The following is an article written by Henning Viljoen, and taken from Scenaria magazine (October 1986)
SIDWILL HARTMAN - A PROFILE
Sidwill Hartman is a young South African tenor who is well known to opera lovers in Cape Town, after scoring a major success as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, and recently as the Italian Singer in CAPAB’s [Cape Performing Arts Board] presentation of Der Rosenkavalier. Sidwill was born in District Six in Cape Town in 1956. He comes from a family where music played an intrinsic part of their lives, singing in various choirs. At the age of ten Sidwill joined the Cape Town Boys Choir under the direction of Mr Powell. He also started piano lessons with Anthony Blake. After his voice broke, he and his three sisters became chorus members of the famous Eoan Opera Group. The remarkable quality of his voice impressed Alessandro Rotha so much that he persuaded Sidwill to start with proper vocal training.
In 1975 Sidwill went overseas with the Eoan Group to take part at the International Festival for Youth Orchestras and Performing Arts in Aberdeen, Scotland. This was a very enriching experience because on the way back they also attended some courses at the London Opera Centre. But Sidwill was still not convinced that he should embark on singing as a career. After matriculation at the Silverstream High School in Manenberg, he first enrolled as a student at the Bible Institute with the intention of becoming a minister. In 1978, however, he received the bursary of the Friends of the Nico Malan, enabling him to enrol at the University of Cape Town for the Performers Diploma in Opera. At the College of Music he became a student of Désirée Talbot and also received tuition from people like Andrea Catzel and Aviva Pelham, who today are his colleagues on stage. He took the leading part in several student productions such as Rodolfo in La Boheme together with Andrea Catzel as Musetta, and the title role in Werther, once again opposite Andrea Catzel as Charlotte.
In 1980 he became a permanent member of the CAPAB Chorus, and the following year he made his professional debut singing Alfred in CAPAB’s presentation of Die Fledermaus in Port Elizabeth together with Gé Korsten as Eisenstein, Diane Todd as Rosalinde, and Susan Davis as Adele. This was followed by several smaller parts such as Borsa (Rigoletto) and Trabuco (La Forza del Destino).
In 1982 CAPAB offered him a contract as a soloist to sing Ismaele in Nabucco and Malcolm in Macbeth – in both instances opposite Marita Napier and Lawrence Folley singing the leading roles. He also sang the Young Seaman in Tristan und Isolde and was the understudy for Giacomo Aragall as Pinkerton. This was a wonderful opportunity to gain a lot of experience singing smaller parts together with more experiences singers.
1984 marked a turning point in Sidwill’s artistic career. He was accepted at the Juilliard Music School in New York to further his studies with Daniel Ferro and Enrico di Giuseppe. Apart from taking part in several student productions, Sidwill is also grateful that, for the first time, he learned how to cope technically with the difficult bridge in the tenor’s voice from the middle to the top register. This enabled him to project his voice with greater ease. He returned to South Africa to take part at the Grahamstown Festival in 1985 and to audition for CAPAB. He was immediately offered the contract to sing Turiddu in Cavelleria Rusticana, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, as well as the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier.
At present Sidwill’s career seems to be at a crossroad – whether to accept a two-year contract with CAPAB, or to venture overseas. Sidwill admits that it is a very hard decision, because basically he is very close to his family and would like to remain in South Africa. The possible roles that he is to sing for CAPAB, such as Tamino, Vogelsang (Meistersinger), Calaf, Cassio, Don José, Pinkerton and Rodolfo, also make it very tempting to stay.
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The following is an article written by Thelma Shifrin, and taken from Scenaria magazine (May 1988)
SIDWILL HARTMAN - A PROFILE
Although there are a number of black singers in the CAPAB [Cape Performing Arts Board] Opera Chorus, Sidwill Hartman is the first to be appointed solo tenor within the company, a status he obtained at the end of 1986.
In the world at large, choirboys progress to adult opera singers without much surprise. For Hartman, however, who grew up in a church-oriented, musical home in District Six and Manenberg, the progression was not at all obvious, and when his high boy-soprano voice began to falter, he felt that his whole world was shattered. “I cried my heart out when my voice broke. I didn’t want to lose it! For about two years, I pleaded with the Lord to give it back to me. I even continued to sing in the church and in the Cape Town Boy’s Choir during that period – falsetto.”
Through Ronald Theys and Vera Gow, who belonged to the same church (the African Methodist Episcopal), Sidwill and his three sisters joined the Eoan Group in 1972 and began voice lessons with the Group’s vocal coach, Alessandro Rota. It was not long before Sidwill was singing in ‘Opera Gems’ recitals and understudying the role of Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata in 1974. In 1975 he toured with the Group as the main soloist when they sang in London and attended the International Festival for Youth Orchestras and Performing Arts in Aberdeen, Scotland.
During this same period, Sidwill became deeply religious and still maintains that for him “the Christian way of life is more important than my opera career”. After leaving school, he supported himself as a church organist and began studies at the Cape Evangelical Bible Institute in Athlone in 1976, with a view to entering the ministry. But fate, in the form of friends who recognised the immense potential of his talent, intervened.
Through the Cape Town Light Operatic Ensemble, which Sidwill had joined after returning from the Eoan Group’s overseas tour, he had met well-known Capetonian singers Evelyn Dalberg, Hilda Sandak-Lewin, Constance Dreyer, and Joy MacNab. MacNab in particular was directly instrumental in persuading him to follow an opera career. She introduced him to Professors Gregorio Fiasconaro and Désirée Talbot at UCT’s Opera School and completed on his behalf all the documentation necessary for the application for the Friends of the Nico Malan Bursary – even handing in the forms herself! To Sidwill’s surprise, he won the bursary, which was to pay for his tuition fees at UCT from 1978 to 1980. His personal conflict over leaving the bible school was solved by the principal of the school, the American missionary Don Aeschliman, who said: “Sidwill, we are not doing anything for your talent here. Why don’t you take this opportunity – you can always come back.”
But 1978 proved to be a point of no return. Entering UCT at 22, Sidwill’s world-view rapidly changed. Under the guidance of Désirée Talbot, his teacher, and Gregorio Fiasconaro, he distinguished himself as a student in the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme in 1979, and in the tile role of Massenet’s Werther for UCT’s 150th anniversary in the then new Baxter Theatre in 1980, winning two UCT awards in those years.
“I am very influenced by encouragement,” Sidwill says. “I would get angry when my teachers picked on me, but Desirée later explained that they criticised me because they knew I had talent, and were hard on me because of that. Throughout my career, Evelyn Dalberg has also been an important influence and an encouraging friend.”
On graduating with a Performers Diploma in Opera, Sidwill joined CAPAB Opera, officially as a member of the permanent chorus, but with the opportunity to sing a number of solo roles – Alfred in Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus in Port Elizabeth in 1981, Trabuco in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Borsa in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Ismaele, opposite Marita Napier, in the 1982 production of Verdi’s Nabucco. It was the strength of the latter performance that convinced CAPAB’s artistic director, Murray Dickie, to promote him to the full status of soloist for one year from February 1983.
At the same time, Sidwill received two exciting offers to further his studies and practical experience abroad. Marita Napier urged him to go to Germany, to audition for her agent there and to try to gain experience in European opera houses, whilst Wendy Ackerman, who had also assisted Sidwill with a book bursary throughout his UCT days, offered to pay his expenses to the USA to audition for entrance to the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. Sidwill decided to accept Mrs Ackerman’s offer first, to study for two years in New York, and then to audition for Ms Napier’s agent in Germany – a dream he accomplished in October 1986.
At the same time, he had his CAPAB contract to honour for one year. During 1983, he understudied many leading tenor roles sung by international stars and sang a number of smaller roles in those operas calling for a second tenor voice, such as the Young Sailor in CAPAB’s production of Tristan und Isolde. In September 1983, he also sang the principal role in a highly successful Christian musical The Witness at St James’ Church, Kenilworth.
“I was very involved with the AME Church as organist, Sunday School superintendent, and later choir master, but with the odd times of rehearsals and schedules at CAPAB, I could no longer meet most of those duties. I then started looking around and used to sing in practically every church in Cape Town – the Dutch Reformed, HRK, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational… I felt most at home at the Anglican St James’ Church in Kenilworth, which I later joined. The Witness ran every Sunday for four to five weeks, three or four performances each Sunday – and the church was packed for each performance! During this period, I was also working as a full-time manager at Peter’s Pancake House!”
In November 1982, Sidwill and his sister Jennifer went on a 5-week vacation to America. Jennifer, presently a CAPAB soprano, studied for four years from 1977 to 1981 at a College in Jacksonville, Florida, and another sister, who now lives in Chicago, was at that time still living in Jacksonville. Sidwill and Jennifer sang a very successful joint recital in Jacksonville. “The people’s response to us made me realise that America was possible,” says Sidwill, who also took the opportunity to visit the Juilliard School in New York. A year later he returned to audition at Juilliard for Daniel Ferro, who immediately accepted him as a student.
“When I went to audition at the Juilliard in November 1983 I had no contacts, but I had heard through someone in Florida that Ferro was a good teacher. When I arrived, I phoned the School for an audition. They hesitated at first – it was not the right time of year – but eventually they arranged a coached session and an audition for the next day. I am very glad that I got in – it was purely on talent!”
Sidwill was granted an entrance scholarship from the American Opera Centre, which covered his full tuition costs at Juilliard for 2½ years. He also worked on the Juilliard campus and as a baby-sitter to earn extra dollars. Wendy Ackerman was very generous in covering his travel expenses and later formed a fund to assist his living costs in America. Further assistance came from South Africa through two local awards: OPSA (Opera SA) in 1984, and the Leonard Hall Memorial Prize in 1985.
Sidwill left for New York in February 1984 after the expiry of his CAPAB contract. He began voice studies with Daniel Ferro, changing the following year to the American/Italian tenor, Enrico di Giuseppe.
“In the first year at Juilliard, Ferro really met my needs, but later I wanted to study with a tenor (Ferro is a baritone), so I changed to Di Giuseppe (he has sung for PACT [Performing Arts Council of Transvaal] and was singing at the MET in New York at the time). In the last three years, my voice has really matured – it has opened out. In the chorus, I always had to push it down. The main concentration at the Juilliard was on freeing the voice. Psychologically too, I learned a lot form the Americans. In South Africa, one tends not to push oneself forward. But Americans are very positive about themselves. Their attitude is ‘I’m good, I deserve to be here’. It’s helped my self-confidence tremendously. Just being in New York, being able to go to the MET and to the City Opera, and to watch Channel 13, which relays performances live from the opera house, gives one the inspiration to keep going. I saw Leontyne Price’s last Aida – her whole personality is so beautiful. In her ‘O patria mia’, a farewell to her fatherland, she was also saying goodbye to the opera stage – for ten minutes the audience just clapped. I sat and cried – you could see that she was about to break down any moment, but she just shook a while, and then pushed the emotion down… Another great experience was hearing Kiri Te Kanawa in recital at Avery Fisher Hall – the sensation she produced went right through my body…”
During the 2½ years which Sidwill spent at the Juilliard School, he sang in four productions: Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne in April 1984 (which he sang barely a month after arriving), the title role in the New York University’s summer festival production, Tartuffe, the November 1984 Juilliard production of Puccini’s Il Tabarro, and a contemporary opera by a young Juilliard composer, Pyramus and Thisby. He also sang in the quartet from Puccini’s La Rondine at a special gala performance at Juilliard.
“There were eight tenors at the Juilliard when I was there and I had to audition for each production. The American students were very experienced, partly through the summer opera camps that they attend – but the competition was good for me!”
Apart from voice lessons, coaching and master classes with Simon Estée which Sidwill enjoyed at Juilliard, there were also a number of classes which he attended every day – in ear training, English, Italian, French and German diction, interpretation, drama, mime, improvisation, dancing and stage combat…
“There was something on every day from 1-6pm, and a recital every night. Juilliard was a unique experience – I learnt so much. Although I have now completed my official studies, I have been chosen for a new Young Artists Programme, which means that every time I go to New York, I can take advantage of all the facilities at Juilliard – attend classes, have coaching, everything is totally available… But Cape Town will always be home. I am often terribly homesick abroad. I’m a family person. It’s not that easy to make friends in the USA – they are wrapped up in their own affairs, although I am close to friends in New Jersey who belong to the United Methodist Church where I sing every Sunday when I am there. The difference between New York and Cape Town is the difference between the rushed, noisy metropolis with no peace or quiet, and the mountain, sea and sun which I love so much here…”
In 1985, Sidwill won the Standard Bank Young Artists Award in South Africa and flew home to sing a recital at the Grahamstown Festival that July. The following year he was chosen to sing the role of Don Ottavio in the Juilliard production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, but unfortunately the American production clashed with CAPAB’s double-bill of May 1986: Cavalleria Rusticana and Gianni Schicchi, in which he was cast as Turiddu and Rinuccio respectively. Sidwill flew to South Africa and then returned to New York for two months before returning again to Cape Town in August to appear as the Italian Singer in CAPAB’s premiere South African production of Der Rosenkavalier.
By the end of the year, Hartman had made a strong enough impression on Murray Dickie, the artistic director of CAPAB Opera, to be able to negotiate a favourable two-year contract as soloist within the company. During 1987, he played leading roles in a number of CAPAB productions, including that of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Vogelsang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In spite of some criticism that he was being pushed too far too soon, favourable press reviews for most of his performances assure him of a permanent place in the South African opera scene.
