in search of a Messiah

Hello world!

There are these great moments in Jeeves and Wooster stories when Bertie starts describing people as being like lions or tigers (often tigers protecting cubs or lions being bearded in dens) in defense of some principle, person, or piece of property.  I begin here because I feel I'm sort of entering Wodehouse-ish territory in my search for a Messiah this holiday season.

And I don't mean a baby in a straw bed.  I mean the piece by Handel, one of my all-time favorites ever ever.  To participate in the chorus of, to listen to, just to be near--but mostly to sing the alto solos of.  "But Who May Abide" and "O Thou that Tellest" were the first real pieces of classical music I learned to sing...which would actually be an argument for me hating them as much as I'd hate ever to sing "Star vicino"* again, except that they're so wonderful.

Anyway, I've been going on the offensive.  And possibly the very offensive.  Like a lion with cubs to protect, I have been fiercely propositioning people regarding me singing any Messiah they happen to have heard of.  I have bothered a man coming out of major surgery; I have emailed someone I've never met.  My next plan is to email someone I have met but I think will know of ones only already equipped with alto soloists.  But I'm not leaving stones unturned here.

So, Universe, and anyone happening to read this blog, if you know of any Messiahs without alto soloists, think of me!  I have a fancy red dress and everything!

Sincerely,
"Bumbling towards Bethlehem" Couden

*perfectly pleasant song; even cars could not draw it from my vocal apparatus ever again.

Couden's Culture Corner

It's not really anything to do with anything, but I realized recently that, although I often really enjoy bad movies and books--or movies and books that I'd consider "light" or "easy" (this isn't quite as snobby as it sounds, though it's close [the way I read them (which isn't necessarily the right way), Fathers and Sons was kind of light, while Fruits Basket is actually pretty heavy])--I don't enjoy listening to bad music.

I really can't figure this out.  Because I am very much a proponent of crappy movies.  I love anything with robots, for instance.  I like superheroes.  And I can only rarely be persuaded to see something with Helen Mirren in it--much as I admire her as an actress, she's always in things that just sound way too highbrow for me.  And I often like crappy fiction (I have a well-stocked shelf of '70's through '80's Harlequin Presents novelettes), but can only rarely be prevailed upon to read anything that looks modern and thoughtful, like Angela's Ashes.

So why am I not willing to give myself a chance to enjoy crappy music?  The immediate response is that life's too short, but then by extension life would be too short for the novel Death Takes Up a Collection, one of a series of mysteries in which a San Francisco nun solves church-related murders--and life clearly wasn't.  I want to say that it's because my commitment to music is one of the most serious things in my life, and I can't tolerate the idea of hearing the bad stuff...

But I actually think it's a matter of price point.  The lowest you can get a used CD for is around $5.50.  If you don't like the CD, that's $5.50 you could have spent toward books--and $5.50 plus about $2 can get you a cool used copy of Fleurs du mal, a wall calendar (between the months of May and September), an August Wilson play and a cup of coffee, or about sixteen Harlequins at your local library booksale.

So I try to make real sure that I purchase music I'm going to like, because it's all going to be $5.50 or more. 

I think there's a lesson in here somewhere, but danged if I can figure out what it is.

Ariadne auf Naxos

...has been going great!  The production got a really nice review in San Francisco Classical Voice, which it wholly deserves.  There is freaking gorgeous singing going on from all the principles in their nuttily demanding roles, and the staging is super fun and completely lovely.  I don't want to give too much stuff away; however, I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that Marie, Buffy, and Emma all sound like a million bucks.  Which together totals three million bucks.  So the price of your ticket is getting you a whole lot of value.

There's this Brief History of Opera thing (not exactly sure of the name of it) that we used to watch in Opera Workshop in undergrad, in which a Canadian* woman's voice gave a point-by-point tally of the number of murders, affairs, suicides, walking talking statues from Hell, and other prurient and/or scandalous points of interest which take place in major operatic works.  The Brief History of Opera-style synopsis of this production of Ariadne goes thusly:

Fireworks!  Projection!  Sapphism!  Slapstick!  Dejection!  Delusion!  People from Milpitas!

Walking talking statue from Hell not included.  This time.

There are two more performances: November 4 at 8 pm, and November 6 at 3 pm.  Purchase tickets and find out information at:
www.berkeleyopera.org


*Well, she sounded a little like the lead singer from Heart anyway.

Susannah

Cole Grissom and Patricia Urbano are the minds behind San Francisco Parlor Opera, and Susannah, their latest production, is going to be special.  I have to say for the sake of honesty that, although I've loved the music of Susannah from the beginning of the rehearsal process, I haven't always been 100% on the libretto.  In what I feel is the often-usual (and to me so very annoying) American way, it seemed that the metaphor stuff, the stuff that its author wanted to have the character of Susannah mean, overwhelmed the characterization itself.  It always drives me crazy when I percieve that to be happening (not that I always percieve it, or that it's always happening when I do percieve it), and I think I overreact.  I was kind of ready to write the role off as a man's version of a woman*.

But Patricia's changed all that.  Her Susannah is really well-acted.  I'm just sitting back and watching and empathizing all over the place.  And everyone else is great as well (they just had less far to bring me in terms of approving of their characterizations).  The production seems to me to be getting at all the immediate, intimate human interactions of the score. 

Information is on my calendar page:
http://sara.couden.net/calendar

Performances are on November 5, 10, and 12 at 7 pm, in San Francisco at the Zellerbach mansion.  To purchase tickets, email contact@sfparloropera.org, or visit the website:
http://sfparloropera.org/Home.html


*We call this Memoirs of a Geisha-ing.  No, nobody actually calls it that.

Beatrice et Benedict!

Beatrice et Benedict: so much more fun than this portrait of Berlioz...

...would lead one to believe. 

In all seriousness (see above image), my friends are putting on this show as an independent project, in order to gain experience points and help out Boxcar Theatre, and they're doing it with no resources but their own impressive skills.  It'll really be worth seeing.  There will be beautiful singing (wonderful voices in this cast!), and just as an example of the type of home-grown talent that's going into making this happen, my friend Ted Zoldan has cobbled together a script of dialogue from Much Ado to be said in place of the French script that Berlioz originally wrote.  We'll all be on book (read: using music), and I don't think there will be much staging, but...

okay, Personal Opinion Moment happening here: sometimes the energy of a production is really good when everyone is involved not just in performing their best, but in actually making the performance happen.  I think it should be a really convivial atmosphere.  And I know the singing will be just beautiful.  So if you're not busy, come by and check it out!

occasionally, my brain can bite me in the butt

...though not literally (if it were a literal ability, I'd be a candidate for "Stupid Human Tricks" for sure...and possibly government study).

I'm no more dyslexic than the average person whose brain is a little bad with concrete facts, but today I did something that falls under the category of "unequivocally dumb."  The idea was to contact Marin Symphony about the possibility of auditioning for them.  So far, so good.  I'd done my research the previous night, finding things like phone numbers and emails--I go to check the email, and type what I am thinking is the correct symphony into my browser, come up with a page that is a symphony page, and email the "info@" person (I'm not sure if this is the right person to email, but as Buffy says in her Season 4 dream, "Fortune favors the brave," so I think I will give it a shot).  Write a note attempting to be somewhere in the perfect (or Bermuda-esque) triangle of professional, friendly, and non-demanding, starting with the formality of "To Whom it May Concern" (capitalize the "it" or no?  I'm not sure) and moving on to a friendlier-sounding "Hi!"  "...interested in auditioning for the Marin Symphony..." keep it non-demanding, friendly, and professional, Sara... Okay, all written, all sent...

THEN a moment of, "Wait, isn't Alasdair Neale the conductor here?  This guy looks different.  He's not in color, for one thing.  Did I do something wrong--"

Well, yes, Sara, you did do something wrong.  You accidentally switched two "M" cities in your mind.  Having typed "Monterey Symphony" into your browser, you came up with the Monterey Symphony webpage, and its attendant "info@" email address, which you then emailed.

This might be okay, I think.  If I didn't type Marin Symphony in the body of the email maybe nobody will ever...

Yes, yes I did type Marin Symphony.


Monterey Symphony, I deeply apologize.  I would love to audition for you.  And if I had realized what I was doing, I would certainly have put the name of YOUR organization into the body of the email.  Oh boy.


This whole story is coming off vaguely like one of Bisco Hatori's sidebars in Ouran High School Host Club.  I embrace my reading habits with pride-ish.

Things I Like

Hey, this blog is picking up steam!  Well, insofar as I'm figuring out what I want to put on it (content is still a bit on the random side). 

Such as this, a recording my friend made of a cover of the Dire Straits song "Romeo and Juliet..."

I don't know if this is appropriate or anything; I just thought it was beautiful and wanted to share.

Like most of the classical singers I know, I like a lot of different kinds of music.  Just a brief sample of the different kinds of music that classical singers (real live ones I know!) like, listed by voice type and genre of choice:
Dramatic Tenor--country, Christian, and Bieber
Lyric Tenor--soundtracks, Glee recordings, anime music, songs from Rock Band
Lyric Mezzo--classic metal, Plain White T's, John Mayer
Lyric Mezzo--most anything folk-inspired from the '70's (and a whole lot of other stuff)
Contralto (okay it's me)--hardcore alternative, female songstresses, funk
Dramatic Baritone--The Smiths

I think most of us are pretty fond of classical as well, but I think we're usually way less critical and snobby about music than people expect us to be.  I mean, I can get really pissy about music I don't like, but I do like a lot of music.  I guess my point is, if you're ever around a classical singer, don't worry about only discussing classical music!  Bring up the Beatles!  Mention the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!  Mickey and Sylvia!  That one Glee mash-up!  Random words I am spouting!  Tina Turner's "Goldeneye."  Mmm.  Now there's a recording.

Yes, and now it's "Sara Couden's Useful Tips on How to Deal with Classical Singers."  THAT's going in the labels bar.

Sredni Vashtar recording

A recording of Nicholas Pavkovic's Sredni Vashtar, as performed by Kevin Korth and I at Mr. Pavkovic's 8/27 recital, can be found at his website:

www.pavkovic.com/recital

If you have 26 or so minutes to spare, give it a listen if you want!  You'll never appreciate toast so much!

Other pieces from the recital are there as well, including Nick's Concertino for Piano and Percussion, which my family and friends raved about, as well as the full orchestral recording of Sredni Vashtar's debut, featuring the wonderful mezzo-soprano Roxana Walitzki (I hope I am spelling that right).

We'll be doing a reprise (this time the full orchestral version) of Sredni at a concert on October 30th comprised of Nick's work.  Concert at 8 pm, SFCM.

I guess that's about it.  Thanks for your time!

A brief plug...

...for a play I saw tonight:

Desdemona, at the Boxcar Theater.

Information (including a link for tickets) is here:
http://www.boxcartheatre.org/desdemona.php

The play is a retelling (or re-interpretation) of Othello, taking place in the hour or so before the strangulation.  It's just three women talking to each other, but the relationships that are established both intra- and interpersonally are really done well, by the play itself and by Boxcar's production.  Desdemona, in Paula Vogel's telling of the story anyway, has known the heat of more than one luxurious bed.  Karina Wolfe does a great job of playing this version of the character as manipulative, rather unlikeable, and yet extroardinarily sympathetic--her Desdemona, we realize, is a woman who simply can't be satisfied by the world she lives in.  Adrienne Krug is just as good as the pious yet mercenary Emilia, giving the same type of layered performance: hardheaded, loyal, idealistic, codependent, and ultimately unsatisfied.  Their interaction is what drives the play, and, as presented by this production, it is always fascinating to watch.

The lighting and sound cues can get a little confusing, in my opinion.  The set, not so much wrapped up as smothered in clean linen, is an overwhelming and clever metaphor. 

I really really enjoyed watching this.

Euouae Concert

Hi, all!

Just a couple of points about this listing on my "Calendar" page:

1. It sounds like it will be AWESOME,

and 2. Why I chose to list a choral concert (because everyone cares, I am positive).

1.: Sven Olbash writes in his blog, http://euouae.com:

"Since we are primarily a medieval ensemble, for us for the chant is not a side dish, but the main course. We present new interpretations of the Gregorian melodies that capture something of the ecstatic spontaneity of the ancient chants alongside later polyphonic works. Having premiered over 40 works as a recitalist and during four seasons with the new music ensemble Volti, often in collaboration with the composers, I bring the same approach to the Medieval and Renaissance repertoires, treating them not as museum pieces but as something innovative, modern, and at times shocking. To imagine the experience the original performers had when encountering this polyphonic music for the first time, ensemble members steep themselves in the chant tradition from which it evolved."

Awesome, right?

2.: The "Calendar" page is meant to list performances in which I have solos.  As much as I love doing choral stuff (it's a whole lot, by the way), the sara.couden.net platform is that of me as a soloist.  But I've decided to include stuff where I get to sing by myself on a line, based on the principle that contraltos can't be super-choosy about what they consider solo work.  We're a little bit like violists in that regard.  I don't get to sing by myself in the Beatrice et Benedict either (though, again, I'd advocate coming to that concert because the music is going to be beautiful, not because I'm singing, solo or otherwise), but it seems unreasonable to include large choral concerts on what's supposed to be a list of places to hear me sing (I would 100% advocate going to any SF Symphony Chorus concert, whether I'm singing with the chorus or not, but it seems a bit like false advertising to list an SFSC concert I'm involved in as a place where one could hear me, if you see the distinction).  So despite Euouae being a choral ensemble, I'm listing it on the site because I am alone on a part sometimes. 

And I'm not really sure why I think you'd care about this, gentle reader.  But just for the sake of making the rules of the sara.couden.net experience VERY CLEAR, I am offering the above information.  You're welcome!

CCPAS concert!

(In the words that Crow puts into Eegah's mouth [if you don't understand, PLEASE don't worry about it]):

Hi again!

(endquote.  THAT was worth it.)

I'm doing pieces from Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Alcina with some friends for a concert being put on by the Contra Costa Performing Arts Society on October 11th, and I want to tell you about it!  CCPAS is a volunteer organization, in which members put on short concerts for the public on Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings, as well as sponsoring things like master classes and competitions for local high school and college students*.  Each concert is comprised of about an hour of music--usually three ensembles or soloists, playing 20 minutes worth of music each.  Concerts are held at one of a few locations, generally Grace Presbyterian Church, located near Rossmoor in Walnut Creek at 2100 Tice Valley Boulevard.

This is the program for my 20-minute segment of the October 11th concert:

"Et misericordia" -- Magnificat -- Brian Chu, tenor / Sara Couden, alto
"Esurientes" -- Magnificat -- Sara Couden, alto
"Suscepit Israel" -- Magnificat -- Felicia Chen, soprano I / Jennifer Kay, soprano II / Sara Couden, alto
"E gelosia" -- Alcina -- Sara Couden: Bradamante
"Non e amor ne gelosia" -- Alcina -- Felicia Chen: Alcina / Jennifer Kay: Ruggiero / Sara Couden:  Bradamante
Skye Atman, piano

I'm excited about this concert, because I get to sing with all my friends!  Brian and Jenn and I go way back--I owe everything I know about awesome TV (and so much more) to Brian, and a whole lot of gas mileage to Jenn for all those trips to Santa Cruz and Davis.  She made a great Violetta to my Giorgio Germont when we were nerding out in the car one night.  And Felicia is the queen of the Baroque ornament, so I am very excited that she agreed to sing!!

Also, the Magnificat is just ridiculously beautiful.  The "Esurientes" is the only happy solo for contralto of Bach's that I've ever come across--I usually like my music superficially sad, but the "Esurientes" is so beautiful that I don't even mind it being in a major key--and the "Et misericordia" and "Suscepit Israel" are meltingly lovely.

Also-also, the concert is free, and on the right side of the bridge!  (Well, for some people.)

Anyway, thanks for your time.

*I am actually chair of the High School Vocal Competition.  If your high school-aged students are local to Contra Costa or Alameda Counties and interested in competing in a classical singing competition, or if you'd like to become a CCPAS member and enroll some non-local high school students, please get in touch with me!  It's a relaxed and caring atmosphere, and (hopefully) a good experience.  Enrollment is only $20!  (Yes, this is my version of the hard sell.)

Exploring the possibilities

I'm still not sure exactly what I want to use this blog for, if anything aside from supplementary information on performances.  Possible other-than-performance-information topics I've thought of include:

1. Amber Riley (Mercedes on Glee) is an incredible artist, and we share the same favorite Michael Jackson song! (Which would be "Human Nature" from Thriller.)

2. Networking is hard, and I am bad at it.

3. Used books are so cool!  The only type of book this doesn't 100% apply to, in my estimation, is comics, which are kind of nice when they're fresh, and it's better to have new textbooks for the childrens, but in all other arenas the used book kicks the new book's butt.  Take, for example, this '77 edition of Alastair Reid's translations of Borges' volume The Gold of the Tigers that I bought, like, a week ago, and haven't yet read.  I don't need to read it.  I just want to own it.  It's got awesome flippy pages and a paint-by-numbers pile of limned spaces that could very well add up to a tiger, and the typeface on the cover is lovely, and it has the cool scent of an older book (mixed with purse gum, but that's another story).  A new book is just a book, but a used book is a find.

4. Purse gum, and what is up with it.

5. My love of chicken salad.

...

Hmmm.  I may just stick to supplemental performance information.

Note about the downloadable Graduate Recital feature

Color-coded for your somewhat ease of navigation:
1. Disclaimer
2. Reasoning
3. Modus Operandus/Security thingee
4. Invitation to the voyage!!
5. Final Babble
6. Link

1. Here's the thing: I thought my Graduate Recital went well, all things considered.  Things considered include imperfect singing (mostly imperfect singing), as well as a few recording issues.  The tracks near the middle are a little bit off (the end of some songs ended up at the beginning of other songs), and there is some skipping (again in the middle).  It's a live performance recorded by a student engineer--we both did a good job...all things considered.  I just want to warn anyone thinking of listening to or downloading the program.  The tracks I have up as videos are (in my opinion) the ones most worth listening to. 

2. So why am I making the (even more) imperfect tracks available (for a limited time--I'm thinking maybe two months)?  I think it's because the recital was an important point for me, and I do want to share it, or at least make it available to anyone who's interested (for a bit).  The recital was--is--a real expression of songs I love and feel a connection to, within a context I tried to create (the French section's title is "Invitations," the German's, "Homecoming," the English's, "Longing," and the Bach/Italian arias', "Regeneration" [or something like that]).  I want to keep sharing a moment that was really about sharing--to fit the form to the thing itself. 

Come on, Sara, do you really think you need to get this heavy over an optional fileshare?  ANYWAY...

3. Not being the most tech-savvy of mortals, I'm downloading the whole thing to a filesharing program that I found when looking up "upload music to places HELP ME GOOGLE."  The files are in .mp4 format, which I know was a problem for Picasa but am hoping won't be a problem for anyone who wants to listen to them.  They should be okay if you open them, for instance, in iTunes.  I'd be willing to bet.  At least 50 cents.

I'm not 100% sure about filesharing security issues--according to my web-knowledge friend, filesharing is perfectly safe, but according to my internet explorer, it may not be entirely secure.  The 4shared security measures seem pretty impressive--to find out more, visit
http://help.4shared.com/index.php/Security_overview

4. Finally, if you're interested in, like, discussing any of the pieces, just drop a comment on here; I'd LOVE to hear what anyone has to say about interpretation or history, or favorite recordings, or experiences had in singing or witnessing performances...

5. Or if you're interested in getting a translation for any of them (I wish I were more computer-good so that I could include this information with the tracks themselves), I can throw you one.  Except the "Nel profondo," which will have to remain an approximation until further notice.  Seriously, my understanding of the translation of that piece goes something like this:

"In profound of this world
the precipices of a type
the spiteful to this heart
the strongest love will win
with the aid of valor"

Nothing like really doing a text justice.

6. If you're on the blog as opposed to the website, the link to the page with the download is here:
http://sara.couden.net/listen

Sredni Vashtar: a brief, violent entertainment for mezzo-soprano and orchestra

Some facts about Sredni Vashtar:

-it is around 25 minutes long
-it is based on a short story by Saki (the text of which can be found at www.srednivashtar.com, along with a neat picture of an angsty polecat ferret!)
-it is written by Nicholas Pavkovic (his website, with samples of his music, can be found at www.pavkovic.com)
-the librettist is Jim Coughenour
-it is comprised of five segments:
1. Overture
2. I am the singer...
3. Aria: Conradin's Lament and Discovery
4. Aria: Ceremonies and Festivals
5. The Consolations of Toast

Information on Saki's life can be found with a quick wikipedia-ing (thank you, technology!).  His apparent obsession with animals is legitimate, his mother having been killed (basically) by a charging cow, and I think one of his uncles being eaten by a tiger or something.  His short stories pit Edwardian morals against nature, with nature winning.  The wikipedia site has links to online versions of several of his works.

I feel that Sredni Vashtar the chamber opera is a very expressive, intelligent, creative, and sensitive setting of a wicked and funny libretto ("The Consolations of Toast," just as an example, explores both the exultation and the pathos inherent in browned bread with butter).  But come see the piece--don't take my word for it!*

Performance information:

August 27th, 8 pm
Kevin Korth, accompanying on piano
San Francisco Conservatory, 50 Oak St.

October 30, 8 pm
Ross Ipsen, conducting
San Francisco Conservatory

More information to come!


*This feels like a catchphrase waiting to happen...or perhaps it has happened.  Anyway, I'm appropriating it.

Heyo!

Well, hi, and thanks for visiting my blog, and hopefully my website (or my website, and hopefully my blog, whatever order you may have done this...in case you didn't visit the website, here's a handy and helpful link to it:

http://sara.couden.net

Wasn't that handy and helpful?  JUST SAY YES).

I might be slightly obsessed with getting this website of mine up (read: may or may not have stayed up until three or so two nights ago...and last night...and not sure how tonight's going to go), so please excuse this first entry of any fatuosity*.  I'm trying to get this blog linked to the website (link here:

http://sara.couden.net)

and don't want said link to be completely empty of content.  Not completely empty of content.  Quality control may be a bit on the negligible side.

Why, some may ask, would I want to create a blog to attach to a perfectly good singing website?  (Really, it's perfectly good--check it out for yourself!

http://sara.couden.net)

The answer stems from my childhood, encompassing about thirty years of beautiful memories, but what it boils down to is the maxim: When in doubt, blog.  Or, as Beyonce might say, If you like it then you should've stuck a blog on it.  Or, quite simply, Why not?  We have the technology!  And the technology is free!

So enjoy my blog!  It should perhaps become vaguely less fatuous-tastic** soon--and that is really nothing like a guarantee.

http://sara.couden.net.  For all your http://sara.couden.net needs


*might not be a word
**almost definitely not a word