Dear Vocalisters:
In the new (December) Opera News, is a very interesting interview with baritone
William
Sharp, which focuses on his dual roles as voice teacher and performer.
He did graduate study with the late Jan DeGaetani at Eastman, and he talks
about his
observation of her teaching while he was preparing to take over her voice
studio during a
sabbatical:
"Sharp recalls that DeGaetani didn't have a prescribed teaching method;
instead, she
reinvented herself at every lesson, approaching each student with an intuitive
insight
that enabled her, in Sharp's words, to 'perceive the unperceivable. I would
sit there and
watch someone sing, and I would think, "OK, I know what this person
needs--here's what's
wrong, and then here's what you say when that's wrong." Then Jan would start
to talk, and
I would think, "What in God's name is she talking about?"' He laughs. 'And
the student
would listen, and gradually something would dawn on him, [then] Jan would say
something
more, and lo and behold, the problem would be fixed. And it was exactly the
problem that
I had identified, but [Jan] had gone through a back door that I didn't even know
existed.'"
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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