The Des Moines Metro Opera Years – Season Two
My last blog post dealt with my first season with the Des Moines Metro Opera Festival – which took place during the summer of 1998. I had just began my terminal leave from the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and considered myself fortunate to join up with a musical organization of any kind (even a seasonal one) so soon after arriving in the States. I really enjoyed that first season and looked forward with great anticipation to my next season, which was to take place during the summer of 1999. This would be the season that would determine whether or not I would become a tenured player. The way the tenure process worked then, a new hire wasn’t considered permanent until near the end of the second season. It was a good sign that I received a contract for the 1999 season, as that meant I was being considered for tenure depending on two factors. First, How well my first season went and the impressions I made then; and second, how well I would do during the bulk of the summer 1999 season. (More details below.)
Many things were different for this new season – most of them for the better. For one thing, I had my own transportation. Shortly after the conclusion of the 1998 summer season, after I returned to Mazon, Illinois where we were living at the time, we bought a 1993 GMC Safari from Talty Motors in Morris, just ten miles north of Mazon. Our “new” purchase was white, with a red interior, and two bucket seats in front, and a bench seat in the middle. The rear portion was open for cargo or luggage. It had 85,000 miles on it, but it drove well, and it freed me up to take substitute teaching jobs and whatever musical gigs I could scrounge up in the off season. It also allowed me to drive to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick up my next, and even more important purchase – a pair of timpani.
I had contacted the Yamaha dealer in Grand Rapids, and they had a pair of Yamaha 6000s – sizes 26″ and 29″ for sale at a decent price. I believe the pair cost me $3,000, including head protectors, wheels and tuning keys. I arranged to make a day trip using our Safari, and, as my wife had to work, I was accompanied by my sister-in-law who was visiting us at the time. We made the trip up and back in less than a day, and suddenly, I had not only “wheels”, but a set of timpani. The drums were based on a design that was about ten years old, but quite sufficient for my purpose. I remember that when we lived in Mazon, we lived in a duplex on Front Street, and the drums had their own place in the corner, where they fit nicely, and I would practice on them (gently – as we had neighbors), and tweaked them in order to get them in shape for the coming season at DMMO. Having my own timpani and transportation certainly made that second season a lot easier.
The Season
The 1999 summer season was the first season that I lived in Simpson College’s Kresge Hall. As I mentioned in the last blog post, I stayed for the the 1998 season in Barker Hall and had to climb stairs to my dorm room. For this season, we were moved to Kresge Hall, and I was in a ground floor room, which was also a boon. I was not yet tenured and so did not rate a room at the end of the hall, closest to the laundry. That would come within four years. Nonetheless, it was a much better situation. Before leaving for Indianola, I took out the bench seat, packed my living items and sticks into the middle part of the van, and put the two timps (with drop covers) in the rear. They would be the first items I’d drop off upon arrival in Indianola. Thus began the first of many load-ins and load-outs. As I only had the 26″ and 29″ timpani, I used the older Ludwig Dresdens from the Simpson College set as the outside drums, and they worked well. This was the setup that I used for the next three seasons, until 2002.
The repertoire
The repertoire for the season was very interesting indeed. As was the case with the previous season, (and as a general rule for many seasons to come), there were three main stage productions: Rossini’s The Barber of Seville; Verdi’s IL Trovatore; and Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. In addition, there was the second annual Artist Apprentice Concert scheduled for the last week of the season. These were always held off-campus at Drake University in Des Moines, and eventually renamed “The Stars of Tomorrow” concerts.
Musically, it was a most enjoyable season. While there was not too much to play in the Rossini, we were doing the standard version which included timpani and percussion – we had not yet fallen victim to the “period” or “urtext” version, so I was included. There was enough to keep me interested, and the plot was so hilarious that my interest never flagged. The Verdi opera had much to keep me occupied, including some doubling in the “Anvil “Chorus”. No, I did not play the anvils – that was Mark’s job. I took over bass drum and cymbals for a few bars. Kurt Weill is best known for his Three Penny Opera, but Street Scene is pretty impressive. I again doubled percussion at some points, and Mark did his usual excellent job at keeping things going. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, all productions of the DMMO were staged and conducted by the company’s co-founder and Artistic Director, Dr. Robert L. Larsen. This had been the practice since the company had its first productions in 1973, and it continued until 2009, which was the last season that Dr. Larsen was fully involved in the operations of the company. He retired officially in 2010. More on that later. During the twelve seasons that I played under his direction (I played another six under the new management thereafter), I admired his energy and passion. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of opera, and was a great teacher and coach. He could get the best out of people and really craft a fine production. While he conducted well enough (here was able to hire an excellent orchestra), his real strengths were in the production end, as well as casting the singers. This season was no exception, and each production was not less than outstanding vocally, musically, and in terms of staging.
Having my own transportation enabled me to get to know the Indianola area better. During the previous season, I had to walk to the nearest grocery store to shop for my food. Either that, or ask a fellow orchestra member who had his car for a ride when convenient. Now, I was able to shop when I wanted to, and where I wanted to. I discovered a bowling alley just outside of Des Moines off of Highway 65 (known as Jefferson Street in Indianola), and I was able to avail myself of that facility for a few seasons. I didn’t start making longer and longer day trips until the following seasons, but I made a good start in that direction with the 1999 season.
Personnel in the orchestra kept changing as some players who were on leave during my first season returned, and those that I remembered from that season left and moved on to other exploits. Laura Najarian, John Warren, Mike Daly, Ed Benyas, Mark Dorr and John Hancock remained from the previous season, so there were some familiar faces. John Hancock remained as personnel manager, and it was he, together with Dr. Larsen, who decided on tenure for the orchestra players. As I explained above, tenure wasn’t given until a musician had finished most of his second season. After a successful first season, a musician was rehired for a second season, during which his or her performance was evaluated. Musicianship was a key factor, but there were also other factors including the ability to work together with the other musicians as a team. The last two weeks of the season were always a little tense for the orchestra members, especially the newer personnel, as the decision on tenure was communicated by letter to each candidate during that last week or two. I was one of the lucky ones. I made sure my performance and team skills were up to snuff, and I was informed by management that I would be granted tenure and receive a contract for upcoming seasons. Needless to say, I was extremely happy and looked forward to my future with the company.
Here are excerpts from the three operas performed during the 1999 DMMO Summer Festival. First, we have the Overture to The Barber of Seville, followed by the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore, and last of all, an excerpt from Street Scene Enjoy!
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