(De)constructing the archive: An annotated catalogue of the Deon van der Walt Collection in the NMMU Library Frederick Jacobus Buys January 2014 Submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Music (Performing Arts) at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Supervisor: Prof Zelda Potgieter TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ABSTRACT ii OPSOMMING iii KEY WORDS iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY 1 1. Aim of the research 1 2. Context & Rationale 2 3. Outlay of Chapters 4 CHAPTER 2 - (DE)CONSTRUCTING THE ARCHIVE: A BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW 5 CHAPTER 3 - DEON VAN DER WALT: A LIFE CUT SHORT 9 CHAPTER 4 - THE DEON VAN DER WALT COLLECTION: AN ANNOTATED CATALOGUE 12 CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 18 1. The current state of the Deon van der Walt Collection 18 2. Suggestions and recommendations for the future of the Deon van der Walt Collection 21 SOURCES 24 APPENDIX A PERFORMANCE AND RECORDING LIST 29 APPEDIX B ANNOTED CATALOGUE OF THE DEON VAN DER WALT COLLECTION 41 APPENDIX C NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSTITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES (NMMU LIS) - CIRCULATION OF THE DEON VAN DER WALT (DVW) COLLECTION (DONATION) 280 APPENDIX D PAPER DELIVERED BY ZELDA POTGIETER AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE DEON VAN DER WALT COLLECTION, SOUTH CAMPUS LIBRARY, NMMU, ON 20 SEPTEMBER 2007 282 i DECLARATION I, Frederick Jacobus Buys (student no. 211267325), hereby declare that this treatise, in partial fulfilment for the degree M.Mus (Performing Arts), is my own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment or completion of any postgraduate qualification to another University or for another qualification. -------------------------------- Signature -------------------------------- Date ii ABSTRACT Deon van der Walt was, at the height of his career, considered the leading lyric tenor of his generation. In a career that spanned more than 25 years he performed in the great opera houses of the world and sang for the leading conductors of the time, sharing the stage with the best singers in the world. He was the first male South African to accomplish the so-called “grand slam” of opera, having sung in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London), Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna), La Scala (Milan) and the Metropolitan Opera House (New York). He was also a prolific oratorio and lieder singer, collaborating with the best artists the musical world had to offer. In addition he left a large recorded legacy, both published and unpublished. His untimely death on 29 November 2005 was extensively reported on both locally and abroad - a fact which again highlighted the importance of his personal and professional contribution to the international opera world. The Deon van der Walt Collection is the single most important key to unlocking the life and career of one of the most successful South African opera singers of all time. It was bequeathed to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Library the Deon van der Walt Trust in 2007. The collection is made up of an arbitrary assortment of books, documents, sound and video recordings that were left in van der Walt’s Zürich accommodations at the time of his death in 2005. It is housed in separate section on the lower level of the South Campus Library of the NMMU. The collection has been partially catalogued by the NMMU Library but left largely unattended for the last 6 years. The compiling of an annotated catalogue of this collection is the vital first step in connecting the dots of an extraordinary musical career that was hailed as one of the greatest of his time --------------------------------------------------------------------- iii OPSOMMING Op die kruin van sy loopbaan is Deon van der Walt (1958-2005) gereken as een van die toonaangewende liriese tenore van sy tyd. Sy loopbaan het oor bykans 25 jaar gestrek en hy het in hierdie tydperk in die wêreld se belangrikste operahuise gesing en die verhoog met die voorste kuntenaars van die tyd gedeel. Hy was die eerste manlike Suid-Afrikaanse sanger wat die sogenaamde ‘Grand Slam’ van opera kon behaal deur in die Koninklike Operahuis, Covent Garden (London), die Weense Staatsopera (Wenen), La Scala (Milaan) en die Metropolitaanse Operahuis (New York) te sing. Hy was ook ‘n vooraanstaande lieder en oratorium vertolker en het met gerekende orkeste en begeleiers saamgewerk. Benewens sy verhoogwerk het hy vele komersiëel-vrygestelde klank en video opnames agtergelaat, asook ‘n groot versameling privaat opnames. Daar is intensief oor sy ontydige dood op 29 November 2005 verslag gedoen in die media - plaaslik sowel as internasionaal – ‘n feit wat weereens sy belangrikheid in die profesionele operawêreld boekstaaf. Die Deon van der Walt Versameling kan met reg beskou word as die belangrikste toegangspunt tot die onstluiting van die lewe en werk van een van Suid-Afrika se mees suksesvolle operasangers. Die versameling is in 2007 aan die Biblioteek van die Nelson Mandela Metropolitaanse Universiteit (NMMU) geskenk deur die Deon van der Walt Trust. Die versameling bestaan uit ‘n lukrake versameling partiture, boeke, opnames en dokumente wat ten tye van van der Walt se dood in 2005 in sy woonplek in Zürich, Switzerland agter gelaat is. Die versameling word in ‘n aparte vertrek op die laervlak van die Suid-Kampus Biblioteek van die NMMU gehuisves en is gedeeltelik gekatalogiseer, maar grootliks verwaarloos gelaat vir die laaste 6 jaar. Die opstelling van ‘n beskrywende katalogus van die versameling is die eerste stap in die ontrafeling van ‘n loopbaan en lewe wat op sy kruin as die een van die uitmuntendste in ‘n geslag beskou is. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iv KEY WORDS Deon van der Walt, South African Tenors, NMMU Library, Music Archives, Annotated Catalogue, Veenwouden, Brenda Rein, Deon van der Walt Collection, Opera, Lieder --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people who helped and supported me to complete not only this treatise but also the other facets of this study. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Zelda Potgieter, my supervisor. Her sober guidance and uncanny ability to bring order to my sometimes chaotic ramblings is an inspiration. Sharing their knowledge about Deon van der Walt’s career and pointing me in the right direction to find the relevant facts, I have to thank Lionel van Zyl, Andries van Rensburg, Weiß Doubell, Lize Thomas, Brenda Rein and Mrs Sheila van der Walt. Thank you also to the staff and the NMMU Library, specifically Ms Desiree Minnaar, Ms Marlene Scharf and Ms Madeleine Clare. My many friends who took time out to share the stage with me as part of the performance requirements for this degree – Elizabeth Lombard, Erik Albertyn, Juan Munoz, Magdalene Minnaar, Minette du Toit-Pearce, Gareth Williams and Pierre Malan, and not to forget Albie van Schalkwyk who ensured we began and ended together and sounded good in between. Thank you for lending an ear between rehearsals and helping me bring this entire project to fruition. I am fortunate to have the unwavering support of my better half, Gerhard Maritz, without whom I would never have been able to complete this project. Thank you for catching all the balls that I dropped along the way and allowing me to indulge in this flight of fancy. I am also grateful to my parents and siblings for their support – listening, helping and just letting me get on with it. Thank you. Lastly I have to thank the man, who with his golden voice and amazing ability to communicate with his instrument, inspired me both in life and death. Deon van der Walt deserves a living legacy – something I hope this treatise will be a small first step to help ensure. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY 1. Aim of the Research When the idea for this research project was in its infancy, I began – as is customary in such cases – by scouring the internet and the library catalogues of academic institutions in South Africa in search of sources on Deon van der Walt, only to make a most startling and disturbing discovery. What I found was one BMus Honours paper, some magazine and newspaper articles, performance reviews and - sadly - a plethora of obituaries, but that not a single serious academic work or published biography had yet been written on one of the brightest opera stars ever to emerge from South Africa. Eight years after the death of Deon van der Walt, his legacy remains virtually untouched in our musicological discourse. Many reasons can be offered up for this neglect, not least of which involves the tragic and puzzling circumstances of his death and the emotional response this inevitably stirs in those local scholars of opera who might otherwise have been in a position to take on such a task, particularly as, for the most part, these same scholars count themselves among Van der Walt’s many personal friends; in a case such as this, subjective response inevitably clouds and undermines any attempts at objective scholarly rigour. The aim of this research is therefore to make some contribution towards addressing this lacuna. The Deon van der Walt Collection in the Library of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is the single most important key to unlocking the life and career of this South African icon. The compiling of an annotated catalogue of this collection is the vital first step to connecting the dots of an