(audience applause) - You know, frankly,
there's hardly anything to say.
They're so great, everybody was really fantastic
this afternoon, extraordinary talent, voices,
and also training.
I mean, the amount of hours that go into the preparation
of any of these scenes, and not just learning it,
but the language, the style, all of that
has just gotta be second nature by the time you're on stage,
and you don't kind of wake up knowing those things,
it takes a huge amount of time.
And I was lucky to come to Julliard postgraduate,
I already had my masters degree.
And benefited from more than two years
of postgraduate training here,
in what used to the American Opera Center,
it had different names.
But it was so important, because that bridge
between education and professional life can be very painful.
We lose a lot of people in that bridge,
because they either can't afford to continue on,
they have loans, or because they give up,
they get on the wrong track, or because they don't
have the time, they don't have enough education
to get them through.
And this what our Young Artist programs are for, as well.
So, these guys are in great shape.
Any questions?
Anybody wanna know about the lifestyle, the landscape?
(audience laughing)
All right-- - Well, thank you so much.
Oh, wait, we do, yeah, sorry.
- [Woman] Well, first of all, what are some of roles
you enjoy singing the most and you can identify,
and what were your favorites?
- Roles, so, I think at the end I had a top 10 list
that had Strauss in the center.
So obviously, the Marschallin, but also Arabella
and Die Grafin in "Capriccio".
I had "Otello", I had "Rusalka", very important role for me.
"A Streetcar Named Desire" I loved very, very much
singing that role.
And, in other premier things I did in English,
and "Onegin" was really a crucial piece.
So, these were all roles that kind of lived
in the full lyric repertoire.
And I started with Mozart, so a decade of Mozart
taught me how to sing, and I didn't like it.
(audience laughs) It was so hard.
The reason I got to premier the Countess
in all the major houses is because nobody else wanted
to sing it. (audience laughs)
And hungry me had to do it everywhere,
it's paying your dues, and I am so grateful,
because had I started with heavier repertoire,
I would not have lasted very long,
and it forced me to fine tune my technique.
Yes.
- [Man] Were you still thinking about Mozart
when you were in "Carousel"?
- Thinking about Mozart in "Carousel"?
I think, you know, Mozart, because of the refinement
and the exposed, all of the exposed singing
right in the middle voice, which, believe it or not,
is harder than the more extreme singing
that you think would be hard,
I've always maintained that connection
to a classical style of singing because I realized early on
that when I use too much breath pressure or too much,
really, effort, I never had the stamina
that I wanted to have.
And I was taught well here, don't sing on your principal,
sing on the intro.
So, it was a lot of years of fine tuning that concept
of not over singing.
Plus, it's boring.
When I hear people who are over singing
and just singing loud, you know,
I don't last very long with that.
I think, "Wow, that's a great voice.
"What's for dinner?"
You know (laughs)? (audience laughs)
- I've got a question. - Yes?
- [Man] How do you go about preparing a role?
- Preparing a role?
Well, in the years that I was preparing lots of roles
all the time, I would do everything at the same time
'cause I didn't have time to separate it out.
But if I had the luxury of time,
I would work really hard on the text first.
Because once you start singing it
and start working on the music, it's hard to go back
and refine the text, the language, the pronunciation,
the meaning, your homework about the period,
and the composer, and the elements
that went into creating the piece
in the first place, and character.
And when I say period, I mean what was going on
in the time the piece was set and written.
So, all of that takes time,
and that's the ideal way to do it,
but I had to kind of do it all at once quickly, not ideal.
I thought there was someone, yes?
- [Woman] When you're singing the same role,
whatever the setting, but any place in the world,
you have to readjust, we talk about that,
just singing in different styles.
- Yes, ideally you're flexible enough
to sing something in multiple tempe, multiple styles.
I mean, I think there have been productions
that were really far out, far against the obvious meaning
of the text in the story.
And what happens when the director leaves
is that the singers kind of gradually morph back
into (laughing) the thing (audience laughs)
that makes more sense.
But sometimes, you know, you're really compelled
to kind of keep something that's quite interesting.
And, I mean, Matthew Rose I just saw
do an amazing Leporello in, hi, you're so sweet
to come to this, in this Chicago.
And having that kind of imagination,
ideally we can improvise in any given performance
with each other.
It's an ensemble performance, so he had an injury,
a leg injury, in the middle of the performance,
and came out in a wheelchair, and finished the show,
and they all improvised together as an ensemble.
And I understand it was the best performance
because it was so alive in that moment from the improv.
But we don't often get to do that.
We're supposed to hit our marks, our directorial marks.
Yep?
- [Woman] What are your top one or two tips
for us composers?
- Composers, oh, I'm so happy you asked that!
I wished through my whole career
that I had more experience with composers,
but a lot of composers seemed anxious
about working with an actual opera singer.
And I just, I really wanted to say to them,
my message would be, "Get out of your comfort zone
"and work with a lot of different singers,
"and just meet with them, talk to them.
"Figure out what you want from a singer,
"and see if someone can do it."
Now, I've had composers recently come
and complain about casting someone
who couldn't do what they wanted.
And I said, "Well, did you ask in advance?
"Did you hear them in advance?"
This I what I would recommend is
a little bit more experimentation
and communication with singers.
Whether it's straight tone, or extreme pitches,
or extreme dynamics,
try it out, work with a couple of different people,
and you'll develop a sense of what's possible.
I also keep a dialogue with the composer
if I get a piece.
I don't take it as finished.
I say, "Well, actually for my voice,
"could we do X, Y, and Z?
"Could we kind of adapt this?"
And in the case of "Streetcar", I asked Andre Previn
if I could have a lot more high notes
and some glamor in the part.
Of course, he completely went overboard with that,
(audience laughing) but then I had to do it
because I asked for it.
But the communication is what's magical
between the creator and the interpreter.
And there is creation in interpretation.
That is what we get to contribute.
It's how do we sing that, how do we shape it,
how do we phrase?
Where do we add a portamento and how do we act it?
That's our contribution.
And I've had the joy of having composers say,
"You did it better than I had imagined it,
"or than I had thought was possible.
"And you made me think, 'Oh, maybe I should've
"'done this or that.'"
So, that's a wonderful relationship.
Yes?
- [Man] What is the biggest thing you've learned
from doing crossover performances?
- Crossover, so whether it's,
well, so whether it's on Broadway, or in musical theater
or in any case is how to use a mic, microphone.
Because, I mean, I had jazz experience as a young singer
so I did have mic technique, thank goodness.
But that's something any of you
who are thinking about trying other styles,
you know, if there isn't some sort of system in Juilliard
that you can play with and you can learn from.
Also, understanding what to ask for in sound.
You know, I often have to say, "I'd like it a little darker,
"could you take the high gain off of that sound?
"Could you make it less bright?"
Because, you know, people don't know my voice
if I get in a new hall.
I was just asked last week actually on the road and on tour
if I wanted music played before the recital started.
(laughs) I went, "Oh, like a rock concert.
(audience laughing) "I don't think so, thank you."
I know, that was kind of interesting.
Okay, we're all done.
Thank you so much! (audience applause)
Thank you. (audience cheers)
(audience chattering)