Klarinet Archive - Posting 000874.txt from 2000/08

From: Tony@-----.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: singing helps playing
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 16:27:19 -0400

On Sun, 27 Aug 2000 13:50:46 EDT, EbKlarinet@-----.com said:

> In a message dated 8/27/00 4:16:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Tony Pay
> writes:
>
> > So there's a lot to be said, in my view, for the very ancient trick
> > of having people play instruments the way they *sing* -- and singing
> > includes words, which have their own stress patterns that may or may
> > not coincide with the harmony. And by the way, I'm talking about
> > *proper* singing; that is, of songs, not operatic crap.
>
> Dearest sweetest Tony-----
>
> What have you got against opera? You knew the opera people on this
> list just couldn't let that one go by, didn't you? <g>

Perhaps I wasn't sufficiently clear. What I meant was *proper* singing,
that includes the words as an important part of the communication; and
that means the sort of singing that is sometimes done in opera by
*proper* opera singers, and not the sort of singing that is done by
*crap* opera singers, of which there are very many.

You don't tend to get that sort of problem in the sorts of songs that we
sing to each other.

I think it's unfortunate that too large a part of the current judgement
of singing talent in opera is by sound quality alone -- the
'instrument', they call it.

This creates a situation in which someone who is totally out of the
question can be taken seriously, because they have an 'exciting' voice.

This type of excitement, divorced from musical and textual meaning, I
can do without.

*Of course* there are opera singers who aren't crap, and almost all of
them have interesting and flexible sounds, too. You mention some.

I have even recorded with one of them, Beverley Sills, many years ago;
and I've played the 'Shepherd on the Rock' in concert with many other
excellent singers, including Sheila Armstrong, Felicity Lott and Elly
Ameling.

Nevertheless, I have never got over hearing the version of West Side
Story, done by, among others, Jose Carreras and Kiri te Kawana. This
'operatic' approach, dedicated to sustained line at the expense of the
words, as opera so often is, totally subverts the point of the piece.

And these artists aren't stupid. How could they have produced such a
travesty? Bernstein himself, caught up in a stunt that he probably
wished he'd never begun, showed understandable irritation during the
film of the recording.

> As a clarinetist, it is possible to learn the parts alone, as I focus
> on the mechanics of producing the sound, but if I don't know what the
> harmonies are already, I will eventually make up some in my head to
> hear as I play (and of course, if I do know the harmonies, they are
> always there in my head, playing along). Playing an instrument is more
> mechanical than singing, so that the horn can get in the way of the
> innate musicality that we all have, and that's why the 'singing your
> part' technique should be used by everybody.

Absolutely. I'd say further, that you *can't* learn the piece without
knowing the harmonies.

> ps <g>Tony, for your operatic vocal listening pleasure, can I
> recommend you start with something like "The Barber of Seville" with
> Sills, Milnes, and Gedda, or perhaps "Rigoletto" with Milnes, Sills,
> and Kraus, or you might like Mozart, as well? I hesitate to mention
> that you might try some G&S, with the D'Oyly Carte (we all know how
> some Brits seem to have a curious antipathy to their own operetta
> treasures).

Good advice, I'd say.

In fact, I know lots of this, including the G&S.

The demands of G&S, in fact, tend to create what I call, 'proper'
singing; Gilbert's words are so important.

> And you have to actually listen to the singers, and not just to what
> the clarinets are doing! :-)

I do, I do!-)

That's why I hate some of it so much.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE GMN family artist: www.gmn.com
tel/fax 01865 553339

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