Scheherazade, E Parcells (2 of 2)

Part 1 • Scheherazade E Parcell...
Shéhérazade by MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)
higher resolution version at www.elizabethpa...
Translation: The enchanted flute
The shade is sweet and my master sleeps,
Wearing a conical silk bonnet,
With his long yellow nose in his white beard.
But I, I waken again
And hear outside
The song of a flute pour forth
By turns sadness and joy.
A song by turns languorous and frivolous
Which my dear lover plays,
Who I approach by the window.
It seems to me that each note steals away
From the flute toward my cheek
Like a mysterious kiss.
The indifferent one
Your eyes are soft, like those of a girl,
O young stranger,
And the fine curve
Of your handsome face with shadowed down
Is more seductive still.
Your lip sings on the footstep of my door
A tongue unknown and charming
Like dissonant music.
Enter! And let my wine comfort you. . . .
But no, remain
On my doorstep and I will watch you depart,
Making a last graceful gesture to me,
Your hip lightly bent
By your feminine and weary gait.(Ahmed Ismail)
Elizabeth: Shéhérazade is not typical repertoire for me because I've followed the coloratura bel canto way. This particular conductor was interested in having me sing this piece. It's often assigned to a mezzo these days because it does lie low.
It's a large orchestral piece with three songs. Ravel is a good orchestrator, he pulls it back when the singer needs to be out front. There are very few spots where you might get overwhelmed.
I decided to give it a try. I spent some months training it to make sure there would be the necessary richness. I had to work hard on the center of the voice.
Charlie: How did you work on that that?
Elizabeth: The French vocal sound as a lot of voix mixte, mixed voice. You are using a registration that includes both your head and some chest voice and mixing it together. You are developing a broad resonance in the middle of your voice so it carries well.
You are working across registers. Those registrations need to be supported. I had to get my breathing muscles into good shape to support those tones so that the registrations would be smooth. Voix mixte is prone to little breakups, registration bumps. It's a matter of breath control to get over those. To keep the voice ringing in that range takes a lot of breath energy. It's a French sound.
I was coached by Eugene Bassert who worked in New York for many years then came out to University of Michigan as a professor later on and settled here. He gave me a lot of good ideas for the performance and to make sure the assignment of the music could be fulfilled with the breathing, breathing in the right places. He gave me more confidence to make some adjustments that I might not have done. It's wonderful to work with someone who has so much experience coaching singers.
Charlie: How did it come out in the end?
Elizabeth: I was pleased with how well it went. To prepare for this one I wanted to hear another singer do it. I chose a recording with Victoria De LosAngeles who sang it brilliantly and has a soprano voice, my sonance. Her performance was a confidence builder.
Elizabeth Parcells

[@LazaritaCarmen]

Gorgeous.