An award-winning opera director, producer and singer, Angelo Gobbato has been involved in opera in South Africa since the 1960s. After the performing arts councils were closed down at the end of the 90s, he was pivotal in establishing a new opera company in Cape Town. He has played a major part in the development and transformation of opera in the country. He was also the director of the UCT Opera School for many years, where he nurtured new talents. He will be directing The Tales of Hoffmann for Cape Town Opera and the UCT Opera School, which opens on 24 November.

You were born in Italy - when did you immigrate to South Africa? Do you have any childhood recollections of this experience?

AG: I was born in Milan, Italy on 5 July 1943 and came to Cape Town with my mother and my maternal grandmother in 1950. We were going to join my father, who had been contracted to come to work in Cape Town in 1948. Fairly unusually for the times, we came by aeroplane from Rome to Jo’burg and I have vague memories of the damp heat that hit us when we landed in Khano and Leopoldville, as they were known in those days, during stopovers. Then followed the trip by train from Johannesburg to Cape Town and arriving at Bellville station, leaning out of the train window to greet my father - whom I had missed very much - who grabbed me in his arms and pulled me out of the window of the moving train.

I also remember being rather stunned by moving into a large single story house,  surrounded by a lot of open space, with trees and grass and without nearby neighbours, after being accustomed to living in a third floor apartment in Milan in a very built-up area and with many neighbouring children who were my playmates.

What is your earliest recollection of hearing/seeing opera?

AG: It appears I was intent on becoming an opera singer since I was a very small child, singing heartily under my mother’s work table, who was an embroiderer, where she sat with four other young ladies who worked for her. In Milan my fondest memories were of the colourful costumes everyone wore for the ‘Carnevale’ days before the start of Lent, the passing of the carnival floats and also of attending many puppet plays at the Gerolamo Theatre, which still exists, and which was built as a miniature replica of La Scala Opera House.

In Cape Town my first operatic experiences were attending full scale productions at the Alhambra Theatre, performed by a touring company of Italian singers who would come to enjoy my father’s pasta dishes - he was the cook in the house - after the shows. He would then encourage me to sing with them. 
From Così fan Tutte (1964): Tom Saffery, Angelo Gobbato, Helmut Holzapfel

I was surprised to see that you read Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT) while studying the piano and singing privately. Did you ever practice as a scientist?

AG: I practiced for a brief stint (something like six months) as an analytical chemist after leaving UCT, but in truth this was only to fill in some free time between singing engagements, since I had already made my professional debut while still registered at UCT.

When did opera become the main focus of your life and what moved you towards this decision?

AG: As already mentioned, I was determined to embark on an operatic career ever since I can remember. I adored the music, the dramatic plots and the whole theatrical apparatus of the style. But above all, I simply could not stop singing – and this did not always make me very pleasant to be with!

You studied under some remarkable voice teachers - Albina Bini, Adelheid Armhold and Frederick Dalberg in Cape Town and, in 1965-6, Carlo Tagliabue and Anna Pistolesi in Milan. Tell us more about these mentors and how they influenced your musical development.

AG: It is difficult to do justice to any of these great mentors in a few words. Each of them gave me something very special and unique. Albina Bini, a refined musician, a brilliant pianist and such a generous person (she never charged me a cent for any of the lessons she gave me), first molded my vocal instrument and introduced me to a vast repertoire of opera, lieder and oratorio, inspiring me with her impeccable musicianship and arranging my earliest auditions for important roles. I then went to Milan to study with Carlo Tagliabue, himself a great baritone, who became a living model for my interpretation of operatic roles. Simultaneously I worked under Signora Pistolesi, who was a great coach and superb technician, because I wanted more lessons per week than Tagliabue’s time (and my pocket) permitted. When I returned to Cape Town, I worked for some years with Adelheid Armholdt, who employed a more Germanic technique than the one I had been used to, but who developed the top range of my voice, as well as increasing its power. Finally, it was a great privilege to work with Fred Dalberg, who could inspire me with his interpretation of the bass repertoire and who worked tirelessly on my breathing and legato.

What was the state of opera in Cape Town in the early 60’s, when you started performing?

AG: In hindsight I have to say that given the size of Cape Town’s population, it appears to me we were pretty well served with a variety of operatic performances. There were of course the ‘big’ tours arranged by African Theatres, featuring imported Italian artists. Then there were the productions mounted by the UCT Opera Company – who mainly performed at the Little Theatre; and the unforgettable performances given by the Eoan Group at the City Hall. But the major event that shaped South African operatic history and my career was the formation of the Performing Arts Councils. It was for CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Council), the then Cape Province branch of these, that I made my debut singing the role of Keçal in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

With Aviva Pelham in Don Pasquale

You started as a singer and became known for buffo roles, such as Dr Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart), Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale, Donizetti) and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart). In 1971 you received the first ever coveted Nederburg Prize for Opera for your portrayal of Papageno (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart). Of all the roles you did, which one was your favourite?

AG: It is really difficult to talk of a ‘favourite role’, since so many factors come into play, but the role that probably gave me the most pleasure and satisfaction was that of Papageno, a role that makes limited singing demands, but that with its extensive dialogue scenes gives much opportunity for comic acting.

How did you “migrate” from being an opera singer towards directing opera?

AG: Oddly enough, I was a director before being an opera singer. I directed plays with my schoolmates while still a student at Marist Brothers College, as well as plays (in Italian) for the Italian community and for my Church Youth group in Bellville.

While studying for a BSc at UCT I was fortunate enough to participate in some of the activities of the UCT Dramatic Society. I played The Messenger in a lovely production of Iphigenia in Tauris, directed by Robin Malan, on the Jammie steps and The Warder in a production of The Prisoner at the Little Theatre, directed by John Pikouòlis, with Robin Malan as the Cardinal and Roy Sargeant as the Inquisitor. I sang Mr Peacock in The tree that sat down by Frank Lazarus for the Drama School at the Litlle Theatre, directed by Mavis Taylor.

In the first years of CAPAB’s activity we performed many “Opera for ALL tours”, which consisted of several operatic scenes. No fixed director was appointed for these, but since the other singers seemed to accept my suggestions gratefully, I soon became the official stage director for these programmes. One of my first roles, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, was directed by the great Robert Mohr, who was due to direct CAPAB’s next full opera, Il matrimonio segreto. For academic reasons he could not fulfill this engagement and it appears he recommended that the company appointed me as the director for this opera. Increasing directing work ensued, which soon began to encroach on my ability to sustain leading singing roles at the same time. So I decided to abandon the singing and concentrate on the directing.

Can you remember the first production you ever directed?

AG: The first production I directed while still at school was of a one act play, Dear delinquent and my first full length opera was Cimarosa’s Il marimonio segreto for CAPAB Opera.
Nellie du Toit, Ken Reynolds and Ge Korsten in Madame Butterfly, directed by Angelo Gobbato (1973)

From 1989 – 99, you were the Director of Opera for the then Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB).  What were the challenges you faced in this position?

AG: The major challenge was the dwindling subsidy, which obliged the cutting down of the number of operatic seasons and performances, as well as the dwindling value of the Rand on the international exchange market, which, coupled with the international arts boycott, made it very difficult to engage international singers.

After the Arts Councils were closed down and funds were withdrawn, Cape Town Opera - the first independent professional opera company in Southern Africa - was founded in 1999. You spearheaded this operation and played a defining role in this new venture. It must have been nerve-wrecking?

AG: Nerve-wracking hardly describes it! Fortunately I was guided by a strong belief in the huge supply of truly magnificent voices that our country could produce and supported by a team of hardworking professionals within the company, as well as a management board of dedicated opera lovers who could guide us with their expertise in various aspects of business practice.

This new opera company changed from a predominantly white group of singers, to a predominantly black group of singers. How did you tackle the choice of repertoire through this transitional period, when there was no existing tradition yet of adapting productions to represent a company now reflecting the true face of the South African population?

AG: The choice of repertoire remained based on the quality of voices which were available, and their ability to sing and interpret the operas in question, quite immaterial of the racial characteristics of the singers. It thus remained possible to continue to present the ‘standard’ repertoire from Mozart, through Verdi and Wagner to Puccini and Richard Strauss, although the racial make-up of the casts changed from being predominantly white to predominantly black. In addition certain choices of repertoire could be made which were not previously possible – such as performing Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which demands an all black cast – as well as commissioning the composition of new South African operas written around the then current racial make-up of the company.

It was post-apartheid South Africa and your ground-breaking work at Cape Town Opera included concentrating on fostering talents from previously excluded backgrounds and setting up a training programme for chorus singers from disadvantaged areas. Did you get criticism for this?

AG: On the contrary, the process developed something in the manner of dropping a stone in a deep pond, with ever widening circles of waves bringing ever increasing numbers of new vocal talents to the light and a growing number of impressive voices wishing to be trained and undertake operatic careers.

Tom Saffrey, Saline Koch, Angelo Gobbato, Sarita Stern and Gert Potgieter in an excerpt from Cosi fan Tutte on out for Opera for All (1964)

You were also passionate about bringing opera to new audiences. How did you do this in a country that was still very volatile?

AG: The question of bringing opera to new audiences is not an easy one to solve. For an opera to retain its musical power and excitement it really needs to be performed with full vocal and orchestral forces in a venue which permits it to be spectacularly staged. Thus, it is rather the question of bringing new audiences to the opera which has to be addressed. And we have attempted to do this by providing very low priced seats for students, scholars and pensioners to attend special rehearsals and special school performances at places like Artscape Opera House. Although ‘bringing the prophet to the mountain’ remains first prize, every attempt is also made to arrange suitably scaled down versions of opera to be toured to schools and country venues, wherever suitable performing venues can be found, but these normally employ only piano accompaniment, so every attempt is made to follow up such tours with the ‘real’ experience of opera with orchestral accompaniment.

What do you think of the current state of opera in South Africa and how do you think it is going to develop over the next few years?

AG: I would like to remain optimistic, but find it extremely difficult to do so. On the one hand, the love and understanding of the operatic art has increased enormously and is still doing so, so that an increasing number of potential operatic singers with truly remarkable voices are coming forward to be trained. On the other hand, the constant dwindling of any funding for opera, be it public or private, makes it increasingly difficult for opera companies to remain solvent and continue providing work for these talented singers once they have been trained. Consequently many of our best young singers are obliged to look for employment possibilities overseas. One can only hope that the increasing number of capable operatic singers produced in this country will form persuasive pressure groups who may be able to obtain the required funding from either government sources or private enterprise.

What advantage do you think South African opera singers have over singers from other countries – if any?

AG: I don’t believe South African singers have any practical or economic advantages over their overseas counterparts, except for their individual vocal talents, which are often truly exceptional. However, that vocal talent must be coupled to immense personal drive and guided by expert artistic management if it is to succeed in the huge competitive international market.

You “retired” from the UCT Opera School in 2008 (after being director from 1994), but have since been directed several productions around the country. Do you think you will ever stop working?

AG: That depends on someone offering me work. Provided my physical health and mental stamina remain adequate, working on beautiful operas with talented young (or professional) singers will remain a great joy for me. I think that directing, like conducting, is not something that has an age limit or ‘sell by’ date. In fact, the wealth of experience that one has gathered throughout one’s professional career can only be of benefit to those under one’s direction. I feel it is important not to forego the standards one has set for oneself in the past, and to keep demanding only the best from the casts and organisations one works for. One must realize however that getting old does not make one any more patient with silliness or incompetence than I was in the past, so I must be more aware than ever of not stepping on toes or appearing to be too intransigent.

Also, I can only remain faithful to the production styles which I have believed in throughout my professional career, and thus will not be able to buy into some of the current production ideas employed in the staging of music theatre.

Angelo Gobbato in Der Fledermaus for Cape Town Opera (2004)

Opera is sometimes seen as this serious form of “high art”. But behind the scenes you must have experienced some pretty hilarious incidents over the years. Any specific story that you care to share that still make you laugh?

AG: Performing in opera can often provide very amusing incidents indeed – though often these incidents, which may appear very funny at the time, seem extremely silly in retrospect.

One such incident occurred in our very first CAPAB tour of Così fan tutte. I remember we were playing in Robertson in a vast city hall on a very cold night, and the audience seemed seated quite far from the stage, so we were confronted by an unusually dark empty space. Lord knows how it all started, but somewhere in the middle of the finale to Act I, someone got the giggles, and as those who have been on stage may know, it demands great powers of concentration not to allow such a giggle to become infectious. On that particular occasion, our cast did not possess such powers, so the giggle started spreading. No sooner had one singer overcome it, when it started up somewhere else, and by the end of the final sextet, there was pretty little actual singing going on. Of course the conductor was furious and we were thoroughly ashamed of having let our audience down.

On another occasion of the same tour (and this was a rather important performance in Port Elizabeth), the singer playing Despina fell ill with a virulent sore throat. Not wishing to cancel the performance (there were no understudies on such tours then of course), we decided to omit Despina’s arias, let her mark through the recitatives and simply mime during the ensembles. But Despina has two key comic moments when she appears disguised as a Doctor, and later as a Lawyer and both have rather crucial solo parts. Since Don Alfonso is on stage, but silent, during both these moments, we decided I should sing Despina’s lines in falsetto, with my back discreetly turned to the audience. I had great fun and received an unexpected burst of spontaneous applause from the audience to boot!

And incidents of ‘naughty singers’ playing pranks on their colleagues abound, such as the time in a very serious moment in Beethoven’s Fidelio, when the Gaoler Rocco gives the Prison Governor Pizarro a folder with official corresponce containing a warning letter which Pizarro must read out aloud. Hans van Heerden who played Pizarro was rather hard put to keep a straight face one night when he opened the folder and was confronted with a very juicy selection of pornographic photos…

Interview by Christien Coetzee Klingler
Published 19.11.2012