Bach is done! (and Stravinsky rules!)

'Twas a rich weekend as I ventured to Tanglewood on Friday (see picture) to hear the Boston Symphony play Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' and the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and we had our Bach concert on Saturday.

First, about Tanglewood. It was a really lovely night, temps in the low 60's with low humidity and a clear sky. I was very excited about the program, since I haven't heard 'Rite of Spring' live before. The Sibelius was really cool and was expertly played by the young (and beautiful) Lisa Batiashvili. This is a piece I had not really known before but enjoyed hearing. It was the perfect mixture of virtuosity and expansive lyricism. The second half was the Stravinsky, and I was like a giddy five year-old the whole time. It really gains another level of intensity in live performance since the musicians actually have to play the incredibly difficult music. Even as far away as I was sitting, one could still feel Stravinsky reaching right out and giving the audience a good shake. It was a great performance and Charles Dutoit and the Bostonians threw themselves into the work. Between this and the 'Symphony of Psalms' last week, Stravinsky's brilliance and inventiveness have been solidly reaffirmed in my mind. I've resolved to dig into 'The Rake's Progress' when I get back. Glad I made it to Tanglewood at least once here...

Now the Bach. I'm still turning this one over in my mind, but I have some observations about the performance and the work as a whole. The piece is so full of beauty and intellect that one could really devote a whole lifetime to studying it. I think it's something I'll come back over the years hoping to unlock more of its mysteries each time. This time was kind of the Reader's Digest version of the B Minor Mass. I got to know the basic essence of the work, but I don't think one can get much further than that in a week of living with the piece. I've decided that it is composed of a few 'acts' within the larger work. To effectively perform the piece, one must figure out the dramatic arc of each section, much like an opera. The conductor must have a clear vision of the piece and convey that to the musicians. Without this vision, the piece can seem kind of overlong with "too many notes", and the listener can get overwhelmed by the constant flow of ideas. As to performing forces, I think that 250 singers and a modern 40 piece orchestra (although we did make a lot of joyful noise) is not my ideal. I agree that every choral singer should be able to experience this work, but in my mind you do not need more than 32 singers to perform it. (This was a conversation topic all week). I feel that the cleanness of Bach's lines and the subtle architecture was lost with our performing arrangement. Also, the rhythmic impetus within the singers must be very strong. It is quite easy to either get behind or to push the tempo. This happened (sometimes simultaneously) around me last night. I wish we had spent some time count-singing or tapping sub-divisions to build a solid rhythmic core within the choir. Vocally I really enjoyed singing the piece and did not find it to be as taxing as I might have anticipated. I sang full in the dress rehearsal and was still somewhat fresh by the end of the performance. Although it often ventures above the staff, the vocal writing moves throughout the whole range alternating florid and sustained singing. As a result it is a full vocal workout instead of hammering away at one part of the voice (i.e. Beethoven). I'll be happy to let the B Minor Mass germinate in my subconscious for a few years before I pick it up again. And hopefully next time it will be with a smaller ensemble with a longer rehearsal period!

Halfway home

Today was the official halfway point of the festival. It's been a rough few days this week, as the Bach is fiendishly difficult (probably the hardest major work I've done other than the Beethoven 'Missa Solemnis') and the energy is beginning to run low. I find myself getting really frustrated for not picking up the Bach more quickly and still making a number of mistakes. It's such a complex, dense piece and I think I'm a bit unrealistic as to how well I can master it in a week's time. One of the other apprentices made the suggestion that I think of it more as an introduction to the work and good preparation for the next time I perform it. Still, I find myself longing for the Westminster Symphonic Choir style of preparation, where the choir lives with the piece for a couple of months, attending to all of the details while gaining the ability to be musically flexible and expressive. In most situations, unfortunately, that is an unrealistic model as performances are prepared by the clock.
It's been interesting over the past three weeks to see how different conductors respond to the challenge of pulling together a program in a week with 200 volunteers. Craig Jessop brought a sort of enigmatic, visionary approach ( a la Shaw), Frank Nemhauser kept a jovial atmosphere almost the whole time, while Gary Wedow, this week's conductor, gets results with loads of patience and a reassuring attitude. While most of us are freaking out about getting the piece learned, Gary shows confidence in the ability to get the job done. He is not trying to imitate any sort of Bach sound model, but instead insists on articulation to bring out the shape of the music. A very wise decision when you are performing a chamber work with 250 people.
Tomorrow is another day off (I switched this week). I'm definitely going to enjoy the newly cool weather, a long hike, a day with no singing, and a pampering massage. Hopefully I'll swing into the weekend refreshed and ready to go. That's the plan at least...

Happy Birthday to me!

So I've reached that last hurdle in early adulthood: I'm now old enough to rent a car. It's kind of weird to think that I'm half done with my 20's. I'm actually looking forward to the next half, hopefully I've learned some things...
Yesterday wrapped up another good week at Berkshire Choral Fest (Henceforth known as BCF). Among the highlights were a few classes (one on Gregorian chant in original notation and one on Extended Vocal Techniques - overtone singing, Bobby McFerrin type sounds, etc) and a brief but interesting voice lesson with one of the faculty members, Greg Purnhagen. Greg has done some really cool things, including singing with Bjork on her last album. I'm finding that singing this much has actually been good for me, and I've been able to rediscover some parts of my voice that have been neglected for awhile. The lesson was good for smoothing out some of my break and incorporating more resonance into my sound. It also brought up an interesting question that I've been thinking about for awhile: Could I possibly be a countertenor? I've found that I'm able to vocalize pretty high into the soprano range with a consistent free sound. Still, I think my tenor voice works fairly well and that I sound like a tenor. But it's hard to resist the thought that I have this whole other voice that I could be using...
This week is Bach B-minor Mass with 240 people. This could be quite an experience, seeing that Bach probably wrote the work for no more than 16 singers. Not exactly how I dreamed of getting acquainted with this piece, but that's okay...
I had some other choral/vocal philosophy I was going to post, but I changed my mind. It's my birthday so I can do that!

When you really should update your blog, but you don't have anything interesting to say

...The concert on Saturday was good. Everybody really put their all into it and the Vaughan Williams 'Dona Nobis Pacem' was particulary moving given the current Iraq situation.
...Church on Sunday went well as I directed 15 choristers at a pretty little church in CT in the Mozart 'Ave Verum Corpus'.
...This week, the Musical Director of the festival, Frank Nemhauser, is conducting. He is one of the funniest people I've ever met and a fine conductor to boot. The choir feels very comfortable singing for him and the atmosphere, while light, is still conducive to good focused work. This is a most unusual and welcome pairing, as most funny conductors I've known have had a hard time focusing the choir and getting things done. Frank is also an experienced administrator and our lunch yesterday (the apprentices get to have lunch with the conductor every week) dealt with some of the issues we have faced and will face as conductors (enrollment, re-auditions, ticket sales, etc.). It should be a good program (Dvorak, Rutter, Stravinsky) on Saturday.
...Today was another hiking day. Much better than the last time! Bug spray was definitely very helpful. I went up this lovely trail and even met up with the Appalachian Trail. It was a strange moment when I passed a rugged looking through-hiker. I realized just how city-fied I probably looked with my Phillies hat, clean white T-shirt and lack of baggage. Still, the appeal of the AT is undeniable and someday I still may make the trip.
...We also had a short recital today put on by the apprentices for the choristers before dinner. I sang Schubert's 'Nachtstuck', which is one of my all-time favourite Schubert songs. Everybody sang wonderfully and the response was very good. We have another next week.
...Upcoming: more rehearsals, more parties, parental visit and another concert.

Reflection

WARNING: Choral "shop" talk follows:
Today one of the choristers asked me at lunch what the main things were that I would take away from working this week with Craig Jessop. It kind of caught me off guard, but it was helpful to have to come up with something on the spot in condensed form. The things I liked about Maestro Jessop: 1) Tenacity and attention to detail. He would often rehearse something repeatedly until it was to his satisfaction. A conductor with this kind of intensity shows great confidence and leadership ability. There is a flip side to this though [see below] 2) Making the choir responsible for rhythm. So many choirs rely on the conductor for rhythm and as a result never quite find that rhythmic verve. I could tell that many of the choristers had not been previously been held accountable for keeping accurate time. This is something I believe strongly in that comes directly from Robert Shaw. Flummerfelt and also Jeff at Singing City both were keen on having the choir be rhythmically responsible. 3) Having an awareness of how the rehearsal was going. Even though Mr. Jessop has worked the choir very hard and was demanding, he always knows when to diffuse a situation with a joke or a compliment. It is important to give your choir affirmation when you work them hard. He also showed humility and would take responsibility if he made a mistake. 4) Boundless energy. He obviously loves music and has a great passion and energy which I think the choir responded to. Things I didn't necessarily like: 1) Some of the terminology used in rehearsal. When the choir was dull with pitch, we would often be asked to "sing sharp". I think this gives the choir the wrong idea about pitch and as a result, people were articificially manipulating pitch. Really most of the pitch problems were due to vowels and placement. In other words, the same results could be achieved a different way. He also asked for straight tone, which is a great choral debate, and one that I hope to tackle sometime in the future. Needless to say, I think it was asked for too often, sometimes without consideration of the vocal demands of a certain phrase. 2) Repeating large sections of music over and over. I said before that I liked his tenacity, but given our limited rehearsal time, it sometimes seemed like overkill. I would be interested to see how his methods work with his regular choir, where they know what to expect from his work. I think the choir could move very fast and accomplish a lot.
Overall impression: I liked working with Craig Jessop and would work with him again. I think we'll have a good concert tomorrow, provided it cools down before showtime!

Hiking!

Today I decided to explore some of the hiking trails on campus. We are actually right near Mt. Everett which I think is the second highest point in Massachusetts. Unfortunately I did not bring any bug spray and as a result got absolutely mauled by all sorts of bugs. Needless to say, I won't be heading out again without some. But bugs weren't the only creature I encountered. Somewhere near the top of this hike (and it was almost straight up and dense forest the whole way; quite a contrast from the Mohonk/Minnewaska carriageways...) I heard this heavy breathing and a sort of low grumbling. As I haven't heard anything make a sound like that, I think it was safe to say that I was in the presence of a black bear. I didn't stick around long enough to see him and proceeded to book it down the mountain singing as loud as I could to make sure he knew I was around. So I guess my first Berkshire hiking experience left some things to be desired, but I'm still going to explore some other trails. Hopefully there will be fewer bugs and bears around next time! The picture above is of some funky mushrooms I saw on the way down. I'm wishing I had a bicycle here because the nearest town is a couple of miles away. It would be nice to have the freedom to get away if I wanted. I guess I'll have to rely on my fellow campers for trips away from campus. The weekend looks to be pretty stacked as I'm hoping to go to Tanglewood on Friday night, our concert is Saturday and then on Sunday I'm conducting a group of choristers at a church close by in Connecticut. I guess they keep us busy around here...

Off and running

Two days down! Things are going pretty well around here; I'm getting used to the intense singing schedule. Thankfully I get a day off tomorrow, which will be my first hiking opportunity since I've gotten here. I'm enjoying working with Craig Jessop. He's a pretty intense, patient worker. Very much influenced by Robert Shaw, with lots of count singing and rhythm work. It's nice to see, because so many conductors don't make their choir take responsibility for rhythm. The apprentices (I hate the term, it sounds like Donald Trump), got to have lunch with Mr. Jessop and his wife this afternoon. They were both very friendly and interested in each of our backgrounds. I really enjoyed hearing his stories; it seems the more conductors I meet, the more I realize that there is no one pathway to achieving success. He was a singer originally and even won the Met auditions in Salt Lake. After doing a residency in San Francisco, he decided that being an opera singer wasn't for him and that he wanted to be a conductor. Sound familiar? It's also interesting hearing about how my colleagues have arrived at where they are. It's nice that we get some social time in addition to the work schedule. So, off to bed and then some hiking tomorrow!

Calm before the storm

The first three days here in Sheffield have been really great (except for the hurricane moving through yesterday; I spent most of the day alternating between being soaked and drying out). It' s been mostly the other apprentices (people like me paid to be up here for the whole festival to sing, conduct and do little chores like getting conductors water) and the faculty (we have a whole bunch of great, down-to-earth voice teachers) getting together for meals to get to know each other. I really like everyone here and I think we have a talented, good, fun group. It sounds like we will be inundated when the choristers arrive, unlocking doors and carrying their bags up their stairs, etc...The meals so far have been pretty good, and the dorms are, well, dorms. The scenery is just beautiful (see above). I'm looking forward to starting the musical portion of the festival tomorrow, with Vaughan Williams' 'Dona Nobis Pacem', Poulenc's tasty 'Gloria', and four hymn arrangements by Mack Wilberg. I'm interested to see Craig Jessop (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) work and how quick things should come together. Hopefully I'll still have time for blogging!

Safe and sound!

So, I made it to Sheffield just fine, with a little help from my brother and sister-in-law (Thanks for your patience you guys!) Had a bit of a scramble to actually get into my room, but I guess I have internet since I'm typing this! I'll give an update with some real news (and photos) soon. It's so quiet and cool outside!

Goodbye Philly! (Part I)

Tomorrow I leave for the Berkshire Choral Fest. Hopefully all of the prep I've done in the past few weeks will serve me well. I hope to post again soon, and if I'm lucky, with some pictures. While I'll miss Philly for the next five weeks, I won't miss the sticky, humid nights! Wish me luck!

The Magic Piccolo: Follow-up

In today's New York Times, Anthony Tommasini offers a more thoughtful examination of the Met's proposed shortened 'Magic Flute'. He makes the strong point that Mozart was first and foremost a man of the theatre and would adapt his works to suit individual performers and productions. Having had a few days to contemplate my initial post, I think I was perhaps a bit too contentious. I still stand by my opinion that this production is primarily motivated by financial concerns (the paradox that "attracting audiences, while ensuring the future of the artform, also makes the company more money), but my cries of artistic heresy should be tempered somewhat. They are still using Julie Taymor's highly creative production, they will no doubt be using some of the finer Met singers (probably some of the younger ones), and Mozart's music will still be there, albeit in a shorter form. I am still worried for the future, but I am willing to give this production the benefit of the doubt, and to see what its impact on the future will be.

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Ya gotta love Philly...

Seen on 10th and Spruce: A guy dressed like Thomas Jefferson listening to an I Pod.

Live 8

Okay, so we didn't have Coldplay, U2, Madonna or Paul McCartney (unless you watched them online - ah, the marvels of technology), but Philly's Live 8 bash was still kind of fun. I wasn't too excited about the acts, but I figured "How many times do a quarter of a million people take over Center City Philadelphia?" Being a local had its advantages though, since I could come and go at will. We ended up spending about two hours at the concert, taking our time to meander through the crowds to various points down the Parkway. It really was a huge mass of people, but I was surprised at how well-behaved everyone was - this is the city that booed Santa after all. In our two hours, we got to see (well, at least on the Jumbotrons) Toby Keith (yuck! but introduced by the E-A-G-L-E-S!), Dave Matthews Band (started slow, but got rolling pretty nicely), Alicia Keys (wait, is she done already?), and Linkin' Park and Jay-Z (not a big fan, but they did a rocking set). And oh shucks, I missed the Def Leppard reunion! It ended up being about what I expected, and I'm glad I took the time to make an appearance, but I'm also glad I didn't devote my whole day to sweating shoulder-to-shoulder with 250,000 people. Sorry I don't have photos to share, but I'm sure some could be found online. The Fourth of July will be more fun, with Elton John, Rufus Wainwright, Patti LaBelle and The Philly Pops. Hopefully I be able to see for that one. Stay tuned!

Favorite Song of the Moment

"Talk to Me" by Jill Scott. I cannot get enough of this song right now. Everytime it's on, I just can't help but smile (and we all know I need to smile more!). Anyhow, it starts simply enough, just a little flute riff outlining chords which descend by thirds over a basic R&B/hip-hop beat. Then Jill Scott (one of Philly's finest, I might add) in her smooth R&B voice, comes in with some string dubs. It sounds like your run-the-mill modern R&B track with a catchy chorus. But then, at the line "I think I'll try another tactic" something great begins to develop. The beat stops and a jazz guitar plays the original flute riff. All of the sudden a jazz combo comes in playing the same chord changes as before but in a swing style. Now Jill is channeling Sarah Vaughn, swinging easily with the combo. Pretty soon it begins to heat up though, and she's got a whole horn section behind her playing something that sounds like a Count Basie/Sinatra arrangment. And finally Jill just lets it rip, singing full out until the end with that amazing voice. Man! Who said that pop music has lost its sophistication?

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