Hello all,
I'm back in New York after my North Carolina recital. Thanks again to all
of you who sent good wishes for the performance! And finally, I have some
space to breathe for a bit and answer some e-mail. The list had some really
interesting conversations over the last month or so, and I was sorry not to
be able to participate. Anyway, just a few thoughts on some of the most
recent threads:
Regarding singing and health, and specifically weight - unfortunately, I can
speak about both sides of this one. Having been a singer at her optimum
weight and also one at various weights well above that, I can say without
hesitation that it is far easier, at least for me, to sing well when my body
is on the leaner side. When there's more of me to love, I have to work much
harder to manage tasks such as sustaining long phrases and singing
pianissimo in my upper range. I believe this is both because there is more
weight that must physically be kept from "collapsing" on the breathing
apparatus, and because my general level of aerobic fitness is lower. I
remember hearing Marilyn Horne say that being heavier gave her a
"foundation" on which to sing (or perhaps she said against which to resist),
but my experience has never corroborated that theory.
Regarding Dr. John Messmer's response to Dre de Man - I'm not sure what it
means when you say that fat cells do not absorb anything besides fat. I
can't even remember the first of many sources from which I heard this over
the years, but it was my understanding that the body stores in the fat cells
various toxins which it cannot otherwise process, and that these are
released into the body during the fat breakdown that occurs during dieting.
This is why my health-nut friends advocate various detoxifying and cleansing
regimens during dieting. Would you please comment further on the toxin
storage/release aspect of this?
Regarding minimalism - I sang in the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass'
"Satyagraha" at Artpark in the early 80's; we then took that production to
Brooklyn Academy of Music. I remember receiving the score in the mail and
thumbing through it, wondering what this man must have been thinking when he
wrote it - pages and pages of music, each with only very slight changes from
the previous page, and each page to be repeated a different number of times.
As it was only one of four operas to be memorized for that summer, I
remember thinking that this one would be a piece of cake compared to the
others. I was wrong; it's much easier to memorize unique musical phrases
linked to unique lyrics. I had listened to some minimalist repertoire at
that point - some Steve Reich and some Harry Partch - but certainly didn't
make a steady diet of it. As the summer and the rehearsals progressed,
though, I came to love this piece, and on a different level than most music
I loved. It's almost as if it is perceived by a different part of the brain
by virtue of its repetitive structure. It was far from boring and there was
great drama in the overall effect created by the subtle changes in the
course of the repetition.
Regarding the abilities of one's accompanist - I have never had an
accompanist tell me outright that they weren't willing to play music I
chose. But perhaps a couple of them should have; I have had accompanists
screw up enough things over the years, usually due to lack of preparation
time for whatever reason, that I will only give highly challenging
repertoire to pianists whom I know to be up to the task. This is a purely
selfish choice, as I don't want to have to be worrying about them getting
through a piece when my attention should be on what I'm doing.
Looking forward to "talking" with you all again.
Robin Lynne Frye
Mezzo-Soprano
Voice and Piano Teacher
New York, New York
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