“The human voice is mysterious, spontaneous and primal…its breath is the caption of this essence…” says the world-renowned Soprano Claron McFadden. While looking for her own essence in a silent retreat in Thailand, she was asked to sing. When the woman remarked “it’s like meditation,” she realized that the calmness, focus and ‘being in the moment’ she was looking for already existed in her singing… and this moment is delivered between her and the audience through her voice.
And no better media for that insight then to perform a piece from the avant-garde composer and music theorist John Cage. “Aria,” a unique piece that allows improvisation and musical freedom for the preformer, employs vowels and consonants and words from Armenian, Russian, Italian, French and English. The notation consists of wavy lines in different colours, and 16 black squares denoting “non musical” vocal noises. The colours denote different singing styles, to be determined by the singer. McFadden sees this freedom as a true representation of the mysterious, spontaneous and primal essence of the music.
McFadden’s voice pierced and captivated the crowd, making us laugh, think and engage – really engage, since during the second performance we were all active participants. You haven’t seen a more delighted opera audience in your life – clapping, laughing and being carried on the wonderful voice and personality of McFadden…. Encore!
Creative harmony with Claron McFadden
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