Master Singers : Advice from the Stage

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

George, Donald.

Contributor:

Mauro, Lucy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Singers--Biography.

Singers--Interviews.

Singing--Vocational guidance.

Local Subjects:

Singers--Biography.

Singers--Interviews.

Singing--Vocational guidance.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (190 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cary : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

There is often a dichotomy between the academic approach to singing that voice students learn in the studio and what professional singers do on the operatic and concert stage. Great singers at the top of the performing profession achieve their place with much analysis and awareness of their technique, art, interpretation and stagecraft that goes far beyond academic study and develops over years of experience, exposure, and the occasional embarrassing error. Master Singers brings these insights to the student, teacher, and emerging professional singer, giving them many needed signs and signals along the road to achieving their own artistry and established career.Through interviews with some of today's most accomplished and renowned concert and operatic singers, including Stephanie Blythe, David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, and Ewa Podles´, Master Singers provides vocalists making the transition from student to professional with indispensable advice on matters ranging from technique and its practical application for effective stage projection to the practicalities of the business of professional singing and maintaining a career to recommendations for vocal hygiene and longevity in singing. Rather than relying on a traditional one-singer-at-a-time structure, Donald George and Lucy Mauro distill answers to a range of essential, probing questions into a thematic approach, creating not a standard interview book but a true reference for emerging professional singers. An indispensable resource and reliable guide, Master Singers will find its place on the bookshelf of singers of this generation and the next.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Master Singers: Advice from the Stage""; ""Copyright""; ""Contents""; ""Portraits of the Artists""; ""Foreword""; ""Preface""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Chapter 1: On the Craft of Singing""; ""1. WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO BREATHING?""; ""2. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMPORTANT WAYS OF ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE DICTION?""; ""3. WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL PLACEMENT OF THE VOICE FOR RESONANCE AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TONE?""; ""4. WHAT DO YOU DO TO CREATE A VARIETY OF SOUND AND COLOR IN YOUR SINGING?""; ""5. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE PASSAGGIO (TO THE HIGH REGISTER)?""

""6. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF VOCAL TECHNIQUE, AND HOW DID YOU MASTER IT?""""7A. FOR WOMEN: PLEASE EXPRESS SOME IDEAS ABOUT EITHER THE LOWEST OR HIGHEST PARTS OF THE VOICE (THE CHEST VOICE OR THE FLAGEOLET).""; ""7B. FOR MEN: PLEASE EXPRESS SOME IDEAS ABOUT HIGH VOICE.""; ""Chapter 2: On the Operatic Stage""; ""1. HOW DO YOU LEARN A NEW ROLE?""; ""2. HOW DO YOU WARM UP BEFORE A PERFORMANCE?""

""3. THE EMPHASIS ON STAGE DIRECTION CAN OFTEN INVOLVE DIFFICULT SINGING POSITIONS, ABSTRACT IDEAS, DIRECTOR-ORIENTED STAGING, OR REINTERPRETATION OF THE LIBRETTO. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUNG SINGERS FOR MANAGING THESE DEMANDS?""""4. HOW DO YOU PACE YOURSELF IN A LONG OR VOCALLY DIFFICULT OPERA? ARE THERE ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU CAN MAKE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN PREPARING FOR A WAGNER ROLE OR FOR A LONG OPERA SUCH AS DER ROSENKAVALIER?""

""5. HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE YOUR SINGING WITH ACTING, THAT IS, COMBINING THE EMOTIONAL CONTENT OF AN ARIA OR ROLE WITH THE TECHNIQUE OF SINGING? DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL TECHNIQUES YOU USE TO CONNECT WITH THE CHARACTERIZATION OR THE EMOTION OF THE ARIA OR ROLE?""""6. THE ROLE OF THE CONDUCTOR IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN OPERA. SOME CONDUCTORS HAVE MORE AFFINITY FOR THE VOICE THAN OTHERS. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR WORKING WITH CONDUCTORS? HAVE YOU HAD ESPECIALLY GOOD EXPERIENCES (OR OTHERWISE) WITH CONDUCTORS HELPING YOU TO SING A ROLE FOR THE FIRST TIME?""

""7. WHAT IMAGES OR TECHNIQUES HELP YOU TO PROJECT IN A LARGE HALL OVER THE ORCHESTRA AND STILL MAINTAIN THE EXPRESSION AND DYNAMIC QUALITY OF THE MUSIC?""""Chapter 3: On the Recital and Concert Stage""; ""1. COMPARED TO OPERA, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENT DEMANDS OF THE RECITAL STAGE? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL RECITAL PERFORMANCE? ARE THERE THINGS YOU DO DIFFERENTLY EITHER VOCALLY OR INTERPRETIVELY?""

""2. WORKING WITH A PIANIST IN RECITAL OFFERS A DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITY FOR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND COLLABORATION THAN OPERA. HAVE YOU ANY TIPS FOR SELECTING A COLLABORATIVE PIANIST? HOW DO YOU APPROACH REHEARSALS AND COLLABORATING, IN GENERAL, WITH YOUR PIANIST?""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

ISBN:

0-19-023657-4

0-19-932419-0

OCLC:

922973258