Isn't this strange?

[PerfectWagnerite]

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think James Morris has sung at Bayreuth? Has he been invited to sing at Bayreuth and declined? Isn't it strange that one of the towering Wotan's of our generation has yet to step foot on the biggest Wagner stage in the world?

[uffeviking]

You had me stumped also! Googling for Morris showed no reference to any Bayreuth performance. I am not aware of any and wouldn't buy any recording, audio or video, of his Bayreuth activity. But then, of course, I don't share your enthusiasm for his talent as Wotan! 

[PerfectWagnerite]

You had me stumped also! Googling for Morris showed no reference to any Bayreuth performance. I am not aware of any and wouldn't buy any recording, audio or video, of his Bayreuth activity. But then, of course, I don't share your enthusiasm for his talent as Wotan!  

Apparently neither does the management team at Bayreuth. But whether you like him as Wotan or not you have to admit it is pretty strange. I wonder has he appeared at other major opera houses like the Bavarian State Opera or the Vienna State Opera?

[uffeviking]

As far as I know he also never appeared in France or Spain or Austria. It is possible it's not the fault of foreign opera houses, his absence from their stages, it could be his own doing, refusing to appear in certain countries. I don't think he even appeared on any UK stage.

It's up to his agent to book his engagements and if Morris instructs the agent: "No engagement in ..... " nothing the agent can do, but follow the instructions.

[Wendell_E]

I found this in a 2002 Chicago Sun-Times article, when Morris was singing Wotan at LOC:

He even turned down an invitation in 1988 to sing Wotan at Germany's Bayreuth Festival, the holy of holies in the Wagnerian universe and the site of the first complete "Ring" cycle in 1876.

"I had a commitment at the Sante Fe Opera," said the singer who doesn't take his contractual obligations lightly. "Bayreuth wanted a five-year commitment for their 'Ring' cycle. Wolfgang Wagner [the composer's grandson and longtime, iron-willed director of the festival] evidently took exception to my turning them down."

Wolfgang's never been known for his forgiving nature.     And Morris seems to have done well without Bayreuth, thank you very much.   

Here's a link to Google's "cached" copy of the article.  I couldn't get the regular, non-cached one to come up.

BTW, that 1988-1992 Bayreuth Ring would be the Barenboim/Kupfer one, which ended up with John Tomlinson as the Wotan.

[knight66]

I do find him a rather bland singer; though his behaviour in terms of fulfilling contractual obligations is commendable; it is a pity his colleague Bryn Terfel cannot take a leaf from his book.

Mike

[PerfectWagnerite]

I do find him a rather bland singer; though his behaviour in terms of fulfilling contractual obligations is commendable; it is a pity his colleague Bryn Terfel cannot take a leaf from his book.

Mike

I kind of like Terfel although I think his voice is not quite a bass-baritone but he has a really beautiful voice. Now what did he do as far as contracts go? Another one I like is Robert Hale although at times he sounds a little dry.

BTW, that 1988-1992 Bayreuth Ring would be the Barenboim/Kupfer one, which ended up with John Tomlinson as the Wotan.

Oh, I guess they did okay then with Tomlinson. Not the most beautiful of voices but certainly a voice of immense authority.

[uffeviking]

Have you seen the Tomlinson/Bayreuth production? From your post I gather you have not. This is the best traditional Ring available on video. By traditional I mean a production prior to concept creations. Tomlinson's Farewell is heart-breaking!

[PSmith08]

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think James Morris has sung at Bayreuth? Has he been invited to sing at Bayreuth and declined? Isn't it strange that one of the towering Wotan's of our generation has yet to step foot on the biggest Wagner stage in the world?

Well, he seems fairly tall, if that's what you mean; let's not, however, consign him to the ages. John Tomlinson's performances of Wotan (for Barenboim), Hagen (for Haitink, one of the few saving graces of that set), and Titurel (for Barenboim, again) are enough to put him first in the class of modern Wagnerian basses. Things get muddier in the generations immediately preceding the 'current' one, but I would say of the 1990s crew, Tomlinson is first. Listen to the Levine Ring and tell me that, especially in Rheingold, when Wotan should be an arrogant young god, Morris isn't a little dusty. I could forgive the Ring, but his bland - almost genial - Holländer (also for Levine) set me against him in a big way. Listen to Hermann Uhde or Simon Estes and then Morris. It's enough to drive a man to madness.

Morris' loss, Bayreuth's gain, or something like that.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Have you seen the Tomlinson/Bayreuth production? From your post I gather you have not. This is the best traditional Ring available on video. By traditional I mean a production prior to concept creations. Tomlinson's Farewell is heart-breaking!

Yeah, I have to get that one...The DVD that came with the CD set is pretty tempting.

[knight66]

I kind of like Terfel although I think his voice is not quite a bass-baritone but he has a really beautiful voice. Now what did he do as far as contracts go? Another one I like is Robert Hale although at times he sounds a little dry.

He has cancelled quite a few performances over the last five years.

When already into the run of rehearsals for Covent Garden's Ring, he withdrew. Family reasons were given; but it seems to revolve around his son having an operation on a finger and his wife basically wanting him at home. Withdrawing much earlier would have been a different matter, but at such a late stage, from productions that had been set up largely around him and causing masses of rescheduling as existing rehearsals had to be rerun with his replacement; basically unprofessional behaviour. It is unlikely Covent Garden will be re-engaging him any time soon.

Mike

[marvinbrown]

  The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine.  I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream!  I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth. 


  marvin

   

[PSmith08]

The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine.  I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream!  I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth. 

I disagree. Given some of the recent productions at Bayreuth (Schlingensief's abominable Parsifal, Katharina Wagner's indescribable Meistersinger, and Tankred Dorst's befuddled Ring), you might be recognized as a Wagnerian after singing at Bayreuth, but you might not be taken seriously as someone with much artistic sense. Indeed, if you are a Wagnerian singer, as opposed to a singer of Wagner, then you might want to steer clear of some roles on the Green Hill until these productions return to sanity.

Also, there are plenty of Bayreuth performers (both on stage and at the stick) who wouldn't immediately come to mind when you think Wagnerian. The conductor Peter Schneider and the bass-baritone Simon Estes are two right off the top of my minutia-obsessed mind.

[marvinbrown]

I disagree. Given some of the recent productions at Bayreuth (Schlingensief's abominable Parsifal, Katharina Wagner's indescribable Meistersinger, and Tankred Dorst's befuddled Ring), you might be recognized as a Wagnerian after singing at Bayreuth, but you might not be taken seriously as someone with much artistic sense. Indeed, if you are a Wagnerian singer, as opposed to a singer of Wagner, then you might want to steer clear of some roles on the Green Hill until these productions return to sanity.

Also, there are plenty of Bayreuth performers (both on stage and at the stick) who wouldn't immediately come to mind when you think Wagnerian. The conductor Peter Schneider and the bass-baritone Simon Estes are two right off the top of my minutia-obsessed mind.

  Sorry PSmith08 I have been out of the loop for a while.  I only have two DVD Wagner opera productions from Bayreuth: The Flying Dutchman and Tristan und Isolde. Both are very impressive IMHO.  I just assumed that was the standard you would expect from Bayreuth  .  Plus, the way tickets at Bayreuth have been selling out like hot cakes I just assumed every production was  more or less GREAT. I guess I was wrong.

  marvin   

[knight66]

Tickets always sell out. A lot of the tickets go on sale by ballot. So people apply year after year and some I know of went nine years before getting any tickets. There are Wagner Societies in various countries and some of these are allocated a number of tickets, again balloted and you often have a better chance joining such a society and trying for tickets.

All this goes on more or less irrespective of what operas are to be performed or what the productions are like. For Wagnerites it is akin to a pilgrimage; to be there is almost enough in itself.

Along with all the marvelous performances and productions there have been, the theatre goes through times when the productions seem to work against the opera. I have a friend who went to Parsifal I think two years ago. He was faced with a large backscreen throughout one act showing film of a dead rabbit decomposing. He thought the piece was wonderfully served by the musicians and eviscerated by the director. He is by no means conservative. The Flying Dutchman was given a very innovative production which he felt worked well.

But for some time I have felt that Bayreuth has lost its reputation for providing the opera goer with the best of the best.

Mike

[marvinbrown]

Along with all the marvelous performances and productions there have been, the theatre goes through times when the productions seem to work against the opera. I have a friend who went to Parsifal I think two years ago. He was faced with a large backscreen throughout one act showing film of a dead rabbit decomposing.

Mike

    WOW talk about a daring take on Parsifal, though I am still unclear what a dead rabbit decomposing has anything to do with Parsifal but then again I have always had trouble understanding the more "esoteric" adaptations of operas.   Perhaps this is what put James Morris off of performing at Bayreuth??

  marvin

[PSmith08]

    WOW talk about a daring take on Parsifal, though I am still unclear what a dead rabbit decomposing has anything to do with Parsifal but then again I have always had trouble understanding the more "esoteric" adaptations of operas.   Perhaps this is what put James Morris off of performing at Bayreuth??

  marvin

Well the Schlingensief production came along in, I think, 2004. If Morris had been put off by a production, it would have been Harry Kupfer's, which followed Peter Hall's flop. That might be the reason, since Kupfer's was very abstract, but it wasn't as weird as later productions have been. The Chéreau production would have caused more trouble for a singer serious about Wagner than Kupfer.

[Lobby]

James Morris certainly sang in Europe earlier in his career.

He sang Banquo in Verdi's Macbeth at Glyndebourne and elsewhere and also sang Mozart at Salzburg - He was Gugliemo in Muti's live recording of Cosi fan tutte.

I think he has also sung a few performances of Wotan as well as other roles at Covent Garden, but nothing over here in England in recent years

I don't recall him singing at Bayreuth.

I suspect that he had the great misfortune to take on Wotan around the same time as John Tomlinson and Robert Hale.  Tomlinson was Bayreuth's and Covent Garden's Wotan of choice at that time; Hale sang in Munich and elsewhere.  Morris became Levine's favoured Wotan for the Met. 

As Ring Cycle's are very expensive to put on, new productions do not come around all that often, so by the time the larger European companies were planning new Ring cycles, time had moved on and Morris may have been considered too old to start a new production. 

John Tomlinson scored a huge success with the latest Ring at Covent Garden, but the production was originally intended for Terfel and it is unlikely that Tomlinson will be able to appear again when the production is revived in 2012.  Tomlinson himself has said that he is unlikely to sing Wotan again because, although he could sing  performances now, he couldn't commit to any future revivals at his age.  Morris may well be in the same situation (i.e. able to sing performances in a revival he knows well, but unwilling or unable to make a commitment to the work involved in putting on a completely new cycle).

Jon

[knight66]

Jon, Nice to see you back, welcome.

Mike

[PerfectWagnerite]

  The only Morris performances I am aware of are those he did for the MET with James Levine.  I do not think it was wise of him to turn down singing in Bayreuth though, that should be every Wagnerian singer's dream!  I believe that in order to be recognized internationally as a Wagnerian singer one should sing at Bayreuth. 


  marvin

   

That might be your dream, let's not assume that every Wagner singer is a Wagnerian. It wouldn't surprise me if most of them view it as a business and just go where there is money and incentives. If you are James Morris or Deborah Voigt wouldn't you rather be close to home, sing in front of your fellow countrymen and make a lot more money at opera houses like the MET or San Francisco?