I was told by someone who attended his Reid Orchestra concerts in Edinburgh
that Donald Tovey would lose himself in the music that he was conducting to
such an extent that his music-making suffered. At least the audience would
have had good concert notes to read.
I know from my own experience that in vocal music there always has to be
some distance from the material if technique is not going to be harmed, and
yet there is an edge where technique begins to go, that can be the locus of
great dramatic truth. Dramatic truth being something universal and
projected, rather than ordinary emotional truth, which may be hidden or
ambiguous to even a close observer.
A singer is faced with a paradox: the opportunity to project the most
intense emotion only if he is not possessed by that emotion. Yet if it is
truly phoney, the audience will usually know, so we have a sort of
tightrope to walk in all but the most jolly or serene repertoire. john
At 10:54 AM 6/1/01 -0400, you wrote:
bernstein, for all his ego, felt that losing oneself in the
>material was key to doing something extraordinary.
>
>mike
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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