Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world

Hot young composers seem to be everywhere these days. It takes something special to stand out, especially in this world of social media and hyper-connectivity, but American composer Andrew Norman has quickly made an ever growing name for himself. And best of all he manages this remarkable feat with something decidedly old fashioned – his music. His work has been featured on local stages many times including some notable performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. But this former USC student begins making a big splash of a return on the local scene this month when he takes up a three-year stint as Composer-in-Residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which will open its season at the Alex Theater in Glendale this Saturday October 6th. Included on that program conducted by LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane will be Norman’s The Great Swiftness and the orchestra will continue to feature his works and new commissions on several occasions over the next few years. This is more good news for everyone as Norman, one of this year’s finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in music, will be bringing his energy and insight to a local audience with a huge interest and appetite for contemporary music. Before things get started, though, Norman was kind enough to take a minute to answer the OWA 10 Questions to tell a little about where he’s going, his favorite hamburger, and his love for working with kids.

1. How important is contemporary technology to your creative process?
   

   My relationship with technology is complicated. I'm not a natural with computers. At all. So I have yet to write a piece that has any component of electronic music in it. Which I feel bad about, but am also growing to accept as part of my (possibly anachronistic) creative identity. But I do use notation software - sometimes early in the writing process, sometimes late - and occasionally midi playback, depending on the kind of music I'm writing.

2. What’s your current obsession?
   

   Rearranging the furniture in my living room. I find endless fascination in the many ways objects can be in a room.

3. You’ve been appointed Composer-in-Residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra starting this year, one of several such positions you’ve held with various ensembles. How important is this sort of long-term collaboration with a specific group of musicians to your work?
   

   SO IMPORTANT. Music making can and should be personal thing, and the more we can do to make new orchestral music a more personal sort of collaboration, the more honest and energized the final product will be. I love getting to know an orchestra and writing for them as people, not just players.

4. Music education and working with young people has played a big part in your career to date. How does this activity contribute to your work as a composer?
   

   Young people have so much creative energy! Working with young people is like tapping into this huge, unbridled energy source; I can fill up and take it back to my own work. Sometimes I feel bad because I get SO much out working with kids - I hope they get something, too.

5. What music made you want to be a composer?
   

   When I was a little, little kid my parents would play this compilation tape of the greatest hits of the Baroque. I think it was somewhere between Air on the G String and Pachelbel's Canon that I decided to become a composer.

6. What’s your second favorite opera after Berg’s Lulu?
   

   Britten's Peter Grimes. I stood through half a dozen performances of it as an usher at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion back in the day.

7. When should I clap?
   

   Whenever you feel like it.

8. You’re one of The USC Thornton School’s most beloved graduates. What do you miss most about living in Southern California after your time in Europe and New York?
   

   Disney Hall and In-N-Out Burger.

9. You recently completed a concerto for theremin and orchestra as part of your tenure as Composer-in-Residence with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Are there other unusual instruments or combinations of them you have future plans to write for? And may I suggest more pieces for the ondes martenot?
   

   Actually, the theremin concerto was written first for Carolina Eyck and the Heidelberg Philharmonic, and later adapted for BMOP. But yes, I tend to be drawn to instruments with dangerously wide vibratos (theremin, ondes martenot, aging mezzo sopranos...), and I learned so much from writing the theremin concerto that I want to write another, and another. There's so much you can do with it! And I've got a shot at being the Wieniawski or Vieuxtemps of the Theremin world - like in a 100 years thereminists in conservatory will earnestly debate the varying merits of Norman 4 vs. Norman 3 or 5. That's the kind of immortality I want.

10. What’s the next big thing we should be looking for from Andrew Norman?
    

    I don't know! Let's focus on me figuring out how to write music today, and once I've got that down I'll get back to you.

Labels: 10 Questions

Tenor Brian Jagde is having quite a year. The young vocalist is in his third year as an Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera and recently he’s racked up two high profile notices. He received one of the top prizes just last month at Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition in China. And his summer just got a lot more interesting when he was tapped to step in for an indisposed lead in Santa Fe Opera’s production of Tosca which opened on Friday. He’ll be singing Cavaradossi throughout the run there opposite a number of stars including Amanda Echalaz, Raymond Aceto, and Thomas Hampson. He’s an exciting young singer and one with a schedule that is already filling up with engagements around the world in a variety of Italian and French roles. Luckily, he’s also a very nice guy and took time before his big debut in Santa Fe to ponder the often imitated but never duplicated 10 Questions for Out West Arts.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven’t yet?

   There are so many great roles in the repertoire. Singing Cavaradossi in Santa Fe is especially significant because it's the dream role I've had my sights on for a while. I guess I'd say the next role that I'd like to perform the most would be Riccardo from Un Ballo in Maschera.

2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   I don't have an answer for that. If I am capable of performing a role, and it's appropriate for me and my voice type, I can't think of a reason I wouldn't perform it.

3. You’ve already worked with some of the greats in the opera world in that last few years during your time as an Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera including Renée Fleming, Karita Mattila and conductors like Nicola Luisotti. Who haven’t you worked with yet, that you’d most like to?
   

   One of the best parts of being in this business is getting to meet many different artists and getting to collaborate with them on the stage. I enjoy working with all different types of artists. I think the people I'd most like to work would be a toss up between Maestro James Levine or Maestro Riccardo Muti. I think that each of their wealth of knowledge could serve me for an entire career.

4. You recently won one of the top prizes at Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition in China. How important is such an achievement for your career right now?
   

   I've never considered myself a competition singer. I feel very lucky and honored to have been awarded prizes, and especially amongst so many talented singers. How could winning ever come at a bad time? Winning one of the top prizes in Operalia seems to be one of the first major achievements this year, towards what I hope is a great career! All of these things are important. Without a doubt, the competition has helped me a great deal to step into a category of singers I am honored to join.
   
   This career is like walking a tight rope - you just have to stay balanced on that fine line and enjoy the ride, and that is what I am doing this year. So far I've debuted at a few regional houses, been to Beijing and had an amazing experience working with the great Placido Domingo, which resulted in some unexpected prizes. Now I'm going on stage to sing my first Cavaradossi with Santa Fe Opera! Later this year I am going to Munich for the first time to reprise La Bohème in Concert form with Maestro Maazel at the Munich Philharmonic, and then singing Tosca with Patricia Racette at The San Francisco Opera! I am walking that tight rope and am so honored by all the opportunities that these represent.

5. You’ve already booked engagements all around the world in the next few years. Any tips for dealing with jet lag?
   

   I am always excited to share my tips for dealing with jet lag. There are a few products I highly recommend for flying that allow me to feel no jet lag when I step off a plane, and I love to share them with other singers who can benefit.
   
   The first and most obvious is water. A lot of people think jet lag is due to lack of sleep, but mostly it is due to a lack of hydration. I go by the rule that If I'm on a 5 hour flight, I bring 4 liters of water on the plane with me, and I alter those numbers based on the length of any flight.
   
   Probably the most important find of my career is The Humidiflyer. The Humidiflyer looks like an oxygen mask you would wear in intensive care. What this product does, besides make you look funny, is filter the air from other peoples germs, and it saves the condensation from your breath, keeping the air moist. The makers originally made this for business people to help them with jet lag, but I think this should be in EVERY singer's bag. They say to wear it for at least half the flight. I usually put it on after take off and remove it just before landing.
   
   I put Peppermint Oil under my nose about 2 times during a 5 hour flight. This keeps my airway open, and supplements the moisture. To help with the sleeping, I always take 1 or 2 Advil PM, depending on what time I am starting my day at my destination. I've been able to sing almost immediately after stepping off the plane by sticking to this regimen.

6. The role of Tosca’s lover, Cavaradossi, figures prominently for you this year both in San Francisco and in Santa Fe where you’re stepping into this starring role on somewhat short notice. What’s the trick to getting this young lover exactly right?
   

   Cavaradossi has proven to be a bit harder than I thought. It didn't help that I haven't had a ton of time to be in his shoes before going up on stage, but there are a few things that I understand very well.
   
   Cavaradossi is an artist, a revolutionary in a time where Italy is in constant back and forth struggles with outside and inside powers. He is a strong individual, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a lover, he knows exactly what Tosca needs to hear so that she will be satisfied. He is understanding even after they have their little spats, and can always overcome her ability to agitate him because all the things he can't stand are the same things he loves about her. Isn't that something we can all relate to in long term relationships?
   
   He is a committed and faithful man, demonstrated by the fact that he moved to Rome for Tosca, a highly dangerous environment for a revolutionary of his kind. His honor and courage are demonstrated through his help to Angelotti, his fellow revolutionary comrade. He's very proud, a hard worker, extremely passionate, and he is a real stand up guy.
   
   I think there isn't any more of a trick to getting into the soul of this character than others in different operas, it's more a matter of trying to put yourself in their shoes, and trying to embody their nature. Cavaradossi proves hard when it comes to becoming an Italian man. I am an American, and I look like an American. How do I make the audience forget that, and have them see a man who is true blood Italian? I have been studying the way of the Italian people daily, and hope to make this evident in my acting on stage and become increasingly convincing as I go through my career.

7. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   Darn those vengeful mezzos! I have to say that this would not throw me off my game, as I have all my music backed up in numerous sources so those Mezzos would never have a chance of making me lose a track. We have the cloud now!
   
   But, if for some reason every backed up version of my music went missing, I'd miss tons of tracks. I have all kinds of recordings of others, of myself, in different genres like pop, rock, classical, alternative, jazz, oldies, and opera, so to choose one track would be hard. When it comes to recordings I have of myself, I think someday I'd like to listen to my journey as a singer and how I've developed, so maybe I'd miss those the most, because I wouldn't be able to replace them.

8. What's your current obsession?
   

   It has been and seemingly always will be watching TV - I am an addict! I think in a standard calendar year, I watch 40-45 seasons of shows in their entirety. I'm obsessed. My newest brand new show that I think will be the biggest hit of the year is The Newsroom on HBO. Brilliant writing, and acting.

9. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
   

   I try to find things in common with all the roles I perform, because that way I can tap into parts of myself that aren't at the forefront. I connect most easily with passionate, honest, faithful, romantic, strong-willed, hard-working characters because that is who I am.
   
   Then there are the extreme character traits that I can build off of things about myself. For instance, I am not a killer, but in Carmen, I have to play a man who has killed and who eventually kills again. How can I do that if I've never done that? This is where my job becomes a lot of fun! I have to tap into parts of me that I either used to be, or never thought I was like in order to play Don José, so I go back in time to a Brian who was obsessive. When I get that obsession out there, I can see how Don José feels towards Carmen. Then I can research people who kill people, how they do it, the psychology behind how and why different types commit murder, and go from there.
   
   Knowing that Don José is a man who doesn't know how to resolve a problem without getting physical is key. Then we can explore the sexual frustration, and other psychological reasons, and see why stabbing her finally gets him a release he never got while with her. Now, I, Brian, don't and haven't had to deal with that, but I have to be able to play that person. This is why it's fun to be other people for a few hours a few nights a week. There are so many roles I have things in common with, but sometimes the most fun are the ones I don't!

10. What’s next for Brian Jagde?
    

    I mentioned the future appearances this year, and I also am making my Berlin Deutsche Oper debut next year, which I am looking very much forward to. My plan is to stick to a core set of repertory that can sustain a career. I really want to sing Lyric repertoire as long as I can. I'd love to continue to sing roles like Rodolfo from La Boheme, Pinkerton from Madama Butterfly, Cavaradossi from Tosca, as well as Don José from Carmen, and the title role of Werther. I'd like to add other lyric roles like Alfredo from Traviata, De Grieux from Manon, Romeo from Romeo et Juliet, the title role of Faust, Edgardo from Lucia, and definitely Riccardo from Ballo. These are what I'd like to see, and I am seeing for the next few years for myself. Right now, all I know for sure is that I love learning new roles, and I'm excited to see where the future takes me!

Labels: 10 Questions

Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor has long been a favorite here in Los Angeles, a sentiment increasingly shared by audiences around the world. She’s made her mark to date singing a number of contemporary works from several high profile composers. She’s particularly well known for her signature performances as Lorca in Golijov’s Ainadamar which she has sung all over the world and will take to Madrid later this summer. Of her many recordings, her performance in this opera under Robert Spano brought her and the company many accolades including a Grammy award. She was hand picked by Peter Lieberson to be the first vocalist to perform his Neruda Songs following the death of his wife Lorraine Hunt Lieberson whom they were originally written for. O’Connor is a frequent guest to the stages of all the major American orchestras in repertoire from Bernstein to Ravel. But even with all this history, she may be stepping into her biggest role here yet when she debuts this Thursday in the title role of John Adams’ new oratorio/opera The Gospel According to the Other Mary with a text compiled by Peter Sellars who will direct staged performances of the work here next season. She and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will again be led by music director Gustavo Dudamel. Despite the challenges of playing Mary Magdalene, Ms. O’Connor kindly found the time to take a crack at 10 Questions for Out West Arts.

1. What role would you most like to perform but haven't yet?
   

   My dream role is Hans Sachs, but that will have to wait until I come back as a dramatic baritone, so for now I would love to sing Julius Caesar. This is a very challenging role vocally given all of the coloratura required, but I am drawn to the complexity of the character and the stunning music. There are so many different aspects to this man that I am intrigued to figure him out. Also, I'll take pants over a corset any day of the week!

2. What role would you never want to perform even if you could?
   

   Baba the Turk. Does anyone really WANT to be the bearded lady?

3. You’ve already worked with some of the greatest artists in the music world at this point in your career. Whom have you not had a chance to work with yet, that you would most like to?
   

   You're right, I have been very lucky to work with some of the most amazing composers, conductors and directors in the world!! But one that I haven't had the pleasure to work with is Sir Simon Rattle. I admire his work and vision so much (especially the St. Matthew Passion he recently conceived with Peter Sellars). I feel he has the same goal I do which is to communicate a pure and honest message without any pretense. I think it would just be heavenly to work with him.

4. You’re particularly well known for your work with contemporary composers including Peter Lieberson, Osvaldo Golijov, and John Adams. What’s the best thing about working with a living composer?
   

   The freedom! My favorite aspect of new music is that there is no set standard for how everything should sound and you can create your own interpretation. This is very liberating. It's the best part of my job. Actually creating something from nothing is the reason that I do this for a living. So many voices need to be heard and it is our job to sing life into them!

5. Speaking of your work with John Adams, L.A. audiences will get the pleasure of hearing you return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic this month with Adams’ new work The Gospel According to the Other Mary under Gustavo Dudamel. (An excerpt from Kelley O'Connor's video log while preparing the piece can be seen above.) What can you tell us about your part in this large new oratorio?
   

   It's a War Horse! I am so thrilled to be part of this new piece. This is the first time that John has written something especially for me, and I am completely honored that he and Peter felt I could perform the role of Mary Magdalene. She is definitely a tormented soul who deals with a lot of doubt. This is something that I feel I can relate to and is really challenging me to bring out deep feelings and portray them to the audience. I cannot wait.

6. What music most inspired you to become a professional vocalist?
   

   I have to admit that I am a choral singer at heart. There is nothing like creating music in a group and I think that is why I am always so glad to work with Peter and have such a familial element added to the creative process. I know that it is my experiences in choir throughout my elementary school days and onto my time at USC that gave me the desire to pursue this as a profession. Not only the music but the wonderful musicians and people I met during those times.

7. Your iPod is destroyed by a tempestuous tenor. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   Right now...all of my voice memos. I am listening 24/7 to all of my coachings in preparation for the Adams piece. It is the best learning tool I have! Luckily, I have my first meeting with Osvaldo Golijov recorded on tape (that's how long ago it was that I met him!) and that will be preserved for all time no matter what that tenor does!

8. You’ve had remarkable success with a number of recordings with a variety of major American orchestras in recent years. Is there a performance in particular you’re pleased has been saved for posterity?

   Of course, Ainadamar. That was my first recording and it was made after our magical summer in Santa Fe recreating the piece with Peter. Robert Spano was also the first conductor I worked with outside of school (in the original Ainadamar production at Tanglewood) and recording with him and the Atlanta Symphony is like performing with my hometown band. They have become like family to me and have really seen me grow as an artist and a person. I was lucky enough to record the Lieberson Neruda Songs with them as well. I have too many life-changing memories with them to name them all!

9. What’s your current obsession?
   

   Musically speaking it's Bruckner 9 which I just heard at Disney Hall with the L.A. Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle. It blew my mind and luckily Gustavo Dudamel's recording came up on my Spotify so I got to hear two amazing interpretations. In life, it's my Vitamix blender. I'm a big foodie and I am obsessed with researching different food trends. I have tried them all! Right now it's Paleo!

10. What’s next for Kelley O’Connor?
    

    I am again lucky to get to spend the summer with the amazing Peter Sellars and my best friend Jessica Rivera performing Golijov's Ainadamar in Madrid!

Labels: 10 Questions

Rod Gilfry is one of those artists I sometimes feel I can measure my own opera-going history by. The baritone is tied to some of my fondest opera going memories, which makes me in no way unique in that he is for so many people, particularly here in Southern California. One of the many things I admire about him is his commitment and interest in 20th Century and newer music. He famously created the roles of Stanley Kowalski in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire and Nathan in Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice. He was my first St. Francois - a role he received one of his two Grammy nominations for after it was released on DVD in the only commercially available video recording of the work. And his turn as Busoni’s Faust and Prospero in the American premiere of Thomas Adès The Tempest were personal touchstones as well as landmarks in a career filled with great performances. His Don Giovanni, Billy Budd, and Papageno were staples around the world and his work in musical theater has been no less influential. And while he’s taken on academic duties at The University of Southern California in recent years, his schedule is still jam packed with exciting performances. He’ll open in the title role of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd for Opera Theater St. Louis this Saturday (which I’ll be writing about later on.) His latest recording and DVD My Heart is so Full of You of American songbook standards is currently available online at CD Baby. It's just one of many notable performances he's recorded over his great career. Luckily Mr. Gilfry took some time out of his preparation as the demon barber of Fleet Street to answer the OWA 10 Questions.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven’t yet?
   

   Jokanaan in Salome has always been my dream. I covered the role at the L.A. Opera back in 1986 when I had no business singing it, and thank God I didn't have to go on! After one rehearsal, one of my colleagues said "You know, Rod, some of it is actually sounding pretty good!" I said "Thanks! I just wish I were 20 years older..." My colleague replied "You will be." 26 years later I'm still not sure I'm right for it. But I would love to take a crack at another Strauss role: Mandryka in Arabella.

2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   I never say never. I'm stupid enough to entertain any possibility.

3. You’ve worked with nearly every major conductor and vocalist in the opera world over the length of your career. Is there someone you haven’t worked with yet you’d like to?
   

   Gustavo Dudamel is at the top of my current wish list.

4. A remarkable number of your performances over the years have been preserved on both audio and video. Is there a particular recording you are glad was saved for posterity?
   

   I did a "semi-staged" Don Giovanni at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with John Eliot Gardiner that was really magical, and I am really glad it was recorded and distributed as a video. It's some of my best work. You never know how something will turn out, so it was lucky that it all came together the way it did.

5. You’ve been associated with the works of many living composers including Marc-André Dalbavie and Thomas Adès and created numerous roles for the opera stage such as Nathan in Nicholas Maw’s “Sophie’s Choice” and Stanley Kowalski in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire.” What’s the best thing about working with a living composer?
   

   It's much easier to talk to a living composer. But there is a common misconception: you might assume that a role would be "tailor-made" to your voice if you can collaborate. This is not usually the case. The composers that are happy to change what they've written for you are definitely in the minority. I am grateful for the ones that are true collaborators.

6. Which music made you want to sing opera?
   

   There was no one piece that got me into opera. In high school, I was deeply affected by the classical music I experienced in the small Chamber Singers group. That lead me to a Bachelor's degree in music, where I encountered opera for the first time. I did some small roles in the university's opera productions, and really enjoyed that. I had done many musicals in high school, and opera was like a musical but with more sophisticated music and foreign languages. I sort of slipped into opera without really deciding to.

7. As a baritone you’ve gotten to play both saints, like Messiaen’s St. Francis, and sinners, like Sweeney Todd, a role you’ll be singing later this month with Opera Theater St. Louis. Is it more fun being good or bad onstage?
   

   I always hope to be good, regardless of the role! But seriously, both kinds of roles have their attractions and challenges. Bad is somehow much easier to portray. But I do feel better after a rehearsal of a good guy, like Billy Budd. And it's easier to be a good guy offstage if that's what you've been practicing for 6 hours a day. Once, when I was rehearsing Don Giovanni in L.A., I got irritated with our daughter Erica for her room being a mess. She went to my wife, Tina, and said "I like Daddy better when he's playing Billy Budd!"

8. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   Ha ha! I have everything backed up in the Cloud! But what would I miss if the Cloud somehow evaporated? Seriously, it would be the tracks from my son's band American Royalty. He's the songwriter, lead singer and guitarist. His music is much closer to my heart than any opera.

9. What's your current obsession?
   

   Spelling everything correctly for this interview. I'm not an obsessive guy, unless it has to do with food. A recent obsession was creating the perfect Thanksgiving martinis. I created Pumpkin Pie- and Apple Pie Martinis that I was pretty proud of! OK, actually, they were fantastic.

10. What can we look forward to next from Rod Gilfry?
    

    The CD and DVD version of my one-man show My Heart is So Full of You was just released, and is available online at CD Baby and for purchase during the OTSL festival this year. In July, I'll be starring as "Prospero" in Thomas Adès' The Tempest at the Québec City Opera Festival in a spectacular production by Robert Lepage. And this Fall, I will start work on a Christmas album, which will be released in the Fall of 2013.

Labels: 10 Questions

Just around the corner is the 2012 installment of the Ojai Music Festival that kicks off north of Los Angeles on June 7. This year’s festival is particularly exciting given that the rotating Music Director post falls to one of the classical music world’s great artists, Leif Ove Andsnes. He’s been a familiar face with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for years, but this visit to Ojai is different in that he’s helped assemble a program of works and collaborating artists that reflect his unique vision and highlight his own interests in 20th Century and more contemporary music. And while he’s no stranger to the ins and outs of festival programming, California and the outdoor stage of Ojai’s Libby Bowl are a unique setting with their own particular challenges. Andsnes has packed the four-day festival with numerous highlights from artist including Reinbert de Leeuw, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, clarinetist Martin Fröst, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, and most intriguingly fellow pianist Marc-André Hamelin.

Hamelin will perform alongside Andsnes in a two piano version of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps on Sunday the 10th as well as John Luther Adams’ Dark Waves. Adams' music will be given prime real estate all weekend including two pieces on the festival’s opening night, Red Arc/Blue Veil and perhaps the highlight of the whole weekend, a free, festival-opening performance of Inuksuit - a huge “spatial” work to be performed by 46 different percussionists and piccolo spread out throughout Libby Park all under the direction of Steven Schick. The piece was a sensation when it was heard at New York’s Park Avenue Armory last year, and Ojai’s outdoor answer to that performance couldn’t be more Californian. (The work was deigned to be played outdoors and can be performed by a group of up to 100.)

Music from Norwegian composers Anders Hillborg and Bent Sørensen will feature in Saturday’s program including the U.S. Premiere of Sørensen’s Piano Concerto No.2 featuring Andsnes as soloist. There’s quite a bit of vocal music in the weekend as well with Stotijn scheduled to sing Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, as well as pieces from Berg, Bolcom, and Shostakovich. Even songs from Schumann and Schubert find there way into Friday’s performance in a reworked version for singing actress Barbara Sukowa arranged by Reinbert de Leeuw titled Im wunderschönen Monat Mai. The composers that clarinetist Martin Fröst will represent are equally as interesting, including works from Berg, Kurtág, Bartók, Copland and Mozart. Of course, Andsnes will be intimately involved in most of these collaborations, although still leaving time for a brief visit with Beethoven’s piano sonatas on Saturday afternoon. It promises to be another great year for music in Ojai, and luckily prior to all of this exciting music, Mr. Andsnes was kind enough to reflect on the OWA 10 Questions prior to a great start to his and our summer.

1. What music would you most like to perform, but haven’t had the opportunity to yet?
   

   More Beethoven sonatas, Chopin works, and French music.

2. What music, if any, would you never want to perform even if you had the opportunity to?
   

   Lots and lots of music, but I won’t mention names of living composers, as I don’t want to offend hard working composers. Of the older ones, at the moment it doesn't feel like I will ever play any music by Messiaen and Scriabin. Not because I don’t like the music, but because their characters are very foreign to me, and I can only admire their music from a distance.

3. Has your experience as co-artistic director for the Risør Chamber Music Festival influenced your plans for the Ojai Music Festival which you’ll serve as music director for this year?
   

   Absolutely. I feel that I have lots of experience in programming a festival, after doing it for 17 years in Risør.

4. You’ve recorded a huge variety of music with much fanfare at this point in your career. Is there a performance saved for posterity you’re particularly proud of?
   

   This is difficult, because musicians are always terrible in judging their own recordings. But in my own very subjective feeling, I am quite proud of the Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3., and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

5. You’ve been particularly well known for extended collaborations with other artists including Ian Bostridge, Christian Tetzlaff, and more recently Matthias Goerne whom you’ll tour with this spring. How important are these extended, multi-faceted collaborations to your development as a solo artist?
   

   For me chamber music has always been important, and an integrated part of my activities, ever since I started studying at the Bergen Conservatory of Music when I was 16, and began playing both with a violist and a mezzo soprano. What could be more normal and fun than two or three people getting together, playing together, discovering a piece together? Then I have, of course, also learned a lot from different great personalities that I have been working with during the years.

6. What is your current obsession?
   

   Beethoven.

7. One of your collaborators, who’ll be appearing in several programs in this year’s Ojai Festival, is pianist Marc-André Hamelin. Since the public tends to think of pianists as lone wolves compared to other instrumentalists, what’s unique about working so closely over time with another pianist?
   

   Well, working with another pianist can actually be very frustrating, because a pianist’s touch, colouring and rhytmic precision is a very personal thing, and one easily gets annoyed at a colleague who has a different feeling of timing, for instance. With this as a background, I have to say that working with Marc-André Hamelin on Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps has been miraculous. His incredibly precise touch and his exact feeling of colour and tempo is unique, and I have found the concerts we have made with this iconic piece very inspiring.

8. You’re a regular visitor to California. What do you love most about the Golden State?
   

   I was in Ojai in beginning February, and having come from a wet and snowy Norwegian coastal climate, picking tangerines from the trees in Ojai was a very welcome change, I have to say. The diversity of plants in the district around Ojai, I find very fascinating—I have never seen so many different trees. I love the wine and the food, healthy and tasty at the same time (not always the case in Europe!). And I love a certain openness to the unexplored, the new, the avant-garde, which the contemporary music scene and tradition in Los Angeles is an example of.

9. One of the unique aspects of the Ojai festival is that all of the concerts take place outdoors. Are there particular challenges for you as a performer playing outside?
   

   Sure. The biggest challenge is that it will feel like the sound on stage is extremely dry, and doesn’t carry. I understand, though, that there is a very good amplifying system, so we musicians will just have to trust that the audience hears something much richer in sound than what we do on stage. Then there are the flies... I am interested to see how many of those will "like" our program in Ojai, so much that they will visit us on stage. And likewise the birds, though I am curious to see if they also can contribute fruitfully to the concerts, to make the programs even more weird and wonderful.

10. What’s next for Leif Ove Andsnes?
    

    After Ojai, I am playing at the Risør Chamber Music Festival in Norway, where I was one of the artistic directors until two years ago. Then I'm recording Mozart's "Kegelstadt-trio" with Martin Fröst and Antoine Tamestit, and then I will have a good holiday, which I am longing for, especially since I didn’t get a summer holiday last year. It will start with two weeks in the north of Norway, on the miraculous island of Kjerringøy, where my parents-in-law have a summer house. Last time I was there, we saw whales, eagles, reindeer, and felt like one with the silence and nature. I couldn't be more happy.

Labels: 10 Questions

How do you freshen up Puccini’s La Bohème? Well one way is to bring in new fresh faces in the starring roles—a quantity that Los Angeles Opera has in no short supply these days. And one of the freshest and most exciting of those faces will be appearing as Musetta when LAO’s revival kicks of next weekend on the 12th—soprano Janai Brugger. She’s one of the current Domingo-Thornton Young Artists with the company whose profile got a big boost recently when she was a winner at this year’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the spring. This should serve as notice to everyone involved with Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition where she’ll also compete later this year. A Chicago native, she studied in Michigan under Shirley Verrett among others and has been busy booking upcoming appearances around the country in a number of roles from Mozart to Gounod. So even if you don’t recognize her name now, you’ll have no trouble remembering it after you hear her sing. Best of all, she was kind enough to take some time to answer the OWA 10 Questions, prior to her appearances next week.

1. What role would you most like to perform but haven't yet?
   

   I would love to sing the role of Mimi in the near future.

2. What role would you never want to perform even if you could?
   

   The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. She scares me.

3. You’ve already worked with some of the greatest artists in the opera world at this point in your career. Whom have you not had a chance to work with yet, that you would most like to?
   

   That list is endless. I would love to be onstage with Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Renée Fleming. As for conductors, I would love to sing for Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Gustavo Dudamel…

4. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   Definitely my Motown music!

5. You’ve sung many roles already in your time with L.A. Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artists Program and starting May 10 will be performing Musetta, one of opera’s biggest flirts, in the company’s revival of La Bohème. What’s the biggest challenge for you in this part?
   

   The biggest challenge is to find all of the layers to Musetta and to reveal as much of them as possible within the arc of the opera, which isn’t very long. There is so much more to her than this flirty personality. She’s complicated, and that makes her fun and challenging to play.

6. You were one of the winners at this year’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. How has winning this audition, known for its many now-legendary previous winners, changed things for you?
   

   The amount of exposure that I've received has been a huge change for me. I have had some amazing opportunities open up for me due to this competition. I'm looking forward to the future and getting my career started.

7. What music most inspired you to sing opera?
   

   I heard Kathleen Battle sing a recital when I was nine years old. There was something about her presence, her amazing gown and, of course, her incredible voice that just drew me in to her. I can't remember the songs she sang, but I knew, after hearing her and from the effect that she had on me, that I wanted to be able to do that one day and make people feel that way with my own voice.

8. Which other vocalists have served as the biggest inspiration for you?
   

   Shirley Verrett, Leontyne Price, Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland.

9. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
   

   It would probably be Juliette. She has so many characteristics that I identify with.

10. What’s your current obsession?
    

    “Downton Abbey,” an amazing show!

Labels: 10 Questions

It’s always nice to start big. And that is exactly how tenor David Lomelí kicked off his operatic singing career with an audition for Placido Domingo and eventually two big wins at the 2006 Operalia competition. He’s participated in the Los Angeles Opera Domingo-Thornton Young Artists Program and has been an Adler fellow at San Francisco Opera. But now the exciting and warm-voiced tenor is everywhere and likely on an opera stage near you. He won raves for his performances as Nemorino with New York City Opera last year and is in the process of making major debuts with opera companies across the globe. He’s appeared alongside Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concert, which he’ll do again this summer at the Hollywood Bowl as the Duke of Mantua in a concert performance of Rigoletto on Aug 13. But before then he’ll return to a role that won him accolades last year in Santa Fe, Rudolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème. He’ll be singing the role at Glyndebourne this summer, but if you live in Southern California you don’t need to fly to Britain to catch one of opera’s rising stars, as he’ll be giving three concert performances of the same part starting this Thursday the 19th in Orange County with the Pacific Symphony under Carl St. Clair. First, though, the magnanimous tenor took a moment to reflect on the Out West Arts 10 Questions.

1. What role would you most like to perform but haven't yet?
   

   Well, I am making a debut next year in two new Donizetti roles that I am very much looking forward to. Leicester in Maria Stuarda with Oper Frankfurt and Percy in Anna Bolena with Oper Köln. I love to sing bel canto and so far Donizetti really makes my voice very happy. I love these Tudor intrigue operas. I love these stories and books because of the complexity of emotions mixed with raw and powerful music. It's really an experience I'm looking forward to.

2. What role would you never want to perform even if you could?
   

   Well I am still very young in my artistic path. So I refuse to say a definite “no” to anything – especially since you never know where the voice will take you. But, I can say that I am not spending a lot of time studying for Tristan or Tannhäuser at present.

3. You’ve already worked with some of the greatest artists in the opera world at this point in your career. Whom have you not had a chance to work with yet, that you would most like to?
   

   I would love to work with many artists, but what comes to my mind immediately are two beautiful mezzos that I adore and admire -- Joyce DiDonato and Susan Graham. They are thrilling artists. Also I'm very excited to soon work with the young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado in Berlin next season. He's a fantastic guy that I also admire.

4. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   Well, I hope it wasn’t destroyed by Joyce or Susan!! I would dearly miss all of my salsa tracks, my full discography of Wunderlich, Björling, Gigli, Pavarotti and Di Stefano and some obscure electric dance music I like from my club days in Ibiza, Spain. But I have back-up so I am not too sad.

5. You will be appearing in Orange County later this month with the Pacific Symphony as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, a role you will also sing at Glyndebourne this summer. What are the challenges in portraying one of the opera stage’s greatest young lovers?
   

   Well because it is such a popular opera, people already have so much in their imagination. They can already hear Pavarotti or Caruso or they can see in their minds the newer versions like Rent. I do not worry because I can make my own stamp on this. But, another thing is that people make the mistake of thinking that because this is about young lovers, that it is a perfect opera for young singers. Really, it is a very difficult piece requiring much experience – with big orchestration and hard music. It is difficult both for singers and conductors. But I love this opera and this role and look forward to share my interpretation with my friends in Los Angeles.

6. This summer, you'll be appearing at the Hollywood Bowl as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Does appearing in a concert performance of an operatic role make things more or less difficult for you as a performer than in a fully staged one?
   

   Though I love the full staging, I confess that I also really enjoy the concert performances. In concert, you have the chance to focus just on the music and on your own voice. I can really connect my artistry with the audience when I sing in concert.

7. What music most inspired you to sing opera?
   

   Because I was born in Mexico, it has to be our mariachi singing and the zarzuela that I heard a lot from a young age. It’s fantastic yet difficult music that requires a high and free passagio freedom and good top to be able to do it well. It's so full of sentiment and raw emotion that it was an easy transition from that to opera.

8. A composer proposes a new opera with a part especially for you. What person or character would you most like to have written for you?
   

   I would like to do an opera based on The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. It would be fantastic to play a tenor Gandalf or a tenor Jon Snow!!! It would be awesome to sing Gandalf’s phrase from The Lord of the Rings "you shall not pass" in a high C.

9. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
   

   Rodolfo's romanticism, Werther's sensibility and Nemorino's simplicity are the pillars of my own character.

10. What’s your current obsession?
    

    My current obsession is my new bride, of course, the soprano Sara Gartland. And a far second to that is the game of golf!!! I got married in Pebble Beach and my wife’s family is very passionate and quite good at golf. In particular my father-in-law is very good – he is president of Avis, a sponsor of PGA. So he gets to play and go to places like Sawgrass and Doral and meet pros like Steve Stricker. I learned that golf is very much like singing. The technique is quite easy to understand but to master it takes years of constant practice. I love it even though I have a very high handicap.

Labels: 10 Questions

Los Angeles loves young fresh faces. And when they come with talent to match, sparks can fly. Which may just happen again later this month when the not-yet-30-year-old composer and pianist Timothy Andres arrives in Los Angeles for two high-profile performances with two very different local organizations. Andres is a fast-rising star in the musical world having already had his work included in programming from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009, the year before he released his debut recording, Shy and Mighty, on the Nonesuch label. Press has been glowing, and new commissions are coming fast and furious making his upcoming L.A. appearances a high priority for anyone interested in the next generation of American composers. His music will be included in the latest program from wildUp, L.A.’s new music collective, who’ll consider current music scenes on the East and West Coast on the 23rd and 24th of March at Beyond Baroque in Venice. And on an even bigger note, he’ll appear with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Jeffrey Kahane on the 24th and 25th of March playing his completion of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 26 as well as his new piano concerto, Old Keys, a commission of the group’s Sound Investment program. Not excited yet? You should be. Prior to all this, Out West Arts was lucky enough to get Timo to take a stab at the ever popular 10 Questions.

1. How important is contemporary technology to your creative process?
   

   
   I have trouble separating the "creative" process from the day-to-day "getting notes down" process. For me, they mostly happen at the same time; it's not very glamorous. I almost always work directly into Sibelius. I've been composing on computers since I was a kid, so it feels natural. Occasionally I'll start with an audio mockup in Logic. The only thing I'll do by hand is the very outset of writing a piece, sitting at the piano and improvising and occasionally jotting down incomprehensible little notes to myself.
   
   That's in addition to all the other things computers help to do: recording, editing, playing random keyboard instruments, doing all my design and layout, doing my website, exchanging scores and recordings with fellow musicians—I even read most music off my iPad now, so there are pitiably few hours in a day that I'm not in front of some sort of screen.



2. What’s your current obsession?
   

   
   It's not one that I would have anticipated even a couple of years ago, and that is men's clothing. Out of school I dressed like any number of Liberal Arts College Graduates—that is to say, in striped t-shirts and skinny jeans. When I moved to New York I found myself in a meeting at my record label or something, and all of a sudden it was—I feel like a child right now, and not in a good way. Also around that time a friend of mine bought me a really beautiful jacket, and I realized I had not a single thing in my wardrobe that wouldn't look ridiculous alongside such a garment, so that started me down the path. Now I spend most of my free time trawling eBay or thrift shops, searching for, I don't know, the perfect houndstooth bow tie or something equally foppish.
   
   There are a number of other things I waste time on including bicycles, cooking, and repeatedly cleaning all surfaces in the apartment.



3. You’ll be performing alongside the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on March 24 and 25 in a program that will feature a new commission from you for them, a piano concert entitled Old Keys. What should we know about the piece before hand?
   

   
   Here are some things you should know about Old Keys: it's an uncharacteristically neurotic piece for me, full of little details and inflections. It's a piano concerto but only in outward appearance; the piano part is not flashy or even that difficult. The entire thing is basically stitched together out of transitions, or at least each section is agitating to move on to the next; it never sits still and just contents itself with one or two things.

4. That same weekend, L.A.’s young, fresh family of musicians wildUp will feature your music in a program playing off an imagined East Coast vs West Coast composer rivalry. Can’t we all just get along?
   

   
   Yes and no. West coasters, in my experience, tend to be genuinely open minded, which is so great. If there's rivalry it is solely between the East coast and its own self.
   
   Over here, critics and curators love to repeat that old saw about how today's young composers have no stylistic limitations, how we just "let it all hang out" all of the time, but in reality things are much more like that old Tom Lehrer song "National Brotherhood Week"—everyone comes out to Miller or Merkin to hear their friend's piece and puts on a friendly face for precisely as long as is needed ("be grateful that it doesn't last all year!"). At one of these things someone asked me if I was an "uptown or downtown" composer, which… just… never ask anyone that.
   
   Competition among composers is a funny thing. If you're, say, a violinist and you bomb an audition, it's easy to say "I had an off day" or "so and so practiced harder" and kind of take the brunt of the blame yourself. Composers are never like that. It's more along the lines of "Orchestra X didn't program my piece because they like that Euro crap/that post-minimalist crap/That New Complexity/That New Sincerity" etc. etc.—they think there must be some terrible extenuating circumstance or conspiracy turning things against them.
   
   My strategy is to remind myself that "a rising tide lifts all boats". If your friend gets commissioned by the LA Phil, how is that anything other than fantastic? It means the LA Phil is paying attention to your immediate sphere, your field, and bringing that music to new and bigger audiences. And you never know, your friend might drop your name at Deborah Borda or John Adams and they'll end up commissioning you next time.



5. What music made you want to be a composer?
   

   
   At first it was just pure harmony what did it for me. When I learned how to play major chords I thought they were the most beautiful sound imaginable. Somewhat later it was Beethoven, Brahms, and Ravel. Now hundreds of different things make me want to compose.



6. What’s your second favorite opera after Berg’s Lulu?
   

   
   Need you ask? Nixon in China.



7. When should I clap?
   

   
   Whenever the hell you want? As long as it's not during a super beautiful quiet part?

8. You’re equally well known as a performer in your own right, especially of contemporary music. In what way does your work as a performer of other people’s music influence your work as a composer?
   

   
   The two are linked quite inextricably. I perform my own stuff a great deal, of course, but it will never challenge me as a pianist in quite the way a score from someone else does. Ted Hearne's Parlor Diplomacy totally schooled me on how to play trills, I learned how to hocket and groove from playing Reich and Adams and Brad Mehldau, and Rzewski taught me about playing ridiculous counterpoint with one's forearms. And whatever I'm currently practicing finds its way into what I write, sooner or later—it's just unavoidable. It works the other way, too; I think I get a "leg up" on deducing a composer's intentions by being one myself.
   
   Playing the piano is also my primary means of discovering new music—I don't listen to contemporary music regularly (though I'm trying to find more time for that) so I'll often find out about a great composer by performing one of his or her works.



9. You’ve been associated with at least two different larger groups of composers: the six person collective Sleeping Giant and more broadly, a generation of young composers currently living and working in Brooklyn. How important is it for you to be surrounded by a community of other composers in making the music you do?
   

   
   The proximity to fellow composers is a nice thing, and the Sleeping Giants are close friends and we love getting drunk together, so that's great. But technically we could collaborate from anywhere in the world—one doesn't need to occupy the same space in order to share work, create work together, critique said work, talk trash, and get silly.
   
   The Brooklyn/Greater NY area really comes in handy for performing. I love playing with groups like Metropolis Ensemble or ACME, chamber ensembles, bands, bandsembles (that's French), just any random and interesting gig that comes my way. Since college, my M.O. has been to stay as busy as possible at all times, and living in the midst of such an active community has allowed me to support myself doing just that. I'm grateful for it literally every day.



10. What’s the next big thing we should be looking for from Timothy Andres?
    

    
    Some things I'm particularly excited about this Spring: playing a solo "opener" for the Brad Mehldau trio in Denver, then giving a full recital at Le Poisson Rouge here in New York, leading into my London début at Wigmore Hall in June.
    
    Also some new pieces in the works for next season that I'm thrilled about: a solo piece for the amazing young pianist Kirill Gerstein, a quintet for Jonathan Biss and the Elias Quartet, my first choral piece (!) for Present Music in Milwaukee, scoring a documentary, perhaps a song cycle, and some big new collaborative works with the Sleeping Giants.
    
    And a bit down the road, my next album—a collaboration with the wonderful young orchestra Metropolis Ensemble.

Labels: 10 Questions, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, wildup

Alek Sharder has just about everything a young tenor could want. An agile, beautiful voice, acting chops, and looks that don’t require dressing up or covering over to play romantic heartthrobs on stage. His career started with big screen attention when he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2007 under the glaring light of Susan Fromke’s cameras resulting in the documentary The Audition. In the film, he pulls off the rapid fire high Cs of Donizetti’s “Ah! mes amis” with a grin on his face that could have landed him in Hollywood. But his first operatic appearance in the real city of Los Angeles won’t actually occur until this week when he’ll star in the title role of Britten’s Albert Herring for Los Angeles Opera under the direction of James Conlon starting Feb 25. It’s a comic role he performed to much acclaim in Santa Fe in 2010 in Paul Curran’s charming production which you can see here as well. And considering that LAO has made tickets available for only $25 for first-time opera goers between today and Friday, there are even more incentives to go. Shrader is best known for his Mozart and Rossini roles and he’s got a busy schedule these days throughout Europe and the U.S. including appearances in Salzburg and Glyndebourne. Before he takes Britten’s greengrocer’s son, the former San Francisco Opera Adler fellow took a moment to tackle the often imitated, never duplicated Out West Arts 10 Questions.

1. What role would you most like to perform, but haven't yet?
   

   
   Before I stop singing, I really want to sing Duca in Rigoletto, even if it's just once (and potentially totally inappropriate for my voice).

   
   
2. What role would you never perform, even if you could?
   

   
   If that role exists, I don't know what it is. Does "conductor" count? I'd never do that.



3. You'll soon be making your Los Angeles Opera debut as Britten’s Albert Herring a virginal innocent who like Donizetti’s Nemorino breaks loose with the help of a little unanticipated alcoholic lubrication. Is it more fun to play good guys or bad boys on stage?
   

   
   Good guys or bad boys, I find the real fun is finding the moments when you can do something unexpected… when the nice pushover finds courage, or when the jerk shows true compassion. I have the most fun as an actor when I'm allowed to enjoy and explore those possibilities.






4. You’re best known for roles like Mozart’s Tamino and Rossini’s Almaviva. What’s the secret to playing these romantic young lovers?
   

   
   In a very broad sense, I think it's the sense of discovery. Yes, they're in love, but also the world they used to know and live in has changed forever. Tamino and Almaviva happen to be different forms of nobility, and their discovery (of love, or growing up, or facing opposition) comes as a pretty big shock that requires serious attention, but I think all classes of romantic young lovers get knocked on their butts when they meet their true love.



5. Which music made you want to sing opera?
   

   
   I heard Mozart's 'Ich baue ganz' on the radio at somebody's house and was stunned. Then I found a recording of my dad singing 'La danza' and thought I'd like to do that too.



6. A composer proposes a new opera with a part especially for you. What person or character would you most like to have written for you?
   

   
   I'm certainly open to any project that comes up, and I'd be especially excited to help create something. I find a special personal pleasure when I can play an average guy, a "normal person", or at least express that side of the character. It's not just princes who have a story to tell.






7. You've already worked with many major conductors and vocalists in the opera world. Who would you most like to work with that you haven’t yet?
   

   
   Lawrence Brownlee is a singer I have a ton of respect for. I think on and offstage, he's a shining example of what the modern opera singer should aspire to be. I would love to do a show with him.



8. What's your current obsession?
   

   
   Right now, I'm watching Deadwood marathon-style, with an episode or two of Entourage for breakfast.



9. With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
   

   
   The trick is to find as much in common as you can with each one… It's easy for me to say Albert Herring at the moment. Like I said before, I'm drawn to the aspects of the common man (if there is such a thing).



10. What can we look forward to next from Alek Shrader?
    

    
    After Albert Herring, I'm headed to Bordeaux for Oronte in Handel's Alcina, and then to San Francisco for Tamino in The Magic Flute.

Labels: 10 Questions

Directing opera is a special talent. Success in other fields, including theater, is no guarantee of success in this one, and you can look at a long list of “celebrity” directors recently recruited for new productions at big opera houses for a litany of those who have failed to deliver on hype. Which is why it’s always exciting to see the name Elijah Moshinsky associated with an opera production. There are few directors working in opera with as long and as well regarded a career as Moshinksy, who’ll return to Los Angeles Opera this month to direct his production of Simon Boccanegra for the company starring tenor Placido Domingo in the title role under the musical direction of James Conlon. Moshinsky’s productions are familiar sights on most of the world’s biggest opera stages including The Metropolitan Opera and The Royal Opera House in London. And after over two decades in the business, his colorful, straightforward, and direct stagings are typically favorites wherever they are seen. A substantial number of these have been filmed for video including his Nabucco and Ariadne auf Naxos for the Met to name just two. Luckily, he took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down for the OWA 10 Questions.

1. What opera would you most like to direct, but haven’t yet?
   

   
   Fidelio or Moses und Aron



2. What opera would you never want to direct even if you had the opportunity to?
   

   
   Wagner's Ring Cycle



3. What’s the best thing about working with singing-actors as opposed to the non-operatic variety?
   

   
   The best is the discipline and emotional creativity of singers,the worst is dealing with those singers who have a natural voice and make no effort to engage dramatically.

4. You’ll return to Los Angeles Opera for a revival of your production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. What’s so special about this particular opera for you?
   

   
   It is a profound opera which mixes the personal and the political. At the end of the piece we feel we have experienced the whole span of a life. We are aware of a terrible destiny and tragedy.



5. You’ve worked with most of the world’s greatest opera stars for decades and will again work with Placido Domingo in the title role of Simon Boccanegra. Who in the opera world, either onstage or off, would you like to work with that you haven’t yet?
   

   
   Maria Callas



6. Which music made you want to direct opera?
   

   
   Kathleen Ferrier singing "What is Life" by Gluck



7. What’s been your greatest achievement to date in the world of opera?
   

   
   I survived Muti




8. Your iPod is destroyed by a vengeful mezzo. Which lost tracks would you miss most?
   

   
   Kempe conducting Meistersinger



9. What's your current obsession?
   

   
   Simon Boccanegra



10. With which opera character do you have the most in common?
    

    
    Hans Sachs

Labels: 10 Questions

There is something undeniably cool about Anonymous 4. The four women who comprise this vocal ensemble committed primarily to medieval polyphony and chant have been nothing less than musical trailblazers for the last quarter century. Their performances, which have been seen all over the world, are based on a unique combination of historical research and musical acumen, that make for a unique contemporary experience. Their visits are ones to treasure, and the four vocalists currently in the ensemble - Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, will soon return to Southern California. Theses two programs at UC Riverside (on Dec 2) and Santa Monica’s Jacaranda music series (on Dec 3) will feature favorites of their lengthy recording career and, perhaps surprisingly to some, a world premiere from composer David Lang, the wood and the vine. All of this also takes place following the release of their most recent Harmonia Mundi recording Secret Voices. The release marks the return of the group to the Codex Las Huelgas, a 13th-century manuscript with chant and polyphony used in a Cistercian convent. It's absolutely lovely. But before those highly recommended performances, one of the Anonymous 4’s great scholars and artists, Susan Hellauer, took a moment to sit down for the Out West Arts 10 Questions.

1. You’ve been a part of Anonymous 4 throughout the group’s rise as one of the world’s premiere early music ensembles. What’s it like being America’s rock stars of medieval polyphony?
   

   
   We definitely have gotten recognition — hard work and sheer persistence can pay off! I think it's the same as it is for most people who receive recognition in their chosen fields. It's not so much "that's nice!" but more "what's next? how do I top that?" We're always looking for something that is new and different for us but that lets us remain true to who we are. There's so much behind-the-scenes work on repertoire, research and rehearsal that there's not much time left over to sit on one's laurels, so to speak. AND we try not to read too much of our press, for better or worse. We just keep marching forward.



2. One of the things I’ve always loved about Anonymous 4 is the medieval music research and scholarship that has gone into the group’s performances and recording. How much is being a musical detective part of being in the group?
   

   
   It's a large part of it, and constitutes my dream job. I have degrees in musicology, but I knew early on and very well that normal musicology was not in the cards for me. So having the knowledge about the period and the repertoire that has survived has made it easier for me to put programs together. BUT, I do consult full-time musicologists about repertoires that are more obscure, controversial in some way, or survive in notation that is difficult or ambiguous to decipher. Musicologists now are much much more willing to share their work and their insights than their ancestors were, say 30 years ago and more. It's really a new world of cooperation and collaboration between musicologists and performers now.



3. What do you enjoy most about performing together on the road?
   

   
   The audiences. It's our privilege and honor to bring our programs to them, especially when young singers are out there. To walk out to a full house in a great venue, with people of all ages and stages of life sitting out there . . . there's really nothing better. There's an episcopal hymn that has the words " . . . mystic sweet communion" in it -- that's how it feels.



4. What’s the biggest surprise for you about the public’s enthusiastic reception of Anonymous 4?
   

   
   It has to be something I just alluded to above -- the great range of ages of our fans, from young to old. This never ceases to amaze me, especially as the audience for classical chamber music seems to be greying… BUT BUT BUT… there are fabulous young chamber music ensembles coming up and on the scene who are completely revamping ideals and aims of chamber music. The Kronos Quartet was out in front, but there's a whole wave of new groups who will surpass us all.



5. You’ll be making two appearances in Southern California in early December at UC Riverside and the Jacaranda music series in Santa Monica featuring a new work from David Lang, the wood and the vine. What’s the best part about working with a living composer?
   

   
   It's that collaboration on creating a new work of art. We were thinking about him, then he started thinking about us, then he wrote a piece and we sang it for him. He tweaked it a little bit, he let us know the affect that he was after, modifying our sound and approach a little bit . . . all of us with the same goal. Very satisfying!




6. How does singing early music inform your performance of contemporary compositions?
   

   
   Our ensemble sense, our "unity of intent" informs our early music singing — and it's just what we do for all music we sing. The sum is greater than the parts, and we do NOT alter the individual sounds of our voices, which are VERY different from each other. We determine the goal, direction and shape of each line, the weight of the words and the music, and then we agree on all those things expressively, and the voices come together. It's really no different in any repertoire.



7. Anonymous 4’s most recent Harmonia Mundi Release Secret Voices returns the group to music of the 13th and 14th centuries. What’s so special to the group about music from this period in particular?
   

   
   The early years of polyphonic composition (as opposed to improvisation, which was going on for centuries in western music before it was written down) did not observe the now-common "SATB" range designations. The lines overlap, crisscross, in a polyphonic tapestry. We find this sort of writing very compatible with our almost-equal ranges, and it sounds (in our opinion) fabulous in higher voices, where the patterns of overlap and crisscross are a little more discernible to the ear than they would be in lower voices.



8. When should I clap?
   

   
   Ha ha — very funny! But a good question. Most medieval pieces are quite short — a minute or three — and it's one of our biggest challenges to create a cohesive, flowing program out of these little miniatures. We once attended a concert at a European festival presented by a very famous medieval music vocal ensemble. They were singing 13th-century motets (VERY beautifully) but there was a full stop and applause after each tiny piece, which made it hard to get an overall impression of the "show." So we group pieces together and hope that our audience will clap where they see the breaks in the program. But, really, we're not all that fussy.



9. A tempestuous tenor destroys your iPod. What music on it will you miss most?
   

   
   Actually, I don't really listen to an iPod. I think that the earbuds are very harmful to hearing, and I already have some hearing loss in my right ear. AND I think that constantly listening to music destroys its specialness. Silence is important — without it music is meaningless — go ahead and jog around the lake or the park just listening to the environment. Then go home and treat yourself to a Beethoven symphony, The Beatles, the Mozart or Brahms clarinet quintet, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing Schumann's Dichterliebe, anything by Josquin des Pres, Bruce Molsky, with his inimitable fiddle, guitar, banjo and voice. OR EVEN BETTER: pick up that uke, that banjo, that guitar, the concertina, the recorder, the harmonica, a couple of spoons, and MAKE SOME MUSIC YOU GUYS! It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be your own.



10. What’s the next big thing we should be looking for from Anonymous 4?
    

    
    We'll be working on a full-length work by David Lang, called love fail — of which the wood and the vine is the first section. We'll be creating a new program called Marie & Marion — 13th century music again — just can't stay away — for 2013. We're thinking about one more Hildegard program, and one more American traditional program…we think and then we sing; that's pretty much what we do.

Labels: 10 Questions