Dear Laura and Vocalist:
Yes, this type of experience can be very aggravating!
I once sang in a performance of the full Messiah (my first Messiah, now that
I think back) in which the mezzo and baritone (both soloists from outside
the college) decided to have an impromptu ornamenting contest. They were
pestering me before the curtain to do more ornamenting, hinting that it
would be so much fun to try and out-do each other in performance. To which
I just smiled and nodded, having no intention to perform as I had not
rehearsed. The mezzo did a lot of ornamenting of the vocal line, just
basically embellishing in tempo. What she was doing was not to my taste,
but it was also nothing that was particularly disruptive or startling.
Then, to my horror the baritone improvised several cadenzas that hadn't been
rehearsed, greatly upsetting the cellist and harpsichordist. One of these
cadenzas in particular just went on and on, and the cellist had no idea
where the cadence was going to be. She was in tears afterward. And this
particular performance (the second or third out of 3) was also simulcast and
then re-broadcast on the NPR station in town.
And all the while this baritone is acting like nothing is amiss. Like we
had somehow been graced with his presence, or perhaps like he was going to
show us poor hicks how things were done in the real world.
Ick!
Jana
--
Jana Holzmeier
Dept. of Music
Nebraska Wesleyan University
5000 Saint Paul Ave.
Lincoln, NE 68504
jjh@n...
402-465-2284
Visit the Music Department website at http://music.nebrwesleyan.edu/
|
|  |
