Weiss Doubell, who died recently, made his mark as a conductor who reached out to a younger generation of instrumentalists and singers. Paul Boekkooi looks back at his extraordinary career.
On a technical level, the lanky Weiss Doubell (pictured) was perhaps not the perfect conductor. But his enthusiastic spirit always put the music first, while trusting his intuition to inspire his soloists, singers, choirs and his beloved Pro Musica Orchestra to great heights.
He was always aware of the fact that Pro Musica, the orchestra and the theatre in Roodepoort of which he was the director from its earliest beginnings, should have a vision to serve the music community in a different way from what the more top-heavy structured provincial arts councils at that time could do: to involve people at grassroots level, including talented musicians and singers of colour.
At a time when the then Transvaal already had two professional orchestras, Doubell established the semi-professional Pro Musica and gave talented musicians on the periphery or those who chose other professions, the chance to become part of them. Doubell attracted many of them back to once again become involved in their first love: music.
Over a period of nearly four decades Doubell was also involved as a choral conductor. He initially established the Rand Chamber Orchestra which made its mark on Joburg’s concert scene. But since the Pro Musica Theatre opened its doors in 1981 the focus on the staging of operas became Doubell’s main passion.
He was tremendously successful in establishing a repertory company which functioned along the lines of German provincial opera houses. More than once, Pro Musica developed and performed cycles of Mozart operas and became famous for them. The range of staged operas became much wider over the years to include those by Purcell, Beethoven, Weber, Nicolai, Verdi, Gounod, Puccini, Humperdinck, Richard Strauss and others.
During this time dozens of young opera singers were debutantes with Pro Musica Opera, while many of them have since established overseas careers for themselves. A high percentage of Pro Musica’s former concert masters have also made their mark in international orchestras as well as locally.
Doubell was as adventurous in his programming of symphonic music and oratorio. Although he was a staunch promoter of the German-Austrian repertoire, he quite often delved into lesser-known repertory’ like Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (a South African premiere) and music by South African composers. Pro Musica’s performances of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in the City Hall, Joburg, were often riveting, while others will remember Doubell for his many performances of Handel’s Messiah at Sandton Square, among other venues.
In oratorio, Doubell championed and always included black choirs from townships, while his efforts to broaden the impact of classical music, led to the establishment in 1994 of the Pro Musica instrumental tuition scheme which served previously disadvantaged communities.
Doubell’s driven personality has been missed since his retirement at the end of 2008, but his legacy will forever live on.