Samling Artist Programme in Masterclass
Marchmont House, Scottish Borders 30/11/2024
Barbara Frittoli, Caroline Dowdle, James Garnon and Jo Ramadan, leaders
Marchmont House near Greenlaw in the Scottish Borders is the splendid setting for today’s Masterclass arranged as the culmination and public face of a week-long residency for six singers and two pianists on the Samling Artist Programme. A near capacity audience is in the wood-lined Music Room, marvelling at the ornate organ behind the stage area.
I first became aware of the Samling Institute and their programmes for young singers in 2020 when I attended a Masterclass followed by a concert at Gateshead’s Sage. Karon Wright, the Artistic and Executive Director, points out that today’s young artists will “join a family of over 400 Samling Artists from 47 different countries” who will receive ongoing support and performance opportunities in their careers.
Italian soprano, Barbara Frittoli, with a fabulous operatic career, including fondly remembered appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival, is the first “leader” to take the stage with tenor, Sebastian Hill, and pianist Pierre-Nicolas Colombat. Three singers will be heard in each half of this afternoon’s programme, the two pianists on the programme will each accompany two of them, with Samling Artist Jo Ramadan, the staff pianist, playing for the others. Sebastian Hill sings straight through his chosen aria, ‘Il mio tesoro’ from ‘Don Giovanni’. He has an enviably fresh and flexible voice, taking the higher notes and ornamentation with ease, and receives well-deserved applause, with Barbara Frittoli also commending his singing. All the classes today focus on the words being sung, and she asks the singer to read and explain the context of the recitative in which Don Ottavio vows to avenge the murder of Donna Anna’s father by killing Don Giovanni. His singing here is over-cautious she tells him – he must emphasise the urgency of the task and make clear that he alone can do it. His timing is too steady and he should move the music on, laying stresses on the right words. With practice, following Barbara Frittoli’s vocal examples, there’s soon a discernible difference in Sebastian Hill’s characterisation of Ottavio. Moving to the aria, she advises him on the use of decorated notes. When she started singing, these were considered old-fashioned, and then with the interest in period practice, every opportunity was taken to include them: now she suggests that a happy medium is the best solution. Top notes, she believes, come more easily from relaxation than pushing. These two tips add polish to the end of the aria. We don’t hear a full reprise, as time’s up. The singer and distinguished tutor exchange high fives!
Pianist and vocal tutor, Caroline Dowdle, who is Head of Opera at the Verbier Festival Atelier Lyrique, leads the next session with soprano, Andrea Manuel, also accompanied by Pierre-Nicolas Colombat. Andrea, who is the first Samling Artist from the Philippines, sings Franz Liszt’s ‘Oh! Quand je dors’, a setting of Victor Hugo’s poem which compares the poet’s love with Petrarch’s love for Laura. Andrea is asked to read the poem in English: her dramatic performance is applauded! Caroline Dowdle’s teaches the singer and the pianist to bring that drama to the sung performance. She believes that Liszt’s “gorgeous music” is as much a piano piece as a song and shows Pierre-Nicolas Colombat how the harmonies underpin the vocal line. She emphasises the idea of ‘bridging’ to both musicians so they can -move between sections with dramatic freedom and keep up the momentum through held notes. Each of the classes is carefully timed to 25 minutes, so in most of them we don’t get the chance to hear the ‘revised’ version. But what we see, in miniature, is the process of analysis and collaboration which has been the pattern of the residential week.
Mezzo-soprano, Ellen Pearson, accompanied by Gracie Francis, has also chosen a song, Herbert Howell’s ‘King David’, his 1919 setting of Walter de la Mare’s poem, which relates King David’s sorrow, his failure to find happiness in music and his consolation listening to a nightingale. She’s taught by the RSC and Globe actor, James Garnon. The song is a good choice for her voice and her diction carries most of the words to the audience. (There’s no text for the song in the programme and it would have been handy). James Garnon tells us he’s not interested in the music and challenges the singer to reach the true meaning of the words. His technique has similarities to literary Practical Criticism which disregards the context of the poem’s composition and focuses on the meaning and implications of the text. The quickfire questioning begins:
JG: Who are you talking to? EP: Younger version of myself. JG: Why? EP: Comforting.
You get the idea! As Ellen Pearson reads the poem slowly, James Garnon picks up its paradoxes and exaggerations. Why does King David employ “one hundred harpists” -that’s insane! Every word has to unlock the meaning to the story. Ellen Pearson, who feistily maintains her end in this debate, points out that it’s a children’s poem, but is told she’s singing it to an adult audience. King David eventually receives some measure of consolation from birdsong – or does he? The nightingale’s singing is prosaically described as “jargoning” and it pays the king no heed. As a final provocation James Garnon suggests that the poem tells us that human music is pointless – at least the bird sings with the purpose of finding a mate! After such fascinating food for thought, we progress to another lovely room in the house for tea and cakes.
After the interval, soprano, Beatriz Volante, accompanied by staff pianist, Samling Artist Jo Ramadan, sings Handel’s ‘Piangero la sorte mia ‘, Cleopatra’s aria from ‘Julius Caesar’. She sings the coloratura aria beautifully with a very exciting middle section, Barbara Frittoli speaks about her very slow recitative. In the baroque era, recitative was like speech – the verismo of its period. So it should be sung without vibrato. She teaches the soprano how to achieve drama through the correct emphasis on words and by pacing her singing. Barbara Frittoli’s experience of different genres of music are invaluable for her pupils: in her analysis of the aria, she shows Beatriz Volente how to vary her delivery when phrases are repeated. The bonus for the audience is that we get to hear Frittoli sing.
Also accompanied by Jo Ramadan is Scottish tenor, Euan McDonald, one of twelve young singers in Rossini’s ‘Petite Mess Solennelle’ at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. He’s chosen an aria from Édouard Lalo’s ‘Le Roi d’Ys’, a popular 19th century opera based on a tragic tale from Brittany. Caroline Dowdle spends some time establishing the context of the scene, in which the knight Mylio discloses his plans for revenge – not as a soliloquy, but, as she establishes through questioning, in the hearing of “jealous guardians” in the room and very probably his lover, Rozenn who is out of sight. The aria features some high notes which Euan Macdonald sings with ease, but the tutor picks up on two of his performance quirks. “Don’t close your eyes on top notes!” he’s told and “Don’t shake your head – try nodding instead to seem more positive!” With an attentive audience on his case, the tenor safely negotiates these small but significant changes in his final version. Caroline Dowdle also shares an important life tip – if you want to scare someone in a dark alley, break into an operatic aria!
James Garnon is in charge of the last session in which baritone, Hector Bloggs, tackles Figaro’s ‘Largo al factotum’ from Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’. Figaro introduces himself to the audience and to the city as the barber who can do everything. Hector Bloggs receives cheers for his performance. James Garnon is interested in Figaro’s motivation. ‘What does he want this aria to achieve?’ Lucrative business. The context is important: as the singer and many of the audience have forgotten, Figaro was previously in the Duke’s employment, and has left his servile position to gain freedom. But has he? Garnon suggests that he “protests too much”. The singer and tutor agree that Figaro has swapped one master for many masters, and every morning has to psych himself up for the day ahead. A traditional version of Figaro would elicit humour from mocking his clients – through mime and the varied voices in the ‘Figaro, Figaro’ repeats. Instead, James Garnon suggests, a more interesting Figaro might mimic the different versions of himself he has to present. Hector Bloggs is allowed the full six minutes to reprise the aria. It’s different from before, it’s wonderful, but does this idea work fully as a concept? The cheers would suggest that it does. As they subside, Hector Bloggs moves forward to begin “Brüderlein und Schwesterlein” from Strauss’s ‘Die Fledermaus.’ The other singers join in from around the room, serenading individual audience members. A beautiful end to the afternoon.
This has been an engrossing concert, with music-making of the highest quality and much to think about. You can find out more about Samling on their website Home | Samling Institute for Young Artists where anyone interested in future events can sign up for the newsletter. The next two Masterclasses at Marchmont House will take place on Saturday 8th March and Saturday 2nd August. It’s a 40 mile drive from Edinburgh and bus transport is available from Berwick-upon-Tweed Railway Station. Very highly recommended!
Photo credit: (c) Mark Pinder photography
