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David and I have been kept busy this weekend keeping up with concerts by two of my vocal students in two states other than Massachusetts.
Friday night we drove to Middletown, CT to hear Kate Callahan sing the role of Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème. She did a splendid job with the Connecticut Lyric Opera Company. Most of the other members of the cast sang well, especially Luke Scott, baritone, as Marcello.
I would have to quibble with some of the staging. Too much of the time the singers were placed at the rear of the stage making it difficult to hear them over the orchestra, which was too loud throughout the performance. The orchestra actually played very well indeed, but covered the singing much of the time, allowing only high notes to be heard over the orchestral sound.
Today, Saturday, we drove to Barrytown, New York, over a very scenic route, to hear Nat Watson sing A Bach Winterreise, a program of arias for baritone, 'cello and organ. The very fine 'cellist was Christine Gummere, who was principle 'cellist of the Riverside Symphony for 19 years and founder of Sinfonia New York. The excellent organist was John Scott, organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas church in New York City and former assistant Organist at Southwark and St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Nat sang with his usual bravura in difficult arias taken from various Bach cantatas. His resonant voice filled the charming St. John's Episcopal Church in Barrytown.
It was great weekend, capped by a marvelous dinner of soft shell crabs at The Woodland Restaurant in Lakeville, CT on our way home.
Yum!
On Sunday afternoon, May 24th, the Ferris Burtis Music Foundation presented a benefit concert at the Sandisfield Arts Center in Sandisfield, MA.
Julian Müller, 'cellist, Justina Golden, mezzo-soprano,
Balint Zsoldos, pianist and myself were the performers. It was a brilliant afternoon of great music.
Julian and Balint played works by Dvorak and Brahms. Julian played a series of pieces for solo 'cello by John Harbison.
Justina sang the Rückert Lieder of Mahler and with Julian at the 'cello and me at the piano, Zwei Gesänge of Brahms.
Julian has been the recipient of financial aid from the Ferris Burtis Music Foundation throughout his work on a bachelor's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He graduated from this institution this spring and will attend Mannes School of Music in New York City this fall to work on his Master's degree.
Justina is a vocal student of Herbert Burtis and has her own vocal studio in Florence, Ma. She was recently soloist in Mendelssohn's Elijah at Smith College as well at a performance of German Lieder at Amherst College.
The Ferris Burtis Music Foundation has as its aim the support of talented young classical musicians in their education and careers. It welcomes tax-free gifts to help in its work in this area. If you wish to make a gift to the Foundation, you may send your check, made out to Ferris Burtis Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Foundation, 800 North Main, Sheffield, MA 01257.
http://ferrisburtisfoundation.blogspot.com
I am thinking of asking the House of Representatives of the United States of America to pass a bill in the interest of vocal sanity- mine, at any rate- limiting the number of wobbles per pitch that an opera singer can employ so that pitch itself becomes a moot point, the sound is loud and shrill, and I begin heading for the back door of the hall.
The Senate
Oh! I forgot! The House doesn't pass bills anymore, does it?
Then maybe I can fly my Gyro copter onto the lawn of the Senate, loaded with requests from other wobble-weary voice teachers, demanding that the members take action. This really should come before the Committee on Terrorism, I think.
It sure scares the Hell out of me.
Where can I get a Gyro copter?
Or I could scale the fence around the
White House and walk right in the front door, which apparently is always left open in a welcoming manner, and go directly to see President Obama. He doesn't have much else on his plate at the moment.
But I'm not sure this is worth going to Federal Prison to accomplish.
What brought this tirade on was my driving home from Winsted listening to the 1:00 p.m opera broadcast. Actually a re-broadcast of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovitch. It's a wonderful opera by a great composer. All the voices were large enough and good enough to sing these demanding roles, but most of them (who shall remain nameless, to protect the guilty) were pushing their voices beyond all reason to sound 1.Louder? 2.More Dramatic 3. Wobblier?
I choose #3.
(I feel the same way, Dmitri!)
A wobble is a psychotic sound that needs therapy- Freudian or 'take your pick'. But it is not a natural occurrence in any one's neck- or shouldn't be.
Every voice has a vibrato. This is a perfectly natural event that occurs in singing as the air passes through the vocal cords and the muscles (involuntary for the most part) move to operate the cords to produce the desired pitch.
Each human voice has its own amount of movement during this event. Some voices have almost no vibrato. I'm not talking about the singers who purposely constrain the muscles of the neck to straighten the tone for effect, but of a light voice whose vibrato, like the rest of this type of voice is delicate.
Other voices have other amounts of vibrato. Usually the larger a voice the greater the vibrato, the higher one sings, the more vibrato may naturally occur, etc.
A wobble is a vibrato that has been pushed out of control. It blurs the pitch, pushes the sound into often unattractive places, and basically distorts what is supposed to be going on- which is MUSIC.
Oh yes! That's what we're trying to produce- MUSIC! The music suffers when wobble walks in the door- or into the throat, in this case.
Well...... No House resolution, no Gyro copter, no chat with Barach- What's voice teacher to do.
I think I'm taking too much Prednisone!
(*'I wonder as I wobble' is a chapter heading from my book Sing On! Sing On!, published by ECSchirmer, Boston, MA)
I have been infested this past week with bronchitis, sinusitis, and asthma; a happy trio that is a part of my COPD: Crappy Old Pulmonary-itis. Dammit!
Spending nights half sitting up in my trusty recliner in order to breath, while wheezing, with sounds in my bronchi as if I were gargling Lake Erie at its worst, deep coughs, which make my abdominal muscles feel as though someone were punching me, and gasping from having no time to get a really good inhalation because so much of my air and energy is being expended in an outward trajectory, I have realized all over again the importance of good breathing in singing.
Singing?
Who said anything about singing?
It proved to me, as I have taught for years, that air is our energy, both for singing and just plain old fashioned living.Without the ability to move air in and out of our bodies efficiently, we are dead, either vocally or in reality.
Guidelines for lady singers:
1. Give up the corseted strapless gowns when you are performing. I don't mean sing in the nude, though you would probably sell more tickets; just get a flowing gown and leave the high heels in your suitcase.
The corseted dresses pinch your upper body and waistline making it impossible to take a deep breath. Remember the rule for a deep breath is 'The belly button needs to move out when you inhale!'
The high heels throw your butt out in the rear and put your body into a tense situation. Most men don't wear high heels (Maybe some very short tenors) or corsets, although Beniamino Gigli apparently wore one, so for the most part this doesn't apply to men. I'll have another post for helpful hints for the male variety of singers coming up.
You can see the weird things I think about while gasping for air.
Thanks to my PA, I am on a good
course of meds and using my nebulizer, which has made all the difference in my health.
General health and healthy singing are all a part of the same way of life.
Do it!
(I am pictured in my Chicago Studio)
Two concerts. One Sunday, one Monday.
Two conductors: two very different results.
Yesterday we heard the St.Matthew Passion. The main point the conductor seemed to be making was a sharp downbeat, no matter what was going on musically. As a result, several times the ensemble got away from him. He also tended to push tempi, which added to the confusion. It was a disappointment.
Today- two words- Jane Glover!
This woman is a magician. Her every movement tells her troops what the music is about and they respond with glee.
Tonight, at Music of the Baroque, she led the orchestra in an incredible performance of Mozart's Symphony #31 and Haydn's Symphony # 103. They were each performed in a way I think the composers would applaud. Brilliantly. Every musical nuance was realized by the orchestra. Every motion she makes has its own musical meaning, which they get.
She also led them, along with the brilliant English pianist Imogen Cooper, who has the same musical approach to performance as Ms. Glover, in Beethoven's Piano Concerto # 2. She has technique to burn and a great emotional connection to the work.
It was a breath-taking way to end my winter sojourn in Chicago. Tomorrow I fly back to Rood Hill Farm and snow, I fear.
It's been a great winter!
This afternoon David and I heard the Chicago Chorale perform Bach's St. Matthew Passion. The performance was at Rockefeller Chapel at Chicago University, just down the road from our condo.The Chorale has a very good sound and the soloists had various measures of success in their performances.
Steven Soph
Stephen Soph was a wonderful Evangelist, singing beautifully throughout the recitatives as well as the tenor arias. Not many Evangelists can do the arias as well as he did them.
Gerard Sundberg
Equally good was the Jesus of Gerard Sundberg, singing with a rich free sound throughout. Both he and Soph sang as if they were living the text.
Angela Young Smucker
Mezzo-soprano Angela Young Smucker sang with beautiful tone and rich phrasing.
Ellen Hargis
The soprano, Ellen Hargis, was the most problematic of the soloists, having a lovely upper register and practically nothing in the middle voice. Someday I may write a book on finding the middle voice for sopranos....Oh. that's right, I already did that. *
Bruce Tammen
The bass soloist was Ryan De Ryke, who sang with a vibrant voice. He needs to learn how to go from his upper range into his lower range.
Ryan De Ryke
The conductor, Bruce Tammen, is a puzzle to me. He prepares a wonderful chorus but conducts in a way that makes me wonder what he is thinking. He seems to favor heavy downbeats, whatever else is going on musically. Part of the problem today was that he stood behind a very high music stand which blocked most of his movement from the chorus and orchestra.
It is a wonderful work which I have performed and was a bit disappointed in today's performance.
* Sing On! Sing On! EC Schirmer, Boston, MA.
Tonight David and I had a joint Birthday celebration; mine in two days and his next month.
We started by wandering through the Chicago Garden Show on Navy Pier, which I thought was underwhelming. Then on to a Dover Sole dinner at Riva, also on the pier, which was definitely overwhelming!!
Then to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre to see Dunsinane, a play by David Greig, which pretends to be a sequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Well, Mr. Greig is no Shakespeare. Dunsinane takes place after Macbeth's death, leaving lady Macbeth, now called Gruach, as Queen of Scotland. The British are anxious to have her marry Malcom, their choice for King, whom she would rather not marry. The action involves a lot of bloodshed with the Brits killing as many Scots as possible including Gruach's son, the next in line for the throne. Siward, the commander of the British forces falls in love with Gruach but his love is not returned. She finally escapes to a remote part of Scotland where he follows her, only to be sent away.
I had a hard time getting involved with the plot. For one thing, for the first ten minutes I could not understand a word that was being said in the strong Scots accent the cast was using. As the play progressed some of them relaxed the brogue and it became more understandable. Siward shouted most of his lines which made it difficult to understand as well.
Darrell D'Silva
The cast included Darrell D'Silva as Siward, Siobhan Redmond as Gruach, and Ewan Donald as Malcom. A large supporting cast moved up and down the aisles of the theatre creating a lot of action.
Siobhan Redmond
I would not choose this as my favorite play.
