Sandow's Juilliard criticism class--reactions to Hunt-Lieberson's Ombra mai fu

Greg Sandow is a critic/thinker/writer about classical music and its future. His blog can be found here.

He's just taught a Juilliard course on criticism (course syllabus is here) and one of the assignments was to review two performances of Handel's Ombra mai fu, one with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (truly a great singer and musician) and one with Renee Fleming. He reprints some of the student's comments about Hunt Lieberson, which I've copied below, along with a recording on YouTube of her performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Jh7DF1nxY

But enough prelude. Here are excerpts from what the students wrote about Hunt Lieberson's recording. As I said, they all heard the same thing. But look at how wonderfully they described it:

     More simple and subtle.

     She is one of the few singers today who knows how to sing piano.

     Stunningly humble.

     Her performance is masterfully understated.

     In some inexplicable way, I am brought to peace.

     I absolutely loved the way Lieberson truly 'crept' in on her first entrance and made       such a perfectly gradated and controlled crescendo.

     Her initial entrance was remarkably quiet and captivating.

     As the aria begins, I was struck by the absolute serenity of this recording.

     In the beginning, Hunt's subtle entrance, as her soft "A" warms up the sound of the string ensemble, embodies inner strength, as if it is a reflection of things past.

     From Lieberson's first entrance I could feel the wind: a wind which always starts from nothing, but always there

     When she first enters after the introduction, it's as if she's caressing your skin slowly as she crescendos to the peak of that phrase.

Note that they didn't just agree on the general character of the performance. They all agreed that a particular moment was especially wonderful. They hear music clearly, and describe it quite wonderfully.

 Frankly, I wish I could take his course!

Sandow also has a newsletter, see here, and subscribe (it's free).

Greg Sandow and the future of classical music

This is an email I sent out to the grad students at UNT:

I may have mentioned Greg Sandow's blog before, but he's been in the process of writing a book about the future of classical music and has been doing regular seminars or classes at a number of universities.

While for Dr. McCoy and me, we're nearer (ahem! maybe I should just speak for myself!) the end of our careers than the beginnings, all of YOU are at the beginnings of yours, and these issues may be paramount for you.

Where is classical music going? Within that broad category, where is choral music going? How will it be different 10, 20, or 30 years from now? Who will be the leaders, gurus, wizards of this new world?

We've all seen many of the choral icons of the past (Robert Shaw, Roger Wagner, Eric Ericson, etc.) finish their careers. Who will be the icons of the future? Where will they take us? What will happen to the audience? How will professional, volunteer, and university programs be the same or different? How will choral music be presented & programmed?

Will YOU be one of those leaders?

Sandow's "riffs" on this, which will become the first chapter of his upcoming book can be gotten in a pdf link on his site.

It's a lot to get through, but has provocative and interesting ideas.

There are such great questions about where we're going . . .