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I am just back in Chicago after a wonderful month in Spain. While I was there I got this email from a friend in Holland who has been reading some of my books. I thought that I would answer him in this way in the event that others would be interested in what I have to say.
Here is his email to me:
'Dear Herbert Burtis,
As a present i, again, got a cd of Lorraine Hunt
Lieberson, how wonderfull. I always am amazed by her vocal ease. As you were
her teacher what, besides being an exceptional musician, was it she did? Was
it a technical feature? Did she do everything you write about singing right?
What were her strongpoints and did she have any weakness?
Maybe a nice
idea for a post.
Your aw-breath has done wonders for my singing, thank
you for that.
Greetings,
Robert'
It has been nearly ten years since Lorraine died. July 3, 2006. She had been ill for a long time with the affects of cancer but kept singing wonderfully right up to the last few months of her life. I heard her sing The Neruda Songs by Peter Lieberson, her husband (who died several years after she did) in March 2006 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Somehow, she was able, although in poor health, to bring everything together in the performance, as she always did. It was wonderful to hear her sing these magnificent songs, written for her by her husband, who loved her beyond belief. I believe her very last performance was the Mahler Second Symphony with the Chicago Symphony.
To answer Robert's questions-
1. Yes, she was an amazing musician. In every way. She had also been a professional violist before her singing career took over her life. She said that at one point her viola was stolen and she took that as a sign she'd better stick to singing.
2. Technically she learned to use her amazing instrument with great ease and, of course, incredible musicianship. When she started working with me, twenty years before her death, she had been having trouble with high notes. At that point she was being billed as 'Soprano-Mezzo-Soprano' by Colbert, her then agent. Most of the soprano roles she sang were in Baroque music and were sung at low pitch. After we had worked together for several years, she had to sing a Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony; the soprano role. Singing with her in that performance was Nathaniel Watson, who had sent her to study with me. Nat has also worked with me for many years and has a busy career as a baritone in Canada and the USA. This performance was to be performed at modern pitch, which is almost a half step higher than Baroque pitch. We spent a lot of time working on it so that she could perform it with ease. I did not hear the performance, but she was unhappy with the way it went and Nat agreed that she was not at her best. Shortly after that we had a talk and I told her 'I think you need to decide what you are. I think you are a Mezzo.' She replied 'So do I!'. And that was that. As she matured her voice became larger and darker while still retaining the high C. It was after that time she had her greatest successes.
3. As far as doing everything I have written about, I guess she did. In lessons if she was having a problem, we would stop and I would suggest an easier way to sing the passage. If my first suggestion didn't work, we'd try another one. Once the problem was solved, she would repeat the new method many times in a row immediately. Later, when hearing her sing the passage in a performance, she would sing it exactly the same way. In this way any weakness she was exhibiting would be corrected. She had the ability to try a new technique, a new way of singing something, and make it her own.
As far as I am concerned, there is no other mezzo-soprano of the current generation who can compare to her.
But I may be prejudiced.
This evening David and I heard a lovely program of music for Chorus and Brass presented by Music of the Baroque, directed by William Jon Gray. Mr Gray is the regular conductor of the group and prepares the chorus for appearances by our favorite conductor in the world, Jane Glover. Mr. Gray is no slouch! He conducted a varied program with energy and sensitivity in the wonderful space of St. Michael's Church in Old Town, Chicago.
The chorus sounded fine; much better than at last year's holiday concert under a different conductor. Mr. Gray and Ms. Glover apparently agree on the sort of sound a choir should make.
There was also en excellent brass ensemble, a wonderful 'cellist, Barbara Haffner, and a fine organist, Mark Shuldiner. Vocal solos were taken by members of the chorus. I especially liked the work of baritone Kevin Keys.
The repertoire ranged from the likes of Gabrieli, Victorio, and Monteverdi to Jean Berger and Tarik O'Regan (whose work I especially liked).
It was a fine concert in a wonderful room, both visually and acoustically.
This afternoon David and I attended an Advent Vespers service at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. We actually thought it was going to be a concert by the Chicago Chorale, and they were represented by a group of 12 singers who sang very well in a few pieces. They were basically appearing as the church choir.
Most of the singing, however, was performed by the monks of the Abbey. They performed the service, singing plainchant in Latin. I had thought that after Vatican II, most English speaking Catholic churches used English for the services. However...
The monks sang very nicely, processing with incense, wandering all about the church.
Tomas Luis de Victoria
The small group from the Chicago Choral, about 6 men and 6 women, sang very well choral music of Tomas Luis de Victoria. The conductor is Bruce Tammen. Mr. Tammen has an unusual technique of conducting this type of music. Everything is a downbeat.
All in all it was an interesting experience.
This afternoon David and I heard a program presented by the Fourth Coast Ensemble, Karen Ann Bacon, soprano, Bridget Skaggs, mezzo-soprano, Zachary Vanderburg, tenor, Reuben I. Lillie, baritone, Luciano Laurentiu, piano and organ, Stephanie Bouwsma and Maria Storm, violins, and Jennifer Ruggieri, harp.
Karen Ann Bacon
Bridget Skaggs
The program loosely followed the various sections of the Magnificat, with compositions from composers as different as Georg Philipp Telemann to Samuel Barber with various degrees of success.
Zachary Vanderburg
Mr. Lillie has a fine baritone voice with a good, easy top. He has excellent diction. The other singers had basically good voices with areas that could stand improvement. They used music for the most part of the program, which places a barrier between the singer and the audience. The program would have a more professional feel with a memorized presentation.
Mr. Laurentiu was an excellent pianist but had less success at the organ. Ms. Ruggieri was excellent in her harp work and the violinists were fine in their part of the program.
Reuben Lillie
Two of the singers are soloists in the choir of St. Paul and the Redeemer Church, where David also sings.
We visited Christkindlmarkt right across the street from the Chicago Temple, where the concert was held. Did a bit of Christmas shopping in this German-traditional marketplace. A chilly interesting afternoon.
Finished with a wonderful pizza and salad at Giordano's. Talk about an international day!
Well- I can tell you one thing for sure:Eric Owens has one hell of a bass voice! And I mean that in the most complimentary way. Tonight at the Chicago Lyric Opera's performance of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, he made William Warfield look like a piker.
Eric Owens
I heard Warfield, along with Leontyne Price and Cab Callaway in the 1953 revival of the opera in New York City way back when. That's a hard act to follow.
His strong, clear voice, along with excellent diction, and strong dramatic presence, made his performance one I will long remember.
The rest of the cast was very strong both vocally and dramatically. Bess, sung by Adina Aaron, was sung with beautiful tone but poor diction. She seemed bent on coloring vowels in a way that kept you wondering what word she was trying to say.But the sound was lovely and she is a good actress. No Leontyne Price, but then, who is?
Adina Aarons
Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi as Clara, Norman Garrett as Jake, Karen Slack as Serena, Eric Greene as Crown, and especially Gwendolyn Brown as Maria were all excellent. Several chorus sopranos who had solo lines sounded glorious.
The one exception was Jermaine Smith as Sportin' Life. Not only was there not enough voice present in most of the range, he took such liberties with 'It ain't necessarily so' that were vulgar and out of character, that it ruined that number for me. Cab Callaway, all those years ago, sang the socks off this role.
One dramatic touch that was missed here, that I saw in the 1953 production, was at the end, when Bess has gone off to New York with Sportin' Life, and Porgy say he's going to New York to find her. In the earlier production he says 'Bring me my goat!', and a little goat is brought on stage attached to a wagon. He sets off to New York on his knees behind the goat. I always have to cry at that moment.
(In the original productions, Porgy spends the whole opera on his knees on a little wheeled platform that allows him to get around.)
In this production he was on a crutch the whole time, and at the climactic moment said 'Bring me my crutch', and sets out to walk to New York.
I missed the goat!
Ward Stare led the fine orchestra, always keeping a good balance with the singers, which seems to be a CLO thing. I think partly because part of the orchestra pit may be below the stage as in Weimar, which would make the difference.
A very imaginative set by Peter J. Davidson, good costumes by Paul Tazewell, and lighting by Mark McCollough made the production come alive.
The fine chorus, prepared by Michael Black was sensational in the magnificent choral moments.
It was a glorious evening! And that Eric Owens can sing for me any time!!
I must confess that tonight I spent from about 7:30 to 10:30 just watching Jane Glover conduct. From her amazing fingers, arms and body emerged the mighty Christmas Oratorio of J.S. Bach. She has an electric connection to the splendid chorus and orchestra of Music of the Baroque that is unequaled in my experience. A flick of a finger or a sweep of an arm brings forth wonderful sound. She is the best!
Barbara Butler, the co-principal trumpet nearly stole the show in the pieces she was involved in, tossing off mind-boggling passages with ease. The continuo players and the entire orchestra were top notch.
Of the vocal soloists I felt that Roderick Williams, the baritone was the best. He sang with a lovely sound and with great ease. Paul Agnew, the tenor, was fine in the recitative passages, with his voice able to go to voix mixe and falsetto easily. He was less successful in the arias.
The mezzo, Krisztina Szabo, has a fine voice but needs to find her bottom range, which was mostly not there.
The soprano of Yulia Van Doren troubles me. It is just not a very well organized voice. She was practically inaudible in duets and trios, a bit better in her solo pieces, but with a tendency to yelp high notes.
But the kudos of the night go to Jane Glover. She will be conducting Britten's War Requiem at the Berkshire Choral festival next summer. I look forward to hearing that performance.
I have never conducted this work but I have prepared soloists for a number of performances. In the 1950's I worked with Pamela Munson on the mezzo solos. She went to the Metropolitan Opera at that same time. My first Met singer.
Recently I worked on the bass soli with Nathaniel Watson, who is performing the work in Montreal.
So I have a vested interest in how the solos are sung.
Tonight David and I saw an exciting production of Pericles, ostensibly by William Shakespeare, at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Probably Will wrote only the last part of the work and the rest may have been written by George Wilkins. The director was David H. Bell, who brought a lot of excitement and energy to the production, including energetic dancing and acrobatics as well as a fine cast who performed with all sorts of excitement.
The costumes, set and lighting were all excellent by Nan Cibula-Jenkins, Scott Davis, and Jesse Klug. The excellent cast was led by Ben Carlson as Pericles. The rest of the very large cast often played more than one role and were superb.
Ben Carlson
I'm not a Shakespeare expert, but I agree with Wikipedia that the first part of the play was weaker writing than the second part, which is more apt to be Shakespeare.
I had never heard of this play until now and was surprised how well it came off.
We followed it by a fabulous dinner at Rive, also on Navy Pier, where I had Dover Sole that was out of this world.
A perfect Chicago evening!
