Warming down

Just a short post today, as I have once again been prompted to draw a parallel between singers and athletes. It's not a particularly far-fetched idea, seeing as what we do is in essence physical, with an enormous emphasis on technique that is supposed to minimise muscular tension, but also training the muscles involved in singing to perform at exaggerated levels compared to their normal 'biological' use. We have to (or at least should) warm up to prepare our bodies for the exertion of singing; we run the risk of injury if we fail to practice good technique; we have a similar curve of our performance capabilities over age; the mental aspect of what we do can either give us wings or neuter us...

Adrian Thompson (my teacher) came into our Figaro rehearsal today, as we were staging the Act 3 sextet, to watch for a bit. I then met up with him later for a lesson in which we focused on Bach's Mass in B minor, which I'm singing in about a month's time. At the end he said that it's really good and important to have a proper sing after a day of staging rehearsals in order to 'warm the voice down', re-focus it after a hard day's work. He went on to say that rehearsals, especially staging ones, where it all gets very bitty, often singing half a phrase at a time, stopping and starting, are a dreadful strain on the voice. As you have to focus on so many things at the same time, the concentration is often not on the singing aspect of the work. 'None of us really sing properly all the time in these rehearsals, after a couple of hours you just lose the will to live, vocally...' That's why it's refreshing to find a room afterwards and sing a lied, song, or aria that puts the voice back to its proper place. A bit like warming down and light stretching after a work-out.

OK, you've indulged me this far, time for a 'treat' ;) How about some quotes from our rehearsals: (I'll leave out the more vulgar ones, so it'll pretty much just be director's lines)

'How do we feel about having some sexual teaspoon action?'

'Sorry, this recit seems to have become all about a chair... Who knew?'

'What are you doing at this point? Oh, just general tidying action? OK'

'I want you to go over to her and have another Hey baby! moment'

'I love that weird noise you're making!'

'OK, so now I want Cherubino to think of yourself as a woman, but Susanna look at him as a man, Countess becomes a man too, but sees Cherubino as a woman, just as he looks at her and goes back to being a man and wanting her as a woman...' I may not have gotten that one right ;)

March 15-18, Weston Studio, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff: be there or... miss it.

Enterprise (the venture, not the starship)

Last week was full of Figaro rehearsals, obviously. We got to the end of Act 2 and I have to say it's looking great! March 15-18 in Cardiff, if you can make it...

But there were other things of note last week that I feel deserve mention, namely college had REPCo week. The Repertory by Entrepreneurial Performers Company is an institution at college that provides start-up loans to student-led enterprise at the RWCMD. Apart from these loans, college also accommodates the student companies that fall under REPCo's care with rehearsal spaces, and a week when these companies can perform in college venues at highly discounted rates, while also having a certain priority in terms of schedules (basically, REPCo can take precedence over regular classes). All this creates a fantastic platform for students to put on events for themselves, providing invaluable performance opportunities for those involved, giving budding entrepreneurs a chance to test their ideas in a safe environment with support from a well-established institution like the college.

The largest REPCo companies are as follows:

The REPCo Orchestra, which gives students a chance to play in an orchestra when in normal college life they wouldn't have that opportunity, so either on their second study instruments or the youngest students in college. Last week they put on an operatic concert performance double-bill called Mozart vs Salieri, recreating one of the most famous musical showdowns in history, when Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor was pitted in competition against Salieri's Prima la musica, poi le parole. With actors playing the roles of the composers, and singers from all levels the vocal department, from undergrad to opera course, conductor Ian Peter Bugeja (artistic director of the orchestra) created a great opportunity for everyone involved to play and sing the challenging repertoire that is opera in the stunning venue that is the Dora Stoutzker Hall.

Sinfonia Newydd, a company dedicated to performing world premieres (only!) of new works by young composers. What started out as a small chamber ensemble putting on infrequent concerts with pieces by composers studying in college has grown into a beast putting on symphonic concerts (possibly the only opportunity for Cardiff based composers to have their large-scale pieces played), branching out into jazz, and holding an annual week-long festival where music merges with visual art. I have had the privilege of premiering a work with Sinfonia Newydd, namely a musical-theatre song by David Harrington, patient readers will find a recording of this work at the bottom of this post ;)

Opera'r Ddraig, a company very dear to my heart. This opera company gave me my first opportunity to sing a principal role in the UK in their very first production, The Magic Flute in 2010. Since then they have managed to put on a successful show every year. This year's double bill of Acis and Galatea and Dido and Aeneas (so many 'ands' there) was the first time I've not been involved in the company as a singer. I have to admit it was difficult to watch the stunning piece of theatre they created and not shed a tear of regret about that fact. Being company treasurer however means that I get a bit more insight into how huge an undertaking it is to put on an opera! And how risky it is... Despite critical acclaim, impressed audiences, excited cast members, technicians and players, and even sold out shows last year, the company is ever in danger, with only the sheer force of the core team's determination keeping it alive. In its third year, I think many people in college, or even Cardiff take Opera'r Ddraig's existence for granted a bit. Has some of the excitement gone? Is it not something new and fresh any more? Is it ok to wait until next year to get involved? If that's what you think, then you're wrong. Every year is a new team, a new fight to get the company on its feet, find a cast, pick an opera, get money, negotiate with college, the venue, find orchestral players, sort out a technical crew, source costumes, props, design marketing tools, try and schedule rehearsals in a way that makes it possible from students from different places to come... Every year could be the last. All it takes is for one key member of the team to have to drop out and the whole thing unravels. A bad audience turnout, that's it... And it would be a shame, because if you ever got to see an OD show, you know that they are excellent. The energy of young people on stage, it's electric and irreplaceable! The effort that everyone, from director, conductor, through the cast down to the ushers put in to make these shows work makes them really special, polished yet fresh. It's a joy to watch even when the operas themselves are sombre and depressing ;)

In this financial climate it's a miracle that these companies exist! Don't wait for these things to fail before you get involved. It doesn't take much, even going to the shows is a big help, a visible show of support. If you can, then join your local youth company in any capacity (there's nothing worse than companies failing because no one can be bothered to sing/play/help), let's keep these things alive, because they have something to offer that the big companies don't. Intimacy, freshness, youth, excitement, and all this while maintaining high artistic standards.

A huge well done and fingers crossed from me to all the REPCo companies! Keep doing what you're doing, you make Cardiff exciting :)

As promised, Modern Song, with yours truly at the mic, Paul McKenzie on the piano, and the composer himself, David Harrington turning pages:

A tsunami every day

Wow, it's been a while since I've written, the reason being that it's been a hectic couple of weeks: music calls for Le Nozze di Figaro, henceforth to be known as Figaro, a visit to WNO studio rehearsals, the start of our Figaro rehearsals with our director: Harry Fehr, a couple of concerts, the dress rehearsal of WNO's Traviata, and auditions galore (St Magnus Festival, RWCMD vocal scholarships and prizes, BYO). 

 

With such a plethora of topics to choose from, what should I write about? My thoughts on auditions haven't changed since the (quite popular by this blog's standards) rant, the concerts and dress rehearsal weren't all that interesting, so Figaro it is.

 

Our first taste of staging the opera was actually at WNO, where we were invited to sit in on a studio rehearsal of the Act 3 sextet. It was in fact the first rehearsal of that particular scene, so we got to observe the entire process, which as you can imagine was fascinating. I suppose the most surprising thing was how small the difference between their process and every production I've done so far is. Yes, the average age is higher, the standard of singing as well, and I would assume that the risk of someone being underprepared is much smaller, but watching the WNO cast banter, joke about and have such a good time overall, I thought to myself: 'The way I am now is probably the most grown up I'll ever be...' And my friends can attest to the fact that I'm as childish as a 15-year-old at times.

 

Our own rehearsals are also great fun. It's just that kind of opera! We spent the first couple of days reading through a translation of the libretto together as a complete team, then made decisions about our characters: age, background, relationships between them, etc. With the scene thus set, we got started on Act 1. As I type this the act is pretty much set, though of course there's more detailed work to do. Tomorrow it's on to Act 2...

 

Figaro is sooo complicated to set! The interplay between characters is very intricate if you delve into it a bit, with plans and intensions shifting and changing with almost every line, the risk is you overcomplicate it to the point where you don't know what your character is thinking, which leaves the audience without a chance in hell! You can't imagine how many times we have discussions along the lines of:

- So, why are you saying that?

- Because this...

- OK, but considering what you say in Act 4 maybe your motivation is this...

- But doesn't he find about that only in Act 3?

- Ah, but what with the French revolution in the background...

- So exactly which line are we talking about anyway?

 

The director (who by the way is doing a great job of finding a balance between detail and clarity that should ensure that we have enough thinking on stage to give the audience a sparkling show, without muddying the clarity of the story even if they don't catch every little shift) told us that he'd been talking to Sir Thomas Allen about this opera, and got the advice: 'Every day will be like a tsunami' in terms of questions, clarifying the plot, making decisions as to where to go with the text, etc. 

 

I suppose for us, especially those who haven't done Figaro before (it's my fourth, and I'm finding tonnes of new detail and countless new thoughts and possibilities), the tsunami effect is even more tangible. Today we were revising Act 1, and were negotiating changes of plans / ideas / motivations with the director (plus technical notes about moves, angles etc) to make it work better, while being bombarded with extra notes from the conductor and language coach... It's mad, I tell you! Maaaad! But brilliant :)