Some of my favorite quotes from the study day

For my musician readers, some of my favorite quotes from the study day:

All singers have got to breathe, but it’s lovely when they don’t.

Think of the ornaments like earrings or a bracelet – ‘Oh, I think I’ll put that one on today.’

Handel the great recycler

Armida – a Saracen Stealth Bomber

All the voices are very high – it’s worse than Peking Opera!

The da capo aria is a blank page, you can write on it with every bar.

The da capo is a huge gift to the singer and the director, very liberating.  Tosca’s the problem!

Handel gives sort of the Hollywood version of these sophisticated, dense literary texts. 

The continuo is like a mysterious sandwich.  You have the top line and the bass line, but you don’t know exactly what is in between  . . . you can fill it with what you like. 

[I’m definitely using some of these in my teaching!]