tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1236652494278313169.post8937798669333983403..comments2023-04-11T03:02:54.675-07:00Comments on Trying to remain opera-tional: The Daily Slogsestissimohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07329645161822073127noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1236652494278313169.post-89695537876356085272010-09-29T14:03:54.378-07:002010-09-29T14:03:54.378-07:00Very interesting descriptions of some of your work...Very interesting descriptions of some of your working methods, Jennifer. Absolutely there are many different ways of "practicing" that don't involve using your voice! You are wise to employ a variety of tools. Quality versus quantity - just singing things over and over does not automatically solve challenges, but it can very easily exhaust the voice.<br /><br />I think when pieces are as powerful as these, less is more. It is so easy to overdo the acting aspect, when the power to devastate is already in the music and the text. One doesn't want to make them maudlin and rob them of their power to move, which they surely will do with a pure approach that lets the composer speak through you. Diction is everything in this repertoire and determines the impact of a performance as much as anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1236652494278313169.post-76817392829759189382010-09-18T10:27:26.854-07:002010-09-18T10:27:26.854-07:00I loved this post. It's so dead on. I always...I loved this post. It's so dead on. I always have such a hard time with lied getting the text and the mood of the music ingrained in me. When I was learning Frauenliebe und Leben, it was incredibly frustrating. I kept playing different recordings of it and drilling it over and over again until all of a sudden, something just clicked and it become a part of me and the words felt like they were my own and it hit me how incredibly brilliant the combination of this composer and poet's work actually was. <br /><br />No but I agree with you, practicing the right way in your head can be equally if not more valuable than physically practicing and making the same mistakes over and over again.Khooohttp://khooo.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1236652494278313169.post-64563726713514691492010-09-14T07:37:25.891-07:002010-09-14T07:37:25.891-07:00The eggs are fun. :)
I hear you about the "K...The eggs are fun. :) <br />I hear you about the "Kindertots" -- it's a gorgeous, impossibly emotional set which I first sang for my undergrad recital (I know, WAY too intense for an undergrad, but I was in love with them.) <br />I squeezed my way through "Sie ruh'n als wie in der Mutter Haus" and tears streamed down my face during the postlude of that first performance.<br /><br />The second time I did them I was several years older and a little more sure vocally -- didn't change the way I felt about the text, but changed what I was able to say to my voice...much the same as talking myself out of a sneeze -- I was able to disassociate enough that my voice didn't shake or close up in the delicate, floaty high of the last song. <br /><br /> Most of the set is low and there are wonderful opportunities for luxuriating in the consonants -- Mahler's text painting is dreamy! I think the most helpful goal I learned from the two performances was to focus in the final song on the narrator's relief and trust rather than his personal regret and loss.<br /><br />It's a really difficult but stunningly beautiful set; I'm so happy you're singing them.<br /><br />In bocca al lupo!<br />Mmmmwa,<br />KatyKatyprachthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08408671085041439920noreply@blogger.com