For those who have not been introduced to Concone, it's a collection of lessons by Giuseppe Concone. I use these exercises in acquiring the 'Italian' style of singing. Each exercise contained in the book isolates a particular vocal issue and aims to address that issue without having to worry about the limiting lyrics a song will usually have.
Some of the melodies are also beautiful and incredibly catchy.
It's been a long time since my last post. I have been distracted by a lot of choral singing in concerts, operas (Don Giovanni and Manon Lescaut), weddings and other singing gigs. I have not done much in developing my voice so I have not been posting recently.
I did premiere an art song written by Robert Casteels and here's a picture of the world premiere of his new song cycle.
Before the Puccini and the Mozart, I was working in musical theatre. In retrospect, I am glad I did because I learned a lot about acting, staging and role preparation. Surprisingly, I also learned a lot about classical singing while belting show tunes.
"What is singing?"
This was the first thing asked of us by our music director during the first music rehearsal for Carousel. The whole room -- full of musical theatre professionals, musicians and music students -- offered varying definitions derived from both the dictionary as well as from personal experience. My favorite that night was "Singing is my life!" That was met with a lot of laughter. The question made me think about the mechanics of singing. Down to the most basic level, what is singing?
"Singing is sustained speech." That was the answer given by our music director. This unexpecteddefinition of singing wasn't original, but it was the first time I heard it and it made perfect sense to me. What is it that allows for this sustained, uninterrupted sound? It is BREATH! It is no wonder that most books on vocal pedagogy start with the study of breathing. I am currently in the process of learning more about singing and working on some exercises focused on breathing.
Here is a video of Montserrat Caballé talking about singing and breathing.
It's sung here by the wonderful Montserrat Caballé but I have heard some tenors sing this song as well. The is a song narrative and has a pretty story/legend.
If I were to give a recital and I'd have free rein to choose what songs to include in the program, I'd choose this song.
"It Must Be So" from Candide by Leonard Bernstein.
Also called, Candide's Lament, this is wonderfully sung by the tenor Jerry Hadley. I am a great fan of Jerry Hadley and I admire his impeccable diction and naturally beautiful voice.
If I were to give a recital and I'd have free rein to choose what songs to include in the program, I'd choose this song.
"Un'aura amorosa" [A loving breath] from Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
This aria is commonly heard in recitals and most everything that has to be said about it has already been said. However, the wonderful Topi Lehtipuu, the interpreter in this particular clip, is a new find. Here's a link to Topi's Wikipedia entry.
