PART 1 - Once it really WAS fair…sometimes. ( in Non-Patron Years)

Once upon a time there was a wonderful operatic baritone named Carlo Morelli, ( Dec 1897-1970) who had quite a career, particularly at the Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Over twenty-five years ago, his widow, an elegant woman named Gilda Morelli, organized the Morelli Competition in his memory, Although most of the prizes awarded in this national singing competition, are funded by corporate or private donations, it still falls squarely under CONACULTA, the federal government Arts bureau. There was a time when you could say that the contest was honest, and that the best singer had a fair shot to win. Of course, that was only in some years.

There are those other Morelli competitions that fell under the control of the chief villain of my sorry tale. This includes all recent Morelli Competitions, as elegant Gilda made the sad mistake of deciding that the Morelli simply could not continue without the villian taking the lead. I refer to the beloved Enrique Patron de Rueda…. a Mexican Hero, Sinaloense (from Sinaloa), Mazatleco (from Mazatlan)…a gentleman who was awarded the lifetime achievement medal for his contributions to the Arts in Sinaloa just last year (I wasn’t invited to the ceremony, by the way.)….a gentleman for whom an academy is named in Mazatlan…I mean…dear readers….this guy is a demi-god!…To be sure , if he were to read this gentle consideration of the level of his humanity, he would respond by telling you that he’s a quiet unassuming man, a noble person who has helped so many….a serious man who loves to stay in his hotel SUITE reading books during his leisure hours while conducting on the road….a man, who so sadly…is now a bit bored with it all….and about to retire with dignity to the city that features the pretty theater and the sometimes bad shrimp. (see posting 4).

That, of course, is almost as much nonsense as the fact that the Morelli competition, in the years that he controls it, is fair.

I’ve had some very personal experiences at the Morelli. My first was in 1995 when I accompanied my dear friend and fabulous soprano Yvonne Garza. That particular year, Patron was far far away. (probably conducting a Carmen in Yugoslavia or something like that.) The contest took place over the course of a week. It was held in the Palacio de las Bellas Artes, in a small hall up a deep main staircase and to the right called the Sala Ponce.. The competition is open to the public free of charge and is fairly well attended in the early rounds. The finals, are held in the main auditorium and performed in front of a full house.

I get very emotional in competitions, and frankly hate appearing in them. I have played hundreds of concerts at the side of my wonderful singers, without nervousness but competitions..well, I can only describe my terror by saying that the last time I played in one, Joel, who was at my side (as always), rather worriedly mentioned to me that my hands were shaking. I was accompanying Jose Maneul Chu in the tenor aria from La Boheme, Che Gelida Manina, a gorgeous piece, which I have played many times….Well. That’s competitions. Vocal Olympics. Medals. Prizes, Fame.

You go in hoping that it’s a fair playing field and it becomes sort of a game…there’s quite a bit of strategy involved. That first year with Yvonne, there were three rounds. The first was like the early auditions in the American Idol competition, except the 100 or so participants didn’t line up for hours. There were all levels of singers there from both Mexico City and far away places. And I do mean far away. And I also mean…that most of those folks from outside came by bus, (Which, by the way are like Greyhounds from the 1970s) a trip that lasts many hours, (up to 16 depending on where you are coming from.) When the weary journey is completed, they are greeted by the smoggy fumes of Mexico City a huge metropolis which is so high in altitude that you feel like you are on the top of Mount Everest…after climbing it. In other words, bad news for a singer. Bad news for anyone who has to breathe. It takes some getting used to. That, of course, means…that if you are playing the "game" correctly you come a few days earlier to get used to the air, and the altitude, let alone the horrific traffic, generally dirty streets, and daily demonstrations. About a year or so ago, I passed by one of those which featured a serious group of very naked ladies of Mexican Indian descent standing around the base of a statue of Columbus, in a rotunda in the center of the city.

Some of the first round singers in the1995 Morelli were ridiculously under prepared, both technically, mentally, artistically, but….they had a fair shot, and of course were eliminated as they so rightly merited.

Now…Yvonne and I were definitely thinking that she was a "contender" (I think of Marlon Brando), so…we wished to save her bigger, more brilliant piece for the second round. The first round is risky. You want to sufficiently impress, but not blow the load, if you know what I mean. There were so many contestants that the first round lasted two days. Long days. The judges, who averaged 79 years of age, or so…were respectful. Each contestant sang their aria without interruption and were greeted with a standard…"thank you." by the head judge when they finished. The audience were asked not to applaud. In the finals, they can. After all Mexico is a democracy (or at least it pretends to be) and it’s hard to control a crowd of 1,500 people by asking them to suppress their emotions and sit on their hands. The early round performances , in Sala Ponce, sadly are greeted by an eerie public silence. The somewhat twisted reasoning behind this is that it prevents even the slightest bit of impropriety. After all, we wouldn’t want to influence the judges, would we? That’s ridiculous, of course, and it seems to me that people who have traveled 16 hours… had to stay in friends or relatives homes (almost everyone seems to have some sort of relative in Mexico City), or very cheap hotels…. had to wait all day (or maybe even two) to sing…should at least have their moment of glory.

Yvonne sailed through the first round, and we found ourselves in the semi-finals with twenty-nine others. Those included not only the 12 or so survivors of Round one…but any of the previous finalists who had not won first place in the years before and wished to try again. They were shown respect, and were not required to perform in the first round. 10 singers would remain to battle it out at the finals.

The competition was fierce. I’ve been to the Morelli three times, and one thing I can say…there is a TON of singing talent in Mexico…and its not necessarily divided amongst 3 fat sopranos and a tenor. The problem is that few people know about it, and less people care. The chances of being a successful opera singer anywhere on the planet are so miniscule that when you add relative poverty, an inability to travel for auditions outside the country, a lack of money for a proper education, the pressure of the family to contribute to the economic life of the household…Its TOUGH. I sympathize strongly with all of those fine young people who have a dream, no matter what their level. They are the ones that are taking the risk.... and if they are coming from outside of Mexico City, the economic hit of competing in the Morelli..

The moment came at the end of the semi finals when the judges retired to their chambers. The public and contestants waited while buzzing around, chewing the fat. It took about a half hour. As each of the finalists were announced…there was very loud buzzing, but no applause, of course....Yvonne was called and we breathed a deep sigh of relief.

One by one the finalists met with the judges to declare which pieces they would sing in the final. Yvonne and I toyed with the idea of her singing a different piece. Although a great idea, the judges quickly poo pooed it, and ordered her to stick with the arias that got her into the finals. OK….not a bad decision, as it turned out. But…shouldn’t the artist be able to choose? Well, I thought so…but…as Gilda Radner used to say…."Nevermind."

Now came a lottery which would determine the order of performance. Yvonne pulled her number out of the hat. A "10" . YES! She would sing last in both rounds, a nice advantage actually, Put on your battle gear. Some years the finals of the competition are accompanied by orchestra with the distinguished Maestro himself conducting. (Patron years). This final, however would be accompanied by pianists.

The concert with orchestra would be held weeks later and feature the top three prize winners…in addition to about 30 former prize winners. The result was what I would later remember as was one of the longest most boring events of all time. It was conducted by American James Dempster, a son of a bitch who requires a chapter all his own. He demonstrated his total lack of a single musical thought on that night…Anyway…I digress.

The day arrived. The audience was packed. Excitement filled the air. We waited backstage schvitzing while the first nine sang. Each was greeted with big time tumultuous applause. I love those Mexican audiences. We walked out on stage. I was younger then…and actually played without Joel at my side, because I hadn’t met him yet. I turned my own pages, which is most unusual for me…and my hands didn’t shake. Yvonne sang the waltz from Romeo and Juliet and tore the house down. After waiting for a seemingly endless intermission, part two began. Everyone was singing brilliantly. This was the moment… a home run…or else. She hit a grand slam with the Czardas from Fledermaus and the audience erupted.

Time for the judges to retire to their chambers. The minutes clicked by. I ran into the theater and went up to one of the side boxes to await the announcement. I arrived just in time to hear it, and didn’t understand exactly what the judges had decreed. I asked a person beside me, and he told me that Yvonne had won.

YES!

A decade later, in Mexico City for a Morelli once again, I was perusing the printed program, and noticed that the award for the best new talent in the 1995 Morelli was given to a young man named Rolando Villazon. He is now one of the world’s greatest and most popular tenors....I had somehow forgotten that he was involved in the very competition that Yvonne won. My favorite diva continues her career in Mexico and is singing better than ever. But....not in Mexico City. She was never a favorite of the evil one. Even after winning her prize she was ignored by the powers that be at Bellas Artes, and only offerred secondary roles on a couple of occasions. You see....being that she was a brilliant talent, a scholarship was offerred to her to study in the state of Georgia years before. She chose to have an American Education instead of studying with Patron at that time. He has disliked her for this decision ever since. He sure knows how to hold a grudge. What a hero.

DIRT ALERT!!

In the next posting I will tell you of tragic tales concerning the 2005 Morelli. Truly a Patron year. Truly one of the most grievous examples of how unprofessional a great demi- god can be. Stay tuned.

POSTING 2 Sunday, July 15th, 2007 "A scream for help"

POSTING 3 Friday, July 27th, 2007 "The Highway to Corruption and Tears, Starts in Mexico City"

POSTING 4 Monday, July 30th, 2007 "Sinaloa=SINaloa"

POSTING 6 Sunday, August 19th, 2007 "Speaking of corruption? Try the National Singing Contest. PART 2 - Morelli 2005...Day One…The Fix is IN

Index