Advertisement

The Ongoing Odysseys of Soprano Grace Bumbry

Share
Times Music Writer

For the bulk of her 29-year career, Grace Bumbry has been a starter, not a replacement. But this season, the American dramatic soprano, who sings Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s “Macbeth,” opening tonight in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center, seems to be in demand as as “a good colleague.”

Last month, she came--at the last moment--to San Francisco to replace Ghena Dimitrova as Abigaille in “Nabucco” (the opera she last sang in Los Angeles--with New York City Opera--in 1981).

And this month, she is replacing Mara Zampieri as Lady Macbeth in Music Center Opera’s four performances (Zampieri has reportedly sustained a leg injury).

Advertisement

“There is an epidemic of cancellations this year,” the statuesque singer observed, citing a list of changing Metropolitan Opera casts for its scheduled midwinter “Macbeth” performances in particular. “Especially by our European colleagues.”

“It’s understandable,” Bumbry explained, seated comfortably in her Westside hotel suite. “For a number of reasons, the Europeans say they don’t find it ‘interesting’ to come here at this time. What that means is, first: The taxes are too high--they are paying a larger part of their earnings than they would at home. Or, second: They feel there is not so much prestige in singing here; that is, at some of our smaller companies. Or, third: The dollar is so devalued that their earnings here cannot compare to what they once were.”

Does Bumbry--a European resident for more than 25 years who maintains homes in London, Lugano and New York--also stay away from the United States?

“Well, I do live in Europe,” she said. “Since my marriage, last summer, we have made our home in London. But I love my country, and I give preferential treatment to the Metropolitan Opera--I give it as many performances a year as I can.

“And I have some property here, so I have to come to pay my bills. But, I am mostly a singer who works in Europe.”

Now in the prime of her career, Bumbry, 50, has stubbornly made her own way in the world of opera since the early 1960s. After being one of the first black singers to appear in leading roles at a number of European houses--like Bayreuth and the Paris Opera--she has exhibited independence in choosing repertory, for example.

Advertisement

Her career has spanned mezzo-soprano and soprano roles from Salome to Santuzza, from Ortrud, Elisabeth, Venus and Kundry in the Wagnerian repertory to Norma, Eboli, Gioconda and Tosca in the Italian--an unorthodox mix, certainly.

Lady Macbeth, the role she sings here this month, has been a recurring one in her career. Bumbry recalled the first one: “It was in 1963 in Basel (Switzerland), where I was under contract for the season. That was the year I also sang, among other wildly contrasting roles”--she smiled at the memory--”Orfeo in Gluck’s opera.”

The soprano also remembers singing Lady Macbeth at her Salzburg Festival debut, the following year. Then, over the years, in a number of other international opera centers.

In 1988, Bumbry will celebrate 30 years on the concert stage and 28 as an international opera singer--her debut was as Amneris in “Aida” at the Paris Opera in 1960. Have things changed very much in the world of opera in that time?

“I hate to say it, but standards have dropped--so much so that it is painful to think about,” she said. “I don’t wish to condemn any of my colleagues--but the younger generation, well, sometimes it seems that all they’re interested in is the bucks. Really. So many of them want to go right from the studio to the Met--and they do! But then, what happens? The voices don’t hold up, they fall apart, and their careers are very short.

“So many of them I have met--they don’t want to crawl before they walk. And, eventually, they pay a price for that.”

Bumbry, who was a protegee of Lotte Lehmann at Northwestern and at the Music Academy of the West, remembers that, when she started her European career, “I got in on the end of a great era.

Advertisement

“I had the privilege of working with, and observing, great singers--singers like (Franco) Corelli, (Renata) Tebaldi and (Giulietta) Simionato, who were then ending their careers. And those were long careers.”

About her own career, Bumbry said, “Honestly, I can’t think of any challenges I have skipped that still appeal to me.

“I’ve always chosen my roles not only for the musical challenge, but for the acting and psychological aspects, too. That’s why I haven’t ever been interested in Isolde, for instance. I’m sure she’s very interesting--but it is a part which seems to have nothing for me, or for my psyche.

“There is one part--Norma--that I would still like to do in this country. But the chances of its happening are small. It would require the perfect conductor, one who wants to work in great detail, and down to every nuance. Someone who would coach the singers carefully, over a long period, and in all peace and quiet.

“ ‘Norma’ is such a particular opera. But it needs everything to be right. I mean every tempo in the right place. I think no one has found all the correct tempi for ‘Norma,’ since Callas sang it with (Tullio) Serafin. I mean it: Most conductors choose all the wrong tempi.”

Bumbry emitted what sounded like a world-weary sigh.

“Oh, well. I’m 50 now. In a couple of years, or maybe five, I may chuck it all in. Especially since my marriage, last summer, I keep wondering why I’m still running from engagement to engagement.”

Advertisement

Yes, she said, “I think I might like to teach. I might have a lot to tell that youngest generation of singers.

“And you know what I would tell them first? One word: Patience.

Advertisement