Marilyn Horne's Legacy

I am happy to report that Marilyn Horne’s gift to the world of vocal music has not been diminished by its present incarnation as a presentation by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. This yearly festival celebrating the art of the vocal recital has endured since 1997 and assures us that the vocal recital is alive and well here in Gotham. The lovely woman sitting next to me for all the recitals and master classes has come every year from Geneva to attend. I only come from around the corner! Our pleasure was equal.



The first master class was given by German bass Kurt Moll. His unique way of coaching his four young pupils was highly personal; he actually stood face to face with each one and conducted each phrase in a way that pulled out of the pupil exactly the effect he wanted. There was a remarkable difference between the first offering of a song and the concluding one, even though only a half-hour had passed.

The second master class was given by Marilyn Horne herself. Particularly valuable was her work with the German language. In her kind and engaging way, she ensured that no consonant went unpronounced. Phrases that were initially incomprehensible eventually made sense. Art song is, after all, storytelling and we want to understand the words. Hearing a recital the next day in which every word was intelligible prompted me to ask the artist whether he had studied with Ms. Horne and it was not a surprise to learn that he had indeed.

The third master class was taught by Malcolm Martineau, a gifted accompanist from Scotland who worked exclusively on the French style. My French speaking seatmate was initially appalled by the youngsters’ lack of intelligibility, but a huge difference was noted after their brief instruction with Mr. M. and she left beaming. Apparently in French there are no accented syllables and emphasis is gained by stretching out the syllable a bit.

In addition to the three master classes there were two recitals by up and coming singers. The standout was Wendy Bryn Harmer’s offering of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder sensitively accompanied by Kristin Okerlund.

The final celebration is on Sunday with contributions from soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo Jamie Barton, tenor Paul Appleby, and baritone Eugene Chan, not to mention some of our favorite piano partners. Special guest artist is Christine Brewer. The song continues........

--Meche Kroop for The Opera Insider