Not dead yet! (The Classical Music Version)

God, I love what I do!

I am fully aware that I am extremely blessed to be able to say that. I am similarly fully aware that I occasionally need reminders, as I am easily annoyed, made gruff, or otherwise prone to be pissy about the day-to-day turns of my life. It is indeed strange that an abundance of the very thing one seeks often causes one to begrudge the thing.

I digress. It seems particularly appropriate as Thanksgiving nears, to take stock of one's life and express one's gratitude. I have rather a lot to be thankful for!

In absolutely no particular order:
- I am well.
- I am housed. In a home I own (or rather, am in the generation-long process of owning).
- I am employed.
- I am singing. A lot.
- I am appreciated for the singing I do.
- I am teaching others to sing well and enjoy the gift of singing.
- I am appreciated for the teaching I do.
- I am blessed with amazing family whom I love dearly and miss terribly.
- I am blessed with friendships I in no way deserve, and treasure all the more because of it.
- I have seen and continue to see parts of the world others can only dream of.
- School has not yet killed me. And is almost over.

So yes, I love what I do.

One of the reasons I love what I do is because I am able to see it in all of its glory and ugliness. Which requires, among other things, a seriously healthy sense of humor.

In my Bach Cantatas class we discussed various methodologies for studying the cantata canon, and really, classical music as a whole. One of the controversies is whether to view/study/perform the literature as museum pieces or as living entities with relevance to our current age and lives.

I hope that what I do and what I teach others to do is the latter. Informed by the former. Yeah, I like it both ways sometimes.

In other words, in order to perform Bach (per esempio), do I need to immerse myself in 18th century German Lutheranism as practiced in Weimar, Muhlhausen and Leipzig, or do I need to look into the music and see what Old Johnny has to say to Divameg in 2007?

Here's a perfect example:




There are some who would look at that and faint dead away, aghast that such a travesty had been perpetrated upon Puccini's most perfect aria (a.k.a. Soprano National Anthem #1). To their credit, none of my friends and colleagues have reacted that way thus far.

Another way to look at it is to applaud the ingenuity that lead two (sets of) people to find a common ground between their (apparently) divergent musical performing genres. Or to listen exceedingly carefully to the "Pips," hear that they are perfectly translating the gist– nay, the essence– of the text of the aria (fortunately, there's also a scrolling supertitle), and rejoice that they are making a "dead" art relevant to a generation that frequents the Galleria more than the Wortham.

Or you could just be me and scream, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant," while laughing hysterically.

Happy Thanksgiving, Hobbit Fans! I am also extremely grateful for you. All four of you.