Johann Sebastian Bach was born today in 1685.
I can’t imagine my musical life without him.
On Saturday I took third place in the Aria portion in the combined divisions 9 and 10 (age 22 and up) at the National Association of Teachers of Singing 2008 Singing Festival put on by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of NATS.
I sang O luce di quest’anima and Aus Liebe.
I felt quite a bit better about that performance than the one I gave at the NATSAA competition two weeks ago. I wasn’t sick with a cold, and had had no singing obligations the night before, so I was in better voice, and also more mentally focused and less tired.
Of course, it would have been nicer to get first place, but it’s neat to get a little nod and have my name up on the winner’s board with the other honorees.
The NATSAA Prelim round last Saturday went pretty well. That is, I think I did my best and made a pretty good showing. I did not get chosen to go on to the next round, which is the Cal-Western regional finals.
I opened with one of my Bach arias, Erfuellet ihr himmlischen goettlichen Flammen. I’ve known that piece for about a year and was pretty comfortable with it. I got over my nerves pretty quickly and managed to actually do some music-making by about a third of the way through. The judges then surprised me by asking to hear Chemins de l’amour. I put that piece on the list as a lark and because I really like it, but didn’t think anyone would actually want me to sing it because I didn’t think of it as “serious” music. I was pleased and surprised to be asked to perform it. Then they went back in the opposite direction and asked for my opera aria, O luce di quest’anima. I must say I was awfully glad they picked this one because I spent a lot of time working on it thinking that they would probably choose it. It’s rather flashy, and I was sure that they’d want to see if I could handle it. I was probably at only 90% effectiveness that day since I had a cold and had sung a vocally taxing concert the night before, but I was able to get out those high C’s with almost my normal effectiveness. I did have a couple of word flubs though— once I think I mixed up “la nostra sorte unita” with “unita nostra sorte,” which is obviously easy to do. The last song they asked for was John Harbison’s haunting Where Did You Go? from Mirabai Songs. Another drastic change, and it was fun to go from simple naive country girl in love to intense, erotic, mystical Mira.
In general, I was not as nervous once I got into the hall and started singing as I’d anticipated. I was fairly keyed-up while waiting in the hallway for my turn and hearing the other singers, but once we entered the recital hall a feeling of calm-but-energetic focus fell over me. I wasn’t worried about what the judges
would think, and I simply felt a strong desire to be true to the music I was about to perform.
Getting ready for the competition seemed like a gargantuan task while it was happening, but now that I’ve done it once I think I will be less daunted by it the next go-round. I can’t wait!
I just found out that my pianist for NATSAA had a fire which destroyed his piano studio, including his lovely Steinway and nearly his entire collection of sheet music. The man has been having a tough few months already, and this event certainly did not help things.
Also consumed in the fire were all my original legal scores of my NATSAA repertoire, which are required in order to perform at the competition in six days. NATS is unwilling to compromise regarding this rule (and I understand why), so I have no choice but to attempt to collect new scores before next Saturday.
My teacher has a few scores, and I have a few duplicates. I am searching online for scores and hoping that they’ll be in stock so I can get them overnighted to me this week. I will also check UC Berkeley and other local libraries. Any blog readers out there who are local and have legal scores of any of my pieces, please speak up!
For the past several months I’ve been preparing to compete in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition. It’s coming up fast— the big day is March 1st.
Contestants must each prepare 16 songs, an opera aria, and an oratorio aria. Everything is memorized except for the oratorio aria, so it’s a rather large undertaking. I see it as a great excuse to learn a bunch of new repertoire!
Here is what I’ve prepared:
Ah, tardai troppo… O luce di quest’anima
(from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix)
Erfuellet ihr himmlischen, goettlichen Flammen
(from Bach’s cantata Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgenstern)
Aus Liebe (from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion)
Sweeter Than Roses (Purcell)
Mio caro bene (from Handel’s Rodelinda)
Che fiero costume (Legrenzi)
Muttertaendelei (R. Strauss)
Meinem Kinde (R. Strauss)
Staendchen, Op. 17 (R. Strauss)
Kling! (R. Strauss)
A une fontaine (from Darius Milhaud’s Chansons de Ronsard)
C. (from Francis Poulenc’s Deux Poemes de Louis Aragon)
Lune d’Avril (from Francis Poulenc’s La Courte Paille)
Chemins de l’amour (Francis Poulenc)
As it is, plenty (from Britten’s On This Island)
Where did you go? (from John Harbison’s Mirabai Songs)
Will there really be a morning? (from Andre Previn’s Three Dickinson Songs)
Good morning midnight (from Andre Previn’s Three Dickinson Songs)
You might notice that I snuck a couple of extra arias into the “song” section. One of the categories was Music Before 1800, and in that group you are allowed to use up to two arias from opera or oratorio. Accordingly, I inserted one of my favorite Bach arias and a new Handel opera aria with which I’d recently become enamored.
Cross your fingers for me!
Last night at ABS rehearsal we spent a long time working on Richard Strauss’s sublime, heart-rendingly beautiful, over-the-top-amazing choral work Der Abend.
I’ve sung quite a number of Strauss’s Lieder, and like so many others, I’ve been entranced by his unique harmonic language and sweeping melodies. However, I’ve never had the joy of singing one of his choral works before. This piece, for a 16-part mixed choir, is one of the most satisfying choral pieces I’ve ever sung. Imagine accomplishing Strauss’s surprising, unusual modulations with an a capella choir— I tingle every time it happens.
Strauss masterfully uses the voices as though they are an orchestra, with thick, lush textures and complicated melodic interplay. I’m singing Soprano III (there are four parts for each voice type) and it’s a lot of fun to be snuggled in the middle of all those sinuous harmonies. Doing it with such a skillful group of singers makes the pleasure even greater.
I was just invited to sing in the Philharmonia Baroque concert set in April. I’m really looking forward to working with this group again. They’re truly top-notch.
Repertoire is Zadok the Priest and Dettingen Te Deum by Handel, and three pieces by Purcell: My Beloved Spake; Chaconny in G; and Rejoice in the Lord Alway.
Dates are April 3, 4, 5, and 6. Check my Calendar page for more details.
Let’s face it, many wedding gigs that we classical singers do are kind of dull. They ask us to do some old chestnut like Schubert’s Ave Maria (don’t get me wrong— great piece, but overdone!) or some kind of cheesy pop/torch song. The other major risk is that the other musicians you have to work with can be painfully amateurish. I’ve been relatively lucky, because many of my friends and family for whose weddings I’ve sung have been open to the non-traditional-yet-still-good-classical-music suggestions I made for their ceremonies.
Even so, on Saturday I sang one of my favorite wedding gigs ever.
On Thursday afternoon I received an email with the subject line “Soprano 911…” The bride and groom had a couple of friends lined up for the ceremony who were also professional singers, but one had gotten sick and they needed a replacement. Her pieces included both of the fast arias from Bach’s Cantata 51(!) and a fairly simple Handel aria that I’d never heard before (from Laudate Pueri Dominum). Since I’d done the Bach a couple of months before, I wrote back right away to volunteer. I was mostly excited by the prospect of a wedding that did not have terrible music.
The Handel was easy to learn, and I was glad to be able to put my long hours of practicing the Bach last fall to some monetary use. The best part, though, was the first time I saw the bride and groom. I was singing the first movement of the Bach during the processional, and when everyone had arrived at the altar, the couple faced the congregation and I caught a glance of them looking up at the choir loft where I was standing. They had huge smiles on their faces. Now maybe it was because they were about to get married, but I like to tell myself that they were relieved that their pinch-hitting soprano was doing a decent job on a pretty difficult piece of music.
The other soprano sang Vivaldi’s Domine Deus and Mozart’s Laudate Dominum. Both are fairly commonly done in general, but I approved of them anyhow because A) I haven’t heard either of those at a wedding before, B) For the Vivaldi there was a great clarinet player (also a friend of the couple), and C) The soprano was a good singer. Her voice was quite different than mine, so we contrasted nicely with each other. All the musicians involved that day performed at a high level and were very professional.
Finally, this gig reinforced for me the importance of having a network. I would not have gotten this gig unless another soprano—who’d already been contacted by the organist but couldn’t do it—hadn’t suggested me (along with several others) as being a good possibility. You know who you are—thanks!
… when you feel an urge to place a cadential trill into a Mendelssohn piece.
