Opera singers ‘face a mental health crisis’
OperaSingers’ agents tell us of a tsunami of depression that is sweeping through the profession. Opera budgets have been cut, contracts arrive late and the basic security of the profession is under threat. One agent says she has four singers presently receiving treatment for depression.
The conversations were sparked by the suicide, on Tuesday in Korea, of the popular tenor Sehoon Moon. Sehoon was 39.
He was working with Glyndebourne, Malmo and opera houses in France and had every reason to feel confident. But he had given up his residency in Milan during Covid and had failed to find a partner to accompany him through life.
‘He was an angel, everybody loved him,’ said a close associate, but depression is an insidious condition and there is often no swift remedy.
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Samaritans can be contacted on UK freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Unnecessarily tragic. My thoughts go out to his family and friends. The profession is a rat and snake pit of competitiveness, backstabbers, nepotism, misogyny, lookism, favoritism and whatever else. Not until this is acknowledged will there be any hope of change. Add to all that ever waning interest in the art form coupled with decreased funding and you have an art form on its last breath. Frankly, I would advise aspiring singers, given the long years of arduous and expensive training with absolutely no guarantee of “making it” or even of basic, living wage employment, to look instead into, I don’t know, nannying pets or frying fries at McDonald’s or whatever.
A.L. Perhaps you could enlighten us about your insightful knowledge of the world of opera and how it is different to other fields.
It’s hard to tell, this can be an opera thing, or this can be a Korean thing, because (quote) “South Korea’s suicide rate has nearly doubled over the past two decades. With 25.2 deaths per 100,000 population, suicide was the sixth leading cause of death in 2022, following diseases such as cancer and heart disease.”
That is very sad indeed. Much of classical music culture is unhealthy, and that is not due to the type of music.
But what about the mental health problems ravaging avantgarde music in the last century? Almost ALL composers buying into the ideologies of post-WW II modernism suffered from mental issues, and often they were nasty characters as well.
The welfare (in every respect) of singers is at the very bottom of priorities for almost every company. I doubt many singers, administrators or agents would honestly disagree in 2024.
Nothing will change following the tragic loss of this young man. He isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. May he rest in peace.
Sincerest condolences to this man’s family and friends. A few years ago, the tenor Endrik Wottrich spoke about the mental hardships fellow singers endure, also evoking endemic substance abuse. He died young, at around 50 years of age.
It can be a hideous career – you are constantly on show, endlessly judged on every aspect of your private character and public performance and only paid if you sing the performances for which you’ve been contracted. Better make sure you stay healthy during the month-long rehearsal period, because no-one pays you for that: You’ve already shelled out for your travel, accommodation (+/- five to six weeks in a hotel/Airbnb etc) and food, so the pressure is on from day one to deliver. That’s OK if you have a comfortable cushion to fall back on should you get the lurgy, but many singers don’t enjoy that luxury.
Covid provided many theatres with the luxury of continued funding but no guest artists to pay. Sadly, few proved exceptions to the rule. Happily, mine was among their number, but that’s another story. Hundreds of jobbing singers, dancers, extras etc had the financial rug pulled from under their feet with no apology from their employers, who just unilaterally cancelled their contracts. A conductor friend of mine (who suffered exactly this treatment for two years’ worth of contracts) quoted an Intendant acquaintance in Germany: ‘Such a shame they stopped these Covid restrictions so early; another six months and I could have renovated my entire theatre’.
If you’re thinking of trying to enter the profession as a singer, make sure you have a back-up: A degree in something else, some foreign languages, interests outside of music. Most importantly, be grounded and have no illusions: Virtually nobody becomes as rich and famous as the Kaufmanns, Alagnas, Netrebkos and Georghius of this world (Interestingly, these best-known artists are also now all past their sell-by date). The overwhelming majority just try to make a living, with varying degrees of (financial) success.
Working in music is wonderful, but it has to be on your mental terms.