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About operaman
Name
Stephen LlewellynBio
Stephen Llewellyn worked with Portland Opera for nearly four years and still produces this blog on a weekly basis. You may see him manning the Portland Opera table at the Metropolitan Opera High Definition transmissions where he enjoys chatting with like-minded Saturday morning opera fans. Do stop by and say 'hello'. He has been a barrister in Hong Kong, a professional folk singer and classically-trained tenor. He makes a mean zabaglione, and cries easily and frequently at opera performances.
Opera and Other Links
The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross of the New Yorker
What I Am Reading
In Patagonia (Bruce Chatwin)
Memoirs (Da Ponte)
The Librettist of Venice (Bolt)
Ship Fever (Andrea Barrett)
Le Grand Meaulnes (Alain-Fournier)
Beethoven. Letters, Journals and Conversations
What I am listening to as I write this week's post...
Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen)
Nixon in China (new recording)
Vanessa (Barber)
John Martyn
Leon Redbone Christmas Album
Christmas With The Yours (Elio)
Mozart Requiem (arr. for String Quartet)
Tosca (Callas)
Till Eulenspiegel (Strauss)
Well, that's another one gone!
Where the devil did this year go? It seems like it is just a few weeks since I was sipping a glass of the refreshing bubbly stuff and wondering what 2009 would bring. Needless to say it brought a great deal, much of it good, some of it great. There was other stuff too but, hey, what do you expect? Anyway, since we are just hours from ringing in 2010 may I take this opportunity to wish you all a splendid year, thank you for being with me over this last twelve-month and ask that you keep coming back?
I would like to give a big shout-out also to the Marketing and Public Relations Department at the Portland Opera. Week in and week out they have been the ones who made sure that Operaman has been here for you. Thanks, y'all!
Master Class with Laurent Phillippe
A couple of weeks ago I was invited to audit a vocal master class to be given at PSU by noted coach Laurent Phillippe, a member of faculty at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. Four young women had been chosen to sing for hi. Their choice of aria ranged from the somewhat predictable (though nicely sung, as it turned out) Una voce poco fa from Rossini'd Il Barbiere di Seviglia to the rather more testing No Word from Tom from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress together with some Mozart and also Vila from Lehar's Merry Widow.
M. Phillippe is one tough cookie. He went hammer and tongs at these ladies, criticising everything from shoes ("Why don't you wear taller heels. What are you going to do if you are next to a tall tenor?") to dress colour ("Um. why are you wearing black?"), their choice of piece ("What made you choose that?") and even their comittment ("Why did you come here today?"). The responses he received were predictable varied. One woman sat down and pouted for the rest of the afternoon while another burst into tears and had to spend a couple of minutes collecting herself before she could continue (but continue she did, earning my great respect for showing that kind of courage).
Now, let there be no doubt, M. Phillippe knows what he is talking about. Not only does he have a resumé that proves it, but what he had to say made a good deal of sense as his class progressed. Nevertheless, I was left wondering whether his attitude was on display as much for the benefit of the observers as it was for the singers and whether his object of encouraging the singers to improve and make the best of themselves was not perhaps defeated by his method. I am not saying it was, just that it has left me thinking. Singers who are somewhat further along in their training might be expected to have developed a carapace able to withstand the sharp barbs M. Phillippe threw; these women were really not ready for them.
Opening a bottle of champagne
I was taught many years ago that the correct way to open champagne is to hold the cork firmly and twist the bottle. Unless, that is, you have the confidence and chutzpah of Bob Kingston.
Which ever method you may choose, may you have a splendid 2010, gentle readers!
Neat trick with knife and
Neat trick with knife and bottle by Bob Kingston.
Also, I would not be as diplomatic as you were about the treatment of the singers in the master class: I'd call it verbal abuse. He might be able to get away with tone in commenting on musical matters, but even that can be done in a firm, calm way.
Thanks for your useful columns. I am learning a lot about opera by reading you and Bob Kingston. Not that I ever expect to catch up, as I started late and will hit the big 70 in three years.
Thanks for the comment,
Thanks for the comment, Brenda. I am very happy you like my little offerings. My advice would be: if you want fun and gossip, come here, if you want fun and some really useful stuff, then Kingston's your man! You will gather that he and I are chums as well as colleagues and believe me I value his erudition as much as any of you. Have a wonderful 2010.