Boston
Singers' Resource News Bulletin, April
12 , 2006
Now
a Massachusetts resident, Ms. Kilduff has performed on some of the world's
most prestigious opera stages. An internationally known soprano, Barbara
Kilduff, talks about her experiences at the Met as well as her upcoming
performance 'Magic Flute'' with Emmanuel Music.
Coloratura soprano Barbara Kilduff has enjoyed a career on both the
American and European stages in opera, oratorio and song recital. A
National winner of the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions, she went
on to win first prize in the famed Munich International Competition
and the silver medal in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Within
a year of these competitions, Kilduff made favorable debuts with the
Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera and the Hamburg State Opera
in the demanding role of Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos,
a role she has sung in Basel, Vancouver, Athens and Cologne.
Zerbinetta was also the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in October
1987, with Jessye Norman, conducted by James Levine. In the same season
as her debut, Kilduff also appeared as Adele in Die Fledermaus, and
the following season as Cleopatra in Julius Caesar under Trevor Pinnock,
and as Blondchen in Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail under James Levine.
She also appeared in the Metropolitan 25th Anniversary gala. She continued
singing with the Met through 1991.
Kilduff debuted in the role of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier to great
acclaim at the Bavarian State Opera in a production by Brigitte Fassbaedner,
a role she repeated in Vienna, New York and San Diego. She made her
La Scala debut as Blondchen under Wolfgang Sawallisch. She appears in
recordings of Opera and oratorio, among them as Seele in Schoenberg's
Jacobsleiter with the Frankfurt Symphonie, Isotta in Strauss' Die Schweigsame
Frau with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and as Papagena in the Metropolitan
Opera's television broadcast.
Barbara Kilduff holds a Masters degree from both Yale and UCONN at Storrs
and has participated in the Merola program at San Francisco Opera and
the Wolf Trap Program in Vienna, Virginia. She has taught at Boston
University and New England Conservatory and is currently an adjunct
voice teacher at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, where she resides
with her family.
Joe Stroup: Your career is so extensive and impressive. You must
have been given good training from an early age. Do you come from a
musical family?
Barbara Kilduff: Absolutely not! But Grandma did teach me to
play the piano and I have always loved to sing. Of course, every singer
has had a teacher who told them they couldn't sing. Me too!! But mostly
I had great teachers who encouraged me. Doris Cross (at Yale), for example,
sent me off to lots of auditions and competitions which played a major
part in starting my career.
JS: In addition to Ms Cross, who are some of your favorite teachers
and coaches?
BK: Brian Moll at Longy School of Music and the Boston Conservatory,
Paulina Stark at Amherst, David Evans at SUNY Fredonia, Gerald Martin
Moore in London and Reri Grist in Berlin.
JS: After several years of working at some of the major European
houses you were offered the chance to perform at the Metropolitan Opera
House in New York City. Is that a unique experience or much like any
other important opera house?
BK: It's unique for me. It's my home town after all!! I guess
I felt more supported and cared for at the Met.
JS: In what ways is the space different from other large houses
where you have performed? Were there special techniques you used to
project emotions and sound to the back of the room?
BK: The acoustic at the Met is remarkably kind. In my performances
there I never felt as if I had to push to be heard. One is aware that
the size of the theatre demands exaggeration that might not be required
in a smaller house. But the intensity needs to be exactly the same.
It's a matter of maintaining focus and you have to work at that no matter
what house you are singing in.
JS: Talk a bit about what it’s like to sing for a Met audience.
BK: Met audiences can be tough! Many are afficionados. But after
a schooling in Vienna, Munich, Milan and other European houses, one
appreciates the extremely high standards that are expected. I will never
forget the warmth of the reception I got there for my debut.
JS: How much rehearsal time is available to you prior to a new
production?
BK: New productions always demand more time. Everyone involved
is creating something new. Directors are experimenting as they seek
to find some new and interesting ingredient. But you are always working
with consummate professionals who are well prepared. On new productions
I have spent up to a month in rehearsal.
JS: Who did you most enjoy performing with there?
BK: I remember singing Blonde at the Met with Maestro Levine.
Although he is busy with the orchestra, he always keeps in touch with
his singers. What is really encouraging is that if you sing something
particularly well, he will acknowledge that with a nod or a smile in
mid- performance without skipping a beat.
One other person I will always remember is Tatiana Troyanos. We had
sung Die Fledermaus together and would sing Giulius Cesare the following
year. She made a big point of saying that one should always be very
well prepared. As it turned out I ended up singing in place of Kathy
Battle who had cancelled. My parents were there and later told me of
the disappointment of the audience when it was announced. But I was
indeed well prepared which pleased Ms Tryanos who went out with me for
a bow at the end of the second act and left me alone on the stage. It
was quite the moment.
JS: Apropos of preparing for a role; how are you able regularly
to perform such roles as Zerbinetta or the Queen of the Night?
BK: Just as a marathon runner prepares for a race, so too does
a singer prepare for such a role. For me it means being well rested
and staying calm. It also requires a lot of energy, so I like to walk
and swim a lot.
JS: Can you tell us about any memorable moments, good or bad,
that you had on-stage?
BK: Oh absolutely !! That night in Oviedo, when as Queen of the
Night, the audience couldn't see me because they were fogged in by an
overzealous "dry-ice man". In the second aria, I wore a huge
dress, carried a three foot long sword and wore a foot tall wig, and
had to fit through a tiny hole in the stage, not to mention the fact
that I had to move sideways backstage because it was so narrow. Challenging
to say the least! Lots of chuckles afterwards about that episode!
I will also always remember singing Queen of the Night in Vienna. I
sang the arias through and they said "OK, see you on the night!"
and that was all the rehearsal I had! I am happy to say that I had a
very supportive Tamino in Gosta Winberg who smiled up at me through
the whole first aria. Scary!
JS: Of the many operatic roles you have played, do you have any
particular favorite(s)?
BK: My all-time favorite is Zerbinetta, followed by Sophie in
Rosenkavalier. But I have enjoyed my Blondchens and my Adeles. Each
has its own appeal.
JS: Are there roles you would like to play?
BK: I recently sang Norina (in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale)
for the first time with Jeffrey Rink and the Newton Symphony. That was
so much fun and makes me think that I would like to sing Adina (L’elisir
d’Amore). I covered Adina at the Met but never got to sing it on
stage. I would like to sing Lucia, Daughter of the Regiment and Lakme.
I would also like to sing more with orchestras. With all the opera work
I have done, I have not done as much Sacred music, Masses, Psalms, Cantatas,
as I would like.
JS: Your career has had you travel a great deal in Europe and
American. You also have a family. What special challenges do you face
with these dual roles?
BK: When Caroline (now 10) was a baby I often traveled with an
au pair and my husband was as supportive as a busy job in electronics
industry allowed him to be. With both of my girls of school age now,
taking them with me is not really an option. But as I’m singing
mostly in the USA now, being away from home for extended periods is
usually not necessary, so my husband can pretty much cover.
JS: How do you prepare for a performance or a new role with children
at home?
BK: I generally do not prepare at home. Too many distractions
there to allow me to focus! I am happy to say that I have time in my
teaching schedule which allows me to practice and learn new music. I
also block off time to work with Brian Moll, my recital accompanist
and more recently I’ve really benefited from working with Paulina
Stark out at Amherst.
JS: Do your children ever travel with you?
BK: Actually, my family and I were just in Puerto Rico with the
Phillips Academy Cantata Singers to sing Mozart's C Minor Mass. Caroline
also came to Madrid and Bonn for extended periods. In fact, far from
being a distraction, I loved having her with me. It can be quite a lonely
experience living out of suitcases in hotels for long periods.
JS: Are they musical?
BK: Yes, they are. Caroline is a typical pre-teen with her pop
music. My younger daughter, Eileen (age 5) is going tomorrow for her
first violin lesson. I actually played violin in elementary school but
gave it up to concentrate on playing the piano and singing in chorus.
Both of them sing about the house all the time.
JS: Although you haven’t stopped singing for any length
of time, it seems that we are seeing more and more of you lately. (In
December doing Messiah at MIT, in January with the Newton Symphony and
at Phillips Academy, and in March at Phillips again) Are you returning
to full-time performing?
BK: As you say, while not performing with the same intensity
as in my European days, I’ve always had some engagements in my
calendar. But it certainly is ramping up and I’m really looking
forward to some new and challenging engagements. I’m taking it
one concert at a time. And of course I just love to sing with an orchestra.
JS: What are your plans in that regard?
BK: Upcoming in April, Queen of the Night in Magic Flute with
Emmanuel Music, the Mozart Requiem in May with the Dedham Choral Society
at Jordan Hall, the debut of a song cycle by Luis Bacalov with the Cambridge
Community chorus also in May, and a recital in October with Brian Moll
at the Lawrence Library
JS: It was a real treat to hear you at last November’s BSR
Select Auditions in Boston singing the second verse of Blonde's aria,
part of ‘Et incarnatus est’ from Mozart's C Minor Mass, and
‘Dulcissime’ from Carmina Burana.
BK: The BSR auditions are a great way to be heard by a number
of opera companies and orchestras at the same time. Boston is a special
place but as with most places it takes a while to become a part of the
scene.
JS: There are so many great singers in New England, to say nothing
of the US and the world. How does one develop and maintain a career
of this caliber?
BK: Be prepared, always! Continue to work hard on improving your
technique and learn new music. There is always more you can learn. The
standard way of starting a career is to do the audition tour in Europe.
I did the tour but I was fortunate to do it after winning the Tchaikovsky
and Munich competitions which made things a lot easier. In the words
of Tito Capobianco, "I may tell you you are not a good singer but
if you disagree you must keep trying other doors". I remember someone
telling me that competition winners don't have careers but I think I
proved them wrong!
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Upcoming Performances:
Mozart: The Magic Flute
Emmanuel Music
A concert performance by The Spectrum Singers, John Ehrlich, director,
and the Orchestra and Chorus of Emmanuel Music, Craig Smith, conductor.
English translation by Alice Goodman.
Cast includes:
Tamino - Charles Blandy*
Three Ladies – Jayne West, Deborah Rentz-Moore, Pamela Della
Papageno – Donald Wilkinson
Queen of the Night – Barbara Kilduff*
Pamina – Kendra Colton
Monostatos – Frank Kelly
Papagena – Alice Tillotson*
also, Jason McStoots*
Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston
$25, $36, $50, $100
617-536-3356
www.emmanuelmusic.org
Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:00 PM
Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:00 PM
=======================
Mozart Requiem
Michael Haydn: St. Francis Mass (Boston Premier)
Dedham Choral Society
Jonathan Barnhart, Music Director & Conductor
Barbara Kilduff*, soprano
Krista River, mezzo-soprano
Jason McStoots*, tenor
Donald Wilkinson, baritone
Jordan Hall, 29 Gainsborough Street, Boston
$15, $25, and $35
To order tickets before April 12 please call (781)326-1520 or email
tickets@dedhamchoral.org. After April 12 they will be available from
the Jordan Hall Box Office at 617-585-1260
http://www.dedhamchoral.org/
Sun May 7, 2006 3:00 PM
=======================
Cantos para Nuestros Tiempos (Psalms for Our Times) The Cambridge
Psalms
Cambridge Community chorus
The world premiere of a new work commissioned by the Cambridge Community
Chorus from the Argentinian Oscar-winning composer Luis Bacalov
William Thomas, conductor
Barbara Kilduff*, soprano
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
http://cambridgechorus.org/
Sunday, May 21, 2006, 3PM
=======================
Watch for it: Barbara Kilduff will perform the role of Morgana
in Handel’s Alcina in April 2007 with Emmanuel Music.