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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...
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...
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...
“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,...
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...
Mention the words “Berlin cabaret” and most people will imagine the sleazy M.C. and decadent all-girl band from the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Film buffs will conjure up the image of Marlene Dietrich tormenting a mild-mannered elderly gentleman with her sexually...