40 years of opera in Canada: the significant developments.

As part of our anniversary celebrations, OPERA CANADA commissioned writer PAULA CITRON to ash five distinguished Canadians about the three most significant developments in opera in Canada over the last 40 years. Here, in their own words, are their replies.

NICHOLAS GOLDSCHMIDT C.C.

Founder and conductor of the Canadian Opera Company, artistic director and producer of festival programs including Music Canada Musique 2000

AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT OF opera in Canada has been the establishment of educational facilities to develop singers, particularly through performance opportunities. At opera schools, students mount full-length productions; in professional programs such as the COC's Ensemble or the Montreal Opera's Atelier, young artists get to work on stage with seasoned performers as well as cover principal roles. When I came to Canada to become music director of the new opera school at the Royal Conservatory in 1946, the first thing I did was bring Herman Geiger-Torel from Europe to be the stage director. Out of his teachings grew professional-quality performances that led directly to the founding of the COC. Stagecraft and acting are now standard elements of any opera-school curriculum. To transform a singer into a professional opera singer, vocal training and performance must be inextricably linked together. You might like to know that in 1947, there were only eight accredited opera schools in North America; now there are over 400.

The dynamic development of marketing opera has also been significant. As an example, I'm thinking of Lotfi Mansouri when he was at the COC. He was the go-getter who made people realize we had a "real" opera company in Toronto, an important enterprise that was part of the world opera scene, a Canadian cultural organization with international recognition. In this country, we tend to have a "but" syndrome, a hesitation; Canadians aren't sure if our product is really good. Mansouri established international standards that helped develop Toronto audiences into discerning opera-goers. Across Canada, artistic directors and general managers who have charismatic personalities, unbridled enthusiasm, strong communication skills and good international contacts have changed the face of opera in this country. Our own talented singers have been given a context in which they can be measured against quality artists from abroad. Mansouri and others like him have put Canadian opera on the map, and opera is now an important part of our cultural life.

An important recent trend across the country has been the programming of non-traditional repertoire. This is the acknowledgment that opera is a living enterprise and not a museum. Scheduling non-traditional repertoire is also a sign of a progressive company, and what's more, it's popular. The COC under Richard Bradshaw has attracted big houses for Xerxes, the Janacek operas and other 20th-century composers, and original works like The Golden Ass. If you live in an opera world of only 19th-century repertoire, the art form will eventually die out. Canadian artistic directors are bringing audiences into the 21st century by making them aware of the enormous wealth of operas that exist outside the standard repertoire. And I'm talking about expanding in both directions, back in time to the 18th century and beyond, as well as the new creations of the next millennium. This is not to say that a La Boheme well-staged can't still be sparkling, even exquisite entertainment. But we wouldn't have Puccini if people had believed that opera stopped at Verdi.

IRVING GUTTMAN C.M.

Stage director, founder of the Vancouver, Edmonton and Manitoba operas, founder and artistic director of Opera Saskatchewan

THE SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS I'VE chosen are all linked together. The first is the building of venues that could house opera, beginning in 1955 with the Jubilee Auditoriums in Edmonton and Calgary, followed in the next decade by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto, Place des Arts in Montreal and the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. Before these buildings, only Toronto had a professional company of any consequence. For the rest of the country, opera basically meant a foreign touring company, the odd festival, a CBC television presentation or, perhaps, one locally generated production a year, like the ones Pauline Donalda mounted in Montreal.

The coming of these venues started opera in a big way, because it encouraged the formation of companies. When I look at the country now, the number of opera companies is positively exciting--and what's more, they're thriving. Montreal had a history of starting companies, but none of them lasted; that changed with Place des Arts and the Montreal Opera. In the case of Toronto, the move to the O'Keefe Centre transformed the COC into a major company with bigger productions and longer seasons. As each venue developed a company, the professionalism started off at a high level. For example, because I had good connections with artists worldwide, I was able to bring Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne together for the first time for Norma in Vancouver in 1963. Placido Domingo sang twice in Vancouver, and after I heard Jose Carreras perform at Monserrat Caballe's house in Madrid, I hired him for Edmonton. But above all, I put together balanced casts, with Canadian singers holding their own beside guest artists. I can honestly say that, from what I've seen across the country, our companies tend to mount even productions, more so than in the States.

Which brings me to my last point. With the formation of companies came the development of talented professionals over a wide artistic spectrum--stage directors, designers, conductors, singers, orchestras, choruses and administrators. Before the building of the venues, each city had a pool of singers who tended to stay at home. But singers began to travel across the country and became more interested in having national and international careers. The wealth of companies also encouraged the growth of university

training programs, because artistic directors are committed to hiring Canadian talent. What's particularly gratifying to see is proteges making their mark. Michael Cavanagh began his career in the chorus of the Manitoba Opera; he's now head of the Edmonton Opera and an acclaimed stage director. After 40 years, I'm still keeping my hand in the building up of the art form; once a year, I bring young Canadian singers to Regina to perform major roles with Opera Saskatchewan.

STUART HAMILTON C.M.

Opera coach, founder of Opera in Concert

My FIRST AREA OF SIGNIFICANCE IS THE remarkable growth in the popularity of opera across the country. For example, 17 years ago, when the CBC first aired Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, the average audience was 4,000; now it's over 200,000. There's also been a growth in attendance at live productions, and we need this audience to sustain companies in the face of growing government cutbacks. It's been the popularity of opera that has also kept alive the idea of an opera house in Toronto, despite unbelievable obstacles. This popularization has come through media hype, like around the Three Tenors, but also because of the availability of CDs. When I was kid, it was a big deal to have a record player; nowadays, everyone has a sound system. As well, people are discovering that opera is a good show. It has both an entertaining and a spiritual side, two elements that are essential to our lives.

In the last two decades, there's been an explosion of interest in early opera. Mozart used to be the beginning of the repertoire, but now Monteverdi, Handel and Gluck are becoming standard. In a short space of time, the opera repertoire has been expanded by 200 years. This has led to an enormous change in taste on the part of audiences, which has, in turn, influenced the way opera companies schedule repertoire. Baroque-based companies like Opera Atelier have been established, and some singers are making early music their vocation. Nancy Argenta and Meredith Hall wouldn't have careers in opera if the rep were limited to the 19th century. There's also the resurgence of the counter-tenor. Look at the great career Daniel Taylor is having. Unfortunately, the opera experience seems to be closing at the other end; very few new operas are finding a permanent place in the repertoire--but I live in hope.

It might sound a bit self-serving, but the establishment of Opera in Concert as a company in 1974 made an enormous contribution to the art form. Audiences are exposed to repertoire rarities, and young artists get to sing leading roles without the responsibility of a big production. O in C has always had a strong bel canto element, which is very good for seasoning young voices. In fact, the impact of O in C on the development of singers has been gigantic. Both Michael Schade and Russell Braun started in the O in C chorus before performing major roles, and practically every major Canadian singer, including Ben Heppner and Richard Margison, cut his or her teeth with us. In fact, the idea has taken on a life of its own. Major companies are finding opera in concert a sensible way to extend the season at one-fifth the budget. The COC has been performing one or two a year recently, and the Montreal Opera has scheduled two for this season. Opera in concert is both expanding the repertoire and providing performance opportunities for big and small companies alike.

MARY MORRISON O.C.

Soprano, founding member of the Canadian Opera Company, professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto 

REFLECTING MY EDUCATIONAL BIAS, MY FIRST point is having places for our young singers to perform while carrying on with their training--that is, the creation of professional programs like the COC's Ensemble, Montreal Opera's Atelier and the Vancouver Opera's Artists in Residence. They're an important step in a singer's career path and a logical extension of opera schools. Young artists receive excellent coaching, appear in mainstage productions with first-class conductors, understudy major roles and tour with their own shows. Just think of some of the singers who were with the COC ensemble--Kathleen Brett, Christiane Riel, Benoit Boutet, Ben Heppner, Theodore Baerg, Wendy Nielsen. The average age of an opera-school graduate is 22; they still need seasoning, and these programs fill that void. Without them, there'd be a big hole in the training at that kind of professional level. They also produce a pool of singers that companies can draw on in the future. Perhaps of greater significance is the loss of one of these programs, like Banff's Academy of Singing. It makes the others all the more critical.

The proliferation of opera companies across the country has been very important. We're producing a lot of good singers in Canada who have to get a start somewhere, and these companies are their springboard. Because opera companies exist, audiences get to see live productions and learn that opera is theatre. Each company has its own agenda; some operate on a shoe string, some have elaborate stage shows, but all are carrying on the torch of opera according to their own strengths and limitations. For example, Pacific Opera Victoria with a small budget has learnt to become really cost-efficient while mounting interesting productions. As well, young Canadians are making their mark at the heads of these companies, like Bernard Labadie in Quebec City, Michael Cavanagh in Edmonton and Tim Vernon in Victoria. Co-productions have also played a key role, so that a small company like Opera Ontario can put on a grand opera like Aida in Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo. Some companies such as the COC are playing an important role in pushing repertoire boundaries by commissioning new works and holding composing workshops.

My last choice is the development of surtitles, which has definitely made opera more accessible. We're now able to reach audiences in a more profound way, because along with music and visuals, the text is front and centre. People's understanding of what's happening on stage has become greater, which leads to a finer appreciation. Surtitles also put a burden on stage directors; no longer can they have something happening on stage and something else in the text. An opera singer's job is to communicate, but surtitles have made that communication more immediate. Surtitles have also taken away the last argument for not going to an opera--tchat is, the excuse that you won't understand what's going on because it's in a foreign language.

JOSEPH ROULEAU O.C.

Internationally acclaimed bass, former professor at the Faculty of Music, Universite de Quebec, Montreal

BUILDING THE HALLS TO HOUSE OPERA IS MY first significant development. Without these infrastructures, the cultural life of this country would be very poor indeed. These theatres were the major push behind the formation of companies in places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Hamilton and Ottawa. Credit should also be given to the people who had the vision to build these theatres and the lovers of culture who wanted Canada to have its own opera companies. Without halls like Place des Arts, the National Arts Centre and the Jubilee Auditoriums, large-scale cultural organizations couldn't exist. In a place like Toronto, which already had an opera company, the O'Keefe Centre allowed the COC to come of age. On the other hand, the Hummingbird Centre, as it's now called, is a less than ideal hall. Toronto really needs an opera house, and let's hope they get it. And a final thought. With these infrastructures came professional technicians and state-of-the-art technology, and we have to pay homage to these elements. Technology allows stagecraft to explore all the possibilities for making stunning visual statements.

My second point grows out of the first--the creation of the opera companies themselves. I absolutely believe that the growth of companies has led directly not only to the development of singers but also to the increase in their competence. Teaching became better as performance opportunities increased. Now young artists are coming out of opera school beautifully trained in things like language, acting and musicology. They're more complete artists because opera companies are there to use them. The creation of companies has also led to the growth of opera orchestras, and able artistic directors and administrators. And good opera companies have helped to produce a faithful public--maybe this is the most important thing of all, because we couldn't exist without them.

Last, but certainly not least, is the creation of arts councils and cultural ministries on all levels of government. They have contributed to the growth of opera by subsidizing companies by as much as 35% of their budget. Without them, companies would die; they are the basic element in survival. Arts councils also supply individual grants to singers for advanced training abroad. These bursaries broaden the horizons of young artists and allow them to be exposed to other influences in countries like Germany, France and Italy. On the flip side, people abroad get to see the excellent product that our country is producing. We've always had singers in this country with international reputations--Maureen Forrester, Jon Vickers, Victor Braun, Ermanno Mauro, Judith Forst, Lois Marshall, and I'd like to include myself in this line-up. Arts-council grants have helped to create the next generation of artists who will replace us. Councils also give grants for the creation of new operas. We're living in the 20th century and we must support contemporary art. In short, an opera company feeds the theatre, but the arts councils feed the company.