Marilyn's 'American Song Book Class' didn't match up to the morning session. She mostly heard a number of the Copeland 'Appalachian Songs'. Coaching one or two of these songs covers that idiom, it seems to me. Not going through the entire series. There are a number of more important songs that Copeland wrote: The Emily Dickinson Songs, for instance. And there are plenty of other American composers who write very well for the voice. One young man, an Asian Baritone, sang 'Ching-a-ring-a-ching-ching'. Not quite having mastered the American 'R', it came out Ching-a-ling-a-ching-ching, losing something in the translation. Marilyn's only suggestion to him was that he stand with his hand in his pocket while singing the song. How's that again?
She then listened to a rendition of Malotte's 'Lord's Prayer', which she had asked one of the singers to sing. This chestnut really does not belong in a Master Class at Julliard or anywhere else.
Christa, working with Brahms and Mahler was magnificent in her depth of knowledge about the idiom, but was dismayed by some of the female voices she was hearing and said several times, 'Where are the head voices??'. Beefy female sound was not what she was looking for in a German Lied but it was what she got. Most of the singers were from the Julliard School. One very good soprano, who was already singing with the New York City Opera Company, was the best of the bunch. The rest were only fair to middling, unfortunately.
In the class I just attended it seemed to be an older and wiser Marilyn Horne teaching from the Marilyn Horne of ten years ago. For one thing, much of the repertoire she heard was based on roles that she had sung, rather than the folkish Copeland songs of the previous class. Three Mezzos, two Sopranos, and a Tenor sang for her. The first to sing was a 27 year old Mezzo from Egypt. She has an excellent voice with very few problems and looks good on stage. My only quibble would be that the voice is often overly bright, becoming shrill in the top register. At first she seemed to be pushing the voice; what a friend of mine calls 'Can Belto' as opposed to 'Bel Canto'. She sang 'Il segreto per esser felici' from Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. This was a role Horne had sung and she was very helpful suggesting ornamentation on the repeat, which is typical for this period. Marilyn asked her to articulate fast turns with 'he-he-he-he-he', which I feel is unnecessary. One should be able to sing this kind of fioratura clearly without this 'H'. The only place I suggest this is when the singer has to sing staccato. Then I ask the singer to giggle. The voice will naturally produce a staccato effortlessly but not glottaly. Basically this woman needs to create more space with her inhalation. She spent a lot of time with this singer, which was too bad in a way, in that the singers who came at the end were rushed through a bit. Basically this young woman has the possibility of a career.
Next came another Mezzo who sang 'Sgombra è la sacra selva' from Bellini's Norma. This was an odd choice to sing for a Master Class. It is mostly recitativo and does nothing to show what the voice is capable of. This singer was sharp almost continuously with a real flutter in the sound. There was no connection to the breath. Marilyn finally said something about the pitch, but overall, it was not a pleasant voice to listen to.
Third was yet another Mezzo who sang 'Que fait tu, blanche tourterelle' from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. She sang a bit better than the previous singer. The first thing I wrote in my notes was 'Soprano??'. Marilyn eventually said, 'Have you ever thought that you might be a soprano?' (Great minds-same conclusion). I have a feeling that this tessitura is where this young woman would sing with more success. One reason I felt this way was that the bottom of this woman's range was very weak. The voice just didn't want to resonate below the passaggio very well. Marilyn said a couple of things that I really disagree with whole-heartedly. When the singer was singing 'doo' instead the the French du, Marilyn said 'Tighten your lips for the vowel'. Naughty! I ask my students to make a small hole for the sound to come through but never to tighten. This results in a very squeezed tone.
Fourth was a Soprano who sang 'Steal Me' from Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief. The tremolo in her voice was so out of control to be almost ludicrous. Here again what could one day be an attractive voice, was unconnected to the breath. She sang the final high 'Steal me' with a very raspy sound in several repetitions. I did not observe that she took a deep breath before those entrances. When one takes a shallow breath anywhere, but especially before a high note, the note is going to be pushed from the throat. This one was and was raspy each time she sang it.
The biggest problem with all three of these singers was that the all were operating on a high breath. Their pitch was unreliable, and they all had vicious tremolos. This kind of singing drives me crazy! It's like hearing a constant trill on every pitch and, of course, this is one reason their pitch is so unreliable. All three voices have potential. I'm not sure any of them could have a career, but with better training, especially in how to take a singing breath, they could sing much better, I'm sure.
This kind of trilly voice is difficult to sing a duet with because one never is sure where the center of the pitch lies. When Lorraine was singing the role of Didon in the Berlioz Les Troyens at the Met, she had to sing an extended duet with a Russian Mezzo who had a real 'flap' on her voice. Lorraine said she practically had to block off the ear nearest the other singer to maintain her own pitch. And Lorraine always sang right in the center of the pitch!
Then a 25 year old Tenor from Angola came on stage and blew us all away with his rendition of Tosti's 'Mattinata'. A little trite for a Master Class but who cared? This young man has a wonderful voice, musicianship, and I'm sure could have a career if he chooses. Marilyn was delighted, I'm sure, finally to have a real voice to work with! She spent a lot of time with him and he had an ovation at the end. He first sang the song down a half step from the original and took a high A for the top notes. His sound at the bottom was weak. Marilyn wisely suggested that he sing it in the original key of B Flat. This of course lifted the Tessitura exactly where it should be for the song. He was a little afraid of the high B Flat at first, but I could hear that that can be worked out with practice. It's called 'Fear of Flying'. It was a magnificent performance. Worth the whole afternoon. A well deserved ovation from the large audience! He was accepted at Curtis but is now studying at the Hartt School in Hartford. I'm sure his natural talent is enormous and I assume he has a very good teacher. I certainly hope so. This young man is a winner! His name is Nelson Ebo. Write that down!
The final singer was a Soprano who sang 'Ach, ich fühls' from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. This singer just had no line to the singing. Her high G's seldom found a place to sing, were off pitch and pinched and the little run in the middle of the piece was badly handled. Very lumpy. Energy was what was missing in this rendition. The performance was really unmusical.
One of my sophomore Soprano students at Smith sings an 'Ach ich fühls' that would break your heart it is so beautiful. So this is not an impossibility for a young singer. But you must have connection to the air and a very legato line in your phrasing.
The problem with the four women who did not sing very well was their method of breathing. Period! They all took high breaths throughout their arias. Two of them, having to enter on high notes, seemed to begin to sing with no breath taken at all. As a result, a pinched sound emerged. Marilyn did her best to get them emotionally and physically involved, but it will take more than one Master Class to make singers out of them. Until they learn how to 'breathe to sing' rather than to 'breathe to breathe', they will not sing well.The first woman to sing and the fabulous Tenor are the ones to keep our eyes on. There is very good vocal material there. With hard work with the right teacher they could both have careers. One more thing that Marilyn said to the Tenor bothered me. When singing above the male passaggio she said several times 'You must keep the passaggio closed' when singing above it, and made a fist to demonstrate. I can't imagine telling a man to do something like this at the top of his range. I'm not even sure what Marilyn meant by this statement, but she was adamant. This can make the person sound as if he is about to blow up! Tension is never good in the voice!
I was much more impressed with Marilyn's teaching than I was ten years ago. I'm sure that she has done a million Master Classes by now and has figured out how to do it. She comes packaged by her agent. This class began with a short film of Marilyn singing a drop-dead aria from L'Italiana in Algeri from many years ago. I'm glad I wasn't one of the Mezzos standing in the wings off stage waiting to sing while Marilyn took no prisoners on film. I probably would have slit my throat! Marilyn, in those days, was something else. She easily had a three octave range, all of which worked. She always sounded to me as if she were singing through a megaphone in certain areas of her voice. Her voice today still has that almost nasal sound; today she is more of a Tenor than a Mezzo. Her teacher was the great William Vennard in California, whose book on the voice is an encyclopedia for singers. He espoused this very front sound. She also worked with the great Lotte Lehmann in her native California.
It was interesting what happened with the woman who sang sharp most of the time. When Marilyn would demonstrate for her in her Tenor voice, she (Marilyn) went flat consistently. Compensating? At times the sound issuing forth was very loud and quite bizarre.
I like a well focused voice, but when it is pushed into the nose, even though it does not sound nasal, it gets on my nerves. In the old days, singers used to talk about covering the voice. As someone once said, if you have a nice voice, why cover it? I think this used to be a way to round out the sound of a very well-focused voice that the singer thought was too bright. My theory is that if one takes the correct inhalation, listening for the sound of 'aw' in the throat as the air goes down, the larynx relaxes naturally, the soft palette lifts naturally, and you have created the space for a focused warm round sound without sounding as if you were John the Baptist singing from Salome's well!
There was a packed house at St. Joseph College who were enthusiastic in their applause for all of these young singers. Marilyn did a good job at the helm. She sometimes talked too much about how she had sang various roles but, because she had done this, she was able to give a special insight to these young singers. I think one reason I liked her work so much better this time around was that she was working with greater music that she knew very well and had performed.
Personally, I have found it problematic to give what I call a 'Hit and Run' Master Class in which I hear six singers in two hours for twenty minutes each. I have usually never seen or heard the singers before and may never see or hear them again. I feel as if I'm giving each singer a glancing blow to the larynx, hoping it will produce something wonderful. I try to make comments to them that will be helpful, without confusing them. Since I will probably never have another chance to see or hear them again, I will never know if they understood what I was talking about or not. It is too easy to confuse a young singer in this type of class. One needs to be very careful that one doesn't make matters worse! I hate to send them off on a fool's errand.
I was one of fifty voice teachers from across the USA invited to attend a two-week series of Master Classes that Christa Ludwig gave at Carnegie Hall about ten years ago. It was a magical week, even though, as at Julliard, the singers were not all top quality. Christa was once more working on Brahms and Mahler. I remember one poor Soprano whose German she continually had to correct until she finally said, 'Well, you just don't speak German, do you?' That was the last we saw of that young lady. Christa's depth of knowledge of the music, of vocal technique, and of presentation was breath taking.
One of the best 'Hit and Run' Master Classes I ever attended was given by Gabriella Tucci, the famed operatic soprano of an earlier generation, at the Yale School of Music. One of my vocal students, a young Baritone, was getting his degree at Yale at that time. He came up to my home in Sandisfield from New Haven for his lessons. He invited me to come down to the Yale campus to attend the class with him. I have often taken a dim view of retired operatic Divas suddenly turning into voice teachers. But Gabriella was certainly the exception to the rule. She gave a fantastic class with clear illustrations and very practical ideas about technique and interpretation. I was impressed! And she could still sing!
Finally, what to my way of thinking is the ideal type of Master Class, is the sort of thing that the legendary Phyllis Curtin has taught at Tanglewood for many years. In this setting, Phyllis works with the same group of singers several times a week for the entire summer. She shares her experience as an opera singer, a song recitalist, and her many years of teaching, with young singers who come from all over the world to work with her. I have attended a number of her classes over the years. Last summer I went to one of the sessions with a friend who was visiting from Boston. It is obvious that Phyllis still has the same enthusiasm and incredible energy that has powered these classes for so many years. There are other vocal coaches at Tanglewood, but Phyllis is the sine qua non! Many of my students have participated in her classes over the years.
Phyllis and I see each other once in a great while, and exchange emails from time to time. We often do the same sort of thing I used to do with our mutual teacher, Olga Averino; we talk singing. What else is there to talk about?
