Q&A; : A Real Diva in a Time of Transition

When Marilyn Horne performs in the Hollywood Bowl “America the Beautiful” concerts Sunday through Tuesday, the occasion will mark a homecoming for the internationally celebrated mezzo. Horne remembers singing at the Bowl nearly half a century ago “as a very young teen-ager, like 13 or so--12 maybe” with the Roger Wagner Chorale, not long after her family moved to Long Beach.

Although born in Bradford, Penn., Horne has long been associated with Southland cultural institutions--most notably USC and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where she studied voice before launching her operatic career.

At age 20, she even left her mark on Hollywood by supplying Dorothy Dandridge’s singing voice in the film “Carmen Jones,” establishing her authority in crossover repertory once and for all.

She sang 35 years at the San Francisco Opera, 25 at the Met and for Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton at various command performances. She won one of her Grammys as Carmen (under Leonard Bernstein), but her biggest impact on opera has come in the incredibly ornate bel canto male roles, many of them written for castrati, those legendary male sopranos depicted in the recent film “Farinelli.”

Such bravura challenges proved ideally suited to the remarkable size and agility of Horne’s voice as well as her flamboyance as a performer, securing her diva status and winning her even more awards, among them, recently, the French Legion of Honor.

Just last week, San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan declared “Marilyn Horne Day” in honor of her singing the premiere of William Bolcom’s “A Whitman Triptych” at the United Nations 50th Anniversary Concert in the War Memorial Opera House.

In a recent phone interview, Horne described Bolcom’s piece as “hard as hell” and emphasized her determination to commit it to memory rather than sing from a score. More than a point of pride, the choice seemed to involve maintaining her standards (“keeping your brain young,” in her words) at a time when major changes and choices await her--including the question of retirement. *

Question: Will it offend you to say that you’re at a stage of your career that we could consider transitional?

*

Answer: You can even say that I’m in the twilight of my singing years before the public. You know, tempus fugit , and what can you do about it? How can I deny my age? I’m 61; it’s in all the books.

I’m really way, way down in the percentage of opera that I’m doing now. I haven’t thrown in the towel yet because certain things are being written for me and we have to see how they turn out. At the Met next year I do [Mistress Quickly in] “Falstaff.” And beyond that we are in the talking stages.

But I’ve done tons of recitals this year and lots of orchestral concerts. A portion of these are crossover events and I’m enjoying very much doing that kind of thing.

A lot of my [operatic] renown was for great technical singing. And I have dropped those things from my repertory now--all those Rossini and Handel roles--because I can’t compete with the young Marilyn Horne. That’s just out of the question.

Q: Well, then, who can compete with the young Marilyn Horne in this repertory--Cecilia Bartoli, perhaps? Or Jennifer Larmore?

A: I would only comment that they’re both wonderful, but I think that their voices are a lot lighter. I think you need the kind of voice that can give some semblance of a male character. We all know that nobody’s going to believe that it’s really a man onstage, and a lot of the challenge has to do with expression more than anything else. But without the strength--the voice to be able to express the character--the male roles are a little difficult to cast.

Q: And is there anybody that you’ve heard that seems to be in command of that?

A: Not recently, no. But I feel that somebody will definitely come along to be able to do all these parts--that’s the way of the world. I’ve never thought that anybody is irreplaceable.

Q: Any thoughts on the “Farinelli” movie? Some of the music was definitely your territory . . . .

A: First of all, there was much too much sex in it. And they had him sing three arias from [Handel’s] “Rinaldo” though, as far as I know, Farinelli never sang a note of Handel in his life. And having him spit in Handel’s face seemed terribly theatrical. But we have to think of this as a movie and, you know, we live in such a crazy age that I think a true castrato might show up one of these days.

Q: What are you singing at the Bowl? They’ve advertised only Copland’s settings of American folk songs.

A: I’m also singing “It’s a Grand Old Flag,” “Shenandoah,” “Beautiful Dreamer” and “God Bless America.”

Q: With fireworks?

A: I hadn’t heard that, but it’s up to them. If they want to send up fireworks, I’m game.

Q: Back in November, you announced you’d be returning to Music Academy of the West in 1997 as director of the vocal program. How did that come about?

A: I had said all along that I didn’t want to be “institutionalized,” but I have very wonderful memories of the academy--and, as you know, it’s a summer school, [so it’s] not a year-round job. Just July and August. So it seemed like the right circumstances for me in this period of transition.

I’m there this year for a week, and I’m there for a month in 1996. But I’ll be full time starting in 1997, which will be the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school.

I will be overseeing everything that has to do with singing: opera, lieder, chamber music, whatever. And I will also be teaching, obviously--master classes and privately. I think we can come up with a really sterling program to entice singers, continuing a great tradition begun by Lotte Lehmann and Martial Singher.

Actually, I’m amazed that I enjoy teaching so much. Because I never said to myself, “Oh, I want to teach.” Or, “I think I would be a good teacher.” None of that. I just sort of fell into it.

Q: Any career secrets you’d like to share?

A: I think the secret of a long career is having a superior technique, I really do. [Met conductor and Artistic Director] Jimmy Levine, who is a very dear friend of mine, said, “I hope that when you’re teaching these young singers that you tell them, ‘Sure, you were born with a fabulous instrument, but you were not born speaking Italian, speaking German, speaking French--or knowing all the styles of music and how to sing them.’ ”

You know, at times I have said--and I mean this in the most humble way--I know so much about singing, and performing as a singer, that I’m not sure that I’m able to convey all that to someone else.

There are so many little things that go along with the big things. And it takes a lifetime to learn, unfortunately.