The10th New York Music Seminar(2006.4.20-２７)
The 10th New York Music Seminar was held during the period of April 20th, 2006 to the 27th.This memorable 10 th was a great success in every respect. On this occasion, let me state a few words about the history of this seminar. It was in the spring of 1984
when we came to know the existence of The Music Center, New York in the suburbs of New York run by two directors, David Bradshaw and Cosmo Buono, duo pianists,to which we sent our daughters for piano lessons. Before our leaving New York in the summer of 1986, we promised them that we would set up a Japan branch of this Center and kept words by actually starting -up of The Music Center Japanfollowing February. The New Yorkdirectors visited Japan for the first time in 1989 when Yokohama Exposition had been held and revisited several times thereafter. In the fall of 1997 went we to New York for the first time for this seminar. Since then it has continued up to present although it had been suspended for two years after the 9.11 incident.
Last June, very sadly, David Bradshaw died of sickness. We invited brokenhearted Cosmo Buono suffering from the loss of his partner to Japanfor consolation this February. The memorial concert in honor of David Bradshaw was held this time in New York, and our tour party all attended the concert.
The current tour consisting of 11 people has been well conducted in good group spirit.
The members were: Ms Mari Ohmori, pianist from Kagoshima, Kyushu, Ms Miho Kunishi, opera singer from Hiroshima, her friendMs Yoshie Hamada from Hiroshima also, Ms Michiko Shimizu from Aichi, Ms Masako Kanda, singer from Chiba, Ms Megumi Hoshi, pianist from Atsugi, Ms Kaoru Oikawa pianist from Chigasaki, Ms Yuki Usui, opera singer from Tokyo and two of us.
Departure for New York on the 20th (fine)
All tour members gathered at Narita airport at 13:30. After self introduction, we were all aboard Continental CD008 flying smoothly for 12 hours and arriving safely at NewarkInternationalAirport. New Jersey at 4:00 p.m. We jumped in the van provided
by Cosmo, ran along the spacious expressway in the country, crossed the beautiful GeorgeWashingtonBridge over HudsonRiver and entered the newgreencovered Manhattan. The van arrived at the Milburn hotel. We stepped in the room for change but soon after we went out for welcome party at Cosmo’s apartment which was to start at seven thirty.
Welcome cocktail party at Cosmo’s
After the death of David, the Cosmo’s apartment has been remodeled anew to be nice and clean and three dozens of people, Italian, Japanese, and American, young and old, men and women, including Rose Ann visiting us quite recently, old friend, Mario, Italian couple and Barry Alexander, baritone giving us voice lessons this time all gathered there cheerfully.
Cosmo’s Lesson in the moring,
Friday, the 21st (fine weather)
Ms Shimizu and Ms Hamada walked out of the hotel in spite of their jet lag in the east direction straight across the Central Park to head for the MetropolitanMuseum. The piano students, knowing the way, went out themselves up to Cosmo’s place to take his lessons in the morning. Two of us went out to Kaufman’s studio located very close to the Juilliard to get a practice room for rent. We just returned to Cosmo’s apartment to see how the lessons for Ms Oomori, Ms Oikawa and Ms Hoshi were going on.
Now, let's see the lesson scene. One example was shown here. Cosmo said that this part of this Debussy piece should be played very softly like wandering into a mist with nothing far seen as an impressionist school painter, Monet draws lightly,but here at this part the mist was suddenly dispersed to clear the way, so you must play more strongly to make a clear and dramatic contrast so that you can give the audience such an impression. It was neitherthe guidance of mechanism how to use your fingers nor the guidanceof an abstract imagination, but the concrete guidance of how to arouse one’s heart and mind toward music. I was deeply impressed by his lesson as well.
Metropolitan Opera Friday evening, the 21st"Don Pasquale"
We saw the opera at eight. The prima donna closed up in my opera glasses was just a marvelousmixture of Cleopatra of peerless beauty and Our Lady drawn by Raphael. The amorousness that drifts in ripe busts was so alluring. Superimposed English fairly short and simple, it was a great help understanding the plot. The music was also very enjoyable.I felt as if I had become one night New Yorker just like other audience fully packed in the hall.
Vocal lesson by Barry Alexander, drizzle morning on Saturday, the 22nd
Barry's vocal guidance started at Cosmo’s apartment whose building is a time-honoredestablishment located west of Central Park where a great former Metropolitan opera singer, Liliponse once lived. The noise and sound won’t reach next door no matter how he or she sings loud. Barry’s deep voice echoed throughout the room. Barry, Detroit born American, had lived long in Europe as a baritone singer especially well known in Warsaw,Poland.He returned rather recently to America and has lived in New York ever since. His European-styled behavior for entertaining people was so refined and so joyful that he can be a model to coarse Japanese. You can see his attentiveness in his lesson, too.
Barry read the lyrics of the music score line by line, explaining the scene depicted there psychologically to Ms Usui while she sangand said that if she understand the context of the drama well enough, her voice would become dramatic quite naturally. “You are a powerful woman not hesitant to murder the king. You want to stop being a woman to be a man”. Such desire should be vocally expressed to enchant spectators. It is very important to know and think over what should be expressedhere before you sing. Once you grasp the story of the drama thoroughly, how you sing would follow. And he sang with gesture to show his theory. The voice cannot be controlled by throat but can be controlled by belly which you must use more and more.
Barry said to Ms Kunishi like this. “Yousing so well. Perfect. But I will give you some advice to make it better. Look! Far down there. In the distance you will see a smoke of a boat going up. You have waited and waited for as many as three years for his return. So try to sing each phrase very slowly just as when you draw silk strings toward you little by little. You would feel something awesome beyond yourself when you come out of Christian church in Europe. That is it. Such feeling you must give to your audience through your song and gesture.You can sing louder. Express your emotional feeling more with your body. Move your body more positively. Then, it’s better fit to opera.Japanese barely use their body effectively. You must think over how to express it.
My help is the interpretation of the story. Don’t ask your accompanist to play fast because you are a car driver. If you drive fast, the accompanist has to follow. When I heard him say this way, I thought that the opera singershould be, before being singer, a sensibly rich human being full of sensitivity. He or she should be a man of theater or a man of letters. Teachers should be as well.
Japanese teachers are, in my opinion, inclined to put more emphasis on technical body tasks of such throat or belly. They should also learn to be men of literature.
Having a cold with all her precautions, Ms.Kanda failed to sing. After all, Barry showed his model, singing and explaining that this difference should be clearly marked between the first smooth and elegant movement and next rough and grievous movement. The difference can be depicted, for instance, by the walking stylehe showed, pretending to walk on a tight rope, raising both hands horizontally, balancing right and left.
What matters to the audience is not how to sound but how to feel. So, you must impress audience with your body expression of how you feel, even if they can not understand the language you employ, for instance, Italian.
Steinway pianoshop and Faust piano shop visiting, daytime of Saturday, the 22nd
We went to visit Steinway pianoshop near Carnegie Hall, wet in rain. Uncountable numbers of grand pianos in the large room were a spectacle, in which I noticed one thing.Every room containing grand pianos was rather dark and decorated with beautiful classical paintings of portraits or sceneries of eighteenth or nineteenth centuries hanging on the walls. They would not be a mere decoration. They must be understood to be implications of how music and painting were interrelated. I think that music will be heard from the pictures simultaneously when you see them and pictures will be seen from the music simultaneously when you hear it.
Then we went to Faust piano shop nearby. The owner of the shop called Sara Faust is a pianist-turned business woman, whom we have known for many years since we lived in the same village. She happened to be at the shop. We were both surprised to see each other there. She kindly allowed us to practice on her pianos for the following day concert. Nice pictures were also hanged on the walls. They were very beautiful to look at.
David Bradshaw Memorial Concert at Carnegie on the night of Saturday, the 22nd
Taxis brought us to Carnegie in rain for attending David Bradshaw Memorial Concert. All tickets were sold out. It showed how he had been received before he passed away. His students solemnly performed one after another. I was strongly stricken to the heart-warming longings of the people who had adored him very much when they playedwith their body and soul. The character of David was manifest in his love towards deserted cats. He gave me at 50 a great insight of beauty of classical music, ever since I have been a great fan of the music. I prayed that he be rested in peace.
Annual Student Recital covering America, Japan and Italy held at Carnegie on Sunday, the 23rd, rain
Following the rehearsal in the morning, the recital started at one thirty. American students played nicely one after another and then Japanese students performed.
Mari Omori, wearing blue purple colored dress and earrings brightly shining into the night sky, played a quiet, sweet melody so elegantly with soft touch on the piano with her both hands.
Kaoru Oikawa, wearing dress of check on black and platinum yellow, began gently just like a sleeping beauty but when she was awaken, played so vigorously.
Masako Kanda
She stood on the stage, anyway, and sang halfway until her voice was getting hoarse. Still, she sang. Storming applause came to her. Warm audience were beaten by her courage and bravery. I was also moved. It would not be feasible to stand on the stage in this case in Japan but here in America it proved to be possible. The audience warmly sent their message to her, in voiceless voice
that she should be back here again with today's sadness making fertilizer for tomorrow’s success.
Miho Konishi, wearing crimson dress to her feet, sang most colorfully and brilliantlyin a loud voice full of lucidity. She has got a great applause from anywhere. This was really a clear day to her.
Yuki Usui, wearing dress of lacquer black with black hair on top, tall like Americansang out mightily in a dignified manner.Her breathy voice was another charm.
Megumi Hoshi, wearing red purple colored dress was the last to perform for the day.
She produced various kinds of contemporary sounds by hitting and touching on the piano so stunning fast that the audience were all too much thrilled. Her digital tune sounded very analogical. I was so impressed by her expertness.
When I asked every player how she felt about the stage of this Carnegie Recital Hall they responded almost the same way. They said that this is really the most wonderful hall in the world and it deserves its name. I asked why. They said that any stages are inhabited by a demon, whether he helps or he hinders. This hall or stage had an aura where a good demon inhabited. He helped us a lot.
To take this opportunity, I want to say my observation of the difference between American and Japanese in music education.
Japanese are inclined to act the same way as others do because they fear they are too late to ride on a bus while American do his or her own way. Japanese parents want their children to play the piano if neighbors do. But in America, who wants play the piano plays the piano, on his or her own way. No imitation. Creativity comes first. You must nurture your own music. You must train and polish yourselves in sensitivity and sensibility in your own before you train your fingers. To acquire such ability, you must see, hear, read broadly and think deeply. Parents' attitudes are also fundamentally polar apart.In Japan, parents usually work together with their sons or daughters to let them play, but here they just sit and look how well their children make progress. Parents come happily to the concert to see their children playing but with no flower bouquet presentation. They never dress their children in more than appropriate way. They praise their children for their effort if they failed to play well. Japanese parents, on the other hand, expect their children to play perfectly without any faults. They want to tailor them by making them well dressed to the stage just like a star. When I saw this difference, I believed thatit was this American spirit that drove them to send their applause to Ms Kanda today.
Visit to professor emeritus of the Juilliard, Joseph Bloch, Monday, the 24th. Fine.
All party was expected to meet Joseph Bloch by schedule but only Cosmo and two of us visited him for his health reasons. Driving up by Cosmo’s car along the highways hemmed by Spring new green trees, three of us called at his home and found him in rather good shape. We chatted with each other on recent events or our common friends. He has been a great man in my life. He, now almost 90, applied a nice tie on his jacket and is still avid for anythingfrom recent events to academic studies. We keep in touch by e-mails. The scholar, Harvard graduateis the world authority of piano literature, which means he is expert in analyzing who composed what piece of music under what circumstances. You can tell easily what he is when you see his library filled with every genre of books. I can’t help realizing that good music containseverything. I told him that we were supposed to see the inside of the Juilliard next day but refused by the school because of full capacity to the regular school tour. Then he handed me a sheet of paper where a woman’s name was written. “She might help you” he said. She turned out to be a good helperthe next day, of course.
New York Philharmonic Monday evening the 24th . S. Spielberg's talk and film music.
At Avery Fisher Hall, base of New York Philharmonic, we saw 100 members of New York Philharmonic playing old good day’s fond film music under the command of John Williams, film music composer and conductor. Steve Spielberg, well-known for his JurassicPark, Joe, and ET acted as a talk commentator. Fond movie screen appeared on the large screen set behind the orchestra. You named them "Psycho" or "North by Northwest". Hollywood films might be the soul and heart of American people, who all came to see this huge hall packed to the full. I took a seat on the balcony of 6th floor, just above the stage, and looked down at the stage, gazing at Steve Spielberg and John Williams. When the orchestra finished playing, all audience stood up in standing ovation. What was this storm of applause? It must be a warm banzai, hurray to American culture, and its creators.
Visit to the Juilliard Tuesday morning , the 25th, fine
I met the lady whom Prof. Bloch introduced to me. She smilingly nodded, “You are Prof. Bloch’s friend. His friend is the Juilliard friend. Please get in. My colleague will guide you around.” The guide said that the dormitory costs 10,000 dollars a year and the yearly tuition 25,000 dollars. The Juilliard has been hundred years now and this year it celebrates 100th anniversary. The school has originally started with music but expanded gradually into the other areas such as dance, theater and jazz. The Music department has been 100 years, Dance 50 years, Theater 35 years and Jazz only 5 years. The students living in the dormitory, mixed with those of other departments, are able to expand the framework of their view, which helps polish their expertise. Talented students come to the Juilliard from everywhere of the world. Their families have sometimes suffered from financial problems for sending their potentials to the school. So,