. . . OK so I was out singing Razzle Dazzle from Chicago and when I got to the part where i sing how can they SPOT you GOT no talents some Joe on the other side of the piano points at me and shouts YOU GOT NO TALENT! OK so I finished the song, and walked around the piano and . . . . . . congratulated the buffoon on his very witty ad lib. He said Its too bad we dont have any fun here. ( = jest). So 2 of my past girlfriends and now just friends were of the schoolmarm persuasion and often urged me to NEVER ad-lib in a song, but to always do it straight as written and as laid down in many previous renditions. But to me that is nice but some improvisation is a necessary part of life, or you might as well be watching a mannequin backed by a canned recording. Now the exception to that is the transcendent performance which is a written, yet imbues the lyrics, melody and dynamics, and expression with an enlivened and shimmering life-ful-ness. OK in that case I will sit still and listen to a straight performance with no ad-libs. But a lackluster or ordinary performance as written tends to be a bit boring unless we can urge them to emote, express, or improvise. Some people cannot tolerate that and get flustered or annoyed, or lose concentration and have to quit in mid opus. Such singers would probably never make it in Italy where I have heard the audience cheers or hoots at opera singers like they were baseball players. I have not been there yet, but i should have been many times, since we have a famous Grammy winning opera singer in our family, Diane Curry, who has sung in Europe, the Far East, and all across the American continent(s). When we saw her in NYC in June I neglected to get a picture of her in front of her Grammy certificate. I think it was for the mezzo soprano solo in the Verdi Requiem. Oh well, maybe next time.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 22:58:43 +0000
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