May 12, 2009
Looking the Other Way:
Race in Classical Music
When it comes to classical music and opera, we enlightened ones are supposed to be color-blind. Regardless of our race, the racial characteristics of singers and musicians are not supposed to matter … some of the time.
Color doesn’t matter, except when it matters. When Leontyne Price made her U.S. opera house debut in 1957 at San Francisco Opera in the American premiere of Francis Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites, and later brought the Met to its feet in 1961 when she sang in Verdi’s Il Trovatore under Fausto Cleva, no one was supposed to bat an eyelash. Yet how many of us have seen a production of Verdi’s Otello in which Otello, the Moor, was played by a white man without 
makeup, and his fair wife, Desdemona, the victim of his savage jealousy — I pick my words consciously here — was played by a dark-skinned African-American? Those who attended the Oakland East Bay Symphony’s concert version of the opera’s first act this past March did.
Then again, OEBS is no ordinary orchestra. Not only does it boast an African-American music director, Michael Morgan, and an African-American chorus director, Lynne Morrow, but it also makes a concerted effort to reach out to minorities through special themed concerts (such as last season’s Persian New Year concert). It also has an extraordinary educational program, and a full third of the symphony’s budget is spent on education; much of it focuses on the lower-income, minority segments of our community otherwise denied exposure to classical music.
In a phone interview about issues of racism, Morgan indicated that equal participation by racial minorities in classical music is by no means a given. “The African-American soprano I engaged to sing Desdemona, Talise Trevigne, didn’t even own the score when I approached her to sing the role, because she didn’t expect anyone to ever ask her to sing it. We had a big discussion about how I might be the only person who might ever hire her to do it. I would have cast a black singer as Otello, but I didn’t know any black tenors who were ready and available to sing the role.”
Actually, portraying white characters wasn’t always a piece of cake for Price either. African-American composer/ conductor/ baritone Milton H. Williams, long a pillar of Bay Area musical life, recalls that when the soprano first visited the Eastman School of Music to sing Tosca, many in Eastman’s Voice Department were offended.
“Why doesn’t she sing Aida instead?” was the question thrown at him. “Who’s been singing Aida all these years?” was his reply.
Clearly, Price was considered acceptable for the role of the Ethiopian princess Aida, but not for Tosca, a white Italian diva. And while Price did record Desdemona’s “Willow Song” and “Ave Maria” on one of her recital albums, she never sang the role onstage. Similarly, Ms. Price and fellow African-American soprano Leona Mitchell were cast as the slave girl Liu in Turandot, but the role of Princess Turandot is rarely, if ever, sung by an African-American.
Williams remembers the time at Eastman when he was cast in the Pilgrim’s Chorus of Howard Hanson’s opera Merry Mount. “I was happy to do it,” he told me by phone. “On dress rehearsal night, the head of the department came to do my makeup, and put me in white face. I was so crushed. The only redeeming thing I got out of it is that most of the photos and the pictures of me in whiteface were unusable, because the makeup photographed so poorly.”
One of Williams’ great-grandfathers was a full-blooded American Indian, while his great-grandmother was a slave. His father’s skin was dark and his mother’s extremely fair, yet he ended up far darker than his sister. To this day, he has relatives in San Francisco he has never met who pass for white.
“I love being who I am,” he says, “but the struggle has been tremendous. It’s all the luck of the draw. I would have loved the opportunity to have done all the things I’ve attempted to do without racism coming into the picture.”
Forum on Racism in Art
On Friday,May 2, OEBS held a free “Forum on Race Relations in Art” at the Downtown Oakland Senior Center. Using as a springboard the symphony’s recent performances of Otello and the musical Show Boat, which OEBS performs in an abridged concert version at the Paramount Theatre on Friday May 15, panelist G. Reginald Daniel, professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara, raised a host of provocative questions. While similar questions can be raised about the discrimination faced by Latino, Asian, and other minority artists in the U.S., the forum focused specifically on African-Americans.
Daniel specializes in issues of racial identity, and has, since 1989, taught a course on multiracial identity in the U.S. His recent books include More Than Black? Multiracial Identity and the New Racial Order; Racial Thinking in the United States: Uncompleted Independence, with P. Spickard (eds.); and Race and Multiraciality in Brazil and the United States: Converging Paths? He serves on the Advisory Board of Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally). Daniel focused on the issue of miscegenation, the central theme of Show Boat. Why, he asked, was it not permissible for Julie, a singer of mixed race who passes for white, to embrace both of her backgrounds? Why did her society doom someone of mixed race to tragedy?
Tellingly, in the 1951 Technicolor version of Show Boat, Max Factor’s “Light Egyptian” makeup was used to darken the skin of Ava Gardner (as Julie), but “Dark Egyptian” was used on the fair-skinned “Negro” Lena Horne during an early screen test, so that no one would mistake her for white. Why couldn’t Gardner have played Julie without makeup? In fact, why couldn’t Horne have played either Julie or lily white Magnolia? (Not until 1983 did a black woman, Lonette McKee, star as Julie on Broadway. In the same year, Hollywood cast a woman of mixed race, Jennifer Beals, as a white woman in Flashdance.)
Paul Robeson’s Determination
In some ways, the history of African-American singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson’s involvement with Show Boat parallels the history of black-white race 
relations in the United States. The musical is based on Edna Ferber’s novel, which includes the following stereotypical description of one of the men who worked on the boat:
“A simple, ignorant soul, the black man, and a somewhat savage… All about him now were his helpers, black men like himself, with rolling eyes and great lips all too ready to gash into grins… His lips parted in a kind of savage and mirthless grin, so that you saw his great square gleaming teeth and the blue gums above them. Quick as a panther he reached down with one great black paw…”
Robeson worked hard to transform such images. As noted by panelist and UCLA Sociology Professor Paul Von Blum, who initiated the first course on Robeson in the U.S., when the artist first sang “Ol’ Man River” on Broadway, the verse began
“Niggers all work on the Mississippi, Niggers all work while de White folks play…”
By the time of the 1936 movie, Robeson had changed the lyrics to
Darkies all work on de Mississippi, Darkies all work while de White folks play, Pullin’ dem boats from de dawn till sunset, ‘Gittin’ no rest till de judgment day ....
Tote that barge and lift that bale, Git a little drunk and ya lands in jail. I gits weary and sick of tryin’, I’m tired of livin’ and scared of dyin’, But Ol’ Man River, he just keeps rollin’ along.”
Just a year later, when he performed the song in London’s Royal Albert Hall at a meeting for Spanish Loyalists (who were fighting General Franco in the Spanish Civil War), Robeson transformed the song into an anthem of resistance:
There’s an old man called the Mississippi, That’s the ol’ man I don’t like to be. What does he care if the world’s got troubles? What does he care if the world ain’t free? ....
Tote that barge, lift that bale, You show a little grit an’ you lands in jail. I keeps laughin’ instead of cryin’, I must keep fightin’ until I’m dyin’, And Ol’ Man River, he just keeps rollin’ along.”
These lyric changes became permanent in Robeson’s subsequent performances of the song, as can be heard on one of Paul Robeson Jr.’s private recordings, released on The Odyssey of Paul Robeson (Omega Classics, 1992, out of print but available used here).
How About the Present?
As a white man who has been involved in movements for civil rights since 1965, I like to think of myself as progressive on these issues. Leave it to Michael Morgan and Lynne Morrow to gracefully provide a reality check.
“Things aren’t great right now,” Morgan noted toward the end of the forum. “It was better before.” When I pointed out from the floor that African-American 
singers like Lawrence Brownlee seem to be doing quite well, Morgan cited the story of a black tenor who was recently offered the part of Tamino in The Magic Flute, only to find it rescinded once the opera company saw his skin color on an audition DVD.
Morrow followed suit, noting that when she was at Indiana University over a decade ago and Brownlee sang Tamino, the local paper published a furious Letter to the Editor that called a black Tamino kissing a white Pamina onstage an abomination. “I don’t even know if they actually kissed onstage,” Morrow commented.
“We are facing the same old issues,” she said in a subsequent phone interview. “There are biases spoken and unspoken in casting. When you cannot get cast for anything other than Porgy [in Porgy and Bess], you’re locked out. That’s the feeling people have, and it is some people’s experience. The Met just had its [125th] anniversary broadcast, and my mother called me to say that there were no African-Americans onstage!”
Morrow’s sister, Carol Morrow, has two degrees from Juilliard and was at one point considered one of the top cellists in the world. Yet despite wins at major competitions and a feature in Life Magazine, no one engaged her. How much of this has to do with sexism, or a combination of racism and sexism, cannot be determined. But, as Morrow points out, people of color who do not have the temperament to fight the nonmusical fights often give up and look for work elsewhere.
Morrow reiterated one of the dominant themes of the panel: As in all the productions of Otello where white singers have portrayed the Moor, casting should go the other way as well. People have to get racial pictures of characters out of their minds and look at the portrayal. Give young singers and musicians a chance to develop their craft.
When you have minority artists, instrumentalists and singers in the national and international spotlight,” she said, “what they go through that’s extra-musical is tremendous. People are always bringing up the story of temperamental Kathleen Battle without relation to the historical context in which she built her career. You have to remember that she was the only black person in virtually every professional situation. In my encounters with her, she was extremely generous and gracious with young singers. No one considers what people of color have to go through before they even have a chance to walk onstage.
When I was in the Midwest in music school, and I’d walk into the room, people would actually say, ‘Why are you here?’ The age of the “Model Negro” is over. People are not doing that any more. Everyone has to solve their own issues and problems and let artists do their work.”
We’ve still got a lot of work to do.
[1] This change in lyrics may be heard by comparing Robeson's 1930 and 1936 movie recordings of the song, both available in the box set, Paul Robeson: The Complete EMI Sessions, 1928-1939.
[2] Also see The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson, Susan Robeson (Citadel Press), p. 37. Robeson's final lyrical transformations can also be heard in the four complete recordings and four medley versions he made of the song between 1947 and 1958. (See here.)
Comments
*******Seven Stars******* Outstanding,real and honest discussion of a subject dear to my heart. Thank you Oakland East Bay Symphony for the extraordinary forum:one which had a breadth and scope reminiscent more of a specialists annual conference with position papers presented. I would love to see this forum travel: a must for The Schomburg Institute for Black Research.
An excellent, comprehensive piece on a subject rarely mentioned. There are legions of experienced, African American singers who have done endless stints in Porgy and Bess but can't get that next role. It seems to me that those whose African ancestry is most apparent in their facial appearance have an especially hard time. Michael Morgan is a wonder for finding and showcasing all the available talent without acting like it's any big deal--I hope there were other conductors at that seminar, but somehow I doubt it.
Very nice piece on a subject we sometimes act as if we're too politically correct to mention. Michael Morgan and Lynne Morrow are excellent at what they do -- neither overemphasizing race, nor ignoring it. Given the comment in the article about Turandot, it's worth noting that Michael Morgan has cast Othalie Graham, an African-Canadian, as the Princess Turandot in the upcoming production (July) at Festival Opera in Walnut Creek.
For the sake of accuracy, OEBS does not boast an African-American Chorus Director, Lynne Morrow. OEBS does not have its own chorus. The Oakland Symphony Chorus is a completely separate entity. This dates to the disbanding of Oakland Symphony after the death of Calvin Simmons. The Oakland Symphony Chorus was able to keep itself going independently and, since that time, has performed with several Bay Area orchestras. So it is perhaps slightly more laudable that these two Oakland classical music organizations have African American directors.
Thank you, Heidi.
jason victor serinus
Nice article, Jason. It would be interesting to do a follow up interview with Lawrence Brownlee about his own experiences as an African American singer and his observations on other African-American singers. I saw him as Don Ramiro paired with Elina Garanca as Cinderella in Rossini’s La Cenerentola last Saturday at the Met Live in HD and he was wonderful.
Interesting piece about a very real problem. Some corrective facts, though.
Shirley Verrett sang Desdemona in Boston.
As for TURANDOT, Leontyne Price could simply not have handled the title role vocally. Leona Mitchell sang Liu when young and has sung Turandot as well-- in Sydney, for one. Other African American Turandots who come to mind include Martina Arroyo, Alpha Floyd, Grace Bumbry, Gail Gilmore and these days Othalie Graham ( an African/Jamaican Canadian).
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"People are always bringing up the story of temperamental Kathleen Battle without relation to the historical context in which she built her career. You have to remember that she was the only black person in virtually every professional situation."
What about when she sang ARIADNE with Jessye Norman, Gail Gilmore, Hillary Johnsson, Steven Cole and Philip Creech, or ENTFUEHRUNG with Creech, or ENTFUEHRUNG with Christiane Eda-Pierre or TANNHAEUSER with Grace Bumbry or TANNHAEUSER with Simon Estes or NOZZE DI FIGARO with Hilda Harris, or GIULIO CESARE with Hilda Harris or MAGIC FLUTE with Isola Jones or ITALIANA IN ALGERI with Florence Quivar -- and that is just at the Met --or recorded MESSIAH with Quivar or did a joint Carnegie concert with Norman?
Sorry, to let Ms. Battle off the hook for her behavior on these grounds is ludicrous.This assertion should have been challenged. She could be as unpleasant to fellow African Americans as to other colleagues.
Nice article Jason. We are a flawed species. Our propensity to subdivide ourselves into little categories to make ourselves comfortable, whether black or white, rich or poor, Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim, etc., only serves to discriminate in the end.
While the more liberal minded among us would like to imagine classical music to be free of bias, you have illuminated several examples that point out a contrary truth.
Our need to inflict a visual preference on primarily an auditory art form (music) is perplexing, but is just one example of selective bias employed by the masses? While it is true that opera, live opera anyway, does subject the audience member to the visual aspect of seeing the performer, our preferences run deeper than just what appears in front of our eyes. Even publishing houses look for authors with sex appeal (to a primarily white market) to sell their books. Do you enjoy a book more when it is written by an attractive author whose picture may grace the cover? Does the voice of a singer please your ears more if the singer is white? Do the notes from a Cello, bowed by a black hand, displease your ears? Sadly, some people, including many opera and classical music patrons around the world, would answer yes. I think the same rational can be made for audiophiles choosing electronic components based upon looks, rather than the sound that they produce.
ps: ask Susan Boyle if she thinks her voice will improve with a new hairdo and a wardrobe change? (regardless of what anyone thinks of her voice, the talk all seems to focus on her looks)
Great article, Jason. Hopefully the door that you've opened will lead to change.
Thanks to everyone who submitted comments on Jason's article. What a lively, interesting discussion. Let's have more!
Michael Zwiebach
Jason, I found this discussion interesting on a number of levels; but as opposed to reading it as a musician, I was more wearing my "graduate school of social work cap" since racial oppression is an important area of interest in my studies. Most often, we are concerned with more mundane areas of employment, so this was an unusual topic -- although one about which I have given thought before, especially when having seeing a person of color in a Shakespearian cast, in a role "normally" and contextually, Caucasian. It has given one pause because it's different; but with the passage of time it has become less so -- as we focus on talent instead. There was a time when interracial couples, never mind kissing, would have been a huge problem on television and just not done, perhaps not until "The Jeffersons" spin-off from "All In The Family." I recall the 1964 Oscar winning film "One Potato, Two Potato," which was controversial only because it was about an black man marrying a white woman (bear in mind mixed marriages were still illegal in 14 states until the Supreme Court struck down such laws as unconstitutional in 1967).
In any event, I am going to forward this article to a couple of my professors who include racial social policy and oppression in their courses for consideration.
I could not stand idly by regarding Kathleen Battle being called temperamental. Rather, I would question whether any other (non-black) performer's behavior would have been called temperamental in the same situation. Ms. Battle is tremendously talented and much - missed on the opera scene because of others' reactions to her behavior. One should not dismiss temperamental behavior with the excuse that she was the sole black person in the cast / production. The trials and tribulations she went through to get where she got does not reflect on the current situation. Good behavior is good behavior. Bad behavior is bad behavior. Racial history should not enter into it. I wish we could all get past it and just focus on the music more. In my book, Kathleen Battle is the best period.
Great article. I was however saddened by the fact that these issues are still at the forefront of the African American classical experience.
I also noted with sadness the number of African American singers of distinction who were left OUT of the article. There are many of us who left the US to persue careers in Europe and many who have succeded I would include: KS Grace Bumbry (first African American woman to sing in Bayreuth), Gail Gilmore, Reri Grist (the woman who paved the way for singers such as Cathleen Battle) Barbara Hendricks, and the list could go on and on. While I admit that Europe is not without it's problems there is much that folks in the US could learn if only some of these singers were invited to forums such at the one held in Oakland.
As an African American singer myself, I can only offer my experience singing largely the German Fach internationally, that things have indeed changed and there are great opportunities out there for singers and musicians of colour. The classical industry is far from perfect for those of colour, but it would seem that outside the US there are shining examples of a new direction in classical music.
Excellent article. Thank-you for that.
Orchestras are no better. They get a single token Black, who they usually either ignore and mistreat, or trot around like something you display, proudly saying that they have "One" of "Them" in the orchestra. No more Blacks are admitted until the older token dies or retires. On the other hand, Asians can do no wrong. They are the "Perfect Minority" - seen as the next best thing to White. Things have not changed, so Whites should stop patting themselves on the back for hiring one or two Blacks, All the "outreach" programs and annual Martin Luther King concerts in the world will not build audiences. The same snobbery, exclusivity, and racism that is apparent in the classical world is reflected in poor ticket sales and empty seats at the concert hall.
Thank you, Jason, for an article both thoughtful and thought-provoking. I hope that SFCV will continue to explore racism and equal or balanced participation in classical music. It is much needed, as the issue obviously extends far beyond the relatively small realm of opera.
My partner of several years is racially mixed (half African American and half white, although, as he puts it, “on the street just a 6’5” black man”) with a background in classical piano. At this point, he prefers to arrive at classical concerts with me, rather than meeting me at a venue as our schedules would normally dictate. When we’ve met in the past at Davies, for example, to catch a concert, he is usually identified as a scalper or other undesirable character until I arrive, a sweet white girl in glasses, and apparently “legitimize” him as an audience member. Racial issues in the classical world extend beyond the performers, even the students, deep into the audience, and this is obviously a comparably benign example.
And my partner is quick to point out that he experiences the same phenomenon at King Crimson and Jethro Tulle (bands with traditionally ghost-white fans) concerts.
Thank you, Jason, for an article both thoughtful and thought-provoking. I hope that SFCV will continue to explore racism and equal or balanced participation in classical music. It is much needed, as the issue obviously extends far beyond the relatively small realm of opera.
My partner of several years is racially mixed (half African American and half white, although, as he puts it, “on the street just a 6’5” black man”) with a background in classical piano. At this point, he prefers to arrive at classical concerts with me, rather than meeting me at a venue as our schedules would normally dictate. When we’ve met in the past at Davies, for example, to catch a concert, he is usually identified as a scalper or other undesirable character until I arrive, a sweet white girl in glasses, and apparently “legitimize” him as an audience member. Racial issues in the classical world extend beyond the performers, even the students, deep into the audience, and this is obviously a comparably benign example.
And my partner is quick to point out that he experiences the same phenomenon at King Crimson and Jethro Tulle (bands with traditionally ghost-white fans) concerts.