We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mark Steven Doss. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mark Steven below.
Mark Steven, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I would have to say that my first attempt at singing the role of Jochanaan (John the Baptist) in Strauss’ Salome at the famed Teatro alla Scala was quite memorable for many reasons. First of all, this character mirrored my first ever appearance on stage in a play, opera or musical, when I sang “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” for my high school’s (East Tech in Cleveland, OH) production offd the musical Godspell. That character represents John the Baptist from the Gospel of St. Matthew. Jochanaan was set to me my 4th role at La Scala, after having made my debut there 3 years before in the role of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen. The two roles following that were Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo and Alidoro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella). Playing the part of the fairy Godfather in that opera set me up very nicely for the fairytale like project I would experience with Salome.
Additionally, just two to three weeks before the opening of Salome at La Scala I was asked if I would possibly consider learning the role of the 2nd Nazarene (for a TV broadcast) in advance of my two Johanaan performaces. Going to a practice room with the head coach, I sang through the role and then was not given a second word about the possibility until some two weeks later, then I was told (with one day notice) that I would be doing the role on stage, with orchestra, an invited audience, and walking through the staging about an hour or two before performing the crucial scene. To the astonishment of a few, I totally nailed the scene, musically, linguistically (in German), and dramatically with the newly learned staging. The three or so performances I sang of that role is now on a DVD of Salome.
Back to my own performances of John the Baptist, I was in the position of covering (standing in for) the baritone Falk Struckmann for about two to three weeks before the final production week of the opera, and this allowed me to rehearse with the principle Salome, Nadja Michael. It made the process quite special, and I later had the opportunity to actually perform Jochanaan with her at the Theatro Municipal in Sao Paulo. Brazil. Anyway, rehearsing with her gave me some early exposure in the role, and after my run of performances as the 2nd Nazarene I was ready to go with my own two performances of John the Baptist. The first one was a bit over sung by me, but the 2nd and final one was a performance for the ages. I received great applause at the end, and the great conductor Lorin Maazel came backstage afterwards to congratulate me for my excellent rendition. From that I was given the role of Charrington in his opera at La Scala entitled “1984′. Moreover, due to my success with the quick jump in for the 2nd Nazarene and my own John the Baptist I was afforded the rare opportunity to return to La Scala for a fortnight in the spring of the following year to sing through a number of title or primary roles for a future production(s) at the La Scala itself. The whole process resulted in three additional roles….
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a celebrated bass-baritone whose accomplishments include First Prize in the Verdi International Competition in Busseto, Italy, the National Institute for Music Theater’s George London Opera Prize, Planet Africa’s Entertainment Award, and a Grammy Award for my work on the CD of Handel’s Semele. I have recently released a solo CD entitled “Welcome to my World” under the Cedille Records label and I have another one that will be released soon (with some 8 opera arias and two oratorios selections) with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic. I began my musical studies to aid in my ambitions to become a Catholic priest, but I was seduced by the opera world, beginning my professional career on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, later singing eight major roles (and counting) at the famed Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, nineteen roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago (where I first started in their young artists’ training program), and I have performed over 100 opera roles with over 60 major opera houses, and close to 40 oratorio roles/parts with over 60 orchestras located in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Concert performance opportunities have allowed me to perform (recently) in Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center – in a Tribute to the great Paul Robeson, at Carnegie Hall with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Saint Mark’s Plaza in Venice with the La Fenice orchestra. Additionally, I have been privileged to sing the national anthems (and other selections) for the Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, Portland Trailblazers, Tampa Bay Storm, the Chicago White Sox and Bulls, as well as the United Nations’ Choir in Houston, Texas. Critics have praised the beauty of my vocal instrument, my dynamic breath control, the clarity and precision of my diction, and the enormity of my three octave range, which allows me to sing parts meant primarily for baritones and those meant to be sung most often by basses.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, and I believe the particular goal/mission that drives my creative journey can be summed up with Stephen Covey’s “Four L’s: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy…”. This connects to the words of Don Quixote’s Impossible Dream: “To LIVE with your heart striving upward, to a far unattainable Star”; the words of Tchaikovsky’s Pilgrim’s Song, where the character of John recounts all the elements of nature and then in an emotional outburst wishes he could draw all these elements to himself in a heartfelt embrace, or the words of Jacques Brel in his incredible song, “If We Only have Love”‘, which I have sung the refrain in 10 different languages; to LEARN as I have just experienced the incredible, but complex music of Matthew Aucoin in his opera Eurydice (only a month ago), when I used a combination of four different metronome systems, a weighted hula hoop, juggling balls, scarves, and even tossing a heavy canon ball from hand to hand, together while the hoop was spinning around my waist and I was singing the complicated rhythms over and over again, still LEARNING different ways to LEARN my music; and with the current CDs, DVDs and books I am working on, that I hope will establish my LEGACY, my REASON for being on this planet.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I believe the most rewarding aspect of being an opera/concert singer is when you have the opportunity to collaborate with some extremely talented colleagues, whether they be conductors, directors, costume designers, wig and makeup designers, and/or my fellow singers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.marksdoss.com
- Instagram: [email protected]
- Facebook: [email protected]
- Linkedin: [email protected]
- Twitter: www.@marksdoss/X.com
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@marksdoss
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2OQWdU0JA1uGu7getcIw4n
Image Credits
Sudeep Studio