On Saturday, Pembroke, Ont. native Joshua Hopkins will step in front of the Metropolitan Opera’s high-definition cameras and have his face and voice beamed to well over 100,000 people around the world.
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The Canadian baritone — recently singled out in the Met’s magazine Opera News as one of 25 young singers to watch in the coming decade — is singing the role of Cecil in David McVicar’s new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s 1835 drama, Maria Stuarda.
Not only is it a new production, this is the first time this perfect example of bel canto opera has been presented at the Met. It also has a small — and glorious — cast.
Mary Stuart is being sung by Joyce DiDonato and Elizabeth I’s dramatic shoes are being filled by Elza van den Heever, who made a great impression in the Canadian Opera Company’s season-opening production of Il Trovatore in October. Leicester is being sung by Matthew Polenzani and Talbot by Matthew Rose.
The Met raised the curtain the first time on the production at its annual New Year’s Eve bash. “If you think of a gala as a meaningful celebration, then it was hard to imagine a better New Year’s Eve gift to opera lovers than this musically splendid and intensely dramatic performance of Maria Stuarda,” wrote New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini on New Year’s Day.
He had nice things to say about the cast and the production. Italian conductor Maurizio Benini drew, “a supple and glowing performance from the orchestra and the chorus,” wrote Tommasini.
It should make Saturday’s performance a treat — especially for those people who were lucky enough to have their appetite whetted by the Canadian Opera Company’s excellent production two seasons ago.
Although Hopkins is still building his career, this is not his first time in front of a Met HD camera. He was thrust onto the stage in 2009 as a substitute for Ping in Turandot — and left a good impression.
The baritone is one in a long and distinguished line of Canadian artists who have had to go find careers beyond our borders.
The McGill University grad studied with Dixie Ross Neill and her husband William, then went on to the Houston Grand Opera Studio — and has been based in that Texas city ever since.
“I had enough of Canadian winters,” he laughs. He admits that he misses Canada, but professional — and personal — life has made it more practical for him to stay south of the border.
He married in 2003, right after graduation. Both he and his wife applied for green cards and got them just as the HGO Studio apprenticeship was wrapping up.
Although he largely works outside Houston, Hopkins’ go-to voice coach continues to be Shepherd School of Music’s Stephen King. Life in Texas is also much cheaper than in New York or another big opera centre. “And Houston is getting to be an interesting city,” he adds.
Hopkins says both he and his wife officially granted United States citizenship in October, which now opens up more living options, in case they want to consider them.
It’s been a pleasure to work on a brand-new production at the Met rather than a remount, says the singer. This essentially doubled rehearsal time, “which really helped us come together as an ensemble,” he explains. “Everyone feels comfortable with the show.”
The singer says the support system at such a large company is amazing: “Everybody wants to make sure we’re confident with what we’re doing.”
I’ve often wondered if this involves extra coaching for work in front of unforgiving high-definition cameras. Hopkins says that, for the singers, they are not a factor.
“The cameras are there to get the live experience in the theatre,” Hopkins states. “There’s a certain magic in a live performance, a certain energy,” and the cameras would ruin that if everyone had to be conscious of what they were doing. According to the baritone, only the camera that runs on tracks across the very front of the stage is occasionally noticeable.
Hopkins says his main source of extra excitement is knowing that his extended family is sitting in a movie theatre watching the action unfold.
I ask if there’s a permanent sort of relationship coming between Hopkins and the Met. He replies that each artist has a different rapport with the opera giant.
He first made contact as a winner of the Great Lakes Region portion of the annual Met auditions during the final year of his Master’s programme at McGill. The semi-final round brought him up to the opera house stage in New York City, and he has maintained regular contact with the artistic staff there ever since — initially thanks to the coaching and career-building resources all audition semi-finalists are provided.
The company’s artistic staff has, over the years, travelled to hear him perform in Houston and Santa Fe.
“There is no clearly defined way on how you get to the Met,” he says. But the benefits are huge, once you get there. Among the perks, he acknowledges the eventual DVD of Maria Stuarda, which will become a useful professional calling card.
Hopkins’ début with the New York Philharmonic last June also resulted in him being included on their recording of Carl Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos 3 and 2. He has two recordings of Bach Passions out — one of those an excellent effort with Montreal’s Ensemble Arion on the ATMA Classique label. He also has an art song album to his name.
The art song recital is the one thing he misses in his career right now — and is looking forward to two events coming up in Vancouver at the end of March. They’re special concerts built around the concert début of a restored 1830s fortepiano, and coincide nicely with a production of The Magic Flute in Vancouver, where he’ll be singing Papageno.
“It’s great to have an outlet to explore the repertoire a little more,” says Hopkins. “I like a programme that’s based on the poetry first.”
The singer says his wife, who also studied voice at McGill, is a “skilled programmer” and has been a big help. “The career I have is a partnership between the two of us. She is my eyes and ears on the road.”
This may be where Hopkins has been particularly fortunate. It is one thing to have a thriving career; another if it is done at the total expense of a personal life.
“I’ve somehow managed to luck out with both worlds,” he says.
Torontonians may, if the stars align, also get a share of this luck.
Thanks to Canadian Opera Company general director Alexander Neef’s committment to have Canada’s best singers sing on a Toronto stage, we may soon get a bit of good news regarding Joshua Hopkins, whose last operatic turn in Toronto was as Morales in the not-so-wonderful final COC Carmen at the Hummingbird Centre (now Sony Centre) in 2005.
Stay tuned, as they say.
Radio listeners can hear Saturday’s Maria Stuarda broadcast on CBC Radio 2, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern. For information on tickets for high-definition broadcasts at Cineplex, click here (there will be an encore presentation on March 18 and 23).
To tickle your fancy, here’s a clip of Hopkins in great form singing “Hai gia vinta…” from The Marriage of Figaro at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland last July. Paul McCreesh was the conductor (the whole opera in concert is available on-demand here):
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
