Looking for trouble .....

Gretel

I thought it was time to introduce you all to the newest member of the family. This is Gretel she is a Cavalier King Charles puppy who is now 13 weeks old.

So not only have I been ill but I have also been wrestling with three feeds a day, lots of small pools and parcels on the carpet, and trying to stop her from biting with her little needle teeth!

The chest infection has not been helped by the early mornings and puppy potty training!


All my female puppies have been named after roles I have played in operas. I had run out of roles except the witch in Hansel and Gretel, I could not call her 'witch ' so I opted for the next best name and Gretel was born!

I am hoping she is not going to be a high soprano!!!

Fiona at Wigmore Hall

Here we are two weeks on from my last blog. The next Saturday after the competition I found myself once more in London this time to hear an ex pupil who is now at the Royal College of music giving a part recital at the Wigmore Hall.
I taught this young lady from the age of 15 up until she went away three years ago. Her voice is like melting chocolate and I knew from the beginning that there was so much potential.

Sometimes being a truly laid back highland girl we battled against perhaps not quite enough practice, and the feeling of reluctant indifference about the theory of music which I cold heartedly made her do until she had passed her grade 5 exam!

I travelled on the very early flight from Inverness to Gatwick and then spent a very pleasant couple of hours shopping in Oxford Street, something I have not done for a very long time!
I arrived at the Wigmore Hall in time to greet parents and friends all of who were almost as proud as I was.
Fiona's mezzo voice rang so richly around the beautiful Victorian hall.
It was part of a series of recitals representing music which had had its premiere at the Wigmore Hall sometime during the last hundred years.

Fiona sang four songs by Coleridge Taylor very late romantic and lusciously exciting. She sang with such passion and such drama but all the time retaining the essence of the Fiona I have known and taught from many years.
It was still the voice of the 15 year old but bigger and more mature, but just as a warmhearted and affectionate, like the girl herself.

I was bursting with pride and so thrilled to have been there.
I came home on the late evening flight back to Inverness and arrived home exhausted but very happy at around midnight.

The south of England bugs seem to love getting me these days and from the Tuesday I was stricken with a chest infection which I still have, and my own poor students have been left without singing lessons for two weeks.

I have to say chaps, I don't regret it, going to hear Fiona was worth every squirming bacteria!

Cough cough cough splutter .........wheeze..

'Cherries' and 'Babbinos' - equally breathtaking.....

The David Josefevitz Recital Hall Royal Academy of Music
(mentally replace the brass player with some handsome and pretty singers)

What a stunning day at the RAM.

After a lovely brunch with E, a pupil of some 11 years or thereabouts, we both headed to Marylebone Road and the RAM building. E was there from about 3 years old as both her sisters were students and at the tender age of 5 she started herself as a violinist ! Sensibly she added singing to her long list of musical achievements by the time she was 9! She is now a mother of 2 little girls and has not picked up the violin since she left. I think it will be in the genes though - even the 3 year old sings beautifully in tune - E herself has perfect pitch, so there is no escape really!

Then the work day began, and I said in my adjudication how much I felt that the legacy of the department was being more than upheld. The standard of the singing was startling.
There were two categories and it was the Intermediate which I heard first.

In total there were 9 singers and they each sang 2 songs, not opera, and only baby oratorio. There was such a wide selection of repertoire, which was great to hear - in essence what that means is that there are no 'packaged' clones, each young singer is being treated as an individual and being allowed to develop their own individuality.

A young man sang a tremendous Ganymed by Schubert. He can't have been more than 16, although, much like today's policemen, he looked about 12 to me! It is such a big song, but he kept it all within his comfort zone, and so it was a miniature gem. Controlled and sensitive. His voice was like liquid gold, and I can't wait to hear him again in a few years. Another young tenor brought tears to my eyes with his Bach Gounod Ave Maria - he is as yet relatively new, but he sang straight to me, and straight from his heart. Again, another real talent for the future.

The winner of this prize was a young lady who gave us two of my favourites, Gluck's O del Mio Dolce Ardor and Wee Hughie, by Dorothy Parke. She sang with such an easy delivery, and her lovely mezzo was toasty warm and so unflawed throughout it's range. I felt that I just wanted to listen and not put pen to paper - a sure sign that the quality is all there. She was so genuinely surprised it was a joy to behold. She told me that she thought I had said the wrong name ! There was no pretense or affectation either in her performance, or her graciousness in winning!

The senior prize was obviously a notch up in terms of technique and experience. Wow ! I was quite blown away by each mini recital. They were so beautifully prepared, they looked wonderful, Black Tie for the boys and Evening Gowns for the girls. It does make such a difference, it gives the singers the feeling of performing, and it tells us, the listener that they have cared enough to show us their best image.

There were some very memorable performances, a masterful Sound an Alarm by Handel from a young tenor who was so excited by the whole thing, and then went on to show us his romantic side with Some Enchanted Evening - I love it when these young folk take command of the stage, and he did that to perfection. Another young man gave us a magical Lydia by Faure, then went on to sparkle as he finished his recital with the Tom Lehrer Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, and more miraculously he accompanied himself at the Steinway flambouyantly and with pianistic virtuosity and vocal wit. However good these performances were, and they WERE top notch, two young ladies took my breath away. I tied the prize, not as a 'cop out' from having to make a decision, but because the young singers concerned were completely equal and at opposite ends of the vocal type gauge.

One is a clean, bell like and pure high soprano who sounded like an embryonic Emma Kirkby, and whose final song, The Cherry Hung With Snow, set on this occasion by Colin Ross, was magical, and both the audience and myself felt that time stood still - so obviously she was the winner was she not..................and then, up onto the stage came a young lady who is going to the Royal Scottish Academy in September, and sang as if we were audience at the Metropolitan Opera in New York ! She controlled her voice, which is even as we speak, as big as a small country, with such skill for one so young, and sang O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, with such complete open heartedness and passion I simply had to tie the two.

Polar opposites in voice, physical size and repertoire it was a joyous equality, and a sign of the strength and depth of the voice department.

It was fantastic to leave the building and go out for dinner with some of the voice teachers, notably my old pupils, who fully deserved a champagne meal had the cheque book allowed, and another couple with whom I worked during my time at the JRAM. It was so warming to catch up, to laugh at old stories and to be able to tell them how proud I was of them. What a delight.

How did I do all that London - Inverness and vice versa each week, for 5 years, and only a few years ago ? I was so exhausted I had to cancel my Monday teaching ! I drifted around like an amiable zombie for a day or two, marvelling at the fact I was still almost awake !

I can tell you, it came as a bit of a shock! Tempus Fugit !

Up and Away to Marylebone Road....

The old stamping ground........Not quite Paradise, and the 'local' coffee is £6 per cup !


I finish my teaching week on a wednesday night - which sounds like a very short week as far as you fulltimers out there are concerned, but it leaves me the rest of the week for other work !
This friday I fly off to London once more, in much the same way as I did for all those years I commuted up to the RAM. For a short 3 days in town, and then back on Sunday ready to teach on Monday!

This time however it will be a much more pleasurable trip! I have been invited back to the RAM to judge the Intermediate and Senior Singing Prizes ! I will meet up with a very long time pupil for lunch on Saturday, then the competitions start at 3.30pm, both age groups taking around 3 hours in total, then I will be dining with 3 old students who are now teachers in the same establishment! How pleasing is that! I am fully expecting a great standard of singing, and a raft of sensitive and musical performances combined with an assured technique.

I also hope to see some unique individuals, hungry for a vocal future, eager for knowledge and bright eyed and bushy tailed into the bargain. I am also hoping to see young performers who know how to dress for the business of performing and how to present themselves confidently, but with no affectation or artifice. No pressure then!

I am so proud of the legacy I left and which was taken up with such drive and excitement by my successor, and her fine young staff of singing teachers. I am only sorry that one of them will not be there. Inconveniently, her baby boy chose to make his debut on monday of this week ! I think that is a fair excuse for absence..................

Each singer in the Senior Prize has to perform three items of a contrasting nature, and designed to show off their strengths. A good programme is the very essence of the thing. At student level safe, yet exciting choices which light up the young singer can often lead to a winning performance. Sometimes a really great programme can even outweigh a few vocal imperfections, if the overall performance sparkles and engages the listener. It is amazing what our ears 'forget' if we are entranced by the personality and bubble of the singer. The Intermediate Prize is just two pieces, and I feel certain that the less advanced students will sing out of their socks !

I can't wait.

That monarch of the road,
Observer of the Highway Code,
That big six-wheeler
Scarlet painted
London Transport
Diesel engined
Ninety seven horse power
Omnibus.

Smiles and Goals

The smile that softens the hardest of hearts !

My first full week back teaching ! The weather was still glorious, sunny and with bright bluebell blue skies, and undoubtedly it makes us all feel so lifted in spirits. As it was the start of the term, invariably it revolves around new music, new plans and reflections on what passed last term. Those who did the Song School were all so upbeat about the experience, and had so clearly upped their game, it was a joy to behold!

I rarely expect anyone under 12 to have done much in the way of practice over official holidays - actually I think it is a good thing to let it all lie fallow for a few weeks and then come back with renewed excitement. This leads to a positive start and a quick gather of momentum.

I love setting new goals for my pupils, and letting them see a forward plan - there is nothing like a PLAN ! That could be a song from South Pacific!!

Last term I started my first adult piano pupil in about 25 years. I stopped teaching piano eons ago when singing took over as a career, and then my teaching was obviously going to be in my 'first study'. However, a most musical and talented young man whose fiancee I already teach asked me if I would take him on, and give him some direction both technically and musically. He is like a hungry soul looking for a musical home ! It is such a pleasure to teach someone who really wants to learn - he even finds the challenge of tricky scale, hands together, 3 octaves interesting and exciting. I should have mentioned that he already plays with some proficiency, but largely by ear. When a person can get so far without the academic background or the lesson imput, then he really is worth teaching! Anyhow we decided that he should take an exam - his first ever on the piano - so we are shooting for Grade 5 in November ! It came as a bit of a shock to him, but I am such a believer in 'deadlines' that once the aftershocks have subsided he will work with a perfectly manageble goal in sight.

Reading music is the stumbling block for D. He is like a Gourmet Chef with his fingers, but more like 'Beans on Toast' when it comes to reading the black dots ! With the looming of an exam the reading will happen quite quickly I hope, so he will even be able to tackle the sight reading with some confidence.

Actually, he is a lovely addition to my week - he has the distinct advantage of being a handsome and smiley young man, and they have always been able to twist me around their little finger - and with any luck he won't read this, so he will never know!

Years ago, when I taught in a boys boarding school I had to learn to harden my heart when a blond smiler popped his head around my studio door and told me in the most polite way that he could not make his lesson, or his homework would be late. 'So sorry Miss L, the dog ate my homework'. The dog, I would retort, but you are at boarding school ! At that point the aforesaid sheepish and engaging smile crept over his face, and would have melted the polar ice cap !

The 'hard' was only ever temporary - I almost always buckled under the radiant smile.

Oh Well...........................

Skye Song School Week 2

A Verdi Moment !



Will You Dance Cha Cha Cha ?




Look at that Stradivarius.............

Song School – Week 2

Week 2 was a new set of folk and a new set of repertoire, equally as fun and equally as challenging!
During this week there were three of my own Paradise pupils taking part for the first time, and it was so interesting for me to work with them without the encumbrance of having to play the piano!

I saw some little physical quirks hitherto unnoticed in the realms of my music room! There was a marvellous moment when an otherwise rather shy soprano was elevated first to the raised dias in the hall, then onto a chair, and eventually onto a table – then, and only then did we hear the 'Cathedral' version of the beautiful Mozart Agnus Dei from the Mass in C. Suddenly she realised the room was ALL hers, and not just the bit nearest to her! A revelationary moment (if there is such a word!)

We had a hysterical moment when one of the chaps sang Tom Bowling, but being not an 'academic' musician, shall we say, it was in completely the wrong key, so instead of simply transposing it a little lower into a key he could manage without giving himself a hernia, he plumped for singing the whole song an octave lower. So in essence he manfully growled around on bottom G's and F's for three lo.........ng verses, coming to an end close to collapse and in urgent need of a beer. I was trying to be careful and, of course, kind, when I asked 'Did you mean to sing it that low ?' At that point the rapidly reaching boiling point bubble of hysteria in the room burst with an explosion of laughter, and a classic moment carved itself a niche in the annals of Skye School Legends, never to be forgotten. We laughed all week, and A took it is such good part. What a man!

We had a superb 'Voi che Sapete', with added characters as Countess and Susanna, and K excelled herself playing the gawky boy Cherubino, both vocally and 'actingly'. K has been very ill during the last year and just to see her there and singing was a fantastic moment. Interestingly, she had always been, prior to her illness, a rather anxious and worried lady, but this brush with eternity has given her a new outlook on life, and not surprisingly this has had a marked knock on in her singing. Suddenly she seems liberated from that anxiety, and the timbre of her voice, and flow of vocal line was impressively changed, for the better!

I was challenged to find a way to 'gentle down' a voice, so the lady concerned could add new soft and pastel colours to her song. I had one of those momentary flashes which do not happen very often, but when they do I am as pleased as punch ! I asked her to lightly stroke the hands of some of the participants as she sang. It is impossible to sing harshly when one is physically being gentle. Oh Boy ! It worked instantly, and I mean 'instantly', the tone quality was airy, light and intimate. Once P had realised this connection, she could repeat this alone, simply by a tiny and unobtrusive stroke on her own person. Skye Song School 1 The World 0 !

A beautiful tenor sang one of my all time favourites, 'Ich bin der Welt abhanden Gekommen' by Mahler. I sang this much as a young mezzo, so I knew every note, word, breathing place, and nuance of the song. The gentleman concerned was so receptive to the ideas I had, and I could have hugged him when he finished, and brought a deep hush to the room.

There was a lovely moment on the last day when J sang a Liszt song. Now J has a voice the size of Bournemouth and to sing pp is as tricky as fitting 16 people inside a mini. She could not finish, so disenchanted was she with her performance, but I truly felt she had the control in her to do it. We began again and with some coaxing, and relaxation and a bit of the aforesaid stroking she did it. It was one of those moments where you know that had she not achieved it the week would have ended on a downer for her, and I was not going to let that happen.

We had some wonderful humour from another P, my pupil who has the innate ability for wit and perfect timing. She sang the wonderful 'To keep my love Alive' by Cole Porter, about the upper class lady who kills all her husbands because of their annoying traits. It was quite hysterical, and I wish I could bottle her sword sharp sense of putting in the punchline. For fun we added a live body for each of her spouses who died singularly appropriately. I fully intent to put it into a concert plus cadavers ! It will bring the house down !

V, a lady who is a relative beginner made a promise to me that she would practise! She has a great voice, but needs to keep it going from year to year. Some singers who come do not have regular lessons, so it is tricky, and needs much self motivation to keep at it – but V has a pianist husband ! No excuses there then! I look forward to hearing her next year!

There was a fantastic song from J, who sang us the Alto's Lament. It was fabulous, and a bit of a tour de force in terms of pace, melody changes and memory. It is full of musical quotes from typical alto music, and the fact they never get 'the high notes'. She performed it with such panache and flair, and as much humour as she had brought to her Lady Jane's song earlier in the week, when, as we had no handy cello about our personages, she played most sensitively on a handy 'Warning, Wet Floor' sign, using some Blue Peter invention for a bow! She learnt all about a good bowing arm – our wonderful pianist was also a cellist in her youth – and when to up and when to down bow. We charged no extra for that service!

My gold dust alto M completely excelled herself, when she first came to have lessons a number of years ago, she was desperate for a 'good top E'. Well during the week she gave us some wonderfully big and warm top F's, progress M ! She was one of the singers whom I was so glad to be able to watch ! She is a fine and expert Scottish Country dancer, and when she sings she 'dances' the music, about which I have NO problem ! What I had not previously spotted was that the 'dancing' was slightly disrupting the tone quality, and making her voice not connect at certain times – especially on long held notes. We stilled the torso box, but kept the arms and legs free to jig if they so wished and her voice gained such stability. Along with that stability comes strength, power and production. She, of course, was our Olympic Gold Medallist on ensemble day, being a true alto the floor was hers! The whole day was the MG Show with supporting cast ! No, you can't take her home with you !! She's MINE!

What a great week.

Song School Week One

Vodka Anyone ! Light Opera Day




To Arms ! song from The Gypsy Baron





Lunchtime respite for the accompanist.....................

It was a fantastic 2 weeks. Each singer in each week was so up for the challenge of being masterclassed, and they were all such sports, and willingly had a go at everything I threw at them!

We had, in the first week, a group of 9 ladies and 2 guys, lucky men I hear you say, they had to be all the male characters in any staging, or partners in any dancing, so they were well and truly used to their full capacity!

We had some fantastic repertoire, much of it standard, but great music, and the first day which is opera or oratorio brought some wonderful arias from each genre. 'Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre' by Handel springs to mind instantly for various reasons. It was so beautifully sung, and when we gave our fabulous accompanist the cue to double the speed it danced along like a musical joke, which I feel sure is what Handel wanted! One lady, who has rather a retiring personality, and is quite low in self confidence sang 'Musetta's Waltz Song' from La Boheme by Puccini. This was where the men came into their own! How she sparkled when made to flirt with them, and what a difference in sound. Suddenly not only the person, but the tone and volume rose markedly and she probably would have shocked her husband with the heat of her seduction!

There was a glorious 'O Mio Babbino Caro', sung in a slightly lower key for a warm and caressing mezzo voice. We were all moved by the depth of heart which the singer produced when faced with singing the aria face to face with someone she did not know – a little bit cruel, but always destined to 'hit the spot' in terms of reality and integrity of performance.

I love any pieces where I can add 'context' – it is like a magical formula, everyone reacts and raises their game when they have to a) Move, and b) Interact. The singing becomes almost secondary and we see, and hear the whole performance how it was meant to be heard. That is when the magic happens!

There were some fantastic Art Songs in the week, some wonderfully classic Michael Head, including the gorgeous 'Sweet Chance that Led my Steps Abroad'. One tweak in terms of support and muscular refinement gave the singer the immediate ability to allow the note to 'live', but also to have much more air in reserve so the phrases became endless.

Both chaps sang the Vaughan Williams 'Bright is the Ring of Words', a complete favourite of mine, and always a cause of frustration amongst mezzos. Ladies just can't sing it!! I was utterly desperate to add it to my repertoire when a young singer, but I would have been laughed off the stage if I had tried. The performances were so different, and so each came with it's own colours and strengths. One was faster and bolder, and the other softer, slower and more fluid. That said, I would have paid good money to hear either of them!

The light music day brought a host of fun items and one intensely moving moment. One singer sand 'Send in the Clowns', by Sondheim. She has a beautiful voice, although I felt that the performance was rather 'big'. It was the perfect moment to talk about 'the power of SMALL'. We honed it down and down until it was such a personal and intimate performance to a small group of 'close friends' that there were tears around the room in profusion.

I love ensemble day, and this year the variety was astounding. From Bach to 'Chess' via Cimerosa. We also had a septet of ladies singing The Seal, and again we honed it down so that the singers were just an accompaniment to the piano solo, and the effect was of shimmering water with a small seal flying above the shimmer. A truly wonderful moment.
The duet 'I Know Him so Well' from Chess is a real party piece, but when was the last time that you actually heard each individual part as a heartfelt solo ? Well we did, and all around listeners were so surprised as to what they had missed in previous hearings. We need to hear and feel each of the women's thoughts so we feel much more impact. It worked like a dream.

The final day was very diverse, each sang their own favourite genre of song, and we swithered from Handel to 'Art is Calling Me', through English Song and more oratorio. I was completely taken aback by a most cleverly rewritten lyric to the famous Prima Donna song – all about me! Not, you understand that I was ever a PD, but it left me with absolutely nothing to say – which I think was the intention! It was a good job the singer was my erstwhile curly headed soprano duet partner of 300 years ago! Only she could have got away with it!