what we want. Thank God that there areso many views of opera. I am delighted to hear this. Opera needs people like Mr.Sellars, because if they were not like him, the field would not be rejuvenated. Any artform without the process of rejuvenation will die. I have seen productions of Barberof Seville done by theatrical geniuses, and I have seen it done by hacks and traffic cops.I saw one in Germany once where the entire set was a torso of a lady [Laughter] andan Almaviva climbed the pubic hair to serenade Rosina [Laughter] who actually came outof the nipple. [Laughter] But Barber of Seville has survived that [Laughter] and willsurvive others. [Laughter and applause] I think it is wonderful.

I think these kind of visions and avant-gardes are very healthy, because they even makeolder people, like myself, in this business sit up and take note trying to find validity inour own thinking. . . . What we must never lose sight of is that absolute sense of joy,an excitement that this art form can give us all under any circumstances and in any typeof production, whether it is very, very cerebral or whether it is done by a traffic cop.

I think these kind of visions and avant-gardes and new thinkings are very healthy, becausethey even make older people, like myself, in this business sit up and take note of whatwe do, trying to find validity in our own thinking. I find it marvelous; marvelouslyhealthy. The only thing about Mr. Sellars I envy is his youth. [Laughter] I think itis fabulous to have that kind of enthusiasm, and the love, and that is what is wonderfulabout our field. Because one thing we should never lose sight of is that absolute senseof joy, an excitement that this art form can give us all under any circumstances and inany type of production, whether it is very, very cerebral or whether it is done by atraffic cop. It is a magnificent art form and I am delighted to be a part of it. Thankyou. [Applause]

MARIA RICH Thank you, Lotfi. It was a very spirited and very inspiring presentation.I am delighted with your enthusiasm which is really quite catching. You speak ofrejuvenation of the art form and we finally come to dear Thea Musgrave, who is goingto give us all the rejuventation, the vitality of the art form, in her new works. We needthe composers and no art form can survive without being rejuvenated by new creativity.Let me make this a brief introduction because we want to hear from her.

This internationally renowned composer was born in Scotland, graduated from EdinburghUniversity, and also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Her instrumental compositionshave been performed by leading orchestras here and abroad, with first performances atthe Edinburgh and Aldeburgh Festivals, and beginning 1970 in the U.S. by the Los AngelesPhilharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, MinnesotaOrchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and many more very prestigiousorchestras. Fortunately for all of us and for opera, her creative gifts turned to operaearly, and in 1962 she wrote The Abbott of Drimock which was performed in England,in 1974, The Voice of Ariadne, which was premiered in Aldeburgh and many of you mayhave heard it at the New York City Opera at the American premiere in 1977. The sameyear, her Mary, Queen of Scots was premiered by the Viriginia Opera and Central OperaService, in fact, held a conference at the premiere. I remember vividly the greatexcitement and wonderful performance there. The following year it was brought to theNew York City Opera in another production with the original costumes, but the productionwas new by the City Opera. In 1978, her Christmas Carol was premiered in Virginia in aco-production with the Royal Opera Covent Garden. Her latest work was premiered last

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year also in Virginia, Harriet, the Woman Called Moses. You probably will have readabout it. It is a fascinating story of a woman on the Underground Railroad, a formerslave. She will tell us more about it, I am sure. In 1974 and again in 1981, she wasawarded Guggenheim Fellowships and she received many honors, became Honorary Fellowof the New Hall in Cambridge, received an Honorary Doctorate degree from the Councilof National Academic Awards, and in '79 from Smith College and from Old DominionUniversity. She served on various British Arts Committees and was a member of theNational Endowment Advisory Panel. She is married to Peter Mark, the General Directorand Conductor of the Viriginia Opera in Norfolk, and anyone who flew into New Yorkon American Airlines may have seen their picture and a story in the American Waymagazine that just came out. [Applause]

THEA MUSGRAVE Thank you very much, Maria. I am really delighted to be here andto add yet another accent to the table. [Laughter] I was very thrilled this morning tohear the comments of Peter Sellars, as well as of my other colleagues, but particularlyPeter Sellars, because he talked about composers being alive and how he likes that. Ithink that many times people really prefer their composers to be dead. They aresometimes considered a nuisance [Laughter] and should be kept out of the way.

. . . a very unique and wonderful privilege that I have had, of being associated with anopera company. To have been able to observe it in all its aspects, the excitement andyes, some of the problems . . .

What I want to talk about a little bit is something that has been a very unique andwonderful privilege that I have had, which is the privilege of being associated with anopera company. To have been able to observe it in all its aspects, the excitement andyes, some of the problems, which is not something that a composer usually can do, andcertainly not in the broad aspect that I could. My husband and I have had this opportunityto be part of helping the development, the starting up of an opera company, not quitefrom square one, but certainly from square two, over these ten and one-half years in aplace which only had an occasional touring opera before.

What was wonderful when we first came in 1975, I was just starting work on Mary, Queenof Scots for the Scottish Opera and the board of directors asked what was I doing and Itold them. Very shortly after they said, 'Why don't we have the American premiere inNorfolk?' I said, 'Are you sure?' I felt, because my husband was general director, I felta tremendous responsibility. But, you know, the wonderful thing about Norfolk was thatthey were not aware that contemporary opera is a problem. [Laughter] We added anextra performance of it, which also sold out. This was wonderful. Then came ChristmasCarol. They gave me this opportunity where we had the world premiere in Norfolk.Then, more recently, we embarked on a kind of community adventure, where we hadreally fabulous community support on a very important subject, about Harriet Tubman,the slave who escaped on the Underground Railroad. But I feel that I, with the community,embarked on this adventure somewhat together, to produce Harriet. I am also veryrelieved to say that we did sell out and also that we earned fifty thousand dollars morethan was budgeted.

. . . have talked about some of the advantages. There are also disadvantages, becauseI feel, as a composer, more aware of the pressures, and perhaps more than usual, of theresponsibilities. . . . normal pressures being to try and do the absolute best you can.But because of my involvement, I also felt responsible that it be a success dollarwise.

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Now, I have talked about some of the advantages. There are also disadvantages, becauseI feel, as a composer, more aware of the pressures, and more aware perhaps than usual,of the responsibilities. I feel I have sometimes more pressures beyond the normal ones,the normal pressures being to try and do the absolute best you can, with full artisticresponsibilities. But because of my involvement, I also felt responsible that it had to bea success dollarwise.

I think an artist has got to put all those things well out of sight . . . fear, or feelingsof being awe inspired, and the feelings of those kinds of responsibilities beyond theartistic ones. . . . You have to have total conviction and total excitement and involvementabout the project. You can not play safe.

Now, opera is the most exciting thing for a composer, obviously because it invlolves allthe things, singing, the orchestra, the theatrical elements. It is also the most daunting,and sometimes I think, 'Why should I dare to start at all?' But I think an artist has gotto put all those things well out of sight, on the back burner. You can not work out offear, or feelings of being awe inspired, and the feelings of those kinds of responsibilitiesbeyond the artistic ones. That damps out all ideas.

You have to have total conviction and total excitement and involvement about theproject. You can not play safe. You can not take safe decisions about what has workedin the past. You have to take new decisions, new directions, that are going to servethe idea in a new and fresh way. You have to be prepared to take risks. You have tohave the feeling of adventure, that you can rediscover all sorts of things, even C major.Sometimes I come leaping out of my room and I say to Peter, 'Look, look' and play Cmajor, and he looks a little surprised. I say, 'I feel that I have discovered it for thefirst time.' That is a simple thing, but it goes all the way down the line, both in bigand small decisions, to rediscover something anew, to feel something fresh. That feelinghad better be strong. It is a total commitment over two, three, four years. It is almostlike being married to your subject. So you better like it and feel strongly about it.

What does a composer need from a company? First of all, you need to be needed.Second, it is good to be told of all the practicalities . . . what length, roughly, or whatforces should be used. . . . I have been very fortunate in two cases, in having a stagedirector help me in the early stages of working on operas.

Now, what does a composer need from a company? First of all, you need to be needed,as Dominick Argento said yesterday. Second, it is good to be told of all the practicalities,as Sir John Tooley mentioned yesterday. No composer, I think, is frightened of beingtold exactly what length, roughly, or what forces should be used. I think it is a littlebit more frightening to say, 'Do anything you like.' But if somebody says, 'You have gotto have six tubas and two piccolos and three sopranos', oh boy, I begin to have ideasalready. [Laughter] Of course, I am not suggesting an opera should have those particularforces. Another thing that a company can do is, at an early stage, to suggest the kindof collaboration that you need, particularly with a stage director.

I have been very fortunate in two cases, in having a stage director help me in the earlystages of working on operas. In the case of Mary, Queen of Scots, it was part of thecommission from Scottish Opera to choose jointly a stage director; in this case it wasColin Graham. More recently with Harriet, the Woman Called Moses it was GordonDavidson. To find the kind of stage director who is able, at the early stage of formingan opera, to have his input, his theatrical experience and knowledge to add to your

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musical ideas, is something absolutely invaluable and fabulous - not only the conceptualideas in the creation, but also in the realization. Whether you are going to have arealistic or an abstract kind of setting, how you will portray the characters, or thechoice of designers - you can look for advice in all those things, as well as in purelypractical things, such as how long do you need for a scene change.

I think the composer does have a responsibility to help the company in press interviews,radio, TV . . . and also, if appropriate and possible, in the educational process.

Later on, when the opera is complete, the responsibility I told about earlier, which Ihave left on the back burner, comes forward. I think the composer does have aresponsibility to help the company in press interviews, radio, TV, all those sorts of thingswhich we have in the twentieth century and also to help, if it is appropriate and possible,in the educational process. I am very proud of what we did with Harriet in Norfolk.My husband went to the superintendent of schools and got him to agree to put opera onthe general curriculum, not just the music program, but in the case of Harriet that itshould be part of the American history program and social studies and language arts.So, what eventually happened was that the seventh grade, that happened to be studyingAmerican history at the time that Harriet was being done, the seventh grade all cameto Harriet free of charge. I am thrilled to think that my opera may in some way haveilluminated in a more personal and emotional way something that is part of all of ourhistory, and I am absolutely delighted.

. . . our aim is above a l l t o involve the audience in a genuine ar t i s t i c exper ience . . . t oc r e a t e e x c i t e m e n t , maybe a t t imes controversy . . . c r e a t e a new way of looking a t things.

I think I speak for all composers when I say that our aim is above all to involve theaudience in a genuine artistic experience and if supertitles, updating, all these thingsare going to help, and if it is well and sensitively done, I am for it. I think the composerwants to create excitement, maybe at times controversy. He wants or she wants to createa new way of looking at things. My teacher Nadia Boulanger said, 'C'est toujours lam§me chose.' Well, maybe, but I think you can look at 'la mgrne chose' in a differentway. Today, with all these new electronic techniques, like my colleagues, I want to bepart of this. I want the opportunity to make artistic use of them.

So, to finish, I suggest to the opera companies: sure, present the wonderful museumpieces, the Traviatas, the Carmens, I love them, but perform them along with new works,to help to have a new way of looking at things. It will also help the museum piecesfrom getting dusty. I say to you, ladies and gentlemen, we need you, we composers.We need you as audience. We need the artistic talent and we need the opera producers.But I also suggest that you need us. [Applause]

I would very much like to ask the directors of opera companies what they have donerecently in contemporary works.

MARIA RICH We certainly do. We need you very much, the composers and the newworks. I would very much like to ask quickly the directors of opera companies, whatyou have done recently in contemporary works. It would be interesting to hear,particularly, since we have heard already from Mr. Crosby, but nothing about Venice orBrussels. I know that you have presented contemporary opera, but I do not know whether

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you have produced them or brought in other theaters' productions. I think it would beinteresting to hear what you have done in your own houses.

. . . we managed one idea, we called this Venezia Opera Prima. We tried to connectestablished composers with young composers and five of the established composers chosetwenty of the works by these young people. We presented parts of these works, thenasked the older composers to defend and explain why they chose these pieces. . . . Thiswas very important . . . to break down the barrier.

ITALO GOMEZ Well, in Venice, my theater was very connected with the Biennale diVenezia, which was very involved with contemporary music. Directed by the theater,we managed one idea, we called this Venezia Opera Prima. We tried to connect composerswho already have a big name in Europe, like Stockhausen, Berio, Luigi Nono and others,who practically have worked in all capitals in Europe, and I can say they control thecontemporary production in Europe - we tried to put young composers together withthese older composers. We presented parts of their works, and five of the establishedcomposers chose twenty of the works by these young people. Then we played thesepieces for the public and asked the older composers to defend and to explain why theychose these pieces. This was very important, because at this moment in Europe there isa division between the official, established, contemporary composers, such as Berio,Stockhausen, Boulez, Xenakis, etc., there are about seven or eight who have veryimportant works, and the young composers who have a very difficult time to get beforethe public. My idea is to break down this barrier and have something of a mix of thesituation.

MARIA RICH That sounds like a very exciting and innovative idea that should beadopted by other institutions.

. . . it is normal to include new works. . . . But what is even more important, that wecreate in our opera houses facilities for the composers to work in, so that when theyarrive, we know what they need and that we are prepared.

GERARD MORTIER I think it is normal to include new works. I could not have talkedthis morning, if I would not have done a lot of world premieres. It is normal to have tomake a good world premiere. Of course, I do not think that you can do one every year. Itis my fifth season now in Brussels and I will have the second world premiere in a fewmonths from now. But in total I gave out four commissions and I have tried every yearto play another contemporary work, inviting another company. For example, The Soldiersby Zimmermann was brought to us by the Frankfurt Opera Company. I think what isvery important now, is the collaboration between the different opera houses to bringnew works. But what is even more important, that we create in our opera housesfacilities for the composers, so that when they arrive, we know what they need and thatwe are prepared. You understand that you must have coaches who can really playdifficult music on the piano. Ten years ago, I think, it was very difficult for composersto start and work in an opera house, because people did not know what was necessaryto create - singers, directors, coaches. We must again have the same facilities as lastcentury. I think that is very important.

I just want to add one thing, in the Bastille Opera in Paris when it will be built, of course,it will be a new place. It will be the same system as in the Berlin Schaubiihne. Thismeans it will be a place of one thousand four hundred seats, where the seating, the

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acoustics and everything can be changed. I think that this is one of the most importantpoints of the new project in Paris that we will create a new place, suitable for modernworks, where modern works should be played first, and then the classical.

MARIA RICH Could you add something about second performances of contemporaryworks. There have been a lot of questions about second productions.

GERARD MORTIER They are very important, of course. I think it was very true whatthey said yesterday, and the same is true in Europe, that vanity to have a world premiere,and the great vanity of a lot of directors that they may have less success with thesecond performance. But you have seen that a lot is happening with Reimann's operasand it is not true that the public does not come. The first world premiere we did twoyears ago, we had to add two more performances, because the public wanted to see it.I think that is the same for Venice.

MARIA RICH Mr. Crosby, do you bring in the composers for your world premieres andalso for the American premieres of contemporary works?

JOHN CROSBY Yes, the composers have always been invited to be with us for as muchas five to six weeks prior to the first performance and through the second performance.

MARIA RICH Thea, when your works are being done, let's say in Germany, I know thatsome of your operas have been performed on the continent, do you go and attend therehearsals when the operas are being prepared? Are you invited?

THEA MUSGRAVE I have had two experiences. When Mary, Queen of Scots was takento Stuttgart, it was the Scottish Opera production and I was conducting. So, yes I wasthere. When Mary, Queen of Scots was done in its first German translation, unfortunatelymy husband and I were conducting in Hong Kong. So we could not be there. I believe itwas in Bielefeld; I heard it was a wonderful production but I was not able to go.

MARIA RICH Lotfi, you have not commented on this.

One of the problems that we have in doing new works is the absence of a proper space.Our company plays in this vast theater . . . But what is very exciting, we are inauguratinga new space next week. . . . four hundred seats and very flexible.

LOTFI MANSOURI Well, Canadian Opera Company has commissioned some world premieres.Something like Louis Riel for example by Harry Somers, which was even taken toWashington, DC, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, and there was Heloise and Abelard. Oneof the problems that we have in doing more is the absence of a proper space. Ourcompany plays in this vast theater, which also does not happen to have very goodacoustics, and it is not really a very appropriate theater. But one thing that is happening,that is very exciting for our company, we are inaugurating a new space next week. Itwill have a capacity of about four hundred seats and it is very flexible. It can havea central position for the stage, it can have a proscenium or anything else the composerand the director would desire. It could be a total surround. Then perhaps it would beconducive to some creators to come and create works for it and then, as they do onBroadway and other places, we can workshop a new piece and the financial risks are notso enormous that you have to play to ninety percent attendance, and, maybe, we canthen take it over to the larger place.

MARIA RICH We had the last conference in Chicago on workshopping of new works andit has become a really very great help both to composers, and to producers, also becauseit is a great money saver. - I think we should open the session to the floor. I must ask

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you to keep your questions brief, please, so that the answers can be longer and I thinkit will be more interesting.

I have my own charitable foundation . . . I would like to ask the panel, within the galaxyof charitable appeals, where in terms of priority can you objectively place the musicalarts, and where in terms of priority within the musical arts can you place opera?

QUESTION My name is George Whyte. I have my own charitable foundation in Switzerlandand in England. I have appeals from the most diverse causes, the blind in India, thestarving in Africa, medical science and so on. The question that I would like to askthe panel is this, that within the galaxy of charitable appeals, where in terms of prioritycan you objectively place the musical arts, and where in terms of priority within themusical arts can you place opera?

MARIA RICH Do you ask the question of anyone in particular?

G. WHYTE Whoever is courageous enough to deal with it.

. . . 'I want to be sure, that if England survives this trial, that the works of Shakespearewill always be performed in England.1

JOHN CROSBY Tyrone Guthrie once told a story that at the time of the Battle ofBritain, when the survival of England was in serious question, a gentleman arose, I believein the House of Lords, and said, 'If I am expected at my age, to oil up my shotgun andprepare to defend my family in the backyard of my home from the potential invader, thenI want to be sure, that if England survives this trial, that the works of Shakespearewill always be performed in England.1

. . . concerts in the National Gallery . . . gave the spiritual hope to mankind at a timewhen it seemed that mankind was in very great difficulty.

THEA MUSGRAVE I have something to add to that. During the Battle of Britain, whichI was not present at, fortunately, because I come from Scotland - and it was a veryhorrible situation as you can imagine - Dame Myra Hess played concerts in the NationalGallery. They were crammed with people. It gave the spiritual hope to mankind at atime when it seemed that mankind was in very great difficulty.

But culture is a necessity. . . . are we talking about a quality of life or rather alwaysthe quantity of life? . . . we shall be judged by the cultural legacy we leave futuregenerations.

LOTFI MANSOURI I would just like to add to this. This is what, unfortunately, weare always faced with when we go fundraising, because whenever we take our little tincups with us they say, 'Well, it is much easier to fundraise for cancer research, for anykind of disease that you can imagine.' The only thing is, I find this a very simplisticapproach to culture. That is a kind of danger in North America, I think, mostly becausea concert is really still considered a luxury rather than a necessity, and until we correctthat position, yes, you are right. We are going to have that kind of trouble in fundraising.

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But culture is a necessity. I mean, in a simplistic term, are we talking about a qualityof life or rather always the quantity of life? If I want to live, yes, I want to be healthy,but when I am healthy, I want to have beautiful things to enjoy. - And didn't someonesay earlier that we shall be judged by the cultural legacy we leave future generations?

[.For more comments, see also speeches by John Brademas, Gerard Mortier, and KittyCarlisle Hart.]

I would like to see new works being done, and also spreading the American tradition ofmusical theater.

QUESTION I am Nancy Lang. I work at the Voice of America in Washington. I amvery concerned that American music is not getting as much play as it should. I would liketo see new works being done, and also spreading the American tradition of musicaltheater. Why can't we have a Happy Fella or a Carousel mixed in with a Porgy and Bessat the Met? I would like to see us trying to take our tradition, and spreading it, andbuilding more audiences. Thank you.

MARIA RICH I guess it is left to me to answer to this. The panel that is representedhere does not really do musicals, but if you look at the statistics of this year particularly,and my survey/Opera News article, the tremendous growth in performances of musicals,of American musicals by opera companies and by light opera companies this past season,has been absolutely phenomenal. Houston is one organization that brings in a touringcompany, but most of the other companies do their own productions mixed in with opera.It just so happened, I was going to ask the question then realized that this was thewrong panel to ask. But please look at last year's figures, you will be surprised. Theyare amazing.

. . . I received an enormous number of letters of complaints that, 'Mr. Mansouri, whenI subscribe, I am subscribing to an opera company and Candide does not qualify.1

LOTFI MANSOURI Maria, may I just add a comment on that please. A lot of Canadiancompanies, in order to get some new audiences, have tried to add musical comedy intheir subscription series, and a lot of their opera public has been turned off. They didnot go. An opera audience does not necessarily want musical comedy. We did last year,for example, Candide and I received an enormous number of letters of complaints that,'Mr. Mansouri, when I subscribe, I am subscribing to an opera company and Candide doesnot qualify.' I know that there is a limit, but they subscribe to opera. Sometimes itis dangerous to put on Man of La Mancha or Brigadoon or whatever else that you puton, because a lot of your public does not want that. If they wanted it, they would go toa civic light opera subscription series.

ITALO GOMEZ I do not understand, and maybe I can get an answer here. Why doesAmerica not present its own modern tradition in opera? Works by Virgil Thomson, orHarry Partch, and then people like Cowell, like John Cage and now, nearer to us, peoplelike Philip Glass. These all are people that are now performed in Europe.

QUESTION My name is Max Kinberg. I am a composer living here in New York. I wasat the forum in Chicago and I said it there, maybe I should say it again, it was onlytouched upon, the lack of education for composers in the writing of an opera. I wasfortunate enough to be a supernumerary for several years at the Metropolitan OperaHouse, and I will tell you, it was the best learning experience - seeing the same opera

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twenty times, walking across the stage and looking at the structure during the rehearsal,and listening to it over and over again. I would like to ask the panel, maybe particularlyThea Musgrave: Do you find that your own personal stylistic approach to writing hasbeen looked on with disdain, maybe, because you write melodically, because sometimesthere is jealousy between schools of writing? Do you still see that happening today asmuch as it did, maybe in the past where if you were a melodic composer and thegoverning board of an institution was definitely in a totally different school, they justwould not even bother looking at your work?

. . . any great artist must stand with his or her feet in the past, but then look outtowards the future. . . . to be part of our great traditions in a great house is certainlya wonderful training ground.

THEA MUSGRAVE I am delighted to be called a melodic composer. You should see someof the press. I am really thrilled, because I feel that I am. Let me just say somethingelse which my teacher Nadia Boulanger once said. It had to do with being around anopera house, she did not quite say it this way, but she said that any great artist muststand with his or her feet in the past, but then look out towards the future. So, I thinkthat being a super at the Met or whatever you did, whatever is available to be part ofour great traditions in a great house is certainly a wonderful training ground.

QUESTION My name is Thomas Conlin. I am music director of the Charleston Symphonyin West Virginia, and I have also done quite a lot of opera conducting. From 1963 to 1967I was artistic director of the Chamber Opera Society of Baltimore. I want to respond toMr. Mansouri's claim to have invented surtitles. In 1967 we presented the Americanpremiere of Mozart's Lucio Silla and we used surtitles. They were not a word by wordtranslation as you see today, but rather a synopsis of each aria and of the recitatives.In those days the technology was not as elaborate as it is today and I want to tell you avery interesting thing that happened to me on a subsequent experiment with surtitles.This was in a production of La Boh&me. At one point in the opera where the poorbohemians are partying, Shaunard is describing how he poisoned the parrot and ends bysaying the parrot died. Somehow in the course of running the slides, the slide that saidthe parrot died disappeared. The technician, who was running the slides compensated forit by delaying a moment before putting on the next slide, but nobody knew what happenedto it until the very end of the opera, when, at the tragic moment that Rodolfo is toldthat Mimi has died, there it said across the screen, 'The parrot died.' [Laughter andapplause]

QUESTION I am George Heymont from San Francisco. I would like to ask Mr. Crosbya question. You mentioned the proliferation of opera companies and the fact that thesupply has certainly increased in America. One of the problems that I have discussedwith several people is that when you get into the position of being a general directornow, often the artistic input is diminishing more and more, compared to the fundraisingrequirements and other management problems. I think yours is probably the only operacompany that I know of that has had a local hotel association come to you asking thatyou change the repertory so that they can sell more rooms and improve their touristtrade. I would like to know where you draw the line.

JOHN CROSBY You are correct. A local hotel association did come out in print inSanta Fe about fifteen months ago and said point blank that the Santa Fe Opera shouldproduce more popular opera so that hotel rooms could be filled up. I have to give youa little background on that. The hotel keepers in Santa Fe, in their infinite wisdom,had seen fit to contribute probably a total of three thousand dollars a year to the SantaFe Opera in sums ranging from twenty-five dollars to five hundred. I do not think that

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their request was a request of a very informed or interested party and they were a bitconcerned, I think, with other problems or perhaps they were not cognizant of the factthat the very strong United States dollar made it possible for opera lovers in New Yorkto spend two weeks in Munich, seeing opera for less than it would cost them to fly toSanta Fe for two weeks to see opera there. There were Olympic games going on, anda World's Fair in New Orleans. So it was not necessarily a good year for the hotelkeepers in Santa Fe. But I am not sure that I have really answered your question.

I put another item into the question, in context. Next summer the Santa Fe Opera givesthe American premiere of an opera called, The King Goes Forth to France by AulisSallinen, who is a rather distinguished Finnish composer. The opera opened in the SummerFestival in Finland two summers ago and played in the summer of '84 and the summer of'85. There is a waiting list of ticket buyers for that opera, for performances of thatopera in Finland and the waiting list is over two hundred thousand people. Now, thatmeans that that opera should be performable fifty times by the Metropolitan Opera tosold out houses, but you and I know that that is simply not possible in the United Statesof America.

G. HEYMOHT One other point on surtitles which I do not think that too many peopleremember. I think one of the first times that surtitles were seen in New York in a way,was a musical called Rugatino, which came here in the sixties and was sung in Italian atthe Mark Hellinger Theater. I believe that they had a digital board over the prosceniumwith a running translation. I do not know how many people saw it, but that was one ofthe first experiments.

QUESTION I am Ann Porter and I would just like to address the question that M. Gomezbrought up in the earlier part of his discussion about American artists working in Americaand/or coming to Europe. In order to perfect their art and to grow as human beings aswell as artists, American singers, or North American singers to include Canada as well,must travel, even though they may have work at home. That is why you see many ofthem throughout Europe, and that is why they are in many theaters actually alsoperforming. We would like also to see Europeans able to visit our country and learnmore about our social and historical background, other than from movies. Thank you.

MARIA RICH Miss Lear commented on this subject yesterday, and we will also go intothat question in the afternoon. There are, at this point, fewer American artists inEurope than there have been. It is shrinking a bit, but it is still a most importantexperience for the artists.

Thank you very much. [Applause] I thank my panel members, a most distinguished groupand think that we all learned a great deal; we were also very inspired by you. Thank youso much. [Applause]

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Saturday, November 2, 1985 - Luncheon

GUEST SPEAKER

JOHN T. LAWRENCE, Jr., President, Metropolitan Opera National Council - IntroductionHAROLD PRINCE, Stage Director; Chairman, National Institute for Music Theater

JOHN LAWRENCE I am the President of the Metropolitan Opera National Council andas most of you - if not all of you - know, the Central Opera Service, which has beenputting on this wonderful two-day conference, is part of the National Council. BeforeI introduce our speaker, I would like to congratulate the Metropolitan Opera Guild onbehalf of the National Council on its fiftieth anniversary, and to thank Katharine forthe perfectly wonderful lunch that she put on several days ago. I have special thankstoday for Margo Bindhardt who is the head of the Central Opera Service and for MariaRich for the most exciting conference that I have attended so far. [Applause]

Yesterday, when Robert Tobin made his fine introduction of Kitty Carlisle, he mentionedthat he had known that lovely lady for 23 years. At that point I thought to myself, 'Oh,oh! and tomorrow I get to introduce a famous person also, but I have never met him.'[Laughter]

Nevertheless, for many, many years I have been in absolute awe of the accomplishmentsof Hal Prince as producer/director in the fields of opera, movies and Broadway. Hisoperas include Aschmedai, Silver Lake, Candide, and Sweeney Todd with the New YorkCity Opera; Girl of the Golden West and Madama Butterfly with the Chicago LyricOpera; Willie Stark and Candide with the Houston Grand Opera; Turandot with the ViennaState Opera. His movies include Somethtng for Everyone and A Little Night Music. Hissuccessful Broadway shows are so numerous that to name them all and discuss themwould probably take much more time than we have alloted for the two of us and I amgoing to make my remarks short. However, to give you an idea of the scope of Mr.Prince's work on Broadway, here are his shows which I have attended and loved myself,and I don't even live in New York. The Pajama Game, West Side Story, Fiorello, TakeHer She's Mine, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, She Loves Me,Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Zorba, Company, A Little Night Music, Candide, Side BySide, Evita, and of course Sweeney Todd, which I consider to be opera more thanBroadway. [Applause] I hope I have not left out Mr. Prince's favorite by not readingthe entire list, and if I have, I am sure he will mention it.

Not only has Harold Prince been an extraordinary producer and director over the yearsand recipient of 15 Tony Awards, he has also served the arts in other important waysas President of the League of New York Theaters, member of the National Council forthe Arts and presently Chairman of the National Institute for Music Theater. However,perhaps one of Mr. Prince's most important accomplishments to those of us in this room,was helping to persuade the National Endowment of the Arts to take Opera and MusicTheater out of the general category of Music and put it in its own special category forfunding purposes for the first time. For everything he has done, we thank him. It givesme enormous pleasure to introduce to you Mr. Harold Prince. [Applause]

HAROLD PRINCE Thank you Mr. Lawrence. Last night at Casanova I ran into one ofyou at intermission and I asked, 'How is it going?' The answer was 'Well, Kitty Carlislewas really funny. What are you going to do?' [Laughter] Since then I have heard thatPeter Sellers was really exciting and stimulating and Mr. Mortier exceedingly movingand emotional. So, the question arises, what in hell am I going to do. I will start withan anecdote. I think it is appropriate, because it has to do with the fact that everyonein the theater, and I consider opera and music theater theater, listens to everyone. It isan axiom and I absolutely believe it, and to illustrate it I will tell you a story about myself.

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. . . actually, ironically, I got interested in theater through opera. . . . I used to listento Milton Cross. . . . I would set up, a sort of puppet stage with little tin soldiers . . . thiswas what got me into this lifetime of passionate affection for the theater and wantingto work in it and really caring about it.

In 1948, I was the third assistant stage manager of the show called Call Me Madam.Some of you probably saw it. It was written by Irving Berlin, the book was by Lindsayand Crouse, George Abbott was the director, Jerry Robbins did the dances, and EthelMerman starred. So it was on the way to being a hit, before they even went into rehearsal.

Broadway had not been doing that well that year so there were lots of people lookingfor work. There was a call put out for 14 chorus jobs and another 10 dancers. The14 chorus jobs for singers is what I am concerned with. Two thousand people showed upfor the auditions. They were held at the Imperial Theater on 45th Street. The policewas called out on horseback and stations were set up. One hundred people at a timecame on to the stage and then someone said, going along the line of one hundred, 'Wehate to hurt your feelings but we are eliminating a lot of you on type', which is simplyabsurd, of course, but they had to do something. It was really a cattle call and it washorrifying; you see how long it must have taken. The phone rang during the course ofthe day, this chaotic day. The doorman said, 'It's Irving Berlin on the phone.' I havenever met Mr. Berlin. I went to the phone and picked it up and I said, 'Yes' and hesaid, 'This is Berlin, who is this?' I said, 'This is Hal Prince, Mr. Berlin.' 'Who are you?'I said, 'I am the 3rd Assistant Stage Manager, Mr. Berlin.' He said, 'Well, is Abbottaround?' I said, 'No, I am afraid not, Mr. Berlin. It's a cattle call today. Mr. Abbottcame in, saw it and said, 'I am going home, I will see you tomorrow." He said, 'Whatabout Lindsay and Crouse? Are they anywhere around?' I said, 'No. In fact, I sawhim calling them to say, 'Do not come in fellows, it will just depress you." He said, 'I donot suppose Jerry Robbins is there?' I said, 'No, but he is due in later in the day. I justdo not know when.' Leland Heyward, I have left him out of the story, he was the mostprestigious producer in the theater in those days. He said, 'Is Leland around?' I said,'No, he would not be coming in today. This is not something that would interest him.1

He said, 'Well, I do not suppose Ethel Merman will drop by.' [Laughter] I said, 'No, I donot think she will drop by to the chorus call, Mr. Berlin.' He said, 'Who did you sayyou where?' [Laughter] I said, 'I am Harold Prince. I am the 3rd Assistant StageManager, Mr. Berlin.' Where upon he sang the whole of 'You're Not Sick, You're Justin Love' to me over the telphone. [Laughter] When he was finished he said, 'What doyou think of it?1 [Laughter and applause] I said, 'I like it, Mr. Berlin.1 [Laughter] Hesaid, 'So do I', and he hung up on me. [Laughter and applause]

I have been interested in opera - actually, ironically, I got interested in theater throughopera. Very specifically, my grandmother had alternate Tuesday night seats in a box atthe old Met. When I was eight years old I would go with her every other Tuesday night.I vividly remember the first experience. It is worth sharing with you. It was Rigolettoand the Gilda was so heavy that when it came time to take her over the wall and abducther, suddenly there appeared very conveniently a door in the wall. [Laughter] Shecame out on casters. [Laughter] They sort of rolled her off like a piano. [Laughter]Even at eight years old I was disenchanted. [Laughter] Even then I thought there mustbe something better than this. But I still kept going. The incidence of it being betterthan the Rigoletto was infrequent, but it was there.

On Saturday afternoons I used to listen to Milton Cross. He would tell the story ofthe opera in acts. The opera was always in a foreign language, which I did not speak. Ihad a stage, which I would set up, a sort of puppet stage. I had little tin soldiers fromthe Five and Dime, so my operas were always played by people in uniform with sand

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brown belts and helmets. They were the women and men and whatever on the stage.Then you would hear from Cross the story of the first act, and then they would startthe first act. I would move my soldiers around while I listened to the opera from the Met.I would always be finished with the first act while they were still singing for another20 minutes, or he would say, 'And the great golden curtain has just descended1, and Iwas just halfway through the first act. Then I would go on and jump to the 2nd actand move accordingly. But the truth is, that this was what got me into this lifetimeof passionate affection for the theater and wanting to work in it and really caring about it.

Why did it seem more theatrical then so much other theater? . . . Why is it on theascendency when so many other art forms are not? . . . because it is so emotional, soenormous, so transcendent - when it is right it takes you everywhere. . . . 'Entertainment'is crying or arguing or getting passionate about what is good or bad . . . opera is whatthe best of non-musical theater can be.

Why? Why did it seem more theatrical then so much other theater? Why does it seemmore theatrical right now? Why, I wonder, is it flourishing now? Why is it on theascendency when so many other art forms are not - i.e. the theater itself is not? Butthe answer is obvious: because it is so emotional, so enormous, so transcendent, the sizeand scope and majesty of it; when it is right it takes you everywhere.

I am sick to death of people who go to the musical theater in New York and say, 'I donot like serious musicals. I go to theater to be entertained.' You never catch an operaperson saying that because the whole currency of entertainment in opera is tragedies.You know that this is the stuff, and they are right. 'Entertainment' is crying or arguingor getting passionate about what is good or bad in a particular performance or what isentertaining. Entertaining is not sitting back and sort of lightly falling asleep. It is nota soporific entertainment, which is what so many people identify with musical theater. Iam very impatient about that. I know why I love theater. I love theater because operais what the best of non-musical theater can be. You go see a play like The Visit, theDiirrenmatt play, and you are seeing an opera. There is very little music in it of sorts.You go see O'Neill, you see Long Day's Journey - it is an opera. Not a note of music init, but you know you get a full operatic experience when you are watching those things.

I did not get into opera early. When I got out of college I luckily found myselfapprenticing to George Abbott. It was sheer luck. I sent an application around and Iwas invited to come in. The application was oh, you know, irresistible! Letter from akid saying, 'I want to work for you and I do not want you to pay me. But if you cantell from the quality of what I am doing that you are not paying me, then you must letme go.1 That was so convoluted and confusing and extraordinary - if you think about it,you will see how irresistible that invitation is. [Laughter] So indeed he took me on. Hedid not pay me, naturally. [Laughter] Not for a hell of a long time. But I got startedand that apprenticeship was absolutely the most vital relationship that I ever had. Youwill find, if you look at artists working in the theater, that those apprenticeships arethat vital. There is usually in the life of an artist exactly a parallel apprenticeship.Not only do you learn from these people, but these people give you an imprimature.They tell you you are good and there is nothing like having somebody qualified tell youyou are good. Because everybody else tells you you are bad. They discourage you bytelling you, 'Why are you doing this? Why, it is too ambitious. What made you thinkyou could have this life?' But then, when somebody who has already had this life saysyou are good, it is everything in the world that you need.

I got into theater with Abbott. He was primarily in musical theater and I stayed inmusical theater. I did produce. I produced by default, because obviously George Abbott

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I translated my experience in going to opera into going to musical theater. I use asevidence the fact that some of the plays I have worked with have ended up in opera houses.

needed a producer. He sure as hell did not need a director. So I produced his shows andhe directed them. 1 bided my time. It was a fairly congenial period. Some of thosefavorite shows he directed, I did not. But then some years went by and I became adirector. If anything identified the work that I did as a producer, because after all Ichose to do those plays, to present them as a director, they were not soporific. Theywere not congenial exercises. I do not go to the theater to be entertained. I go tothe theater to be stimulated. So I think, in some way, I was able to translate theexperience I had in going to opera into going to musical theater. I use as evidence thefact that some of the plays I have worked with have ended up in opera houses. To myastonishment, when I went to Europe, I found West Side Story in the opera repertoire;Fiddler on the Roof in the opera repertoire. Not only in Volksoper houses, but also inthe Swedish opera. I am trying to remember specific places, but in any case, in theregular normal repertoire. Alas not in our country. Not until very recently.

I will tell you how I got to directing operas. I found myself very frustrated 20 years afterI had started. I still wasn't any nearer to opera. I had gone to London and had metJohn Dexter. We were friends. I chatted with him. I saw him flying off to do an operain Milan or Vienna, coming back to do a play at the National, racing off to New York todo something else, or even throwing in a film once in a while. I thought that is justan amazing life this man is having. Why are there no Americans having this life? Whatprohibits that? I could not think of anything prohibiting it except that nobody was.Nobody was asking for it.

'Now look, this I want you to print. I want to direct operas. You got that straight?1

I am not exactly the fellow to start writing letters and asking people to give me work. Iam much to shy for that. So what I did was the following. You know how you say innewspaper interviews every so often, 'Do not print this, it is off the record.' You arealways saying things you do not want to read, but it makes the interview at leaststimulating for you while you are having it. But the one thing I found myself sayingwas, 'Now look, this I want you to print. I want to direct operas. You got that straight?I do not care whatever else you put in. You put in, I want to direct operas.' It appearedin the New York Times at one point. It appeared in some wire service. Then, suddenly,I got two calls within a very short period of time. One from Julius Rudel, saying, 'Weare doing an Israeli opera called Aschmedai. It is largely electronic music. There is a lotof atonality. It is strange stuff. It is very theatrical. Would you be interested?' Isaid, 'Yes.' Almost at the same time, two weeks later, I got a wire from Carol Fox,saying, 'We are opening the 1978 season with Fanciulla. Would you like to direct it?', andI said 'Yes.' I said yes to both of them.

Interesting that those were the two first operas I directed, because one was a newmusical piece that you could not remotely follow in a score. The first eight minutes ofit were all strange little electronic noises which we turned very effectively into a ballet.What we did just arbitrarily is we put ear things in the dancers ears and we played acadence from off stage, which was like music. So you came into the theater and youheard eeee ooo aaaa stuff and what you watched was people doing this wonderful dance.Perfectly synchronized to something you could not hear. You thought, 'How the hellare these people doing that?' [Laughter]

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I was doing that, and then I was doing Puccini. I was doing them almost simultaneously.What I loved about it, is it represents what I think opera ought to be - a little bit ofeverything. Modern and traditional. The bread and butter stuff and the dangerousexperimental stuff. Since then I have been doing a lot of opera. It looks like all I dois Puccini, because they ask me to. I think I respond very easily to Puccini because hewas such hell of a dramatist. He really took care of a whole lot of things.

It seemed to me that there was a wall separating opera and music theater. . . . Thenyou talk to people who run opera houses, and you suddenly realize that they really wouldrelish tearing down that wall . . .

I started out not being able to read music, so I did not direct from the score. I directedfrom this little thin script of about six pages, closely typed small words. I was doingthat and everybody else was turning two dozen pages. I kept thinking it is so muchless work that I am dealing with. They are dealing with four-hundred pages. Why don'tthey catch on? [Laughter] Subsequently, I am shamed by my son who wants to be along-hair conductor, and who is just horrified that I was not directing from a score. SoI directed Turandot in Vienna from a score. I, too, do the four-hundred pages and theydo go quickly. You find that out. [Laughter]

There has been a lot said and I do not want to be redundant. I know from what youwere talking about this morning that a lot has been said about the strange course operahas taken over the last number of years. I just want you to know from my point ofview what I observed. It seemed to me that there was a wall separating opera andmusic theater. It was a wall which was doing no one any good at all. So, referring backto what Mr. Lawrence said when I was on the National Council of the Arts, the thing thatI most wanted to do was tear down the wall. I approached that with great trepidation,because I assumed that people in opera hate people in musical theater and people inmusical theater do not understand remotely what those people in opera are all about.Then you talk to the Kurt Adlers and the other people who run opera houses, and yousuddenly realize that it was not a big deal, that they really would relish tearing downthat wall and re-examining all sorts of priorities.

There is absolutely no reason why somebody can not sing gloriously and act gloriously.We have too much proof of this now.

For example, how do you build an audience? We know we have an audience of peoplewho would be very happy to go into an opera house and close their eyes and listen tobeautiful music. You will not hear from me that there is anything wrong with beautifulmusic. You will not hear from me that I would like to compromise the sounds you hear inan opera house. What you will hear from me is, there is absolutely no reason why thesepieces can not be good shows. There is absolutely no reason why somebody can notsing gloriously and act gloriously. We have too much proof of this now. Everywhere Ilook people really respond. There are the world-class singers, responding to the notionof actually carrying props and moving around a stage and playing a role. I think therewere always those people, but now, perhaps, they predominate. I think a hell of a lotof people are now going into opera houses for a good show. Not to close their eyes andsay, 'That is the most beautiful singing.' It is a new audience. It is an exciting audience.

When the wall came down, so did a whole lot of stuff: The primary identification ofopera as a kind of museum, where you went to see the traditional operas performed inearly 20th century theatrical style, on behemoth sets in terrible darkness so you frequently

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could not see any of the expressions the people were making, which is anti-theater. Sowe have opera going through a kind of its own rigor of trying to lift itself out and appealto younger audiences, bringing this thing called creative acting into opera.

Simultaneously, parallel on the other side, we had musical theater slowly atrophying.Why? One thing very simply is that costs are too high. There are no or very few not-for-profit institutions to protect musical theater, to continue what the commercial theaterhas been able to do for seventy-five years on Broadway. It is very interesting that acommercial enterprise was able to create the highest art. But it can not anymore,because the cost is too high. So, if we do honor that wing of musical theater, then wehave to reconsider how to protect it.

There are a number of ways. One of them definitely affects opera, existing operainstitutions. I have been instrumental, since the opera/music theater discipline wasestablished, in putting into the normal repertoire of a few houses the sort of work thatwas second nature in many of the European houses, i.e. Candide. Candide opened atNew York City Opera only three years ago. It has played thirty-four sold out performancesat the New York State Theater - they have never had an empty seat - in repertoire withthe bread and butter operas and with the experimental stuff, the Philip Glass stuff, andit makes for an interesting mix.

It also invites into the opera house a whole lot of people who otherwise would not stepacross the threshhold, and who, because perhaps they have a good experience, will try-out something a little more traditional and find out they like it too. My money is onthe fact that they will like it if it is theater, because it is the greatest escape there is.It is alive and it is big; it gets to you. You can feel it.

The irony is that te lev is ion has quite seriously damaged the s t a t e of the theater . . . . Ithas made terrible inroads al l over the p lace , but not on opera. What it has done t o operais that i t has popularized i t . . . . It is unquestionably inviting audiences into opera houses.

The irony is that television has quite seriously damaged the state of the theater.Television has made it impossible to do realistic dramas on the stage. You can turn onthe tube almost any night and see somebody's real life tragedy. It has made a whole lotof mystery stories, a whole lot of material that was the currency of the live theater,the non-musical theater, no longer viable. Television has made terrible inroads all overthe place, but not on opera. What it has done to opera is that it has popularized it. Madeit suddenly not the strange inaccessible thing that costs fifty or sixty dollars, or twenty-some-odd dollars for the City Opera. You turn the dial and say, 'Gee, that really soundslike something.1 So television is our friend. It is unquestionably inviting audiences intoopera houses.

Since Candide, there was Porgy at the Met. Sweeney we did in Houston first, we havealso done Candide there. We did a Carlisle Floyd opera. That would be more intrinsicallyin the category of Casanova, that opened last night at City Opera. But all those thingsoperate together; two weeks later there is Aida on the bill. That to me is extremely,extremely healthy.

I started out talking about apprenticeship. Of course opera companies are very concernedwith both, how to reach audiences and how to reach artists, and how to encourage them;how to effect a learning commitment via the experience. A very ironical thing happenedlast night. Casanova, which I thought was just splendid and I am happy to have heard thatit got reviewed splendidly - which is more than any of us counts on in this business- Casanova was directed by a guy named Arthur Masella. Arthur Masella came to me

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He did not come to me to work in opera, same as I did not start with Abbott to getinto opera.

eleven or twelve years ago from SUNY-Stony Brook. He was very, very young, newlymarried. He said, 'I want to be your apprentice. I read somewhere that you had workedfor nothing. I will work for nothing.' I asked him some questions about himself. He said,'I am married, just.' I said, 'Well, how in the hell can you work for nothing if you aremarried?' He said, 'My wife and I have worked that out. She will support me.' I said,'Fine.' He went to work. He stayed with me six or eight months. He was so valuable thatI then put him into assistant stage managing. He did that for a couple of years. Hethen became the stage manager of Sweeney Todd. He went out on the road, becausethe stage manager of a national touring company goes out periodically to jump thatproduction, to rehearse it, to keep the quality up to where it must be. He learned tostretch that whole directing muscle that way. He then went out to the Minnesota Operato direct an opera, a new one, about a year-and-a-half ago. That was his first experiencedoing something on his own. He has since done a musical Off Broadway. He no longerworks for me, though he has space in my office and I see him every day. Last nighthe directed Casanova, I thought beautifully.

What really interests me about him is this. He did not come to me to work in opera. IfI had said to him eleven years ago, 'opera1, he would have said, 'No, I am not here totalk about opera. I am here to talk about musical theater. What you do.' That is whathe was apprenticing for, and opera would never have entered his thinking. But becauseof what has happened in these eleven years, and because he is a realist and because itturns out he is good at it, I think that his career will be in opera, predominantly. Itis interesting because it is history. In a very weird way, fate moves things around ina creative way, that I am not sure we ever could. I am not sure eleven years ago hecould have analyzed it - as a problem, as a new road to take, as a path. But I saw him upon the stage last night at the New York State Theater and I am sure he is very happythat fate took him in that direction.

Pretty astonishing when an important American opera composer, says, 'Can't I write forBroadway?' . . . There are also so many people writing for the Broadway theater who. . . would love to write operas but are simply intimidated because they think it issomething so different.

I came in at the end of the session this morning, and I heard quite a lot said aboutpreserving the integrity, the musical integrity of material. I have commented on that.I have also heard a lot said about the need to encourage new material. Well, if you wantto encourage the writing of new material, I would like to say a few things about that,which may not go down so easily with some people.

That brick wall that was up there for so long, tended to separate composers, lyricists,librettists in the popular Broadway musical vernacular and the serious opera people.Pretty astonishing when an opera composer, an important American opera composer, says,'Can't I write for Broadway? I am dying to write for Broadway.' My mouth drops open.There are lots of such composers. There are also so many people writing for theBroadway theater who have really no place there, because the Broadway theater is notinterested at this time in that kind of creativity. They would love to write operas butare simply intimidated because they think it is something so different.

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Why do they think it is so much something else? Because so many modern operas gettheir first production and evaporate. They do their four performances and you neversee them again. The reason is they are really not modern operas. They are old operastreading an old, worn, redundant trail. They are not as good as what they imitate, andthey bore you. You go into the theater and you think, 'Oh, I have seen that, only Verdiwrote it and it was a hell of a lot more exciting.' Those works were written as anexpression of contemporary musical taste when they were written. This new work mustbe written as an expresssion of contemporary musical taste now. The people who writeopera in that stuffy, cloistered, confined way are doing it a disservice, because that isgetting to be identified with new operas. It must not be. The guys I am used toworking with, the Sondheims, must be encouraged to write operas. At the moment thewhole idea of it is both awesome and impossible to them. That is the kind of invertedsnobbery that has got to disappear.

Oddly enough, I am not one of the exponents of the workshop idea. . . . The experiencedoes not include all the rigorous discipline that goes into doing it the right way thefirst time. So I am really interested in second stages . . . You do these things small thenthe best of them will enter the repertoire of the big houses.

Another thing that came to my mind. I went to Venice this summer. There was anopera conference of about thirty or forty people who had been invited to talk aboutthe state of opera. It opened the first of the four days, immediately, with a discussionof new works. How do we do new works; we want new works. We talked about it forfour days. At the end of the four days, what I realized essentially was that EnglishNational Opera, Welsh National Opera, the Scottish, City Opera, Minnesota, and St. Louis,those people want new operas. No question. But the big houses, that were very liberallyrepresented in this four-day conference, might want them but they did not remotelythink they were viable. I think it is urgent that the big houses, all these major operashouses in this country, have second stages and fast.

Oddly enough, I am not one of the exponents of the workshop idea. There is an awful lotof talk about workshops. It is my personal feeling that workshops tend, in most cases,to have people working at half their optimum strength, because they are not facinganything at the end. They are facing a kind of mutual approbation. Sort of like goinginto summer stock. You do your show on Saturday night, you have a big beer party andeverybody says, this is better than it ever was on Broadway, or the Met, or somewhere.It is all a lot of nonsense and it is self-congratulatory. Whatever the piece that isbeing workshopped to find out what is wrong with it, it does not get sufficiently changed.The experience does not include scenery, does not include costumes, does not include allthe rigorous discipline that goes into doing it the right way the first time. So I amreally interested in second stages from that point of view. You do these things smalland you really find out what they are. These shows must be seen in that light, then thebest of them will enter the repertoire of the big houses. That seems terribly importantto me.

. . . it is amazing, that it almost feels redundant to talk about the wall that was upthere. Almost feeling that I am preaching to the converted. . . . In less than ten years- something, that was frustrating the hell out of so many people, is suddenly a kind ofsecond nature.

In closing, I just want to say that it is amazing, in 1985 to be talking, almost feeling, thatit is redundant to talk about the wall that was up there. Almost feeling that I am

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preaching to the converted. Everybody in this room knows this. Can you imagineanything more amazing. In less than ten years - 1978 was when symbolically theEndowment created the new program - from that moment on there was a general changeof thinking. It is a very short time that something, that was frustrating the hell out ofso many people, is suddenly a kind of second nature. Now that we have accomplishedthis, comes the next step. About the next step I am sure we could all talk to each otherat another conference of three or four days. I think it would well be worth it. Iappreciate your listening to me. I have enjoyed myself a lot. [Applause]

MARGO BINDHARDT Thank you very much, Mr. Prince. We thank you for thosewonderful remarks and inspiring words.

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Saturday, November 2, 1985 - 2:00-4:00 p.m.

NEW FRONTIERS IH: IN SEARCH OF YOUNG TALENT

BYRON BELT, Music Editor, Newhouse Newspapers - ModeratorBETTY ALLEN, President, Harlem School of the ArtsGRANT BEGLARIAN, President, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, MiamiMARGARET HARSHAW, Distinguished Professor of Music, Indiana University, BloomingtonSHERRILL MILNES, BaritoneJOSEPH POLISI, President, Juilliard School of Music

BYRON BELT We are ready for the grand finale of this symphonic structure of two daysof lots of palaver, and I think that it is not for us to judge, but it seems to me likethere have been some pretty wonderful ideas and some pretty splendid people whointerchanged them. [Applause] So, we arrive at the finale. I think every person whohas done three panels in two days deserves one personal observation. Mine is that Iam terribly impressed by the fact that there is so little smoking going on in this room andI congratulate you all. [Applause]

We have many speakers, and I am going to go right ahead. We left the movers andshakers, and we are into the new frontier, but the people who are on this panel arecertainly amongst the movers and shakers, and there is no question but that the participantsof this panel come together very logically.

Our first speaker you have heard before, and are about to hear again. Betty Allen isnot only one of the worlds great artists, but also one of the worlds most importanteducators and one of our most important ambassadors for the arts. She has traveledabroad and within our country, accomplishing miracles, I think. She is going to speak ofher work at the Harlem School, and I only want to say that this is one of the great mindsof our day. She can speak in more languages, can remember more poems, she can putme down in more different fabulous quotations than any person in the business. It ismy loving pleasure to introduce Betty Allen. [Applause]

How do you inspire, find and nuture talent? I believe you must use as role models andinspirational personnel the most wonderful virtuosos, of the day, the finest artists. I amtired of second or third or fourth rate people who are sent to explain the great arts ofthe world to young people in the ghetto and in the poor neighborhoods.

BETTY ALLEN In order to be succinct, I tried to put a few of my thoughts down onpaper. How do you inspire, find and nuture talent? I believe you must use as rolemodels and inspirational personnel the most wonderful virtuosos of the day, the finestartists. I am tired of second or third or fourth rate people who are sent to explain thegreat arts of the world to young people in the ghetto and in the poor neighborhoods.You know what I am speaking of. Our project, and we have one at the school calledCarnegie Artists at Work, was designed to counteract this sort of thing, and Isaac Stern,Andre Watts and Leontyne Price are these artists, to whom I would like to introducemy young people and to show as role models. The highest standards must be upheld, noshort cuts, no lowering of standards. Then the response from young people is staggering.Often it is not the young people's problems. They are our problems. It is the way weperceive them, and it is the way we perceive the world.

I have been asked several times to give a speech that I used to give all the time, in whichI talked about the fact that we did not ever demand enough. We do not seek enoughfrom people, and by seeking water at its most modest level, we get the scum of the

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water. If you ask people for one hundred and fifty percent, you may possibly get onehundred percent, but when you ask for fifty percent, you will certainly get twenty-fivepercent. We, at the school, ask for every ounce of talent, every ounce of work andcuriosity that is possible. When I speak about students and why we do not ask enoughof them, I have a favorite story I tell very often.

I speak about students and why we do not ask enough of them . . . 'Miss Allen, whydidn't anybody ever make me work?' . . . I think they give a great deal more, becauseI expect so much from them.

There was a young girl who went to a school and I will not name the school. This washer second school of music. She was in her fifth year toward her bachelor. [Laughter]The teacher who is a friend of mine and who his a very renowned German soprano, saidto me, 'Betty, you take her please. She is not possible. There is absolutely no talentthere. She should maybe be selling ties on Wall Street.' [Laughter] So, when the younggirl called me I said, 'You want to work with me?1 'Oh yes, Oh yes.' I said, 'Are yougoing to do what I ask you to do?' 'Oh yes, Miss Allen, absolutely', all amiability andall compliance. She arrived at my home and I had told her what to bring, her book ofexercises, her notebook, her paper and the songs she knew. She started out with an ariaI did not expect her to start with, but that was alright. So we began "In quelle trinemorbide", Puccini. We never got further than the two bars introducing it because shecould not get the syncopation correct. As I watched my pianist's mind flying out thewindow, [Laughter] I said, 'Edna, get a hold of yourself and really count.' She said, 'Iwill try,' still smiling and so amiable. Finally, we managed to get beyond the introductorybars and got into the piece, but at some point she did something wrong all the time.She either did not pronounce correctly, or did not take a good breath, or she was stillmaking musical mistakes. Finally I said to her, 'See that pot over there, honey? That ispre-Columbian and it is eight hundred years old. Now, I know you have a quarter,because you had a quarter to get to my house today. I'm going to give you threeopportunities, because I am a very impatient woman. I do not have time to waste.You'll have three chances to make a mistake, and on the third chance you put the quarterin the pot.' She said, 'OK,' still all amiability. We tried again and something waswrong, either the rhythm or the words or the breath. I said, 'You have one down, twoto go.' We did this again and still there was an error. Two down, last shot. Finallyshe said, 'I am sorry.' I said, 'It is alright. March over and put the quarter in the pot.'At the end of the lesson she had seven quarters and $1.75 in the pot. I said, 'Well, youhave had a lovely lesson. I will see you again next week.' She said, 'Alright.' She wasstill standing there twisting. She said, 'You're going to give me my money back?' Isaid, 'No.' Immediately all amiability ceased. 'Do you mean that you are not going togive me back my money?' I said, 'No.' 'Well then what am I going to do?' I said,'Either bring more quarters or come smarter.' [Laughter] Now this went on for severalweeks and she was always on time after that and did attempt to bring her lesson correctlyand attempted to sing what I told her. Finally, on one Saturday night in December myhusband said, 'There is a student downstairs.' I said, 'What? It is seven o'clock Saturdaynight. I am getting ready to go sing at the Philharmonic. What is she doing here?' 'I donot know. She is downstairs crying.' It was Edna. She came upstairs and she said,'Miss Allen, why didn't anybody ever make me work?' I said, 'I do not know, but I willtell you. I haven't got the patience. You are going to work or I am going to kill you.[Laughter] One or the other. You have got to get out of school. They have got to giveyou your degree and you, by God, are going to work and get out of here.' She did. Shesang one of the most successful recitals at the school, and is today very successful inthe industry, doing what I call do-wop jobs and scooby-do in the background. She isvery busy and very well paid for what she does and certainly seems to know how to doit technically.

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Who can tell and who knows really what curious amalgam conforms to truly create anartist?

I tell you that story to show you that I still have the pot, but the fee has gone up now. Itis one dollar and it is very seldom that anybody has to pay me that dollar more than once.I think I expect a great deal more of them and I think they give a great deal more, becauseI expect so much from them. I feel a direct relationship to these young people whocome and who are coming after me as artists. I am trying to pay my debt to thosehundreds of people who helped me along the way, even those who spurred my stubbornsoul with negative comments and criticism. Who can tell and who knows really whatcurious amalgam conforms to truly create an artist? We have all known those withphenomenal talent who did absolutely nothing, despite all help and all urging. Conversely,those who have been told by omniscient and well-meaning souls, 'Forget it darling. Youdo not have a prayer,* they have somehow succeeded beyond all imagination. How thenare you supposed to judge? What are you supposed to do? I like to begin very youngand continue my cosseting and prodding and my vigilance and hopefully my criticismwhich will help these people.

The youngest children are three years of age and my senior citizens go to seventy-three.. . . But we are not a baby-sitting service for weary mothers.

The youngest children at the Harlem School of the Arts are three years of age and mysenior citizens go to seventy-three. For a very small school located in the middle ofHarlem to survive, we must show an incredible and steady devotion to standards andprofessionalism beyond parallel. We are not a baby-sitting service for weary mothers.Parents must belong to the Parents Association and must attend classes with the littleones, and approve and nurture the pedagogy and practice methods set up by the departmentof the school and yes, indeed, oversee practice while they are at home. We are multi-discipline, that is we have music, drama, dance and the visual arts. There is nothingelse like us in the city and indeed for that matter in the country, because we begin soyoung. Because we start so young, we have created recruitment projects and means bywhich we can check the advancement that hopefully stimulates and keeps these youngstersup to the standards to which we like to conform.

. . . two programs seek specially talented children and try to prepare them and placethem in a specialty arts high school. . . . For the past two years we have had a collegepreparatory project . . .

The school has over eleve.n hundred students. We have a building which is worth sevenmillion dollars in the middle of Harlem. Since 1978, we have had government help. Wereceived approximately thirty-five thousand dollars from the National Endowment, forty-three thousand dollars from the New York State Council on the Arts and, for the pasttwo years, fifty thousand dollars each year from the City of New York, and this year,happily, our Mayor has seen fit to give us one hundred and forty-two thousand ninehundred dollars. We are on our second challenge grant, and the first one helped us toeliminate the mortgage on this building. When I arrived, there was a mortgage on thebuilding of one million six hundred thousand dollars. I am happy to say that in threeyears we paid this off. By 1982 we were able to burn the mortgage. We have not gota dime, but the building is free and clear.

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We hope that what we are doing spreads and proliferates so that we can become aprototype for others of this kind. Our string recruitment department now boasts a Suzukistring ensemble, a full orchestra and many small ensembles. We have thirty children onthe waiting list to take violin, for us that is phenomenal. The piano department anddance department have juries and required playing schedules. A syllabus for thesedepartments exists. HSA has two programs which seek specially talented children and tryto prepare them and place them in a specialty arts high school. This program is calledSHIPP, Special Intensive Preparatory Program. Last year we placed nine children inspecial arts schools, in art and design, the performing arts, one in music and four indrama. This year's not yet fully enrolled class is just beginning.

. . . 'Harlem Students Create and Perform an Opera.1

For three summers, we have had a project by which the children wrote their own musicaltheater. They developed a librettist, a composer, press relations person, a scenic anda costume designer, and these children did so well that in August 1983 Tim Page cameto the school and wrote in the New York Times, 'Harlem Students Create and Performan Opera.' 'Few ten-year-olds', he said, 'have much interest in modern opera, evenfewer have produced their own contributions to the repertory, but yesterday at theHarlem School of the Arts a gifted team of youngsters, age seven to seventeen, presentedthe world premiere of A Bit of Me Died Today, an original opera composed, produced,arranged, designed, choreographed and performed by students. That it all worked sowell was a bit of a miracle, but then miracles are a stock in trade there.' I like to seethat. That is something that people recognize children can do.

For the past two years we have had a college preparatory project which has existedand succeeded in placing four young people in colleges, one at Manhattan School, oneat Mannes, one at Oberlin and one at Rutgers. For the past two years, HSA studentshave been selected by Swarthmore for a full scholarship; Berkeley in Boston and theUniversity of Pennsylvania have offered half scholarships.

One must say a little bit about the National Foundation for the Advancement of theArts, which Dr. Grant Beglarian, here on the dais with me, will also talk about. Itgives scholarships to youngsters who are high school seniors and who are then givenscholarships to go on to college. Two youngsters from the Harlem School of the Artshave gone, one in dance in 1983 to win a fifteen-hundred-dollar scholarship and one in1984 in dance to win also a fifteen-hundred-dollar scholarship. This year there are threeentries, one in voice, one in composition and one in dance.

As a result of all these classes we have been able to give recommendations to youngpeople for work, and we have been able to help people in more ways than one.

The school's master voice class has tried to nuture those who seek us and I emphasize'seek us', for I do not run out and look for singers, even though somebody might think so.I am, God knows, not the mother of the world. But somehow, these people who cometo New York City find me and want to know what I can do to help them. There is avoid that has been left by the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund and we try to give help,advice and money for artistic projects of worth. I have been successful at finding threefoundations to help young artists individually, and collectively through the school. Wehave helped pay for coaching, not with us because we give full scholarship, lessons,language aid, clothing, travel expenses. You name it, we've done it.

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This year, the class has one Metropolitan Opera award winner, two Richard Tucker Studygrantees, one Baltimore Opera study grant awardee; four of them are now in the chorusof this year's Porgy and Bess and one has been elevated from the chorus to the role ofLily. A counter tenor is on his way to Europe for concerts and a young tenor has justreturned from Paris performing Idomeneo with the Paris Radio Orchestra. We also havea bass just about ready to make his City Center debut in Akhnaten and the AnthonyDavis opera Malcolm X. One of the class and the brains who devised the collegepreparatory department has sung the lead in Porgy and Bess at Radio City one and ahalf years ago and, fortunately, his attention was turned to young people, because hesays, 'Once they get in the high schools, we do not really know where they are going.So, Betty, you ought to really follow them from three straight on through and get theminto college, if you can.' He is just getting ready - speaking of new music - to do theleading role in a large piece by Hans Werner Henze, Cimarrdn. He will work withSpeculum Musicae in this city and in other cities and in Europe.

As a result of all these classes we have been able to give recommendations to youngpeople for work, and we have been able to help people in more ways than one. Whenyou see my children at City Hall, playing for the Mayor and Leontyne Price, and whenyou hear them performing about the city and elsewhere, you may know why the searchfor talent and excellence has to start young and keep going. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Thank you for reading so fast, Betty. My goodness! You told us afascinating success story.

The Juilliard School has a tradition of young presidents, but it has hardly ever gottena younger, certainly never a more handsome president than the gentleman who is sittingto my left. Joseph Polisi comes to New York after years of study at Yale and in Paris.He is a professional bassoonist and he is a professional educator with an extraordinaryvision of what the arts and humanities mean to our daily lives. So, while trainingprofessional musicians, I think they are going to emerge from Juilliard better, well-rounded people than, perhaps, in years past. As a long-time watcher of the JuilliardSchool, and writer about it for twenty-five years, I have been extraordinarily impressedby this gentleman and we are indeed delighted to have Dr. Polisi with us this afternoon.[Applause]

. . . of all the areas that a dean or president is involved in in educating performingartists, at least in my opinion, the most problematic and the most interesting area isthe training of the potential opera singer.

JOSEPH POLISI Thank you very much, Byron. I should say publically, because I promisedBill Schuman that I always would when the question of age came up, that it was WilliamSchuman who was the youngest President in the history of the Juilliard School. I amthe second youngest President. So that point always needs to be clarified.

When I was asked to participate in this program, I was certainly honored and pleased, andI began to think about my experience in the education of the opera singer over the pastten years or so. I became a little bit whimsical about the thought process, because Ikept remembering that of all the areas that a dean or president is involved in in educatingperforming artists, it turns out, at least in my opinion, that the most problematic andthe most interesting area is the training of the opera singer, the potential opera singer.Some of the reasons are amusing, some are not amusing. We all know that singers, eventhough Betty is doing a wonderful job beginning at three, that generally when they cometo training at a conservatory or a school of music or a department of music they havenot had much musical training in terms of theory or history, in comparison to

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instrumentalists, like violinists or pianists. We often find, in institutions, that it isnecessary to put them into remedial classes, which take time away from the studio andrehearsals. It is a problem that faces all schools of music around the United States and,in fact, the world.

. . . this is an important mix in what happens in the school: the opinion of the voiceteacher and the role that their students should play in performances . . . when thesubject of opera training and choruses came up, I was told by two faculty members thatsinging is bad for the voice. . . . Then there is the relationship in schools just as atthe professional stage, of the director and the conductor, and their differing concepts . . .

Then, of course, there is the ever present and all important voice teacher on the faculty,who certainly wants to protect his or her charges and therefore commits to a defenseof that student in reference to any public or workshop performances. The battles thatgo on between opera directors in schools and voice teachers are much too lengthy andacrimonious for me to get into right now. Let us just say that this is an important mixin what happens in the school: the opinion of the voice teacher and the role that theirstudents should play in performances which are taking place.

Most schools also have choruses and choruses are areas that I always thought werebenign. I am a bassoonist, and I thought singing was a pleasant experience, but Iremember in a faculty meeting where, when the subject of opera training and chorusescame up, I was told by two faculty members, very specifically, that singing is bad forthe voice. [Laughter] They went on to explain what they meant exactly by that, but itis very difficult to have an active choral program with committed active choral directors,and have an active opera program within the same walls. I wish that were not the case,but it turns out it very much is. Then there is the relationship that we see in schools justas at the professional stage, of the director and the conductor, and their concepts ofwhat the music should be and how staging should take place. There is the repertoirethat should be presented in the school and its relationship to an educational philosophy.You do not want to do programs which will hurt young voices, and you want to doinnovative works that, perhaps, can not be staged in professional houses. You do notwant to duplicate, in the case of Juilliard or Mannes in New York City or institutions inthe region, operas that are being done by the Met or City Opera. The juxtaposition of allof these problems is something that goes on constantly, and I would say is never adequatelyor satisfactorily resolved in reference to all parties.

. . . there is an enormous level of expectation on the part of young singers as to whatthey must achieve after graduation. . . . the stress that is brought on by theseexpectations . . . it must be the effort of every educational institution that is seriouslyinvolved in training opera singers to make sure that they can flourish as young people,and as artists.

Finally, I think there is an enormous level of expectation on the part of young singers asto what they must achieve after graduation. Not only is the training of an opera singer, ina very true sense, the most subtle and complex educational process that an arts institutionwill probably undertake, but it is also a process that has the highest stakes. The successin the opera world, a success in the meshing of acting and singing, if this can beachieved, there are probably very few situations in the arts that can be compared tothat success. As a result, students, when they approach this art and this profession,see every moment, every criticism, every opportunity, as a major success or failuresituation. We see this across the board, of course - we see it in piano, we see it in violin,

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in reference to competitions. But with the singer it is particularly problematic because,since their voice is part of their body, they can not divorce themselves from it and thestress that is brought on by these expectations, by the arena of the opera world, is onethat is always present and is problematic. It is the effort of every educational institutionthat is seriously involved in training opera singers, at whatever level, to make sure thatthey can flourish as young people, as artists, and at the same time that they get thetechnical and aesthetic musical training that is necessary for them to be functioningartists after graduation.

At Juilliard, we have what is called the American Opera Center, an organization whichbegan in the mid-sixties, and whose plan was to identify very talented young men andwomen who wanted to have a life in opera, who had already completed most of theireducation, but who were not quite ready to go into the profession. In other words, itoffers a period of one to two or perhaps even three years of intensive training in theelements of being a singer/actor.

We are looking at the general educational program at the Juilliard School now, askingwhat the profession will ask of our graduates in the next century. I and my colleaguesfeel very strongly that the profession has changed rather dramatically in the past fiftyyears. There is a vast new repertoire out there which musicians are asked to performin various different contexts, they are asked to be articulate beyond their instruments.In reference to opera, they are being asked to be prepared to sing a repertoire whichis much larger than it was fifty years ago, and to be truly trained, if possible, in thedramatic techniques that are needed to present a role on stage.

Because of these diverse and complex goals, right now at Juilliard, we are taking a hardlook at what the American Opera Center is all about.

Because of these diverse and complex goals, right now at Juilliard, we are taking a hardlook at what AOC is all about. In some ways we are starting tabula rasa so to speak. Ihave asked David Lloyd, who is the Acting Director [meanwhile became Director] ofAOC, and his colleagues and other members of the faculty, to decide what the newdirections of AOC will be, and what those new directions and their relationships shouldbe to the opera profession. First of all I have asked them to define clear goals, to makeour students understand what they will be asked when they graduate. Mr. Prince, duringhis remarks, talked about the redundancy of some of the experiences that he has hadin opera and, perhaps, in staging or producing operas. When he mentioned the wordredundancy it hit a chord with me in a sense that I find that young singers who cometo Juilliard and are cast in major roles in our first, second or third production, they takeon a dramatic character on stage that was quite current, perhaps, seventy years ago.It amazed me and it continues to amaze me, why this happens. Why there is a lackof action in reference to those young people on stage. How is it that inherently theypicked up characteristics that one would ordinarily not associate with opera in 1985?What experiences have they had which instill in them traditions which have essentiallydied? This is what we are trying to do at Juilliard right now, trying to bring a sensetraining, so that they can look within themselves, not only as singers, but also as actorson stage, and be better prepared opera performers for the future.

We are also structuring the program more clearly. It has been open-ended in the past.Now it will stretch from one year to three years in duration, probably. It will also begraduated in the sense that basic foundation work in acting, in make-up, in movement,in everything else that is involved in basic training for the singer will take place in thefirst year or the first eighteen months. Then the singer will be funneled into workshop

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productions or major productions, so that at the end of three years there is a logicalrational process that they have participated in, which permits them to have a base ofoperations and a training that they can use in the future.

Juilliard, as an American institution with a great tradition of many American composerswho have studied and taught at Juilliard, must make a commitment to American opera.

Finally, beyond AOC, Juilliard is now involved in trying over a five year period, to planthe productions and performances of contemporary operas, essentially American operas,for that matter. We feel that Juilliard, as an American institution with a great traditionof many American composers who have studied and taught at Juilliard, that we shouldmake that commitment to American opera. I think you will see over the next five toten years a series of productions, in either workshop or full productions, of new Americanoperas or operas that have been written in this century, in an effort to, first of all,make that art form known to the public, and secondly, to make our students understandthe need to work with contemporary music.

So, in general, I would say that, at the moment the American Opera Center at Juilliardis going through a transitional stage that will be ending in probably one year, througha serious study of what we need to do for our own students, and what responsibilitieswe have for the profession. We look forward to being able to train young people, whowill not only take their place in their profession, but lead it into the next century withgreat vibrancy and forcefulness. [Applause]

All of us have read and heard, in one way or another, about presidential scholars.

BYRON BELT Thank you Joseph Polisi. - All of us have read and heard, in one wayor another, about presidential scholars. I assumed for a time that these were peoplewho studied the American presidency [Laughter] and then I decided that they were peoplewhom the President was putting through college on his own. I thought this was very,very generous. But I learned that that is not the case, and we have with us the oneman with the definitive answers. A man who has spent thirty years in the educationalrealm, including serving as Dean of the School of Performing Arts at the University ofSouthern California from 1969 to 1982 and who has headed one of the most importantprojects of the Ford Foundation, their Contemporary Music Project. Those of us whogrew up with the Contemporary Opera Project in the early years of the New York CityOpera, realize that we gained an education in American opera that no one else has everhad. As a matter of fact, there weren't all that many of us in the theater many ofthe nights, but I saw more American operas than have been done in all the years since.That Ford Foundation project was a very major one, and a sterling example of whatfoundations can accomplish when they set their hearts and minds to it. One of the menwho has influenced them, and who is now Chairman of the National Foundation forAdvancement in the Arts is Grant Beglarian, our next speaker. [Applause]

GRANT BEGLARIAN One of my trustees is present here and she spoke already. So Ihave to watch what I am going to say, because she might reprimand me later on. ButBetty Allen and I are dear friends. The National Foundation is a fledgling, neworganization, and I am trying to make it succeed. So, briefly, I will describe it to you,but then I will bring it back to the concern we have here, having to do with the operaticworld.

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It takes a great deal of courage to find a young harpist in Nebraska, who is extraordinary,but who needs that special help at that special moment. The purpose of our foundationis not to have a national competition in which we want to see, like in a horse race, whois the best this year.

The National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, it sounds official, it soundsvery established, but it is not. It is not governmental. It is private. A group of peoplegot together and, for whatever reason, decided that it was high time for a country likeours to have a central resource center that supports young artists in their developingyears. There are many institutions in which there are awards given, scholarships given,but there is no single national organization where a young writer, a young painter, adancer, a musician, a visual artist could come for whatever help they could receive.These are not established people. It takes no great courage to give an award to ItzhakPerlman. It takes no great courage to commission Leonard Bernstein. It takes a greatdeal of courage to find a young harpist in Nebraska, who is extraordinary, but who needsthat special help at that special moment, or a young singer or a young choreographersomewhere. The purpose of our foundation is not to have a national competition inwhich we want to see, like in a horse race, who is the best this year. It is not that kindof an organization at all. We do examine the work of young artists, because, after all,you can not be indiscriminate about these matters. There isn't enough money for all ofthat. There is an extraordinary amount of talent in the country.

. . . its principal program is called Arts Recognition and Talent Search, which veryconveniently abbreviates into ARTS. . . . Any young person who excels way beyond thatage level is rewarded, recognized - tangibly in our case.

Briefly, the first program that we have is the Presidential Scholars in the Arts, whichdoes sound very ominous, I must say. The foundation began in 1982 and its principalprogram is called Arts Recognition and Talent Search, which very conveniently abbreviatesinto ARTS. This is for seventeen and eighteen-year-old American artists, typically highschool seniors who are about to make or have made already a profound commitment towork in the field of the arts in a variety of ways, a variety of fields - in music, forexample, in all the instrumental fields, composing, jazz and popular, also. There areyoung people in every state who submit applications, portfolios to us, tapes, video tapes,etc. These are examined by panels of judges, experts, people like yourselves, and outof this we select approximately thirty in each category, who we bring in January at ourexpense to Miami, our headquarters, for one week of very intensive series of auditions,interviews, exercises, master classes, observed practice sessions, sight readings and soon. It is sort of a holistic approach. As a result of this, we select a number of themwho excel way beyond what you would expect from a seventeen, eighteen year old.They are not competing against each other in this crucial way. The failure of one doesnot advance the opportunity of the other. It is conceivable that any one year we couldhave thirty trombonists. There are no quota systems. Any young person who excelsway beyond that age level is rewarded, recognized - tangibly in our case. We give themthree thousand dollars unrestricted. They can do anything they want with the money.Typically, they go to school. They will go to Juilliard. Joe is also very generous andgives them a few more dollars, if he has them.

As you would expect, Juilliard has the single largest number of our young people whohave been awarded these annual grants. I think there are about thirty-two if I am notmistaken, as of late count. The second one is Yale. Now, that is very interesting tome. The third one is Harvard. The fourth one is the University of Rochester, Eastman.

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. . . these young people are not only highly skilled in their artistic endeavors, but theyare also very bright. . . . They are, as far as I am concerned, the cultural future ofthe country.

The fifth one is NYU, and then it goes on from there. Princeton is there someplace andall the various professional schools such as Manhattan and Mannes are represented. Thepoint I am trying to make is that these young people are not only highly skilled in theirartistic endeavors, but they are also very bright. I have not yet seen a dumb one and Ihave seen many of them. They are, as far as I am concerned, the cultural future ofthe country. I see it every year, and I feel as if I should work for nothing, as HaroldPrince said. I should work for nothing because this is the re-establishment of a greatforce and a great hope, that following you is a generation of really remarkable youngpeople. You have seen some around here, this morning.

. . . generally speaking, the high school senior graduating artist - there was no way ofnationally recognizing this young person's achievement.

At any rate, through a machination that is too long to go into, the White House nowrecognizes excellence in the arts, in the same way as they recognize excellence invarious other pursuits. There was, in the Johnson administration, a program instituted,called the Presidential Scholars in the Arts. These were the very brightest high schoolseniors in the country. Typically, as a result of their merit awards or SAT's and thingsof this nature, two from each state and twenty at large were selected, brought toWashington for various ceremonies. This was before my time. In 1979, the last year ofthe Carter administration, the White House decided that the arts should also be recognizedin the same way, on the same occasion, in the same setting as all the other youngsters.So, twenty young American artists were selected in the same fashion that we select thosein mathematics, physics, chemistry and everything else. This is how the foundation cameinto being, because there was no mechanism to identify those twenty youngsters. Thereis no national search for very talented people - not just for admission as freshman inschools, but just young people who are very good and who may not want to continueschool. They are ready to work as dancers, for example, in the ease of ballet. Thereare many of them who do not go to school after their high school years. Writers arejust beginning at this point. That is why they go to Yale and Harvard, not to becomeviolinists, although, I suppose some would. But, generally speaking, the high school seniorgraduating artist - there was no way of nationally recognizing this young person'sachievement.

The Carter White House then created a category of awards called Presidential Scholarsin the Arts. For our country, this was a very major step. I have not yet been ableto convince our educational politicians, who like arts education, to understand thesignificance of this thing.

The Carter White House then decided by Presidential order, to create a category ofawards, called Presidential Scholars in the Arts. For our country, this was a very majorstep. I have not yet been able to convince our educational politicians, who like artseducation, to understand the significance of this thing. There is a mechanism wherebyyour efforts as teachers, those of you who are in the business of teaching young onesparticularly, can promote arts education by focusing on this program, saying, 'Well, theWhite House recognizes achievements in the arts.' Why shouldn't that be translated into

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policies of the National Endowment for the Arts, of the private sector, corporations thatwere enamored with all kinds of arts education programs, to say nothing of school boards?This is one answer to what we heard yesterday about the lack of opportunities in ourpublic schools for arts education.

The point is, the foundation makes a great deal about those twenty young people. We, ina sense, became the impresarios for staging the Presidential Scholars activities inWashington every year. We have to be very careful, because the young artists are verylucky. They have something to demonstrate - what their talent, what their accomplishmentsare all about. What does a poor physicist do? What does a poor mathematician do?They have no way to show their brilliance. But our young people perform. So wedecided that we were going to go for broke and hire the Kennedy Center. There atthe Kennedy Center they performed. We made arrangements with the Congressional ArtsCaucus, headed by Congressman Downey. There was a special declaration made on thefloor of the House, recognizing the achievements by young artists in this country. Thepress was not moved by that, except two years ago one of the youngsters made somepolitical news by petitioning the President, and that got into the paper. But what doesnot get in the paper is the singular achievement of these young Americans who in theirordinary way achieve extraordinary results with their teachers, with people like you whosupport them.

The purpose of the foundation is to help young artists in their developing years. . . . Butfor a singer - do you know what the singers need? Just a little money to pay for . . . Youdo not write proposals to the Ford Foundation to get your hair fixed.

The arts program is in its fifth year now and, God willing, it will become a permanentfeature. We spend about two-million dollars a year on this, every penny of which has tobe raised every year. That is Betty's job and that is my job. There is no endowment; itis not Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So's foundation, with a trust fund set aside for this purpose.

The purpose of the foundation is to help young artists in their developing years. I donot know where to stop the word young and I do not know where to stop the worddeveloping, because in various fields that takes different lengths of time. The fact is,we get very few male singers at age seventeen in our program. We do get femalesingers and Betty, you know some of them are very good. Having been in the field ofeducation, I realize that voice develops later, obviously, than say piano, violin or othermusical instruments.

To replenish our memory of what it feels like to be a young singer and experience theproblems they face, my wife and I took a trip and we soon realized, that there is no waya foundation like ours could find jobs for them. We might be able to find some job fortechnical people, and I will come to apprenticeships for them later. But for a singer- do you know what the singers need? A little money to pay for their coaching. Alittle money to get clothes. A little money to get their hair fixed, nose maybe. [Laughter]These are not big things. You do not write proposals to the Ford Foundation to getyour hair fixed. I do not know what they would do.

I have dreams that there should be a universal credi t card issued t o young ar t i s t s . . . . adrawing account o f f i f teen- thousand dollars, for t e n years . . .

I have dreams that there should be a universal credit card issued to young artists. It islike a drawing account of fifteen-thousand dollars, for ten years, which they will pay

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back after they have established their career. No interest charges. You can chargeanything you want, your audition trip, your new dress or whatever you need, scores,records. These are little things. Rent, utilities, telephone. You do not write proposalsfor these things. But wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a place in this country whereby some, whatever magic, this could be realized. I don't even want to have a selectionprocess. You say that you are an artist and I will take your word for it, because,believe me, in our foundation we spend more money trying to locate artists, than theactual dollars we give them. Any of you who have held auditions, you know what I amtalking about. You spend more money organizing the audition than the actual dollarsyou pay out. I realize that there is value in the auditions beyond that, of course.

. . . some of us think in too grand a term. It is the little things that add up and makecareers. . . . the little opportunities, little twists, little telephone numbers. . . . Thereare major sums of money being spent on creating institutions, and not a penny on humanresources.

This is an example of the kind of things I like to see us think about as we enter thetwenty-first century. It is these small things that add up and make big things happen.I have nothing against the Tchaikovsky Award or things of this nature. They are great,but how many of you remember the pianist who won eight years ago? It was big news,very big news. And all the singers that have won the major contests. Some have madea career, some have not. It is immaterial. The point I am trying to make is, that some ofus think in too grand a term. It is the little things that add up and make careers. It isthe little opportunities, little twists, little telephone numbers. In this vein, we are alsotalking about the possible establishment of a National Research Center under NFAA.This would combine information gathered by various service organizations such as CentralOpera Service.

We must remember that institutions come into being in response to artistic impulse andnot the other way around. You do not build a building and say, 'Well, what we shouldreally have in here is some people who sing, and then have some scenery, and they cantell stories.' You begin with the composer and the singers and that necessitates a thingcalled an opera. We forget that the human resources are first, before you have museums,and I am not talking about the Metropolitan as a museum. There are major sums ofmoney being spent on creating institutions, and not a penny on human resources. I amhorrified to see the amount of money, and I am talking about two billion dollars. Thesepeople in the visual arts have to spend one hundred and fifty million dollars by law orelse IRS will put them in jail. Well, there is nothing wrong with that, but let them giveus fifty million dollars, and we will have an endowment.

•Some of you will succeed despite all our best efforts.1 We do everything we know howbut there is going to be someone in that room who is going to make our life different,because they have something unique inside them . . . not because of the cover of Timemagazine . . . not the medals that the President gives.

The last thing I would like to touch on is the whole concept of success. One time, Iwas addressing the graduates at our school wishing them well and I said, 'Some of youwill succeed despite all our best efforts.' We do everything we know how, perhaps wedo the limit of everything we know how, but there is going to be someone in that roomwho is going to make our life different, because they have something unique inside them.It is not because of the cover of Time magazine; it is not the medals that the Presidentgives. It may not even be the awards that this foundation or anybody else gives to

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anybody. It has to do with that inner impulse of a person, who has that wonderfulmadness, who thinks that what they do or what they think and how they feel and howthey work makes a difference in the world. And, by God, sometimes it does. None of usare clairvoyant enough to know which one it will be. It is not a question of betting. It isa question of doing little things all over the place, because you never know what youdid that was right, somehow, with somebody, sometime. Perhaps it sounds too vague foran administrator to talk this way but if we did not have that kind of notion, it seemsfoolish to spend a penny on anything, and all of us spend more than one penny.

Thank you very much. [Applause]

BYRON BELT I am certain that any of us who were or are struggling young artists likethe fifteen thousand dollar credit card idea.

For those of you who wonder what happened to the third woman theme. We are missingboth our originally scheduled panelist, June Dunbar, and her replacement JoAnn Forman,for one reason or another. I did not want you to get confused about who I was introducingto you next. Although there could be no question, because there is only one, and shewas marvelous and is marvelous, Margaret Harshaw.

From Bellini to Wagner, she sang, and led a career of astonishing dignity and grandeur.I miss her. But I am glad that she is here today. She is now Distinguished Professorof Voice at Indiana University and it is with great pleasure that we welcome MargaretHarshaw. [Applause]

MARGARET HARSHAW Now, I am the oldest here. [Laughter] We all have to agreeto that. You are the youngest [to Polisi], I am the oldest.

We seem to be talking about schools. I hear about the Harlem School, Juilliard, andthe different schools that you mentioned, and I guess you expect me to talk about IndianaUniversity. Now we are talking about a big state university. When I was accepted atthe Juilliard School of Music, it was then very different from what you have now, verydifferent. It was small. You were an individual. The theory classes, I think, had sixor seven students. You could not hide behind somebody. You were on the spot. Wehad that theory class every day. They knew you as an individual, not as a member ofa class. It was wonderful.

I w a s a d v i s e d . . . I should g o on and just b e a s i n g e r . I sa id , 'My brain a l w a y s p u z z l e s- Why is t h a t n o t e t h e r e ? Why i s tha t chord? 1 . . . S o , I w e n t t o Jui l l iard . . .

There I learned the word 'yes'. Believe me, because I had to work six years in thetelephone company, not as an operator, as a secretary. I do not know how I did that.It must have been awful. But I have my sorority pin and mine is a little gold pin that hasa star for five years' service in the telephone company. Then I went to Juilliard. Thatwas my education. I was advised by some of the musical leaders in the City ofPhiladelphia that I was wasting my time. I should go on and just be a singer. I said,'My brain always puzzles - Why is that note there? Why is that chord?1 Certainly Icould play the piano. In my day, you started piano lessons at six years old. There wasno television, there was no radio. You entertained your mother and father's guests.[Laughter] Now, you talked about little things. Yes, but they grow. I understood thatthat word 'entertainment' or making people pleased, meant my sister and I playing pianoduets and singing duets from a home songbook. There was that little session everyevening when people would come to call, and Margaret and Miriam were to do something,their thing. Very funny. My father loathed it, [Laughter] but my mother said it was

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right. Now, finally, I argued with those dear ladies and they did mean well. But mybrain would not accept that. So, I went to Juilliard and you bet, I knew that word 'yes1.

In 1942, I won the Met Auditions and went directly from Juilliard to the MetropolitanOpera. There my teacher taught me through the years that I had worked with her, thatthe next word to learn was 'no'. No, I can not sing that. No, I am not ready for that.Then I went to Indiana University, the next space of my life, and the word that I learnedthere was 'big'. The big ten. The big fields. The big cattle herds. Everything wasbig. [Laughter] So those are the three words of my life. Yes, no, and big. [Laughter]

The real singer is the one who gives you something that you take home with you and itsets a vibration going in you. It speaks to your heart or your soul when it is troubledor dark. It makes it happy.

At this university, and it is a wonderful university, we have eighteen full-time teachersin voice. We have three hundred and six voice majors, undergraduate and graduate.Now, when I look at that three hundred and six, and I would say the same if I were outthere now, I do not believe that there are that many voice majors all put together inthe United States of America. By voice major I mean somebody that is going to go onand have a major career. I think that that is impossible. When you think that we haveRussia, we have Europe, all the other places in the world - how many singers are there,exactly? Now, I am talking about real singers. We have a lot of people that sing, butthey are not real singers. That is the difference. The real singer is the one who givesyou something that you take home with you and it sets a vibration going in you. It speaksto your heart or your soul when it is troubled or dark. It makes it happy. That is thereal singer. That is what my teacher taught me, that was Schon-Ren6e, also RiseStevens' and Kitty Carlisle's teacher. I used to see Kitty Carlisle and say, 'Boy! Isn'tshe beautiful.'

At Indiana University in my studio is where I think it begins. I do not take freshmenanymore. I do not think that I am good for freshmen. The last freshman that I tookwas three years ago. Over the years, I have taught mostly graduate students, I wouldsay ninety percent. I think I am a little too strong for a freshman. At this moment Iam fighting to retire and that is the truth. I had a conference this week. I am tired. Ihave never had a year of my life to myself and being seventy-six, soon seventy-seven,I better hurry up or it is not going to be. [Laughter] I felt when I hit seventy-five thatI was then on borrowed time or a bonus. That is one of the reasons that I came tothis conference. I am not a conference-goer, or a speaker, or a joiner, or any of thesethings. I think I just was a dumb singer. No, do not ever believe that. A real singer isnot dumb. They are different. [Laughter and applause]

When one teaches voice, one teaches the whole person, not the C scale and then the Gscale and then the D scale, oh no. . . . When you hear I am tough you had better believeit all the way. . . . from the day that they come into that studio, they understandcertain things or they get out. . . . if you flunk theory, I just won't accept you.

When one teaches voice, one teaches the whole person, not the C scale and then the Gscale and then the D scale, oh no. You worry, 'Do they put themselves togethercorrectly?' I have heard some of your stage directors speak. How do you put somebodymonumental into a romantic scene? That does not look right to even old me. So, thesingers begin early to watch that weight. I have threatened to put a scale in my studio.They learn to work-out. A singer has to have a very strong body. They sing with their

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body. They must not abuse it. These are the things I look out for. When you hear Iam tough you had better believe it all the way. And I do not even take their money.[Laughter] I do very little private teaching. I just work for the university. But fromthe day that they come into that studio, they understand certain things or they get out.

. . . once in a while I will say to a student, 'It was this way. You have to do that.Somebody must do that again, have that integrity and dedication and devotion.1 So that'swhere I am, at the source of the river, I try to instill this.

One of the funny things about that studio is, if you fail, if you flunk theory, you are out.I just won't accept you. I know what contemporary music is. I am glad, in someinstances, that I do not have to sing it, that I was born when I was. But there is some ofit that is very good and very singable. The young singer today must contend with that,because we have to go ahead. We can not stay back. Life is a going ahead process.I rarely if ever, in that studio, reminisce. Once in a great while. For instance, whena baritone will start the aria from Tamhauser I go back, mentally, and watch GeorgeLondon. It was breathtaking. I stood not far from him and watched, the care and thethought and the placement and the support and everything, the weariness and yet, hewould deliver that aria so beautifully. Then once in a while I will say to a student,naturally somebody twenty-seven or twenty-eight, 'It was this way. You have to dothat. Somebody must do that again. Somebody must have that integrity and thatdedication and that devotion.1 So that's where I am, at the source of the river, I tryto instill this.

The nice thing, you see, at the university is eighteen full-time voice teachers. Thefaculty meetings I do not like. I say that anywhere. I loathe them but I go throughwith them. It is a rule, and that is the yes in me. The no in me is not to agree and thenI can get feisty. Not often, but sometimes.

The bigness of the outlook, the outside world, in our studio we talk about the outsideworld. That is a slogan in there. That is what we get ready for. When I hear somebodysay, 'The educational system, today, promotes and encourages and rewards mediocrity'- I am afraid that that is true and it upsets me very much. We let things slide by, likea flunked theory course. No, that has to be passed. They do not have to get 'A'because not everybody can have that kind of mathematical mind, but you must pass,because it is a tool you will use forever.

. . . we get a degree, which means only that we have completed that much schooling.After we get that degree, then comes our education. If you do not have that background,you will never have an education.

When I think of education, "I think we go to school and we get a degree, which meansonly that we have completed that much schooling. After we get that degree, then comesour education. If you do not have that background, you will never have an education. Itis a link and most people think, 'Oh, I have a degree. Now that is my career.' No. Ithink people that are involved in education should make this very clear, that it is simplya degree. It is something that you have accomplished. You have done literature, andstructure of music, and other music courses, and general education. At Juilliard, I donot know how they run it now. I just know that it is there.

At Indiana, we have a wonderful ballet department. Our singers can take that as anelective. We do have an outstanding language school. I think that compares and goes

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beyond any other school. They even teach Russian dialects. They can take that as anelective. They can go to the theater department. There they can take acting. Noneof these things are in our music degree. We also have fencing, we have a wonderfulathletic department. We lose football games, but we do have a good athletic department.[Laughter] All of these things are in a big state university.

A big state university is not for everybody. For eight years, I think it was, I taughtin Curtis Institute on a visiting schedule. It was very interesting to study that school,which was, again like the old Juilliard, and compared with what went on at IndianaUniversity, so much smaller and personal. Many of the people who went through IndianaUniversity ended up at Curtis, not through me, because I do not believe in this wordconnections. Nobody studies with me for connections. If they study with me, it is tolearn something about singing, because there are a lot of people that I could call. Ihave never done that in twenty-three years of teaching. That is the way that somepeople do get scholarships or win prizes. We hear this all the time and it is true.Somebody knows somebody and vouches for them. These last couple of years I evenrefused to write recommendations. Part of that is that I have to go to the dictionarytoo many times. [Laughter]

I agree, Indiana University should have ensemble solo singers, in my studio we do that.. . . The solo singer has to have that projection. It is dampened or stilled in our choralensembles.

The ensemble thing - I heard somebody hit that. I agree, this is something that IndianaUniversity should have, they should have ensemble solo singers, not ensembles. Thechoral departments want them to sing so that you can not hear them. As I say, 'Oh, if Ican hear it, it has to be wrong.1 The solo singer has to have that projection. It isdampened or stilled in our choral ensembles. Why they do not have ensemble solo singersI can not figure out. I tried my best, and in my studio we do that. I do have a masterclass every week. I do not get paid for that - that is my joy. We have trios andquartets and whatever they bring in.

I make them sing a page of Mozart and then a page of the contemporary. . . . I find thatthat works. They learn to sing some of the contemporary music . . .

I also heard this business about the contemporary singer. For any of you that teach, Ithink a very good way to handle that - I have found it so and it may be of use to someone- I make them sing a page of Mozart and then a page of the contemporary. Now, thistakes time and patience, but do not get into this business if you do not have patience. Ifind that that works. They learn to sing some of the contemporary music, and I agree,some is not good and it sounds so much better that I get furious, because I know that itis going to sell, and it is not very good music. But others are just simply wonderful, andif they learn to sing contemporary music on the breath, as they would sing that sameMozart or Bellini, it works, and they do not get hurt. We hear that it hurts the voice.Well, anything will hurt if you do not do it correctly.

These are all the things that I have to say and at seventy-six it all still looks goodback here. [Applause]

BYRON BELT I am sure that you can feel the warmth, Madame. I will extend thatby saying that if Indiana is unwise enough to let you retire, come to San Francisco, wewill make you very happy there. [Laughter]

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It is hard to know someone. Sherrill once said that I knew him too well to ever give hima good review, which was a damned lie. [Laughter] I knew him too well to know thathe was destined to be one of the great singers of our day. I grew up with LawrenceTibbett and I supered with Mr. Tibbett many times at the Chicago Opera. We had avery special relationship and I considered him next to God. We then had LeonardWarren. America has had three of the three greatest baritones, I think, probably of alltime. We surely have one, now, in Sherrill Milnes. But we not only have a greatbaritone, we have a person of astonishing intellect.

He is a wonderfully stimulating human being as well as a tremendous artist. His generosityin repaying his own accomplishments, those who helped him in his career, is demonstratedin his activity, and his very generous activity, far more than he will admit, but I knowfrom the people who run the organization, that Affiliate Artists could not be withoutSherrill Milnes1 promotion and recognition and the prestige and enthusiasm which hebrings to them. I have also noticed that, since the retirement of Robert Merrill, everytime there is a new Jewish cantata the baritone is Sherrill Milnes. I think it is absolutelywonderful. Ezra Laderman and Martin Kalmanoff certainly owe him a great debt ofgratitude, and we all do, too. We are very glad to have you with us this afternoon,Sherrill. [Applause]

SHERRILL MILNES Thank you very much, Byron.

. . . our systems in this country, the talent discovery and the nuturing systems, are notin such bad shape. . . . I would prefer to say a few things about a variety of subjects.These are not necessarily in order of my priorities.

We have heard many exciting, informative, even funny things said today. Actually itoccurs to me that our systems in this country, the talent discovery and the nuturingsystems, are not in such bad shape. That is one thing that occurs to me. Certainly, ifone uses the last page or two of Opera News, the U.S. Calendar, as a guide, speakingspecifically of opera, the number of companies now versus even ten years ago has greatlyincreased; but talk fifteen or twenty years as a time framework and the picture is totallydifferent, there are so many, many more companies. Lots of wonderful things are goingon in this country, to a large degree educationally, because of the groups that havebeen mentioned and because of many other music schools, and efforts of many otherpeople throughout the country. Because I do not represent a particular institution orprogram, I would prefer to say a few things about a variety of subjects. These are notnecessarily in order of my priorities. They are simply things that occurred and occur tome. First, I will go on with something Hal Prince talked about.

. . . whether you are talking about more tonal or very experimental music, if you aretalking about less than the best cast in a world premiere piece, it can not be presentedin its best format. Is the fault in the work? Is the fault in one or more of the cast . . .

Hal talked about modern works, and there is a problem - I do not automatically haveanswers for all the problems - there is a problem with casting. That is, the majorhouses which have been talked about today and yesterday, plan very many years inadvance, therefore they are booking singers very far in advance. Generally speaking,they have the time, framework, the lead time to find the best people that exist. Mostof the time the modern works do not get the best casts possible, often due to performancecalendars of, in most cases, smaller houses - well, even a two-year lead time in a modernwork is a long time, but even within two years you seldom can find the composer's, the

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stage director's first choice of artists; or, for that matter, the choice of the heads ofcompanies presenting the new work, sometimes in tandem, as Houston and Kennedy Centerhave done several times. You do not have the luxury of 'who do you want out there inthe field'. One particular work that was mentioned I really wanted to do, and the feewas not a problem, because, generally, you know you get more for Trovatore or Rigolettothan for a modern work. OK, we understand that and I had sorted that out. I hadbeen prepared to cancel and push around some dates in order to accommodate this. Butfinally the time framework did not work out, I just could not come up with enough timethat new works take, must take; they need more rehearsal time. Boheme, which in asense lives on its own, can, with an average cast and even little rehearsal, still move youto tears. An average cast in a world premiere piece, whether you are talking aboutmore tonal or very experimental music - it does not really matter - if you are talkingabout less than the best cast, it can not be presented in its best format. Is the fault inthe work? Is the fault in the avant-gardeness of the work? Is the fault in one or moreof the cast, because they are not really the best people around? A world premiere,which needs the best, rarely gets the best.

Student performances. We used to have at the Met, all the time, student matineeperformances. We always called them 'kids' performances', because they would screamand holler at the bad guys, like Tonio in Pagliacci. I remember doing Tonio in studentperformances and being booed as the bad guy. They now have some children at dressrehearsals in the upper balconies. I was just at Chicago Lyric, and their dress rehearsalof Otello was, in a sense, a performance, because it was filled in all of the balconieswith mostly inner-city kids. I subsequently did an interview with a reporter who hadbeen covering the activity of bringing that group to the dress rehearsal. The remarksthat this person told me that came from the youngsters, many of whom had never seenanything resembling opera, had never seen Amahl and the Night Visitors, never mindOtello. They were kind of awestruck. And incidentally, Otello happens to be a verygood opera for this because of all the reasons that we know - but one kid said somethinglike, 'Oh! When that thunder hit at the beginning, I just went right under my chair. Itwas so real! I was scared!' That is fantastic stuff. Somebody else said, 'Well, you knowit looked like some painting. I do not even know where I have seen the painting, butit looked like some painting. Then everything came to life and I was drawn right into this.I felt as though it was not two hundred feet away, but that it was right next to me.'This kind of phrase. Some of those kids came back. By their comments it is obviouswhat they felt. The beginning of the seed of interest, life-long interest was sown, andmore importantly than whether they ever become performers or not, is the life-long loveinterest, attending performances and so forth. I suppose that is more on the line ofdeveloping new audiences, which is just as important as developing new performers.

It is great to have dreams. . . . But there is a danger in dreaming if one only looks atthe distant goal. . . . One has to take all those little steps and there is a lot of sweatin that.

Dreaming. It is great to have dreams. We must always dream. People have talkedabout dreams, and various performers, and we would be the lesser if those dreams weresquashed, absolutely right. But there is a danger in dreaming if one only looks at thedistant goal. They hear the Met broadcasts, they go to student performances, they goto various school opportunities that were represented today. They constantly just lookover there and say, 'Ah, someday I am going to sing at the Met.' It is a wonderfuldream and they just keep theorizing. They are studying voice, but their specific actionsnever do all those necessary little steps. You only get close to the dream if you takethe first step and the second step. I have seen young performers, and they only lookover there, to the final goal, and they are always three blocks away. They never get

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any closer because they do not learn stage deportment, learn how to move better. Theydo not improve their language skills, both the singing and the speaking of those languages.They do not learn characterization, body movement, dance, fencing and fifty otherspecific things that I could mention. I have to have the G which I can diminuendo, or fora tenor or higher soprano a higher note than that. I have to be able to vocalize a third orat least a major second higher than I use on stage, therefore, let's go after that - andnot tomorrow, next week, next year, in two years. This is a danger. One has to takeall those little steps and there is a lot of sweat in that. I think, maybe, that is part ofit - the work, sweat, both figuratively and literally. That is not always nice. Even theact of sweating in costume with make-up is kind of uncomfortable, but it is somethingmost of us - I happen to be a sweater so I talk about sweat [Laughter] - it is somethingwe have to deal with or we will remain the three blocks away our whole life. Thereis nothing wrong with that, per se, but that does not translate into arriving. Then wewill always just be viewing from the distance.

•You learn t o s ing. Forget about opera. ' . . . beautiful singing, express ive singing . . . i swhat i t is a l l about, rather than t h e ca tegory o f music that you will eventual ly spec ia l i ze in .

There is another odd thing that I encounter frequently. I understand where the questioncomes from, but I am often asked, 'I want to be an opera singer. How do I do that?1 or'I want to sing opera. How do I do that?' Well, I make kind of an oversimplified answerand I say, 'You learn to sing. Forget about opera.' You have to sing the C scale first ora note; you have to make some kind of beautiful sound within certain parameters, somekind of crescendo, decrescendo on that given note, and then a little bit more and a littlebit more and even an octave. The C scale starts you. It is not enough with that either.

Hal Prince was talking about various categories and bringing them together. In the sensethat he was talking about, it is true - we have come together, certain walls have beenbroken down. But in singing, we tend to think of musical comedy as one kind of singing;oratorio, that is b kind of singing; recitals, lieder and French chansons, that is c; opera isd. Each of those, a, b, c, d, is a different direction. You take a right at the nextcorner. You take a left. You go straight. I think that is an unhealthy concept. Singingis singing. Beautiful singing is beautiful singing, expressive singing to say something, toleave the audience uplifted to go home with something special. That is primarily what itis all about, rather than the category of music that you will eventually, probably,specialize in. People who start out from zero say, 'I do not know anything about music.I want to study opera.' Forget about opera. Learn to play the piano. Study theclarinet. That is stuff you can do, and that was also talked about here, that is stuff youcan start at five and six and seven years old.

Student performances can take all kinds of forms. . . . but if I had been denied thatopportunity . . . who knows-what kind of negative affect, lack of affect, it would have had.

Student performances. Student performances can take all kinds of forms. It does notreally matter whether the kids going to that performance love it up front or love itduring or even love it afterwards. Loving symphony concerts or a ballet performance oran opera, for a young person is not the norm. When I started studying violin in secondgrade, I was last chair second violin. [Laughter] I was kind of bad. Most people arebad, when first starting violin, but it is normal. I used to love to go to concerts ofthe Chicago Symphony. That was Frederick Stock's time. Why did I love it? I got outof school. [Laughter] I could not conceive of some grand philosophical, soul-wrenchingexperience, hearing the Chicago Symphony at that moment. I probably made airplanes up

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in the balcony of Orchestra Hall, throwing them down. Perfectly normal. However,obviously, in hindsight, certain pieces were remaining, and if I had been denied thatopportunity, because, who knows what - I said no, or my parents thought, 'You should bein school studying' - if I had been denied that opportunity, who knows what kind ofnegative affect, lack of affect, it would have had.

I am affiliated with and supportive of all these young artists' programs, and I guess myemotions today have indicated that I will continue to do these things.

Young performers. My concern and love of all of our systems are the reasons why Ibelong to the Affiliate Artist program. I helped found it and it is, of course, a giantprogram at this point, twenty years old. Established first for singers and dancers, itnow includes the Exxon Conductors Program and the Xerox Piano Program, which arekind of extras besides the main thrust. Then there is the AIMS Program in Graz in thesummer and all of their output, the association of which Hal Prince is head, the NationalInstitute for Music Theater, the Tucker Foundation, the Met's own Audition and YoungArtists Development Program, and various other organizations. I am affiliated with andsupportive of all these programs, and I guess my feeling and my emotions today haveindicated that I will continue to do these things. Thank you. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Thank you, Sherrill. - Before I ask for questions, I am going to see ifthe panel has any remarks to each other; I know Miss Allen has one statement that shewants to make.

The Harlem School of the Arts benefitted so much from the Metropolitan Opera Guild'sEducational Program . . .

BETTY ALLEN I am sorry that JoAnn Forman had to cancel and is not here today.The Harlem School of the Arts benefitted so much from the Metropolitan Opera Guild'sEducational Program which JoAnn brought to me. I did not realize that she could cometo my school and in the course of six weeks teach these young people how to write amusical drama. With the aid of two other young people they came and they did everythingto show my students how a drama is built and staged and produced. The success andthe criticism - I read a portion from Tim Page's article earlier - was the result of thedevotion of this young woman and the staff at the education department, who see to itthat not only is opera produced for young people, but they also teach young people howto produce some things for themselves. This is an even further, more exciting part,because it is like Sherrill sitting there listening to the Chicago Symphony and blowingairplanes, but sooner or later something else took place in his head. This happens tothese young people. We had from thirty-five to fifty youngsters involved. The Guildgoes into other public schools all over the city. Normally they take eight weeks. Thishas happened across the country. They have produced forums and seminars to showother institutions and other opera companies how to do this, how to produce young artists.I think it would be remiss of me, if I did not give a vote of gratitude to the MetropolitanOpera Guild's Education Department and to JoAnn Forman for showing us how to do that.

. . . talking about young singers . . . It is something that every singer sooner or latermust learn, when to say no. It is so tempting when the head of a school, the head ofa company comes to you and says, 'The publicity will be wonderful and you would beabsolutely magnificent.1

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My second comment, talking about young singers. We did not mention some of the thingsthat they should not do, although everybody - especially Joe Polisi - touched upon thispoint. Miss Harshaw, I am sure, has laid the line on many persons. It came up moredirectly with me, recently. An opera conductor wanted my twenty-one-year old - whatI call baby dramatic - to sing in The Consul of Gian Carlo Menotti. Now, I am 'a fan ofGian Carlo, but I also happen to love this child of twenty-one years of age. She wentthis summer to Graz and the lady who runs the program spoke to me. She said, 'Whydon't you say something.' It is very difficult to say no - the word Miss Harshaw learnedsecond. It is something that every singer sooner or later must learn when to say no. It isso tempting when the head of a school, the head of a company comes to you and says,'Sweetie, won't you do that? It will be so good for you. The publicity will be wonderfuland you would be absolutely magnificent. Nobody can do it like you.' So, this girlcame home in an absolute tizzy. 'I have been told I ought to do Magda. But everybodyat Graz got absolutely hysterical and said I should not do it.' Then another student ofmine said, 'Well, they also want me to sing, Miss Allen. What am I going to do?' Whenthe third child came to me in hysteria, I said, 'That is enough. Everybody is banned.Nobody sings the damned opera.' At which point the director of the opera called meup, 'Betty, what are you doing, boycotting the opera?' I said, 'I am not boycotting theopera. You can use whoever you want, honey. You just ain't going to use my girls,that's all.' 'Why?' I said, 'Because not one of them knows enough to guard herselfagainst the difficulties indemic in singing this kind of music. And don't tell me that itain't going to hurt them, because they are not your vocal cords and as far as I know weain't doing retreads yet.' [Laughter] There was also a further comment from the designdepartment, 'We have already got a young man who is awaiting his masters' degree andhe has got the design ready.' I said, 'Well, who is this department for, honey? Is it forthe singers or for designers and producers' So, finally, we all came to a wonderfulcompromise. We are not doing the opera. [Applause]

BYRON BELT Ladies and gentlemen, further thoughts?

In d e f e n s e o f chora l s ing ing . . . I s a y , 'Sing a s o f t e n a s many th ings a s y o u c a n . 1

SHERRILL MILNES In defense of choral singing - when kids ask me, 'Do you have anyoverall advice?' I say, 'Sing as often as many things as you can.' I was in the ChicagoSymphony Chorus five years. Although there are heavy vocal responsibilities, that isnot the same as the Metropolitan Opera Chorus singing seven performances a week. It isa controlled environment. Whether it is the Chicago Symphony Chorus or Cleveland orsome other orchestra chorus, you only learn from these situations, especially workingwith such artists as Fritz Reiner, Margaret Hillis and a variety of guests.

BYRON BELT I have a small speech before I take even one question. It is unfair to havea panel of distinguished people here, and then to have someone come and give a fiveminute address in which the panel is not even involved. With about three questionsfrom people who have not given speeches before, I think we can close on a veryconstructive note.

. . . there are twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one-year olds who are ready for those heavierroles, but there is no entry opportunity for them in the business. There is no apprenticeprogram available for them . . .

QUESTION My name is Jay Lesenger. I am a free-lance stage director. I have alsorecently joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, in the opera department. The

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question I have is, one of the things that I have started doing, obviously, is trying toadvise people who are younger than I am on how to start a career in the business. Therehas been a lot of discussion about 'struggling young artists'. What I am coming up againstis people who are about twenty-nine, thirty, or thirty-one, who want to start a career.You go to the Central Opera Service handbook, The Career Guide, and it lists all theapprentice programs in this country and most of them cut off ages at about twenty-eightor twenty-nine, certainly for sopranos. As Betty Allen mentioned, there is a big pushto push younger singers to do heavier roles. Well, there are twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one-year olds who are ready for those roles, because they have not been used up, butthere is no entry opportunity for them in the business. There is no apprentice programavailable for them and I want to know what you might advise. How should they getstarted? Being unknown without the practical experience of having done a lot ofperforming, they are not ready to go in front of managers and put themselves out inthe public eye.

SHERRILL MILNES What is the age cut-off at the Met, which is one of the big contestsystems?

BETTY ALLEN I believe, women maybe thirty or thirty-three, men thirty-five. Isn't it?

SHERRILL MILNES So, already your numbers are a little too low. Although I would say,if somebody is unknown everywhere in the country, that is, there is no sphere of influencewhere they have been singing at twenty-eight or twenty-nine, there is something wrong.

J. LESENGER The reason may be they started studying a little bit later, or they decidedto pursue a doctorate before, because they wanted to have some kind of protection forteaching. Now, the demands are: you are either famous or you have a doctorate to teachat a university.

I think that we fail young artists by not showing them how to market themselves and howto really present themselves in the best possible light.

BETTY ALLEN Sometimes it is not even that. I spoke about a master voice class andthe age range of that class is seventeen to thirty-seven. Some of the thirty-five andthirty-seven-year olds have been out there slugging away, but have not been hired. Oneof the things that you can do for people, which is enormously helpful, is to show themthe positive things they can do for themselves. This is one of the things we do not teachin conservatories. I am on the faculty of two music schools and one of the things theydo not say is, 'You have to help make your own opportunities.' I have done severalseminars on the business of music. I think that we fail young artists by not showingthem how to market themselves and how to really present themselves in the best possiblelight. We do not have to start at the Metropolitan Opera. That is the other end. Westart at doing small things. In North Carolina, I have three girls running around thestate, with the aid of the State Arts Council, and they have put together their ownprogram, and said, 'We want to go into the public schools or we want to sing for themusic clubs.' They sold themselves on the basis of what they did themselves. Now,everybody is not equally thrilling, but most of the people can be taught how to do somethings in selling themselves, and you have to help them a little bit with marketing.

BYRON BELT Appropriately we are going to give Maria Rich the last word on this panel.

MARIA RICH In answer to age limits at competitions, the Career Guide lists the agelimit for sopranos and mezzos as thirty-three years, for tenors, baritones and basses

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thirty-five. That is for the Met Regional Auditions Competition. That is a rathergenerous age, I would think.

BYRON BELT And from one of her invaluable pamphlets, about which most of you mustknow by now, but probably do not make quite enough good use of. I said that MadameRich was going to have the last word. I am terribly sorry, but we must close. It waswonderful, instructive, and much fun and I thank you all.

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CLOSING

MARGO BINDHARDT, National Chairman, Central Opera ServiceLAURENCE D. LOVETT, Chairman, Metropolitan Opera Guild

MARGO BINDHARDT It was one hundred years ago and a thousand ideas ago, when Iopened the Central Opera Service Annual Conference yesterday morning. I would liketo take just a moment to thank the speakers and the moderators for these hundred yearsand for these thousand ideas. I would also like to take a moment to thank you, theregistrants. It is you people who came to hear these moderators and speakers and tointeract with each other that made this annual conference such a success. I must alsothank the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, CentralOpera Service and particularly Maria Rich. I think we should all applaud Maria.[Applause] She is the lady who makes my job as National Chairman the pleasure that itis. Now for the closing statement I will call on Mr. Larry Lovett, the Chairman of theMetropolitan Opera Guild.

LAURENCE D. LOVETT Thank you, Margo. I was asked by Maria Rich to give a briefsummary. So, I said, 'No, I can not, obviously', but there will be a transcript of thisconference available to you later. Also, there will be a summary in Opera News.

I think these have been most distinguished panels. Our thanks to all of them for thesetwo days. It has been exhaustive and exhausting, I know, for all of you as it has beenfor me. The contrast in viewpoints between the American and the European was quitestriking to me. There was a more philosophical approach, perhaps, generally speaking,in the Europeans, more idealism and sense of obligation to the art form, and in theAmericans, more expression of a sense of obligation to its audience. I think, actually,both of them ended up the same way. They want the best.

I believe that Betty Allen said she required the best of her students. Speaking fromthe board and audience point of view, I think that we require the best of our professionals,of all of them. New productions, new operas, yes, we want them, but we want them tobe good. I think there is room out there, even for an operatic conservative like me, thereis room out there for really good outrageous productions any day. I just do not want tosee them over and over again for twenty years at the Metropolitan Opera.

Good Luck to all of you. If you have enjoyed this conference, I hope that you willcome back next year. Time, place and subject to be announced. Thank you. [Applause]

• * *

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APPENDIX A

CEHTRAL OPERA SERVICE ANNUAL U.S. SURVEY STATISTICS

Central Opera Service, Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, New York, NY 10023 (212) 799-3467

Opera/Musical Theatre Companies and Workshops

PERFORMING CROUPS*

Companies: over $100,000 budgetCompanies: otherCollege/University workshops

Total

NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES

Standard repertoireContemporary foreign repertoireContemporary American repertoire

sub-total

Musicals (exclusive of commercial theatres)Total

NUMBER OF OPERAS PERFORMED

84-85 83-84 82-83 81-82 80-81 74-75 70-71 64-65 54-55

168576379

1,123

154491406

1,051

144488399

1,031

133416444993

6,502 5,884 5,909 5,534603 621 596 535

3,537 3,916 4,188 3,45610,642 10,421 10,693 9,510

127456436

1,019

5,475555

3,6539,683

4,983 2,787 2,749 2,233 2,25115,625 13,208 13,442 11,758 11,934

54335418807

4,097677

1,6546,428

40269376685

27296409732

280167447

3,332 2,643504 1,533

1,410 na na5,246 4,176 3,217

1,8441,373

StandardContemporary (foreign)Contemporary (American)

sub-total

Musicals

Tot al t

World Premieres

Premiere Readings (not incl. in World Prems.)

American Premieres

Attendance (in millions)EXPENSES (in millions)Companies: over $100,000 budgetCompanies: $25,000-$99,999 budgetsAll others

Total

26153

264578

242820

121

39

24

14.1

25461

261576

129'705

101

27

24

13.04

27864

248590

120710

96

16

28

12.7

27554

242571

122693

94

14

31

10.9

26362

234559

118677

88

27

25

11.1

20971

107387

nana

16

-

11

8.0

1586799

324

nana

35

-

11

6.0

167164

na331

nana

na

-

na

na

103107

na210

nana

na

na

na

$256.5 $236.7 $212.4 $191.1 $161.64.9 4.7 4.9 4.9 4.9

43.2 38.4 41.6 41.0 42.4$304.6 $279.8 $258.9 $237.0 $208.9

$41.2

•DETAIL OF PERFORMING GROUPS

Companies: budget over $1 millionCompanies: budget over $500,000Companies: budget over $200,000Companies: budget over $100,000

Companies: budget over $50,000Companies: budget over $25,000

sub-total

Orehestra/Festival/ChorusSmall Companies/Avocational/Clubs, etc.Theatres (non-profit)

sub-total

Total Companies

College/University Workshops

Total Producing Organizations & Performances

number of1984-85

41306433

168

4948ff

102194183479

744

379

1,123

companies1983-84

38315431

154

513586

107193105405

645

406

1,051

number of performances1984-85 1983-84

4,682

1,349

6,867

2,727

15,625

MISCELLANEOUSLight repertoire of opera companies, workshops, and non-profit theatres included above

Gilbert 4 Sullivan (14)Classical operettas (22)Musicals (242)

In addition to regular season:Companies: community/educational

service programsAcademia: community/educational programsAcademia: scene programs

Academic - joint programs w. companiesAcademic - Opera/Mus.Th. degree programs

16673

124

7657

12765

110

9849

1,076583

4,9836,642

5,511394383

4,583

1,081

4,743

2,801

13,208

1,210663

2,7874,660

5,438295268

English Projected Captions: for 181 operas in 84-85 (63 in 83-84) used by 53 companies 84-85 (12 in 83-84)

tAn annual listing of the complete U.S. Repertory is available from Central Opera Service. It is arranged by standard, contemporary,and musical works, showing the number of performances; world premieres, readings and American premieres are especially indicated.Copies are available at $3.50 including postage.

An analysis of the season may be found in Maria F. Rich's opera survey article in Opera News, November '85.

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CENTRAL OPERA SERVICEMetropolitan Opera Lincoln Center

New York, NY 10023 (212) 799-3467

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Price Post!

$10.00

5.00

8.00

8.00

10.50

#1 Directory of Operas and Publishers - in two parts (Vol. 18, Nos. ! 1 11Detailing the musical material for 3,000 operas written by 1,028 composers, available from 135publishers. By composer, cross-referenced by title.

#2 Directory of American Premieres 1962-68 (Vol. 11, No. 2) For sequels see «5 & #6A listing of the 400 operas which received American premieres during 1962-68. (A sequel toThe Handbook of American Premieres By Julius Mattfeld.)

#3 Directory of American Contemporary Operas (Vol. 10, No. 2) For sequels, see #5 !c #6A listing of the 1,000 operas written between 1930 and 1966 in the U.S. Includes names of composerlibrettist, and information on premiere, length of work, original book, orchestration, publishers, etc.By composer, cross-referenced by title.

#4 Directory of Foreign Contemporary Operas (Vo. 12, No. 2) For sequels, see #5 & #6A listing of the 1,500 operas written between 1950 and 1968 outside the U.S. Information as in #3.

#5 Directory of American and Foreign Contemporary Operas 1967-75 (Vol. 17, No. 2)A sequel to #2, #3, #4. Details information on 398 American and 552 foreign operas, and on 112American premieres. Information as in #3.

*6 Directory of American and Foreign Contemporary Operas 1975-80 (Vol. 22, No. 2)A sequel to #2, #3, #4, #5. Details information of 455 American and 449 foreign operas, and on96 American premieres. Information as in #3.

«7 Directory of Children's Operas and Musicals (Vol. 24, No. 4)Details on over 1,600 operas and musical theatre pieces suitable for performance for or bychildren. Suggested age groups, source of materials, and comments by producers or quotes fromreviews are included.

#8 Directory of English Translations (Vol. 16, No. 2) with latest addendaListing the availability of some 2,000 English translations of over 500 operas by 220 composers.By composer, cross-referenced by title.—Addenda only

#9 Directory of Sets and Costumes for Rent (Vol. 21, No. 2) with latest addendaA listing of some 2,000 sets and/or costumes available for 500 operas, operettas, and musicals;indicates rental source. Includes stage size or set size and trucking requirements.—Addenda only

#10 Career Guide for the Young American Singer (Vol. 25, No. 4) fifth edition; with latest addendaListing national and international competitions, grants for study, apprentice programs for singers,statements on auditions and hiring policies by American opera companies, apprentice programs forartists other than singers.— Addenda only

#11 Directory of Opera/Musical Theatre Companies and Workshops in the U.S. and CanadaA current listing of addresses, telephone numbers, and names of managers and/or artistic directorsfor approximately 1,100 producing organizations. Codes indicate type and size of company.Available information on auditoria included. Revised annually (fall).

#12 Hailing labels, self-adhesive, for #11

#13 English CaptionsA listing of the English captions available for proscenium projection

#14 Opera Repertory USA; Annual Repertory Lists each year 3.00Titles, composers, and numbers of performances of standard and contemporaryoperas and of musicals, 1967 to present.

#15 Gateway to Opera (Vol. 23, No. 2)A guide for opera administrators, boards of directors, trustees, and volunteers.COS National Conference Seminar, 1981.

#16 Directory of Selected Opera Films (Vol. 19, No. 2)Listing 187 operatic films available for 83 American distributors, with emphasis on educationalfilms. By composer, cross-referenced by title. Includes biographical and educational films.

#17 Guide to Operatic Music Suitable for Performance in or by Religious InstitutionsListing 90 operas or operatic excerpts suitable for performance in churches, synagogues, andother religious institutions.

#18 Transcripts of COS National ConferencesTopics: a) Training and Career Development of the Young Singers; b) Concepts of StageDirection in the 80's/Career Development of the Young Director; c) Tourism, Opera, & the Arts

#19 Back Issues, COS Bulletin

News issues beginning with Vol. 9, No. 1

#20 Binders black vinyl, holding 8-10 issues of the COS BULLETIN

FOR OVERSEAS AIRMAIL/PRINTED MATTER ADD $2.00 TO ABOVE POSTAL CHARGES

ige

(2.00)

50.00

3.50

8.00

(1.25)

(1.25)

(1.50)

(1.50)

(2.00)

(2.00)

5.00

12.00

5.00

8.00

2.00

8.00

(1.00)

(2.00)

(1.00)

(1.50)

(.50)

(1.25)

(3.00)

(.50)

(.50)

(1.50)

(1.25)

(.50)

each

each

each

12.00

3.00

5.00

(2

(1

(2

.00)

.25)

.50)

-150-

CENTRAL OPERA SERVICESponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National CouncilMetropolitan Opera

(212) 799-3467

Lincoln Center New York, NY 1002 i

1212) 957-9871

INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SERVICES

Central Opera Service maintains an extensive library of ref-erence books and domestic and foreign music periodicals,and the most comprehensive operatic archive (e.g. 30,000operas) in the United States. COS draws on these uniqueresources to supply information to its members. Researchareas include, but are not limited to:

REPERTORY: complete annual U.S. and Canadian repertory;major foreign companies' repertoires.

PERFORMANCES: when, where, and by whom; world andNorth American premieres; special editions, selected castsand reviews.

MUSICAL MATERIALS: availability of scores, parts, orchestra-tions; publishers.

TRANSLATIONS: availability, where and when performed,rights; availability of English captions.

SCENERY, COSTUMES: rental, sale, or exchange opportunities;new production devices.

COMPANY STATISTICS: schedules, auditoria, subsidiary com-panies, board, guild and management structures, fulltime/part time staff positions, artistic staff, union contracts,budgets, income, support sources, ticket prices, subscrip-tion percentages, attendance, educational/community/tour-ing programs, apprentice programs, composers' showcasesand workshops.

ACADEMIC OPERA DEPARTMENTS: director/chairman, reper-toire, attendance, community/school/touring programs,degrees, related departments/programs and degrees,cooperative programs with professional companies.

ANNUAL OPERA STATISTICS: number and type of organiza-tions performing opera/musical theatre works, numbers ofproductions and performances, number of American andforeign premieres, audiences, expenses, repertoireperformed.

AUDITORIA: in use by company/workshop, seating capacity,stage size; new theatres under construction.

CAREER ASSISTANCE: competitions and performance oppor-tunities for young singers, apprentice programs for singers,coaches, directors, administrators, and stage technicians;competitions for composers and librettists, showcaseworkshops for new works

QUARTERLY PUBLICATION

COS BULLETIN: includes U.S. and Canadian news items, newoperas, premieres and commissions here and abroad, operacompanies, new ideas in programming, academic work-shops, educational departments, production methods, fundraising, publishers, composers, opportunities for youngsingers, recent appointments, reviews of books and peri-odicals, obituaries, survey statistics, performance listings.

MEMBERSHIP

Company/Institutional Membership. . U.S. $50.00COS Bulletins, Full Information and ResearchService, One Special Publication annually.Reduced Conference Registration Fee,Position Assistance (see listing)

$20.00Individual MembershipCOS Bulletins, Information Service, ReducedConference Registration -Fee '

Individual Service Membership $35.00As above with Position Assistance Service

Membership for Music Libraries $15.00COS Bulletins, Conference Announcements

for overseas postage and handling, add . $10.00

POSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Listings of positions open in general arts management, con-ducting, coaching/accompanying, development/fundraising, public relations, and technical theatre (Resumesrequired)

For Company/Institutional Members: distribution of job descrip-tions to applicable candidates.

MEETINGS

Annual Central Opera Service National Conference

Central Opera Service Regional Conferences

DIRECTORIES AND SPECIAL LISTINGS

Opera/Music Theatre Companies and Workshops in theU.S. and Canada

Operas and Publishers; musical material; special editionsand adaptations

American Contemporary OperasForeign Contemporary OperasWorld and American PremieresChildren's OperasEnglish TranslationsSets and Costumes Available for Rent or SaleEnglish Captions for Live-Performance ProjectionOpera Repertory USAComplete Annual Performance ListingCareer Guide for the Young American Singt'fGuide for Opera Administrators, Trustees, and Boards ot

DirectorsStyle in Opera ProductionConference Transcripts and Reports(publications price list available upon request)

-151-

NOTES

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NOTES

-153-

ILLUSTRATIONS

photos by Maury Englander

(left to right)

John Brademas

front inside cover

Bruce Crawford, Beverly Sills

Byron Belt, Ardis Krainik,Bruce Crawford

Martin Segal, Margo Bindhardt,Katharine O'Neil, Bruce Crawford

Sir John Tooley Mrs. Mario M.Cuomo, Kitty Carlisle Hart

Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Evelyn Lear John Ludwig, Christopher Keene,Dominick Argento

back inside cover

Harold Prince, Peter Mark, Thea Musgrave Kitty Carlisle Hart, Robert L.B. Tobin,Betty Allen

Peter Sellars, Gerard Mortier Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Wolfgang Sawallisch,Evelyn Lear, David Gockley

Maria Rich, Italo Gomez 500 in the Sheraton Centre Ballroom

Grant Beglarian, Margaret Harshaw,Sherrill Milnes

David Polisi, Lotfi Mansouri

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