Belting out the high notes
Wednesday, June 04 2008 | Comments (0)
A man from humble beginnings.
Of all the images that may come to mind when you think of opera, Mike Rowe is probably not on the top of the list. Maybe you think of a large man in a puffy suit or a fat lady with a horned helmet belting out a high note, but for a brief period Mike too took a place on the stage.
Those who watch the show regularly probably notice the even, full sound of Mike’s voice and they’ve also probably seen him break into song on more than one occasion. But few people, even the regular fans, realize that in the early 90s Mike spent a few years singing bass/baritone for the Baltimore Opera Company, in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.
“I joined the opera to get my union card and meet girls,” Mike said in an online interview. “I was a saloon singer, so I went down to the Baltimore Opera and learned an aria and auditioned. I figured I'd do one show and quit. But the girls were everywhere and the truth is, the music was really decent.”
Mike studied theater and music in Maryland in the early '80s. He said that In spite of his noble reasons for getting involved in opera, he wound up appreciating the genre a great deal, and still does.
The Lyric Opera House, home of The Baltimore Opera Company
The opera company was formally established as the Baltimore Civic Opera Company in 1950, with the famous American soprano Rosa Ponselle as its first artistic director. In 1952, Ponselle brought Beverly Sills to Baltimore for a production of Manon.
In 1960, the company began to modernize their program, which attracted private funding. This funding allowed them to hire professional set designers and diversify its repertoire.
In 1963, the Ford Foundation made a contribution that allowed the Company to solidify four operas per season and hire a full time Production Manager. In subsequent years, it staged notable productions.
In 1970, the name Baltimore Civic Opera Company was changed to Baltimore Opera Company. The word "civic" denoted amateurism, a term they felt was no longer applicable to the Company's offerings.
In 1976, for the American Bicentennial, the Company commissioned its first work, opera Inês de Castro, composed by Thomas Pasatieri with a libretto by Bernard Stambler.
In 1993, Baltimore Opera inaugurated its Summer Aria Series, dedicated to works by American composers.
In 1994, a sizable grant was awarded to the Baltimore Opera Company by the National Arts Stabilization Fund to give the Company complete financial stability.
The company currently continues their tradition of four productions a year.
The home of the Baltimore Opera Company, the Lyric Opera House, is a theater modeled after the Leipzig's Gewandhaus, a famous concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. It was inaugurated on October 31, 1894, with a performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Australian opera singer Nellie Melba as the featured soloist.
Then came Mike. He assured readers that he has no plans to revisit the scene of that particular crime (s)
“These days, I sing mainly at weddings and funerals,” he said.
He does still get together with some buddies that he used to perform with in an a capella group. He said he enjoys singing four-part arrangements of old standards.
“This activity usually occurs on a boat, far out of earshot from innocent bystanders,” he said.
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