Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. Bénédicte and I rolled in with a schedule for the day—three songs we wanted to revisit before lunch, and the ever-elusive first run-through in the afternoon. No sooner had we gotten through the glass doors of the...
written by
Steven Blier
Caramoor 2023: Day 4
A few things threw our normal Thursday agenda out the window. Normally we would do our first complete stumble-through of the program in order. But when Bénédicte and I arrived at Caramoor, after an extended car-ride conversation about the perils of dating...
Caramoor 2023: Day 3
On the third day of a week-long residency we’re still in the realm of exploration and flexibility, as we gently pat the songs into place. “How’s memorization going?” Bénédicte and I blithely ask, and when we hear the typical answer—“It’s coming along!”—our blood...
Caramoor 2023: Day 2
I went to Caramoor today expecting to chip away diligently at all the disparate songs in our nine-language recital, and content myself with slow and steady progress. I wasn’t expecting a day of lightning bolts, flashes of inspiration that startled me with their...
Caramoor 2023: Day 1
“What did you do on your two-week vacation from Juilliard?” people ask. “I worked,” I answer. “Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that.” “Well, I was at Caramoor, doing the Vocal Rising Stars program…” I tell them. “Ohhh…well, that’s different! Wow,...
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM: THINKING BACK ON FIFTY YEARS
I remember being at Tower Records in 1980, where I came across a fancy boxed set of LPs called Régine Crespin: 30 ans sur scène. Thirty years of performances, from Fiordiligi to Fidelio—what a dazzling pinnacle! At age 28, I could barely grasp the idea of such a long...