Articles

 

The American Helden-Bass Baritone interviewed by
Geerd Heinsen, (Editor ORPHEUS, Opera International, Berlin)

 

A feat that says a lot about this singer:  The Deutsche Oper Berlin was desperately looking for someone to jump in as Scarpia in Tosca, after discovering that the originally scheduled baritone was not in command of the Italian text.  Robert Hale was in town having appeared at the Deutsche Oper Berlin the night before as Lindorf / Dapertutto / Coppelius / Dr. Miracle and was due to sing again two evenings later.  He had sung Scarpia in Berlin ten months earlier, in a memorable series of Tosca performances but, not having sung the role since, did not feel he could give a truly professional rendition without looking at the score before hand.  Since the director of the opera house turned to him for help only 25 minutes before the performance was to begin, and he did not want to leave the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the lurch, he agreed to sing the role, with the score in hand, from the side of the stage, while the actual substitute acted out the part. And Hale sang like a God!

This incident, apart from being a minor sensation in itself, is quite characteristic of the seriousness of the opera singer Robert Hale: never do anything half-heartedly, but always with the utmost professionalism! On the many nights that I have heard him to date, there has never been anything to criticize, technique-wise or vocally; even during repertoire performances there has been nothing to complain of.  There is a high standard of quality throughout all of his appearances; this can hardly be said of many singers.

Robert Hale's career is a phenomenon. From the very beginning, he was considered an exceptionally talented, very reliable bass, with a beautiful, impressive, and flexible voice, having sung many roles of the Italian and French repertoire across America with numerous prominent singers: Joan Sutherland, Leontyne Price, Pavarotti, Domingo, and also with Beverly Sills in countless Donizetti and Bellini performances, as well as other repertoire. At that time Robert Hale was hardly known outside of the United States and had not yet found his special niche. Among his many leading roles, he sang bel canto operas, Escamillo, Giulio Cesare, Don Giovanni, Figaro; later, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mephistopheles, Boito's Mefistofele, and the four villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann.

Robert Hale received his musical training at Oklahoma University, Boston University, and the New England Conservatory, working with the likes of Leopold Simoneau, Boris Goldovsky, and Aaron Copland.  Already then Hale proved to be versatile, alternating between Lieder and recital concerts while also singing opera.  Linguistically, he benefited from his boyhood spent in French Louisiana. Robert Hale is well known for his perfect, idiomatic pronunciation in various languages.

The actual push only came in 1978, when Hale sang Der Fliegende Holländer for the first time in Wuppertal, Germany. Prior to that, Robert Schulz, a well known German opera agent, had heard him sing in a Wagner concert at Carnegie Hall and had advised him to travel to Europe in order to start singing helden (heroic) baritone roles.  Robert Hale had opted against this, having felt that the time was not yet ripe. Also, he was content with a good career, singing not only in New York but also with leading orchestras and opera companies across North America.  Nevertheless, Hale was interested in international possibilities and eventually accepted offers to sing in Europe.  It was there that he met his wife, who further encouraged him and supported his artistic ambition.

His wife is the internationally well known soprano, Inga Nielsen, best known for her Mozart, Strauss, and Wagnerian roles, as well as being a household name to German-speaking opera lovers.  Inga Nielsen supported Robert Schulz's advice regarding helden baritone roles being also convinced that her husband had Wagnerian potential. Hale sang his first Der Fliegende Holländer in Wuppertal. Inga Nielsen's assumption proved to be correct.  Robert Hale, having successfully performed all three Wotan's of his first Ring cycle, immediately was in demand in major opera houses. When we talked to each other for the first time, he openly admitted his reservations concerning these challenging roles and their potential pitfalls.

 

One had to hand it to him that he chose to sing his first Ring cycle in Wiesbaden and not at a major opera house of world fame as had been offered to him.  Just as in the case of the earlier mentioned Scarpia, Robert Hale wanted to be as professional as possible and to present his debut of these immense roles under the best possible circumstances.  "We worked well together in Wiesbaden; I learned a great deal and felt very comfortable.  General Music Director Siegfried Kohler gave me a lot of support, and Director Nicolas Joel provided me with a foundation for Wotan, from which I still benefit to this day."

Robert Hale had another artistic mentor, namely Hans Hasl, formerly a vocal coach at the Frankfurt Oper, who with his outstanding skills and knowledge taught singers Wagnerian roles under the directorship of Sir Georg Solti. He also benefited from the excellent coaching of the American Wagnerian specialist, James Pearson. Hale credits these superb coaches for the multi-dimensional preparation of his Wagnerian roles.  From then on things went stroke by stroke, right up to his debut as Wotan in Götz Friedrich's beloved tunnel Ring in Berlin, where Robert Hale made a lasting impression, as well as in the guest performances of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Japan where he was the first Wotan ever to sing the entire Ring cycle in the Far East.  In this historical setting in Tokyo, after the final concert featuring a Wagnerian program, the audience as well as the press were full of praise. After decades of seldom hearing true, declamatory singing, there was at long last a voice for the role of Wotan, capable of actually singing the part and not just interpreting it.

This dimension of expressive singing is most important to Hale. Based on a solid technique, the voice mixes with expression, emotional elements and rationally inexplicable meanings are clearly conveyed.  When asked about the Ring, Robert Hale discloses that of the three Wotan's, the Wanderer is actually his favorite, as there are several musical moments such as the encounter with Erda, when sensual music conjures up by-gone ties, or the humor in the scene with Mime, which he finds delightful and entertaining.  The same of course holds true for Wotan's Farewell in Die Walküre, during which Hale always has to be on guard, so as not to get carried away by the mood and sheer beauty of the music.  The Wotan of Die Walküre is the central figure among the three, because he still maintains his power and is still able to take action aggressively. In Siegfried, the Wotan-Wanderer, now the dismissed observer of Siegfried, where the power syndrome as Hale puts it - is gone, and Wotan, though still showing involvement, now displays a freer persona.  The somewhat contradictory attitude towards power, which is inherent in all three Wotans, attains a good balance musically, as well as in terms of expression in both Siegfried and in Die Walküre.

Robert Hale has come to these conclusions together with the assistance of Götz Friedrich, who really brought the Wotan's into focus and who made him aware of the many-faceted dimensions of these three roles.  By contrast, the Walküre in Geneva in which Hale sang alongside sopranos Eva Marton and Hanna Schwartz, was much more modern and somewhat trendier in visual terms.  Hale recalls with amusement how he had to plead with the director of the production for every additional inch of cloth regarding the towel which was draped around his hips while bathing in a large sunken tub during the confrontational scene with Fricka in Act II.

Wotan was the role that opened doors of opera houses around the world for Robert Hale. Soon he will be singing Holländer at the Metropolitan Opera. He has sung this particular role just about everywhere: Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Tokyo, Moscow, and at countless theaters throughout Europe and around the world. He is soon to be heard at La Scala.

Holländer is very suited to Hale's voice, which has no trouble with the tessitura, flowing in a near Italianate manner while being able to sing all the large phrases to the fullest. His interpretation of Wotan benefits from this as well, and Hale looks forward to the upcoming Rings in San Francisco, in Berlin again, and the Deutsche Oper's guest appearances at Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. Furthermore, he will be appearing in a new production of the Ring in Cologne, and will sing Wotan and Scarpia in Vienna, Orest in London, with Sir Georg Solti conducting, and Jochanaan in Paris and Munich. Hale was able to demonstrate just how well he sings Jochanaan when he appeared in a new Covent Garden production of Salome directed by Sir Peter Hall and with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting, and Maria Ewing as Salome.

During the last few years, Robert Hale's voice has grown fuller, rounder, and had gained brilliance, especially in the upper middle register. The fact that he is still able to sing Scarpia so well alongside of the big helden roles can be attributed to his solid singing technique and his flexibility, which has expanded as a result of the wide spectrum of his roles. The bass solos in Haydn's Creation, for instance, is one of the pieces in which he and his wife sing together; others are Mephisto and Marguerite in Faust, Salome, Fidelio, and Tosca. There could be a Meistersinger up ahead in the distant future. His remarkable coloratura and breathtakingly fast and staccato-sung bass solo in the Messiah can be heard on a Phillips' recording with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting. Recently Phillips released a Compact Digital entitled, The Best of the Best, featuring Joan Sutherland and Hale among others. Listening to this recording, one would hardly assume that the part is sung by a Wotan-type voice. Robert Hale has retained all those small notes as well as a glorious piano while changing over to the heavy roles.

In a most unusual way, Robert Hale combines intelligent singing and warm human sensitivity with an ideal physical and psychological suitability for his roles. I have rarely seen such an elegant singer in these individual portrayals: his Mephistopheles, Wotan, and Holländer benefit from his attractive, slender appearance and natural, though conscious, movements on stage. The fact that he never delivers routine performances says as much about him as does the way in which he makes use of his intelligence in his profession, a profession which he sees as the one big chance to create different characters. Robert Hale opposes routine; to him there is a freshness to each role, be it a repeat performance or a debut, and he wants to be a hundred percent prepared and involved. Hale discovered just how dangerous it can be to become one hundred percent involved. During one performance, as Golaud in Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, he was touched by the sight of the dying Melisande, along side of her new-born child, to such an extent that he was hardly able to sing while fighting back tears. Fortunately, those were the last of his notes in the opera, and thus his deep emotions did not disturb his singing. He says, "Music must be moving. Only total involvement creates the magic necessary to make an opera performance unique, thus providing a vital rapport between the audience and the singer."