The following is an article written by Mariénne Uys, and taken from Musicus as published in Unisa's Journal of the Department of Music (Volume 29.2 - 2001)
Désirée Talbot - Woman of distinction
Mariénne Uys
‘On a fine day when the skies are clear one could see Cape Town and the mountain,’ she said, her bright eyes piercing the veiled distance. She was standing next to me, stately upright with demanding presence, the features delicately cut like an exquisite piece of valuable Dresden china. Far away grey mists swallow up Table Mountain and the city where she had carved out an illustrious career before she retired in Helderberg Village, Somerset-West.
‘I always have had a very solitary life, no children or permanent relationship. One could say I dedicated my whole existence to my love of singing’ she summed up objectively. Showing me around in her new abode, out into the garden despite the chilly air, I sensed her ardour for living life to the full, even if the scene has completely changed. She is an accomplished person, exuding the contentment of fulfilment, gladly taking me along with her on the road back to a glorious past in the world of song.
It was a long and arduous way since she was born in Cape Town on 24 October 1926 until she could read about herself in leading newspapers in South Africa and abroad: ‘The most exciting new voice of the season, ...made a dazzling London debut last night as a singer and actress’, acclaimed the Daily Mail, London. She possesses a smooth, true voice, full and even throughout the range and skilfully controlled,’ stated the Daily Telegraph, London. ‘ ...a gifted actress, and her voice is of striking beauty.’ - Times, London. After a London recital Musical Opinion, London, wrote: ‘ ...a sensitive, highly intelligent artist captivated her audience by her cultivated, winning singing of works by Nin and Granados that even bore favourable comparison with that of Victoria de los Angeles.’ ‘She held even the most reluctant members of the audience in the hollow of her hand,’ was the enthusiastic report by Opera, London. In Cape Town Cape Argus admired a quality performance: ‘It is rare to hear such limpid beauty of tone in such a controlled and intelligent performance.’ The Friend in Bloemfontein was enthusiastic: ‘As Desdemona ...Désirée Talbot thrilled her large public with her glorious voice, superlative acting and lovely stage presence.’ Daily News, Durban shared this admiration: ‘Désirée Talbot makes a ravishing Tosca; from her first, sweeping entry she commands the stage, utterly captivating in voice, prepossessing personality and stage presence.’ The Cape Times observed the absolute freedom characterizing her acting and singing.
She was educated at Collegiate Girls School in Port Elizabeth and afterwards at Rustenburg Girls High in Cape Town. Her father was a civil engineer and an amateur organist and pianist. Her mother was also musical and took piano lessons with Doris Lardner at the old SACM in Cape Town. Ever since early childhood, Désirée opted for musical career. From the age of five she studied piano and violin and was set on becoming a concert pianist. She was extremely musical and as a child she taught herself to play the piano accordion because she wanted to accompany the circle of friends going around singing Christmas carols in old age homes and hospitals!
As a student registered for BMus at UCT she took piano as first subject. Dynamic and full of beans she acted as accompanist at rehearsals for the UCT/Stellenbosch intervarsities in the Jameson Hall. She became an accomplished pianist who performed concertos, gave solo recitals and played compositions for two pianos with Laura Searle. When her left hand was permanently damaged in a car accident (coming from a rugby match with her boyfriend) she switched to singing as her main subject. She studied with Ernest Dennis and Adelheid Armhold obtaining Teachers and Performers Licentiate Diplomas from Unisa and UCT.
She started out as music teacher at various primary schools, but in 1949 she was appointed to teach at Rustenburg High School where she stayed until 1954. She taught piano, theory and aural training and tried her hand at the SABC for a year as music programme compiler. It was during this period that she was married to Alfred Garson, a successful musician. In 1954 she joined the staff of the UCT Faculty of Music as a teacher of singing and piano. She did choral conducting and was an extremely able accompanist. Ian Smith, well-known accompanist and retired lecturer at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Stellenbosch was a fellow-student and describes her as ‘a marvellously gifted all-rounder. Besides she has this striking personality combined with beauty! Now this is surely a good combination for the stuff stars are made from ...’
As a third year student she was in the chorus of an opera produced by the remarkable Dr Erik Chisholm, head of the Department of Music at the College. ‘I was ...allowed to carry an urn in the first opera he put on at the Little Theatre – Iphigenia in Taurus – and I was hooked,’ she tells in her book about the birth and development of the UCT Opera Company.
In 1947 she was alternating Second Boy in The Magic Flute, produced by Dr Chisholm. At short notice she learnt the part at the last moment to act as substitute for the singer who had been chosen originally but dropped out. Thus she became part of the UCT Opera Company. Later Fiona Chisholm would describe her as ‘the company’s renowned soprano and dramatic actress of conviction, sensitivity and warmth’.
As a rising star life was not so easy. Rehearsing was done at night and over weekends and when they took the opera on tour, they had to take unpaid leave or even paid a substitute to work for them while they were absent from their work. ‘No-one ever received any money at all from UCT Opera, but it did not even enter our heads to expect it,’ Prof Talbot tells us. ‘We sang because we loved it and we worked 12 hours per day, seven days per week, because we were thrilled to be able to sing.’ Those were lean days for opera-singers and sometimes they even had to make their own costumes as she clearly recalls: ‘I can remember excruciating nights in Room 17 at Strubenholm madly making costumes in between rushing downstairs to Room 5 to rehearse.’
In her life as actress and musician there were a few exceptional musicians whom she describes as major influences on her career as actress and singer: ‘I owe the most to Gigi (Gregorio Fiasconaro) who helped me with singing, style, interpretation, characterization and of course acting,’ she says without hesitation. He was superbly musical, had a world class voice, and striking appearance on stage. ‘Had it not been for his involvement in the Second World War he surely would have reached the top in Europe. He was one of the best singers in Italy and a great musician,’ informs my well-groomed, elegantly poised hostess. ‘He was a ball of energy and certainly a leader in professionally produced opera in South Africa. At a later stage in his career, the Italian Government awarded him the equivalent of a knighthood for his achievements for opera in South Africa.’
Dr Chisholm also was greatly respected by the young Désirée. His zest, determination and perseverance rubbed off. He set a very high standard for himself and others and would not hesitate becoming ruthless and authoritarian in order to get a pet project off the ground. If you want to work with him, there is only one way - the right way and tenacity is a priority. His dedication to the furtherance of music in all its forms inspired those who worked with him.
An outstanding experience for her as singer was to have had the opportunity to sing in a production of Orpheus at the Little Theatre with Albert Coates conducting the orchestra. He was one of the world’s greatest conductors, writes Prof Talbot. ‘Singing for a man like Coates was an immense privilege... He was such a fine conductor that when he raised his hand gently to give one a cue, it was as though that hand had caused one to breathe in and one was ready and poised to begin the phrase. He took us for separate as well as group music rehearsals and it was a time of tremendous absorption of his wealth of knowledge.’
Another source of information and inspiration crossing the path of Désirée Talbot, was the great Russian singer, Oda Slobodskaya who came to UCT for a few weeks lecturing on singing. ‘I was one of those privileged to have a number of master classes in singing with her and I learnt an enormous amount not only about singing but also about style, especially that of Russian opera... She was a really grande dame ...with a wide humanity and generosity of spirit which made her a wonderful teacher,’ Prof Talbot declares.
Special mention must be made of Christie Feros who acted as accompanist on a regular basis, ‘my wonderful accompanist’ as she refers to him. He was an integral part of her life as an artist, accompanied at concerts, broadcasts and learning notes periods without getting extra payment. The love of singing and music was the undercurrent.
The beautiful young singer became a hardworking, tenacious star. During her career as singer which extended more than thirty years, she sang leading roles in over 500 performances of 28 operas as well as countless concerts and broadcasts all over South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, England, Scotland and Italy.
She gave concerts in London at the Wigmore Hall and performed the song cycle Van liefde en verlatenheid by Arnold van Wyk at the SABC. On this occasion the composer was chosen to accompany her instead of Christie Feros. ‘Dear Nols was very nervous,’ she remarked.
A major triumph was her share in the success UCT Opera Company achieved on their tour to Great Britain and Scotland to join in The Festival of Music and Musicians from South Africa in 1956. Dr Chisholm accompanied her on her tour of the British and Scottish Universities and other towns in Great Britain. She was acclaimed as an excellent singer and actress and the well-known J Arthur Rank Film Productions even offered her an audition for a role in a film which she could not accept at the time. She also appeared on BBC and the Scottish radio.
In England she sang in the first British stage performance of Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle as well as the role of Magda in Menotti’s The Consul in London and Glasgow. Dr Chisholm had put on Bluebeard’s Castle previously at the Little Theatre in Cape Town. He gave Désirée and Gregorio Fiasconaro two weeks time to learn the notes and then called the first musical rehearsal! He not only played the parts but added all the orchestral parts missing in the vocal score reduction. This was an invaluable lesson to the conscientious singer. ‘From then on I learnt every piece of music I sang from the bass clef upwards. I learnt to listen for the orchestra or accompaniment and rarely relied on any singer, conductor or pianist cues. Once a score has been learnt in this way, it is well-nigh impossible to make a mistake or lose oneself...’ she reports. The Cape Times was very appreciative: ‘Mr Fiasconaro and Miss Talbot accomplished their difficult tasks superbly, singing with splendid freedom, richness of voice and excellent diction. Indeed it is difficult to find words of praise for the truly splendid performances.’
In London this praise was reiterated by the British Press reports. Gregorio Fiasconaro was the producer and Dr Chisholm the conductor when they put on Bluebeard’s Castle, The Consul and Chisholm’s The Inland Woman. They produced these for The Festival of Music and Musicians from South Africa. They also gave 6 Wigmore Hall concerts and performed at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre.
‘Two things stand out from these performances.’ wrote a critic in Time and Tide. ‘One, that the young forces under Dr Chisholm’s command are inspired by a spirit of adventure that is sorely lacking in our own music schools. The other, that they contain artistic material potentially as good as we turn out ourselves and in one or two instances, superior.’
This adventure was not all glamour and glitter. Only extremely hardworking, zealous and people with the utmost perseverance could survive! Thus it happened that the prima donna was still perched on a ladder dousing one of the 38 pieces of scenery of the set for Bluebeard’s Castle a few hours before curtain rise. Fiasconaro and most of the other workers worked on non-stop till 5:00 pm. However, the critics were enthusiastic. The Daily Mail reported: ‘Here’s one girl who must stay - Désirée Talbot’. Another announced: ‘Britain could use this talent’. The whole production was a roaring success.
Mr Fiasconaro as principal male voice in all three operas presented in London, received laudatory remarks from the critics. ‘Désirée Talbot was another unusually versatile artist. Her singing and acting in the two diverse parts of Magda Sorel and Bluebeard’s eighth wife, Judith, were of an order that would distinguish any company. She has temperament and personality and withal a voice of fine quality that is excellently produced and even in timbre throughout its range.’
She had numerous options open to her in London. She was invited to auditions at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden, offered contracts and concerts, but she declined. ‘I missed South Africa terribly. The limitless horizons, the space, the smell of Africa, the sun, the brilliant colours and the people. I was more than happy to come home,’ she wrote.
In 1958 when she returned to Cape Town she was appointed assistant repetiteur to the UCT Opera School. During this period she was also appointed official singing teacher to the Eoan Group. Besides all these obligations she produced The Marriage of Figaro for the UCT Opera Company. She realised the immense problems regarding opera production: ‘Every movement has to be timed to the music which of necessity makes for slower actions than in a play or film where the actor can set his own pace. The opera singer has always to be in a position to have one eye on the conductor, he or she must remember that only very seldom is it possible to project over an orchestra unless facing the audience. The opera singer must always be in a position to enable his or her fellow singers to be able to project to the audience,’ she explains.
In 1960 she received a bursary for advanced study in Italy from the Italian Government. ‘In recognition of services to opera in South Africa.’ Here she studied with Gina Cigna in Milan. She sang in a performance of La Bohème in Milan and did excerpts from Tosca in a concert of international singers. She was interviewed and sang on RAI as well. She was invited to audition at La Scala. She describes this event with characteristic modesty.
She at first auditioned on the Piccolo Scala stage. Afterwards four stage hands took her and her accompanist backstage and onto the big Scala stage. ‘Now sing. This is where you belong.’ they commanded her. Her comment: ‘I was immensely flattered, but after five bars I knew I didn’t have the volume or the confidence to audition or sing on that stage so I never went back.’ In Rome Menotti offered her the soprano part in Verdi’s Requiem at the next Spoleto festival, but reluctantly withdrew the offer when he discovered she was a South African. When her money ran out in Italy undaunted she found a way out - she worked as private secretary to the honorary SA Consul in Milan. When her mind was set on a project, nothing could stop her.
Stellenbosch University offered her a position at the Conservatorium of Music as lecturer in Singing and she returned to South Africa to launch her new career as academic. In 1967 she was appointed Senior Lecturer in Singing at UCT and in 1979 was promoted to Associate Professor. She lectured in voice training, performing literature and repertoire for teaching purposes in singing, and in vocal teaching method. In 1984/5 she was appointed Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Music at UCT. She also acted as Chairman of the Music Library Committee during the period from 1984 to 1986.
In July/August of 1984 she accepted an invitation to conduct master classes and lectures at Melbourne University and the National Conservatoire of Music and Opera in Sydney, Australia. She also was interviewed on ABC and recorded a series of four talks on Singing and Singers for them.
Back in South Africa she was appointed Deputy Acting Director of the Faculty of Music, UCT. An honour well-bestowed was her choice as Woman of Distinction for the Faculty of Music for the Centenary of Women on Campus celebrations by UCT. During Prof Priestman’s absence she acted as Dean and Director of the Faculty of Music.
Prof Talbot’s merit and knowledge were not restricted to one university alone. 1n 1990 she was invited to serve on an HSRC Committee to plan a new format for teaching singing in universities and technikons in South Africa. She also was approached to serve as examiner at the countrywide musical examinations for Unisa. In 1991 the SABC asked her to assist in redesigning their National Vocal Competition repertoire lists.
At UCT she was appointed as representative for all associate professors on the UCT Senate, a distinction of importance. At her retirement from the Faculty of Music, UCT, she was made Emeritus Associate Professor an exceptional honour bestowed on exceptionally dedicated people. However, they insisted and she went back as part-time vocal teacher at UCT on a yearly basis which she kept up until the end of 1994.
Despite her academic career on the one hand, she was singing opera, and producing operas at the same time. There was no limit to her determination, enthusiasm, dedication to music as an art and to her first love, opera. While teaching at the Conservatorium of the University of Stellenbosch, she kept up her participation in operas for UCT. She used to teach from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm, then driving straight to rehearsal in Cape Town, munching a sandwich on her way. On Fridays she made the trip twice - rehearsal on Friday mornings, teaching on Friday afternoons at Stellenbosch, and rehearsal on Friday nights.
Her favourite role was Tosca in Puccini’s opera. Together with Gregorio Fiasconaro they produced excellent stage productions. Of her as Tosca, one critic wrote: ‘ ...the part suited her like a glove.’ She was described as ‘superbly regal’ and ‘she seized every opportunity for exhibiting histrionic talent in music designed to convey every emotion and well within the range of her soprano.’
The UCT Opera Company under Gregorio Fiasconaro and Dr Chisholm brought opera to Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia as well as to Somerset-West, Parow, Worcester, Swellendam, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Cradock, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Durban, Johannesburg, etc. The singers travelled by train, loading and unloading the sets and putting together the sets at the venues sometimes under almost impossible circumstances. Thus opera was introduced countrywide through the enthusiasm of these two artists with undaunted spirit and perseverance.
Apart from being a lecturer and performing artist of superb quality, Désirée Talbot was set on inspiring an interest in opera among young children because she believed that way she was ensuring audiences for the future. In 1970 she instigated a Saturday afternoon performance of excerpts from operas, for children. Students of the Opera School were used and the productions were in costume, with lighting effects and movement and sometimes even scenery. The performances were very popular. Désirée Talbot acted as a narrator, informing the audience at the same time as pleasing them. These audiences were extremely honest and observant and were not satisfied with bad performances! These performances were called Opera is fun and produced at the SACM and the Baxter from 1970 until 1983.
With the establishment of the Board of Performing Arts, UCT staged various operas in collaboration with CAPAB.
In 1971 she sang the leading role in Madama Butterfly in a production at the Nico Malan Opera House. ‘The great sorrow we all shared was the fact that the Alhambra was no longer to be our home and that in a few short years, this gorgeous theatre was to be barbarically destroyed in order to erect other blocks of buildings,’ she confesses. A very large number of the old ‘crew’ shifted to CAPAB. She retired from singing on a permanent basis in 1978 but returned to the stage of the Nico Malan theatre in 1982 to sing Mamita in Gigi.
Désirée Talbot also distinguished herself as an excellent writer with a lovely sense of humour. In 1978 she published For the Love of Singing, a valuable contribution to the history of opera in South Africa. Her flexible style, understatement and detailed information contribute in making this book a rare jewel to the opera lover. She was the ghost writer for Prof Fiasconaro’s I’d do it again, published by Books of Africa in 1981. She also published The Singers Manual (Tutorial Press/Struik) in 1991 which is the outcome of a lifelong interest and dedication. Her History of the SACM for The Centenary of Women on Campus published at UCT in 1987, deserves merit as the outcome of her usual high standard of precision. She published numerous articles in Scenaria, Cape Times, Cape Argus, Sunday Times, South African Music Teacher, Fair Lady and Personality, on singing and memories of a touring opera singer, both valuable as factual information and manifesting herself as prolific writer.
As teacher she is rewarded by the successes of her students and ex-students. ‘I had 16 students who were or still are singing overseas,’ she quietly says. Prizes won by her students comprised the Rio Competition, Friends of the Nico, Anglo-American, Van Riebeeck, Friends of the Opera, Italian Government and CAPAB bursaries and some sang at the Debut with Mimi concerts.
She is especially pleased with Sidwill Hartman, who was a semi-finalist in an international competition, ended up at the Juillard Opera Department in New York, was the winner of the Nederburg bursary as well as the Friends of the Nico bursary and received contracts in Germany, Covent Garden and got various engagements in USA, South Africa and Moscow.
Nicola Cencherle obtained contracts with CAPAB, PACT, PACOFS, UCT Opera, SWAPAC and won a vocal competition in Italy.
Helmut Holzapfel obtained a doctorate and achieves success in Europe as a singer. He performed in Stuttgart, Innsbruck, Vienna, Moscow, Warsaw and South America.
George Mughovhani was the first black UCT BMus Ed graduate and was invited to represent South Africa at a Mozart Festival concert in the Bastille Opera in Paris in 1991. He is also the conductor and founder of the Choir for Africa.
Robert Schoeman was the winner of a CAPAB bursary, gave concerts for CAPAB, PACOFS and sang at the inauguration of President Mandela.
While she was teaching five of her students gained their MMus Performers Degree in Singing. Three obtained distinction. Twice was the sought-after Nederburg Award allotted to two students of hers.
We pay tribute to a great artist, teacher, disciplined academic, superbly intelligent administrator and unselfish worker towards cultivating a love for the opera in South Africa. A truly undaunted spirit applying all her genius to the furtherance of the love for singing...
The curtain may have fallen, but for opera in South Africa she is leaving behind her, footprints in
the sands of time...
