Opera Singers from South Africa with Richard Cock

CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER – AFRICAN DIALOGUES

Why are they so good? – Opera Singers from South Africa

A conversation with Richard Cock

After the end of Apartheid, black singers entered into the operatic scene of South Africa and from there they are now spreading all over the world with notable success. Richard Cock os a leading force in the South African scene of classical music and answers Heidi’s questions concerning the source of their success.

HEIDI WRITES

In the last few decades, more and more opera singers from South Africa win international singing competitions and get engaged in world renowned opera houses.

Opera, the drama in music, definitely comes from European countries, especially Italy. Monteverdi is said to have established the genre “Opera” which was “invented shortly before by Jacopo Peri in the late 16th century. Then it expanded to Germany and to the west and east alike, bringing forth music with particular characteristics. German opera is different from French, Russian or Italian opera. But all have in common: They use stories for the libretto, often with dramatic content, they are grounded in European culture and the singers were Europeans

Up to not long ago, Cio Cio San in “Madama Butterfly” was dressed as Japanese and made up oriental looking, Otello or Monostatos were blackened with coal to be recognized as “negroes”. In times of colonialism, the “blacks” were often given the role of the emotional , jealous and unreasonable killer (Otello), or the “bad guy” in general (Monostatos). But what if the masterworks of European Culture are spreading in a multicultural world and the singers in “white” drama are no longer exclusively white? And what, if we find out that black people might have highly attractive sounding voices who find their place among the world’s best singers? And how do black singers feel, if for them the roles of the bad guys are “naturally” theirs?

In my conversation with Richard Cock, leading force for classical music in South Africa, we explored these topics, as well as the difficulties – and advantages – of being dedicated to this music in South Africa.

So why are these black singers so good? One answer is the language. Zulu has vowels very similar to Italian, so the opening of the voice is natural (as it was in Italy in the past). The other answer is their love for storytelling which draws them to sing opera, coming from a musical background of choir singing in their communities: A quasi natural expansion of repertoire and passion.

There is something special about these voices, not only the sound and the singing technique. They speak directly to the heart, probably due to their groundedness in their own culture where the heart is the basic source of life and relationships, a culture which is not yet subdued to the thinking mind as it is in our western countries.

In “Integral” speak: they come from a purple background The western opera was born with enlightenment, the era of reason. This marked the beginning of the orange level of development ( in the color code of Spiral Dynamics), which, unfortunately, suppressed the qualities of purple and centered life away from the heart towards the head. But deep in us remains this yearning for being touched in our hearts. Opera always succeeded to do that and we can live it intensely while listening to these special African voices.

TIME STAMPS : WHAT to find WHERE in the video

0:00 Intro Heidi

1:00 Richard Cock talks about his musical life path and his work.

3:40 His support for singers in South Africa

5:00 Richard’s projects with the limited resources available

6:05 Heidi reports how she knew about Opera in Africa. The development of voice in different countries.

8:10 The reason why African singers have these particular voices

10:15 Black singers during Apartheid? Singing as a way to freedom.

11:35 The impact of singing, differences in understanding in different cultures

14:00 More on the Apartheid times: different races classified. Eoan-group: the opera of the colored people, but denied to black people. Only after 1988, black people came into operatic singing, with rapid success. After 1994 a whole black opera companies could work normally.

17:00 What about “black” roles? How do black people feel when performing these roles? The meaning of the colors white and black: an inbuilt bias about color.

20:15 Heidi’s experience on being “other”: The habit of perception. “Opera Africa”: all black company

22:00 Blackening the face for Otello would be considered racism.

22:35 Black opera in Africa? “Princess Mabogo”.

23:45 Compositions with cultural roots? Cultural appropriation? List of names of South African composers.

26;00 Levels of development. Colonialism exporting the European way of thinking

27:45 The art situation in South Africa: 4 Arts councils with their theatres during Apartheid. Today practically only In Cape Town. Dramatically dimished the opera life, the singers need to work abroad.

30:00 Richard talks about his concerts and how he organises South African singers. Many black choirs and singers like to sing western music. Afro-sinfonic music. Recordings?

33:00 Heidi talks about the decay of classical and operatic music in Italy

35:00 German community in Cape Town attend to their music.

36:20 Benefits of singing for ageing and general health

37:20 Richard is very positive about music in South Africa, only problem: the best singers are singing all over the world, but not so much at home. Huge talents are coming up all the time. Young people can make a living.

38:50 Opera singing is the way to most open the voices, hope that the cultures come together

40:00 The possibility to remain open to many different things as opposed to the northern countries where we are put in boxes!

About Richard Cock

Richard was born in Port Elizabeth and educated at Woodridge Preparatory School and the Diocesan College, Cape Town. He pursued his musical studies at the Cape Town College of Music, where he graduated in 1971. In 1972, he won a scholarship to the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM), where he was awarded several prizes and diplomas. In 1978 he became Director of Music at the Cathedral Choir School and assistant organist at Chichester Cathedral. During his years in England he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.

After his return to South Africa in 1980, Richard breathed new life into the National Symphony Orchestra as Music Director from 1991. However, it is as a choral trainer and conductor that he is best known. He was organist and director of music at St Mary’s Cathedral for 12 years and was elected a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music for his services to church music in South Africa. He founded the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg and the internationally recognized Chanticleer Singers in 1980.

In 1999, Richard left the orchestra to pursue a freelance career and to stimulate music activities throughout South Africa. As a conductor, he is in much demand countrywide. In May 2000, he rec

eived an Honorary Doctorate in music from Rhodes University. In 2012 he received a Parnassus Award from Stellenbosch University and in 2013 a special award from the ATKV for his 30 years’ dedication to spreading the love of music in South Africa. In November 2014 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts & Culture Trust.

He is chairman of the Apollo Music Trust, and, with Florian Uhlig, he directs the Johannesburg International Mozart Festival which is held every January.