Scope

Scope

It is hard to believe that we are in our third week here at CoOPERAtive (thecooperativeprogram.org). For those of you reading today, please be sure to check out the final masterclass with Laura Ward (director of LyricFest, Philadelphia).

I am continually amazed by the energy and sponge-like appetites of *all* of the young artists here. It gives me a lot of hope for the industry, actually. I have seen bright-eyed students for three weeks walk into countless studios, ready to learn, immediately ready to implement, and ready to internalize and make something their own.

"The scope of the imagination" is one of my favorite quotes from one of my all-time favorite childhood authors and books, L.M. Montgomery, in "Anne of Green Gables." Anne Shirley has a wild, vivid, imagination. One that gets her into trouble, more often than not. It is these kids, in elementary school, who share a similar fate to Anne, but not to worry. We are destined to give back to the world images of beauty, revelation, and unique observation.

I have also been thinking about a balance of practice vs. experience. Both are necessary for life, for a great balance, and for great artistry. What I used to be so obsessed with (amount of time in a practice room, searching for perfect technique, or a whole host of other things) has been replaced with a desire for something even more holistic (but still inclusive of the things mentioned above).

I've been asking the same thing of the students I've been working with.

I asked a baritone the other day, in the aria of Dandini (Rossini: La Cenerentola) to actively tell me what all of the "melismas" mean in his aria. Which flourishes are on his costume? The architecture of the castle of his boss, Prince Ramiro? Which are directed to which character? I realize this process takes the following steps before getting here:

Learning the text, inside and out, in both Italiano and English (or his native tongue)
Learning all of the notes
Learning how to sing all of the notes
Learning the accompaniment well enough to play a "continuo reduction"
What does it all mean?

I believe that if all of this work is done, in this order, with the highest level of integrity, success will be inevitable. It does take "scope of the imagination" to imagine this all. Especially at the transition of student to professional.

The picture attached is from my travels in Germany last summer. It is a mountain range, near Dresden, immediately next to the Elbe river. This is what I imagine during the "Giants" music in Wagner's "Ring Cycle"