What was garnered from the Wiki page was that he was one of the only Englishmen to sing Verdi! Again another older singer with fantastic technique-- the video I found was of him singing Travatore! In which he fantastically demonstrates his vocal prowess and passion at some castle in Orange France in July 1972.
Though the video has a lot of the soprano singing, (Irina Arkhipova) he really shines in the role and fantastically carries himself on stage in a very relaxed appearance. He did seem a touch stiff, but then, anything is stiff in comparison to Geraint Evans. In my estimation, he was leaning a little forward during his singing, but that could just be his natural posture. He does have a HUGE neck, and a very commanding look. In general, his lines are quite full and vibrant. There is a passion in his eyes that make it impossible not to be entranced by his ability.
In this second video (sound) of Attila is done in Buenon Aires Teatre Colon, in 1966, he really shows off his high notes, and they are FANTASTIC. You can tell from listening that his breathing mechanisms really come together as he does a great job of producing a convincing line that doesn't seem to grow weak in its stream toward the end.
Sir Geraint Evans
The first video that came up when i googled this singer was this vdeio from "Elisir d'Amore" -- This man clearly has a developed mind and presence for stage craft, and theatrical performance. Besides the fact that he's HILARIOUS, he always seems to stay right on his voice, no crazy shoulder raises, or inappropriate postures. He looks quite relaxed, as if there were no place he'd rather be then on stage. As is often with famous old singers, no one's heard of him.
A Welshman, he is one of the only singers with an Encyclopedia Britannica! Not only did he serve in the air force, but has toured the most famous companies including Glyndebourne and even in Covenent Garden.
Here he sings Madamina in Don G, and holy mackerel, the recitative continues to astound me. He just sounds like he's having a blast. His lines are really complete, but there is no lack of personality in each note. It's clear that he has command over the language, the interpretation, and the song itself. The reception after this song makes me wish I was there to see it myself.
His voice is absolutely incredible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/geraint-evans/
Here's a particularly interesting biography which includes his decision to turn down Don G to do Leporello. Apparently a talented violinist AND pianist, he worked as an amateur window-dresser until WW2!
As this is the first blog to be received in the vocal pedagogy class, I wont' pretend I know what I'm doing, instead, I'll assure you I know what I'm doing. Evidently we're supposed to review a singer?
Today has been a particularly stressful piece of a pie belonging to an equally stressful week, the raising of one of Massanet's beloved Operas, "Werther" !
It has been a particularly cultural adventure this week, thus far, finishing listening to the 5-CD Leonard Bernstein recording of Tristan und Isolde, followed by a Jessye Norman/Thomas Allen's recording of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. As I'm well into ACT III, It's guaranteed that I'll have finished Puccini's Turandot with Tebaldi by the end of Friday.
And for a visual treat, how about Austrian painter, Egon Schiele?
While this very blog is being written, I've been diving into the wonderful and tragic world of Shostakovich…
It's a pretty incredible production, performed in Lyon, 8/10/2011. The singer in this fantastic production is none other than Vladimir Samsonov. It's not the full production, but it is definitely a showcase of this man's talent, more than and hour and eighteen minutes worth.
His work is quite incredible, as an actor, and as a performer (at least in this one performance). Now, I can't tell if it's the fact that he's not supposed to have a nose in this production, or he's got a cold, but a lot of his singing seems a little, well, flat. I'm not sure if it's the stress of the performance, though it seems like he has enough support, but his laryngal equation seems a little depressed to my ear. All things considered, his technique (to my ear) is sound. It is certainly consistent. I can't find too much of his work otherwise to discriminate upon or even analyze because there is a Table Tennis player by the same name (unfortunately the table tennis player is much more important to the world than this man).
OK, so maybe this isn't the best review of Samsonov, let's move on to a more well known singer. Two days ago our favorite Mezzo Stephanie Blythe popped up on my Facebook, (my good friend and Soprano was in a masterclass with the famous Mezzo this past week in Toronto)
The first thing that strikes me about Stephanie Bylthe, not having listened to her nearly enough, is the poise and depth for which she pulls each breath. Her shoulders don't seem to raise at all! The following tone that ensues is so even and flowing in that, with this whale of an instrument, her ability to navigate through quickly moving passages is Herculean at the very least. Her tone makes me think that the phonation is akin to hang-gliding, no breaks, not to heavy handed or too light, just simply riding through the skies. (now I'd just love to see Stephanie Blythe hang-gliding)
I'm hoping that with all this explanation, this will stand as a sufficient piece of work to be (graded?) interpreted, and hopefully delighted upon the eye and ear, perhaps even to fascinate the mind… or at least a placeholder until the next blog wherein the writer will understand the necessary requirements of this task.
Todd! I always enjoy the consistency of which you post, the movements and gestures are clearly thought out and it's clear to see that you are working hard. One note, however, could be that you may want to focus a little more on the even flow of time piece. If you were just a hair more elegant in your movements, not changing the speed but jut having a little bit more body in the movement, then the horizontal and vertical movement that you do so well would seem a little bit more measured.
Beautiful singing! As you have shown us all you are very competent in your conducting, and I would only ask that you think more about your wrist movement, and perhaps have someone hold your elbow in place for a few measures. It seems, slightly, that your wrist is a little tight, and that is where we should feel the most expressive gestures coming through.
Enjoyed the singing, especially the “ugghhh” at the end.
Fantastic even conducting, luckily I had the chance to watch you do a little bit of the flourish when I filmed one day in class, my conducting was a disaster, and yours was fantastic! The only thing I would suggest, because you have such a great beat 1 and 2, as the ictus is so clear, is that you might think about when ever you lift the baton vertically and go “over the fence” that you take more time. You come way out of tempo and as a result it almost looks like some sort of strange surge. I only notice this because the rest of the conducting is so good. Thanks for your hard work!
