25 NOT YOUR USUAL ARTS-ORIENTED THINGS I’M THANKFUL FOR
25. Lesser-known works by: Samuel Barber, Bela Bartok, Ferruccio Busoni (which is everything), Aaron Copland, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss
24. Broadway. (Plays, naturally, since I write them, but even a good musical. At their best, still one of the great American creations. At their worst...)
23. 20th Century choreography of great ballets, old and new. (Sorry, the 19th Century choreographers were a little too formulaic. Actually, the 19th Century a lot of things were too formulaic. Am I the only person that doesn’t love Rossini?)
22. Old movies. (Meaning anything made before I was born. A partial list of directors whose works I would gladly watch over and over: Alfred Hitchcock, Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder, John Ford, Akira Kurasawa, Jean Renoir, Ernst Lubitsch, Ingmar Bergman, Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger, Charlie Chapman. A partial list of directors whose works I find painful to watch over and over: Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang--yes, I know he was influential, but that doesn’t make them any better, Frank Capra...every one of his films has a completely ludicrous villian and an exasperating “oh, come on!” moment.)
21. Old movie scores. (A partial list of favorite “movie” composers: Bernard Hermann, Elmer Bernstein, Alex North, Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Least favorite? Dmitri Tiomkin. So he wrote a few pop tunes that are good. Big deal. Mostly his scores don’t even support the story well: happy music for “sad” situations, cuts that go on too long, starts at the most inopportune moments, slivers of music that are far too short. He is the Frank Capra of movie composers: grossly overrated.)
20. The recorded legacy of Mstislav Rostropovich. (He knew everyone who was anyone in music during the 20th Century. And so many great composers wrote masterpieces for his immense talent. I only heard him “live” once...at Carnegie Hall, a magical place anyway. I will never forget it.)
19. J. S. Bach’s slow movements (in every “form” he wrote in. I love them all. See? I threw in someone even morons have heard of, so no complaining.)
18. The delightfully one-of-a-kind dances of Merce Cunningham. (He will be missed.)
17. The Metropolitan Opera (Far less conservative than it used to be, and still a home for great singers--if a few too many not-so-great ones--and great operas you won’t see anywhere else around here, like War and Peace, Kat’a Kabanova, Lulu, Moses und Aron, Les Troyens, Rusalka, etc.)
16. The works of British composer--just in case you haven’t heard of him--Harrison Birtwistle that scare the masses (meaning three quarters of them. But, contrary to popular belief, some of his pieces are taken in stride by most of the British.)
15. The wonderful writings and public advocacy of Tony Kushner. (And another new play is coming to New York! Not to mention the revival of Angels in America.
14. The operas of German composer Hans Werner Henze. (Okay, any form he writes in.)
15. Really cleverly written animated movies, old and new. (Go, Pixar!)
14. Great recordings of musical works I will probably never hear “live”. (Like works by Per Norgard, or Frank Martin or Roberto Gerhard or Thomas Ades--though I have heard one of his pieces “live”.)
13. Living in a city that has some of the greatest art in the world. (I live in New York of course.)
12. Popular music from circa 1920 to circa 1955. (From some of the greats like Gershwin, Arlen, Ellington, Berlin, etc. and recorded by Horne, Sinatra, Garland, Fitzgerald [!] Armstrong, etc.)
11. Every note Alban Berg wrote.
10. (Almost) every note Benjamin Britten wrote--he wrote a some music when he was young that isn't so hot. (He could write wonderfully for any instrument or group of instruments or voice or voices in any-and-all combinations thereof, in any “classical” form, large or small...but especially opera. He was the 20th Century Mozart, though he lived to be much older.)
9. Stephen Sondheim’s entire oeuvre. (He would probably hate that word. I REALLY want to meet him. I may become a stalker.)
8. Berlioz--everything by him and about him. (Read his autobiography and then the two-part biography by David Cairns. Great stuff!)
9. Poetry. (From ancient Greek plays to the latest issue of THE NEW YORKER. Most of the major poets, especially Dante and Shakespeare [see, I named someone else that any moron has heard of] Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas and e e cummings and T. S. Eliot, though you need footnotes for some of his. And too many not-so-major ones who are nonetheless worthy. Try James Merrill for a great poet who has been somewhat forgotten but is one-of-a-kind.)
8. Songs, cantatas, operas, oratorios by: Dominick Argento, Hector Berlioz (yes, I know I already mentioned him) Emmanuel Chabrier, Anton Dvorak, Georges Enesco, Carlisle Floyd, Berthold Goldschmidt, Hans Werner Henze (yes, I already mentioned him, too, but I like him so much, he’s worth repeating), Jacques Ibert, Leos Janacek, Reinhard Keiser, Gyorgy Ligeti, Frank Martin (another repeat), Per Norgard (ditto), Jacques Offenbach, Sergei Prokofiev (okay, I’m repeating myself a bunch, but this is vocal music especially), Roger Quilter, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Schreker, Michael Tippett, Viktor Ullmann, Ralph (not pronounced “Raife” like some people think) Vaughan Williams, Kurt Weill, No X (sorry, I hate Xenakis), and Alexander Zemlinsky. This doesn’t mean I don’t love all the more famous composers, but everyone would say them.
3. Meeting so many composers, musicians, dancers, actors, artists, etc. in New York since I’ve been here. The arts surround you here, if you just stop to notice.
2. Performing music so new, no one has ever heard it before. (Thank you, my friends, for writing for me. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have the honor.)
1. Making music with the man I love. Happy Thanksgiving, my genius musician, wonderful friend, best ambassador for the classical saxophone in the world, lover, beautiful husband. May we make music until we’re too old to hear it anywhere but in our dreams.
And if you're wondering who any of these people are or why I like them, just ask. I could write books. Maybe I should.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
One Man's Wobble
Since I began to study singing as a student, I've heard, read, listened, pondered, argued, and quietly spoken about what makes up great singing. And I have been forever puzzled and bemused (and occasionally horrified) by the myriad opinions on what "great singing" means. From a technique stand point, most students and teachers worth their salt will say they strive for singing from lowest note to highest note that is all of a piece--no discernible breaks, no "weaknesses" in one register or another, fluidity between all of them. Singing should be free of strain, free of a wobbly, uncontrolled vibrato, free of pitch problems, free of a breathy, unsubstantial "core" sound. Dynamics should be possible high or low, leaps should be reached easily, words should be heard and understood (except, perhaps, at the highest notes), "coloring" the voice to express emotions should be one of the ultimate goals.
So why do so many "famous" singers, or, hell, even EMERGING singers lack so many of these technical accomplishments? And why do so many people "worship" these singers and "despise" singers who DO have great technique and great expression? Why do so many opera "fans" have a litany of "great" singers from the past that they use to "prove" singers of today are so inferior? When did "loud" become synonymous with "emotional"? Why can so many "experts" lack the skills to hear poor pitch, differentiate between "coloring" the voice rather than having problems with certain registers which force a different sound, understand "technique"?
I have no idea. But the MET roster is filled with singers with what are (to me obvious) vocal deficiencies. The MET seems unable or unwilling to find performers for the more taxing roles that are not ridden with vocal "faults" (Domingo being the exception that proves the rule.) Of the roster of returning singers performing the heavier works, only Violetta Urmana can be said to be vocal proficient for the works she sings--but even she can strain at climaxes. NO ONE ELSE SINGING THE HEAVIER REP AT THE MET HAS ANY BUSINESS DOING IT. Yes, I just said it and I mean it. And, yes, I know that many popular singers are singing these roles anyway. That doesn't mean they should be. Not if the definition of "great" singing is in those attributes students and teachers strive to instill. But this does not just extend to the most extremely difficult works. I find it hard to believe that some singers who have careers in Europe like, say, Anne Schwanewilms, who sing medium weight roles, have no place at The MET just because they do not command a high enough public profile. (Or of a previous generation, Inga Nielsen, or Hillevi Martinpelto.) Where is baritone Roderick Williams? Why is a singer with such a beautiful, well-trained , expressive voice not being heard regularly here? He's singing constantly in Europe. Or why was Robert Brubaker only used in "one-off" roles occasionally when he was in his prime? He could easily handle medium weight tenor roles and did so (and probably still is doing so) in other parts of the world. Or why was Bruce Ford not a household name in Rossini and Donizetti? He is as good a singer of these roles as we have had on records. But he is now singing a small tenor role in Armida. Hardly a way to treat such an artist, even if he is in the latter part of his career. All of these singers have left audio and / or video proof of their worth. All these recordings were readily available (and some still are.) So they are (or were) hardly unknown. But they were infrequent (and certainly unheralded) performers here, if at all.
And who is filling these roles instead? A well-recorded (but why?) and well-received soprano of wobbly, strained, forced but certainly loud singing who is being acclaimed as the last in a long line of "great" Strauss / Wagner singers. A once well-recorded tenor whose once-lovely lyrical voice is now thread-bare and shrill through singing roles he has no business singing. Not one but TWO "new" very lyric sopranos whose hype (and lavish applause and recording contracts) have put them into a limelight they cannot bear up under. (Ten years or less and they will be gone.) An American singing "actress" of more emotive skills than singing ones who sings all the mid-weight Italian--esp. Puccini--works (but shouldn't be.) And her American "cousin" who made her name in rarer Verdi and has now moved into even heavier Verdi roles where her lack of beautiful tone, limited facility and little to no beauty in her top fifth or so, and obvious "breaks" between registers will now become even more apparent. (At least that she is not showcased the way she once was...at least not at the MET.) An Italian tenor whose "skill" is singing loudly and with a noticeable legato. Subtlety and characterization and individuality are completely missing. And this is but a short list. (I did not name names because that would be impolite and unbecoming a fellow singer. But if you are aware of who is singing at the MET...and around America...you can probably guess who I am writing about.)
My big question is "WHY?" If no one can sing Turandot...don't do Turandot. If you can't cast The Ring Cycle with appropriate singers, don't mount it. Is ticket selling all, artistry beside the point? It's such a cynical way to think, but I fall into cynicism. Of course, Fleming, Dessay, Hampson, Flores, Graham, Blythe, Di Donato, Gheorghiu, the ever-young Domingo, even such elder statesmen as (Thomas) Allen, Opie, Langridge, and Tomlinson, (just to name male British singers) can still be heard. And they are the reasons I go.
So why do so many "famous" singers, or, hell, even EMERGING singers lack so many of these technical accomplishments? And why do so many people "worship" these singers and "despise" singers who DO have great technique and great expression? Why do so many opera "fans" have a litany of "great" singers from the past that they use to "prove" singers of today are so inferior? When did "loud" become synonymous with "emotional"? Why can so many "experts" lack the skills to hear poor pitch, differentiate between "coloring" the voice rather than having problems with certain registers which force a different sound, understand "technique"?
I have no idea. But the MET roster is filled with singers with what are (to me obvious) vocal deficiencies. The MET seems unable or unwilling to find performers for the more taxing roles that are not ridden with vocal "faults" (Domingo being the exception that proves the rule.) Of the roster of returning singers performing the heavier works, only Violetta Urmana can be said to be vocal proficient for the works she sings--but even she can strain at climaxes. NO ONE ELSE SINGING THE HEAVIER REP AT THE MET HAS ANY BUSINESS DOING IT. Yes, I just said it and I mean it. And, yes, I know that many popular singers are singing these roles anyway. That doesn't mean they should be. Not if the definition of "great" singing is in those attributes students and teachers strive to instill. But this does not just extend to the most extremely difficult works. I find it hard to believe that some singers who have careers in Europe like, say, Anne Schwanewilms, who sing medium weight roles, have no place at The MET just because they do not command a high enough public profile. (Or of a previous generation, Inga Nielsen, or Hillevi Martinpelto.) Where is baritone Roderick Williams? Why is a singer with such a beautiful, well-trained , expressive voice not being heard regularly here? He's singing constantly in Europe. Or why was Robert Brubaker only used in "one-off" roles occasionally when he was in his prime? He could easily handle medium weight tenor roles and did so (and probably still is doing so) in other parts of the world. Or why was Bruce Ford not a household name in Rossini and Donizetti? He is as good a singer of these roles as we have had on records. But he is now singing a small tenor role in Armida. Hardly a way to treat such an artist, even if he is in the latter part of his career. All of these singers have left audio and / or video proof of their worth. All these recordings were readily available (and some still are.) So they are (or were) hardly unknown. But they were infrequent (and certainly unheralded) performers here, if at all.
And who is filling these roles instead? A well-recorded (but why?) and well-received soprano of wobbly, strained, forced but certainly loud singing who is being acclaimed as the last in a long line of "great" Strauss / Wagner singers. A once well-recorded tenor whose once-lovely lyrical voice is now thread-bare and shrill through singing roles he has no business singing. Not one but TWO "new" very lyric sopranos whose hype (and lavish applause and recording contracts) have put them into a limelight they cannot bear up under. (Ten years or less and they will be gone.) An American singing "actress" of more emotive skills than singing ones who sings all the mid-weight Italian--esp. Puccini--works (but shouldn't be.) And her American "cousin" who made her name in rarer Verdi and has now moved into even heavier Verdi roles where her lack of beautiful tone, limited facility and little to no beauty in her top fifth or so, and obvious "breaks" between registers will now become even more apparent. (At least that she is not showcased the way she once was...at least not at the MET.) An Italian tenor whose "skill" is singing loudly and with a noticeable legato. Subtlety and characterization and individuality are completely missing. And this is but a short list. (I did not name names because that would be impolite and unbecoming a fellow singer. But if you are aware of who is singing at the MET...and around America...you can probably guess who I am writing about.)
My big question is "WHY?" If no one can sing Turandot...don't do Turandot. If you can't cast The Ring Cycle with appropriate singers, don't mount it. Is ticket selling all, artistry beside the point? It's such a cynical way to think, but I fall into cynicism. Of course, Fleming, Dessay, Hampson, Flores, Graham, Blythe, Di Donato, Gheorghiu, the ever-young Domingo, even such elder statesmen as (Thomas) Allen, Opie, Langridge, and Tomlinson, (just to name male British singers) can still be heard. And they are the reasons I go.
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