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Kim y^ith Baldwin: “a voice is many things . .

Eteano' Keals

chological and physical space) and warmiy considcr thc facia 1 exprcs-sion, gesturcs, and vocal approach, as alrnosi an apprcciator rather than as a critic, thereby bringing out thc bcst in thc performer. It’s hard to gct up-tight whcn one is working with Bald-win, and lic givcs each artist a wealth of specific technical help (pianistic and vocal), as well as much musical and poetic information along the way—including many anccdotes about Poulenc and Bcrnac. He knows every gcsturcof the musie and thc po-ctry, and has an articulate way of in-tcrlacing all this, punctuated with warmth and humor. Nobody lcavcs the stage without receiving at least one complimcnt from him, as well as whatcver constructive advice he can ofrer.

A master performer

Souzay can be a little morę intimi-dating, at limes, and it is elear whose voice and temperament hc particularly responds to. But he is a master performer, in the role of teacher, so that—in addition to his artistry and knowlcdgc— the comic side of his naturę cnablcs him to put across his points with telling compari-sons.

For Souzay, one can t be a rcal singer without ardeur. “It’s not enough to be loud,^v he oncc advised a singer who attempted Faure’s “Dam la for et de septembre."' “You have to be ardent. You don’l seem to be cpiitc involved enough, for my taste. Did you ery in your lifc? One can make such beau-tiful musie with tears. Use vour lifc! I

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don^:t like an artist who doesn't put his cxperiences into his singing. That’s like pulling something out of the fridge.”

Souzay adviscs a young so-prano singing Faure’s “A'otrę arnourf' “You must open your body, as if you were giving birth to a child. You must rcally open yourself. It was on pitch without somchow bcing on pilch. Arc you rcally involvcd, or do you sing from herc to herc? (He points from the top of her chest to ber head, ihen from her feet to her head.) You have

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to use eierythmg." To an espccially nervous performer singing RaveFs Don (.hiichotte cycle, he cautions, “You rcally have to be careful with your eyes. You rcally fool around with your rycs. In lifc it s ok?.v. but not when you sing a song!"

And speaking technically, he adviscs an interpreter of Schumanns “Mondłuicht" (“perhaps one of the most beautiful of SchumanrYs songs . . .”), “No musie is rcally im-

mobile. It alwavs movcs ahead. And

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if you sing, think that you sing for thc last row. I want you to sing piams-sirno wnth your hmbre," he says, gestur-ing toward the back of the audiencc. “And I eventuallv suggest. but you’re not obtiged to do it—a light crescendo before ‘Lande' — but your way is beautiful/'

The complete singer

Souzay agrees with Baldwin about the undue stress on opera in this country. Hc believes that a complete singer should be ablc to do botli. “Opera hclps the projection in a rcci-

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tal. and a song recital hclps thc opera singer sing well. It’s complementary. V\\th someone like Pavarotti, you eonie to hear him. With a norma 1 recital. you’re as interested in thc works as in thc performer. Sonic singers make the mistakc of thinking that whcn theyYe at the end of their opera careers, they can sing recitals. But for a recital, you need a young voice; thc ability to sing ppp_% the ability to pro-jcct. It s important to creatc recitalists among young peoplc, and that will make thc I.iederahend grow."

Souzay recognizes thc limita-tions of any teacher: “At the end, thc teacher can only tcach so much, but not the essential thing—art. It’s vcrv personal. I can teach style, projection, inierpretation, and technique . . Yet as one sees thesc dcvcloping art-ists listening to and watching thc great interpreters of Lieder, one is al-most convinccd that tfic scnsitivc singer or pianist can at least begin to learn great artistry by examplc. The Souzay/Baldwin cxample at Boulder is that compelling. >IA