DAVID DANIELS YOUTH CLUB INFO

WELCOME to the VRS YOUTH CLUB!

The lights have gone down, the audience is hushed, and you are among all those waiting for the performer to emerge from the wings to start the concert. But what are you about to hear? How will you understand music that you haven't heard before?

The VRS Youth Club has been created to help you understand the music. Once again, as with the concert of pianist Stephen Hough, and the Nel/Kitchen/Kim Trio, we will send you a special package including:

• A CD so you can listen and become familiar with the music and
• Written notes that will teach you about the artist, the composers and the music.

We think a little bit of knowledge makes listening to a concert that much more enjoyable.

The third concert of the Classic Afternoons at the Chan features David Daniels, countertenor. Please take the time to read the biographical, song texts and program information and to listen to the recording of the songs that David Daniels will perform ahead of the concert day.


THE PROGRAM

Selection of 4 Medieval Spanish Songs
Selection of 4 Italian Songs
Handel: 2 arias -- from "Julius Ceasar", and "Rinaldo"
     Intermission
Berlioz: "Les Nuits d'Eté" ("The Nights of Summer")
Hundley: Waterbird / Sweet Suffolk Owl / Come ready and see me / Seashore Girls
Ravel: "Cinq melodies populaire greques" ("Five Greek Folksongs")

David Daniels will be singing these songs. The CD you have been sent has each selection. We suggest that you read the interview excerpted from the New York Times in which David Daniels talks about how he became a countertenor, and the "What to Listen for" pages before listening to the CD.

ABOUT DAVID DANIELS

American countertenor David Daniels has been recognized as one of the outstanding artists of our day, winning equal praise in opera, recital and concert. His superlative artistry, magnetic stage presence and a voice of singular warmth and surpassing beauty have served to redefine his voice category for the modern public. His unique achievement has earned him two of the music world's most significant awards: Musical America's Vocalist of the Year for 1999 and the 1997 Richard Tucker Award. He was nominated for a 1999 Grammy Award for his first disc of Handel arias on Virgin/EMI.

This disc of Handel arias, conducted by Sir Roger Norrington with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, inaugurated a solo-exclusive contract with the Virgin/EMI label and won Best Operatic Recital from the Academie du Disque Lyrique, Recording of the Week from London's Sunday Times and was named Editor's Choice by Gramophone magazine. His most recent release is the complete Rinaldo with Cecilia Bartoli for Decca. Other recent releases include a critically-acclaimed recital disc with pianist Martin Katz and a disc of arias by Mozart, Gluck and Handel with OAE conducted by Harry Bicket. This disc also has received the Editor's Choice distinction from Gramophone.

David Daniels made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Sesto in Giulio Cesare in April 1999. His 2000-2001 season features a new production of Rinaldo at New York City Opera and he will also repeat this role in the highly acclaimed David Alden production in Munich which he created in July 2000. He will sing the title role in Giulio Cesare with Los Angeles Opera, his first-ever performances of the title role of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in concert at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and return to the San Francisco Symphony for concerts of Ravel and Berlioz conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. He will tour the US with Les Violons du Roy in a program of Bach and Vivaldiwith venues to include Alice Tully Hall, New York, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Future seasons will see him return to the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Bavarian State Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, as well as debuting at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Netherlands Opera and the Paris Opera.

David Daniels' accomplishments in recital have kept apace with his opera profile. He has won admiration for his interpretations of an expansive recital repertoire, including the song literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries not regularly associated with countertenors. In recital, he will appear this season at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, London's Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus as well as in Vancouver, Toronto, Cologne, and Lisbon.

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, David Daniels is the son of two voice teachers. He began singing as a boy soprano, gradually emerging as a tenor. He attended Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music and the University of Michigan. He began singing as a countertenor in 1992. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DAVID DANIELS SPEAKS ABOUT
BECOMING A COUNTERTENOR

Excerpted from an interview with David Daniels in the New York Times, October 29, 2000 by Anthony Tommasini

There is an intriguing ambiguity to David Daniels' voice. Onstage, the sturdily built Mr. Daniels, 34, exudes a square-shouldered masculine confidence. His agility as an actor comes in part from his passion for basketball. When in New York during decent weather, he can often be found in the park, elbowing fellow players in a pickup game. Yet when he starts to sing, his alto voice has a tender beauty that seems classically feminine.

The counter-tenor, David Daniels, hates the term "falsetto". He understands that there is no other term to describe his technique. The dictionary definition of counter-tenor is a high male "falsetto" voice, meaning that it is achieved through an artificial method of voice production involving only partial vibration of the vocal chords. But the term "falsetto" from the Latin word for "false, artificial" drives him crazy.

To David Daniels, the way he sings feels perfectly natural, though it took years of unnecessary anguish to come to this realization. A son of two voice teachers from Spartanburg, South Carolina, David Daniels studied voice at the University of Michigan. He was a frustrated tenor, and miserable. Despite his hard work and drive, high notes eluded him, and his singing just seemed to get worse. He told a psychotherapist he was seeing at the time about his "other voice", the high alto he unveiled at parties, for laughs, after a couple of beers. But he lacked the courage to take his other voice seriously. His therapist emboldened him to try.

David Daniels will never forget that date: March 2, 1992. From that day forward he became a countertenor. And over the years he has won increasing acclaim. His appearance this season in the title role in a new production of Handel's Rinaldo at the New York City Opera is one of the most anticipated events of the season, and his most recent recording for the Decca label of Handel's Rinaldo with the superstar mezzo-soprano, Cecilia Bartoli, as his partner shows his remarkably expressive range. David Daniels sound is clear, warm, vibrant and full; his musicianship is first-rate. His artistry makes audiences forget about voice-types and categories. This is simply great singing.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
ￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾃ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽￃﾯ￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽ2001 BRENDA CAMPBELL

While a voice recital has many similarities to the other types of recitals that you have heard this season, it also has a few differences. Traditionally, vocal recitals consist of several different sets of songs that are grouped by composer. In this recital, David Daniels will sing twenty-two pieces by nine different composers, in four different languages, grouped into six different sets. However, probably the more remarkable thing about this recital is the range in which David Daniels will sing. When he walks out on stage and begins to sing, the sound of his voice will likely amaze you. David Daniels is a countertenor, which means that he sings in the same range as a female alto. This particular use of the male voice was especially popular in the 18th century. The term falsetto means to sing above one's normal range. It is a particular way of vocal production that is used by tenors to sing high notes and is the method countertenors use for singing all their notes. Everyone's singing voice is unique, but perhaps the voice of a countertenor is more remarkable because to hear a male voice singing so high is unusual.

As a listener, there are several things that you can do to prepare for this recital both ahead of time and while sitting in the audience. Voice recitals are fun because there is a lot to watch on stage, the pieces are musical poems, and there is variation from work to work and composer to composer. As poetry can sometimes be obscure and hard to understand, read through the translations of the texts out loud, so that you are able to hear how the words sound. During the recital listen to the music. Does the music reflect the meaning of the poetry? How do the piano and vocal lines interact? Listen for introductions and endings in the piano part. Listen for the expression of the text as reflected in the piano part. Do the piano and vocal lines imitate each other and does the imitation convey the meaning of the poem? The two parts are equal in importance and it is interesting to see how the pianist and singer perform with each other.

Singers generally perform everything from memory. They stand facing the audience, not sideways, as violinists or pianists, and make eye contact with the audience. Because of this, singers have a very personal relationship with their audience. Look at their body language throughout the recital. Remember, singers must also be actors, and as such need to vary how they "deliver their lines": they may vary their stance and vocal tone to convey different emotions, actions and even characters. The variation of sounds that a singer can make are many. Listen for the use of vibrato, a fluctuation or "wobble" in intensity and pitch, and straight tones, where no fluctuation of the voice occurs. Also, listen to the use of dynamics. All of these things play an integral part in the presentation of the music and text. Is the singer translating the text through their tone? Can you discern a particular mood and intensity by what the singer and pianist are doing?

Finally, think about the text itself. What made the composer decide that the poem would make a good piece of music? The expression is implied by the poetry and composers must deal with both a literary and musical text. The words are musical sounds and the sonority, rhythm, and stress of the words inspire the music and express the emotion. With most composers it seems that the melody comes from the rhythm and inflections of the text. Because of this, it important for singers to perform each piece in its original language. The composer sets the sound of the words, be they Spanish, Italian, English, or French, to music. Composers will use different compositional styles with different types of poetry. Listen for dramatic sounds, emotional sounds, folk-like sounds, and other expressive devices. Vocal music is unique because it is a combination of words and music, a blend of a musical language and a verbal language. Composers attempt to express the meaning of a text through musical sounds, and performers make what is on the page come alive to the audience.

Does the poem make sense?
Does it tell a story?
Does it ask questions?
As music can be swirling and imaginative, so can the words of a poem.

©2001 BRENDA CAMPBELL is a Vancouver pianist and teacher.