Singing Teaching in Paradise

Dido's Lament, what a finale

2012-02-16T19:59:00.004Z

The Business End

Early One Morning

Well I am off tomorrow morning. At last. When I was booked 2 years ago I don't think I ever thought this moment would arrive. It seems like so long ago.

The bags are packed, the laptop needs unplugging and putting to bed in my briefcase. The adjudicating paraphernalia is already in the said brown leather bag, the bi focals so I can quickly write and look up and watch, then head down to write again. The 30 pens, all black ink, as well as my fountain pen and lots of cartridges, which on the whole I prefer to write with, but I may run out of black fuel, and will then resort to roller balls. My descriptor aide memoire which sits next to the sheet I am writing, so that in a 35 second baby song if I need a word so quickly to keep the flow of the class going I can refer to it in a nanosecond. Finally, my trusty bottle of anti bacterial spray to clean my hands after shaking the sticky mits of 60 under 10's, and not catch every bug known to man!

This was advice given to me years ago by a number of revered and somewhat old school adjudicators. I think most of them used a bottle of TCP! The modern, kind to the hands stuff I use, most likely does not strip the top 4 layers of skin, as I am sure the TCP did in days of adjudicating yore!

I finished my teaching for the term with a fine trio of youngsters aged from 7 years to 21 years. Each superb at their own level, and a wonderful send off to the Hong Kong Festival which is all ages up to 23. We had repertoire from Early One Morning, that gorgeous English folk song, much maligned from school days, but in reality a most lovely tune and rather poetic words. We passed on to the most yearning of arias, Grief for Sin from Bach's Matthew Passion, via a perky little performance of Were I Thy Bride from Yeoman of the Guard (remember the song and the dog cuddling strategy?!), and finishing my day with Dido's Lament. M sang the heart rending Purcell with such depth and such glorious and rich tone, how could I want for anything more to send me on my way.

The Blackbird's Song in two versions

2012-02-13T15:14:00.004Z

The final week before I depart - I am much touched that many of my pupils are sad that they will not have lessons until May 7th after this week. It makes me feel needed!!
The rehearsal timetable for Patience is done for the next 5 sessions, and they have been given a good deal of learning, and much work to cover, I feel certain L and C will keep the whip poised for slackers!

I am masterclassing in Durham at the weekend, as my penance for staying halfway to the South with M ! So I will be assured of some fine singing, but more importantly I must remember to take some choral music she has been reminding me about, which she wants to do with her singers. One is an SSA song called 'The Blackbird's Song' by Percy Buck. A gloriously understated choral piece, and difficult to bring off due to the massive amount of close harmony singing at ppppp ! The poem is an allegory of Mary Magdelene waiting at Heaven's gate to be let it. She is sorry, sorry sorry, but all to no avail, until the blackbird pleads for her, and finally 'when he has sung himself to sleep, One came out, and Magdelene went in'.

The version E is singing is a solo song by Liza Lehman. It is quite tricky and covers a very wide range, but still has all the pathos of the SSA song. It is such a gorgeous song, full of key changes as the music becomes more melancholy, yet changes to such a tranquil final section for the entry into Heaven.

Poetry must be of vital import to a singer. If you cannot feel the words there is little chance of understanding the song. All my life I loved English 20th Century Art Song, and I always felt that so many singers and teachers simply never took it seriously, and thus did not give it the reverence it deserved.

Many thanks ladies of song (and the odd man!) who took me out for a celebratory dinner last saturday. It was in honour of exam successes, and it was a truly lovely evening! Lots of laughter, much too much great food, and grand companionship. Roll on the next lot of exams I say!

Der Rosenkavalier damn it

2012-02-10T12:50:00.005Z

A wild and kittenish Octavian, Sarah Connolly

Well the ear proved to have a double infection - outer ear and inner ear, so I have have to tread very carefully for the rest of the week. I tried teaching a little but my eardrum was feeling the sound too much so I gave in and cancelled my teaching! Even the little ones were a tad too loud. Actually I think the percussive effect of the piano was almost the most painful. The miracle that is antibiotics are definitely working however, so fingers crossed for a full recovery by the middle of next week!

So many folk have missed quite vital lessons and I am riddled with guilt, but in the end if I damage my ear permanently there will be no more anyway!

I was thinking about going to the opera when I go down south at the end of next week, and I noticed that the divine mezzo Sarah Connolly was playing the Travesti (male role!) part of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. As it happens, and much to my deep disappointment the final performance is the evening that I actually fly. Aaagh!

I had never heard the opera until I was about 35 ! I can give no explanation for my crass stupidity in always fighting shy of it, except in my studying years we listened to a good deal of later Strauss works such as Salome and Elektra and to be honest I found them very hard work, and very hard on the voice. Then one day I opened the Radio Times (now there is a bit of the past!) and saw that Rosenkavalier was on the TV with a masterful cast including Kiri te Kanawa, Barbara Bonney and Ann Murray. I decided in a half hearted sort of way to give it a go.

Picture the scene if you will. I was lounging on the sofa, TV at the far corner of the room. It began, I realised actually (just as I had been taught!) it really was a modern Mozart opera. The first Act ended and I was on the floor closer to the box. By the presentation of the rose scene I was in front of the fire on the floor 2 metres closer, and by the trio in the final act I was peering closely at the TV with tears rolling down my cheeks, unable to drag myself from the screen.

Why, oh why had I wasted all those years? Why had I not given it a try when I was 20?

Perhaps, I reason nowadays, it is because I was by then truly ready for the impact and the intensity of the work, which may have slightly bypassed me when I was greener and younger. Maybe in my 30's I had a deeper empathy for the 32 year old Marschellin who has to give up the young boy, and does it with such grace, for the young and beautiful Sophie.

It is a Marriage of Figaro type work but with a more personal and human take of the emotions of the characters. Strauss says all the things Mozart did but with a broader coloured palette, brighter hues, and more tears.

Sarah Connolly has had rave reviews for her Octavian/Cherubino role, and I am very cross ENO did not consult me as to my diary before they set their schedule. It is a revival as well, so it could be years before it comes around again, by which time Madam Connolly will probably have retired!

Blast.

Felicity Lott, Anne Sofie von Otter and Barbara Bonney

Erbarme Dich, and my poor ear

2012-02-07T11:15:00.004Z

Thank you Mr Bach

Apart from the fact that I am almost completely deaf in my left ear, it was a very good first day back to normal teaching! All the flying in the time I was away plays havoc with my ears. One of the reasons I had to retire from the Academy was due to the relentless flying each week, for 5 years. Now flying too much within a short period brings back the ear pain and blockage.

Thus, teaching with a blocked ear causes pressure on the ear drum, and any note from C above middle C to the F above is like an Exocet missile hitting my inner ear, especially if it is well placed, and resonantly forward! So pupils, the better the singing, the more torturous the agony! I am indeed the victim of my own success!

Bach. The man. The great man. The most taxing of composers for he voice. He treats the human voice as just another 'mechanical' instrument, with all the flexibility that entails. Except we as singers are NOT instruments, so the intricacies and technical facility his music demands is at the outer edge of manageable, especially if one wants to do the sublime music justice!

My true and dark chocolate contralto is making a brilliant and brave job of the glorious 'Erbarme dich ' from the Matthew Passion. She works like a Trojan, listens with fine ears to the tricky intervals, and has now more or less progressed to singing it with me playing as much as I can of the violin obligato which twists and winds in a quite heavenly way, but in no way helps the already viciously difficult vocal line. She deserves a medal, it is around 15 years since I have taught this fiendish but delicious aria. It needs total concentration, great confidence and much musicality to sing well !

Magnificent job that woman!

Link to Julia Hamari singing it. Quite old but utterly glorious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPAiH9XhTHc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Inch Worm, Inch Worm, Measuring the Marigold

2012-02-02T10:28:00.004Z

Self Explanatory !

Simplicity is always the key. Simple music sung really beautifully will move an audience as much as clever and complicated stuff which needs so much brain during the performance that it can lose the heart of the piece.

I always try to bring a lighthearted part song, which is not religious, on my Abbey visits. We use this as a parting moment of merriment at the final choir session. The hard work has been done, these ladies, as with all nuns I have taught, work tangibly hard when I teach, they want to squeeze every last drop of knowledge from me so it can sustain their singing when I have flown the coop and they do not see me for a whole year, or at the least 9 months. It is therefore a great moment when we decide to spend 20 minutes having a jolly sing, for nothing in particular except joy.

This week I brought a 1950's/60's song from a Disney film which I used all my school teaching career many moons ago. It is called Inch Worm, and I think was sung by the inimitable Burl Ives with Hayley Mills as an all American Pollyanna type character. It is such a sweet song with simple words along the line of

Inch Worm Inch Worm
Measuring the marigold
You and your arithmetic will probably go far.
Inch Worm Inch Worm
Measuring the marigold,
Seems to me you'd stop and see
How beautiful you are.

There is a very melodious upper part which cleverly changes the harmony, but gives an opportunity for untried, religious sopranos a top line, not too high but high enough to prove very satisfying!

The sisters loved it, and of course a few knew the song from their youth, but many did not. It brought together in a jocular way all the skills they had honed during my stay, and allowed them to sing 'out', with no fear of overpowering others, and feel generally liberated vocally, and I dare to say, personally. When we must rein our voices in for most of the time we sing, a good full belt, using newly remembered vowel shapes and newly reached top G's gives such emotional and physical satisfaction by the making of a 'big and beautiful noise' !

They also sang a wonderfully hearty Happy Birthday into my iPad, which I will play to my father who was 90 yesterday, and will be so delighted!

My 'nun' sojourn is at an end. Thank you all for the pleasure of your song, company, and gastronomy. My injection of your welcome and tireless warmth will sustain me until the next time.

Yesu

2012-01-30T19:14:00.005Z

The soft yellows of the spiral staircase up to the guest rooms at Arundel

The staircase itself!

The log fire in the hallway at Boarbank where evening Compline is held

The snowdrops to welcome me in my room.

I made it to Boarbank Hall to the Augustine sisters who invited me for the first time last Easter time. It is such a beautiful place, large expansive gardens, a house full of painted wall panels in the reception rooms and parlours galore!

As this is only my second visit here they sisters are not as advanced as the Poor Clare's who have had my ministrations and bellowing's for around 15 years. I was so pleased to hear however, at our first morning session altogether that they had retained a good deal of what I had taught last year, and the mouth shapes came zooming back to them in a very short time.

Once again, bucking the trend, the community has expanded by four or five, and some who were aspirants last year are now novices, and others on their way to full vows. I am cheered by the influx of new blood I have seen at both places, each radiates warmth, and each deserves the pleasure of a thriving community.

One of the older sisters remarked to me after lunch had I noticed what a cosmopolitan group we were eating around the same table ? Infact we were English, Irish, Singaporean, Chinese, Hungarian, French, and me, a bit of a mongrel in ancestral terms!

The young Chinese lady had me singing in Mandarin !!! I learnt a song with her, in order to help her understand vowel shapes, and how to apply them to her own language. It made Gaelic sound like the simplest language in the known world! With much hand expression, wild gestures and laughing we communicated happily until her 20 minute slot was over. She wants to come back for more, so it must have meant something!

I was much moved to learn that the name Jesus in Mandarin is eminently recognisable as Yesu. Some things cross all barriers.

The two communities are so different, equally warm and welcoming, and most enjoyable to work with. Arundel feels like a group of old friends nowadays, and we work like a hand in a well fitting glove, and I feel as if I am still getting to know the Grange over Sands sisters, but what a joy and honour to spend time with them all. I love the job!

Some photos show how each house has an individual ambience, structure and lifestyle, each wonderful in their own way, and both in terms of the all important gastronomic delights of the table!

(It was Kedgeree tonight ! Yum)

Latin Mass, Coffee and free WiFi

2012-01-26T17:49:00.001Z

I have had a super day at the Poor Clare's today, working with old friends and new friends. The community in Arundel seem to grow each time I go, which must be bucking the trend for enclosed convents and monestaries in 2012 I imagine. They are a vey cosmopolitan community, with sisters from Zimbabwe, France, Malaysia, Ireland, Scotland, England and India. They have a gift for 'inclusion', the welcome, and the bringing in of everyone is very tangible, whether to a new sister from another house in the world, or a brand new postulant, and even to a paid worker and relative stranger like myself.

We started our day with some general exercises in a plenary session. The music director Sr F always has some repertoire she wants me to work on, so after the warm ups, and maybe a new type of technical help we embark upon learning the new material.

There is, at the moment a very difficult issue in the Catholic church regarding translations of the Latin mass. I was, I must be honest, largely unaware just how contentious this has become, and it seems many years have gone into the minutiae of syntax of these translations. Without putting too fine a point upon it, I got the feeling that many folk feel that the time and finance might have been put to better use. The new lexianaries which contain these modern translations cost £258 per book, and each church, convent, monestary has to have a copy and has to use it. To me, as an observer and onlooker, the changes seem very small indeed, but it is not my place to judge, I realise!

We embarked on a squeaky clean new setting, new translation, of the Gloria. To put it mildly, I felt it was rather uninspiring, over complicated and perhaps a youthful composer trying to put in everything he/she has learnt in academic studies ! Bearing in mind that the nuns, whilst being very competent, and some very good readers, it was tough going, and took me all my cheeriness, encouragement and 'you can do this!!, to keep them motivated, and believe me in general nuns and monks are VERY self motivated. Some even indicated that a quiet word in the Abbess's ear about the suitability of this particular anthem, might relieve the situation. Like everywhere, an outsider can sometimes say what the insider finds hard to verbalise. I may give it my best shot tomorrow, and duck !

The Abbess is great, ducking will probably not be necessary.

To turn to the vastly important subject of Guest House food, I had the most wonderful vegetarian lasagne last night. I am generally not a fan of the usual veg lasagne, but this was splendid. I w told today that it was stuffed with lentils, red and green as well as chick peas and lots of onions. It tasted like manna from Heaven ! I have asked for all the ingredients which will be gladly given to me, but Sr G the young cook from last night said she could only give amounts enough to feed 30 mouths! I said, fine - one of my Paradise cooking friends will do the maths, and may even make it!

Am coffee ing in the Premier Inn opposite the convent, where free WiFi is on offer!

Costa coffee, wifi and nuns: a fine combination indeed!

2012-01-24T11:41:00.002Z

An early lovesick maiden, with a lusterous head of curly hair I think!

Another day another 10 songs!

A very busy day today and then another rehearsal tonight.

I may not have time or wifi to post in the next few days, but the lapse will be due to lack of technology, rather than my tardiness.

Tonight the feet will be all tripping when we finish the first chorus for ladies, and Twenty Fine Lovesick Maidens do they make indeed! We are giving them props, an embroidery ring with a flowing piece of fabric and some stiches, good for making arm patterns and for hiding behind! The men will all have Swagger sticks, actually for the moment, garden canes cut to the right length - I wonder if any lungs will be punctured as they learn to keep them under control!

Aaagh!
Hope to report from the wonderful Poor Clares in Arundel in the next few days!

King David by Herbert Howells

2012-01-22T21:14:00.006Z

"Tell me, thou little bird that singest,
Who taught my grief to thee?"

I was just thinking how time flies. Here I am with only 2 more teaching days to go before I am 'nunning' for 10 days, and 3 weeks 2 days before I leave for my sojourn in the Orient. I feel as if I have so much music to cram in before the deadline!

So many folk have their own musical deadlines, the Festival looms, and all that repertoire needs to be memorised and polished in the next 3 weeks, and for some the said repertoire is tricky stuff. On my way back from visiting Dad in the nursing home 30 miles away I was listening to my favourite playlist when a song came up which I realised I had never taught anybody for about 15 years.

What's going on, I said to myself - this is one of the finest English Art Songs of the last century. Why is nobody singing this for an advanced exam, a Festival class or my own Song School !?

So what is it? King David, by Herbert Howells. A wondrous piece of vocal music, so rich in text and melody and yet subtle and understated. The poem, by Walter de la Mare is magical. It talks about the biblical King David who is full of such melancholy that nothing can lift his spirits. Not the finest musicians in his employ or the finest music of the day can take the sorrow away from his heart. Only when he walks in his garden and hears the nightingale singing innocently in the nearby tree does he feel lifted, and yet this little bird is oblivious to his dark feelings, and presumably simply singing to catch a mate, or for the joy of singing ?! I am sure a birdwatcher will tell me different, but he definitely was not singing to ease the King's sadness!

Howells must have been so inspired by this poem, and his setting is warm, melancholic and wandering. So in keeping with the distracted King. Yet as the heaviness in his heart lifts he gives the singer a simple rise in pitch, and a couple of unaccompanied, and thus uncomplicated bars, free of cloying harmony or fussy piano roulades.

It is one of the greatest songs written, and I MUST use it in the not too distant future.

I have been inspired!

PS Not in the next seriously hectic 3 weeks however, though I may listen again about 25 times and remind myself of it's beauty!

Words

King David was a sorrowful man:
No cause for his sorrow had he;
And he called for the music of a hundred harps,
To ease his melancholy.

They played till they all fell silent:
Played and play sweet did they;
But the sorrow that haunted the heart of King David
They could not charm away.

He rose; and in his garden
Walked by the moon alone,
A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree,
Jargoned on and on.

King David lifted his sad eyes
Into the dark-boughed tree
"Tell me, thou little bird that singest,
Who taught my grief to thee?"

But the bird in no-wise heeded;

And the king in the cool of the moon
Hearkened to the nightingale's sorrowfulness,
Till all his own was gone.

Listen to the marvelous Sarah Connolly singing it. She sings a wrong word in the first verse - see even the greats make mistakes - how comforting!

'Sing Together' - the Purple Book of Success

2012-01-19T20:44:00.007Z

Purple Wins !

The snow arrived today, and seems set to last through tomorrow. Not heavy, more like thick hail stones, but whatever the density the outcome is the same, a white road and a chilly zero temperature.

I had a tiny little thing for her first lesson today, a talented, eager and delightful small girl of 7 years from the next large village. Sometimes one can see a totally natural aptitude, a little rosebud mouth which does exactly what one wants it to do, and an ear that can up the scales by a semitone without giving it a thought. Well this small babe can do all of that, and I found myself smiling with glee at each new scale, as her lips made the utterly unflawed OO shape or AW shape, never wavering, and thus producing a true and pingy tone, absolutely in tune and centred.

The most important thing is however that she does not have any idea that it is a little unusual in one of her age, and so she just enjoyed herself and had a ball in her lesson! Potential indeed for the future. Infact her 20 minutes went in a flash.

I am away 'nunning' from next wednesday for 10 days, so I gave her two songs to learn, and so I will see how quickly she learns and memorises. Probably she will whizz through them and be bored by Sunday!

I know I have mentioned the wonderful Sing Together book before - but it is fantastic, and should be a compulsory textbook in all primary schools. Truly 'World Music' with little folksongs from all over, with piano accompaniments which are not out of the way for an average pianist, or even a less than average tinkler! My copy is wonderfully dog eared, has a broken back, pages float out when used and lots of pencillings jotted down for little people of years ago !

Try 'My Father's Garden', or 'Anna Marie', or maybe the jolly 'Smuggler's Song' for bouncy boys........I could go on and on.

Give it a try, use it in the classroom or musicroom for all your under 11's and I promise that they will enjoy it hugely.

Incidentally I have no shares in Oxford University Press; unfortunately!

PS I forgot, my wonderful Mezzo M came once again for a lesson today and is back in the saddle I think - new aria, excited about being in a concert once again and singing with such magnificent control, such huge ringing tone, and such joy - for both of us.

Guess what the new aria is?
That's right, 'Dido's Lament' Purcell. Scrumptious!

First Rehearsal on your toes

2012-01-18T12:47:00.006Z

Don't you just love the trousers!

The weeks are zooming by and I am teaching everyday monday to friday until I go to Hong Kong. I feel as if I am back in London !

Still, it means that I can squeeze in more lessons and rehearsals than normal and then I can at least leave them all with a clear conscience.

We had our first rehearsal last night for Patience. It went so well, they were all singing with a big and healthy sound, and we started blocking so that by the middle of February, L and C have a solid base upon which to work whilst the pianist is otherwise engaged. Patience is so full of 'nutcase' characters, the aristocratic ladies, all of whom are following the aesthetic movement, and are as barmy as 8 week old puppies !

We set the ladies opening chorus, playing heavily on the melodramatic and the languishing lovesick, with much in the way of fake weeping and eloquent sighing. They did it remarkably well - Oh Dear ! The chaps marched well in time as fairly smart Dragoon Guards, but may not, in fairness have passed muster at Sandhurst yet, but in a few months they will be as 'smart as a carrot' as my father has always quoted!

I love it when rehearsals get going for real, so to speak. The journey of a show, whether 6 months in an amateur capacity, or in 3 weeks in a professional theatre, is exciting, almost exhilarating even. So full of promise and potential, so much undiscovered musical country. I love watching all the singers catch the infection which is the 'stage', and light up when they can ditch the day job and become someone else for a couple of hours.

This show is new to virtually everyone, and whilst that makes it harder on the learning front, it is also much more interesting to watch it piece together. There is some cracking music in the show, and some marvellously ridiculous storylines, largely based on the sillier elements of the Oscar Wilde movement. Initially it is quite hard to understand the 'aesthetic' movement, but it quickly becomes obvious it is just another implausible and impossible Gilbert and Sullivan plot.

One of the few which does not involve babies swapped at birth !

Hurrah !

One of the more obscure and silly poems written by ' dear Archibald'. Ahhhhhhhhhhh

'Gentle Jane was as good as gold,
She always did as she was told;
She never spoke when her mouth was full,
Or caught bluebottles their legs to pull,
Or spilt plum jam on her nice new frock,
Or put white mice in the eight-day clock,
Or vivisected her last new doll,
Or fostered a passion for alcohol.
And when she grew up she was given in marriage
To a first-class earl who keeps his carriage!'

'Were I Thy Bride' with canine accessories

2012-01-15T00:02:00.006Z

I had to take my car to Inverness for a service this week, so whilst I was over that neck of the woods I taught three of my students who live in the environs of said city, to save them a trip over to Paradise.

It was a good, but long afternoon's worth of teaching, including a most memorable session with 17 year old M. She, along with a few others are entering the Inverness Music Festival in March, by which time I am in Hong Kong, so I am working them very very hard so they are ready to perform a good two weeks before the official dates.

M is singing 'Were I Thy Bride', Phoebe's aria from The Yeaoman of the Guard. She can be a serious young lady, and has a very intense, almost blinkered way of thinking about a song, so humour and fun can sometimes be in short supply! The song was going well, she had learnt it well, all was more or less note and word perfect, but it did not look much like she was seducing the clod Wilfred Shadbolt!

At the end of ideas for 'fun inducing', I decided that the last resort was to use a 'body' for her to sing to. The nearest 'body' to hand was Gretel the Cavalier King Charles ! She is dog and animal mad, so it turned out the perfect foil for her, and in a split second she smiled, giggled, cuddled and generally sang as if it were the most enjoyable moment of her short life, up to that moment. What a triumph, I must use the dog more often ! Her tone softened, she forgot about difficult breathing, she sang with bounce and freedom - it was a revelation to us both!

I wonder what the adjudicator would think if she turned up at the Light Opera class with an adorable Black and Tan King Charles wearing a miniature costume resembling the cutest jailer in the Western world.

If it were me adjudicating she would carry away the prize.

No question!

The antithesis of this happened in a small pupils's lesson, another M ! She was wriggling and scriggling so much we had a competition to see how long she could keep her shoulders from looking as if she had itching powder in her school uniform! 20 seconds was about the maximum, by which time she was exploding with wriggles!

The joy of teaching.

Everyone a unique challenge, everyday. How could I ever be bored?

'On a Bank Beside a Willow' by William Boyce

2012-01-10T23:57:00.003Z

A place to dream

One of the most beautiful songs I know is 'On a Bank Beside a Willow' by William Boyce. I don't teach it a great deal because it is very difficult technically, mostly because of the large interval leaps of 6th's 7th's and Octaves. These wide leaps need so much vocal and muscular support, yet the overall style of the song is pastoral, legato and flowing. Tricky indeed to combine the use of all that hard work whilst seeming to float the magical melody.

In many ways it is so akin to ballet. So much energy and yet so light and effortless in what we see, and in the case of the song, what we hear. The song's melody soars and falls majestically, and is so full of passion, yet in a late Baroque song, written in an era when coolness and vocal mastery were almost more important that heart on the sleeve emotion.

It is the story of a girl who was loved by Damon a Greek god. More than that I cannot find ! I'm not sure that really matters, but the words are by Dryden and the music simply oozes the dropping tears of Aminta for the loss of Damon.

I was teaching it today, the first time in 10 years, as I have not had a high soprano with a purity of vocal tone, and the stamina to cover all the technical bases, so to speak.

Having said all that, my pupil L, did almost need mouth to mouth recusitation by the time we had finished! Good for the body, good for the soul and a work out above and beyond the call of duty!

I really enjoyed it!

O Soft was the Song of My Heart by Elgar

2012-01-09T12:02:00.003Z

My favourite picture of Elgar, looking benign and a bit Father Christmasish!

Well, the new term starts today, back to the grind so to speak! Actually there are a few regulars who are still on holiday this week so I am eased in with a three quarter timetable. However, because I am off to adjudicate at the Hong Kong Festival in Feb and March, I am adding in an extra day of teaching for those youngsters and oldsters who are committed to high end exams, or singing in the Skye Song School in April.

So my usual washing and shopping friday is now a full teaching day. I worked out that there would only be around 5 weeks of this term before I was away, and not returning until, in effect, next term! I don't think I have ever been away for a month before, and that is a lot of of lesson time missed for the heavily weighted (not in lbs and ounces you understand!) with repertoire.

Some lovely repertoire is being sung at all of these events however. I taught a young man last friday who cannot come this week as he is to have a small operation in hospital today. He brought the gorgeous 'O Soft was the Song' by Elgar. I love it when they get to late teens and suddenly start to really understand how music works, and not be intimidated by 'grown up' songs, like the Elgar, which has changes and moods which require different colours and movement.

He had learnt it well, but the joy on his face when he heard the accompaniment and the harmonies swirling around underneath the voice was a wonder to behold, and at the end of the first sing through he said, ' Ah now I understand where the tune is going!'. Elgar had the most wonderful ability to take us away from the key, dance us around in completely unrelated keys and then bring us home with total satisfaction and finality. I loved it, even though some of the poetry he used was less than stellar sometimes, his melodies and tunes more than made up for any poetic flaws.

When one sings Elgar it is like being wrapped up in a blanket of rich sound, or perhaps akin to hugging a Faberge hot water bottle!

Now there is a flight of fancy!

Plockton Pals

2012-01-03T18:43:00.004Z

Pretty Plockton

Today I had lunch with two pupils from some time ago, one I taught from the age of 10, and the other from 15. One is from the South of England and the other from Plockton just on the mainland. It was so lovely to spend time with them both, they are the sort of personalities where, regardless of how long it is since we met up, we simply carry on as if we chatted yesterday. Both of these young women, approaching their 27th year now ( Tempus fugit in a big way!) have made such successes of their lives in totally different directions, and with diverse aims.

F, from Plockton, is in her first post grad year at the Royal College of Music, and on her way to becoming a real star, yet steady and firmly rooted in her background and in her ability, with none of the 'diva' elements. She is hugely talented, but still has humility and fully accepts the precarious nature of the business. This will stand her in such good stead, and in many ways will enhance her chance of a meteoric career rise. These days there is no room for singers who are all pretty dress and no technique. She also has the kindest, most affectionate personality, and whichever route her life takes she will be a successful and contented person

C, from Surrey, came to me as a gorgeous and talented 10 year old, some 17 years ago, and went through school and the Junior Royal Academy of Music, so talented, and such a natural and delightful performer. I never ever had to teach her how to communicate with an audience and win them over completely. She always had a penchant for Kern, Gershwin and other composers of that ilk, and even today when I meet up with a colleague who was a house accompanist at the JRAM, he reminds me how C was the only singer he could improvise with, and who understood how to sell a Gershwin ballad. She sang at a St Martin in the Field's summer concert in her final year at the Academy, the only student from that august Junior Dept who ever performed a light piece as if she owned the venue, and with total professionalism. She left, decided singing was not for her, and is now extremely successful in the world of advertising and media.

Following the heart and gut is always the most fulfilling way forward - one girl has pursued the dream associated with the talent, the other has followed her dream, talent intact, but not as a career for her. They became friends, really close friends at 17, and have never looked back.

Whatever happens, introducing them to each other was the finest part of my influence in their lives, and it was such a thrill to see them both today, radiant, happy, fulfilled, and a teeny bit worse the wear from the extravaganza that is; 'Plockton Hogmanay' !

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis

Hogmanay Day

2012-01-01T17:06:00.003Z

I am sitting in the No 1 Lounge at Gatwick Airport, it is cold and very rainy outside, but nothing like the cold I am expecting when I brave the stairway out of the plane in Inverness! I have spent a super 6 days with the family in Sussex, but all good things come to an end, so today I am on my way home, and looking forward to seeing friends at home, and feeling the super cuddle which Gretel gives me !

My ex son in law drove me to the airport along with the children, rather hang dog in appearance, and very tired from too many late nights and too much rich food ! He chatted about this and that on the way to Gatwick, telling me in much detail how proud he was of his newly acquired Chapel Choir, at the school where he recently became head of department. I smiled inwardly, M is primarily a rock musician, soul saxophonist, and backing singer with his own Blues band. He is a brilliant teacher and even as a boy his musicianship was very fine in all styles, classical included. Over the years we have had an undercurrent battle about the fact that most children nowadays are never exposed to anything but 'pop' culture music in school, which means that classical genres become devalued and forgotten.

The inward smile of the last paragraph was because he so wanted to introduce the Middy sound to his choir, he has been using all the scales and exercises he poo pooed as a boy and young man, aiming for a beautiful SOFT sound, and asking them to sing with a real sensibility with the words !

Result !

On the quiet, he has asked me to go and give the choir a vocal masterclass sometime in the coming year, how pleasing is that. He was gracious and humble in asking, and told me he finally understood how moving a soft, unified, head sound is, and how glad that he was part (all be it peripheral) for all those years of the Middy 'stable' training!

He was the finest Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro many years ago, not totally in tune, but so very funny - I think all the serious singers wanted to lynch him for stealing the show!

Of course I will be going to his school, as soon as he gives me a date.

Well done that man.

Stringbabies

2011-12-30T21:31:00.003Z

I had a lovely lunch with an adjudicating colleague today. She is a string specialist and primarily a cellist. She also teaches my granddaughter the cello, and a fine teacher she is too. Actually she has developed a teaching system for 3 to 5 year olds which is called Stringbabies, and is clearly very very successful. It has a most innovative way of teaching notes as well as finger positions starting with less lines on the stave than the usual 5, and gradually adds in the whole stave as the child progresses.

I have seen it work fantastically well with C and the whole system is now being embraced across the country in many school music authorities as far apart as Cornwall, Surrey and Ayrshire!

If only there were some way of generalising voice teaching, beyond the earliest of vowel shapes, but each person is totally unique, with an entirely different set of vocal folds, muscles and genetic predispositions ! Although the scales and exercises are much the same for all my students, how they 'scrub up' in the lesson is so different, I can never predict what sounds will need tweaking, or how the tricky subject of breathing will pan out.

It does make for an interesting day however, no two voices resemble each other, and everyone's take on the song is just their's and their's alone. As a singer myself, I am probably genetically modified to view each pupil as another challenge, I may get bored if the sounds were too similar! No disrespect whatsoever to my instrumental colleagues! Especially those about to become richer from the proceeds of a brilliant teaching system - and who paid for my delicious lunch !

Have a google and see what a fantastic teaching system Stringbabies is.

http://www.violinbabies.com/index.php/main/#content

'Oh my Darling Clementine'

2011-12-29T20:15:00.002Z

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, and did not indulge too much !

I have had a great few days so far with my daughter and grandchildren, we have shopped and played games galore! My 5 year old grandson was given the timeless game called Pick Up Sticks, which I played in the school playground as a child. I had forgotten just how hard it is, or I have developed an age related shake, or even that my eyesight is now too far gone to see the tips of each coloured stick, and where is lies ! Anyhow, they beat me into oblivion, experience did not save the day sadly!

My 8 year old granddaughter received some lovely gifts, as did my daughter, we were all very blessed with presents from far and near. My daughter's partner however, his present was an acoustic guitar! Now not many of you may know that as a very young teenaged singer I was a dab hand at the old 'geetar', and sang folk songs accompanying myself on the 6 strings !

From Scarborough Fair, to The Cuckoo, I entertained at old folks homes and hospitals with both school and singing teacher, with much under developed gusto !

I spent a by happy hour or so teaching him 3 simple chords and after a short practise he was playing a basic accompaniment to such classics as 'Oh my Darling Clementine' 'On top of old Smokey' and finally 'Cockles and Mussels'.

He was suitably delighted with himself and I was transported back to those days when with long Nana Mouskouri hair and black rimmed glasses I thought I ruled the musical world! Having said all of that, learning the guitar and strumming all sorts of songs and chord sequences made me a pianistic busker par excellence ! It was the best foundation for playing everything from Gilbert and Sullivan piano reductions to to Strauss Lieder, both of which are made possible for the enthusiastic yet slightly inadequate accompanist if one can find the chord sequence.

Good old Clementine, she did the trick !

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T14:40:00.002Z

Merry Christmas to all my readers! Have a peaceful one, and see you after Boxing Day !

The Professional Amateur

2011-12-23T17:13:00.009Z

I went to the church today to have a play through the carols and work out which stops and manuals give the most satisfyingly rousing sound for the final verses of the really well known ones. It is a great feeling of power, sitting at something the size of a small truck, and being able to summon up a heavenly row, fit to raise the roof. As a professional musician who is not an organist, I am guilty as charged of always assuming that the vast majority of organists have a peculiar love of solitude, and can be rather self sufficient and occasionally odd !

If one had to spend many hours practising in an empty parish church, full of darkness and echo, I guess you need a certain ability which allows one to shut off and work in a vacuum. Many musicians are solitary folk, able to be emotionally self supporting, the many hours of practise mean that is almost a requirement, but organists are somehow different!

Anyhow, I am not of that ilk, but now and again it is great to have all that power to rev up like a celestial engine, and fill the church with Hark the Herald.............thank the Lord it was on the list!

I am not a member of the chuch, but I could not leave them without suitable backing for the midnight service, and I do actually enjoy it, and it is a lovely beginning to Christmas Day. Thankfully this year I don't think the weather will be as Arctic as it was last Dec 24th, so hopefully we won't see the familiar and loved words of said carols in our freezing breath !

I then will have a happily busy, and Vicar of Dibley Christmas Day, having two Christmas feasts, one at lunchtime and another in the evening.

Hopefully there won't be a sprout eating contest.....

For my international readers see info below! A well loved British sitcom about a small traditional English village who, much to their horror are sent a lady vicar! Lots of trouble for awhile but gradually they thaw and she is so popular she has 3 invitations for Christmas Dinner, NONE of which she can refuse! Brave woman !

The Marriage of Figaro x 2

2011-12-20T20:36:00.004Z

Susanna and Figaro a la 1945

Two of my past students have tackled producing The Marriage of Figaro, my daughter is one, and the young woman in Durham who, like S, is proving such a wonderful voice teacher. These two young women, along with another who danced as well as sung are taking the mantle of truly dedicated and highly talented voice technicians, as well as sensitive and empathetic in their teaching philosophy.

The two Figaro productions were wonderful, and I like to think that the root inspiration came from their own youthful performances as the Countess and Cherubino, when I produced the said opera some 23 years ago ! They loved the music, the story and the whole business of stagecraft, and how pleasing it is to see the full circle they have navigated in returning to the timeless, and ageless Mozart opera that is The Marriage of Figaro.

I am moved to write this as I just watched the DVD of one the productions, which was in July this year. The company had something of a drama, (What self respecting staged show would be without a drama!)and funds which had been raised for the show had to be directed towards paying the fee and travel expenses of a late entry Count ! Their home grown Count badly let them down and dropped out 3 weeks before the opening night, Bad Boy indeed. So it was the costume budget which suddenly slid into sub prime mode!

M had a brainwave borne of the dilemma and decided to set the whole thing in the 1940's, so costumes came from friends, elderly relatives and charity shops. Actually it worked beautifully in their favour. Young folk, largely under 21, and with bright young voices, made the nippy wartime idea prove lively and funny, without the heaviness of the 18th century paraphernalia. One obviously loses some of the stature of the piece, but, again the youthful enthusiasm and delicious buffoonery worked like a charm.

The other version which S produced and indeed brought up to Paradise, was set in period, and proved just as exciting, just as wonderfully full of pep and passion.

I feel it may be time for me to sink into unstressed oblivion, let them get on with it, and become a kindly observer, occasional advice giver, and deliverer of adulation and flattery at their 2nd generation brilliance!

What do you reckon?

Art Thou Troubled Mr Spock?

2011-12-19T19:39:00.008Z

Mr Handel and Mr Spock

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Well, finally my term is over! I needed to record a couple of songs for young R , and as she is a high soprano, the recording of repertoire for those whose are in the vocal upper echelons, becomes more tricky year on year! I had a very usable top B flat as a professional mezzo, but as age creeps up, so my range trickles down! Trying to warble a half decent V'adoro Pupille from Handel's Julius Caeser, becomes a game of octave swapping! Often I can manage the first section of the aria, but when the decorated return comes I surrender, so as not to offend the ears of the pupil by trying to dot around at the upper edges of the vocal cosmos, and failing dismally. Even the dog hates it! (I think) ?!

Anyhow, she had her half recording, and a link to the superb all singing all dancing performance by Danielle de Niese in the 2005 Glyndebourne production. So it worries me not that she will be struggling with a half sung, half played version, because she will hear a 'cool' opera singer perform it beautifully.

My very first song in my by first singing lesson was 'Art Thou Troubled' by Handel, and I fell instantly in love with glorious Handelian melodies. Few composers can write a cracking tune like Mr Handel, few knew the human voice as well as he, and few composers stand the test of time and come up shiny and newly scrubbed with each new performance. From the Messiah to Julius Caeser he 'has been and always will be the singer's friend', to misquote a well known character in Star Trek.

Live Long and Prosper!

Hark the Herald Angels Sing - after a long break

2011-12-18T23:12:00.003Z

Well, it has been a long time since I have blogged, and I apologise to my readers who may have thought I had fallen off the edge of Paradise. Actually there have been a number of big reasons for my tardiness, including, I am sad to say the death of my mother. She went down hill very rapidly from July, and gave up her fight against confusion and dementia on November 18th. My father is now in the same Nursing Home where she was, and they spent about 3 months there together, although she did not really know us anymore. Alzheimers is a cruel disease. On the bright side however, she and Dad had 61 years of marriage ! Now that is something!

Other things conspired to make my Summer and Autumn very difficult, so all in all after my sanity, my blog was the biggest loser.

I have managed a little teaching in the last 2 weeks, and feel as though I am slowly returning to 'normal' whatever that is! Inbetween all of this and just before the funeral, I had a day of singing exams, which was wonderfully distracting in one sense, and something to be 'got through' in another. On the whole I am glad I just dug in and did it, and the results were fantastic! So many distinctions, and high distinctions at that, and everyone passed well, doing the best they cold possibly do, and you can't ask for more than that.

Some of the youngsters have been seriously motivated by their brilliant results, and I love it when one sees clearly the overnight turnround. Four of my youngsters excelled themselves, gaining 4 high distinctions and lots of new born self confidence. Since that day their growth has been like a rampant weed, unstoppable and all consuming.

Other news is that we are starting rehearsals for another Gilbert and Sullivan show next summer. We are going to tackle 'Patience', the storyline based around much of the absurdities surrounding the 'aesthetic' movement and Oscar Wilde. It is a great show, and I love the music, but it is new to absolutely everyone, which means they can't be lazy and rely on past memories or being joined at the hip with someone who has done it 13 times before!

Two of the exam flyers are taking on their first biggish roles, and our dancer L is playing Patience, after our long standing leading lady moved on to the Royal Welsh College in September, other singers have burst out from under bushels all over the place! It always happens, and less steely folk than myself find it hard to believe that 'so and so', our wonderful soloist will EVER be replaced........well in all my experience it has never failed to happen.

Christmas is just around the corner now, and after eating heartily at a friend's family lunch, I am flying South to spend a week with my daughter and grandchildren.
I am playing the organ at the midnight service at the local Paradise church on Christmas Eve, so I will get my injection of carols, of which Hark the Herald and O Little Town of Bethlehem, are my favourites. I hope they are on the hymn list, or I may go on strike!

I hope to get back to blogging regularly once again, so watch this space, and thank you for your patience!

More pictures

2011-08-30T10:08:00.002+01:00

St Petersburg Day 2

2011-08-30T09:59:00.001+01:00

It was a ‘gird one’s loins for another mammoth history lesson’ day today. We left even earlier, having assembled at 7.45am; we went through the passport control and were on the bus and away along the Moscow Prospect by 8.15 am. Phew.....................

It was another blazing summer day, very unusual for August so Elena our guide told us. St Petersburg is the northernmost capital city in the world, so, a little like Paradise summer is short, and by June 22nd the festival of the ‘White Nights’ happens, when darkness never falls, and winters consist of a bare 4 or 5 hours of daylight.

We were travelling south from the city today on the road to Moscow, which is around 1300kms ‘down the road’, but we were only going about 28 kms to Tsarkoe Selo, or the Tsars Village, as it was called prior to 1918, and now Pushkin in honour of the Russian poet who loved it there.

As it was so early when we arrived at the Catherine Palace it was empty – we were the first tour, infact it was not yet open and the band had only just arrived, and were still lipping their trumpets and horns! Being a musician by trade I always put money in the hat, and these guys were fab. They played the Dance of the Cygnets from Swan Lake, and tripped a little balletic cygnet dance as they played. Who could not tip them! NB The Tuba player was also the percussionist, versatile and very jolly with it, I have never seen a band player who could blow, tap and smile all at the same time!

It was brilliant that we were the first, and meant one really felt free to wander a little and take in the incredible building fully, in the quietness, and entirely jostle free.

The overshoes were truly awful, shiny blue plastic and so slippery on the ballroom floors that I felt unable to give it my best pirouette and jetee, what a disappointment! The magnitude and magnificence of these buildings is awe inspiring, and after awhile I felt as if I was swimming in a bath of golden honey.
One lovely restoration was of the coronation gown of Catherine the Great, which you can see on a model, and just behind this, is the portrait of that moment in time. The reconstruction was almost perfect to a stitch.

One of the highlights of this wondrous place is the Amber Room, which was only completed in 2007. I cannot remember statistics, and would not bore you with them if I could, but suffice to say this room, where one cannot take photos as it is too damaging for the amber, was so beautiful and so magical that I was rendered speechless. (Yes really). Standing in the centre, with relatively few other folk I felt submerged in a flaming sunset which never dimmed. My strongest memory of this palace is that moment. I took a photo from the next room, looking into the Amber Room, well a small corner of it, and the Babushka who was guarding that room almost had an apoplectic fit, so I moved on as rapidly as my plastic clad feet would allow me to slip and slide.

Restoration still goes on, and note the photo where the work was happening under miles of beautifully painted plastic sheeting – now how long did that take, before it was even erected to protect the craftsmen and women?

We went on to Pavlovsk Palace which simply means Paul’s Palace, only 6 kms away from the Catherine Palace and still part of the Tsar’s Village.........and I think that finally I found a home, still grand, still majestic, but in proportions which I could understand, and where I could see Imperial children playing in the corridors and rooms.

The chandelier in the entrance was smaller than, but just as exquisite as any I have seen thus far, with filigree crystal feathers around the edges, and the chapel was small but homely in a fairy like white and gold sort of way! There is a photo of a really personal moment. All the statues and carvings were, like at Peterhof, buried or hidden as the Nazis were approaching the city in 1941, some very quickly and roughly, but no matter how swift the historians had to be, each had a hand written number on it so that when the liberation finally came, presumably from Nazis and Communists, the recorded number, written in code and kept by those brave people could tell them the hiding place. One felt clearly that these people knew it would be many years before the Nazis left, and a government came to power that cared about the Imperial history. They were right, and their courage and tenacity saved thousands of priceless works of art for the delectation of the culture loving wider world. One of these brave souls is now 87 years old and still works on restoration pieces at the Institute of Restoration Trades in St Petersburg.

We had a splendid lunch, and first taste of Russian Borscht as our soup, and good it was! Once again I had to run the gauntlet of incredulous Russian waiters when I asked for more water – at this restaurant the bottled water was strictly ‘von for two person Madam’! A kind gentleman who preferred to take my champagne and vodka gave me the whole bottle of water in return! Chivalry is not yet gone.

We got back to the ship at 4pm, and for the final time we were suspiciously scrutinised through passport control, and stepped off Russian soil onto the Boudicca. I needed intravenous tea and my feet soaked in precious restorative oils, and I seriously wondered if I would have the ability to walk further than kitchen to music room, ever again.

I sat by the rails until I was the last person on deck and watched us sail up the Neva, receiving warm waving’s from other boats, large and small, until us at last we entered the Gulf of Finland and I watched a beautiful silhouette of the last Russian dome, fade into memory.

An astonishing two days.

Now I need R&R.

St Petersburg Day 1

2011-08-28T19:35:00.002+01:00

St Petersburg Day 1

2011-08-28T19:32:00.001+01:00

I woke up at 6.30am hearing the slow grind of the reversing engines. I looked out of my windows and there was the most wonderful vista of yellow Baroque buildings, sparkling gold church domes and spires, and the slow drift of the waterway boats on the river Neva.
Once again because we are a smaller ship we could dock right in the heart of this most heavenly city. The last time I was here was 24 years ago when it was still Leningrad, and everywhere we went a KGB ‘regulator’ was at our sides. How different it is now. There is still a small element of being herded and ‘guided’ with military precision, but, with a visa, one can now seemingly do exactly as one wants. So, through passport control by 8.45am, and on the coach to Peterhof, the Palace which is most famous for its spectacular fountains. These fountains work entirely from the level of spring water flow, no pumps, no electricity and no energy other than their own. At 11am each morning in summer, loud speakers play rousing orchestral music as they are turned on and spurt upwards of 50 feet or more.
One of the main features of all the palaces which I visited is the sad fact that they were almost all turned into primary schools or workers playgrounds during the Soviet Era, and then trashed and even bombed by the Nazis during the siege of Leningrad. After their lives as homes to the Imperial Russian families, and the Tsar until the Romanov murders in 1918, their fall in grace was rapid and could have been final except for a few dedicated and loyal curators and historians, who spent many years hiding away much of the art, statues, porcelain, amber and precious stones, quietly and discreetly in places that first the Bolsheviks, and then the Nazis would not find.
After WW2, there were some moves to restore, but little money, so the vast proportion of the amazing, and often total renovations were done between the late 1970’s and today.......it is still going on, and there is still much to do.
Enough history! The opulence, the pure gold, the Rembrandts, the Rastrelli designs are almost too much to take in. I found myself wandering (illegally you understand!) to try to find some humanity in the buildings; some sign of a home. In Peterhof, the home Peter the Great built as his Summer Palace, I found no sign of real life. That said, I adored the place! Sorry guys! I even designed in my head, the set for the next Gilbert and Sullivan show ‘Patience’. Oh how Baroque it will be, and such summer colours! We may even have to sing it all in Russian!
I did sneakily photograph one of the guards having a shifty smoke however, totally unfazed by the opulent surroundings. We had lunch in a building which would have passed for a slightly small palace belonging to the Tsarina’s music teacher possibly, which was not a great success as after salad and mushroom soup (not together) it was a nameless white fish in sauce, which I thought was very nice, and chips which were on the chilly side of tepid, and some of my fellow cruisers complained bitterly, to a largely unmoved bunch of waiters and waitresses who spoke no English at all, and smiled and said ‘Dos vadanya’, if that is how one spells it! I think it means ‘Cheers!’ After the free champagne and shots of vodka however, a convivial peace spread over the restaurant like a warm blanket. As I do not drink, I found it far trickier to ask for a second bottle of mineral water.
‘Madam not vant wodka?’ were the words. What he actually meant was ‘Madam vant vater? Is Madam raving lunatic?’
After lunch we hopped back into the coach and drove back to St Petersburg to visit the Hermitage, or the Winter Palace, which is part residence and part Art Collection without compare. There are Eagles everywhere, even in the public toilets, the amazing long, long arched corridors painted with fabulous scenes from myths and history, and stunning ballrooms. On entering all the palaces one has to put on overshoes which protect all the wooden floors. They are various degrees of horrific, but as everyone wears them there is some comfort in a common enemy! You can see the Winter Palace ones in the photograph, something to rib me about when I get home no doubt – see I’m not proud!
There is a picture of the entrance to the palace with a tree almost blocking it out, but remember we were herded and taking photographs was of secondary import to the headcount. Anyway, that is the entrance that the Bolsheviks broke through to take the Tsarina Alexandra and the five Romanov children into house arrest just after Tsar Nicholas abdicated. The children all had measles and were very ill. Much as the Tsar and his advisors made mistakes, I shuddered to think what that must have been like. They were so wealthy, and the poor were so poor, I can only imagine the feelings of the peasants at seeing how they lived, were inflamed to such hot hatred. It also brings home to me so sharply Sr Francis, and her life knowing those children, and knowing the palace. I felt she might have been there.
There was so much to see, to glory at and to admire, I almost stopped taking pictures. The final hall however had two sets of the vases in the photos. Each is around 4 feet high, two in the glistening midnight blue Lapis Lazuli, and two in the gorgeous rhododendron green of Malachite.
A totally exhausting day, and when we got back to the ship I lay on my bed and slept for 2 hours, went for some food, managed to stay awake for 20 minutes then came back to bed....zzzzzzzzz
Day 2 of St Petersburg will be next time.

Tallinn, Estonia, and free coffee

2011-08-26T19:26:00.001+01:00

The vibrant red sun is setting before my eyes as we slowly sail towards Russia and the port of St Petersburg. It is gloriously warm and there is a faint breeze which takes the bite of the heat away. It is almost 9pm and the gold streaks are just dusting the sea. A flat calm and a perfect evening on a cruise ship. There is hardly a soul around as passengers are either dining or watching the first of the evening shows.

Tallinn was such an interesting city. Obviously it was much more up to date, and more fast paced than our island stop yesterday, but none the less a unique place with much Baltic flavour.

It is a small city, and the old quarter walkable in an hour. We stopped first at what seemed on the surface to be a great big uninteresting boulder about 3 m high and 4 m wide. Our guide Allys told us that this boulder was very significant as it was used in 1991 to block the road to the old town, so the Soviet tanks could not reach the buildings and destroy them. Independence was to come only hours after that act, and together with the Tallinn cross of peace, in the city square, made deliberately of glass because Estonians know how fragile freedom is, these monuments fill the people with hope and remembrance.

We walked next to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built by the said man and saint for the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1700’s. We went in around 9.30am, and were told that a service would be happening. How lucky we were! The wondrous male Orthodox choir was singing for all they were worth, and the deep dark harmonies rang around the building like a sweet earthquake. It was in 4 parts, Basso Profundo, then 3 lots of various Baritone parts and not a Tenor in sight – or hearing!
The iconography was so colourful, and the place was very grand but in a different way to the Catholic Baroque churches of Western Europe. An almost simplistic decoration, gold and red everywhere – just like my sunset!

I was moved to light a candle which would stay lit for a day, to wish my parents happiness in their new home at a kind and caring house in Portree for the elderly. I know they are moved in now, and will soon settle. My Dad would have loved the cathedral and the singing; he would also have suggested I gave them a mark, if not an adjudication !

Coffee.....................Well today it was free! Well, it came as part of the tour to the Kadriorg Palace, along with a croissant, so probably that does not count! The palace itself was a kind of warm up act for those we will see in St Petersburg, a delightful pink confection, now the National Art Gallery of Estonia, with bits restored and bits still quite derelict and tired looking. There is a great deal of hope amongst the young folk, but I heard a 60 year old lady say how afraid she was of the ‘return of the bear’. Our young guide told us that her grandmother has seen 8 currencies in her lifetime with all the times the country had been occupied!

We passed a beautiful statue of an angelic Russalka, of the opera character who is a folk tale heroine, but this was a memorial to a Russian ship called Russalka, which went down in the bay sometime before WW1.

Of interest to singers everywhere, Estonia has a great choral tradition and a wonderful outdoor concert venue where many huge concerts are held, the biggest choir recorded singing there was a mere 34.000 choristers! Blimey, I wondered, who was the man brave enough to conduct, and try to keep control of that lot!! There is a bench in the audience which gives the sitter a big surprise. I did not find it; well we did only have 8 minutes to look! When it has a posterior placed upon it, selections of choral music blast from speakers built into the frame!

Now there is a thought, hey ho for the bottom parts!

Pics later when downloaded, away to my bed – 8 hour tour in St Petersburg tomorrow – Can’t wait!

Rescue !

2011-08-25T16:24:00.002+01:00

Update
I am watching the captain who is waiting for the coastguard to come and rescue the boat, which unbelievably belongs to them!!
Our jovial captain was hard pressed not to make a merry quip and gag about that one!

Update Update

Hurrah ! It was 2 intrepid Boudicca sailors who went out and brought it back onboard, riding like Romans in a chariot they brought home the beleagured boat and will store it as a trophy until they return to the island! Well done those men!

Saareema Island Estonia

2011-08-25T16:17:00.002+01:00

Saareemaa Island, Estonia, August 25th

This was such a beautiful island, so unspoilt and untouristy. It reminded me of Paradise in so many ways. If one analysed the elements that make up a small island community, allowing for language differences and cultural variation, the essential heart would be the same. Actually this island was a good deal less set up for tourism at the moment, but clearly that is to come. Estonia only got the Euro in January of this year, so their economy is in something of turmoil, and I felt they needed our income, however modest that was.

Our guide, Kristyan spoke with fantastically colourful English, he told us how the national park on the island was swimming with 46 types of ‘Orchidies’ , and that the ‘Saareema people had ‘scriddled’ out the past Soviet difficulties and were now ready to say hello to happy travellers from the West’ ! I thought he was marvellous.
After arriving at Kussarrere, the capital, (as big as Portree but with half the shops!), we were let loose on the streets. It had such wonderfully mixed architecture, old Russia with Dacha’s and Onion topped Orthodox churches, painted in fading yellows and pinks, to large Soviet blocks of flats which have precisely 50 square meters of space per flat, and built when the island was closed to the public in the 50’s, to the modern eco houses which would be the pride of any young architect, complete with turf roofs and solar panels, built in strange shapes and all with lots of gigantic passive solar windows. Every one of the old houses had a woodpile stacked in exactly the same way - last year they had 7 feet of snow, so logs are essential to life. It puts my barnful of higgeldy piggeldy logs to shame!

Our guide told us that the island was academically self sufficient having 3 High Schools, 1 Trade School and a Tartar University, where a degree could be ‘earned’ (note the word ‘earned’ carefully, not taken for granted, or given away easily) in the local language, so our young do not need ‘to flee’. I was amused by the ‘our young’ – he cannot have been a day over 25!

I coffeed! Well it is part of the survey! This one was 1.20 Euros – the price falls with every port, and it was extremely good, complete with Estonian gipsy music played in the background, and my only companions being black haired locals smoking dark cheroots. A town with soul and depth as well as recent historical darkness.
I walked up to ‘the shiniest jewel of our fair city’, quote of guess who, the Kussarrere Fortress, and in amongst the clear signs for all the attractions there was one which read,

‘This way to the Communist Massacre of 1941 Memorial’.

Thank God that Armadale Castle does not have to display such a dreadful sign. Grateful for great mercies.

The main street had a pavement covered in bright daisies on which the local children skipped, like a sort of Hop Scotch, and the market was full of knitted goods of a vaguely Icelandic style (now where does that come from?!) and amber jewellery alongside lovely wood carvings. The food stuffs were largely home grown fruits and vegetables from the stall holders land, and I gorged myself on 6 fat, ripe plums, squishy to perfection and as sweet as full blooded honey. There were lots of mushrooms which looked almost artificial when I am used to the dull greys and browns of our common varieties, and looking as if they were collected in the dew of the morning.

It is a privilege to visit such small and hopeful communities, and I hope my modest purchases in some small way said a hearty thank you for letting me into their lives for an all too fleeting moment.

Now here is up to date news – I am sitting typing this by the pool and our young cruiser was, a moment ago, playing by the edge of the pool. Suddenly his young eyes spied something in the distance and he joyfully shouted ‘Whale, whale’, well as you can imagine, onboard that causes a huge amount of interest, infact his photographer father has a camera par excellence and took photos instantly. On viewing the close up it is infact an abandoned boat. The captain must be told, and we are, as I write, circling around to make sure there is nobody onboard, or injured, or worse!
Peter is the star of the moment and cock a hoop with childish delight at his glorious sighting.

Go Captain, save the ancient mariner, and make the Estonian Daily Mail front page!

Sea Day

2011-08-25T16:16:00.000+01:00

Sea Day August 24th
This was a slow and easy day, the weather was glorious and so the pools were in great use ! There was all the usual stuff happening which, to be honest is not generally what I come for, and the staff work so hard on these sea days, I think they are grateful when the ports come zooming around !
As the weather has got better and better with each day the layers of clothes that the guests are wearing has reduced. The ‘British, and barely used’ summer tops and shorts are suddenly brought out of dark cupboards and given a brisk airing for the first time in years! Even summer hats covered in sixties daisies and whirls are back in fashion, and for one time only, wives seem not to be embarrassed by sandels and socks !
There a few children on the cruise and one young man of about 10 is the son of the official photographer. He has been proudly wearing his father’s peak cap and sporting his silver rank badge. The crew are so jolly with him, and he swans into lunch and dinner for all the world like an undersized, but overly important captain’s assistant !
The Baltic Sea has been very kind to us so far, and another memorable quote from Captain Jan is worth another airing. He told us the ‘Although the sea is calm, the ship may still list from side to side, and even’ vice versa’ !!!’ He has missed his calling as a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song hero, I feel sure. He would, without doubt make a splendid Major General, albeit sporting a slightly off the wall Nordic undulation in the dialogue sections!
‘The Pirates of Oslo’ possibly !

2011-08-24T10:26:00.001+01:00

Arriving at Travemunde in the township of Lubeck in Germany, was fascinating. We sailed up the harbour entrance and reached the pier at around 8.30am and there we were, tight into the town and so close to the promenade that I could have stepped off the ship and be in a coffee house in 3 steps. Once in the old town the ship was like a living presence. The Boudicca is a smaller ship than any of the American liners I have been on, so it can get into smaller ports than they. This was a maiden dock for Boudicca, and it was clear to see that the townsfolk were so excited to have us here, and that we were going to be good for their businesses ! I think we doubled the number of holiday makers in one fell swoop!
The town had such a warm and inviting feel, it seemed untouched and unspoilt, even though it is a favourite German seaside resort. The promenade was full of families, as well as staid and very well dressed elderly couples wearing Loden ! The magnificent beach huts are one of the signature sights of Travemunde, and when I found a superb and entirely local coffee house I sat in one to eat my Kleines Fruhstuck (Little Breakfast !) I was surrounded by the true ambience of German traditional life.
Now if we are talking coffee, it has to be said that Travemunde prices were a planet away from Aarhus. You can see from the picture how fine my platter was, fresh peach slices, grapes, cheese, preserves, roll and butterball, not to mention the fine coffee – and, wait for it, all for 3 Euros 90 cents, around £3 sterling. Now never let it be said that I am obsessed with the price of coffee, but I feel as if I am doing a Europe wide survey on the price and quality control of the said beverage !
Germany is winning hands down at the moment!
I found the ‘Demel’ of this area. Lubeck’s most famous confection is marzipan, and the shop was a treasure trove of everything marzipanish ! All handmade in the shop, and such creations that would make even the greatest marzipan hater be converted on the spot. Needless to say I purchased enough to sink a small paddle boat!
There were a few places where handmade artefacts were a joy to behold, especially the wrought iron man who had produced the gorgeous music stand in the photograph. I ummd and ahhd ( how do you spell that?), walked away, then post Fruhstuck, walked back. Took a photo, walked away...............etc. etc, and eventually I realised ‘discretion was the better part of valour’, and resisted the temptation to buy. I had to make, at this point a brisk re entry to the ship, before ‘discretion’ turned rapidly to ‘ desperation’ and I found myself explaining to a puzzled petty officer, what the hell I was doing bringing what looked like a weapon of mass destruction onto his ship ! Thank goodness we are now waving goodbye to Travemunde or I may have cracked. Would have looked great in my music room, and it would have doubled as a novelty BBQ.
We finally left late this evening and I decided to go up to Deck 10, the top of the ship, and watch the sail away. I was above even the captain’s ‘eerie’ and could see him on his lookout deck enjoying the singing from the pier, the sad waving goodbye from land to ship and vice versa, and general partying. He left the outside bridge, and in my innocence I assumed he had gone for his navel mug of late night cocoa and hard tack biscuit, and I relaxed, leaning on the rails as close to the top of the ship as one can go. A moment later I almost jumped overboard when clearly the musical captain pulled the lever and blew the ship’s horn. I was 2 steps away from it and the decibels were so loud my body vibrated and it pinned me to the rails. This happened three times as we left the harbour, and each time I felt as if I had been aurally x rayed !
Thanks Cap!

Denmark, Coffee and cruise professionals

2011-08-23T09:27:00.002+01:00

The School Wind Band, The modern Organ, The Domkirche and the most expensive coffee in the western world !

It has been an interesting day so far! We docked on time in this small and delightful city of Aarhus in Denmark. It was a sunny mile walk into the centre of the old town, flat all the way but through some old architecture dating mostly from the 16th and 17th Centuries. The beamed and slightly wonky buildings were painted in those warm Hanseatic colours of yellow, gold, amber and cream, which give such a warm feeling to the locality

As we walked down the ramp to the dock there was a sweet surprise. A local children’s windband were playing to welcome us! In their smart blue uniforms they were disciplined, concentrating, and very appropriately playing a medley of national anthems! We were docked alongside the Emerald Princess, who in fact were behind us in coming into port, but had to overtake us as they were bigger, and leaving after us, the band were not playing for them! Fredrick Olson is a Norwegian line, so I expect the Scanda family had some influence here!

The ‘captain quote of the day’ was once again very worth repeating. He explained over the tannoy that we were’ all stopped’ to let the Emerald Princess go first, as indeed would any gentleman do !’

I can now truly beat the price of a coffee in Iceland! Given I was in Iceland in 2009, and even accounting for rampant inflation, today my very good double shot Americano came to the mammoth cost of £6.22....................now that’s expensive. It was a local coffee house, not a hotel and there were many locals, so it was a regular price! Wow! I almost felt like making an announcement that this was the priciest coffee ever encountered in the civilised world, but I thought they would think I was rather Uncivilised, so I kept quiet and drank my coffee with due reverence!

The Aarhus Domkirch was very beautiful, rather plain, painted white with some beautiful rescued frescos, yet it managed to retain a little of the Roman Catholic splendour. Of course it is now a Lutheran cathedral, but overtones of quiet gilding could still be seen! Much of the artwork was of rather strict looking Elizabethans (or the Danish equivalent!), resplendent in ruffs and doublet and hose. I really liked its simplicity.

It is still a working church and it was interesting that it had, slap bang in the middle of all the Renaissance splendour, an incredibly modern, and most definitely Scandinavian organ, housed in an organ loft redolent of an upmarket IKEA. ( Yep I know that is Swedish!!) The old and magnificent Baroque organ was also there fully intact and beautifully preserved.

I came back from the town by around 3pm and decided as it was such a beautiful day I would have a swim in one of the outdoor pools. As most folk were out on day tours or in the town still it was so peaceful, and for about half an hour I had the pool, the sun and the view all to myself!

Folk began to arrive back ready for their own swims around afternoon teatime. I had finished my dip and was enjoying a few minutes of people watching by this time. I watched and marvelled in a horrified kind of way, a true cruise pro, a lone lady of a certain age, determined and relentless in her conversation barging – she was like a bloodhound with a Ph D in hunting down innocent cruisers, whose only wish was to be left alone with their cream cake and Darjeeling.................she stalked, she stood over tables, she gesticulated with gay abandon, she held court on matters of no importance, worse even than that she loudly honked away with tales of family and friends unknown to her zombie like listeners, and the poor trapped (by politeness you understand!) victims were helpless. Resistance was futile.

Boy was I glad not to be a ‘chosen one’ – clearly I looked boring!

Three hearty cheers for BORING !

Lazy day

2011-08-22T08:47:00.003+01:00

Throught the Round Window and into the Baltics.....

The sun has been shining almost all day today, and that is no mean feat when traversing the North Sea! We almost made up the lost hour and a half through the night by sailing fast and furious in calm seas. As it is we still will not dock until 12 noon tomorrow in Aarhus, Denmark.
At out 12 noon we have the lovely Captain Jan Thommasen daily update. (I say lovely, but I have not actually seen him, but have rather fallen in love with his dulcet tones over the ship's tannoy!) He was waxing lyrical about how glorious was the |North Sea, and how kind it was being to us today, and I must quote his actual words as they were not only poetic, but said with such feeling. He said ‘The North Sea is a wonderful friend, and today there is a gentle waltz between Boudicca and the waves’ - how’s that for a Captain!
I did read his biography today though, and guess what, his hobby is music and he plays the trumpet. At home in Oslo he teaches music to children – quite when I have no idea, as he must be away so much! Apparently he is known to bring his trumpet to the shows sometimes and play with the band! I wonder where he practises, and if it annoys a few tone deaf Minke whales? You can bet your life it would annoy a few passengers!
I had my Swedish Massage, and boy was it good. A very small Thai lady who looked as though a baby breeze would blow her over proved that size is deceptive. I was gently - ish pummelled for 60 minutes, using oils clearly designed to make one soporiphic and happy, (well it is cheaper that maruana, and not addictive, costly, but not addictive!), and I felt aches and pains roll away and fall in rivulets onto the floor, which was covered with orchids................................aaagh. The room was darkened, and there was a faint murmur of whale song which every so often metamorphosed into temple bells.
Suffice to say it was wonderful. Now all I need is a personal masseur to bring home!

Embarkation

2011-08-20T20:31:00.009+01:00

Leaving it all behind..............for a little while

I finally decided that I needed to get away and so I left Paradise yesterday and made the drive to Rosyth to cath the beautiful and very sleek cruise ship Boudicca. I have had this holiday booked for over a year, and although there is still a not insubstantial kernel of guilt at leaving my parents and friends still grappling with infirmity and dementia, all the medics told me that I would be no use to them at all if I became too exhausted, or fell foul of a bug because I was run down.

So I bit the bullet and left.

I was offered an upgrade, can you believe, to a cabin with porthole windows, and quite a bit larger than my original booked one - so I took it in a nanosecond ! Under the portholes there is a wide ledge, I am almost at the prow of the ship, so the ledge tapers from about 3 feet to 2 feet, but it is a perfect place to sit, daydream and watch the sea go by !

I felt quite an old hand at the life jacket drill ! I was next to a couple of couples (!) for whom it is a first cruise. I was a positive expert in fitting the most unbecoming orange float aid, complete with whistle and light, but unlike aircraft ones, NO pipe to blow in to refill ! Maybe that is because on a ship we have lifeboats. I don't think Flybe or BA have too many of them strung beneath the aeroplane!

Dinner was superb - all of you who know me well are aware of the fact that I hate the formal dining, actually being nice to people -aaggh - so I onboard this white and gleaming delight I use the Secret Garden Restaurant which is self serve, yet full of attentive waiters. I had poached cod in lemon sauce and fragrant Thai rice followed by fresh fruit salad and fresh peach sauce. Will I make the midnight buffet - oh the trials of cruising!

One small hitch - we were all loaded, engines rollong and at the ready to leave Rosyth when the wonderfully eloquent Norwegian Captain made an announcement saying that he was sorry to say that all the harbour men who 'unhook' us from the quay, had left and gone home! Were they all watching the rugby I ask myself?! Anyhow phone calls were made, clearly to some homes with chaps sitting down to their pie and chips, which were then abandoned I assume ! They returned and by 7.30pm we were away, and finally I began to feel as though, for 12 days at least, I can relax, recuperate and recharge my sadly depleted batteries.

Sea Day tomorrow, and my first ever Swedish Massage ??!!

Apologies

2011-08-11T21:28:00.002+01:00

Many apologies, but I am afraid things are still in flux and I have not had either the time, or the wherewithal to be 'creative' !

I will try to get back into some sort of routine next week when things with my parents are more settled. It has been decided by the doctors and social care department of Paradise that my parents will not return home, they will both be moved to a care home here on the island.

Sad, but safe.

A short break - service will be resumed as soon as possible

2011-08-02T20:16:00.003+01:00

The Mackinnon Hospital - many Thanks !

Many apologies, but there will be a small break in my blogging. Today my elderly father was taken to the local hospital after a couple of bad falls, which means that my poor Mum who has dementia had to be taken to the nearby rest home for specialist care.

I am away working from this thursday until next monday evening, so life has taken a convoluted turn and suddenly I am in a different universe. One of doctors, social workers, carers and district nurses. A planet which is as foreign to me as the Gobi desert !

I will return next week, and hopefully things will have returned to some sort of normality.

I tried to explain to the district nurse, who clearly seemed to think that I should be able to postpone my work, that the nature of my work is 'live performance', and the prospect of making a quick phone call and suggesting that this weeks' concert, wedding, competition needs to be put off for a few days, was not a possibility - she still looked at me in a slightly disapproving manner, over the top of her spectacles......................guilt or what?

Well, the reality is that I cannot postpone my work, so that is that!

Life's twists and turns.

Alessandro by Handel meets The Countess from Figaro

2011-07-29T20:46:00.006+01:00

Alexander the Great - in perfect health!

Another fantastic day today - the sun has been glorious and with just a slight breeze, for me, it is truly perfect weather. The heat got me thinking about many years ago when I played the Countess in my first Marriage of Figaro as part of the Chichester Festival.

Festivals are rather like exam time, they always happen in the hottest, most uncomfortable time of the year ! Indeed, when it seems that the rest of the world is enjoying life or bathing in a blue sea, and generally having a lovely time, we performers are roasting in costumes as heavy as Pavarotti after a pasta fest, and stuck under lighting sets which feel like a particularly hot day in the Sahara desert at noon!

The weather was boiling and wearing the heavy costumes of 18th Century Europe was increasingly unbearable. The Countess does not appear until Act 2, so I was able to stave off the moment when I had to don the tights, cotton bodice with loose petticoat, the tied on large white underskirt and finally the dress made of heavy green and gold soft furnishing material. Added to that a decolletage scarf for the first act and buttoned boots...................I must have weighed 15lbs more with all the layers.

The Dress on top

The Layers underneath

Once on the stage the lights add to the tropical temperature and the sweat begins to roll gently down the arms and finally off the tips of the fingers into neat pools on the stage ! After each exit I made my way to the dressing room where a dresser was handy to unlace the layers one by one, open the back of the dress and towel me dry......................ugh! I lie not ! It was like walking out of the shower each time I finished a scene, or aria. The combined sweat count on the stage during the great 20 minute finale of Act 2 was enough to fell a charging elephant !

Another such occasion was during a baroque opera called Alessandro by Handel. I was playing the title role and had to wear the inevitable Ancient Greek army outfit. I had the toga type dress, the gold helmet, sword, leather leg laces and sandals. To top this off the company had a bespoke breastplate made for me which did not appear until the dress rehearsal.

It was, once again late July and very very hot. At the 'dress' I was uniformed up and we set out on the 3 hour journey of a largely uncut Handel opera. All was fine for the first Act, and half of the second Act, but I then began to feel a little dizzy and a touch nauseous, which grew at an alarming rate until I gently fainted and slumped to the floor quietly and with all the dignity of a magnificent Greek general!

The performance stopped abruptly and someone ( I know not who!) rushed on the stage, undid all my layers and I came too, in a relatively short time. Rather embarrassed I rose to my feet feeling quite fine, and we began once more, all assuming that the heat and lights had caused my little interruption.

I was fine for another 10 minutes and then the whole procedure began again - this time I recognised the symptoms and informed the cast and producer I could not carry on. There was much consternation now, and much advice from the other singers, and a great deal of worry on the part of the director/conductor/stage manager etc. Where would they find another Alessandro at 12 hours notice, as clearly I was coming down with something akin to yellow fever!

Investigations were made, questions asked, a thorough medical given, which came back a cracking 100% fit.....what could it be?!

Finally the costume department came up with the answer. With razor sharp Miss Marple investigation they found out that the breastplate, so lovingly made to measure for me, was constructed of a type of moulded fibre glass. It turned out that as I sang and my body heat rose, the said breastplate heated up and gave off chemical fumes which caused my fainting fits !

In great haste a lining was added to the front section which kept the fumes more under control! One wonders that nobody thought to find out if the substance was fit for 'human consumption' so to speak ? A prop maker cheerfully, and with smiley confidence, told me that 'so long as I took it off when I was not singing I would probably be fine' !!!!

Great days! What we suffer for art !

Breathe.............Breathe...................Breathe..............

2011-07-26T13:29:00.005+01:00

The running/swimming/jumping season is back with us, and as I type I am watching the Swimming World Championships. As a teenager I swam 50 yards front crawl for my county, so swimming has always been very close to my heart. Sadly by the time I was 16 it was decision time, and I had to make a choice between singing and swimming - actually there was no real choice, singing was always the gold medal winner in my head, but giving up so much swimming was hard.

People say to me that being a swimmer must have helped my 'breathing' for competitive swimming, but apart from the general fitness element, the breathing technique for singing is much harder, much more disciplined and yet much more relaxed.

Low and Slow for singing !

At the time I gave up all swimming competitions it was becoming increasingly obvious that the muscle work involved in front crawl was much to 'tough' for singing.

We need strong abdominal muscles to breath low and slow for voice technique, but above all we need flexibility, and not a hard 'six pack' - actually I have never in my life been any closer than a metaphorical 3,248 miles from a 'six pack', so no worries there then !

Looking at the screen I can see very well developed torsos, much muscle and enormous strength. Oh that a few male singers had such a perfect physique - but maybe these Adonis swimmers are tone deaf !

Well, it's only fair !

'We're Soldiers of the Queen' best chorus in Patience

2011-07-22T21:10:00.006+01:00

As soon as I begin to think about the next show my musical memory starts to float to the surface and I gradually remember the melodies of the choruses and solos. They drift into the old grey matter a few bars at a time until the filing cabinet which is 'that' particular show opens it's drawer like a music box.

Today I played through some of the main themes of next year's Gilbert and Sullivan which will be Patience. A very funny and rather unusual show based around the Aesthetic movement of the late Victorian era, with Oscar Wilde as it's figurehead.

The ladies chorus are a melange of lovesick maidens ! All shamming a lifestyle of self inflicted misery and floating diaphanous garments............until they see the light and miraculously metamorphose into Victorian 'girls about town' !

Some lovely highlights from the Houston G&S Company !

The men's chorus are Dragoon Guards resplendent in red and gold and about as intelligent as a troop of half baked goldfish - but perhaps that is somewhat derogatory to the said 'goldfish' ! They decide, in their wisdom that if they are to win the ladies they too must all become effete poets who dance delicate little dances and quote chunks of drivelish poetry, not to mention wearing a variety of pink and purple cravats with hero shirts !

Our Patience will be just perfect, she is the pint sized L, dancer and singer, and who will also choreograph. She has a great aria in the beginning whereby she tries in vain to understand why all these eminently stupid lovesick maidens seem to spend most of the day gently wiping tears from their eyes, in an effort to please the cheeky little Oscar Wilde figure - Reginald Bunthorne.

Our chorus director and tenor C will play the said Reginald, and as he can move his feet rather well, and L will be his Patience, I am hoping for some truly splendiferous foot stomping !

I love the men's opening martial chorus, so jolly and so rhythmical, with marvelously spoof 'army' lyrics!

In my early days of school teaching in a girls boarding school, one year we produced Patience and I have a wonderfully warm memory of that chorus. The line of female dragoon gaurds entered by marching around the hall and the audience. At the top of the line were 6th formers and then the order went down in height to the smallest first formers. At that time in that school we had a girl who was suffered from dwarfism, and she was the last in the snake of soldiers, tiny and totally determined. The roar which went up in the audience every performance brought tears to my eyes as I watched her march for all she was worth, head held as high as the clouds.

Those pictures stay for a lifetime.

Roll on July 2012.......................

Crisp and vigorous singing here!

Ave Maria + Bach + Gounod + Youth = Gorgeous

2011-07-17T21:09:00.011+01:00

The words

The Bach/Gounod Ave Maria is certainly the most well known of all sacred 'pot boilers' - now there has to be a reason why it withstands time and all the ravages of bad singing, average singing, lovely singing and truly brilliant singing, and my theory is that the underlying Bach Prelude which acts as the accompaniment to a melody composed by Gounod is like the most steadfast rock upon which nothing can falter.

The Master Bach

The keys it moves through and the wonderfully satisfying resolutions have left listeners through the ages with a sense of complete satisfaction and the feeling of 'coming home'.

The arranger Gounod

Last night my young 14 year old soprano R performed it for my Austrian guests, and once more it's magic wove a ribbon of musical delight around the room. The Latin text of the Ave Maria is timeless and cherished by all, Catholics and Protestants alike, and the Bach piano accompaniment is so perfect that the singer can simply ride over the top of it like a surfer on a large and unstoppable wave.

Sometimes we just forget how beautiful these popular pieces are, and how we must treat them with the same respect as supposedly more intellectual music. After all, music is just music, and a shining young voice singing this lovely melody is a delight. At the RAM prize in May, as some of you may recall, I heard a very young tenor sing the self same aria, full of heart and like young R, full of joy as well as all the endearing imperfections which make it so vulnerable and fragile.

The Performer (in the middle, the others are my grandchildren!)

My friends were both delighted and astonished that such a sound came from such a small body - ah well, you see, it is all in the production not the pounds and ounces !

Well done young R, you did me proud.

The Dream of Gerontius and past dreams and memories

2011-07-15T22:25:00.004+01:00

The next leg of the journey.......................

I have some very old friends from Austria staying with me for the next week, at the moment, and we have spent so much time reminiscing, their daughter M who also came for a few days must be bored rigid with stories of when we girls were 13 and spent summers together in glorious North Yorkshire, and in an around the Vienna Woods!

We became known to each other because my father joined the Anglo Austrian Society shortly after the end of WW11, when both countries were trying to encourage friendly relations between the two countries. My father spent a good deal of the end of the war as a Signals 'man' in Graz, Austria and grew to love the people and the country.

So S and I were thrown together by parents with similar beliefs and who had strong feelings of the need for reconciliation, and we have been close ever since, and been through the various stages of life together.

S was the person who quietly and efficiently arranged for concert tours in Vienna for my Convent School Ensemble over 25 years ago, and for the two enjoyable tours made to Vienna by Paradise's own Inner Sound in 2006 and 2008.

We visited the beautiful village of Plockton today. When S and M were last here in 2002 we had a few short hours on the mainland and at Plockton, so she was so keen to return and show her husband this gem of a location. Well, we did the Plockton Shores Restaurant for a quick lunch, and had the inevitable and unspeakably divine Cullen Skink soup, over which I have verbally drooled in past posts so will leave it at that. Suffice to say - they loved it !

We met my past pupil and now possessor of a First Class Degree, F, as she lives next door to the restaurant.

I was so glad she was there, as on the off chance of a meeting I had taken over a gift for her.

It is tricky to find a suitable present on such an occasion, but having thought about it, I knew I had the perfect thing. As a mezzo in my professional days I sang much Elgar, my absolute favourite work being The Dream of Gerontius, a sacred piece telling the story of a soul travelling to meet his Lord after death. Sounds morbid - but utterly glorious !

For my 21st birthday I was bought a score of this work by some close family friends. They had it leather bound and my name imprinted in gold on the front. I used it many times, so it was already well loved, then I lent it to another of the finest voices I have ever taught, a dark and velvety mezzo, for her to use. She was at the time having lessons with Dame Janet Baker (lucky girl!) and so to my markings on the score were added many from Dame Janet. That young lady returned the score to me when her voice dropped so far that the Angel was no longer an option !

There is always a reason for life's happenings, and I felt in my heart that this score was now bound, for the last time to become the property of F. She will make a wonderful Angel, and I had no hesitation in passing it on to the next part of it's journey.

The score needed to be used once more for the purpose for which it was designed.

F needs to make it 'sing' again. One day I will travel to a performance of The Dream... and see the green leather and F join together to make wonderful music, just as I watched the green leather and E in the magnificent surrounds of Chichester Cathedral 10 years ago.

The 'book' deserves F, and she deserves the 'book', and it made me a happy woman to put it once again, into the hands of the 3rd generation.

Sing it F, and think of where it has been, and rejoice in the history. Elgar wrote a postscript at the end of the original copy which says 'This is the best of me'. It had the best of me, and the best of E, now it is yours, I know you will make it the best of you.

Legendary British mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker (b. 1933) sings 'The Angel's Farewell' from Edward Elgar's 'The Dream of Gerontius' (with text by Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman). SEE BELOW FOR LYRICS.

An anecdote involving this particular piece, about the strong bond between conductor Sir John Barbirolli and Dame Janet Baker:

'[...] Dame Janet was not immune to this [ i.e., the painful areas of human experience - mariandelochs ]; when Barbirolli died in 1971 he was a conductor so strongly associated with her in the first part of her career - there was a memorial service at Manchester Cathedral, at which the Angels Farewell from Gerontius was featured. The Hallé played the introduction, Dame Janet sang a couple of phrases, and then the emotion overcame her. She was unable to continue, and sat down while the orchestra played on to the end. She was a truly great artist, who gave everything she had to her public

Spring Waters, Rachmaninov and the young nun...

2011-07-09T16:39:00.007+01:00

The child who played with the nun.

At the same piano ?

Is Sr Francis or young Olga one of these aristocratic girls - I like to think so.....

Going back to Sr Francis at the Convent school in Littlehampton...............this remarkable lady, who grew up in the last Csar's court between 1900 and 1917 in St Petersburg Russia also had a fantastical story to tell about Rachmaninov. My readers need to understand that nuns are not always very forthcoming about their pre religious life, and, I imagine, older sisters even less so. Thus it took some prodding on my part over the 7 years I taught there to release some of her childhood tales.

Her family were very friendly with the Rachmaninovs, and she seemed to spend quite a bit of time playing in the nursery with his daughters Tatiana and Irina. She had many memories of being brought down from the nursery with the Rachmaninov girls and sitting under the grand piano listening to the first performances by the great man, of his latest compositions for the piano. She told me that 'as a small girl, I thought it was a madman playing the piano, and I had to cover my ears'!

I still marvel at the thought that she, who was part of his life, was part of mine.

I sang a number of Rachmaninov songs in my career, notably Spring Waters and To the Children, both of which I loved. The sadness is that I can never, up here in Paradise, ever give them to my pupils, as in a zillion years, and a trillion piano lessons, I would never be able to play the accompaniments !

We were so blessed at the RAM with wondrous house accompanists who could play gushing and rushing Rachmaninov semiquaver piano parts, and bake bread at the same time! A small overstatement, but not a 100 miles from the truth!

Therefore my singers miss those rapturous and passionate songs which send a thrill racing up and down the spine.

Sorry guys! OK I'm a failure.....................however, in reading about his life I note that he and his family escaped Russia at the same time as Sr Francis and her mother and brother, and on my birthday!! I shall always remember that from now on.

Wikipedia

...The 1917 Russian Revolution meant the end of Russia as the composer had known it. With this change followed the loss of his estate, his way of life, and his livelihood. On 22 December 1917, he left St. Petersburg for Helsinki with his wife and two daughters on an open sled, having only a few notebooks with sketches of his own compositions and two orchestral scores, his unfinished opera Monna Vanna and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel. He spent a year giving concerts in Scandinavia while also laboring to widen his concert repertoire. Near the end of 1918, he received three offers of lucrative American contracts. Although he declined all three, he decided the United States might offer a solution to his financial concerns. He departed Kristiania (Oslo) for New York on 1 November 1918. Once there, Rachmaninoff quickly chose an agent, Charles Ellis, and accepted the gift of a piano from Steinway before playing 40 concerts in a four-month period. At the end of the 1919–20 season, he also signed a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1921, the Rachmaninoffs bought a house in the United States, where they consciously recreated the atmosphere of Ivanovka, entertaining Russian guests, employing Russian servants, and observing Russian customs.

'An Sylvia' and other friends

2011-07-08T11:37:00.008+01:00

Sylvia, the character in Two Gentlemen of Verona, about whom the two men are 'rapturising' !

I had such a good time at Saltburn Festival at the weekend. It is such a friendly and flexible festival - not afraid to 'shift things around' if needs be, and so the atmosphere for the entrants is relaxed, and not at all intimidating. Just the way I a) like it, and b) think it should be !

There were some big classes especially in the opera and oratorio, which makes it all the more worthwhile. I was adjudicating the Adult Singing, and dear M, my old pupil from Durham, brought 5 or 6 of her youngsters, so including the stalwarts who enter every year, the classes were of a high standard.

I heard a most interesting lady for whom it was a first time, and she sang some very interesting Scarlatti which was quite new to me. I say interesting, because, in one way it shows just how well we perform when we are 'at home' with the music. She began her day with some tricksy Bach, and to be honest I did not feel as though I had heard her voice at all ! As the difficulty level ebbed and flowed so did her sound, so it was like listening to half the aria, with none of the runs ! Thus I did not really think that she was very advanced, or had much experience or technique - then............she sang her Scarlatti operatic aria and was like a singer possessed ! She danced around the runs with ease, and soared up to a tremendous top A in the final cadenza, and I was blown away. During my adjudication I asked her what she felt about the music, and she replied 'I adore it!' - So there you have it.

As amateurs, when our income does not depend upon it, sing what you love!

Sing What You Love !

There was a young lady of around 18 with a deep alto, and a broad Tyneside accent ! When she opened her mouth to sing it was like listening to lava slowly rolling down a mountainside - hot and dense, but not dangerous! Another young lady also of around 18 sang with such intensity, and in such an emotional way, her An Sylvia, which was much slower than I would ordinarily like, made me want to bathe in the gentle shower of sound. I was unable to write a great deal - always the best sign !

I spent a day with my friends J&J at their glorious North Yorkshire home, and relaxed before the journey home.

The path in Saltburn Woods along which my parents and a 6 year old embryonic singing teacher, walked on sunny saturdays carrying a picnic......egg sandwiches, homemade cake, red apples.....

It was the best kind of adjudicating, and thus not nearly so exhausting. A sheer joy to be paid for what was so enjoyable!

The church where the Festival is held.

Am I lucky or what ?!

It could be me circa 1958..............

'Jesus bid us Shine' and a scrumptious roast dinner...

2011-07-06T23:13:00.006+01:00

...Like a little Candle, burning in the night.....

It has been awhile since I have had time to blog - but finally I am back at home and on holiday for the next 4 weeks! How blissful is that!

In September we are giving a concert of Sacred Music, and so I have been looking for quite along time for some old Sunday School hymns for the little ones to sing. I trawled my music library, and then decided that I needed to look on the internet. The marvel that is 'Google' turned up both of the hymns I remembered for school and church.

I found the delightful 'Jesus bids us Shine', with the gorgeous line......you in your small corner, and I in mine......Is that just what we bloggers are doing? I write in my kitchen in Paradise, and some of you read from all the corners of the earth. That has got to be something mighty positive, and so wonderful for forging friendships and harmony throughout all 'small corners' which make up the big wide world !

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night;
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine, first of all for Him;
Well He sees and knows it if our light is dim;
He looks down from heaven, sees us shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine, then, for all around,
Many kinds of darkness in this world abound:
Sin, and want, and sorrow—we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.

I also found 'Jesus Loves me this I know'......and although I really need the break, I am eagerly looking forward to teaching the said songs, and putting the 4 or 5 small people together and bringing back some rosy memories of Infant School, Methodist Sunday School, and listening to the wireless after a lovely roast dinner with my Mum's perfect Yorkshire Puddings.

Nostalgia reigns supreme this evening!

We have a something more to celebrate ! I had a call from FM, my very first Paradise pupil, a wonderfully rich mezzo soprano, whom I flew down to hear at the Wigmore Hall a couple of months ago. She was sitting on the steps of the Albert Hall opening her degree results. 4 years ago, she sat on the very same steps and called me with the fantastic news that she had been offered an unconditional place at the Royal College of Music. Well today, her voice held the same amount of excitement and quiver as she told me that she has gained a First Class Degree.

A good day indeed. Bursting with pride if you don't mind................

Foot Tapping, Pointing, Leaping........

2011-06-27T12:44:00.004+01:00

Inner Sound singer, choreographer and dance captain par excellence L, produced another cracking Dance Showcase last friday and saturday evenings !

I went to the first night, and was, yet again astonished by the sheer dynamism and fun which was generated by every dancer from the age of 2years - over 50years ! The stage buzzed, and the dancers were having a ball.

All styles were covered from ballet, step dancing, modern dance, highland dancing, Bollywood and Scottish Country Dancing. It was such a visual feast as well. Where does the girl get the costumes ?

In essence the whole evening encapsulated the pint sized dynamo who is the driving force. It was a classic example of the fact that almost everything really worthwhile comes from a 'leader' who is ;

a) talented !

b) cares about standards and professionalism, and

c) who gets on well with all ages, and can communicate with ease and flair.

That just about sums up young L, and she most definitely embodies those qualities in spoonfuls !

She also sings mighty well ! Oh to be young again, and have the energy of a sparkler! Don't burn out L, you are too valuable for that!

I wish you could all have been there, it was truly a lovely evening, and Inner Sound is extremely very proud of our little champion foot tapper !

None but the Lonely Heart

2011-06-24T15:27:00.005+01:00

A wonderfully handsome young Peter Tchaikovsky

I have taught 'Nur wenn die Sehnsucht kennt' by Tchaikovsky a number of times in my career, and every so often it pops up again, either as a suitable filler in a second half group of accessible Romantic songs, or because the exam boards find it after a decade of relegation !

I was teaching it yesterday, and I realised once again, that the much maligned Tchaikovsky could write a great melody. He is often thought of as a composer who could not 'develop a tune' - great tunes but they keep coming back - when like a bolt of melodic lightening I realised that that is his greatness. The fact his tunes are so memorable, means they are so satisfying, and ultimately why they have such enduring appeal.

It was a young lady who is 17 this weekend who was singing it, and even at that age, and with little experience of the passage of time and life, she understands the sheer 'loneliness' of the melody line, the darkness of the sentiment and the pathos of the intervals of a 7th which repeat over and over. She is singing it in English, not Russian or German, and even given the less than stellar translation, the central core essence of the sad and dejected character which we know was Tchaikovsky's lot in life, comes over loud and clear. I was truly moved by her fearless performance.

In my early teaching career I taught in a convent school in Littlehampton, West Sussex, now sadly no longer. The Headmistress was Sr Francis, whose real name was Olga Schotogoleff, although I cannot remember the exact spelling. She was a child during the Russian Revolution and her father was a Count at the court of the last Csar Nicholas II. Her mother knew, and moved in the social circles of Nadhezdha von Meck, the patron of Tchaikovsky. She and her brother escaped via the White Russian trail, eventually arriving in Paris, where she converted to Catholicism from Russian Orthodox, and from thence became a nun. Very infrequently she would talk about her childhood and that amazing time in the history of Russia, and I always felt so inspired to think I was in some small way, 'touching' history. She encapsulated the end of an era, forever lost, and only to be found in history books.

There are more musical anecdotes which I will tell you about in future blogs. Suffice to say today - I knew a wonderful lady whose mother's hand was kissed by Peter Tchaikovsky. Thrilling indeed.

Nikita Storojev, romance "Net, tol'ko tot kto znal..." (Piotr Tchaikovsky)
Live concert recording
In Russian, and full of Russian passion and pain.

From Handel to Britten in 48 hours

2011-06-21T21:41:00.004+01:00

Back in the Saddle !

I know I have mentioned 'V'adoro Pupille' by Handel before - I think I even recommended watching the Danielle de Neise Glyndebourne version of the aria. Wonderful singing and extraordinary dancing combined to make an unforgettable moment in that production of Julius Caeser. Of course it has the inimitable Sarah Connolly at JC himself.

Well, today I had my talented soprano L for a lesson, and as I had not taught her (or indeed anyone else!) for the last month, I was thrilled to hear how much work she had put in to practising the aria. It was secure, stylish and sophisticated yet lacking something I could not put my finger on.

I finally realised that what it need were a few more decibels! Sometimes pupils are quite frightened of making a 'big' sound, and cleverly manage to cover the lack of a satisfying and solid ringing sound with all sorts of interprative qualities, and 'clever' vocal tricks. L did not fall into the latter group at all, but she is a little terrified of hearing her sound coming back to her!

After a basic 'just get on with it' from moi, she suddenly let rip and made a noise (a lovely noise!) the size of the nearest mountain! Quite shocked and extremely surprised, she suddenly felt the physical thrill one gets from singing to capacity, with honesty, muscles and a bit of sweat. Hopefully she will remember the feel and reproduce it again and again!

Yesterday was my first full day back in the saddle, so to speak, and I was so pleased to, at long last, feel up to the energetic job which teaching is. I heard some excellent singing, a very good, embryonic Faure 'Pie Jesu', a delightful Bach/Gounod Ave Maria, from a much developed R, who at 14 is beginning to sound like a young woman, with all the complications that brings, and a quite remarkable first run through of The Flower Song' from The Rape of Lucretia by Britten..................quite a mixed bag of repertoire to welcome me back!

So upwards and onwards, into a busy wednesday with as much new music as yesterday and today !

Das Rosenband and a couple of finales

2011-06-19T11:46:00.007+01:00

So Very Much..................

What a lovely concert we had last night - and given the fact that almost nobody had lessons for the past 4 weeks, the soloists and duettists were tip top!

We held it in a atmospheric local restaurant cum cultural centre and we actually performed in the eating area with the tables removed and filled with comfortable 'conference' chairs. It has such a warm and welcoming ambiance, and even with 30 singers, plus piano, pianist and page turner, it did not feel cramped at all.

The Clandonald Centre with the restaurant.....what a venue!

The part songs were snappy and colourful, and the Mozart Nocturne, which I had railed about during the last, and my only, rehearsal had a much better tone quality, it felt richer and rounder! Well done for that.

In my game, you are are almost always 'losing' ones top performers as they move on to higher things, and bringing on tinies who are just beginning their journey. There was a wonderful moment last night when, during the final applause, my lovely young soprano who is leaving us for the Royal Welsh College of Music, and for whom it was the last performance as a member of Inner Sound, was taking the applause whilst standing next to little L who is 7, and for whom it was a very first concert with Inner Sound.

They both looked happy and fulfilled, either with pleasure at the thought of a job well done, or pleasure from a new experience which (hopefully!) was a positive one!
I regret now not taking a photograph of the two of them. The end of one fine era, and the beginning of another.

It is difficult to put into words how valued, and how much missed will be R, but a double loss for us is that we also lose T, her husband, who has been a rock in the group, with his fine baritone. Like R, I taught T from the age of around 13, and he has passed through Conservetoire, decided singing was not for him, married a very beautiful Paradise soprano, and seems very happy and contented to move to Cardiff and enjoy her experience of the same. R, I have taught from 12, and whilst it is such a sad loss vocally, I value the two of them as much, and maybe more, as people before singers, so the loss is at a deeper level.

Vocally, someone else ALWAYS crawls out from 'under a bushel', and the journey goes on, but losing friends is much tougher.

I wish R all the success she so richly deserves, and I wish both of them a happy and exciting time in this new phase in their lives.

Last night R chose to sing a small Schubert lied, Das Rosenband, which she has sung for a number of years, so the development in her approach, and her appreciation of the 'beauty of small', was very apparent in the delicate way she sang. Big is easy to do, small takes much more thought and effort. It was a delightful performance and a fitting finale.

If you want to see a photo of them go back to the HMS Pinafore blogs from last July 2010, they were Captain Corcoran and Josephine.

O Lovely Peace minus the continuo

2011-06-17T13:39:00.004+01:00

Duets Galore !

We had an excellent 'duet' evening last night, and because of the Paradise Song School, we have an abundance of duets ! Ranging from the humorous 'We're a Couple of Swells' to a Handel oratorio moment, via Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Cock and Bull' duet from Yeoman of the Guard with a small diversion to the 'Wild Mountain Thyme'

Duet singing is such fun - half the responsibility and double the pleasure! The nerves seem to half as well, so very often the whole performance comes over as confident and secure. Matching voices is not nearly so important as matching vowel sounds, as all types of voice will blend if the technique on the part of both singers is in 'harmony'. With good vowels we get a unified sound, which is pleasing for both singer and listener.

Most of my duettists have sung together a number of times, so a bond is built up, and the assumption that 'it will be fine' is a foregone conclusion. Such was the success of last nights rehearsal!

My alto M, can dance as well ! What a woman! So not only is she fought over as a singing partner, but she can also pull less light footed singers along with her on the dance trail!

The Handel duet is 'O Lovely Peace', and an old standard in ensemble terms. It is one of those delightfully pastoral moments in his oratorio, in 6/8 time and full of melodic depictions of 'wavy corn'. The end has an adagio and unaccompanied section to bring it to a peaceful close, which M&P can sing beautifully in tune and with no lead from the accompaniment !

Sometimes I wish I could supply a fully fledged continuo, complete with harpsichord and cello so they could truly experience what an authentic Baroque performance feels like.

'O Isis und Osiris Schenket' and other songs to please...

2011-06-15T21:56:00.005+01:00

The keyboard marathon!

It has been quite a tough week. My first, back teaching a seriously curtailed timetable and still I am exhausted after a paltry amount of work! The rehearsal last night was hard, and I felt my temperature rise, whilst my tolerance level fell to freezing level, and the poor singers saw the less kind and sympathetic corners of my character!

It just shows that whilst my lungs are now clear, it is going to take some time for a complete recovery.........and in the interim I need to pace myself! Aaagh.................

The little teaching I have done has mostly been those souls singing solos at the concert on Saturday night. The repertoire covered has ranged from a super dark, if youthful, 'O Isis und Osiris schenket', one of the gorgeous Sarastro aria's from Mozart's panto, The Magic Flute ! L has even found a couple of bottom F's, which he sings with such baby gravitas, it sends a little shiver through me, even in my weakened state (perhaps because of my weakened state!).

His sister N sang me a performance of 'If There were Dreams to Sell' by John Ireland, which she performed with such mature interpretive qualities beyond her years, and then today one of my lovely ladies was a stress free zone by performing her 'Evening Song' by Liza Lehmann, then to be musically complimented by P who rehearsed her 'To Keep my Love Alive', by Rogers and Hart. We planned some cracking moves if we can persuade our male singers to take their turn at 'dying' in a dramatic and appropriate manner as the rich, innocently barmy lady about town kills off each in turn simply 'to keep her love alive' don't you know!

I finished my day with two sisters, each of whom are such diligent pupils, and so will add a bright and breezy Kangaroo and a Fiddle on the Roof 'Sabbath Prayer' to the evening proceedings.

All I must do now is pace myself enough to play the accompaniments and concentrate for the whole concert. That will, in itself, be like running a marathon with my fingers!

Wish me luck !

The legendary Kurt Moll at the Met singing Sarastro..............

Thank you

2011-06-12T12:18:00.002+01:00

My last day of recuperation ! Tomorrow I start teaching again in preperation for our concert next saturday! I have tried to be sensible and cut down the week's teaching, but it is very difficult to cut a student without having to make dreadful decisions, decisions which will always upset somebody!

I have had such care from my friends, so many meals cooked, cakes baked, fresh picked soft fruits, and small gifts and cards. Thanks you to everyone, it is greatly appreciated, and shows how much kindness there is in Paradise!

Gretel has been looked after, played with and generally spoiled. She has now many new friends!

I also had a home visit from my personal, and extremely tame, chest consultant. After a long day at his clinic he called on his way home to have a listen to my chest.

All clear, all well and all ready to go, just need to get back to it all gently!

Big thanks to you all!

Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre

2011-06-10T20:22:00.005+01:00

A wonderfully decorated Lyre, to match a beautifully decorated aria !

As a young singer I loved giving recitals, and one of the finest encores (assuming the audience were up for it!) I used was Handel's Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre. It is so full of fun, so zippy and with a truly ecstatic sentiment. It feels like one is singing the most amazing blissful joy set to music !

It is so difficult to sing the 'speed of sound' coloratura runs, if one cannot find the joy in it - with a mind set of happiness and devil may care it is a positive doddle! Sometimes on singing it I used to feel as if I might take off, and the whizz up to Heaven might be outwith my control.

The words are :

Oh had I Jubal's lyre or Miriam's tuneful voice,
To sounds like his I would aspire,
In songs like hers
Rejoice !
My humble strains but faintly show
How much to Heaven and Thee I owe !

What a simple but ravishingly gorgeous text to set to music.

The Dame makes it sound like a breeze, and indeed the best bit of advice I ever had when I was learning it was 'just believe it is so easy, and let Handel finish the job!'

Never a truer word..............................

If your ears can take it listen to the fantastic harpsichord playing, cheeky, brisk and so snappy !

Third Nocturne from the right, by Mozart

2011-06-09T11:50:00.003+01:00

We have a concert next week, and thankfully the rehearsals have been taken by C my super duper young tenor. I have taught him from the age of 13 and now he is a father and is, for the moment settled in Paradise with the mother of his son.

It is funny how fate seems to manage things, had he not been around, this concert would undoubtedly have been destined for cancellation. He has whipped them into shape, assiduously taught the notes and words, and stamped his own musical mark on the repertoire.

For this concert a new set of pieces have been learnt, and I hope that I will be able to be at next Tuesday's rehearsal to hear what he has done with them. He phoned me from the rehearsal last week during the coffee break, and even though I was not firing on all cylinders, so to speak, I could hear the pleasure, and slight surprise in his voice, at the fact that the group all knew the music, were singing it really well, and that it was almost ready for performance ! Bless him! He is not, as yet, used to the journey from 'birth to maturity', and I hope, next Saturday he will feel that wonderful high of delight when he realises that 'he did that' !

Of course, the group have to put in the work, but in essence it would not be heading to fruition had it not been honed and moulded by a talented and energetic 'pack leader' !

Another wonderful piece on my iPhone ! I do hope that you are enjoying some of my choices !

I have always loved Mozart, and along with Handel and Bach, to me, life would be a shadow of what it should be without that brilliant trio of composers. We are performing one of the Six Nocturnes for Soprano, Alto and Baritone. I searched for a decent recording, and, Inner Sound, you will be pleased to hear that most of the recordings were not to my standard ! You will do it better! Anyhow, I came across this delightful Trio version. Enjoy.

It is in Italian, and you lot are singing it in German!

Another Great from Emma Kirkby - Thomas Arne (1710-1778) - The Morning

2011-06-06T14:43:00.001+01:00

I found it ! Now I know what to do, I scouted around for another Emma Kirkby which will blow your socks off! I first came across this wonderful recording whilst teaching A Level Music in school about 246 years ago! It was used as an aural listening exercise because the opening phrase rises in a major arpeggio!

Once we had learnt about rising arpeggios we just kept putting the excerpt on, at the beginning and end of every lesson for about a year ! So glorious it is even strapping 16 year old boys melted at it, and girls who sang almost wept with pleasure and hopeless jealousy I suspect........

Dopo Notte by Handel

2011-06-06T13:23:00.005+01:00

One for the collection.............

Oh dear. After doing a little shopping and visiting my parents yesterday, I came home exhausted, slept for 2 hours and realised my glands were swelling once more. I phoned some seriously medical friends and was told in no uncertain terms NOT to teach and just rest for the next week.

It is so frustrating, as when I am still, or reading, watching TV etc I feel almost normal apart from the cough, but when I exert myself I realise that I am not yet recovered enough to work. Teaching is mostly physical giving, demonstrating and being on the ball for every minute of the lesson, and I now know that I am none of the above !

So what else is on my IPhone ? Janet Baker - another great Dame of singing, and probably my all time favourite in terms of interpretation and technique. When you listen to her utter precision in placing sound, and her relaxed but totally firm muscle support, combined with such ease of delivery (having said that, and knowing the lady a little, she would say that it was not 'easy' at all, and very strength sapping!) I find she is one of the few singers I can listen to with complete relaxation. I can forget that I may hear technical faults, sloppy diction or intonation problems and just float away on the wings of the song. Now there is poetry in prose!

I have her singing the final moments of The Rape of Lucretia, when the darkness of her voice, and the realism and pathos are mind blowing, and an aria from Handel's Ariodante - 'Dopo Notte'. One of the most exciting and exhilarating arias both to sing and to listen to - believe me I know!

Handel forms much of my Desert Island Discs repertoire, and I just could not live without some of the oratorio arias and choruses from the most well known Messiah music through to Theodora, Alcina and Ariodante. I am so glad that these much neglected works in years gone by are now standard repertoire in Opera Houses the world over!

Taste some and see!

I DID IT ! Below is a wonderful duet from Pergolesi's Stabat Mater sung by Emma Kirkby and James Bowman
Love it or don't tell me!!!

Salve Regina - Pergolesi and my iPhone 4

2011-06-05T13:07:00.012+01:00

Dame Emma Kirkby - purity and peace......

I am feeling a good deal better now and have decided to try teaching tomorrow. I am feeling quite bored and that must be a sign that I am well and truly on the mend!

I have, over the last two weeks surprised myself a great deal. The background to this is that a month ago I switched my mobile phone carrier to Orange. I had, prior to that been with Vodafone for around 15 years. There is so little Vodafone signal in Paradise that having struggled even to send texts from my own kitchen I felt the time had come to vote with my feet!

So - I went for an Orange 'bundle' which supplied me, at very little cost, with a brand spanking new all singing all dancing Iphone 4 ! It really does do everything except make the tea, and I can foresee even that happening in the not too distant future!

The upshot of this is that in playing with it for the past weeks when I was largely bed bound or sofa bound, I learnt about the iPod 'bit' of the machine! I also learnt how easy it is to purchase from iTunes.....................well did I enjoy myself! I rarely listen to music, when it is one's job and one wrestles with Handel and Gershwin 6 or 7 hours every day of the term, the last thing I want to do is listen to more! Thus I spend most of my time enjoying BBC Radio 4 - all spoken word!

However, the iTunes store had so many wonderful single arias - thus I could pick and choose down to the bar number - I spent a delirious few hours choosing what I absolutely loved.

So what did I choose ?

Lots of Emma Kirkby =- notably the Pergolesi 'Salve Regina' three movements of heavenly sacred song, so pure and peaceful, combined with the magical voice of Dame Emma Kirkby.

Now for an anecdote : I was honoured to go to Buckingham Palace with my old singing teacher Middy, as one of her guests when she received her MBE for services to music. It was a wonderful occasion and although it was Middy's day, at the same ceremony Emma Kirkby was receiving her Damehood ! Talk about 'Trilling 2 'Songbirds' with one stone' - sorry for the terrible pun.

I recommend you give the Salve Regina a whirl - you cannot fail but to think you have died and gone to Heaven!

OK does anyone out there know how to embed a You Tube screen anymore - I tried 25 times but clearly something has changed!!! I wait with bated breath for someone to tell me how!

Looking for trouble .....

2011-05-30T04:29:00.004+01:00

Gretel

2011-05-30T02:06:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-30T01:58:00.001+01:00

2011-05-29T23:34:00.005+01:00

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.....

2011-05-23T00:10:00.005+01:00

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....

2011-05-12T00:05:00.000+01:00

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

2011-05-07T11:36:00.004+01:00

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

2011-05-05T14:32:00.006+01:00

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

2011-05-01T20:13:00.003+01:00

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!

2011-04-25T10:48:00.001+01:00

Dear All,

I am so sorry for the long break - the Song School weeks were fantastic but .....gruelling! I had no energy at all after dinner at the college and driving home. I fell into bed and slept until I had to rise and smile for the next day.

I promise to give you all an update this coming week.

Full Circle

2011-04-04T21:11:00.003+01:00

Some of Miranda's Singers

Sorry it has been a while since the last post. I have been sleeping and generally doing housey things such as washing and the like.

I have much paperwork to do in the next couple of days, for the Song School which starts next week, and my family arrive in the middle of the week!

As well as all that, one of my oldest and much loved students is bringing her own group of singers to Paradise next Sunday for a week. She is completing the circle. As a teenager herself she came here many times to have Paradise Therapy (as they all called it!) and to give concerts.

It gives me such a feeling of satisfaction, and a sense of 'job well done' when they are introducing their own youngsters to this beautiful place, and to allowing them to become a part of the welcoming community, and to spend quality time with each other.

Thus - I am taking a few days break from posting, firstly to allow me to complete all my paperwork before the family arrive, and so I can spend quality time with them for a few days before the enslaught of the Song School !

Be back in a week, and then I will be updating on the masterclasses, the singers and the songs....

Watch this space.

The Orchestra Song Finale

2011-03-31T13:44:00.001+01:00

The sweeping staircase in the front entrance of Boarbank Guest House

What a blessed and happy few days I have had here at Boarbank Hall. The sisters took on the job of vowel shapes and downward scales with a will and by last evening at Vespers the tone was much more unified and I heard all the words !
On top of that I think they have all really enjoyed the singing, and even those who may have been a little nervous at first, or who maybe felt that singing lessons in a convent were 'surplus to requirements', happily joined in and gave it their best shot! I think they are won round, and maybe see that a little unification of sound adds to their praise.

For those who found some voice that they thought they had not got, it was a great 3 days, and a number went away feeling renewed confidence for those moments when they have to lead, or they are the Heb Dom for the week and have to sing the first moment of the service. If any sisters read this, I hope I have got that right - my knowledge of the intricacies of the Office is woeful indeed !

At the end of the final session I thought we might sing something non liturgical and fun, so my 'never failed yet' part song for such moments is to teach a few of the parts of the 'The Orchestra Song' - universally enjoyed, parts of all difficulties, and for high, low and best of all, 'no man's land' voice ranges - Oh, and for male and female! What more could one ask, a song to fit all, with 6 parts to choose from!
This went down very well, and we used the Clarinet part, the Horn part and the Drums, and I sang the Fiddle ! It went with a real swing, and made for some unexpected hilarity. Three ladies in habits singing 'The drum has no trouble.......Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.....was a sight and sound to behold!

I am being taken to the station at midday today then on to the airport and finally back to Inverness by late this evening. I am staying over with some friends in Inverness before attending a meeting at L's school in the morning, which is to discuss his 'transition' from school to big wide world, academically and musically speaking.

I may then do a smidge of shopping before returning to Paradise, replete after my injection of 'nunning' for another few months anyhow!

St Cecilia (well sometimes)

2011-03-28T20:17:00.003+01:00

My room name and number, patron saint of music, and belonging to another close to my heart!

I have had a most productive day. It is a while since I came to a place where everyone is new and a complete beginner. Where there is no history of 'Ann Lampard', and where I do not know anyone except Sr Anne who invited me to come.

It makes it all the more exciting, as each person who opens the door is a closed book ! (Now there is a contradiction in terms!) I had the Prioress first thing at 9.30am, who boldly went where no nun had gone before, and told me she thought she should 'lead from the front', who was easy to teach and very responsive. She has a natural voice, resonant and round, but no technique (yet!!), and was so thrilled when I managed to get her up to a top F, simply by showing her how to focus the tone, and sing with disciplined vowel shapes. It is so rewarding both to hear and to watch.

Every sister whom I have had dealings with over the last 15 years has proved so 'hungry' to improve, whether they are a 25 year old novice, or an 85 year old senior nun, who has passed her golden jubilee!

They feel that the better they sing, the better they worship, and coming somewhere new means all that rush of adrenalin at the first big improvement which I feel from each pupil, spurs me on to give them as much as I can in the short time I will be around. They know I am gone in 2 or 3 days, and so they inhale every second of information, and then retain it ! It makes for ultra pleasurable teaching!

Of course I never really get to know the individuals in the way I do my regulars, so I have to renew my thoughts very quickly when I return 6 months or a year later! I can't afford to have 'senior moments' !

Anyhow, I had several sisters who more than reached their expectations, and a young postulant who had done very little singing in her life, found that for all her small stature she had a big and ringing voice. The look of utter surprise in her eyes, at the size of her sound, was so like a startled rabbit it made us both laugh ! Given she is half Italian it simply must be in the genes - however well hidden!

A good day, new 'noises' and new friends!

A Room with a View

2011-03-27T19:09:00.001+01:00

The view from my window

Boarbank Hall, Cumbrian Paradise

2011-03-27T17:34:00.003+01:00

Once again I am in the privileged position of staying in a most beautiful place. How lucky am I to be working in such tranquil and glorious surroundings? I am sitting at a desk in my room, the sun is shining and there is a thread of spring mist in the distance, just beyond which is a miraculous view of the 'Sands' in Grange over Sands.

I arrived an hour ago, greeted by Sr Anne at the station, and then we drove to the village wherein the Convent is set. In many ways the whole outlook is like a film set - I can only hope that film set 'finders' never find it! Although it may help the coffers I suppose!

These sisters also run a large Nursing Home, and all I can say is that if I were in need of such care then this is the place for me!

The journey was trouble free, and only a group of Manchester serial night clubbers who were on the train spoilt the overall peace. Live and let live however, they were very jolly !

I wish I had words to describe the quiet, I cab here a pair of blackbirds singing and nothing else - an acre of Paradise in Cumbria!

No work today, I begin tomorrow with a clean slate and - so I understand - some rather nervous sisters! Dear Sr Anne told them I was 'totally non threatening' ! Did you hear that in Paradise..........................!!

PS
Supper with the sisters was delightful, and as the Prioress hails from Consett, which is about 10 miles from my home, I am now completely ensconced, elegantly fed and watered still the sun is shining.

Up, Up and Away....courtesy of Flybe

2011-03-25T11:13:00.004Z

I am off on my travels again tomorrow - this is the ultimate time of year for my job! Well between now and July !

I fly from Inverness to Manchester, then a train to Grange over Sands, visiting a new Convent, with a new set of sisters. They are Augustinians, and although they have a contemplative house, they are also a nursing order. I met the sister in charge of the music for the office when I did some sessions at the Panel of Monastic Musicians meeting last September in Llandudno. Sr Anne from Grange over Sands almost immediately invited me to come to her house, which was very nice!

So I leave tomorrow and will begin 3 days of singing with them on Monday, and return to Inverness next Thursday evening. I will post from there whilst I am away, if they have WiFi in the guest house. If not I will store it all up for when I return !

It is always interesting and exciting meeting new people, and trying to bring them into the fold of Middy singing technique - I feel like an ambassador for the wonderful methods of singing she instilled into us, and that she learnt from her mother!

The dynasty goes on.

It's Tuesday Again

2011-03-23T09:53:00.002Z

Tuesday, as some of you may know from early blogs, is my late teens and early/mid 20's aspirant professionals day! Wow that is a sentence and a half!

I have an 18 year old baritone who has just covered himself with much glory in the last month or so. He took part in a masterclass day with Claire Weston, a wonderfully empathetic and talented soprano who was for some years on the ENO Young Artists Programme, and sang a number of roles to great acclaim. She is now a most successful and, more importantly, happy, Head of Singing at a school in Suffolk. I knew she would be very helpful, and extremely useful to young L.

I have never mentioned this before, but this remarkable young man has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. This seems not to impact in any way upon his singing, except that we have had to devise a completely different way of breathing, using his back and the full width of his shoulders ! It has been a challenge, but I can honestly say that I have rarely taught such a hard working and hungry for knowledge student.

The difficulties he has faced have added a magical 'force' underpinning his singing which it is hard to describe. I had a phone call from Claire after the masterclass full of admiration yet - as I had hoped - being very excited about his talent, and not dwelling on his problems. It is very hard for folk to see beyond the wheelchair, and treat the boy as a talent, legs working or not, but I knew Claire would rise to this admirably and, if necessary, give him a hard time! (Which was not needed incidentally!)

I fully anticipate him attending a conservetoire at some time, and doing very well, but not for a few years. Life at music college is hard enough, never mind having to cope with all the other tricky bits of his life!

I also taught R who now has her place at the Royal Welsh College, and having had the burden of auditions, and waiting and waiting for results, then considering those very results, is singing as if a great weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

Her vocal tone has opened up and she is singing with the freedom of a caged bird let free. There have been tension issues throughout the many years I have taught her, but since getting her place she has tackled this with a will and the difference is tangible. What is more, she has a smile on her face and a skip in her step!

Finally my lovely young dancer L came for her lesson. It was her turn for crisis and a few hot tears were shed. Working full time in the arts in such a physical way, as well as trying to do something for oneself, which also requires much physical and emotional imput had brought the poor girl to her knees. She has such talent, and such an awareness of what is needed to build that talent, when she hits the 'wall' she is even more upset with herself. She works such long hours and with such dynamism, the feeling of not coping is very real. I know. I bought that metaphorical T Shirt many times in my life.

She needs to believe that time for herself, and space in her life to just 'be' is more important than any job.

Any job at all.

A Blackbird Singing, along with an Alto and Baritone

2011-03-21T21:57:00.004Z

...on a moss upholstered stone.....

It is a dismal, wet and windy day today, well the latter half of it anyway, and I did not finish teaching until quite late! Actually I over ran by about half an hour, so it was my own fault! Sometimes, time just goes out of the window in a puff of smoke. All those years in an institution being ruled entirely by the clock for around 10 hours everyday, means that I now feel a tad rebellious and want to work my own time, and not be a slave to a timetable.

Some of my pupils clearly did not realise that I was back, so I only taught a half day - but the 'half' who came were the singers who will be embarking upon their first public masterclasses when they come to the Song School in 2 or 3 weeks. So there was a certain degree of stress in the music room!

They have all done remarkably well, amateurs rarely have to learn the copious amounts of repertoire that a professional must learn, and the fact that they have to get anywhere around 9 - 13 pieces ready at one time, including for some, 2 or 3 ensembles, is an enormous undertaking, and not one to be taken lightly, or without the help of paracetamol and gin (not together you understand!).

Approaching that amount of learning takes discipline and good organisation. The 'Levels Method' is great - ie you learn a certain amount of music in each of 2 or 3 pieces, and that becomes the first level. The trick is not to try to move to the next 'level', or the next 16 bars in each piece, until the first 'level' is perfect. That way confusion never sets in (theoretically!!). In the same way as one would never attempt to learn a whole operatic role at once, but build up the levels, and the new sections are then no challenge to the already perfected bits. In academic revision we call it 'bite size chunks', and it is very close to that system, except that for singing we HAVE to memorise, so not moving on until the memorising is 100% allows brain space for the next bit.

I heard some very pleasing performances today, including the Agnus Dei from Mozart's Mass in C, Woe unto Them from Elijah by Mendelssohn, and a bouncy and playful 'Non piu andrai' from The Marriage of Figaro. As the singers have to learn so much music, there were some pieces which I had not yet heard, and I was very pleasantly surprised to hear a great Che Faro senza Euridice by Gluck from my gold dust alto who has gained a wonderfully secure top E since she last sang the aria to me, and a lovely 'A Blackbird Singing' by Micheal Head from the lady who just passed her Grade 8 (all the time assuming she would fail with the lowest mark in the Western world!!!!), and again what a surprise. The passages which used to be so difficult have now become a breeze - infact I feel sure she is not even aware of the passages she found really hard a couple of years ago, which are now a doddle!

Perhaps the secret of good teaching is NOT to hear something and let them do it themselves?!

Hang on, am I talking myself out of a job here?

See you Later

2011-03-21T13:44:00.002Z

Last week of the term.......then a bit of sorting out for my Song School, the first week of which begins on April 11th. Go to Down to Earth on my favourite blogs side links. I cannot believe that the super duper Rhonda Jean has had to write today's post. Some folk in the world are too politically correct to live on this planet.

Will post later after my day finishes!

A Motorway Pie

2011-03-19T19:29:00.005Z

Oh Dear......

Have been on the homeward trail today, the sun has been glorious all day, and only as I approached the mountains, was there a small glimmer of the white stuff. I hope it does not get worse tomorrow when I finish the last leg back to Paradise.

I am staying in a Travelodge as per usual, and the bed and such are impersonally fine, but the Moto restaurant has failed me on this occasion ! The so called steak pie had as much meat in it as an undernourished hamster and the pastry would have sat well in the founds of a new build house such was its density and resistance to a metal fork! The fresh fruit salad had a slightly suspect pale and interesting brown tinge, so half has remained in it's plastic coffin, for burial I hope . I am not a picky woman when it comes to travel fodder, and normally I pack a picnic so I can graze on something tasty which has not cost the best part of a small mortgage, but even I was hard pushed to eat my £11.97 's worth - Yes you saw correctly - £11.97, more than the cost of a singing lesson for my little 20 minuters, and not nearly so cute!

The time is around 7.30pm and the Costa Coffee section is closed - CLOSED ........so I have to make do with a sweet and rather sickly primo latte from the serve yourself with 3 ladies not doing much area, from whence my not quite Michelin starred meal was lobbed onto the tray. Lobbed in much the same way as in that very funny series by Victoria Wood, Dinnerladies. ! I would have wolfed the whole lot as if it were caviar had the clever and sparkling repartee been of that standard. As it was the humour was about as funny as my steak pie !

Ah well, you win some, you lose some.
Home by the morrow..........................Ahhhhhhhhh....................

Love's Minstrels and a bit of shut eye

2011-03-18T14:31:00.005Z

The long shingle beach of Hastings

All done at Hastings ! The festival is huge, 3 weeks of every kind of competition from a professional Piano Concerto class with a prize of £2500, to pop and rock vocals which had its prizes awarded by Roger Daltry, and the dance classes where the major awards were given by Dame Beryl Gray, the famous ballerina of the 50's and 60's. Their big concert which takes place tomorrow evening will have as its new president, Petula Clarke - so I felt in elevated company. I asked who would be the 'important' person to present the Gold and Silver Awards for the classical singing, expecting Lesley Garratt would be zooming down to the coast from her last gig, but the chairlady said - Oh that's you ! What a disappointment for the singers I replied!

It took place in a delightful Art Deco theatre right on the beach, and opposite the Victorian Pier which sadly burnt to the4 ground last year, but there is a move to rebuild! The whole theatre was redolent of Scott Fitzgerald and Agatha Christie. It was a wonderful place in which to sing, and I was pleased that the festival took the formal elements of performing very seriously. The competitors dressed beautifully, from young to old, and all announced and then bowed with immaculate presentation.

The White Rock Theatre - Agatha Christie could have watched Noel Coward here !

I heard some very interesting music, and a few songs I previously did not know. There was a great English Song class with some of the lesser known Vaughan Williams and a 'new to me' Howells song which I now must find a copy of !

The Gold Medal had only 2 entries - due to the hefty qualifying rules you understand - and the winner was a remarkable mezzo soprano whose programme was perfect, presented perfectly and she looked like a million dollars. She achieved the remarkable mark of 91. The set song was Love's Minstrels by Vaughan Williams, and I was totally transported by her hypnotic performance. It gave me goose bumps up and down my arms.

I was finished by 9pm last night but stayed at my B&B as I was just too weary to drive home.......so here I am now back in Petworth and about to leave to pick up the children and head on down to the cinema for a birthday evening for my grandaughter, who is 8 tomorrow, and a post film Chinese Buffet.

It is a children's film called Rango - but I am hoping for a few moments of blessed shut eye when the lights go down!

Some Enchanted Music Festival

2011-03-15T12:34:00.004Z

Boy did I hear some great singing ! It was the only festival in the last year where I was absolutely driven to give 4 90's and 1 91 ! Usually I manage one or two at the most marks of 90 or above, but if the standard is that outstanding, then performers must be rewarded, otherwise if makes a nonsense of the lower catagory marks.

So what stood out ? So many performances if I am honest.

I heard a young 19 year old boy tenor who clearly has his sights set on a career in musical theatre but seems to be going about it the safest way and getting himself a good classical technique on which to build his future. He took complete control of the stage and drew us into his musical world. I was moved by his Negro Spiritual 'Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen', and equally moved by a cathedral worthy 'Panis Angelicus', but when he came to his 'Some Enchanted Evening' I was bowled over. The sheer insight into this music, the way he caressed us all with both the sound and himself, was astonishing for one so young.

I also heard a super talented young soprano who hushed the room to the point of freezing us in time when she sang one of my all time favourite songs, 'The Cherry Hung with Snow' by Colin Ross. The perfect line she sang with, just hung in the air, and the final verse, sung at nano ppp was magical.

There were some character classes for the little ones, and I was quite taken with a young half Spanish 8 year old who sang a most touching 'Feed the Birds' by Mary Poppins !! She really was the original Supernanny I think!

I do love it when young people announce their own songs - it is such an important part of learning how to perform, but the standards vary from an inaudible grunt from a 14 year old boy who clearly does not want to be there, and an old amateur / pro, who gives you the history of the song, the composers' life and the colour of the socks he was wearing at the moment of composition! All good clean fun!

Another performance by a rather elderly gentleman was most moving, and he could have taught a thing or two to some of the super league teenagers, in terms of focus and depth of feeling. He sang 'It is Enough' from Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah, and vocally it was worthy of the best stage in the land, as well as lifting us up with his honest and heart warming performance.

There were so many other fine moments, a simply gorgeous 'The Singer', sung by a petite 16 year old who soared to the top notes and then let the song fade like a very old water colour painting, a Quilter 'Fair House of Joy' sung by a 13 year old girl with a voice the size of Bournemouth, and such sensitivity I could hardly write.

It was a blessed couple of days musically, and to round it all off we were accomodated in a Hilton Hotel, sheer luxury..................it is usually a good B&B !

Off to Hastings later and another few days writing, listening and thinking for all I am worth!

Basingstoke will be hard to beat though.

Rest and Preparation

2011-03-11T13:58:00.004Z

A restful day today, with just a little preparation for Basingstoke Festival on the morrow. I checked the distances from here to the festival venue and promptly wished I had asked for a hotel room for this evening, instead of offering to drive tomorrow morning. I will need to leave at around 7am !

This may not seem terribly early to all parents of small children, or commuters to the city, but remember I start at 9.30am and finish at around 9.30pm, and cannot lose concentration for one performance during the day!

I will report back over the weekend. I am expecting some fine singing, as I recognise some of the names in the programme.

Early bed tonight, and must make sure that I find the postcode of the venue so I can get in the car and travel relatively brainlessly to economise on nueron use.

Need all the help I can get these days !

A Lovely Dose of Arundel Poor Clares

2011-03-10T17:02:00.005Z

Cure All !

I had two delightful and peaceful days at the Crossbush Convent near Arundel, where I have been teaching for about 15 years. The sisters are a complete cross section of life, age and personality, and the ambience is one of joy and complete democracy.

There are some difficult health issues there at the moment, but the acceptance of such, and the sense of gratitude for doctors, surgeons and nurses is humbling.

These issues have cast a slight shadow over the house and when I arrived the singing was a little lack lustre! They simply love their singing so it took no time at all to inject energy and a smile into their sound. I use all the same exercises as with my private pupils, and we even attempted some 'flip ups' this timk ! That is, singing down the scale and flipping back up to the top as many times as possible.

This caused some hilarity, and the amount of times they could do it was as diverse as my own pupils ! Some are fainting after 2 scales and others can keep going for 5 or even 6 times! It is all to do with relaxation, and controlling the flow of air as we expel it to make the sound, not really tyo do with size of lungs, or ability to load up as much air as a barrage balloon !

One sister stood out head and shoulders above all the rest, a young woman from Zimbabwe, Sr Clare Ruva. She is serene, walks with a wonderfully languid flow, and laughs with happiness and generosity. I often use her as an example of good posture and relaxation, infact I wish I could bring her home..............

She could go on for 4 or 5 scales at her first attempt. Just shows - personality and culture will out.

We ended the day in the chapel going over the piece we had practised during the previous 2 days. I love the Poor Clare chapel, it is warm, simple and peaceful. It has beauty, but a different beauty from more ornate chapels I have taught and sung in, The sound of the Anima Christi rang around the building, never overblown, but so resonant. The sister who plays the organ is also incapicitated at the moment so I had the honour of playing the organ for our session, and it gave me a true feeling of what it was like to be in integral part of the community.

I love the life, the speed of the day, the community feel, the kindness upon which life is founded.

However I hate the 5am start to the day.......................

Away Match

2011-03-07T22:00:00.004Z

I am now 700 miles away in the South of England about to embark upon a couple of weeks of adjudicating and 'nunning' !

I made it by 2pm today, just in time to pick up young C and W from school, do cello lesson, then Brownies followed by the swings and supper, and the grand finale, a chapter of 'The Island of Adventure' by the inimitable Enid Blyton.

Variety is the spice of life........

Two lovely days teaching the Poor Clare sisters in Arundel starting tomorrow.

No rest for the wicked singing teacher.

Concert Review - High Class Singing in Paradise

2011-03-07T21:17:00.006Z

I was so thrilled with the concerts. It feels like a lifetime since we last performed, and in reality it is a good while. We had to cancel the Christmas concerts due to the Arctic conditions, so if I look back it must be last May when we did proper mixed bag concerts. Of course we did perform HMS Pinafore which was a great deal of work and rehearsal, but concerts are different beasts, and a fair proportion of the group were performing for the first time as a soloist, or even for the first time with a 'new' or greatly developed voice !

There was a relaxed and 'family' feel within the singers, and this leached out into performances. I truly felt that whilst there was the accepted trickle of Adrenalin running like a small river through all the singers, it was a healthy amount of fear - not the destructive nerves which destroy and paralyse.

The youngsters were brilliant. They are so much more vocally developed than last year,and they shone brightly under the pleasure and surprise exhibited by both audience and performers.

The tinies were truly excellent. Both M and H sang two songs each - which lasted around 50 seconds, and as ever, made it very difficult to follow them and win! H sang John Brown's Body, with a pure and ringing treble tone and captured the audience completely, and M gave a beautifully controlled and heart warming performance of an unaccompanied Hebridean folksong called 'Morag's Cradle Song'.

We had a wide range of repertoire which took four of them up about 3 technical notches. The gorgeous 'Fly Home little Heart' by Novello was a quite magical moment sung by 13 year old N, and Summertime was performed by a confident and accomplished R, whose top A in the final phrase was stunning. L sang the Libera Me from Faure's Requiem with such depth and with such ringing tone, I think he shocked the assembled audience/singers to their very core. Young M was quite the actress when she performed a delightful Buttercup's aria, showing what confidence she has gained during the last year.

The slightly older singers acquitted themselves very well, R sang with such relaxation and showing how she thoroughly deserves her place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama - and another young soprano showed her new and glowing colours in her first foray in 'classical' singing.

There were two beautiful SATB quartets, soft, controlled, and with divine tone, from the fearless four who worked together like a well oiled wheel.

Let us not forget my 'ladies' !! There were some sensitive and musical performances especially a lovely Bless this House from E. Then three other more mature singers gave us a wide selection of humour! A terrifying Duchess from |The Gondoliers, scary enough to frighten the top notes from a tenor, and a superb Fairy Song from an unusually fluffy and frilly retired college lecturer, whose bending wand sent a ripple of laughter around the hall. P sang a fine and suitably stiff upper lipped housekeeper in the song 'Miss Otis Regrets' by Cole Porter, resplendent with pinny and yellow duster.

C's conducting debut was fantastic - he had definitely got the job! His confidence has grown so much, and when the chips were down, I felt he was truly in control. Good man!

So you see, I bet you all wish you could have been there!

You would have loved it.

Summertime and other Light Favourites

2011-03-03T22:23:00.005Z

We had a short and excellent rehearsal tonight, and as I said earlier all we are waiting for now is Adrenalin, to add the final frisson of musicality.

Will comment upon that after the concerts!

I was pondering about the intricacies of putting the concert programme together this afternoon. Each set of items for any concert are completely different and individual. This list is heavy on the 'light' and 'humorous', rather than serious and 'heavy'. That makes the jigsaw puzzle all the more tricky.

A programme is an organic being in it's own right. We try to start with strength, but not the strongest in the group - that must come towards the end of each half, put less confident newcomers in the first half, so the nerves don't have such a long wait and become overpowering, and build the arch of the evening carefully so every listener is kept interested!

Quite an ask really ! When the list of repertoire is biased towards one style or genre is is much more tricky to find that aforementioned and often elusive 'arch'. Well it is done now, and the few more serious items peak at the end of the first half, and the light, bubbly , fun items fill the second half to busting! The only less light moment in the second half is the Goodall, Lord is my Shepherd, all the moments around that range from Gershwin's 'Summertime', and two of the 'tinies' singing a Hebridean folk song and 'John Brown's Body', via some Jerome Kern and Gilbert and Sullivan.

The art of programme planning is complex, and needs a sensitivity of touch. Nobody wants to follow 'small and cute', so always best to put something choral or ensembley after little ones, and breaking up a run of solos with some duets or quartets is a must.

Even though we are 'light' heavy - so to speak - I feel sure it will all come together really well, and the jigsaw pieces will become a whole.

Fingers crossed!

For the Love of an Echo

2011-03-01T21:33:00.004Z

The Glory of Peterskirche, Vienna

They are beginning to sound good - really good. All the choral pieces have slicked up, and most of the singers are, at last, using their brains as well as their voices!! The tone is good, and I think almost everyone knows the music off copy now!

Which is great, since the concerts are friday and saturday this week!

I forget how beautiful sacred music is, when I spend so much of my time teaching secular music, ranging from opera to song to light music. There is such strength in sacred music - perhaps because so much of it was composed by devout believers. Unless a composer has been commissioned to write a mass or a modern oratorio, I can't imagine why anyone would want to write about God unless they had a strong belief.

The lovely setting of the Tallis Canon - Glory to Thee my God this night - so simple and yet so effective, is based on the redoubtable canon form. Literally everyone sings the same tune at two bar intervals and it all fits together like a miraculous musical jigsaw, just like the children's rounds, London's Burning, or Kookaburra sings in the old Gum Tree.

Simplicity is, in the end, always best, and I love the way the arrangement begins in unison and finally ends with a majestic explosion of sound in four parts with a high soprano descant thrown in for good measure.

I am so looking forward to hearing it in a large hall with a bit of resonance, so the sound can trumpet around the place and send a thrill up and down the spines of the singers as well as the audience.

There really is nothing like a good echoy venue, such as the wondrous Peterskirche in Vienna, where the echo lasted about 2 days! The thrill of singing in that beautiful place will live with everyone in the group. The first strains of our music rang around us all, up and down the mountainous walls and around the ornate dome, giving each singer, old and young, professional and amateur the musical memory of a lifetime.

No wonder Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Mahler and Bruckner wrote huge sacred works to be performed in all those fabulous Viennese basilicas, and for the delight of listeners whose belief was strong enough to bear the beauty of it.

Go It Alone

2011-02-27T16:13:00.004Z

As I am away on my travels after our concerts at the end of this week, all those pupils who are coming to Song School, or competing in Inverness Festival are clamouring for extra lessons.

What I really wish I could do is to slice myself in two and let the 'piano playing' body parts be with all those have to sing with other, and unknown pianists! Having to let them cope alone, and make their own musical statements is, I imagine like letting your precious 5 year old walk through the school gates and begin a new experience in life without Mummy.

I know exactly how my pupils sing their songs, I know exactly where they need to speed up and slow down, and I know before they do when they are running out of breath. It is the most agonising wrench when I simply have to allow them to go it alone.

Trying to teach them how to take control and establish their own speed within the first bar of singing, and sticking to their guns when an accompanist thinks that they know best, is a tough and grown up thing to do. It took me years!

Singers often feel lesser mortals in the world of musicians, indeed, we cannot be members of the Musicians Union, we have to belong to Equity, the Actor's Union. This must be a leftover from the days when singers belonged to the more amateur and 'pretty' end of the business - who knows? So essentially trying to be assertive with a youngish, arrogantish and overly ambitious pianist is a big ask when one is 18 and has only had an empathetic teacher/player !

However, it has to be done, and I will just have to get over it! Those youngsters who will swim alone at the festival will do their best I know, but there will be a small portion of my brain thinking about them and throwing a small prayer up to that Heavenly corner which caters for singers !

The Lass from the Low Countree

2011-02-24T23:24:00.003Z

I was really pleased with our rehearsal this week, the part songs are beginning to sound slick and tidy. The dynamics are 'happening', and the speeds are beginning to tighten up. Young R gave us a super solo in the 'Lord is my Shepherd', not sounding like a treble, but more akin to a young female whose voice is transitioning from girl to woman, and thus still has all the best attributes of BOTH voices. Well done R.

On wednesday one of my lady students, a retired botanist, came late in the evening. She is my final pupil of the 'normal' week, and has a calming effect whenever she comes in the music room. She has a sweet and unfussy voice, and loves arrangements of folk songs. I have got her started on the marvelous Britten arrangements, which I know she will find very satisfying, but it was one of the inimitable Betty Roe arrangements which she has almost completed which really gave me a shiver up the old spine!

It is 'The Lass from the Low Countree'. All I could find out about it is that it is British. That's it!

It is haunting and despairing, but full of the feist of a poor working girl heartbroken at the fact that the 'Lord of high degree' does not return her love. The truly magical thing about Miss Roe's setting is the way the first verse and the last verse have a sad, minor key feeling, using the typical chords which give it a feeling of nostalgia. They are easy on the ear and full of yearning. Then she moves suddenly into the middle verse, the one with the lyrics pertaining to the arrogant and dis-interested Lord, whom I assume she has admired from afar. Blimey, the harmonies go mad - they almost hurt the ear as much as the words hurt the young girl. We are pinched by the discordance of it all.

Lass From the Low Countree

Oh she was a lass from the low countree
And he was a lord of high degree
And she loved his lordship so tenderly

Oh sorrow, sing sorrow
Now she sleeps in the valley
Where the wildflowers nod
And no one knows she loved him
But herself and God

One day when the show was on the mead
He passed her by on a milk white steed
She spoke to him low but he paid no heed

So if you be a lass from the low country
Don't love no lord of high degree
For they ain't got no heart or sympathy

Oh sorrow, sing sorrow
Now she sleeps in the valley
Where the wildflowers nod
And no one knows she loved him
But herself and God

It is not really tricky, and is one of those songs which can sung by a competent beginner and an aspirant professional as well as a professional. It spans all the stages and ages. It was not composed when I was singing, and that makes me feel sad, as I know I would have loved it, and used it regularly in recitals.

It also makes me feel quite ancient!

Song School

2011-02-21T13:52:00.006Z

Paradise Song School 2010
Click above on the link if you want to see more...

Dancing Included!

It is 'On with the Motley' monday. Back in the saddle after a tired weekend. I thought I was catching the universal cold over the last few days, but thankfully it has come to nothing today so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does not make a late run. I have been so surrounded by ailing singers, breathing their plethora of germs over me in the music room last week, that it will be a small miracle if I do not succumb.

Five of my pupils are attending the Paradise Song School this year for the first time. I started it 4 years ago and was amazed how many folks came, from all over Europe, and of course the UK. They seemed to love the idea of combining singing with a 'holiday' in Paradise. I hold it at the Gaelic University which is on the coast in the most beautiful part of the Island, and about 15 minutes from me. The singers use the very up market uni halls of residence and have so enjoyed it that many are devotees who come every year. This year is is so popular that I have had to reserve 2 weeks, so in total 21 singers will be coming for intensive and enjoyable masterclasses.

My own students are really looking forward to it, but in the emotional mix is a good degree of fright! They will be so surprised how after singing on the first day all will be easy sailing after that, and they will start to enjoy themselves.

It is such fun, although hard sweaty work, especially the ensemble day where we often put moves and set the scene
if the musical choices are from operas or shows. I already have shedloads of ideas hurtling around my brain for some of the duets!!

Be afraid...................well not really!

Finding a Voice

2011-02-19T20:03:00.004Z

Two Kings

It has been a very busy couple of days. I had to take the car to Inverness again to see if Toyota could get rid of the leak in the drivers door. Up at the crack of dawn and at the garage early enough for a late breakfast, having put the little black trusty vehicle into the hands of the mechanics.

I met up with friends and we shopped, which was rather less painful than usual, and eventually ate at our favourite Chinese Buffet restaurant.

To fill in the rest of the 5 hours before my car was ready to be discharged, we had decided to see The King's Speech. What a wonderful film, so deserving of it's zillion BAFTA Awards.

I was, of course struck by the majestic performances of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, but what I loved the most was the way in which the film was so truly understated, so very British, and so totally non block busterish. Do not get me wrong - I love a good block buster, especially a Sci Fi with families of aliens, but I also love a quiet and dignified film which is full of truth, and so touching.

With my teacher hat on I found myself nodding in agreement with the methods Lionel Logue was using with the stammering King George V1. The fact that tension was such a strong factor in his inability to speak, and that the distraction technique can often be the winner of winners in giving a person a voice. I loved the fact he made the King sing - it is almost unheard of for a stammer to appear when singing, and the flow of a good legato line using abdominal breathing releases a voice, and allows for performance - either speaking or singing.

I empathised so much with Logue who had to persuade, cajole, nurture and sometimes shout at his Royal pupil who, not unnaturally, felt a complete fool attempting some of these, seemingly silly exercises.

I experience this all the time - 'I look so stupid opening my mouth that far' - 'I can't make those exaggerated mouth shapes' - 'When I breathe that deeply my tummy rumbles!' - Oh yes I have heard them all....................

The King seemed so desperate, and became such a willing and hard working student, it was, in the final moments of the film, heart breaking to watch, at close quarters, the effort, the sweat and the sheer determination he showed to conquer his mammoth speech problem.

But he did it. We never conquer 100%, but enough to make life easier, and to give us a true sense of self worth.

Do go and see it.

On Friday I taught two of my pupils from Inverness. Young M is the teenaged girl whose voice has virtually broken, and in the space of 6 months dropped from high soprano to warm mezzo. She is a glowing example of trust. She saw a number of speech specialists and therapists, to make sure there was not a medical problem, but I felt in my bones that it was just a massive 'girl' voice break.

She is pretty much back to full strength, but full strength in her 'new' voice. She can produce a warm full blooded tone, and has made great progress in her development.

I am so proud of the way she trusted me, and even when things were very gloomy, and it seemed as though she had lost her voice, she did just what I asked. The proof of the pudding................she has it all back. It is one of the most wonderful rewards of my job. Giving a voice back.

A good day indeed!

PS It crossed my mind to shut down the singing teaching and start up the speech therapy! Don't worry, I like music with my words!!

Blood, Sweat and Crotchets

2011-02-16T00:28:00.004Z

Excellent rehearsal tonight, and boy did they work hard! C has done a great job and they are really very secure with the parts of all the choral pieces. The Lord is My Shepherd (the one composed by Dawn French!) went very well, and the tricky parts are not too bad at all. There now needs to be some serious consolidation of each part, it only needs some learning at home from the singers of the inner parts. Nothing can replace simple 'slog', I am afraid ladies!

The other songs are not nearly so tricky, and I was very pleased overall. The finale from the Mikado, which we are using as our concert blitzy end piece is now on the way. C only introduced it last week, so those who were not in the show when we did it about 5 years ago, managed to keep up and really learn it tonight.

They managed happy smiles even at the end, and went home rosy cheeked and healthy looking. Singing really is a sport, and I realise I have said it before, but never fear, I will keep on saying it, until everyone in the company understands that something is only worthwhile if it is bought at some personal cost.

I always feel like I have been through a gym workout after a rehearsal, and the venue is very hot, so more like a full spa, sauna and workout indeed! I hope the singers feel as if they have worked out, given their all and got something back. Otherwise it is a good deal of hard grind for nothing!

Goodness we worked hard.

And so to bed........Voiceless........

The Stuart Burrows Song Prize...and others less frightening

2011-02-14T13:22:00.004Z

Monday comes and Monday goes, and I have ploughed through the mammoth mail pile one always gets on returning after more than a few days away. In my mail was the yearly leaflet and application form for the Stuart Burrows Singing Prize, held in Cardiff University and with the first prize being £4000. This is not sent to me so I may consider entry obviously, but is for any student I may have who may wish to take the plunge ! As with most of these national prizes the upper age limit is a whopping 35, so usually anyone I teach will be a positive infant by comparison with most candidates.

When I was at the RAM we received these forms all the time, and sometimes if the age range was just a little younger I would put a singer forward for the competition. I am a big believer in 'competition' in the life of a musician. I have many colleagues who totally disagree, and think that music is not about pitting oneself against others, but that performing and true musicianship is based upon each person being a distinct and unique performer.

I agree with all of that, but in my experience those who have not experienced the cut and thrust of professional, healthy competition find it difficult to cope when the auditions loom, and the colly wobbles become uncontainable. I entered many competitions in my career, and won many and came last is as many, because that is the reality of the game. One audition some one person loves you, and at another they stop you before you have reached halfway in the aria, and silently signal 'don't ring us' !

I know I was much more fitted to cope with those knock backs because it was a known entity, I had felt it before and I knew I would survive.

I am also unable to find any other way of allowing a student to know where they are in terms of standard. hearing others better and worse, gives you a gauge to go by, a benchmark, or a standard into which one can slot oneself.

That is why I am a great exponent of the Music Festival. A child learns, in a safe and nurturing atmosphere how to win, how to lose and for the whole idea of competition not to loom too large in their young lives. This stands those who want to go further in very good stead for the joys and despair to come.

Biography of a great Tenor

Stuart Burrows occupied the top rung of the operatic lyric tenor ladder for 20 years from the mid-60s, particularly known for his fine performances of Mozart. And yet he could have been a professional rugby player before converting his career to the opera and concert stage.
Like many singers, Stuart Burrows' career started light years away from the opera stage. Born in 1933 on the same street in Cilfynydd as Geraint Evans, he taught for several years, and word of his skills on the rugby field reached the prestigious Leeds Rugby League club, who offered him a contract.
At the last minute Stuart decided it wasn't for him - but his career did change course from then on and before long he was appearing with Welsh National Opera as well as on the oratorio stage.
His big break came in 1965, when he was seen by Stravinsky who engaged him to sing his Oedipus Rex in Athens. Just two years later he was starting an association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden which was to last 25 years.
Throughout this time he was to perform at all the major houses across the world, including San Francisco, Vienna, La Scala Milan and the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
His voice was best suited to Mozart, Donizetti and French composers such as Berlioz and Massenet. It had a purity of tone allied with a great sense of line and control of the production of the notes. He was never going to have the Pavarotti kind of voice and throughout his career Stuart has known exactly what sort of repertoire suited him best.
In line with this, he has always looked after his voice. He couldn't even be persuaded by Sir Georg Solti to sing Wagner because he felt didn't suit his voice.
Another area where Stuart Burrows excelled was that of Victorian song, both English and Welsh. He reintroduced these to the repertoire in his many recordings with pianist John Constable and at recitals everywhere from Vienna to New York.
At the height of his career, in the 70s and 80s, Stuart Burrows starred in his own BBC Two series, Stuart Burrows Sings, made by BBC Wales. It ran for eight years and was hugely popular. In it he combined performances of opera and oratorio alongside Victorian song and folksongs and was one of the first exponents of what was not yet referred to as 'crossover' repertoire.
Throughout his career, Stuart Burrows' home has always been Wales and he still lives in his lovely house in St Fagans, Cardiff. Now retired, he teaches and occasionally sits on juries of international singing competitions.
In June 2007 he was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list

The Lord is My Shepherd

2011-02-13T13:14:00.004Z

Back to reality now, and gearing myself up for the coming week. We are only 3 weeks from the concerts so after the marvelous C has drilled the parts into them I will take over as 'Bad Cop' to his 'Good Cop'! As a longtime teacher, coach and masterclasser I have become accustomed to being bad cop, it comes with the territory. It also makes my singers appreciate the good cop all the more!

I gave the ladies the SSA arrangement of the Howard Goodall 'The Lord is my Shepherd', so successfully used as the signature tune of The Vicar of Dibley. C tells me they struggled at first as the parts are generally low, rather close together and the harmonies are quite scrunchy. It was composed for the TV show, yet was first performed by the choir of Christ Church College, Oxford. I think my ladies will love singing it in the female voice version, and feel a real sensed of achievement.

I hasten to add that the audiences will love it!

Whilst I was adjudicating at Oxford Festival a small boy of about 9 was singing the solo version of the said piece in the 10 and under solo class. He was very cute and wore a shirt and tie about 3 times too large for his svelte frame. He looked confident, smiled sweetly at the adjudicator (me!) and proceeded to announce his song.

Boldly, and with great aplomb he said, 'I would like to sing The Lord is My Shepherd by The Vicar of Dibley !'

Another string to Dawn French's bow !

Cello, the voice of the orchestra

2011-02-11T10:19:00.006Z

I am just about to set off on my last leg home. The hotel in Glasgow suburbs is comfortable and so warm I had to switch off the heating and open the window! I think living in Paradise has hardened me to a cooler and more 'baltic' temperature. I did switch off the heating however before opening the window - ecologically aware I am !

I am rested after 3 lovely days with my daughter and grandchildren, and it turned out a perfect solution for her as on monday, the day I arrived, her car went into the car hospital and will not be fixed until today, so I did the school and work runs!

Little C gave me a recital of her Initial Cello exam, and much impressed I was too. She is sensitive and musical yet with a rather adventurous touch with the bow. She takes risks. At seven, I am not sure if she is even aware of it, but it bodes well for the future and her climbing the grades on this most beautiful of instruments.

I always feel the cello has a truly human vocality. It is, in the middle range, just right for a warm mezzo voice to sing along with, and her wonderful cello teacher starts them all off by singing as they play, so ear and fingers connect.

I wanted, at 20 to try something new, and I decided to take up the cello ! I loved the feeling of being a true beginner, of knowing the map of the cello playing world was out there to be explored. I took my Grade 3 after about 2 terms, and have distinctly embarrassed memories of slightly surprising the examiner as I was surrounded before and after by tots of about 9, all wondering what this strange, and clearly very weird grown up was doing playing the tunes they were playing ! Should'nt I be a teacher or something? Anyhow I passed with mediocre marks for my pieces and dazzling marks for my aural and sight playing!

Well it was only Grade 3 !!

Waly Waly, and a host of Golden Daffodils...

2011-02-07T23:07:00.005Z

Speaks for itself

Well, it was a hectic and intense weekend at Oxford, but I heard some great singing!

I was largely adjudicating the under 18's, but with a 'smidgin' of adult classes which clearly were squeezed out of the weekend before which was officially the 'grown up' weekend!

There is some fine singing teaching going on in and around the environs of Oxford, and this showed in the high marks which I was able to give throughout the two days. Sometimes it is very hard on good singers when the overall standard is high, as many would indeed win classes in other festivals, but pitted against some real high flyers, they come out as somewhere in the middle.

There were some quite exquisite moments during the weekend. As a youngster I remember singing 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' a duet using Wordsworth's gorgeous poem and set to music by Eric Thiman, a much underestimated 20th Century composer. It is sweeping and romantic, one might even say 'of it's time', but that slightly old fashioned idea bypassed me thoroughly and I adored it's twirling and twining vocal line and luscious harmonies. I heard two young ladies sing this duet and their vocal charms made all the hair on my arms stand on end and tingle for the entire performance. They sang with such elegance and grace, and their whole beings moved like the poetic crowd of dancing daffodils. I was tossed back 40 years to a time when we young Middy girls simply opened our mouths and it poured out. We are old now but that rush of love for such familiar and comfortable music is buried deep in the bones of us all! I gave it an O for Outstanding, a grade hard to achieve, infact I gave only 2 in the 2 days.

The second moment of pleasurable shiver was the last true performance of the whole festival, well for the singers anyway. A young lady performed the masterful Benjamin Britten arrangement of 'Waly Waly', in the 14 years and under Folk Song class. By the end of the last day I would be fibbing if I did not say one is tired, a bit jaded and rather vocally punch drunk - this young lady however, made those somewhat exhausted hairs fight their way to upright once more with a positively magical performance of this hauntingly beautiful melody. As a 14 and Under she was astonishing in her ability to generate such a feeling of stillness. Her voice soared when needed but was so wonderfully controlled and shiny at pp. We were held breathless for the duration of her performance. It was one of the performances which, as an adjudicator, files itself in a special place in the memory filing cabinet draw called 'fantastic and unforgettable', and is glued there for good.

These special moments become, over the years, the bench marks for comparison, and the level which one measures others by, and the more one does the job, the more one's own musical life is enriched.

I was privileged to be listening to and commenting upon students of teachers whom I know very well, and sitting talking together at the end of the proceedings, when one can officially talk to everybody, we realised that we were all of the Middy Stable. How far and wide that lady's influence has spread, and how many lives she has touched in the wide ripples of her own love of music and life. We were three first generation pupils of hers, and a most talented third generation young lady, the pupil, of a pupil of mine.

We learnt from her and pass it on, and on, and on.

Thank God their are these youngsters to carry the flame, so it never extinguishes.

A to B

2011-02-04T23:30:00.008Z

I hardly dare tread in the footsteps of Maurice Jacobson !

Sorry it has been a few days, but I had a frantic day on Wednesday trying to decide whether I should get a head start on my journey South. The weather forecast was for a swathe of blizzards and snow to sweep over the north of Scotland by around 3am on Thursday morning, and I felt that if I did not leave after teaching most of my day on Wednesday the chances were I might not get over the mountains at all. When it is just 'visiting' or 'pleasure' it is not so vital to be as concerned, but I am adjudicating at Oxford Festival this weekend and can not take the risk of being stranded in the wild North! All those candidates waiting for my arrival, a room full of nervous singers and equally nervous mummies, all the hard work put in to the songs, and I don't appear!

Quite apart from the disappointment of the youngsters and oldsters, I don't think my reputation as a reliable adjudicator would withstand the moment! There are strict rules about pulling out of a festival, and they seem to boil down to 'death' or 'near death illness' and 'act of God' !! Joking apart, it is the height of unprofessionalism to back out, and quite right too!

I was offered hospitality from the family of my super young Mezzo who has been coming for lessons every month or so, and who has talent oozing out of her pores (and her paws ! She also plays the trumpet!) So I am lucky enough to be ensconced in a friendly house, with excellent food, good company and wi fi; What more could I want ?! Many thanks D & S. It will make the intensive and tiring few days I have at the festival much less taxing.

The wind was unbelievable whilst driving down, it buffetted my small car as if it were a toy, and even the lorries were leaning rather drunkenly as the gusts flung us back and forth. It is still windy now, and all the more remarkable since I am in Middle England where extreme weather has not been of much concern in the past. These are the force of gales that I have always associated with Paradise and the outer edges of the UK, where there is nought between us and America except a wide ocean and all the weather torments that it brings.

Now, it seems, the world over is assaulted by these extremes. Cyclones, floods, drought, deep snow and lashing rain and gales. Something is going on..................

My first classes tomorrow are G&S Solo and Oratorio. Always, before a festival I wonder what the atmosphere and the ambiance will be. Each festival has it's own peculiarities, it's own life form. Some are very formal, others relaxed, and some verging on horizontal ! Friendliness and informality breed a less frightening situation, whilst the size of halls or rooms can terrify or please a performer. I suppose I just always hope that it is the needs of the terrified singers which dictates.

If that is the case then I can try my utmost to make it a positive, and maybe even a fun experience for them.

Surely what we, in the festival game, want is for them to come back next year, To gain confidence from their experience and to go away feeling as if they have achieved. I consider myself to have failed if there are tears (well except if the tears are because they did'nt win!). I will never forget an adjudicator from my youth, a very fine musician, composer and conductor, Maurice Jacobson, telling a hall full of parents, festival dignatries and sundry audience " Just simply to get up on the stage takes such courage that every performer deserves 75 marks before they open their mouths. If you don't believe me I invite you up here now. "

He had no takers, but lots of singers who were smiling in their hearts!

A note from his biography which may amuse you!

The BBC Sound Archive has a broadcast of The Song of Songs by Kathleen Ferrier on November 3, 1947, with Frederick Stone at the piano. For a later broadcast, by Helen Watts, the composer himself was the accompanist. He last heard it at an 80th birthday concert given for him in Brighton, a month before his death. It was sung by a young Tees-side contralto, Ann Lampard, who had immensely impressed him when he judged her in the Vocal Solo classes at Ryton Music Festival in 1973. The words were also read at the Service of Thanksgiving for Jacobson’s life, given in London at the "musicians’ church", St Cecilia’s, in March 1976.

Read More - copy and paste the address below into your address bar.....a fantastic man, and a wonderful adjudicator.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/dec05/jacobson.htm

Steady as She Goes

2011-02-01T22:24:00.009Z

The Tortoise and the Hare

I had a great teaching day today - Tuesdays are turning into my exhausting but exciting youngsters who 'can' day! Young L sang with truth, honesty and wonderfully focussed baby baritone quality, closely followed by L who makes fantastic weekly strides bigger than she is, then R who has her place at Music College but is doing the 'fear' thing. Am I really worth it - do I really want all the hard work - is it what I really want ?

They all fall into the 'raw but ready' brigade and are bursting with talent, yet unsure and lacking in a certain amount of self belief. I often wish I could carve a little piece of what I have learnt in my long career, the confidence one acquires like a skin, and the lack of worry about what others think, and give it to them in a box. If I could just pass it on in a tangible way and bypass all the angst and pain they must go through to become the 'refined' end product.

That, however, would mean that they never gained those hard won feelings in a real way. It is only by going through the denial, the fright and the wobbles, they are able to experience those changes and the supreme satisfaction from getting there, in one piece and happy !

By tackling grown up music. Music indeed they will sing all their lives, they grow inch by inch and decibel by decibel the slow way. They learn there is no 15 minutes of fame. The X Factor is as unreal as a puff of smoke in the world of serious music, the Hare in the story, all instant explosion but no substance or staying power. Only a good deal of hard slog and patience, waiting for things to happen - vocally, psychologically, physically, intellectually and emotionally. The gain is in the gradual growth. There is no Hare, only the steady and persistent Tortoise.

Sometimes I yearn to be able to speed up the process. Or at least give them a taste of what the end product feels like. A needle full of the utter joy of it all.

To give the Tortoise wings.

Treble Voice to True Voice

2011-01-30T19:50:00.008Z

I teach a young 16 year old girl intermittently. She lives a long distance away and weekly lessons are not a real option. When one does not see a pupil at the regular 7 day interval, it can be more difficult to keep track on where a young and rapidly developing voice is heading!

This young lady, like almost all girls has had a high 'treble-ish' tone quality for the last 4 years, and all of a sudden it is changing quite dramatically.

We all know that boys voices change completely, whether over a few months, or even over night - and I have known that to happen ! I believe that female voices change too, over the adolescent period, and often just as dramatically as with the boys. They do not swap octaves, but once in awhile a teenaged madam will, almost in a trice stop being able to produce high notes, however much they try, or however much they want too.

The top of a girl's voice often becomes breathy, or, as I prefer as a description, 'fluffy', around 15 - 17, but then clears and fattens after 17. The extreme end of this is when the top just vanishes and the middle register becomes as strong as a mature woman's sound.

Young M has this extreme end of the sport that is singing ! One day it is 'Va'doro pupille', the next time I see her it is Buttercup's Song a tone lower than written! Weird or what! So we descend a fifth or more in the less than the time it takes to sing an octave !

Time is the only cure for this curious situation, and lots of TLC for the owner of the new voice who is most likely mourning the loss of the high notes. Finding repertoire which is comfortable and does not stretch more than an octave is vitally important, and this is where my years of teaching in a boy's school have prepared me well. I have a small pile of 'eminently usable for voices which are tiny' and this pile is generally gender free, so M has started on that little library of song. This week she has 'Tis the Gift to Be Simple' in the Aaron Copland arrangement - just perfect and easily transposed into the comfort zone of the week.

Have patience M, it will come back, there is much warmth and strength in a slender five notes in the middle, and a growing bottom !

I would not phrase it quite like that to a 16 year old though - promise!

Laughter, the best Therapy

2011-01-28T15:26:00.004Z

7pm for 7.15pm - Hurrah !

A lovely and relaxing day off today and then some of my lady students / friends who took and passed exams are taking me out for dinner at a superb restaurant this evening. In fact this has become something of ritual, and a deliciously pleasant ritual.

Getting together is a major ingredient of a good teacher / pupil / group relationship, and makes it possible for a much better musical cohesion in the long term. I like to teach 'people' rather than voices, and sometimes over the years I have simply been unable to make any connection with the personality, and thus I have difficulty in teaching in a holistic fashion, which is my preferred method!

I generally like people, so the openings are already there for a healthy learning environment, and even (as per the last post!) when one has to fight a little, if I feel I can connect and care about the whole person, teaching is a doddle!

Dinner, morning coffee, or an Indian takeaway, it does not matter what the get together moment is all about. Suddenly I become just another person and my pupils becomes just other people.

How the person 'ticks', is my musical sat nav direction into their own learning pathway. Sometimes I think I am part teacher and part therapist.

Actually if we get on as human beings, then I can only assume we get on in most ways. Anyhow, a gorgeous dinner and lots of laughter is better than any amount of therapy in my book, so looking forward to it immensly! Thanks in adavance!

PS Insurance update. Not really an update - if the loss adjustor does not get back to me by 4.45pm tonight it goes to the complaints department, and things progress in a different way - and hopefully a way which will mean I end up with SOME cash at least. It is 3.45pm as I write................and not yet.

Fight or no Fight

2011-01-26T11:10:00.004Z

The Wedding Song par Excellence

One of my youngsters is going to sing at a wedding in August. She has made such fantastic progress in the last 6 month, in the face of teenaged angst and obligatory rebellion, but her singing has not taken so much as a tiny knock!

She is singing the inevitable Bach/Gounod Ave Maria, much maligned, much loved, and used as a tear jerker in so many old Hollywood films. It does, however always stand the test of time and overuse. To sing well it is tricky. To sing badly or even averagely it is still quite tricky, as not only does it have very long phrases, it also has a very wide range. My young lady is just to say finding her low notes, and playing around with both high and low extremities in her growing voice is one the most exciting moments in a singers life.

I am so impressed how, given the challenge, she rises to it each time. Presented with trickier music, her tenacity and teenaged 'devil may care'' attitude, she tackles these harder songs with real gusto.

Teenagers are so exciting to teach. I can truthfully say that I (almost!) love the fight and grapple with these newly emerging people more than any other teaching.

Now, that said, I have learnt over the last 10 years that late learners are a joy to teach ! No fight, no grapple and much intelligent conversation. Ladies you came, you saw and you conquered !

So the teenagers are now given a run for their money!

Man Talk

2011-01-24T22:25:00.005Z

Fill it up again Florrie !

Update on the insurance claim.....they want to send a 'preferred builder' of their own tomorrow, so we are back to square 1. It all feels so corrupt in many ways. The job needs doing, a fair price is needed, then they bash it down and down - so what happens to the work.....................most disconcerting, and quite upsetting.

A long day of teaching today, and a super chap I teach came after a break of around 7 weeks. That is including Christmas and New Year, but then N went off on holiday, throwing himself off cliffs with only the aid of an improbably thin parachute and a small mansized mini aeroplane, in Spain somewhere I think. Mad Man!

He is taking part in the Song School, so we are trying to put together enough repertoire for each day and each catagory. He has a fantastically witty and humerous Handel aria called - wait for it - Droop Not Young Lover ! It is so jolly and such fun, full of typical 'bloke' back slapping lyrics, where the chap concerned is telling his lovesick pal to 'get over the girl', and tell her what you think! It has so much in it which is reminiscent of raucous Baroque era pub chat, possibly after a good deal of mead.

I have taught it before and every time I return to it I feel the laughter start to rumble inside me.

Now all he needs to do is learn it ! Men, different animals really. They thrive on the rush of pressure and adrenalin, and usually come through with flying colours - at the moment it is not colours N is flying by - but the seat of his baritone pants !

Do it N, now.