I was very fortunate recently to interview Benedetta Orsi, Mezzo-Soprano and soloist who has recently released an album of French Love Songs title "La Voix de l'Amour" This is a wonderful collection of Arias ranging from some of your favorites to some that you wish had been your favorites sooner. As soon as I heard the second track on the Album I thought "Where has this song been all my life?". An interesting connection with that song as well, be sure and read to the end to find out.
As we were talking it became clear how important perspective is to Ms. Orsi, getting perspective, changing it up, asking herself if it's the correct perspective, if it's updated enough. We are talking about emotional and mental perspective, not physical location like we might say about a painting or our seat in the concert hall. We are also talking about updating, revitalizing our perspective. Its never about getting perspective because you didn't have one, you always have some kind of perspective. It's also not about better or worse because we can really fall into a trap with that. It's about the emotional connection and the way in which perspective informs that connection and empowers it. What a profound thing for us all as musicians and listeners to think about because she is absolutely right.
Listening is not black and white, our ears are not buckets for sound just catching whatever drops are out there. I believe perspective is one of the cornerstones to explaining why this is. If you connect the dots it's easy to understand why. Emotions are affected by our experience, how we interact with the world, our friends and family around us, our job etc etc etc. Our daily going about our lives is constantly changing our experience and changing our emotions. Our experience is in turn affected by our perspective. How do we see the world around us? Where did we grow up? Who are our heroes? Who are our detractors and the people who have been not so nice? Our Mentors and people that lift us out of that? Who are my favorite artists and composers? If I find a new one how does this new entry into my listening library compare with what I have experienced before? Perspective is powerful, very powerful.
This is the beauty of Music, of Art, of creativity. That even as a consumer, not just as performer or creator, I can have a totally new experience by changing up my perspective. Perhaps you already know very much about a piece or the artist singing it or the composer who wrote it. It is a deep joy still to try and read something new, talk to someone new about it, hear their perspective and update your own to some other level. The question might come up, "Do I need a new perspective? Are you telling me to get a new one because mine isn't good enough?" This word and its use in phrases can sometimes have a negative and even accusatory connotation. For example "You need to get some perspective!" , "You are really taking this out of perspective." "Please have some perspective." and the list goes on. You could almost define it as a word we only use when we are pleading with someone.
We are not pleading here my friends, definitely Ms. Orsi is not, she is sharing an important tool, a skill, that deepens our experience, expands our horizons, and increases our joy.
And... It is not optional. If you want to be a better musician you have to do this, you have to be proactive and go out there and get new perspectives. Ms. Orsi "Changing and learning new perspectives helps me to get into the role, to get into the character and get into the music" This phrase "Get into_____" or "Get into the music." is used a lot, especially by teachers talking to students. "You need to get into the music." "...get into the role"...get into the string." "...get into the keys [pianist's]" But what exactly does that mean? It sounds so esoteric and vague? No wonder students don't respond to it. But my summation is this; Once you have read up, studied what there is to know around a piece of music, gotten other peoples perspectives, formed some new ones of your own, in other words taken it all in, you can then make something personal which is yours, and put that personal something out there. It will be more personal to you because you have gone on this journey of discovery to get new perspectives. Perhaps this got you to internalization period, because this is a new work for you or perhaps you internalized it on a deeper level. Whatever the case may be, it is for sure more personal to you now. Thus we have the equation connecting perspective to musicality and technique.
Updated Perspective => Internalization => Personal Connection => Improved Interpretation => Improved Musicality => Better Performance
This isn't just for performers though, its also for you the listener and appreciator to help deepen your experiences. Whatever your connection to music is, if you want to have new found joy you have to go out and be proactive about it. I wonder now how often we think of changing perspective as a "nice idea" something aficionados say about works of art or write down so they can sound fancy in their blog post's.😉😁 Changing up our perspective is essential to living full lives and having experiences which continue to be meaningful. I am so deeply appreciative to be reminded of this. Be sure and see the whole interview on my YouTube channel and check out Ms. Orsi's new album as well as her other recordings.
Speaking of the album.... the 2nd track, titled "Plaisir d'Amour" by Jean Paul Egide Martini, is particularly interesting. As I was listening to it the first time it sounded oddly familiar. I thought "That sounds like part of the song _____. Surely that's a coincidence." Turns out, Plaisir d'amour is the basis for a song by none other than... are you ready for it... Elvis Presley. How cool is that?! Be sure and take a listen and leave it in the comments if you know which one.
As always happy listening, happy learning, happy perspective hunting. I know mine is forever changed and I look forward to the next time it gets an update.
Clay
No comments:
Post a Comment