Mid-Somerset madness

Actually, there wasn’t very much madness about it, but it makes a good headline. I competed as planned in the Mid-Somerset Festival yesterday, in two classes: the Handel aria class (where I performed Cara Sposa from Rinaldo) , and the English-language song after 1940 class (where I performed Dear March, come in! by Copland). In both I neither distinguished nor disgraced myself.

With hindsight I realise that I should have committed my songs to memory earlier, as this would have allowed me to concentrate more in performance on the expressive touches which the adjudicator found wanting. Losing my voice for a week earlier this month didn’t help, but the fact remains that I would have found this task less daunting if I were more in the habit of learning music from memory!

The adjudicator also commented (à propos Handel) that my tone was a bit uneven and generally my singing needed more physical involvement. This is a fair comment and Jane Manning said much the same to me when I took part in a workshop with her a couple of years ago, so there must be something in it. I admit that I can be lazy in this respect, particularly if I’m concentrating on other aspects of performance. Partly it is the legacy of some tension problems I used to have and which I hope I’ve now banished for good. But I sometimes sing as if they were still there. Also, in the past I’ve spent too much time in choirs where I was forced to choose between singing with projection and focus, and blending in with the people around me. In one case I even had to put up with persistent critical comments in my hearing about this from another singer. I vowed not to be intimidated into singing badly, but I still have a tendency to keep my head down (in both senses!)

Do I regret entering the competition? No. Would I do it again? Yes, I think so, if only to see if I could improve on my performances this time.

I used to be on an email list for singers and I remember how boring it could be when people analysed their own performances and technique at length. I’ll write again soon, about the Brahms Requiem (tomorrow night!)