A NEW HELDENTENOR

Photo: Rozarii Lynch

Three years ago in auditioning for the International Wagner Competition of 2014, which took place last August at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle, my colleague, Aren Der Hacopian, and I scoured the world for young dramatic singers between 25 and 40. It was the third such competition.

In our New York auditions in the fall of 2012 we heard a tenor named Issachah Savage. A very large man (who is consistently and successfully shaping up his body), he not only sang his two audition pieces well but exuded the kind of warmth and enthusiasm that audiences love.  After we decided that he would be a finalist, I said to Der Hacopian, “He’ll win the audience prize for sure with his personality.”

When he arrived in Seattle eight months later, his voice showed growth and the hard work he had put into it. In the competition he sang “Amfortas! Die Wunde!” from Parsifal and then “Mein lieber Schwan” from Lohengrin with style, volume, diction, intensity and what was most important to me, comprehension of what each of his characters was singing. He received the three awards that included money: from the panel, the audience and the orchestra. (The musicians in the pit, composed mostly of members of the Seattle Symphony, can’t see the contestants, but as in each of Seattle Opera’s International Wagner competitions, they vote on voice alone.). In this competition there was a fourth prize that did not win any money. There had been a cancellation on my Farewell Gala two nights later; I decided to choose one of the winners for that event, and I chose Savage.

All that is fine but it’s not the real thing. I was delighted to read reports, however, that he had been engaged to cover Siegmund in the Canadian Opera Company’s Walküre last season. He sang two performances, winning critical and popular acclaim.

This was great news, but could he handle the high tessitura of some of the Wagner and Strauss repertory? Seattle Opera presented as its last opera this season Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. The tenor who had been scheduled to sing Bacchus withdrew about a month or six weeks ago. The tessitura of Bacchus is terribly high, and the role has caused more tenor disasters than any in the repertory. A replacement was not easy. Der Hacopian called to see if Savage was available. He was, but he had never prepared Bacchus. He went through the score and came back to Der Hacopian the next day, saying that he could do it.

Photo: Alan Alabastro

I was more than nervous for him. The premiere had gone splendidly with Kate Lindsey a marvelous composer, Sarah Coburn a charming Zerbinetta, and Christiane Libor a thrilling, impassioned Ariadne. To my delight Savage capped off its success with a superb Bacchus. Every note was there, easy and powerful. The upper range was solid and exciting. The two performances since, I have been told, have been successful as well. I envy all those who will hear him in the future.