Opera japonica/Ian Campbell

Ian Campbell

The San Diego Opera now features regularly in Maria Nockin's Letters from America: in January she reviewed Die Zauberflöte, in February Gounod's Faust, in March Carlisle Floyd's new opera, Cold Sassy Tree, in April Idomeneo, and in May Aida and the Verdi Requiem. What is the driving force behind this previously little-known company?

Maria Nockin talked to General Director Ian Campbell, who is also Chairman of Opera America, about his life and work.

Maria Nockin: Where did you grow up? How did you first get interested in music?

Ian CAMPBELL: I was born in Brisbane, Australia, on December 21, 1945 and the family moved to Townsville in North Queensland when I was one year old. We lived there until 1959 when we moved to Sydney when I was aged 13.

My musical interests began because I enjoyed singing. I was a boy soprano, and just sang for the sheer pleasure of it, learning songs from radio and films. There was no television in Australia until 1956 and I did not see TV until 1959. I grew up singing along with Eddie Fisher and Frank Sinatra, but also Richard Tucker and Mario Lanza, all of whom were heard on radio at that time. Lanza's movies, and other musicals, were also part of my movie-going.

I was encouraged by my parents and school teachers, and performed live on radio frequently in Townsville on radio 4TO. My parents had no operatic knowledge, and my exposure to opera was limited to what I saw in Lanza's movies, especially The Great Caruso, until I attended my first opera in Sydney in 1963. It was La bohème.

Ian Campbell as an American indian around 1949, as Shylock in 1961, and (right) in the Mikado in 1963

Nockin: How did you make the transition from university student to professional singer? Is it now easier for singers to do this?

CAMPBELL: After my family moved to Sydney in 1959 I was suddenly in a city of then 2,000,000 people contrasted with Townsville's 40,000. The teachers at the high school I attended took a great interest in my singing and acting, because I loved to act, debate, and generally perform. I started a drama club at school so I could direct myself as Antony in Julius Caesar.

I did not intend to be a singer. I went to the University of Sydney to take a Bachelor of Arts degree and then go to law school. I wanted to be a barrister. I received my BA but never did law except for torts, criminal law and contracts. I became a singer instead.

The path to singing is interesting. In high school a teacher, Mary Emery, who is now retired and living in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney, decided that the adjoining Liverpool Boys' and Liverpool Girls' High Schools should stage Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado in early 1963. Rehearsals began in late 1962 and I was chosen as the tenor lead. Rona Coleman from the Girls' School was to sing the soprano. We were both known for our singing even then. Mary directed the show, the first time the school had ever produced a musical, and it was a huge success. I actually still have a tape of the performance.

As I was finishing high school in 1963, Mary Emery approached my parents offering to pay for private singing lessons for me while I was at University. The lessons were nothing to do with my studies. They were a kind of 'hobby'. My parents had no money, and accepted Mary's generous offer. (She did the same for Rona Coleman, the soprano, who became a successful stage and television actress, and the star of My Fair Lady in a national tour of Australia.) I studied with a former tenor, Godfrey Stirling, while I took my BA degree, and sang in a lot of amateur musicals. It was great way to meet girls !!

In 1967, as I was about to go into law studies, the Elizabethan Trust Opera Company (later The Australian Opera and now known as Opera Australia) heard me in an amateur performance and asked me to audition fort a national tour of about 28 weeks. I auditioned, was offered a job, and decided to do it and return to law later. I never returned. I sang with the Company full-time until the end of the first season in the new Sydney Opera House in early 1974.

So the transition was remarkably simple. It happened because an extraordinary woman, Mary Emery, invested in my future and opened a door. I was a university student one day and an opera singer the next, at the age of 21, with my Bachelor of Arts degree.

It cannot be done so easily today. First, when they approached me they were trying to build a new opera company, and singers were rare. Second, there is more talent around today because of the history of opera performance in Australia. I started 34 years ago, and a lot has happened in that time.

Ian Campbell as Roderigo in Otello at the Australian Opera, Sydney, 1970.

Nockin: Why did you switch to stage direction?

CAMPBELL: I gave up singing professionally with the close of the first season in the Sydney Opera House, the 1973-1974 season. As I watched that House being built, knowing I would get the chance to sing in it, I started to assess my talent, ambition and prospects. By the time the season rolled around I knew it would be my last.

I was a comprimario tenor, and a reasonably good one. My roles included Valzacchi, Trabucco, Basilio and all the others you would expect. BUT, I wanted to be Fritz Wunderlich or Nicolai Gedda, my idols. (I still liked Mario Lanza, and enjoy him today, but I have higher standards now.) I believed - and rightly I think - that I would never achieve the level to which I aspired, and that I would be annoyed in later life if I did not make a change. The close of that first season in the Sydney Opera House was a perfect time for the change.

I left the Company in April 1974, and one week later commenced work as Senior Music Officer with The Australia Council, the national funding authority for the arts, not unlike the NEA in the United States. (That week is the only time I have been unemployed since 1967.)

My aim was to 'retrain' for arts management, and I learned all I could by studying what the various companies were doing, how their budgets worked, and traveling to see their performances and interview their managements.

I also went to Europe in 1975 and visited a number of opera companies, meeting with people such as Lord Harewood at English National Opera, and Rolf Liebermann at the Paris Opera, who spent time with me discussing administration of opera houses. They were amazingly generous to a young Australian - not yet 30 - and I have never forgotten how they inspired me.

In 1976 a company called New Opera, based in Adelaide, South Australia, invited me to become their General Manager. The position was never advertised. It was simply offered. They knew me from my visits to supervise their grants, and knew my performing background. The Company became a success, and changed its name to The State Opera of South Australia. Soon it was second only to The Australian Opera.

I commenced stage directing there with La bohème and The Tales of Hoffmann, combining my love of organization and administration, with my love of the stage. It was a perfect marriage.

Ian Campbell's La bohème for the State Opera of South Australia in 1981

Nockin: What are your views on the role of the stage director in opera?

CAMPBELL: The stage director is obviously a vital element in any performance today. The expectation of most audiences is that they will see, as well as hear, a performance which makes dramatic sense, and not be merely a costumed concert. The stage director's role should be to tell the story, to make the issues clear, the conflict comprehensible. This is not to say that the stage director simply becomes a traffic cop, outlining entrances and exits. The director should have an opinion about the piece, an opinion which unifies the drama, and assists the audience to find the underlying truth in the story.

But the stage director should not do anything which is totally against the music or the thrust of the story. To be specific: San Diego Opera and Los Angeles Opera have co-produced a production of Verdi's Rigoletto, directed by Bruce Beresford. This production is part of our 2002 season, and the opera is set in Hollywood. For me, it works.

The reason it works is that the basis of the plot is the abuse of power by a powerful man, the Duke of Mantua, who satisfies his sexual lusts with the assistance of his courtiers with tragic results. By setting the opera in today's Hollywood the comfort of exotic historical costumes is removed, and the truth of the story is even stronger. A movie mogul, assisted by his toadies who live in his shadow, satisfies his sexual appetite with a starlet who, in a version of the Stockholm Syndrome, sacrifices herself to save her seducer.

Would Verdi have approved? Who knows, but it is clear that he was always trying to push boundaries beyond what the censors of the day would permit. The Beresford approach remains true to the music and to the thrust of the story, and works for me.

But sometimes stage directors go crazy with ideas which abuse both music and story, and should not be seen on the professional stage. They should not be given absolute power because opera is a cooperative artistic enterprise, not a director's showcase. Aida, naked, on ice, might look interesting, but it is not Verdi, and certainly not Aida.

There are many abuses seen on European stages, particularly in Germany, where some directors seem actually to hate the opera they are directing.

Ian Campbell directing the San Diego Opera's Falstaff, January 1999.

Photo: ML Hart

Nockin: Your career path has led from your being general manager of the State Opera of South Australia, to a short stint at the Met, to your present position as general director of San Diego Opera and Chairman of Opera America. What are your best memories of these years?

CAMPBELL: The State Opera of South Australia was an excellent training ground for me. The company was a little unstable when I took over, so I had to nurse it back to health, which required my learning a great deal, and developing a love for the numbers, planning, and management. I had a great Chairman for most of that time, Hugh Cunningham, a professional in the finance field, and he taught me a lot.

Artistically, we were able to produce a wide range of work in Adelaide because we were not dependent upon private donors, and had strong financial support from the Government.

While I was General Manager we produced the first professional Australian productions of operas such as Britten's Death in Venice, The Makropulos Affair (Janacek), The Midsummer Marriage (Tippett), L'Ormindo (Cavalli), Werther (Massenet), One Man Show (Nicholas Maw) and La Rondine (Puccini), The Land of Smiles (Lehar) along with the old favorites Figaro, Barbiere, Traviata, Boheme, Fledermaus, Elixir, Giovanni etc.

It was truly an opportunity to explore repertoire, and to learn.

The greatest production of that time was Death in Venice, directed by Jim Sharman (who had directed the Rocky Horror Show on stage and film), and designed by Brian Thompson, who recently received an award for his design of the Broadway production of The King and I.

The time at the Metropolitan Opera was a little under a year, because the opportunity to get back to running a company came up when I was offered San Diego Opera. But, in that time at the Met I made many friends among the artists and staff, which continue to this day.

I was especially grateful to the Met's General manager, Tony Bliss and his wife Sally, who believed in me, brought me to America, and showed me nothing but kindness, even inviting me to their home on Long Island for Thanksgiving with their family. Tony Bliss deserves more recognition than he is given today.

Jerry Hadley in the title role of Don Luis de Carvajal in the world premiere of Myron Fink's The Conquistador, March 1997

Photo: Ken Howard

San Diego Opera is still a work in progress. The repertoire is diverse now, and our program of North American operas over several seasons has brought Catan's Rappaccini's Daughter, the first production in the United States of an opera by a Mexican composer; three Floyd works - Of Mice and Men, Cold Sassy Tree and The Passion of Jonathan Wade; Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire; the world premiere of Fink's The Conquistador, among others. This has been one of the most satisfying experiences as audiences slowly -ever so slowly - start to try works they do not know.

Nockin: What are the main changes you have brought to San Diego Opera since your arrival in 1983?

CAMPBELL: Major changes include the creation of the San Diego Opera Ensemble of young artists who perform our education program, and frequently take supporting roles on the main stage. Some are now embarked on world wide careers.

The introduction of American repertoire, as outlined above, was an important change, as was commissioning operas, sometimes in co-commissions, such as The Conquistador, Cold Sassy Tree and Therese Raquin, which premieres this year in Dallas and will be performed by us in 2003.

The recital program has been very important. Major artists including Joan Sutherland, Kiri te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Cecilia Bartoli have appeared on the main stage. But another group, taking lower fees than they deserve, have loyally supported the recital program in the 500-seat Sherwood auditorium. This list includes some amazing names and performances - Renata Scotto, Siegfried Jerusalem, Carol Vaness, Håkan Hagegård, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Neblett, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Hermann Prey, Delores Ziegler, Vivica Genaux, Helen Donath, Sylvia McNair, Simon Estes, Galina Gorchakova. In the next few seasons we add Marcello Giordani, Anthony Dean Griffey, Daniil Shtoda, Christopher Maltman, Ewa Podles, Paata Burchuladze and Michael Schade and Russell Braun in a joint recital.

Sylvia McNair, with pianist Ted Taylor, at Sherwood Auditorium in 2000

Photo: ML Hart

I believe every opera company should present recitals as a way of allowing audiences to focus on voice and interpretation as they do not do as well in an opera performance. San Diego Opera has one of the most vibrant recital programs of any opera company in the United States.

We have actually reduced the number of operas since I arrived as there are now five operas in the main season, whereas there were six when I arrived. There was also a Verdi festival in summer on a few occasions, taking the number of operas to eight, more than Chicago was doing at that time. It was too much for the market, and five operas are right for now.

But we are doing more performances of each opera. Boccanegra, when last performed here received three performances in our almost 3000-seat theatre. When we next do it, it will be performed five times. Our market has grown considerably.

Our education program is second to none, and reaches throughout the county. We bring several bus loads of children from Tijuana to our Student Dress Rehearsal Program, and our Ensemble tours Northern Mexico for three weeks each year.

The budget was around $3,000,000 when I arrived, and it is now over $12,000,000. The overall quality of singers is higher, and the productions values are greater. I have built on what Tito Capobianco achieved, as he built on what Walter Herbert achieved before him. That's as it should be, and one day someone will build on my work, and do it better also.

The San Diego Civic Theatre: patrons sport pink feather boas and boutonnieres in honor of Zandra Rhodes on the opening night of the Magic Flute, and the season, on January 20, 2001.

Photo: Ken Howard

Nockin: Which San Diego productions have you been most proud of?

CAMPBELL: There are many, and for differing reasons. Myron Fink's world premiere, The Conquistador, played to full houses, was enthusiastically received, and not only entertained but educated most of us about a part of Jewish history on the Mexican border of which we were unaware.

Zandra Rhodes' recent costume designs for The Magic Flute (her first ever) were extraordinary, and supported a brilliant production by Michael Hampe. She will now design her second opera, Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, for San Diego Opera in 2004.

Richard Leech singing his first Werther was truly memorable, as was Renee Fleming as Rusalka, before she became 'famous'. Cold Sassy Tree in our last season was as fine a theatrical experience as we have ever done, with the highest quality acting, singing and staging.

Ferruccio Furlanetto as Giovanni in Hampe's production conducted by Leopold Hager was world class. Dialogues of the Carmelites, Madama Butterfly directed by Zambello, Cosi fan tutte set at the Hotel del Coronado, the Covent Garden production of Lohengrin. All of these have great memories, but so does just about every opera because of an artist, a conductor, a director, an audience response.

Costumed by Zandra Rhodes: Annelies Chapman as Papagena and Johannes Mannov as Papageno in the Magic Flute

Photos © Ken Howard 2001

Nockin: Can you tell us about some of the celebrated artists you engaged right at the beginning of their careers, before they were famous?

CAMPBELL: There are many singers who have worked with San Diego Opera before singing at the Metropolitan Opera, for example, or La Scala, or making recordings.

Hei-Kyung Hong, a mainstay at the Metropolitan Opera sang her first-ever Mimi, Pamina and Gilda with San Diego Opera before singing them at the Metropolitan Opera. Richard Leech, an old friend now, has sung here frequently in Faust, Lucia, Boheme, Ballo, Werther (his first), Carmen (his first), Before he sang at the Met, he had a firm relationship with this theatre.

Renee Fleming is an example of someone who sang here at the beginning in Rusalka and Onegin. We actually released her from Don Giovanni so she could make her La Scala debut. Rodney Gilfry's first role with us was the small role of Fiorello in Barber of Seville, with Hermann Prey as Figaro. Rodney returns in a few seasons to sing his first-ever Posa in Don Carlo.

Ian Campbell with Hermann Prey when the German baritone gave a recital in San Diego in 1998.

Photo: ML Hart

Ferruccio Furlanetto was a little-known, but successful bass who had already sung at the Met where I met him, when I brought him here for Oberto in 1985. Although he is now in demand throughout the world he is loyal to us, having just sung Mephistopheles, and is scheduled to return for Don Carlo and possibly Boris in the future.

Ramon Vargas sang in Sonnambula and Lucia with us. He had sung at the Met as an emergency replacement, but ours was his first signed US contract, and his second US appearance. Michele Crider made her US debut with us, as did Deborah Riedel. Sondra Radvanovsky, now singing with the Met and the Paris Opera, among others, sang Trovatore here and will return for Don Carlo with Furlanetto and Gilfry. Giuseppe Giacomini, though not at the beginning of his career, sang his first Otello with us, and in the future Galina Gorchakova will sing her first Norma, and Sergei Larin his first Otello.

This a partial list. There are many less exalted singers, now making good careers, who started here such as Beau Palmer, or Vivica Genaux whose second professional appearance was here. There's also Priti Gandhi, recently out of our Ensemble Program, whose career is just starting with appearances in Seattle and Prague.

Nockin: You have a distinctive managerial style that is reflected in a remarkably friendly and helpful staff. What is your approach? What is your secret?

CAMPBELL: No secret. I learned from Rolf Liebermann in the few hours we spent together at the Paris Opera in 1975 that it was actually meant to be fun !! He knew every stage hand, seamstress, make up crew member by name, and cared about their contribution to the performance as much as he cared about the singers. I think the administration has one function - to make it possible for the artists to perform, be they singer, stage hand, wig or make-up artist, musician, at the highest level and with the least stress. My staff share that view, and we have the most remarkable staff in all American opera, and I mean it. Singers always want to be here because it is a happy environment,one in which they can do their best work, one in which they can learn a new role with full support.

I give staff room to do their jobs their way, but they know the standard I expect of them, and they live up to it. I am not a tyrant, and our Heads of Department meetings are as funny as they are efficient. The staff at San Diego Opera knows how to laugh, and respects one another. Then, anything is possible.

Ian Campbell with Magic Flute costume designer Zandra Rhodes in January 2001

Photo: ML Hart

Nockin: Has it been difficult to maintain a private life? Can you tell us a little about your family and your life outside opera?

CAMPBELL: Because so much of my life is taken up in public appearances giving speeches, dealing with donors, and broadcasting on radio for the past 16 years, I am fairly well known, and my voice is recognized. But it is still easy enough to go out and not have to discuss opera.

The difficulty about one's private life is that the work of the Opera never ceases. Weekends are frequently taken up with donor events, dinners with supporters whose loyalty we need to maintain, or travel to hear artists I'm considering. So it is not a typical 9 to 5 existence, but it has not been for 34 years.

I am married to Ann, a former singer, now an expert professional fund raiser, whom I hired in late 1983 from the Milwaukee Symphony to be Director of Development for San Diego Opera. She is still with the Opera as Director of Strategic Planning.

We married in 1985 and have two sons, Benjamin (14) and David (12). Both play piano, and Benjamin also plays clarinet. David has added trombone and electric guitar. Neither sings, although David actually has a good voice. They enjoy opera and come to many rehearsals and some performances.

With both parents in opera, they meet many wonderful people who come to the house for dinner, but both Ann and I worry that our lives are sometimes just too busy. But the boys are thriving.

Nockin: How did you become involved in the work of Opera America? How much of your time does it take up? Does it complement your work in San Diego?

CAMPBELL: I first attended an Opera America Conference in New York back around 1974 when I was running the State Opera of South Australia. I saw it as an opportunity to meet experienced opera executives from the USA who knew more than I did, and to learn from them.

I was the first Australian to go to the Conference, and I soon persuaded Opera America to start admitting foreign members who were not North American. State Opera was the first. Over time this grew into a huge foreign membership, which has now led to the creation of a separate organization, Opera Europa, which links to Opera America and its European colleagues. I attended a conference which established that organization in early June this year.

Opera America is a very professional organization based in Washington, DC, with a brilliant staff, headed by Marc Scorca. The bulk of the real work is done by that staff, so the time I need to devote in San Diego is a few hours weekly. I do need to travel to Board meetings and conferences, which takes more time, and will need to be part of presentations in Washington from time to time.

The knowledge I gain from close dealings with colleagues in the USA and Europe certainly benefits my personal growth and knowledge, and San Diego Opera benefits. Many co-productions begin at conferences, or personal meetings which occur while traveling.

François Loup as Don Alfonso and Sheryl Woods as Despina in San Diego Opera's 1999 production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte

Photo : Ken Howard 1999

Nockin: What are the functions/services offered by Opera America - to members of the public, to singers and vocal students, to opera companies in the US and around the world?

CAMPBELL: Here's the official statement - Opera America serves and strengthens the field of opera by providing a variety of informational, technical, and administrative resources to the greater opera community. Its fundamental mission is to promote opera as exciting and accessible to individuals from all walks of life. Opera America's membership includes 166 Professional Company Members around the world, plus 270 Affiliate and Business Members, and 2,000 Individual Members from 48 US states, 7 Canadian provinces, and 19 countries abroad, representing Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America.

But here's more. Opera America should be part of every opera lover's life. Students of singing can become members and, as a result, have ready access to information about training and apprentice programs, contact information for all member companies including the name and address of the General Director or Artistic Director, performance schedules and other information which can help them develop their career plans.

An opera lover can get the same information, as well as updates on radio and television programs about opera, and much more.

Opera companies get all of this but also receive financial reports which allow them to compare their performance with the field, and they get access to training programs of various kinds. Above all, members have the opportunity to meet colleagues from around the world who produce, sing or just enjoy opera.

Foreign members obtain direct access to information about American fund-raising practices and techniques, and a great sharing of information takes place in this area daily. Also, as San Diego Opera does with German and Finnish companies, even staff exchanges occur which broadens knowledge. It's the best club there is!

Exchanges: this summer Michael Murphy (left), San Diego Opera's Director of Administration, will spend three weeks at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Henry Klein (right), a student from Stuttgart. is an intern at the San Diego Opera.

Nockin: I understand you were involved in setting up Opera Europa. What does this organization hope to contribute to opera? How many opera houses are now members and in which countries?

CAMPBELL: Opera Europa grew out of the European Opera Network which Opera America assisted to establish while I served on the Board of Directors, before becoming Chairman. My involvement was active, because I endorsed the concept and encouraged friends in Europe to join, but the real work was done by the then Chairman of Opera America, Kevin Smith, of Minnesota Opera, with Marc Scorca from Opera America. On the European side the driving force was the Director General of Opera National du Rhin in France, Rudolf Berger, who is a dedicated professional with terrific vision. He is the current Chairman of Opera Europa, my equivalent.

You may see a list of current members at www.opus2.org/en/opeu/ There will be many more in a few years.

Nockin: Will there also be an Opera Asia?

CAMPBELL: One of my objectives as Chairman of Opera America is to work with our staff and Opera Europa, to see if we can interest our Asian colleagues in a service organization for that part of the world. This would include Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. The name could be just about anything which identifies the region, but Opera Asia is certainly a start.

If we can assist with the establishment of an organization to represent opera in the region and facilitate the exchange of information about productions, artists, plans and schedules,it would play an important role in developing the art form. By associating with Opera America and Opera Europa, we could establish a world-wide network of information and exchanges which would further break down barriers.

I hope I will be able to find colleagues in the region prepared to consider such an idea.

The final scene from San Diego Opera's 1998 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly with Yoko Watanabe

Nockin: I am not sure whether you would like to answer our final question as general director of San Diego Opera or as Chairman of Opera America - or both! It's a long question!

As you know Japan is a major market for opera, Many opera companies from Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union countries perform in Japan. Some of these companies are very famous, some are not. Some are large, some are small. However in the case of America only the Met has appeared so far - though the Washington Opera has recently announced plans to come. Nevertheless, famous companies with a great history, like Chicago and San Francisco, have never sent productions to Japan. One consequence of this is that American singers appear - in recitals, concerts and local productions - less frequently than European, particularly Italian, singers,

Why has this come about? Would you as Chairman of Opera America like to encourage other companies to explore possibilities of touring? Would San Diego - which uses many East Asian singers - be interested in touring on the other side of the Pacific?

CAMPBELL: The answer is one of knowledge and money. Many American companies have no knowledge of the work being done in Asia other than in Australia and New Zealand. Many of us, including myself, have never been to Japan or China, whereas we visit Europe regularly and are familiar with operatic

Because we do not have the contacts in, say, Japan, it is difficult to get a cultural exchange under way, and it is easier for those in Japan who have the money to import companies to deal with the largest, and the better known companies, so as to ensure sales. Hence the focus on Europe and the Metropolitan Opera. Washington Opera's appeal for its proposed tour is, of course, Placido Domingo, a major star of great appeal to the market.

But just as there are many fine Asian artists without huge international reputations appearing in the United States, so there are many fine American artists lacking the status of Mr. Domingo, who would quickly be admired in Asia were they to be heard.

San Diego Opera would be willing to tour across the Pacific, but the costs would need to be covered by a promoter there, as we do not have the ability to pay those costs ourselves. Since we have available quality artists, many of them world famous, who would be willing to travel with us, I have no doubt we can deliver high class opera to cities in the Asian region, far less expensively than many other companies, particularly the European ones.

So, if anyone wants to talk to me about a possible tour, please be in touch. . . .

Nockin: Thank you very much.