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Issue 22

1 March 2013

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De bijzondere vomrentaal van een bijzondere architect: René van Zuuk

Julia Thornton, international opera singer:

The voice as a musical instrument

ramatic soprano Julia Thornton made her

debut with Theater Freiburg in June 2008 as

Helmwige in their acclaimed new production of Die

Walküre (by Wagner). She repeated this role in the

ensuing 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012

seasons in Freiburg.

In August 2007 she debuted in the role of Micaela in

Carmen with the State Opera Orchestra of Plovdiv,

Bulgaria, for Opera Classica Europe. Other operatic

roles have included Countess in Le nozze di Figaro,

for the Oxford University Opera, the Governess in

The Turn of the Screw for the Britten-Pears School,

Aldeburgh and Nedda in Pagliacci, aso for the Ope-

ra Classica Europe.

In the 2009/2010 season she performed the role of

Brünhilde in Theater Freiburg’s unique hip-hop ope-

ra for teenagers and young adults Der Rap des Ni-

belungen. Everything she sang was from Richard

Wagner’s original score, but working with professio-

nal musicians from the Berlin hip-hop/rap scene,

she also learned how to rap; she was highly praised

for her vocal and acting skills. Julia has sung inter-

nationally as a concert singer.

In March 2012 she enjoyed great personal success

for her appearances as soprano soloist at the inau-

gural Música em Trancoso International Festival in

the Brazilian state of Bahia, performing arias by

Puccini, Verdi, Gershwin and Bernstein, with the

Orquestra Juvenil da Bahia under their conductor

Ricardo Castro alongside artists such as Katia and

Marielle Labeque and soloists from the Berlin

Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2006 she toured Brazil, singing the soprano

solo in Verdi’s Messa di Requiem and an

Italian opera gala programme (featuring arias

and duets from La Bohème, Tosca and the

2nd Act Finale of Aida ) in prestigous venues.

D

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julia thornton - sings francis poulenc

Julia Thornton —

“Fêtes galantes”

by francis poulenc (Audio excerpt )

Francis Poulenc 1899-1963

Francis Poulenc was a well-known

French composer, who wrote solo

piano music, chamber music, oratorio,

choral music, opera, ballet music and

orchestral music. He was a member

of the French “Groupe des Six”, with

Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud,

Tailleffere and Satie. The name “Les

Six” was given in 1920 by the critic

Henri Collet to this group of six com-

posers working in Montparnasse in

Paris. Their music is often seen as a

reaction against the musical style of

Richard Wagner and the impressio-

nist music of Claude Debussy and

Maurice Ravel. Francis Poulenc was

born in an industrial family, which ga-

ve its name to the pharmaceutical

company Rhône-Poulenc.

His mother, a gifted pianist, gave him

first piano lessons when he was still

very young. As a composer Poulenc

was an autodidact; he presented his

first work to the public when he was

about 18, without ever having been

taught composition. Poulenc is said to

have been able to create new melo-

dies at a time when it was felt there

was little scope left for new develop-

ments in music. His first surviving

composition, Rapsodie Nègre (1917),

caught the attention of one of the

most influential composers of the 20th

century: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky.

Live recording in Freiburg, Germany, with

pianist Hansjakob Staemmler, April 2011.

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ulia Thornton, was born and educated in

the cathedral city of Chester, England.

She trained at the Royal Northern College of

Music and, after completing her studies in Man-

chester, she took part in master classes at the

Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Stu-

dies in Aldeburgh (Great Britain). Benjamin Brit-

ten (1913-1976) was one of the great compo-

sers of the twentieth century, and Peter Pears

(1910-1986) one of its outstanding tenors.

“I was very shy as a young child,” Julia says.

“In fact my parents were advised by a doctor

to try ballet lessons for me, to encourage me to

‘come to myself’. This is how I discovered my

love of music - through dance. I took ballet les-

sons until I was about 16 years old, studying at

quite a small, famous school of dancing, but

gradually I found classical music, and especial-

ly opera, much more interesting. At school I

played the cello and the flute. But I started

having singing lessons at the age of 16. Then,

at the Royal Northern College of Music in Man-

chester, where I studied, I took acting lessons.

I think my training as a ballet dancer helped me

a lot to move well on stage. I gradually devel-

oped from a lyric to a dramatic soprano. To sing

dramatic roles you need more: more intensity,

more contrast, more support from your body,

more voice, more words. Perseverance is also

very important; being an opera singer is such a

long road, you have to develop your voice,

which takes years. But my technique is founded

on lyricism, I still sing lyric repertoire. At the mo-

ment I study Aida, “I love working with my coa-

ches on Aida. There are so much challenges in

Aida. Technically, Verdi demands everything

from his soprano - you have to sing softly, loud-

ly, dramatically, lyrically, and soar over the or-

chestra, spinning out long phrases. It is physi-

cally challenging but also beautifully written for

the voice. Verdi knew the soprano voice so well

by this stage. Understanding the libretto is of

course also incredibly important, and portraying

the character.” After her study at the Britten-

Pears School Julia was a private student of

celebrated Czech soprano Antonie Denygrová

in Prague. Since 2003, she has studied with re-

nowned singing teacher Anna Reynolds and vo-

cal coach Margaret Singer, and she is also

being trained, to master her Italian repertoire, by

the well-known vocal coach Rolando Garza.

(All audio excerpts are from Markus

Weiser, e-mail: markus@mwpunkt.de)

“Liebestod”,

Tristan & Isolde, Wagner

(Audio excerpt)

J Julia Thornton: From a ballet dancer to an opera singer

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Julia Thornton: 3 vocal coa ches, 1 voice Fine-tuning the voice: an art in its own right

Julia Thornton has been working with three vocal coaches to pre-pare herself for the next steps in her career: Rolando Garza, Margaret Singer and Anna Reynolds. At the moment she still takes coaching sessions with Rolando Garza in Basel and Margaret Singer in Karsruhe. Her aim is to master more dramatic, difficult pieces, to enrich her repertoire and to continue to improve her vocal qualities. Julia emphasises that mezzo soprano Anna Reynolds was the one who guided her first towards a more drama- tic repertoire. “The most important thing she taught me was to support my voice with the whole body. With Mar-garet, we often talk about the character that I'm singing, her motivation, getting inside the skin, the personality of the person I am playing. Singing Italian music requires a slightly different technical approach and that’s why I have chosen Rolando to help me with this.” The human voice is like any other instrument, in that it not only needs careful attention and handling, but also main-tenance. This means practising, almost “gently caressing” it, but most of all, not overburdening it. The human voice is the mu-sical pearl of the body and needs to be treated with the utmost respect. This also means observing a careful diet and even antici-pating weather conditions. Both warm and cold temperatures can affect the voice. Carried by the breath flowing through the body, like water through a river, the voice should be embedded in a healthy physique. Singing with feeling therefore not only requires the ut-most concentration, mental strength and years of practice, but also having control of external circumstances and self-awareness. Fine-

Mexican Rolando Garza from Basel — Studying the role of Aida

Since about 1 year Julia Thornton works with met Rolanda Garza, a much-praised conductor, opera,

gala and vocal coach in Basel, especially chosen by her to study her Italian repertoire. Rolando Gar-

za arrived in New York at the age of 23,

where he studied piano at the Manhattan

School of Music in New York City. After

achieving his master, he stayed there as a

coach and worked with some of the best vo-

cal coaches of the Metropolitan Opera in the

United States. He also worked in the vocal

studio of Mignon Dunn, a leading American

mezzo-soprano. Rolando Garza, born in

Mexico, speaks fluently Italian.He is the one

Julia Thornton chose to study Aida by Giu-

seppe Verdi, one of her musical dreams.

Giuseppe Verdi wrote the music for the

world-famous opera in 4 acts in 1871.

Rolando Garza specializes in Italian opera, having studied Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Bellini.

The Swiss-Mexican vocal coach was engaged as the répétiteur for the premiere of Bernard Lang’s

opera “Der Alte vom Berge” (The Old Man of the Mountain) at Theater Basel in 2007. He is regularly

invited to act as a conductor and vocal coach at opera summer schools.

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Anna Reynolds - Leading soprano who sang the greatest roles

The famous English mezzo-soprano, Anna Reynolds ( born as Ann), was a leading British mezzo-soprano with a strong Italian operatic career. She studied piano as a girl. It was to train as a pianist that she went to London to attend the Royal Academy of Music. While she was there, her vocal talent became clear, and she changed her area of study to vocal teacher. She went to Rome to continue her vocal studies with Debora Fambri and Re Koster. She sang major roles as Geneviève

in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and also Ortensia (La pietra del paragone) and Annina (Der Rosenkavalier). In 1963 she performed the part of the Angel in Edward Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius in London. Reynolds first sang at the Metropolitan Ope-ra in 1968-1969, as Flosshilde in Wagner's Das Rheingold. Julia Thornton studied with Anna Reynolds from 2003 until about 2010. She looks back at an instructive period, in which she learned a lot from her. Julia: ”Anna taught me to sing with my body, not just with my throat, to support my voice pro-perly, to sing a real legato line and to sing simply - not to put "extra" effects on to my voice or try to make it bigger than it is, just to sing with my "real" voice. This is harder than you think. She also learned me to place the

voice properly - so that the sound has lots of over-resonances and carries well. And, very impor-tant, to pay attention to the composer's markings and the text. She improved my technique a lot.”.

Margaret Singer: Working with the greatest of classical music

Julia Thorntons American vocal coach, Margaret Singer, is what is called in opera a répétiteur, a

skilled musician responsible for coaching solo singers and choir members and playing the piano for

music and production rehearsals. Margaret Singer is an experienced vocal coach, who accompa-

nied the greatest artists of classical music. She worked with the Three Great Tenors: José Car-

reras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. She even accompanied Dame Eva Turner in her

private studio in Oklahoma. ” Margaret felt honoured to study and work with the Legend of Opera,

Eva Turner, (“The Professor of Voice”), who once said: “When at 13 I saw ’Il Trovatore’ by Verdi, I

knew I had to sing.” Margaret also accompanied Leonard Bernstein, Ingrid Bjoner, James King and

Tatjana Serjan. Later she practised with young talented singers such as Thomas Hampson and

Sharon Sweet, who made enormous careers.

Margaret Singer was about 9 or 10 when she

started accompanying her mother on the piano,

while her mother sang. “Already at the age of 12

I started accompanying singing

teachers and worked with singers. I

studied at the Royal Academy of

Music in London, after graduating

from Oklahoma College for

Women.” “I do a lot of German reper-

toire with Julia, but I am also going to

work with her on Aida. We have al-

ready done some arias togehter.

I have done an Aida production at the

well-known Bregenz Festival in

Austria and I know it very well.

And I think Julia is ready for Aida.”

Vocal coach Margaret Singer together with

Julia Thonton in her private studio in Germany

Brazilian passion: music exploding in the open air

In 2012 opera star Julia Thornton performed in the Musical Festival “Música em Trancoso”, in the

region of Bahia, in Brazil (2012). It was the start of a wonderful, new classical musical festival near

the beach of Trancoso (Souht-Brazil?), between sea, cliffs and wonderful nature, where a new amfi-

theatre is being buillt. The initiative for this festival was taken by four idealists, who created a special

festival in a special atmosphere:Sabine Lovatelli,

the Musical Director of the Festival and the founder

of the “Mozarteum Brasileiro”; Carlos Eduardo Bitten-

court, a multi-talented man, the famous Luxembourg-

based architect François Valentiny, and Reinold

Geiger, a Brazilian businessman who is always on the

look-out for new challenges. Together they founded

an impressive theatre and festival, thus giving both

|the Brazilian people, and music lovers from all over the

world a ’musical and cultural gift’.

“Música em Trancoso”, which started in 2012, is a

superb eight-day event in an idyllic spot on the Brazilian

coast and offers classical and popular concerts.

Over 200 musicians, ranging from members of Brazilian

youth orchestras to major names in classical and contem-

porary Brazilian and international music come to Trancoso.

In 2012 the festival took place in an auditorium of an amfi-

theatre which is still under construction.

Julia Thornton loved singing in “Música em Trancoso”.

She sensed the special atmospere, and felt ‘ in touch’ with

the audience, who enthusiasitically welcomed her. She

performed four times in the Brazilian Music Festival in

Trancoso, twice a duet with the well-known Polish tenor

Tadeusz Szlenkier, and twice she performed as a soloist.

Julia:”Singing in the open air requires a special skill as a singer. But fortunately I have had a lot of ex-

perience with this, so I know the right approach. In fact, I have done almost more open-air concerts

than anything else! When singing in the open air, you can’t hear your own voice as easily as if you

are singing in the theatre, where the acoustic can be much more resonant. Often the music appears

just to disappear into the space in front of you and you have to be careful not to push or strain your

voice. So you have to be very sure of your vocal technique. Because your sound is not being made

outside, you need to concentrate on

producing your warmest, richest sound.

Perhaps some delicate nuances will get

lost, these are not so important in an

open-air concert as giving the audience

a glorious legato line and a rich sound.

For this you have to support your voice

especially strongly with your body – it is

hard work physically!

In Trancoso Julia sang the aria

“Summertime” from Porgy and Bess

by George Gershwin (watch video clip

next page), and also “Mi chiamano

Mimi” from La Bohème by Puccini.

Finally she performed the aria “Tracea

la notte placida” from “Il Trovatore”.

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Polish-English synergy in 2012 Brazilian Music Festival

Spinto tenor Tadeusz Szlenkier and dramatic soprano

Julia Thornton conquered the hearts of the audience

Polish tenor Tadeusz Szlenkier, born in Warsaw, studied philosophy at the University of Warsaw.

He completed his vocal studies at Yale University in the USA. He won the first prize on International

Vocal Competition Klassik-Mania in Vienna. Since that time he has performed in many important the-

atres across Poland, and abroad. Tadeusz, who describes himself as being “somewhere in between

a lyric tenor and a spinto tenor”,

very much enjoyed performing with

Julia Thornton in the Music Festival

of Trancoso. Tadeusz: ”Julia is a

wonderful professional. She evol-

ved from a lyric soprano to a dra-

matic soprano. She is continuously

making progress. We work very well

together, there is a synergy between

us, which is important. in opera.

The singing and acting skills of the opera singers must complement each other.“’

Sabine Lovateli, the Musical

Director of the 2012 festival

of Trancoso, Brazil, was

very satisfied with the per-

formances of Julia Thornton

and Tadeusz Sklenkier.

Sabine Lovatelli:”They were

one of the factors that made

the Festival succeed. It was

a totally new Festival and

singing in the open air is not

at all easy. They conquered

the hearts of the audience.

Julia had a good expression

and a wonderful voice. She

immediately caught the au-

dience. She opened and

closed the festival with Ta-

deusz. We had several youth orchestras of Brazil and we also invited soloists and instrumentalists

from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and the Bayerische

Rundfunk. The Festival became a roaring success.”

Stage Fright

The great Italian operatic tenor, Enrico Caruso, who sang to great acclaim at the major opera hou-

ses of Europe and North and South America, was known to have suffered from stage fright. He used

to say that his throat was paralyzed due to spasms caused by intense fear. Nevertheless, by sepa-

king aurthorastively, he managed to overcome his fear. Julia Thornton admits that “there is alway a

certain excitement before she has to come on stage, but rahter than anxiety, I experencie more a

knd of tension that raises my adrenalin levels and makes me perform better.” Tadeusz says opera

singing is very demanding, especially for a huge audience, and you have to be mentally very strong

and concentrated. I always feel a lot of anxiety before I perform, but you need to control yourself.”

1813-2013: 200 years Richard Wagner, the master of ‘music dramas’

A man who was far ahead of his time

2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wagner. The famous composer (1813 – 1883) is primarily known for his operas (or, as Wagner himself called some of his later works, "music dramas"). His significance as a com-poser and muscial innovator is undisputed. Some regard him as one of the greatest composers of all times, because he wrote the librettos of his operas as well as the music. Wag-er’s poetic gifts have been highly praised. He was also a conductor, theatre director and an inveterate polemicist.

His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are no-table for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestra-tion, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases as-sociated with individual characters, places, ideas or plot ele-ments. His musical language greatly influenced the develop-ment of classical music; his piece of art Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music. Other famous operas of Wagner are “Die Walküre”, “Rienzi”, “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, “”Parsifal”, “”die Meistersinger,”, “Götterdämmerung”, “Siegfried”, “der fliegende HoLländer” and “das Liebesverbot”, which he al-ready wrote at the age of 22. One of his first successes was the opera “”Rienzi” , the opera which received of a lot succes in Dresden in 1842,

Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his re-putation as a composer of works which were very romantic, Wagner transformed operatic thought through his concept of the Ge-samtkunstwerk ("total work of art"). It sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama, and was announced in a series of essays between 1849 and 1852. Das Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, Germany.

Wagner realized these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibe-lungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). He had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspiel-haus, which contained many novel design features. It was here that his most important stage works continue to be performed today in an annual festival run by his des-cendants. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throug-hout the 20th century; their influence spread beyond composition into con-ducting, philosophy, literature, visual arts and theatre. Julia Thornton first sang with the Bayreuth Festival Chorus whilst still a stu-dent at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1993 until the year 2006, when she left to concentrate on solo work. Her associa-tion with the works of Richard Wagner continues, however: she sang the role of Helmwige in Frei-burg Opera’s production of Die Walküre in 2008/9 and Brünnhilde in Frei-burgs hip-hop opera project “The Nibelung Rap.”

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Melina Russo: The Seamstress behind the Singer

Where would an opera star be without her

dressmaker? Julia Thornton has chosen

Melina Russo as her special dressmaker.

This full-blooded Sicilian craftswoman can

turn her hand to any item of clothing she

sets eyes on, from skirts, evening dresses,

blouses, trousers, wedding dresses, and ga-

la gowns to stoles and theatrical costumes.

Melina Russo is a fully fledged “sarta maes-

tra” (master seamstress). She studied fash-

ion design in Catania, Sicily, and has years

of practical experience in combining colours

and picking out the right materials.

“A woman needs to feel free - certainly at

the opera,”’ says Melina. “ The gown an

opera singer wears must be elegant and

even extravagant. It must fit perfectly so that

she feels good on stage. And it must im-

press the audience the moment she steps

on stage, creating a glamorous image right

from the start. It’s a very satisfying feeling to

see a singer wearing one of my dresses on

stage. “È una cosa bellissima.”

“A soprano’s best friends is her dressmaker” “People really love the clothes I wear,” says Julia Thornton. “It is very important for me to look good and feel good when I sing.” Melina Russo is a professional seamstress at Freiburg Theatre, who made the elegant stoles for me and altered my dresses so that they fitted perfectly. A soprano's best friend is her dressmaker! Melina not only has the fee-ling and knowledge needed to make a perfect gown, she also knows down to the last detail how it should be worn.” Melina Russo, born in Sicily, has been one of the regular staff of professional tailors turning out dresses and costu-mes at the Freiburg Theatre for the past 18 years. She also has a private practice in Freiburg, making bespoke clothing for men and women, She started learning the art of dress- and costume-making from a young age.“The only way of learning all the secrets of this craft is to work in a private atelier.” Melina learned what it takes to be a good seam-stress in Catania on Sicily. “You have to have a feeling for how an opera singer should wear a dress,” she says. “Dressmaking for an opera singer is a highly specialised skill. I learned the tricks of the trade at the fashion design school in Catania, and I had my own atelier there for 11 years. It is a very rewarding profession. You have to know how to put your heart into your creations. Fashion design is at a very high level throughout Italy. True fashion comes from Italy.”

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Transforming “The Nibelung Ring” into “The Nibelung Rap”

Opera meets rap at the Freiburg Theatre ; Brünnhilde sings while Siegfrieds raps

Sonja Doerbeck

German drama coach Sonja Doerbeck from Stuttgart worked together with Markus Kosuch to produce

„The Nibelung Rap“ in the Freiburg Theatre in 2010. This hip hop opera for young people is based on

Richard Wagner‘s „Ring des Nibelungen“ („The Nibelungn Ring“), a cycle of four epic operas descri-

bed by the author as a trilogy with a preliminary evening. The cycle consists of the four works Das

Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of

the Gods), which are intended to be

performed in series.

Julia Thornton took on the title role

of Brünnhilde. Sonja Doerbeck was

very satisfied with the project and

the perfomance of Julia Thornton.

She says:“ Wagner’s Ring as a

cross culture project on stage at the

Feiburg Stadttheater with 4 opera

singers, 3 professional rappers and

Youth Crew. Julia Thornton per-

formed very well. When she was

chosen to take the role of Brünn-

hilde, there was absolutely no doubt

that an opera singer of Julia’s qual-

ity was capable of mastering the

difficult score. In this project she

also had to bring Brünnhilde to life as a dramatic character. This was no small task for an opera singer,

especially as the part of Siegfried was to be played by the professional rapper Prinz Pi. Julia had had

no expe-rience of rap rhythms but made a strong impression with her powerful singing. With the help of

the actor training she developed her own Brünnhilde. “The Nibelung Rap“ should take young people

take an alien art form, as opera is closer to the audience.”

Josef Lienhart, former President of the International Association of Wagner Societies was full of

praise for the spectacular production of “The Nibelung Rap”. ”It was most impressive. In particular the

gloomy, black-as-night passages from Götterdämmerung came over very well in rap. These threaten-

ing scenes have been transformed seamlessly from Wagnerian tone language to the language of rap.”

The 2010 Nibelung Rap, produced by director and author

Markus Kosuch and director and drama coach Sonja Doerbeck.

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