Christian Faith Is Motivation for Met Star Jerome Hines

Tall, gaunt, with a beaten, weathered face that Central Casting would adore for an Old Testament prophet, bass Jerome Hines credits his deep Christian faith in large part for the longevity of his career--a record-smashing 42 years with New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

“The only reason I’m still in this business is because the Lord keeps pushing me,” Hines, 67, said in a recent phone interview. “All my motivation comes from that.”

Hines will sing Wotan in a program of excerpts from Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” with conductor Keith Clark and the Pacific Symphony tonight and Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Describing himself as a born-again Christian, Hines said he was the odd man out in the early 1950s.

“Believe me, at the Metropolitan Opera House, I was really considered the square peg in the round hole because of my beliefs,” he said. “Nowadays, there are at least 20 or 30 of the soloists with the Met who are professed Christians. Then, I was the only one.”

Hines’ conversion came about in 1954, while writing “I Am the Way,” an opera on the life of Christ.

“It is such a long, complicated story,” he said. “Reading the Bible and (feeling) the Lord dealing with me in the spirit were experiences that just turned my life upside down. The story takes about 2 hours to tell. It’s not a simple story.”

Hines refrained from making judgments on soprano Deborah Polaski’s recent stunning decision to pull out of the world of opera to sing exclusively for the Lord.

“I don’t know the factors in this lady’s life, in her personal struggle,” Hines said. “I do know that there are many Christians now in the opera world. Each person has to struggle that out in their lives in terms of their own personal dynamics.

“There are no rules and regulations. Christians are not under law, but under grace. We go with what we feel the Lord wants us to do.”

And what does a longtime born-again Christian think about recent scandals surrounding several television evangelists?

“Power corrupts,” he said simply. “When power becomes popular, you see the wrong people grabbing for it.”

“I guess you just can’t avoid it. But there are a lot of wonderful, legitimate people out there doing the job.”

Scandal, Hines said, merely “alerts us to the fact that everyone of us is imperfect and that God hasn’t finished with us yet.”

Hines, born in Hollywood, studied mathematics, chemistry and physics at UCLA while training as a singer with Gennaro Curci.

He made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1946 in the minor role of the Sergeant in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.” In 1954, he sang the title role, the fourth basso to sing Boris that season, coming after Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, George London and Cesare Siepi.

“Naturally, when you have three other guys who have done the production, you’re desperate,” Hines said. “You think, ‘I’ve got to do something different.’

“In Pushkin, I found that Boris died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. So for my first season, I played Boris dying of a hemorrhage instead of a heart attack. (Met general manager Sir Rudolf) Bing thought that was too gory. So I went back to the heart attack.”

Hines tended to dismiss the thought of rivalry among the Met’s major basses, who also included Giorgio Tozzi.

“Oh, yes, sure, we had a very healthy, happy rivalry,” Hines said. “These were people I admired. It was not a case of ‘here is somebody who has politics on his side or friends or money.’ They were there because they deserved to be there.”

Hines’ 42 consecutive years at the Met beat the previous record of 40 years set by Russian-born baritone George Cehanovsky (who sang at the Met from 1926-1966).

“The last couple of years at the Met were token things (for me),” Hines said, referring to his secondary roles as Sparafucile in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” in 1987 and 1985 and as the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi’s “Don Carlos” in 1986.

“The Met was supportive and friendly. They said, ‘We want you to break that record.’ I would have wanted to sing more. But I couldn’t complain. I was still so busy running to every company around the country, I had more work than when I started at the Met.”

Hines’ other frequently performed roles during his Met career included Ramfis in Verdi’s “Aida,” Sarastro in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote” and King Marke in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.”

But he sang far less frequently the Wotan of “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walkure,” a role for a high baritone. And that was decades ago, over a period of 5 years, 1959-65.

“It was a heroic tour de force for the bass,” he said. “I did it but began buckling under. Particularly, the Wotan of the ‘Die Walkure’ is too long and the tessitura is too high. So about 1963, I began to back out.

“But certainly to do the Wotan Farewell (from ‘Die Walkure’) and the finale of ‘Rheingold’ (with Pacific Symphony now) is perfectly manageable. It’s all within the bass range. I can manage easily. I enjoy the concert form. But to do an entire ‘Walkure,’ that’s a bit too much.”

Hines first sang with Clark and the Pacific Symphony in scenes from “Boris Godunov” last January. He is a bit modest about Pacific Symphony ad puffery that labels him a “superstar.”

“That is real sweet of them to say that,” Hines said. “But I feel I’m a guy who loves to sing opera. . . . My whole concern is: Am I improving my art and giving the audience a real experience? I don’t care about the labels they give me.”

Although Hines describes his relationship with the Met as “an active partnership,” he said next year “is still up in the air.

“As far as I am considered, the show is not over. I’m still heading back again. It’s fortunate that I’m able to compete with the young singers and sound like one.”

Indeed, with contracts “running all the way to 1991” and running the Opera-Music Theatre Institute of New Jersey that he founded in 1987 to coach and train promising young opera singers, Hines said, “I’ve never been so busy in my life.

“I want to continue and continue. They will have to carry me out kicking and screaming.”

Jerome Hines will be bass soloist with conductor Keith Clark and the Pacific Symphony in highlights from Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” at 8 p.m. today and Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Soprano Rita Hunter also will be featured. Tickets: $9-$40. Information: (714) 973-1300.