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jaala[I wrote the notes long ago but didn't make them into prose until much later.]
Saturday: S's recital (soprano)
I thought it was about time I got off my butt and attended a recital, so after several aborted attempts on several different days, I finally made it to S's graduating recital on Saturday. I was in Orfeo ed Euridice (where she was assistant musical director) and Opera class with her but I'd never heard her sing solo before this occasion. (Except during vocal warmup, which she always led.) Based on her performance, I am very impressed with the voice program here: good projection, lovely tone, pitch accuracy, expressiveness, diction, foreign pronunciation, and confident and unmannered stage presentation. I also got to see R (classical guitar) perform for the first time, accompanying her on a couple of Dowland songs. I've heard him practicing many times; his instrument is quiet enough that he gets away with practicing in the halls. Again, based on his performance, I am impressed with the guitar faculty.
Dr. S played natural horn (1830 replica) for Schubert's "Auf der Strom", which was fascinating both to watch (use of hand in the bell) and listen to (different timbres depending on how the hand was being used). It's incredible how smoothly and in tune he could play. I've seen Dr. S play a natural horn before, but it was an older version (a hunting horn) that didn't allow for hand stopping and was not designed to be played indoors. I'm afraid S didn't get much attention during that piece even though it was a significant vocal challenge. [Ed.--She later told me that she noticed while singing that no one was looking at her. Poor girl!] I'm also afraid the group of people gathered around him after the recital was larger than that gathered around aforementioned recitalist. He was very patient in explaining the workings of the horn--he must have had to do it at least five times--playing examples to demonstrate, etc.
Rather to my surprise, I had an unusually social evening afterwards. S invited me out to dinner with the group and we all headed back to her house afterwards for dessert. I ended up in the same car as a girl who's worked at Fort Henry for several years. That topic dominated our conversation for most of dinner; I learned a lot, some of it encouraging and some of it rather frightening. I'm surprised I managed to stay awake until 11:45 or so when we decided to disband the party. (I had stayed awake the previous night, not to accomplish work or anything, just because I didn't get tired until 8 a.m.) I started fading fast around 10:30 but had no way to get home without a ride.
Sunday: N's recital (soprano)
I missed C's recital (tenor, star of Orfeo ed Euridice) and felt really awful because he'd been so desperately trying to get people to attend a recital during Easter weekend. I had also been looking forward to hearing him sing some Britten. I didn't feel quite so guilty when I found out that he'd attracted a huge crowd); and I had already seen him in the opera, B Minor Mass, and S's recital the previous day. But still. Ah, well.
N's singing (another star of Orfeo ed Euridice, as Euridice, also performed with the Symphony about a month ago) was lovely as always. No big surprises here since I've heard her so much. She complained afterwards of vocal difficulties which I'm sure seemed much more obvious to her than to the audience. Her recital included several songs I know and love, including "I go to him" (from The Rake's Progress, an opera with which I am now quite familar)... which was neat. I look forward to hearing her further progress next year.
Saturday: S's recital (soprano)
I thought it was about time I got off my butt and attended a recital, so after several aborted attempts on several different days, I finally made it to S's graduating recital on Saturday. I was in Orfeo ed Euridice (where she was assistant musical director) and Opera class with her but I'd never heard her sing solo before this occasion. (Except during vocal warmup, which she always led.) Based on her performance, I am very impressed with the voice program here: good projection, lovely tone, pitch accuracy, expressiveness, diction, foreign pronunciation, and confident and unmannered stage presentation. I also got to see R (classical guitar) perform for the first time, accompanying her on a couple of Dowland songs. I've heard him practicing many times; his instrument is quiet enough that he gets away with practicing in the halls. Again, based on his performance, I am impressed with the guitar faculty.
Dr. S played natural horn (1830 replica) for Schubert's "Auf der Strom", which was fascinating both to watch (use of hand in the bell) and listen to (different timbres depending on how the hand was being used). It's incredible how smoothly and in tune he could play. I've seen Dr. S play a natural horn before, but it was an older version (a hunting horn) that didn't allow for hand stopping and was not designed to be played indoors. I'm afraid S didn't get much attention during that piece even though it was a significant vocal challenge. [Ed.--She later told me that she noticed while singing that no one was looking at her. Poor girl!] I'm also afraid the group of people gathered around him after the recital was larger than that gathered around aforementioned recitalist. He was very patient in explaining the workings of the horn--he must have had to do it at least five times--playing examples to demonstrate, etc.
Rather to my surprise, I had an unusually social evening afterwards. S invited me out to dinner with the group and we all headed back to her house afterwards for dessert. I ended up in the same car as a girl who's worked at Fort Henry for several years. That topic dominated our conversation for most of dinner; I learned a lot, some of it encouraging and some of it rather frightening. I'm surprised I managed to stay awake until 11:45 or so when we decided to disband the party. (I had stayed awake the previous night, not to accomplish work or anything, just because I didn't get tired until 8 a.m.) I started fading fast around 10:30 but had no way to get home without a ride.
Sunday: N's recital (soprano)
I missed C's recital (tenor, star of Orfeo ed Euridice) and felt really awful because he'd been so desperately trying to get people to attend a recital during Easter weekend. I had also been looking forward to hearing him sing some Britten. I didn't feel quite so guilty when I found out that he'd attracted a huge crowd); and I had already seen him in the opera, B Minor Mass, and S's recital the previous day. But still. Ah, well.
N's singing (another star of Orfeo ed Euridice, as Euridice, also performed with the Symphony about a month ago) was lovely as always. No big surprises here since I've heard her so much. She complained afterwards of vocal difficulties which I'm sure seemed much more obvious to her than to the audience. Her recital included several songs I know and love, including "I go to him" (from The Rake's Progress, an opera with which I am now quite familar)... which was neat. I look forward to hearing her further progress next year.
