Mozart: O zittere nicht... | Die Zauberflöte • John Fisher Masterclass • Snape Maltings

Olga Siemieńczuk (soprano) and Shiori Hosada (piano) work with John Fisher on language, direction, challenge of connecting the breath through the passagio and characterisation in the Queen of the Night's first aria.
Filmed at Aldeburgh Festival 2018, as part of a series of masterclasses on the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme with John Fisher, Julia Faulkner and Matthew Rose.
Find out more about courses: snapemaltings.co.uk/bpyap
The Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme is generously supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation, ENOA (co-funded by Creative Europe Progrmme of the European Union) and the Leverhulme Trust. Student bursaries are supported by the Cedar Trust, Geoffrey Collens, Haskel Family Charities and the Viola Tunnard Trust.

[@fernandapittella765]

Amazing!

[@lospazio]

I've just seen three videos of this series and I'm amazed at the quality of the singers.

[@caninbar]

Vocal terminology is so often vague. Here is an example of a highly-reputable vocal coach trying to explain what he wants the singer to do, but has difficulty because the muscular action he is asking for is not considered, only to the desired product.

[@evelinepeterhans4873]

In the text it' s written "ein jüngling, so wie du, vermag am besten, dies tiefbetrübte mutterherz zu trösten". "Dies" is the demonstrative pronoun. But here it's sung as the article "das".

[@brendanlinnane5610]

She is not the only singer to do this.
I listened to a couple of other singers on TH-cam.
Luciana Serra at the Met sings "das", as does Sabine Devieilhe.

[@evelinepeterhans4873]

No it's not tiefgebeugte. It's "dies tiefbetrübte mutterherz". German is my mother tongue and i have sung this aria for myself.

[@olgasiem]

I just followed my Bärenreiter scores :) as German is not my mother tongue, I decided to trust this publisher… but recently my German coach told me to sing “dies” and I will do this next time I sing this part!

[@ternitamas]

Don't mean to be rude but this teacher clearly has vocal issues even his speaking voice sounds hoarse and squeaky, and he's teaching voice students, it's kind of a contradiction.

[@ChristopherPettersen]

That's because he's not a singer. He's a director, coach and conductor.

[@emilyhernandez7341]

This is also a soprano piece and he is... not a soprano. You don't have to be a "good singer" to know the proper technique to coach others.

[@flaze3]

@@emilyhernandez7341 but non-singers shouldn't try to coach singers on technique. How can they really know what they are saying? It's like trying to teach someone French without knowing French :p

[@emilyhernandez7341]

@@flaze3 that’s not true. as a voice major, there are lots of things i have yet to learn and master for my own voice. but i know what to listen for and what to say to a singer lacking technique because I have been taught those things. He knows the technique, he just is not a singer so why would he need to practice those techniques if he’s a conductor 🤷‍♀️

[@flaze3]

@@emilyhernandez7341 I wouldn't go and get drum lessons from someone who couldn't actually play drums, nor would I learn trumpet from someone who can't play the trumpet. It just doesn't make sense. He just parrots things he's heard other singers like "spin the breath" and "support low", but he can't demonstrate it, nor does he understand what is going on inside the singer, or the sensations that they need, etc.