Taking

Porgy

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24-53 Bostonia_FA16.indd 42 9/30/16 4:48 PM The role is musically difficult, physically grueling, and politically sensitive. Operatic Morris Robinson is all in.

BY SUSAN SELIGSON Photograph by Dana Smith

on

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24-53 Bostonia_FA16_r1.indd 43 10/5/16 3:26 PM MORRIS ROBINSON HAS LED many lives, but the destiny of the former NCAA off ensive lineman and Citadel graduate who went on to train account executives for several major corporations has been determined in large part by his sonorous, limber, and soulful bass, for nearly three decades fl exed only in church choirs. At the age of 30, what the devout Christian would call his God- given gift was nurtured, polished, and coaxed into singing Italian and German librettos after he won a full scholarship to the BU College of Fine Arts Insti- tute. That gift continues to ma- ture even as Robinson commands the world’s great opera stages. “The bass voice is a very rare instrument,” says Robinson, who, unlike a soprano, speaks in the same key he sings in. (Think Bar- ry White.) “I’m a true bass, not a bass-baritone, and those don’t just grow on trees.” Robinson has been honing his gift rigorously since his fi rst opera role, as the king in a 2001 CFA main stage production of Verdi’s . It was the fi rst live opera he’d Robinson as the periodically. But the La Scala African American basses since Grand Inquisitor, ever seen. with Eric Owens production, conducted by Alan former CFA faculty member Now, after years of reluctance, as King Philip II in Gilbert and directed by Philipp Simon Estes sang Porgy opposite Robinson (CFA’01) is poised Don Carlo. Harnoncourt, is likely to soar Grace Bumbry (CFA’55) at its to sing the part of Porgy in the above them all. debut George Gershwin opera Porgy Still, says Robinson, a virtuoso in 1985, the part came with a and Bess, to be staged this No- of Verdi’s choral works as well potential curse: once you sang vember at Milan’s fabled La Scala as a sometime performer at the Porgy, you could be seen as lack- theater. It is a carefully pon- Metropolitan Opera, it was a ing the gravitas for Puccini or dered career move. Although the diffi cult decision. It isn’t just the Wagner. For several talented musically rich role, written for a physical demands of the role— basses who sang the part in the bass, is a perfect fi t for his vocal Porgy’s legs are withered and popular production truncated for range and theatricality, Porgy is a Robinson is six-foot-three and Broadway, there was no Salome departure for Robinson. Remem- 300 pounds. And it isn’t that the or Aida in their futures. Robinson bered by most as the kneeling role is laden with nuance: Porgy felt he could not embrace the man on a cart portrayed (also is a robustly resilient yet tragic often-underestimated role with reluctantly, it turns out) by Sid- k ONLINE: innocent willing to sacrifi ce looming doubts about his ability ney Poitier in Otto Preminger’s Watch a video everything for the world-weary, to master any classical opera, 1959 fi lm version of the con- of Morris Rob- manipulative Bess. Robinson’s re- anywhere. densed Broadway operetta, Porgy inson singing luctance stems from the fact that At La Scala, where he began is a vulnerable role that could as the Grand the role was conceived at a time rehearsals in October, Robinson not be more unlike most of the Inquisitor in when leading parts for African will sing opposite Kristin Lewis villains, gods, and kings mark- Don Carlo Americans were few and stereo- as Bess and Lester Lynch as ing Robinson’s string of classical at bu.edu typical and did little to open Crown, the menacing, posses- opera roles. With its memorable /bostonia. stage doors largely padlocked to sive laborer Porgy kills to protect bluesy score and nearly all-black people of color. his beloved Bess. cast, Porgy and Bess is revived What’s more, for many great premiered in 1935, with music

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24-53 Bostonia_FA16.indd 44 9/30/16 4:48 PM and his football background en- “Morris’ voice literally shook the rafters when he approached the stage. dowed him with the team skills Friends talked about getting chills from the sheer power of it.” a professional cast demands, Daniels says. Robinson has become one of by Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Robinson at a 1998 concert in opera’s most sought-after basses. Heyward and Ira Gershwin, Salem, Mass. Robinson was He has what singers call “a really and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and singing in the rarely produced good top,” with a range from a Heyward. With bone-chilling Halloween operetta Satanella, by seismic low F to an F two oc- songs like the lullaby “Summer- the Victorian composer Michael taves above it. “My range is your time” and the ballad “Bess, You William Balfe. “Morris’ voice typical basso (up to the E above Is My Woman Now,” it portrays literally shook the rafters of middle C), but I sing baritone African American life in the fi cti- the tiny town hall when he ap- F-sharps all the time,” says Rob- tious Catfi sh Row. Conceived by proached the stage from the back inson. “I also sang a low C in a Gershwin as an “American folk of the audience,” Daniels recalls. performance of opera,” Porgy and Bess featured a “Friends talked about getting at Houston Grand Opera. The cast of classically trained African chills from the sheer power of it.” audience started clapping in the American singers, a bold move in After the concert she encour- middle of the scene. I shouldn’t those times, and Gershwin con- aged Robinson to apply to BU. have done it; it’s not written and sidered it his fi nest work. But in She recalls his work ethic and his doesn’t make any sense musi- America it was not considered a understanding that as a diamond cally. But I was showing off . Even legitimate opera until 1976, when in the rough, “he needed to work the conductor had a chuckle, but a Houston Grand Opera produc- much harder than his classmates, was like, ‘Morris…from now on, tion of the complete three-hour who, even though the work is just sing what Mozart wrote. He score established the work as grueling for everyone, entered doesn’t need your help.’” important as well as powerful. the program with classical music Anyone who wants to hear Its Met premiere came nine training.” Robinson still works exactly what that true basso years later. perhaps twice as hard as other range means can fi nd the You- “Some African Americans singers to nail a role. His high- Tube video of Robinson singing still see Porgy as perpetuating a stakes supervisory positions at Robinson, as the classic “Old Man Sarastro in The . stereotype, but I’ve moved away fi rms such as Exxon and Mon- Magic Flute, is River ” In that gospel anthem from that,” says Robinson. “I santo, where he was an accounts “a true bass, not a single word—jail (“You gets had the same issue with Joe in manager overseeing distributors a bass-baritone,” a little drunk and you lands in Show Boat he says. “The bass ,” referring to his role and their sales representatives, voice is a very rare jail”)—is a musical journey unto as the Mississippi stevedore in a groomed him for long hours, instrument.” itself, plummeting to a low G and critically acclaimed 2015 revival of the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein (Hon.’57) musical, which premiered in 1927. The iconic Paul Robeson inaugurated that role, in stage and a later fi lm version. But Robinson put his stamp on the part, and he intends to do the same with Porgy. “When I studied Joe, I saw that he was dignifi ed in his stance,” he says. “And the only thing wrong with Porgy is his legs don’t work. He has strength and character. I’ve never been the underdog. He’s a strong character who turns Bess’ life around and shows her what a real man is.”

Mozart Doesn’t Need Your Help Former Opera Institute director Sharon Daniels, a CFA associate

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24-53 Bostonia_FA16.indd 45 9/30/16 4:48 PM then climbing slowly to middle E. Robinson belts out the notes as Robinson’s “Old Man River” is a revelation. In his hands the song inhabits written, and adds some range his entire body with simmering rage and tragic frustration. for good measure. The result: you feel the word, with all its un- dertones of pain and defeat, June. As a child, he sang with Some singers prefer to spend in your gut. the Boy Choir, but at 10 the hours before going on stage In fact, the whole of Robinson’s he persuaded his parents to let in quiet meditation, but Allison “Old Man River” is a revelation. him give up his music lessons Voth, a CFA associate professor His delivery, more full-bodied to play football. He earned a BA of music and Opera Institute than Robeson’s both physically at the Citadel in 1991, where he principal coach, recalls Robin- (he was nicknamed “Massive” was twice a Kodak All-American, son prepping by running up and during his run as a two-time All- and after graduation took a job down the stairs. American linebacker at the Cita- in sales at 3M Technologies. But He won admirers among del) and musically, pays tribute always, he sang. In between in- instructors and fellow students. to Robeson’s style in its elegiac terstate business trips, Robinson The critics, too, have consistent opening verses. Then Robinson took voice lessons at the New aff ection for this burly, unaf- bursts into “tote that barge, lift England Conservatory of Music. fected child of Atlanta, who was that bale,” his boundless chest At BU in 1999, having hung up hailed by the New York Times as thrust forward with a pride that helmet and briefcase, his rise having a “big, sonorous” voice the “white man boss” can hurt was meteoric. with a “strong, slightly steely top but never destroy. In Robinson’s Daniels remembers that when and a sepulchral bottom,” and im- hands the song inhabits his en- Robinson arrived at the Univer- peccable Italian and German. But tire body with simmering rage sity, his was “the most exciting Robinson has a core of artistic and tragic frustration. instrument that we had heard. humility that makes him “work He was innately musical and his his buns off ,” as Voth puts it. Football, Sales, but intonation was always great, even After graduating, he went on to Always, Singing if he didn’t have the right diction. the Metropolitan Opera’s Linde- Like Estes, Robinson is the He was always prepared, and mann Young Artist Development son of a Baptist minister. “I’m Robinson as Zac- sometimes stayed up all night. Program, where he continued back home at church, praising caria in Opera He understood professionalism full immersion in all facets of his Philadelphia’s the Lord like I’ve done since I company premiere immediately and he didn’t have craft: the singing, the acting, the was nine,” Robinson tweeted in of . attitude.” And he was an original. physical presence, and of course, the languages. He now speaks and sings fl uently in Italian, German, and French. Just three years after CFA’s Aida, Robinson made his Met ropolitan Opera debut in Beethoven’s Fidelio. His Carnegie Hall debut was with the MET Chamber Ensemble in Stravin- sky’s Renard in 2002, and his fi rst album, Going Home, was released on the Decca label in 2007. He appears as Joe in the new DVD of the produc- tion of Show Boat. The fi rst few generations of African American opera singers did not have an easy time of it, as barrier-toppling veterans from Leontyne Price to Shirley Verrett to Bumbry to Estes have attested in interviews and memoirs. When Estes agreed to play Porgy at the Met, he did so on the condi- tion that his fellow African Amer-

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24-53 Bostonia_FA16.indd 46 9/30/16 4:48 PM ican singers be given future roles say, this guy’s the real deal.” in the Met’s classical produc- The real deal, indeed; after tions. And although his directors Fidelio, Robinson appeared at the found his insistence irksome, Met as Sarastro in Die Zauber- they agreed. Estes says that both flöte, Ferrando in , technically and musically, Porgy the king in Aida, and in roles in deserves equal status with the Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the great classical roles. “I sang the new productions of whole Ring Cycle, I’d sung some and Salome. His many opera and bass roles and some baritone concert appearances around the roles in Verdi ,” he says. United States and beyond include “Porgy is one of the most diffi cult stints at the San Francisco Opera, to sing. I was on my knees, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas it’s a very demanding, long opera. Opera, Houston Grand Opera, But Gershwin captured the real Boston Lyric Opera, and Opera essence of the way people lived in Australia, and the Tanglewood those days. It’s very entertaining, Music Festival and Aix-en- with lots of moral stories.” Provence Festivals. Among his Still, like Robinson decades roles: Osmin in Die Entführung later, Estes had serious reserva- aus dem Serail, Ramfi s in Aida, tions about the role. From the Zaccaria in Nabucco, and the days when African American ac- Robinson performs Joe the character, and at that Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo. at the Metropoli- tors could fi nd paying work only tan Museum of Art point I realized, I’m going to do A board member of his as domestics or Pullman porters, in 2008. Critics it totally diff erently than it had church, Robinson is the father the debate continues today— have consistent been done before. Robeson is the of a 10-year-old son, who has aff ection for the whether on television, movies, bass, who was greatest, but the whole scene was joined him on the opera stage as or the Broadway stage, African hailed by the happy-go-lucky, while the words an extra. In his rare downtime, American roles often play into New York Times said, look at what I’m doing Robinson likes to golf or just chill as having a “big, racist stereotypes about poverty sonorous voice.” here. I’m sweating, I’m tired, I’m at home, “but I haven’t had a real and violence. working, and look at that peace break since I started singing,” he “I always mentioned to my refl ected by the river, a metaphor says. With his burgeoning suc- colleagues that maybe you should for seclusion and serenity.” Rob- cess, his voice requires constant think twice about doing Porgy,” inson says he was able to channel tending. “I used to be the guy says Estes. “They want to get a that anger while singing some- that never worried about my chance to sing, but some did get thing beautiful. “You can have voice. I didn’t have to warm up, stereotyped. I think it is a trag- protest but not hurt your voice.” and I never freaked out,” he says. edy.” He points to the great bass Because of its unconventional “But as I became more aware of William Warfi eld, whose only two trajectory, Robinson says, his what good singing is, I became roles were Joe and Porgy. “He career has “always been consid- more anal about how I presented should’ve been singing on the ered strange in that most people myself. I have to take my antac- stage of the Met.” outside of BU and Boston Lyric ids—refl ux has cost many singers Opera thought this was some their careers. And I’m nerdy—no Unconventional Career Trajectory fl uke, and I probably didn’t have caff eine, no spicy food.” Except for an English version any technique. I felt like I always Robinson began preparing for of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, had to prove myself, but I’ve his run as Porgy several months pre-Porgy and Joe, Robinson had been doing it for 17 years. Even before he received the offi cial been singing German and Italian to this day I meet professors in score. He off ers a fl eeting sneak operas exclusively. “I didn’t know music who hear my story and preview of the opera’s closing if it was time for me to do a black doubt its validity. But when song, one that could have at one role,” he says. “Every time I sang they spend time with me and see point doubled as an anthem for an Italian aria people said, ‘You how polished I am as an artist, Robinson himself: “Lord, I’m should sing “Old Man River.”’ which took tons of work, they on my way.” It was expected.” The day came when Robinson decided he was fi rmly established enough to do f RELATED STORIES / AMAZING GRACE: Grace Bumbry’s career has soared, from it. He had sung the song in con- Wagner to Scott Joplin → bu.edu/bostonia/summer10 cert, he says, but “I never really HIGH NOTES: MICHELLE JOHNSON—from the church gospel choir to the Grand

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