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Author Archives: Roland
Roland receives award from ASME National
At the ASME (Australian Society of Music Education) National Conference XXII held in Perth at the University of Western Australia 2-4 October 2019, Roland was presented with the Music: Educating For Life Award, one of six given across Australia.
For more information click here
Simon Rattle “Conducting Is Hard”
‘Conducting is hard – it doesn’t get easier’: Simon Rattle’s top conducting tips18 Classic FM September 2017
Simon Rattle explains the complex role of the conductor. This sheds light on how and what a conductor does in rehearsal to ensure the best experience for everyone.
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/sir-simon-rattle/conducting-is-hard-advice-tips/
Somewhere Over The Rainbow – sung by Judy Garland in 1955
When compared to the smooth rendition of Over The Rainbow in the film click here, this performance may sound very choppy, slightly desperate and at time rather raw. … Here we see Garland 16 years later, and we can ‘hear’ how much of life she’s experienced. At times it’s as if we’re watching her battle every emotional demon in her life. But somewhere, in those final moments, she seems to make the decision that she’s going to survive. And at the moment it doesn’t matter whether or not the tone is beautiful, the pitch is perfect, or if the whole performance is a bit wobbly. All that matters is that for a moment, she allowed us to see so clearly into her heart.
To listen to the 1955 version, click here and enjoy!
From Popular Singing and Style by Donna Soto-Morettini 2nd edition page 234.
This performance comparison is illuminating when evaluating accuracy and artistry. When does “very choppy, slightly desperate and at time rather raw” become feelingful music? How does a performer achieve this without being judged as having poor rhythm?
The impact of Judy Garland’s 1955 singing is very emotional. How does the conductor accompany an interpretation like this. I imagine that the interpretation in rehearsals may not have been anything like the performance.
Wonderful singing and a wonderful challenge to be conducting the accompaniment. I would love to do that!
Roland.
Donna: Women In Music
http://www.drama-musica.com/Donne.html
Why are there so few female composers?
But are they really so few?
Today the buzz is all around a woman’s place in the world. There’s lots of long overdue debate about the roles and opportunities for women in classical music too. However no one can deny that western music is historically dominated by men. No wonder that women, more than men, lose motivation to continue studying music and musical composition.
“I want to show to the world (to the degree that it is granted to me in this profession of music) the foolish error of men, who so greatly believe themselves to be masters of high intellectual gifts which cannot, it seems to them, be equally common among women.”Maddalena Casulana (Italy, c.1544 – c.1590)
You see, even in the sixteenth century, this gender imbalance was evident! According to the International Encyclopedia of Women Composers by Aaron I. Cohen, there are more than 6,000 female composers who didn’t give up – and that list was complete only up until 1984. Through the present day women have made a significant contribution to music but often than not their contribution has been overlooked. We cannot ignore the fact that many of those who are recognized have had to face more hardship and resistance to their achievements than men – it has certainly not been a level playing field. Even when their work has been praised, women are less rewarded for it.
Donne and Drama Musica are standing firm for women composers and we invite you all to join us on this journey.
Let us praise the composers of the past, let us nurture and appreciate women composers writing new music now and with our hearts and souls let us encourage those who compose in the future. Help keep these women’s names and their music alive.
Spread the word and join us in recognising that women are musical geniuses too.
DONNE is my way, as a musician, to share with as many people as possible the fascinating stories of so many neglected women composers. Sadly, many of them were unrecognised in their lifetimes and, for a series of reasons, their music was allowed to disappear from the public ear, unacknowledged and ignored.
By raising awareness about the huge inequality that we currently experience when it comes to knowing these women and hearing their music, we hope to help to create a more equal world for future generations.
That’s how an adventure starts…
Discover the lost world of women in music. Hear their stories in this website and listen to live interviews with women composers making their mark in the music world, now, today.
Welcome to DONNE! Join us and help us to spread the word.
Gabriella Di Laccio
Founder & Curator
DONNE Women in Music
Every conductor’s behaviour must be above reproach
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/the-sex-lives-of-conductors/
Seminar: Music Expression in the Ensemble Rehearsal
This seminar was presented on Wednesday 28th June 2017 at the GWS / ABODA Conducting Workshop Program.
The presenter was Roland Yeung.
Click here to download a pdf of the presentation.
Please note that this is for private use only without permission. Please contact the author to give feedback and request further use of the material.
An Orchestra Gets With It – Turn Your Phone On!
What an interesting idea to incorporate mobile phones into a concert. I like it.
http://www.interlude.hk/front/orchestra-gets-turn-phone/
http://www.interlude.hk/front/orchestra-gets-turn-phone/
Concert Violinist Christian Tetzlaff’s Advice: Live a Musical Life—Without Armor
Tetzlaff describes how he approaches learning and performing. Terrific words that are worth considering. Enjoy.
Concert Violinist Christian Tetzlaff’s Advice: Live a Musical Life—Without Armor
Conductor Herbert von Karajan: controversy in 8 quotes
http://www.classical-music.com/article/controversy-karajan-eight-quotes
http://www.classical-music.com/article/controversy-karajan-eight-quotes
The controversy of Karajan in eight quotes
What have critics and performers said about the formidable Austrian conductor over the years?
3 December 2014 – 12:34pm
Nearly 30 years after the death of Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, his affiliation with Nazi Germany and his dictatorial approach to conducting still cause controversy. We take look at eight things critics and performers have said about the controversial conductor over the years…
• Read more: The trouble with Karajan
Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler reacts to positive Karajan reviews in 1940
‘If they [the critics] overrate material qualities such as the technique of conducting from memory, they are prizing hard work instead of artistic practice. They are aligning themselves with the stupid people who never seem to be in short supply, and who feel nostalgic for the circus when they are in the concert hall.’
Joseph Goebbels, 1940
‘The Führer has a very low opinion of Karajan and his conducting’
Walter Legge on Karajan contract negotiations, 1958
‘Now proudly conscious of his unique eminence, and having more power and authority than any conductor ever had, [he] is out for his last ounce of flesh, both in conditions and for the satisfaction of his ego.’
Critic Neville Cardus, 1960
‘All over the world, people go in herds to see and hear him. He is undoubtedly a master of the orchestra, and he has some hypnotic power, though he often conducts with closed eyes…’
Violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin
‘To the very end, he was accustomed to exercising authority, perhaps without compassion. I don’t know to what extent he was a compassionate man.’
Conductor John Eliot Gardiner
‘I got the impression from the concerts I attended towards the end of his life that there was something almost evil in the way he exerted the power, and that that was to the detriment of the music.’
Conductor Mariss Jansons
‘Often in rehearsal Karajan didn’t conduct. The art was to make the orchestra listen to itself. Critics sniped but, for musicians, what he did bordered on the miraculous.’
Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade describes Karajan recording Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande
‘Karajan had been all concentration. All the normal things you associate with recording – time, money, the worries you have – had simply vanished. The music was so important to him, the real world seemed to fall away.’
Read more…
• Blog: John Bridcut on Karajan’s Magic and Myth