Faith helps opera star survive
Bass-baritone Berg discusses how belief shapes his art
Nathan Berg has been a rogue, cad and drug dealer in his operatic career, but he’s never lost sight of his Christian faith.
It’s this that has given the bassbaritone a deeper understanding of the classical music he performs and the despicable characters he portrays on stage. It’s guided him through a career that requires him to spend much of his time away from his home in Edmonton.
It’s this collision of faith and opera that prompted Bill Anderson, director of the Canadian Centre for Scholarship and the Christian Faith (CCSCF), to ask Berg to speak and perform at the annual FaithLife Lecture at Concordia University College of Alberta on Jan. 7.
“God gave us music as a unifying force,” Berg told the crowd of about 100 people. “With words, we can only go so far. With music, there’s something in it that really pulls peoples’ minds.”
When Berg is singing — no matter which character he is playing — he said he feels witness to something God has created.
“I hope that God will speak through me in these situations,” he said.
The purpose of the CCSCF is to look at the Christian faith intellectually, apply it to real life, and make learning about it open to the public.
“The opera world is a rather seedy and naughty kind of area of the arts, along with many others, so what’s it like to be a Christian, a pastor’s kid, living and working in that world?” Anderson said.
Growing up in Camrose, Alta. , with its large Lutheran population, Berg was often put on stage in front of his father Dan Berg’s congregation to perform. Lutheran theology places a strong emphasis on the honour of work, the grace and forgiveness of God, and the understanding that He will forgive even if one doesn’t measure up.
Berg knew early on that he wanted to be a classical singer, though he’d never actually seen one perform live and had no idea what the life would entail. So he put himself in situations where “God could open doors if He so saw fit.”
Those doors did indeed open. He studied in France and England, won a Juno in 2002, and has been nominated for three Grammys. He has travelled extensively to perform with some of the top opera companies and orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony.
While much of classical music is inspired by the Christian faith, giving Berg an extra layer of understanding, he often has to play characters that are less than pious, something he has to reconcile with.
He may portray sin boldly on stage — in his next role he plays an “unhinged, deranged, drugged-out, psychotic, Colombian drug lord” in an opera by French composer JeanPhilippe Rameau — but that is not a reflection of who he actually is.
As Martin Luther, the German friar whose principles the Lutheran faith is based on, once wrote in a letter: “God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ, who is the victor over sin, death and the world.”
For Berg, it is not an excuse to act badly on stage, but an opportunity to learn.
“Having to go through this process to figure out the reasons why somebody might act like this, it’s more of an understanding approach.
“That also comes from my background and I think it ends up being more of a real character on stage in the end,” Berg said.
He applies that introspection to real life, so when he meets someone who acts unusually, he tries to understand rather than judge.
Berg’s faith has provided him with peace and stability on the road, too.
“(My faith) has mostly given me tools to cope in this type of career. The career demands a lot of isola- tion. It seems romantic, but it’s actually very unstable and unsettling. To have stability behind me from my youth was a huge part of being able to survive fine on the road and do this sort of thing for such a long time.”
The FaithLife Lecture is the runup to the CCSCF’s third annual conference on the fine arts and the Christian faith March 21-22 at Concordia.