(Photo: Norman Lebrecht)
"He was an old-fashioned music-biz rogue who came out of the motor industry and knew all the tricks of the trade. Many felt the lash of his tongue and the backlash of his covert manoeuvres. Some – I could name a few – never forgave him. But he fought like a tiger for his artists and he very rarely promoted a dud. Herb knew voice better than almost any agent I have ever known. Unlike some of his rivals, he tried to put the art first." – Norman Lebrecht
When I learned that Herbert Breslin died last week while traveling in France at the age of 87, I felt a true twinge of wistfulness, which might be hard to comprehend for all those who had learned to despise the irascible, foul-mouthed manager/PR agent. In another lifetime – long before I started this little venture – Herbert gave me my first job out of college, writing press releases and setting up interviews for a slew of B-level opera singers. He was tough but fair, and always took the time to show me the tricks of his trade. Not to mention he paid more than most of my friends were making at the time.
The job entailed more than a few headspinning moments, such as the time Alicia de la Roccha came to visit the office, stomping around in her 4 '8 frame. Or the dozens of times Herbert called up former Met Opera General Manager Joseph Volpe (I'll never forget the way he'd say "Vooool-PAY") to harangue him about something or other. Or the time Herbert instructed me to deliver a package to Pavarotti at his pied-a-terre in the Hampshire House, on the eve of opening night at the Met.
Suffice to say, I didn't last long in Herbert's world, but it was a wild, fun ride, and had more than my share of laughs in that small office on W. 57th St, listening to all of the stories Hans Boon and Merle Hubbard would tell whenever Herbert was out of the office (which was often.) I only wish I'd appreciated it more at the time.
I'll leave the last word to Washington Post critic Anne Midgette, who co-authored Herbert's 2004 tell-all The King and I and whose own working relationship with Herbert seemed to mirror my own:
"Working with Herbert was by turns perplexing, frustrating, and a lot of fun. He was exasperating, smart, funny, filled with opera lore, deliberately irreverent. He tended to shoot from the hip, thinking out loud, throwing out ridiculous ideas as if they were brilliant inspirations, then losing interest in mid-sentence and jumping ahead to the next thought. He donned a role for his job and played it to the hilt, with a lot of glee and gusto."