Chronicle Herald Story on Saint Matthew Passion

The Halifax Chronicle Herald interviewed Paul Halley about Saint Matthew Passion. You can read the cached article at the Herald's website here.

CBC Mainstreet Interview with Paul Halley and David Greenberg

CBC's Mainstreet program will feature an interview with Paul Halley and David Greenberg this Friday, April 15 at 3:55pm. You can live-stream the show here and Nova Scotians can check here for your local frequency.

Halifax Magazine: Interview with Paul Halley and David Greenberg

Halifax Magazine has posted a fun interview with Paul Halley and David Greenberg. You can read the interview by clicking the link here.

Interview with countertenor Andrew Pickett

Below is an interview between countertenor Andrew Pickett and Cheryl Bell.

Andrew Pickett received his Master of Music in Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario, then proceeded to the Royal College of Music, London where he earned a graduate diploma, studying with Ashley Stafford. He has learned with such notable experts in the vocal Baroque as Dame Emma Kirkby, James Bowman, Michael Chance and Daniel Taylor, and has performed major roles in operas by Monteverdi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Hasse, Handel, Purcell and Jonathan Dove, and been a soloist in works by Purcell, Charpentier, Handel, Orff, Britten, and Bach (Mass in B Minor and St. John Passion) in the UK, Europe, and Canada.
His London-based vocal quartet, The 1607 Ensemble, for which he writes pieces and arrangements as well as editions of early works, has performed all over Britain as well as France, Italy and the Netherlands. His work in 2011 will include solo recitals of Bach and Handel, as well as Handel's Judas Maccabeus, Bach's St Matthew Passion, and Purcell's Fairy Queen.  Andrew was a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and a Brighton Early Music Festival Young Artist. He is a vocal coach for the King's College Chapel Choir, and will serve as the resident vocal consultant this summer at the New Brunswick Early Music Festival.
(bio from andrewpickett.com)

CB:  How would you define and describe the countertenor voice to someone who is unfamiliar with it?

AP: Without getting into too much of the history, defining the voice is pretty easy—it’s a man singing in falsetto, simple as that. There are countertenors out there who would rather be called altos, and a few high early music tenors who say that they are the true countertenors and falsettists aren’t, but that’s really a question of semantics. I use the same vocal production as Alfred Deller, James Bowman, Andreas Scholl, Daniel Taylor… that’s what being a countertenor means to me.
Describing it  is harder. It’s a high voice, but it’s not a woman’s voice—there can be an unearthly quality to it, that’s the word I often hear. Some people find it unsettling to hear such high notes coming from a man; others find it really attractive for the same reason. And of course every countertenor has his own unique qualities.

CB: What role do you sing in the Saint Matthew Passion? Is it the first time you have sung the role?

AP: The Matthew Passion does has characters like Pilate and Jesus, especially in the recitatives, but the arias are for unnamed solo voices, for soprano, alto, tenor and bass. There are two choirs, so there are soloists associated with each choir—I’ll be singing four of the eight alto arias, and Maude Brunet, a mezzo-soprano, will be singing the other four.
CB: What sort of demands does the role place on you and your voice?
AP: Bach is always challenging for any singer—it’s intensely musical and specific and unforgiving. It’s as if Bach is saying “Just sing exactly these notes, in this exact order, with complete and rigorous accuracy, and above all, relax.” The other problem, for me, is that the arias are so magnificently beautiful that it’s intimidating to work on them. It’s like being asked to retouch a priceless Baroque painting—what if your hand slips, and mars its perfection?

CB: Why is it important that this role be sung by a countertenor?

It’s not, really—as I said, some of the arias are being sung by a mezzo, and that’s great. As far as historically informed performance goes, there’s a good chance that these arias were sung by a senior boy in Bach’s own choir, but there aren’t many 14-year-olds boys around these days who are willing to sing classical music at all, let alone tackle the challenges of a Bach aria. Although happily now there’s Nick Halley’s Capella Regalis boys’ choir, who are joining us for the Passion—who knows what some of those kids will be able to accomplish down the road! But this is one of those situations where there’s no real right answer—you just use the best of what you have available, which after all is exactly what Bach would have done. Besides, I think it will be really interesting for the audience to hear how the two voice types, male and female, are going to sound, side by side.

CB:  Is singing this role a high point in your career—a bit like “playing the Dane” for an actor?

Yes, a bit. The Matthew Passion is a pièce de résistance, by a master of masters, and it’s impossible to ignore. But most classical singers do a variety of work—opera, as well as concerts like this, and usually teaching on the side—and we usually have favourite works in each area. So ask me again after I’ve sung Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Introducing: Hélène Brunet, Soprano

Soprano Hélène Brunet has just completed a masters degree in early music at the University of Montreal, under the supervision of Suzie Leblanc, Alexander Weimann and Catherine Sévigny. She is currently studying with Daniel Taylor at the Music Conservatory of Montreal.

Over the past few years, Hélène has had the opportunity to study with highly regarded musicians in the early music scene, most notably Luc Beauséjour, Charles Daniels, Emma Kirkby and Margaret Little. In July 2010, she performed the role of Maddalena in Handel’s La Resurrezione, conducted by American Bach Soloists’ Jeffrey Thomas in San Francisco. Last fall, she joined Montreal’s early music ensembles SMAM (Christopher Jackson) in Biber’s Vespers and Les Voix Baroques (Alexander Weimann) in Oratorios by Carissimi.

Hélène sang in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Montreal Music Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Raffi Armenian, as well as in Bach’s Easter Oratorio, conducted by Louis Lavigueur in March. She will be heard in the role of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and will also have the pleasure of performing Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate with Orchestre de la Francophonie at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City next July.

Below, you can watch a video of  Hélène performing Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento Della Ninfa.

Paul Halley and David Greenberg on CBC

Chapel Choir Director Paul Halley and David Greenberg will be featured on the CBC Radio 2 Programme Connections on Saturday April 9. The show airs from 10am - 11am and can be streamed here. Please click here to find the radio frequency in your area.