En The Guardian, el 14 de Febrero de 2003, Alan Blyth escribió:
JEROME HINES:
Operatic bass with a voice to match his stature
The American bass Jerome Hines, who has died aged 81, had a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan opera house, New York, singing a wide variety of roles with true consistency of voice and style. He appeared with the company for more than 40 years from 1946. An imposing figure - he was 6ft 6in tall - he had a voluminous bass to match his stature.
His charismatic presence made him ideal for the many roles demanding a big personality. It was thus hardly surprising that Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Gounod's Mephistopheles, the high priest Ramfis in Aida, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, Boris Godunov, and King Mark in Tristan Und Isolde were among his leading roles.
Although always faithful to the Met, Hines made many forays abroad. In 1953, he undertook Nick Shadow, with Glyndebourne, at the Edinburgh festival, in the first British performances of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. That led to engagements in leading houses in Europe and south America, and eventually to Bayreuth, where he sang Gurnemanz, King Mark and Wotan (1958-63).
I met him briefly when he sang his first Wotan there in 1960, under the sympathetic baton of Rudolf Kempe. In those days, audiences could mingle with the artists in a backstage sausage-and-beer bar. Hines proved typically American in his relaxed, laid-back attitude to life and art.
In 1958, he made his debut at La Scala, Milan, in the title part of Handel's Hercules, and, in 1961, he first appeared at the San Carlo in Naples, in the title role of Boito's Mefistofele. His Boris Godunov, at the Bolshoi in Moscow in 1962, was, by all accounts, a deeply impressive portrayal.
Born in Hollywood, Hines studied mathematics and chemistry at the University of California, while also taking vocal lessons. He made his professional debut at San Francisco Opera in 1941, singing Borsa in Rigoletto. He adapted his surname from Heinz to Hines to avoid the anti-German feeling prevalent during wartime.
He was fortunate to arrive at the Met just as the opera house was in need of replacements for the great Ezio Pinza, who had decided to appear in South Pacific. Unlike his distinguished predecessor, Hines could also sing the German and Russian repertory, in addition to Italian and French. In all, his innate musicianship stood him in good stead.
Most of his discs derived from live performances. They reveal a sterling voice, a refined style, consisting of a burnished tone, a fine line and exemplary diction, although he never seems to have have been a very profound interpreter.
Hines was both a deeply religious person and a good writer. He combined these qualities in his own opera, I Am The Way, a work about Jesus, performed, with Hines as the protagonist, at Philadelphia in 1969. The previous year, he had published his autobiography, This Is My Story, This Is My Song, but his most lasting volume was Great Singers On Great Singing (1982), in which he made discerning comments on the art of many colleagues.
Hines's later appearances befitted his advancing years: he was Arkel, the elderly grandfather in Pelléas et Mélisande (Rome, 1984), and the blind father in Mascagni's Iris (Newark, 1989). His last stage appearance was as Sarastro, in New Orleans in 1998, when he was 77.
Latterly, he was also a noted teacher; among his recent pupils was the Canadian bass John Relyea. His wife, Lucia Evangelista, predeceased him; he is survived by four sons.
· Jerome Albert Link Heinz (Hines), operatic bass, born November 8 1921; died February 4 2003
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