Seemingly a million miles away from the investment topics of the
auto-sector is the world of operatic singing, and the various
competitions that bring forth astounding new talent. The pinnacle
of which is the bi-annual event 'Cardiff Singer of the World', held
at St David's Hall and sponsored by the BBC.
The operatic news press was abuzz at the 'wild-card'
winner Catriona Morrison, given her late arrival from the lower
ranks. Alongside the formal recommendation of the expert panel, the
public voted for Louise Adler.
[NB This coalescence of Scottish-English winners subtly helping to quell the Scottish independence issue].
Other finalists were of
Mongolian, Chinese-Australian and American backgrounds.
But it is the American,
Mr Anthony Clark Evans – a baritone - that investment-auto-motives
wishes to herald.
Unlike many budding
opera singers, who from a young age are recognised as future
potential and molded as such, with the multitude of supportive
advantages therein from institutional grants to wealthy parents and
patrons etc, Mr Clarke Evans had to rely upon himself, his
self-determination and natural talent.
As a long-time
aspirational singer, this man did all he could to finally get on
track toward his goal, never giving-up even when things appeared
dire. With such passion for his subject, itself necessarily
underpinned by pragmatic real-life choices, he paved his path forward
by working as a used car salesman for some time before being signed
by Colombia Artists Management.
Those with such talent
and appreciation of the higher art-forms usually also endemically
have higher notions and expections of life itself and of course
themselves. They see things very differently to those around them;
focused upon the 'best' rather than the accepted 'standard'.
Thus it must have been
painful to his very soul when he was stuck in a Kentucky
auto-dealership selling cars and trucks to 'make ends meet'. Not so
much the process in itself, though it can be soul destroying, but the
fact that his mindset was so radically different to the archetypical
mindset of the usual car sales person, who care little beyond
'shifting the metal'. His obvious sensitivity and consciousness must
have been trampled in what is a 'cut and thrust' game between
cross-town dealers, intra-state dealers and the newer collection of
on-line operators.
[NB Perhaps especially
regards the availability of dealer finance, a field which so soon
after the financial crisis is once again peddling large credit
packages to poor credit-history customers with little job security
under the notion of low rates so as to sell vehicles].
More than his
contemporaries, the achievement of Mr Clark Evans should be not only
recognised but loudly applauded.
There is of course a
parallel to the life story of Paul Potts – which itself inspired
the film 'One Chance' starring James Corden...mobile-phone salesman
turned opera singer. But the reality of having experienced the
art-form, then forced to exist in the 'backwater banality' in a
Kentucky town, is (without disrespecting that state) far more a
tragedy than comedy.
Even more material in
today's world where the upward mobility of so many has been made
virtually impossible given the consequences of the 2008 crisis.
Mr Clark Evans is now
well known at 'the Met' in New York and a number of other world class
opera houses, having worked his way up from his beginnings in 'The
Ozarks', well known for roles in La Boheme, Pagliacci and much else.
Today we live in a
western-world in which people feel let-down and indeed beaten down,
by badly performing economic structures, a lost faith in balanced
politics, a fragmented society purported as cohesive, and the media's
continual propulsion of celebrity-culture amid the masses who still
seek to emulate at great cost, so creating a schizophrenic societal
mentality precisely because people's reality is so far from the
perceived. Critically the shattering of the post-WW2 'American Dream'
in which the rise of 'mental disorders' is itself simply the natural
human reaction to a new 'invisible tribe' attitude whereby deep
financially-driven hostility is masked by friendliness and so the
affects of hidden hypocrisy.
Unsurprisingly, for
many a screen-focused existence is far better than the real thing.
In such an age the
story of Mr Clark Evans needs to be highlighted more than ever, not
told through the Hollywood screen or through Netflix, but in the
everyday social intercourse of people.
It would reset the idea
of 'everyday ambition' toward 'aspired perfection', and more
importantly the ideal of 'everyday perfectionism' (in all things) an
attitude which moulds the broad consciousness.
In the meantime it
would be wonderful to think that a closer alliance could be formed
between the high artistic aims of opera and that of similar
world-class automotive exhibitions.
As such, given his
professional background, his life's vocation means Mr Clark Evans is
the perfect candidate to appear at the renowned events, whether
Pebble Beach, Amelia Island, Villa d'Este, Goodwood FoS, Hampton
Court, etc which would provide for a level of sublime interaction.
Within popular culture
since 1968 it has been the voice of Matt Monroe singing 'On Days Like
These' (accompanying the winding drive of a Lamborghini Muira through
the Italian Alps) that has been 'the' automotive signature tune
Perhaps it is time for
something new in 2018 and onward, whereby each Concour's d' Elegance
commissions new unique classical signature tunes. The sound of the
human voice and orchestral instruments as counterpoint to the high
pitched whine of starter motors and the explosions and tuneful
exhausts of IL6's, V8's, V10's, V12's and W16's, would be glorious.
For it has been the
creations of the artists of this world who have given life its very
meaning for many, especially for those in less than convivial
personal circumstances – in a true Rodolfo manner (as per 'La
Boheme').
After all, let us not
forget that the very basic metal-working shops in which the great
carrozzeria performed their own 'rolling sculptures' - Figoni et
Filashi, Farina, Pininfarina, Touring, Ghia, Vignale, Zagato, Bertone, Chapron, Vanden Plas, Barker,
Mulliner, Park-Ward - were in the winter-times of decades past little
different from the cold artistic lofty garrets of painters, poets and
playwrights.
(So how poetic it is that one of the automotive artistic greats - Marcello Gandini - who shares the name of a Boheme character, appeared to live 'la dolce vita', created the signature wheel-arch from supercars to coaches, had a father who himself was an orchestral conductor).
(So how poetic it is that one of the automotive artistic greats - Marcello Gandini - who shares the name of a Boheme character, appeared to live 'la dolce vita', created the signature wheel-arch from supercars to coaches, had a father who himself was an orchestral conductor).
Thus it is
heart-warming to witness the rise of someone who through ambition,
effort and talent has risen to the heady heights of classical
singing.
For used car salesmen
it was once (and perhaps still is) an old 'trick of the trade' to
cure any worrisome audible whine of a car's 'diff' (axle
differential) by adding saw-dust into the diff's 'banjo' housing. This and a thousand other tricks inevitably creating the
untrustworthy stereotype.
So how prosaic to see a
person work their way up from Car Diff's and Banjos to Cardiff and Orchestras.
And just maybe he could
create a populist following, via performances at the very
successfully resuscitated ACE Cafe in North West London. A place where all
kinds of enthusiasts and clubs meet...a new kind of venue which
circuitously depicts the man's very own initials.
