Opera singers could be the next professionals to be hit by doping scandals, Italian insiders have said, confirming reports in the European media that singers are turning to drugs to deal with the demands of the job.
The highbrow world of opera is rarely grouped with the world of sports but its stars are subject to the same pressures, according to one of Italy's top managers.
Angelo Gabrielli, who has handled a string of internationally renowned stars, said revelations by German tenor Endrik Wottrich, reported in Germany and the UK, were true.
"There are many singers that resort to drugs or even operations - a kind of facelift for the vocal chords - in order to deal with the hectic pace of the job," said Gabrielli.
"New generations of managers tend to squeeze everything they can get out of their singers, making them perform as much as possible and subjecting them to incredibly demanding feats.
"Artists therefore become famous, known even among people who aren't involved in the field - but in the end they pay the price artistically and with their career, which only lasts for a few years".
In an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also covered by Britain's The Observer, Wottrich said singers were being treated like machines and prostitutes, and compared their managers to locusts.
He claimed singers frequently resorted to cortisone or betablockers in order to cope with the superhuman demands that were placed on them.
He also said some artists turned to the bottle to deal with the stress, while others had opted for plastic surgery to enhance their careers.
"The comparison between opera and cycling is not so off the wall," the Wagnerian tenor added. "The real fear is no longer good old-fashioned stage fright, but comes from this completely new dimension that has forced its way into opera ... managers who have a locust-like approach to their singers, knowing that a voice can earn millions within just a few years," he said.
Gabrielli was not the only Italian to confirm the pressures and problems faced by singers.
A Florentine media lawyer, Michele Lai, said he was representing a singer in a case against an opera foundation in the Tuscan city.
The artist claims the company forced him to perform continually by refusing to provide him with a substitute. When a doctor ordered him to rest his voice after developing problems, the company allegedly demanded he take cortisone.
His problems deteriorated into laryngitis, he claims, which resulted in him being sacked. He also says he suffered permanent damage to his voice as a result of the drugs.
But the head of another Italian opera organization said the picture wasn't as bleak as some were making out.
"It's true that a very small number of singers use drugs or turn to the bottle to cope with stress," said Franco Moretti, Director General of the Puccini Festival Foundation. "But there are far more excellent artists who, despite the stress, know such behaviour is counterproductive".
