For crying out loud!

Talk about 'full-throated singing!' Tonight the Chicago Lyric Opera put on a tour de force' production of Verdi's Il Trovatore. And I do mean FORCE.

The entire cast had vocal pipes that could be heard in Kankakee. There were some excellent voices with some problems in several cases.

The best is my opinion was Yonghoon Lee, tenor, as Manrico. This is a superb voice which was beautifully used. He sings with great flexibility and incredible shading but can still deliver the dramatic high note in spades whenever needed. This is a tenor to watch.



Amber Wagner as Leonora has a rich Dramatico Spinto voice of large proportions. Her acting leaves something to be desired. At times she just didn't seem to know what to do. Several of her high notes were pushed beyond the point of any return to say nothing of beyond the point of beauty. She wisely left out a couple of climactic high notes that I have heard other sopranos take and to which I was looking forward. One high note could almost be called a scream.



I was expecting more from Stephanie Blythe as Azucena than I heard. Not more volume. I heard her just fine. Hers was the largest and loudest voice on the stage but she just didn't seem warmed up enough for 'Stride la vampa' early on. Much of the high work was flat. Later on she seemed to get into gear and produce some better singing but I thought she was disappointing at the end of the opera when she tells Count di Luna that he has just killed his brother. The ending lost drama in the way it was staged.


Quinn Kelsey as the Count di Luna sang very well throughout and was able to match the other voices in the ensemble numbers; the last act trio, for instance.

Andrea Silvestrelli has a very impressive bass voice which sometimes sounds as if the voice had him rather than he having the voice.

J'Nai Bridges sang well in the role of Inez with a fine sounding mezzo voice.

All in all it was an exciting evening. Of course with this opera it's hard not to have an exciting evening, but Chicago Lyric put on a good production with an imaginative set and good lighting.

And then, of course, there was the 'Anvil Chorus' with several hunky choristers beating on anvils. Not too bad!


 

Breathe deeply

A long-time student of mine recently gave me a 'Shout-Out' on Facebook. It was a very flattering opinion of my work as a teacher of voice over the last 64 years. My, that's a long time!

He called me 'A brave soldier in the fight against vocal ignorance'. I guess that maybe he is correct. I like to teach singers who do smart things.



Throughout my teaching career I have tried to make singing easy, comfortable, musical, emotional, fun for all of my students. Sometimes I have even succeeded! 

I have been amazed at how many professional singers have come to me with vocal problems that we have been able to solve simply by teaching them how to take and use a 'Singing Breath'. There is no great mystery to this; but so many singers seem to avoid doing it correctly that it puzzles me.

Without this kind of breath, you may just as well forget good singing.

The longer I teach, the more simply I teach. I have been known to say that I am like a gardener; I weed voices, throwing away the things that don't work and trying to plant ideas that do.

I have heard horror stories from students of past vocal lessons they have taken with other teachers that leave me breathless. I can't imagine how anyone can sing going through all of these un-necessary vocal and physical gyrations. I try to give students a sure-fire, easy method of 'singing breathing' that always works.

The exercise is this:
1. Blow out all your air.
2. Inhale, listening to the sound the air makes as it passes down your throat. It should sound like 'aw'.
3. Immediately blow some air out using an 'H'. This is what I call the 'Bernoulli Action'.
4. On this moving column of air, sing a vowel.

It will automatically release the sound freely and focus perfectly without you getting in the way.

This is always lesson #1 in my studio.

Try it. You may like it!

Once you make this a habit, a muscle memory, you can add notes, words, drama, emotion, what ever you wish and you are singing beautifully and freely. 'Art is the emotion expressed on the technique.'

It is at this point that you can follow my dictum:
'Just sing the damned song!!'

Thank you Julian!

 It's so nice to have smart 'cellist friends. This answers the questions I posed in yesterday's blog. Thank you Julian Muller! You are the best! Here is his email to me:

Julian Muller

Dear Herb,

I read your blog post and a few things come to mind. I think that the lack of vibrato could be part of the intonation problems. In regards to the pitch sounding flat I not not sure whether they used Baroque tuning. Modern tuning is A at 440-442 and there is an average consensus in Baroque ensembles who try and adhere to certain performance practice of the baroque time period that the A is around 415. I am not sure whether they did this in the concert you went to or not. In regards to the squeaks etc. That probably just comes from slightly improper technique. They were most likely using baroque instruments, which use gut strings and these are very difficult to play on and to project a big sound. In our modern era we have emphasized a bigger sound with our modern instruments and steel strings and I think this mentality may subconsciously enter into baroque playing at times. These instruments are very difficult to play and the touch of the left hand on the strings has to be very light as well, so these could be issues for intonation and pure sound. I hope this answers some of your questions, its kind of difficult for me to assess the extent of your questions without hearing the concert itself but I hope this clears some things up!

All the best,

Julian

Go for Baroque

This afternoon I heard an interesting concert of Baroque 'cello music in the wonderful Music Barn that David and Dominique Low have erected on their estate in Norfolk, CT.

The concert was performed by students of Phoebe Carrai,who teaches at the Juilliard School and at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.





The performers were Ms. Carrai,Oliver Weston, Sarah Stone, Dara Bloom, Alexander Nichols, and Caroline Nicolas. They are certainly a talented young group of musicians en route to careers in Baroque music.

The undoubted star of the afternoon was harpsichordist Kristian Bezuidenbout, an incredibly gifted musician whose playing has the sensitivity, musicianship, and technical facility of my own harpsichord teacher, Gustav Leonhardt, who was called by one music critic "The greatest keyboard player in the world'. Any keyboard! Mr. Bezuidenbout is right up there with Gustav!



Mr. Bezuidenbout played the  E Minor Set of Louis Couperin and the fiendishly difficult Toccata in D Minor for harpsichord by J.S, Bach. His playing left me, and most of the audience breathless.

The fine harpsichord used today was on loan from my friend Carl Dudash, who builds these instruments iin his workshop in Norfolk.

The rest of the program included works by Domenico Gabrielli, Francesco Gemminiani, and Josef Myslivecek.

All of the players performed with musicality and assurance.

I have a few questions about Baroque 'cello technique. I have performed with several fine 'cellists and viola da gambists. I'm sure the technique is different with each instrument and for the period from which one is choosing the repertoire. I am not sure how to explain the squeaks and brief high pitches, that I occasionally heard, that had nothing to do with the composition being played. The high pitches sounded like unintentional harmonics, where the finger is not fully depressed on the string. Occasionally I was bothered with intonation, which I know can be tricky on any 'cello. I chalk this up to the fact that the Baroque 'cello is played with little or no vibrato. As with early music singers who sing without vibrato, this can cause the pitch to sound flat. Also it was chilly in the room so cold fingers could have something to do with this.

I'm only guessing at this since I do not play the 'cello myself, but having performed with Scott Kluksdahl (who is one of the teachers of today's Oliver Weston') and with the wonderful Julian Muller (who is a part of the Ferris Burtis Foundation), these extraneous sounds need an explanation.

I've already written to Julian about this.

Thanks to the Lows for bringing music like this to their wonderful concert hall in the Litchfield Hills! 

With friends like this....

Last night Ellen, Barbara, David and I saw Barrington Stage's production of Arthur Miller's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. I can't remember if I saw the 1950 presentation of this but I know I read the Ibsen play at some time.
Arthur Miller
Ibsen wrote the play in 1882. It concerns a town in Norway where the town doctor discovers that the 'healing springs', that attract crowds of sick people to the area, have been polluted by the waste from a factory owned by his wife's father. He plans to publish an article in the local paper about this and the fact that the waters are toxic. This would potentially make a huge difference in the town's prosperity which relies heavily on ill people coming for the waters. At first he has support from the editors of the local newspaper, but as time goes by they, and everyone else in the town turn against him and try to make him write that he was mistaken about the poisoning of the waters so the business of the town will not be affected. In the end he and his family are ostracized, with stones being thrown through  their windows and death threats.
Henrik Ibsen

In Arthur Miller's 1950 adaptation, as presented last night, I found myself strangely unable to feel involved in the drama. The original cast included the likes of Frederick March, Florence Eldrige, and Rod Steiger. That's a pretty strong set of actors to follow.

I think Miller should have left the time period of the play where Ibsen put it; in the 1880's. It is very difficult to change periods with certain theatre works and make them viable. I remember a production of Carmen where Lorraine sang the title role where the smugglers in Act 2 were a motorcycle gang in black leather jackets. It didn't work either.

Last night's cast, directed by Julianne Boyd, attempted to wring every drop of drama out of Miller's work, but, for me at least, I could not feel involved.

Characters

This afternoon I saw a delightfully whimsical one man show entitled Character Man, written and acted by Jim Brochu.

Having seen Mr. Brochu do his show Zero Hour, based on the life and art of Zero Mostel, and doing it to the nines, I pretty much knew I was in for an interesting afternoon at Barrington Stage 2.

I was not disappointed. 

Mr. Brochu grew up selling Orange Ade in the backs of Broadway theatres while getting to know many actors who were, as the title suggests, 'Character Men'. Some years ago a vocal student of mine in New Jersey who was getting started in the theatre world of New York City told me that he was advised 'Wait until you're 40. You are a character actor. That's when you will come into your own.' He has been teaching theatre in a high school in the south for many years and acting, as a character man, I'm sure, every chance he gets.

This is the same thing Mr. Brochu was told. Wait until you're 40.

In the meantime he had the opportunity to meet many actors including some great character men. Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Sid Silvers, Jimmy Cagney, to mention a few. He had some great quotes from some of the greats: Bert Lahr, on entering the Player's Club and being asked 'How are you today, Burt?' Burt answered 'Talented!'

Mr. Brochu's father, a very handsome man, who was on Wall street, dated Joan Crawford for several years. Mr. Brochu and others encouraged them to get married.  'What could be nicer than having Joan Crawford for your mother?' he asked (with a wink).

Mr. Brochu has played a number of character men on the stage including the Cyril Ritchard role of Sir in The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd. he was the winner of the New York Drama Critic's Award, the Helen Hayes Award, the Los Angeles Ovation Award, the Carbonell Award for 'Best Actor in a Play' for his performances in Zero Hour. 

I must say it sometimes brought tears to my eyes as he spoke about these many wonderful actors, all of whom I had seen on Broadway in the days when I saw everything that was playing there. Theatrically, those were the good old days!

Good show!