Whither The Song Recital

The beloved film Harvey, in which Jimmy Stewart goes contentedly through life with an imaginary rabbit friend, contains an unforgettable scene. Elwood P. Dowd’s befuddled aunt, deliciously played by Josephine Hull, sponsors a song recital in the living room. And there on the platform, surrounded by the correct potted plants, stands a corpulent, downright bosomy soprano. She comes complete with handkerchief, 30 years before Pavarotti made them famous. Madame Singer rolls her eyes in ecstasy before literally taking off, prancing about the stage cooing, “Hop! Hop! Hop! Hippity-Hop!” The scene is very funny and it enforces the stereotype—in a film made 60 years ago—of the song recital as dull and silly.

So, what is a song recital? It is most certainly not a star concert by an enormous name with a few songs wedged in between the arias. A song recital is a presentation for one singer and a pianist that focuses on repertoire for voice and piano alone. That’s the first part of the formula. (And that part is flexible, encompassing duo recitals, and soloists performing with small instrumental ensembles). The rest is up to the artist. There are centuries of repertoire, in languages form English, German, French, Russian, Italian, all the way to Japanese and Croatian.

“I think young singers should go to the library and just read through volumes of songs,” says soprano Phyllis Curtin. She should know, having kept the song recital alive internationally for over 30 years, with programs from Liszt, Cole Porter and Mozart to Ned Rorem and Carlisle Floyd, the last two being among the many composers who have written for her voice.

“When I sing twenty songs in a recital, I tell twenty stories” —Jennie Tourel

A song recital is often repertoire rather than name-driven. Audiences have to possess at least some curiosity about music (and words). Chamber music audiences to this day will often turn out to hear Dvorak’s quintets, specific Beethoven string quartets or (even) new work. This is not the case with the song recital, which presents a barrier in the form of a foreign language.

Times have certainly changed since the early 1970s, when mezzo Jennie Tourel told an interviewer, “After I started my recitals here, I had tremendous tours with 80 cities year after year. And I feel I paved the way for others with unusual songs and programs. I sang in seven languages—I made it my business to do this, because I felt it was important to the culture of the country. Audiences were grateful to me for bringing them this unique music, and I thought it necessary for an audience to hear everything, sung with a desire to communicate.”

Tourel was speaking about concert tours she had given 20 years earlier, in the 1950s. This was the pre-visual era, when people had more disposable time and there was a market for demanding programs sung by an artist long on talent, if not glamour. Tourel was a probing and highly intelligent singer. Curtin was both and gorgeous besides. If that market still exists, then so must opportunities for young singers without the patina of a star-powered opera career, singers plugged into the song literature with an ability to communicate in several different languages to an audience eager to hear this repertoire.

“Song recitals are an endangered species. The rapid extinction of this cherished art form is of deep concern to me. Unless we pay attention now, this vital part of our musical heritage could actually cease to be a living and practiced art form.”—Marilyn Horne

Yet the opportunities seem not to exist. Neither does audience interest. Clearly, visual culture is here to stay, aided by ever-increasing technologies. And I believe that we as a public have become distrustful of introspection. TV, video and film have made it easier for us to accept entertainment that is literally in our faces, leaving the emotional muscles necessary to fully enjoy a song recital under-utilized. Use it or lose it, as they say—and we appear as a public to be losing it.

But cultural change affects the performers too, and certainly the days of standing in place and singing for oneself are long gone. Recitalists need to present exciting, varied programs, and they need to involve the audience. Above all, they need to entertain. So, what makes a good recitalist?

“I would say the ability to communicate successfully and personally with words and music are the most wonderful characteristics of the song singer,” says pianist, Warren Jones. Master teacher and coach, Jones makes annuals tours with Roberta Peters, Samuel Ramey, Denyce Graves and Stephanie Blythe. “One of my favorite singers is Dolly Parton, due to this ability on her part. When I have seen her in person, she gives me the impression that she is singing only to me, in spite of the thousands of others who are there. I have always found Roberta Peters, Ruth Ann Swenson and Hakan Hagegard to have had that special ability as well, to connect with each person in a personal and unique way.”

For the song recital to revitalize, tasks have to be assigned. The singers and pianists have to become interested in giving recitals. They have to have the musical and intellectual curiosity necessary to put together exciting programs, and they must have the communication skills necessary to sell the song. Singers, however, will find it difficult to be motivated if audiences don’t show interest in hearing the repertoire and what can be accomplished with it. That may make sense, but it doesn’t have to be that way. At least, not according to the Marilyn Horne Foundation.

Mission of the Marilyn Horne Foundation: To support, encourage and preserve the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of vocal recitals and related educational activities in various United States cities.

For the last eight years, diva Horne has lent her name to the Foundation and become the lodestar of the Foundation’s work. The Foundation was launched with Miss Horne’s Carnegie Hall birthday recital in 1995, an occasion recorded by RCA. Helen Donath, Montserrat Caballé, Renée Fleming and Samuel Ramey, all appearing at the service of the art song, joined her on that occasion. Birthday recitals continued for a number of years, tied to masterclasses and panel discussions at Carnegie Hall and at Juilliard. Each year, Miss Horne hears a number of applicants brought to her attention by colleagues, artists, presenters and teachers—along with young artists she hears in her own worldwide travels performing and teaching.

“There’s a big world of song out there,” says Horne. “It is the artists’ responsibility to bring it home!”

The Marilyn Horne Foundation awards grants that cover some of the cost involved in presenting a recitalist from the Foundation’s roster, which currently stands at 22 singers. Presenting organizations apply for this assistance, having approached the artist or their managers directly when programming and scheduling. The Foundation will award nearly half a million dollars in grants for the current season. Impressively, that’s over 80% of the total budget.

“We are currently in 20 cities in 16 states,” says Foundation Executive Director, Barbara Hocher. “We’ve presented 54 singers in recitals in the past eight years.” And where does the Foundation’s money come from? “Primarily from individuals,” says Hocher, herself a former New York City Opera soprano. “We also get grants from foundations, and there is a small amount of corporate support.”

One of the Foundation’s recent development projects embraced radio: the publication last year of a 13-CD set, On Wings of Song. This attractive box set was made available to classical music radio programmers across the country. It includes 13 recitals sponsored by the Marilyn Horne Foundation, recorded by WQXR at the Kosciusko Foundation in New York.

Stephanie Blythe, Daniel Weeks, Nicole Heaston and Bejun Mehta are among the artists represented, in repertoire from Handel to Rorem, including contemporary composers John Musto, John Cornelius, Samuel Barber and William Bolcom.

So here’s a new series of opportunities, sponsored by Marilyn Horne and spilling over to presenters. What about the artist? “Certainly, the artist has to have a strong personal investment in the song,” says Horne. “I do think we need to use every mode we can to involve the audience.” Importantly, in the interest of widening audiences, she does not discount visual aides, props or even titles. This concern for accessibility has perhaps been neglected in the past. “We also have not realized that there is a big country between New York and Los Angeles. Perhaps our programming can be more esoteric in those cities, but we encourage artists to use music and words to reach an audience, not just to please themselves. It’s always a challenge to perform something like Dichterliebe for an audience that does not know German. I’m not saying not to program it, I am saying that the artist must do what he or she can to be faithful to composers and poets while involving the audience.” Programming is certainly important to Horne, having performed at least 1000 recitals herself, including an early-career tour of Alaska.”Spanish music often works well, but I’ve found audiences most resistant to the melodie, to French repertoire. I don’t know why.”. Asked if its possible that some operatically trained singers can have too much voice to be effective recitalists— some especially beloved recitalists, like Judith Raskin, Aksel Schiotz and Peter Pears, were less known for their voices—Horne replies, “Its more a question of style. Hans Hotter and Lotte Lehman both had large distinctive voices, but they used those voices always to the service of the song. They used the language.”

How to revitalize the recital market? “The answer is clear,” says Warren Jones. It’s the words. I have always thought that when the audience is engaged with the emotions of the moment, by an understanding of the words, the audience will come on and be delighted by the experience. But the crucial aspect is to draw the audience in, to reduce the ’us-upon-the-platform versus them-in-the-audience” mentality and make a friendly, accessible communication. This is NOT a spectator sport. This requires audience participation in some fashion or another!”
“The interest in the song recital has temporarily waned. Why not let it die? The answer is simple. We would forever be denying ourselves access to the only medium for live performances of our tremendous heritage of song literature—the song recital… Recitals offer personal expressivity… and an experience that is always real and stiumulating.”—Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sontag, The Art of the Song Recital (Schirmer, 1979)

Steven Blier and Michael Barrett are two pianists who decided to create performing opportunities for themselves and their singer colleagues by creating the New York Festival of Song in 1988. NYFOS performs regularly at New York’s 92nd St. ‘Y’ and tours the country. Like the Horne Foundation, NYFOSalso uses radio to spread the song(s) and has published a number of CDs. Their most recent release is a 2-CD set from Koch Classics, Ned Rorem’s new Evidence of Things Not Seen. Currently,
NYFOS is presenting two programs with pianists Blier and Barrett: P.G.’s Other Profession, which features the lyrics of novelist P.G. Wodehouse, and Killer Bs, a collection by American songwriters including Berlin, Barber, Bernstein, Blitzstein and Bolcom. Sylvia McNair, Dana Hanchard, John Hancock and Amy Burton are among the artists appearing in the programs.

Like the Horne Foundation, NYFOS has been in business a number of years. They are lasting. How? “Thematic programming” replies Steven Blier. “By that, I mean exploring the themes, tying everything together: the music and text, the artists and the audience. These programs are really at the service of the music. Programs need to lead somewhere. There has to be a sense for the audience that this presentation is going somewhere. When done well, we—as both presenters and artists—can earn the trust of audiences. This is not like graduate schools or faculty juries. We are less a proving ground than an opportunity to make music.” Asked what makes a good recitalist, Blier replies, “A lot of musical finesse. The artist needs to understand not only the language but also linguistic phrasing, how the words work with the music. The artist also needs to be imaginative and to be emotionally available to the work”. But Blier thinks the recital audience is not yet ready for titles. “There’s always the potential to distract the audience. To dilute the presentation. There are other ways to clue people in.”

One way is to use a lot of imagination in programming. And what about new music? Baritone, Robin Rice offers the following explanation. “Many composers used the art song as a more experimental art field., This sort of experimentation further eroded any audience following, leaving most followers to be academics or the very few art lovers who could withstand the mer use of shock value in the art. I’m speaking of works like Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies, or even the Andre Expedition by Dominick Argento. Composer’s subjects and compositional language became too personal and lost public appeal. Composers began to take the literature away form the singers by treating the voice as just another instrument. Composers like Lee Hoiby or Richard Hundley are somewhat ‘shunned’ by the elite, since they are writing in a Neo-Romantic style. Thomas Pasatieri is a shining example of this. He wrote great vocal music and out of frustration turned to writing movie scores and now can do whatever he wants.”

Don’t be afraid then, of the romantic, of music that is flattering to the voice and the emotions. Rice is not alone in his comments among singers and teachers. “Some years ago I was asked to speak at a seminar for young composers.” says Phyllis Curtin. “I sat there and listened to a number of their songs, set to texts that were increasingly violent and raw. After a while, I got up and said, ‘well, have you ever thought about beauty?’ The room got very quiet until one of the composers spoke up and said, ‘Oh, I don’t think we should be writing anything about that’. Beauty! So I said thank you very much and got up and left.”
“There is no joy, or money, in singing for ten people”—Karen Peeler, soprano
The Marilyn Horne Foundation and the New York Festival of Song present song recitals nationally, the Horne Foundation providing the funding, NYFOS supplying programs and artists. But what about the singers themselves? Is it still true that singers sing, with no responsibility to filling the hall?

“Nonsense” says soprano Karen Peeler. “You have to present materials that the promoter can promote, and you have to have a ‘package’ that is appealing in this look-ism age. There is no joy, or money in singing for ten people. Realistically, we mustn’t be afraid to present ‘crossover’ to audiences. Show tunes, songs by living or local composers, Kern or Gershwin, or some old favorites. Surrounded by more ‘accessible’ music, then you can draw people hopefully to Wolf, Poulenc and Grieg.” Peeler’s point is not new. 80 years ago, the contralto Louise Homer wrote, “People are tired at the end of the evening and I try to give them something light.”

Richard Harriman presented Luciano Pavarotti’s first recital ever on his series at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Over the past 30 years, he has also presented Riciarelli, Carerras and Horne herself among many others. It could almost be said he invented the opera-star concert for the modern age. He also advises the Marilyn Horne Foundation, and often speaks at Foundation sponsored events.

So, how do presenters sell recitals on series? “I tell them to sing arias!” answers Harriman.”Art songs in several languages are fine if there is a strong European community locally. Otherwise it’s a tough sell. I ask all my artists, from the Marilyn Horne Foundation and others, to program arias among the songs.” That’s one way to go. “Marilyn and I disagree about the programming of recitals. I’m delighted to present her artists, but we do disagree.”
“Don’t forget, presenters are about providing enjoyment!”—Michael Kaiser, President, Kennedy Center
Happier with the idea of a song recital is Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “It is true that arias make the audience happier”, says Kaiser. “They are what sells. But I’ve found expressivity to be more important than a great voice. It is important for an evening to have a dramatic arc. You can’t just get up there and sing songs anymore, no matter how beautifully you do it. An artist and audience must have mutual expectations. Some audiences aren’t ready for Winterreise, just as some audience aren’t up for Parsifal. A lot of programming is common sense. It is our job as presenters and as arts marketers to show that which is wonderful to the public. Marketing the arts is not about ‘hucksterism’ but about giving out information. Don’t forget presenters are about providing enjoyment!” Enjoyment! Kaiser’s enthusiasms for the vocal recital is heartening, since he is one of the world’s leading arts presenters, having held top posts with the American Ballet Theater and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, before moving on to the Kennedy Center earlier this year.

But no sense of enjoyment, respect for the art form, or enthusiasm for centuries of marvelous song literature is worth much if singers aren’t willing to put it out there and the public is unwilling to show up. Horne, Blier, Harriman and Kaiser are taking up part of the equation. They are providing both opportunities (ie,money)and programs. Clearly, the Kennedy Center is not in business to lose money, and nor is Boston’s ‘Celebrity’ series.

The artist is the other end of the equation. Not everyone will be presented by the most prestigious series at good fees. But songs don’t live if they aren’t sung, and artists don’t grow if they don’t perform for receptive audiences. The artists too have to contribute if they won’t opportunities to appear in recital to grow.

Encouragment has arrived in the spate of new recordings by major labels, with a number of young recitalists signed to exclusive contracts. Mathias Goerne (Decca), Anne Sophie von Otter (DGG), Wolfgang Holtzmair (Philips), and Bo Skovhus (Sony) are among those who eschew big opera careers in the States, but who appear regularly in recital—with no arias. Not to be dismissed are the American-born artists turning up on widely distributed labels like Koch Classics, Albany Records, and Nonsesuch, including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Dora Ohrenstein, Sanford Sylvan and D’Anna Forutnato.

Opportunities are widening. Centaur Records, based in Louisiana, is just one option for artists who can share costs with production and distribution. Lincoln Center has a regular ‘Art of Song’ series, as does Carnegie Hall. Boston’s prestigious ‘Celebrity’ Series has signed on with the Marilyn Horne Foundation . Increasingly so since the September 11th disaster, singers are stepping up to offer what they do best: their talents. There’s a lot to be said for passing the hat in a church after a well-planned vocal recital (one has to begin somewhere). There’s even a ‘how-to-do-it’ book: Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sontag’s “The Art of the Song Recital” (Schirmer Books)
“To me, the performer has a responsibility to the public as well as the music. For a performer to steadfastly refuse to be entertaining is to deny half his responsibility.”—Paul Sperry