Today's Version of My Top 15 Most Beautiful Songs/Arias Ever Written

When I started this post months ago, it really was going to be just my top 10 favorites. But then there were just too many.  And then there were too many wonderful recordings of each song.  So this is more than 10 favorites, as sung by just a few of my favorite singers. They are in no particular order.  Making me rank them would just be cruel.

Nessun Dorma

Bjorling and Puccini!  Need I say more?

Casta Diva

This isn't my favorite recording of Monserrat Caballe singing this aria, but it's still pretty amazing.  Her decrescendo on the high note at 4:25 alone is worthy the two and a half minutes of applause that follow.

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

En priere

Here's another great recording.

An Chloris

Clair de lune

Morgen

For over 20 years, Elizabeth Schwartskopf's gorgeous high note on "wogenblauen" has been my ideal, that place I was working towards.  This summer I found it.

C

I had never heard of this singer, but I really like this performance.

Le Secret

And another

Die Nacht

Ave Maria 

This always gives me chills, and sometimes even tears.  Stunning!

Befreit

Die Stille Lotosblume

Mondnacht

Four Last Songs, especially Im Abendrot

I'm cheating and counting the set as 1 song. Here's Schwartzkopf sing all four songs.

Flagstad demonstrates why Strauss requested her for the premier.  This left me in tears.


And yes, I did listen to all of these again today.

My Updated Listening List

I regularly assign my students to listen to recordings.  Most of the time, I give them links to particular songs by particular singers based on what the student is working on.  But some times, I just want them to listen to good singers and get those sounds in their ears and brains.  Sometimes I will tell them the names of two or three singers to check out.  Other times, I give them this list.

It will quickly be apparent to many of you that this list is heavy on the voice types that I listen to for my own development and lighter for the men. (Sorry.)  I'm always open to suggestions for names to add to the list.

This list also doesn't include some of the people that I think might be problematic for young singers to listen to.  Maria Callas at her best was amazing, but for baby beginners, if we talk about her or listen to her at all, I want to give context.  There are also some wonderful singers that I did not include here who have more Wagnerian voices.  Again, I'm not sure that young singers need that sound in their ears yet.  I also wouldn't recommend that really young singers listen to a steady and exclusive diet of some of the bigger voices that did make these lists.  If they're going to listen to Eileen Farrell and Renata Tebaldi (who I worship), I also want them listening to Elly Ameling (again, worship) and Barbara Bonney so they understand that there are different kinds of sopranos, but all of them can sing beautifully.

Listening List
Jeannine Robinett

Classical

Sopranos
Arleen Auger
Dawn Upshaw
Elly Ameling 
Barbara Bonney
Natalie Dessay 
Diana Damrau 
Kathleen Battle
Mirella Freni
Anna Netrebko
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Scotto
Eileen Farrell
Renee Fleming
Victoria de los Angeles                             
Monserrat Caballe
Kiri te Kanawa
Leontyne Price
Angela Gheorghiu
Anna Moffo
Joan Sutherland
RuthAnn Swenson

Mezzos/Altos

Cecilia Bartoli

Frederica von Stade
Glenda Maurice
Janet Baker
Jennifer Larmore
Ewa Podles
Anne Sofie von Otter
Teresa Berganza
Susan Graham
Joyce DiDonato

Tenors

Luciano Pavarotti

Placido Domingo
Fritz Wunderlich
Jussi Bjorling
Franco Corelli
Roberto Alagna
Jose Carerras
Enrico Caruso
Ian Bostridge

Baritones/Basses
Bryn Terfel
Samuel Ramey
Thomas Hampson
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau
Thomas Quastaff
Thomas Allen
Nathan Gunn

Countertenors
David Daniels
Philippe Jaroussky

Legit and/or Belt Musical Theatre

Women
Shirley Jones
Julie Andrews
Marnie Nixon (Watch the movies of The King and I, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story.  She did the singing for the leading ladies--Deborah Kerr Audrey Hepburn, and Natalie Wood.)
Audra MacDonald
Kristen Chenoweth
Kellie O’Hara
Patty LuPone
Bernadette Peters
Patina Miller
Sutton Foster
Idena Menzel
Barbara Cook
Laura Osnes
Linda Eder
Eden Espinosa

Men
Howard Keel
John Raitt
Robert Goulet
Richard Kiley
Alfie Boe
Brian Stokes Mitchell

My Updated Recommended Reading List

My high school students are so busy that I rarely get asked to give them more things to do.  But for those rare times that a student does ask what they can read, or if a book on this list relates to something we are talking about, I like to have a list that I can give them. This list is certainly not a comprehensive list of everything important to singers, but I think the books on the list can work well for young singers or at least give them a glimpse of the possibilities that await them.

What Every Singer Needs to Know about the Body by Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen, and Kurt-Alexander Zeller
The Perfect Wrong Note:  Learning to Trust Your Musical Self by William Westney
A Soprano on Her Head by Eloise Ristad
The Singers’ Ego by Lynn Eustis
The Inner Voice by Renee Fleming
Song by Carol Kimball
More than Singing by Lotte Lehmann
Interpretation of French Song by Pierre Bernac
The Art of the Song Recital by Shirlee Emmons and Stanley Sonntag
Power Performance for Singers by Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas
Auditioning for Musical Theatre by Fred Silver
The Artist’s Way and The Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron
If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Maria Rilke
Finding Vocal Artistry by Glenda Maurice

Both of these articles are available for purchase.  Follow the link here and then click on the article title.  You will then be given more information about how to purchase the article.  

“Some Personal Thoughts on Artistry” by Glenda Maurice.  Journal of Singing.  Vol. 53, No. 4 March/April 1997 pages 7-10

“The Composer and the Singer” by Dominick Argento.  The NATS Bulletin.  May 1977.  Pages 18-31.

Practice Challenge 2014-2015

Because I'm slightly crazy, but mostly because I'm trying to help my students practice more and practice better, I'm running a challenge program this year.  I'm hoping that it will also make my own practicing and blogging more frequent and meaningful.  You can read the details below.

Practice Challenge 2014-2015

Jeannine Robinett

Objective:  Increase the frequency, efficiency, and effectiveness of practice for students and teacher. 

Dates:  This program will run September 2, 2014 through May 29, 2015 for students.  (June 5 for teacher.)  

Who can participate?:  Any student currently studying in the Robinett Studio. 

How does it work?:

1. Students who want to participate use the Robinett Studio Practice Journal (available in the File Area of the website)to organize and record their practice. Write on the back or use additional paper as needed.   
2. At each lesson, participating students turn in a Practice Journal for the previous week.  
3. After my last lesson of the week, I review all the Practice Journals and select the one with the highest number of qualifying minutes of practice.  
4. The following week, I match the number of minutes and the practice strategies the student used as I do my own practicing.  I will also blog about my practicing, probably one blog for the week, but it may be more.   You can read the blogs at http://jmrvoicenotes.blogspot.com
5. The person with the highest number of winner weeks for the year will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize.  The prize will most likely be a book about music or a Groth Music Gift Card.  

Requirements:

1. To count a day’s practice toward this challenge, all columns of the Practice Journal must be filled in for that day.  
2. Approved practice strategies include any listed in your lesson notes from me, or in the handouts in the File Area of the website.  Exceptions are listed  below.  
3. If you did not fill in all columns when you used approved practice strategies, or if you used strategies from the exception list or came up with your own ideas, please count those minutes in the “Other” category for your totals. 

Exceptions and other details:  

1. If a student has longer than a week between lessons, I will use their top 7 days in determining the winner for that week.  
2. The upper limit for practice time to be counted for this challenge is 90 minutes per day.  There are two reasons for this.  First, I can’t commit to more than 90 minutes every day.  Second, young voices don’t need to be practicing more than that, and excessive practicing can tire out the voice and actually slow progress.  
3. Listening to, or reading about music can count as up to 10 minutes of approved practice per day, IF your listening/reading comes from the listening list and suggested reading list found in the File Area or is approved at the lesson prior.  Any links I include in your lesson notes related to songs you are currently working on will count as approved listening and reading without the time limit listed above. 
4. Although these may sometimes be helpful, the following practice strategies DO NOT count towards your total number of minutes for this challenge:  singing in the car, singing in the shower, singing in choir or rehearsals for a show, singing while doing chores.
5. When we have a full calendar week off school, I will most likely skip that week for this program.  For example, I will use the winner from the week of December 15-19 to structure my practice for the week starting January 5.

The Practice Journal looks like this, but is set up as a table.  Evidently that formatting doesn't copy/paste into blogger. 

Robinett Studio Practice Journal

Student Name:       

Include name in blog & other recognition:  YES  NO

Lesson date:

Assignments or goals for the week (These can include technique, song study, reading, listening, etc):

1.

2.

3.

Date	Goal (s) for this practice session	What did you work on and which strategies did you use?	How long did you practice?   (approved/other)	How did you feel about what you did?  What did you learn today?  How did you improve?

Total # number of minutes from the approved strategies:

      Total number of other minutes related to your music: 

GRAND TOTAL:
Are there any questions or concerns that arose in your practicing that you need discuss with your teacher at your next lesson?

Vicki Tucker Courtney's Contemporary Art Songs for Women

One of the fun things about conventions and conferences is visiting the vendors and looking for new music that hasn't shown up yet on the shelves of the music store where I usually shop.  At the MMTA Convention in June, I found a wonderful surprise.  Last year in this post I told you how much I love Vicki Tucker Courtney's Contemporary Art Songs for Men, but I had no idea that this book was in the works.

Like the volume for men, all ten songs in Contemporary Art Songs for Women come in low keys and high keys in the same book.  The CD also has accompaniments in both keys.  It's great for those students that sit somewhere in the middle, and sometimes need the high key, but other times need the low key. 

I didn't immediately fall in love with all the songs like I did with the book for men, but the more I go through them, the more I like them.  Sadly, it took me a couple times through the book before it dawned on me that all the poets of the songs were women.  There is a lot of wonderful music in the world by men, but I think sometimes it can be empowering for young women to sing something with both text and music by a woman.  You don't often get that chance.  

There are several poets I'm not familiar with, but there are also two settings of Christina Rossetti's poems ("What Do the Stars do?" and "What Would I Give?") and a beautiful setting of Emily Dickinson's "Will There Really Be a Morning?"  Can there ever be too many settings of that?  My favorite song in the book is "Repetition."  Courtney omits a few lines from Ella Wheeler Wilcox's original poem (That the worship of self is the only sin, And the only devil is greed) and I think I like it that way.  It keeps the song more positive.  

I see these songs as a great bridge for students that are ready for more than folk songs, but not necessarily ready for foreign language art songs.  I hoping the students love these as much as I do.  

Student Checklist for Performances

It's that time of year when I am busy revising old handouts and creating new ones.  I have a large studio, and even though I really try to make sure I discuss everything during lessons, I'm also just a little bit paranoid that I will forget something important.  I'm pretty sure that a lot of kids don't read the handouts I assign, but if the assignment is in writing and the handout is available to them, I feel a lot less guilty about things that don't go as smoothly as we might like them to.  

I prefer to attend every performance or contest opportunity that I offer my students.  However, there are times that it just isn't possible for me to be there holding their hand and making sure everything goes smoothly.  This year, I'm offering a few opportunities that I already know I can't attend.  I think that makes written instructions even more important.  I can't be there with them, but my handout can.  

This is the first draft of the handout I'm working on for those (and really all) performances.  I reference other handouts available on the password protected part of my website.  If you are interested in knowing more about those, please post in the comments.  

Checklist for Performances, Exams, Masterclasses, Contests, Auditions, etc. 

General Information:

• To help me process registrations faster, I will be asking students to fill out the registration forms.  You should fill out all parts of the form except the teacher contact info and any sections that say “Teacher: Please Complete” or “For Office Use Only”, “For Site Administrator”, etc.  Ask me if you have any questions. 
• Most MMTA events require that you present a form from me when you check-in for the event.  Make sure you have this. 
• I usually receive result within 1-2 weeks of the exams and contests. I will review any critiques and scores with you at your lesson. 
• Certificates, ribbons, pins, and other awards will be presented to students at our Spring Recital or at a lesson following that. 
• Keep your critiques and certificates (or copies of them) in pockets, folders, or sheet protectors in your Voice Lesson Notebook for future reference.

Preparation:

• The earlier you begin your preparation, the stronger your performance will be. 
• See handouts in the File Are like “Blueprinting”, “Mapping”, and “More ideas for building your interpretation” to help you polish your performance. 
• Be completely memorized and polished at least 2 weeks before the performance.
• For Theory Exams, feel confident on the material at least 2 weeks before the exam.  Then continue to study and review. 
• Attend workshops and studio classes and use them as an opportunity to get performance experience before the major event.
• Take advantage of opportunities to sing for family and friends, your choir, your church, or at nursing homes.  Again, this gives you practice in performing. 
•  Make an audio recording.  Listen to it, pretending you are the teacher.  Take notes.  What was good?  What do you need to work on?  How can you work on it?
• Make a video recording.  Watch it, pretending you are the teacher.  Take notes.  What was good?  What do you need to work on?  How can you work on it? The visual presentation is just as important as your sound.  How is your alignment?  Are your face and body expressive? 
• Write a Personal Positive Pep Talk. 

Accompanists:

These guidelines are especially important if you are using someone other than me as your accompanist. 

• Hire your accompanist early.  See me if you need recommendations and contact information.
• You are allowed to photocopy music for your accompanist to practice from, if it is destroyed after the event.  For MMTA and NATS, the accompanist MUST play from the originals.  Photocopies at any MMTA or NATS event will get you disqualified. 
• Double check to make sure that all notes, words, and markings are included on any copies you give to the accompaniment.  It’s easy to cut off the left hand piano part if you are not careful. 
• Get the music to the accompanist at least 2 weeks prior to your first rehearsal. 
• Make sure the music is clearly marked with breath marks, tempo changes, etc. 
• Rehearse with the accompanist at least once prior to the date of the performance.  If the site and scheduling allow for it, see if you can meet for a final check-up at the event site prior to the performance.  This is not always possible, but when it is, it is very helpful. 
• It is OK, expected, and necessary that you do more than just a quick run through with the accompanist.  Let him/her know if the tempo is comfortable.  Are there places that you have been practicing with slowing down or speeding up more?  Stop and work on sections so that you both feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the other.  Run it a few times so that you feel like you are working as a team. 
• While practicing with your accompanist, work out how you will show them that you are ready for them to begin playing.
• Payment for rehearsals and the event should be made at the first rehearsal, and absolutely no later than the performance.  Some accompanists will not play for the performance unless they have your money already.
• Write a thank-you note to the accompanist. 

The Week Before the Performance:

• Continue your normal practice schedule. If you have adequately prepared in advance, it will be enough.  Do not practice several extra hours a day trying to improve.  You will just stress yourself and your voice.  If you feel you need more practice beyond the normal amount of time you spend, make it silent practice.  
•  Practice your introduction if one is required.  Find out exactly what you need to introduce.  Some events will just want the song title.  Some want your name, grade, song title, composer, etc.  Focus on speaking slowly and clearly. 
• Decide what you will be wearing (especially shoes) and practice in what you will wear to your performance.  It will help prepare you mentally for performance and let you make any slight adjustments to clothing or presentation that may be required for comfort and optimal vocal technique. Unless event instructions specifically tell you otherwise, always dress up. 
• Get at least 8 hours of sleep per night.  Your body is your instrument.  Your performance will be better if you are not sleep deprived. 
• Make sure you are getting enough fluids. 
• Make travel arrangements.  Is a parent taking you, are you carpooling, or are you driving?  How long does it take to get there?  When will you need to leave to arrive with plenty of time to spare?  Do you know how to get to the site? Do you have maps/directions both to the building and the room you will be singing in? 
• Pack your performance bag.  Include music, water bottle, Kleenex, snacks, make-up (if you plan to wear it and might need to touch it up), your maps/directions, and something to do to keep you calm if you have to wait awhile.  Some events (mostly MMTA) will also require that you present a form at the check-in table.  Make sure that it is in your bag too. 
• Make sure my cell phone number and your accompanist’s cell phone number are saved on your phone or the phone of someone who will be with you.
• Figure out where you will meet your accompanist on the day of the performance.  Ask if you should meet him/her at your site, in the warm-up area, or at the registration desk.  You can also ask if you should call them when you arrive. 

The Day of the Performance:

• Warm-up at home if at all possible.  Yes, most events will have warm-up rooms, but your time there might be limited.
• Arrive early.  (How early will be determined by whether or not you can warm-up at the site.  You should always be there ready to go at least 15-20 minutes before your performance time.)
• Check-in at the registration table if there is one. 
• Explore the building.  Where is the room where you will perform?  Where are the nearest bathrooms?  Where is the nearest drinking fountain?  Where are the warm-up rooms? 
• Check-in with your accompanist. 
• Do some slow breathing exercises as you wait outside the performance room. 
• Review your Personal Positive Pep Talk right before you walk in. 
• Remember that the performance starts when you walk in the room.  Stand tall.  Look confident.  Smile as you greet the judges.
• If you have to announce your song, remember to speak slowly and clearly.
• Sing with commitment and expression.  Once you walk into the room, you’ve done all you can do technically, so just trust that it will work for you and enjoy the singing.   

A Few More Notes on Warming-Up:

• Follow the basic structure outlined in the Warm-ups handout located in the File Area of the website. 
• Straws are great to include as part of your warm-ups especially if you are in a place where you don’t want to make much noise (hotel, in the car with family, etc.)
• When you think you are warmed up, check a few things.  
• Check breath. (Are all inhalations low, silent, and free?)  
• Check to make sure that all the vowels are lining up.  
• Check how easy it is to sing legato.  (Can you sing an exercise with zero gaps in the breath flow?)
•  Check how easy it is to sing staccato.  (Is the staccato breath or throat motivated?) 
• Check flexibility, especially if you have a song with lots of quickly moving notes.  
• Check high notes (Are they free and easy? Do they have enough space?)  
• Check low notes. 
• Sing through your song or do a spot check on the harder sections, especially high notes or notes that you hold for a long time.  If it’s not as easy and beautiful as usual, you’re not warmed up enough.  Do a few more minutes of exercises, and then repeat the spot checks. 

So what did I miss?