Joseph Gabriels and Volodimyr Kouzmenko, tenors.

I recall the South African tenor Joesph Gabriels with feelings of guilt and sadness. This is the story:

The English National Opera were planning a new production of Don Carlos with their musical director, Sir Charles Mackerras conducting. Quite late in the day they found temselves without a tenor for the title role. I had heard of a great South African tenor called Joseph Gabriels so I proposed him to the ENO and they agreed to have him audition for Sir Charles in the summer break when the conductor was on holiday in Italy.

A cinema was rented for this audition and all arrangements for a pianist etc were made. Gabriels made the journey specially and sang the audition whereupon he was given the part. 

Joseph Gabriels was a sweet man, absolutely charming and with none of the issues which sometimes make artists difficult for a manager to handle. He was he told me a 'Cape coloured' and therefore unable to perform with the white South African opera company or indeed with a black company if that had existed. So when it came to the rehearsals he was inexperienced as to how to pace himself. 

I believe what may have happened was that as soon as he opened his mouth he must have impressed his colleagues so much that he most probably sang all the rehearsals at full voice, enjoying the impression he would have made on all and sundry. Sadly when it came to the premiere he was more or less sung out and didn't make a very good impression.

A low-life snake of a critic (who will be nameless) attacked the ENO writing that Gabriels was someone Mackerras had heard singing on the beach during his holidays. Tragically there was no going back fom that.

If only I had know what was going on during the rehearsals I would have advised Joseph to save himself. I wonder if Sir Charles hadn't tried to do that; he was a very experienced opera conductor after all. 

Whatever happened, his career petered out then. An enagement for 'many years' in Duesseldorf is mentioned but I have no information about that.

Thinking about it, the guilty party was Apertheid as much as anything else. Had Joseph been allowed to gain experience at home and develop naturally, maybe he wouldn't have fallen into the trap of not pacing himself properly.

Years later a similar think happened with a Ukranian tenor, Volodimyr Kuzmenko. I discovered him in Warsaw singing Ismaele in 'Nabucco,' a role usually sung by a lyeric tenor. I got him out of Poland and onto the world's operatic stage. Kuzmenko had a huge voice of good quality for roles such as Hermann in 'Pikavaya Dama' - a role he sang with terrific success with Stuttgart Opera and Scottish Opera. That success led to an engagement as Manrico in 'Il trovatore' in Frankfurt.  As everyone knows, Manrico is a 'Top-Note' role. If you don't have the high C to end 'Di quella pira' you shouldn't be singing the role at all. Kouzmenko had the note no problem - until the premiere when he had to duck it having sung himself out in the rehearsals.

Again it was the end for him. The management cancelled the rest of his preformances and that was that. Having had the experience with Joseph Gabriels I should have warned Volodimyr Kouzmenko but I didn't.

Guilt and sadness indeed. 

Here is a short biography of Joseph Gabriels; 

Joseph Gabriels was born in 1937 in Cape Town. He was discovered by Joseph Manca, musical director of the EOAN Group, the forerunner of the Provincial Performing Arts Councils in South Africa. Joseph Gabriels received no musical training or vocal training whilst in South Africa during that time he recorded (1960–67). In 1967 he received a bursary from the Schneier family of Johannesburg to study in Milan. In 1969 he won the famous Verdi competition in Busseto, the birthplace of Verdi. As a result of this he made his debut on 5 February 1971 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Canio in Pagliacci – the first ever South African to sing there. He later appeared with the English National Opera in the full version of Verdi's Don Carlos. For many years he sang with the Düsseldorf opera and was also invited to sing for the Vatican.   

and Vladimir Kuzmenko (from the Bayerische Staatsoper);

stammt aus der Ukraine und studierte zunächst Dirigieren. Im Anschluss an seine Gesangsausbildung am Kiewer Konservatorium wurde er als erster Tenor an die Oper von Kiew engagiert. 1994 wurde er erster Tenor am Teatr Wielki in Warschau und trat u.a. als Cavarodossi (Tosca), Andrej (Mazeppa) und Duca (Rigoletto) auf. Zu seinen weiteren Partien zählen Hermann (Pique Dame), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Radamès (Aida), die Titelpartie in Don Carlo und Calaf (Turandot). Regelmäßige Gastspiele u.a. an der Scottish Opera, dem Opernhaus Zürich und der Staatsoper in Dresden.  Seit 1999 ost er festes Ensemblemitglied der Stuttgarter Staatsoper. Partie an der Bayerischen Staatsoper: Hermann (Pique Dame).