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Singing the
praises of Mozart Famed tenor and master teacher David Gordon returns to the Mozart Society of California this season with three talented friends and boundless enthusiasm for Wolfgang Amadeus. "It's not a concert," Gordon said. "It's an informal evening in which we sing, talk about singing and reminisce about singing Mozart." Joining Gordon will be soprano Jenni Samuelson, baritone Jeffrey Fields and fleet-fingered virtuoso accompanist Daniel Lockert at the keyboard. The quartet will explore the questions: Why is Mozart's music so difficult to sing, and why do all singers need to sing it in order to really learn the art of singing? Arias and duets from Mozart's greatest operas will be chosen: "Don Giovanni," "The Magic Flute," "Marriage of Figaro" and "Cosi Fan Tutte."
He writes in his program notes for the Mozart encounter: "The architectural purity of Mozart's vocal lines is simultaneously a challenge and a blessing for singers! It's often said by vocalists that 'Mozart gives you no place to hide.' The voice is profiled, exposed, highlighted in a way incomparable with any other composer's music. That clarity of structure is the prime awareness for Mozartian singers. "To paraphrase Arthur Schnabel, 'It is not the quantity of notes that matters in Mozart's music, it is the quality of the notes.'" He said the singer's quest for technical skill does not necessarily lead to artistry. But the quest for artistry always involves technique, and that is what Mozart inspires singers to develop. Gordon's international career has evolved impressively through the decades as a distinguished professional opera and concert tenor and then as a sought-after educator, lecturer, choral director, seminar presenter, vocal coach and administrator. He has appeared as featured guest soloist with virtually every major North American symphony orchestra and with prestigious orchestras and music festivals on four continents. On the international operatic stage, Gordon has performed 59 principal tenor roles with the Metropolitan Opera; San Francisco Opera; Chicago Lyric Opera; Houston Grand Opera; Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center; Hamburg Staatsoper (Germany), and other international companies. He has been heard worldwide in hundreds of performances of J.S.Bach's music. As soloist, lecturer and master class presenter, he has appeared at every major North American Bach festival, as well as Bach festivals in Europe, South America, and Japan. He now serves as the director of education of the Carmel Bach Festival, directs the festival's Adams Vocal Master Class, and directs and prepares the 40-voice Carmel Bach Festival Chorus. His singing can be heard on 15 classical CDs for RCA Red Seal, Decca, London, BMG, Telarc, Dorian, Newport, nonesuch, and Vox. He lives in Carmel Valley. Soprano Jenni Samuelson performs regularly on the opera and concert stage in a wide repertoire of operatic roles. She has performed with San Francisco Opera Center, Cinnabar Opera, Chicago Light Opera Works, San Francisco Pocket Opera, West Bay Opera, Palm Beach Opera, San Francisco Opera Guild, Opera San Jose, Western Union Theater, Eugene Opera, Skylight Opera of Milwaukee and Western Opera Theater. She was a 2001 Virginia Best Adams Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival and a three time regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Baritone Jeffrey Fields has performed regularly throughout California as a concert soloist since moving to the Bay Area in 1999. In 1998, he was an Adams Fellow and has had numerous solo appearances there since. He sings regularly with Philharmonia Baroque and Orchestra and American Bach Soloists. He recently was heard in the role of Jesus in Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" at the Bach Festival. Fields' broad ranging repertoire includes Marcello in Puccini's "La Boheme," Papageno in Mozart's "Die Zauberflote" and Herod in Massenet's "Herodiade," as well as a concert works, oratorios and art song. Pianist Daniel Lockert has a devoted local following as a keyboardist of astounding virtuosity and range. As soloist or collaborator, he is equally versatile on the piano, organ and harpsichord, in music ranging from Bach and Handel to Sondheim and Gershwin. He has accompanied singers, instrumentalists, and choral groups throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. As a harpsichordist and continuo player, Daniel was featured at the Carmel Bach Festival for 10 seasons. During that time he worked closely with David Gordon to re-design and develop the festival's Vocal Master Class. Encountering Mozart promises to be a effervescent, informative and musically rewarding evening. It's also a rare opportunity to be invited inside the intimate creative process of accomplished professional singers -- and a terrific accompanist.
What: Mozart Society of California presents "Encountering Mozart: David Gordon & Friends" Where: Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel When: 8 p.m Friday, Jan. 21 Tickets: $27
general, $10 students, available at The Bookmark in Pacific Grove,
Thunderbird in Carmel and Bay Books in Monterey or at the box
office © 2005 Monterey County Herald
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According to Gordon the
opera arias of Mozart are a benchmark for serious singers, an
essential rite of passage in the development of vocal talent.