I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks (nothing serious, just a lingering cold), so it’s been difficult for me to focus. Also, I had a deadline yesterday for a newspaper article. But now at last I am free and clear to remember José van Dam the way he deserves. The great Belgian bass-baritone died on February 17 at the age of 85.
Van Dam was more than just a voice and left many memorable, versatile characterizations – Escamillo, Méphistophélès, The Flying Dutchman, Don Quichotte. He also sang Leporello, Don Giovanni’s servant, which must have been a stretch for him, as he always impressed me as having something of an aristocratic bearing. (Perhaps more fittingly, he also played the Don.) He certainly bore himself with confidence and dignity.
It only seems fitting, then, that in 1998 he was made a baron by Belgium’s King Albert II – which is why you will now sometimes see him listed in references as Joseph, Baron Van Damme.
I concede my impressions of the artist may have been colored somewhat by his performance in the film “Le Maître de musique,” or “The Music Teacher” (1988). In it, he plays an opera singer who retires abruptly at the height of his fame and retreats to a remote manor house, only to emerge from his life of brooding introspection to subject some extraordinarily gifted pupils-in-the-raw to some rigorous, tough-love training.
“The Music Teacher” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Academy Awards, but really, it’s just classical music junk food – nice costumes, beautiful settings, alluring cinematography, attractive young people, and lots of opera arias. And of course, Van Dam. During the climactic sing-off, the contestants wear concealing Amadeus-style masks and cloaks. ‘Tis a silly movie. Naturally I enjoyed it very much.
I can’t believe my parents took me to see it (I was in college at the time), as it really was not their bag. My stepfather, in particular, has always been a shot-and-a-beer kind of guy, more at home watching football than listening to lieder. (My mom was really more my speed.) But my parents were always very indulgent, and I used to drag them to concerts whenever they visited me in Philadelphia. We saw “The Music Teacher” at the Paris Theater in New York, right around the corner from the Plaza Hotel.
I’d always been interested to revisit the film, which was not easy to find, especially in the days before streaming. Finally, a couple of years ago, I stumbled across an import DVD at Princeton Record Exchange. While I still wouldn’t rank it as Best Foreign Language Film material, it was fun to see it again. Here’s a clip of Van Dam singing Schubert’s “An die Musik.”
What do you know? Here it is complete – in French with Korean subtitles!
Or if you prefer, Spanish
The trailer
From the lower class, he also sang Figaro and Wozzeck, and at 60, St. Francis, in the premiere of Messiaen’s “St. François d’Assise.” A versatile artist, then, a gifted singer and an actor who was able to convincingly inhabit quite a significant range of roles.
R.I.P. José van Dam
