San Diego Spotlight : Singer Hedged His Bets, But Opera Won Him Over

Mark Doss could be described as a reluctant opera singer. The tall, 34-year-old bass-baritone from Cleveland, who will sing Collatinus in the upcoming San Diego Opera production of Benjamin Britten’s “The Rape of Lucretia,” had to be pulled kicking and screaming into the field in which he has made his mark. Through his college years, he kept up his sociology major just in case he did not pan out as a singer.

“After winning a round in the (district) Metropolitan Opera Auditions, I thought there were career possibilities, but I wasn’t convinced totally. I had majored in sociology and took my Graduate Record Examinations in sociology, not music,” Doss explained. “I thought I wanted to get a master of social work, with a little study of voice on the side. It was a way to hedge my bets.”

Fortunately, the young singer’s voice teacher and advisers persuaded him to attend Indiana University to pursue graduate study in music.

“The first thing I did there was a role in Borodin’s ‘Prince Igor,’ which was favorably mentioned in Opera News magazine. I think they said I was promising. That was a part of the feeling I should continue to sing.”

Doss’ promise was fulfilled in appointments to apprenticeship programs at Santa Fe Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 1986, he won first prize in Italy’s International Verdi Competition (always hedging, he cautiously aimed for second place at best), and the next year he was awarded the National Institute for Music Theatre’s George London Opera Prize. After those awards, contracts came from San Francisco Opera to New York City Opera, as well as from European companies.

At this stage of his career, Doss is making the transition from comprimario to principal roles.

“I am typically cast as a high priest, the devil, assassins and other seedy characters. I’ve learned to be a Jack-of-all-trades. But I’m definitely holding back from the Wagnerian requests I’ve received in Europe. I need to do longer roles in order to see how much my voice can withstand. Leporello in ‘Don Giovanni’ was the longest so far, and singing that wasn’t easy.”

Just as Doss’ career was taking off, a custody battle over his son, Christopher, who is 5, forced him to retrench. He turned down contracts with the Met and a few European houses because of the amount of time they would have taken him away from the Chicago area, where he settled during his years at Chicago Lyric’s Opera Center. He stayed close to home, proved his fatherly dependability and won joint custody. Feeling confident, he recently signed a contract to sing Escamillo in “Carmen” in Belgium for 2 1/2 months next season.

Unlike most singers, who are joined at the hip to their voice teacher throughout their career, Doss sees himself as his own teacher.

“I study on my own. When I’m learning a new role, I use metronome and rarely listen to records to avoid imitation. When I finished studying at Indiana, my voice teacher said to me, ‘You know what you need to do to fix something.’ And I’ve found that to be true.”

Benefits. Where do all those prodigies go? From time to time, they return to do a good deed. Tonight at 7 p.m. in Smith Recital Hall, classical guitarist Fred Benedetti will give a benefit concert for the San Diego State University music department. A department alumnus, Benedetti performs extensively locally and is a member of the Grossmont College music faculty. His compact disc of his own guitar compositions is scheduled for release next month.

San Diego native Frank Almond, who was a prize winner at the 1986 Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition and at age 17 one of the youngest prize winners in Italy’s Niccolo Paganini Violin Competition, returns March 7 at 8 p.m. to play a benefit violin recital for the San Diego Youth Symphony at College Avenue Baptist Church. Almond, who resides in New York City, toured as a soloist with the Youth Symphony on its 1990 summer concert tour of Spain. Next month’s program will raise money for the Youth Symphony’s 1992 concert tour of Italy.

Pops on the horizon. Summer may not be on everyone’s mind, but the San Diego Symphony announced its programming for the 1992 SummerPops this week. Over the 12-week season (June 24-Sept. 12), pop performers such as Tonight Show trumpeter Doc Severinson (July 9-11) and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” singer Bobby McFerrin (June 27) will alternate with classical conductors such as Murry Sidlin (June 24-26), Jack Everly (Aug. 5-8) and Andrew Massey (Aug. 26). The Swingle Singers, that crossover vocal group, will appear July 22-25, and king of the Big Band sound Norman Leyden returns for his fifth SummerPops season Aug. 27-30 to lead a Glenn Miller Tribute. Cello prodigy Felix Fan, a 16-year-old La Jolla High student, performs on July 8 with two other prodigies.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

Mezzo-Soprano Ziegler To Give Recital

Mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler brings a sophisticated vocal recital to La Jolla’s Sherwood Auditorium Sunday at 7 p.m. Her selection of Brahms, Wolf, Mozart, Copland and Britten drew critical approval when she gave it at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Auditorium in December. Local opera buffs will remember Ziegler for her striking portrayal of Adalgisa in San Diego Opera’s 1986 production of “Norma.”