Ranking among the world’s most renowned sopranos, Dame Emma Kirkby comes to the U.S. for a rare performance on Friday, November 11, 2022. She is joined by her long-time musical partner, Swedish lutenist Jakob Lindberg. Their performance will dazzle with the classic compositions of Baroque and Renaissance music. Below, Dame Kirkby shares with us the importance of keeping early music alive and what audiences can look forward to at their upcoming performance with Mr. Lindberg weighing in on the final question. Read on to learn more!
How did you meet and how long have you been performing together?
We met playing in London groups in the early 1980s — Musica Reservata, The Consort of Musicke, Taverner Consort, and others. Typically, there would be several singers and a full array of instruments in these concerts and recordings, so it was good fun! We’ve worked together regularly ever since.
How would you describe Early Renaissance music to someone who may be unfamiliar?
Much of the music in those concerts dated from the Renaissance, which was the name given to a long period around 1450–1600. Courts all over Europe had their musical establishments, providing both entertainment and Church music. They vied with each other to hire the best singers and instrumentalists and offer music for many occasions, both indoors and out. In fact, there was often a greater array of instruments than we have now, even in our symphony orchestras; but also, singers were probably more likely to sing in consort, interweaving in several distinct parts, an effect known as polyphony.
Emma fell in love with that as a teenager and has adored it ever since; while Jakob can use his lutes, which have at least twice as many strings as a modern guitar, to spin those lovely lines in solo pieces or provide exciting accompaniment for the voice. By the end of the Renaissance period, new singing styles had emerged, with more dramatic solo declamation, now considered the trademark of Baroque music, and clearly to be heard in the passionate arias of the earliest operas. In our program, we present arias and lute solos from that exciting time between 1600 and 1700, mainly in Italy and England.
What is the most challenging piece in your current repertoire and why?
We both agree that the most challenging piece is “Happy the man who languishing does sit,” a song by John Blow from the end of the 17th century in England, setting in translation, a poem by the Ancient Greek lyricist Sappho. She is full of envy for anyone who has the luck to be with Paphiana and even more if they can do this without suffering her lovestruck agonies, with voice, sight, hearing, all senses — gone!
For me, the text is fascinating but tricky to deliver, while Jakob has made a special part to do full justice to Blow’s extraordinary harmonies. We think this 4-minute piece repays a lot of work in rehearsal!
How do you prepare for a show? Do you have a specific warm-up routine?
Concerts of my repertoire happen sometimes in purpose-built concert halls with their soundproofed rooms offstage — but far more often in historic venues — churches, private chapels, saloons, and paneled chambers. Performing in these beautiful places with string consorts and chamber orchestras, I have gotten used to the gentle hubbub as they tickle their instruments in vestries or antechambers, vaguely audible to the audience next door. But when singers warm up, it’s a very different effect and far more likely to be obtrusive, so I avoid that!
My style of singing is rather close to speech and I feel, as long as I am feeling well-rested, alert, not hungry but energized a little with a small snack and properly hydrated, my vocal cords should be ready for use just as they are. So at this stage, instead of vocalizing, I use a short routine of silent movements, such as Brain Gym exercises, cross crawling, a few gentle stretches, calf raises, etc., to clear my head and re-ground myself.
How can I keep that head clear during the concert, especially if I am due to sing only towards the end of the program, but must be sitting on the platform throughout? I have found the best way to handle this is to think of myself as the luckiest audience member, just listen and let the music fill my mind. From that, I think one can rise refreshed and ready to take up the story.
Jakob is more succinct on this subject: “I obviously need to carefully tune my lute well ahead of the concert, but otherwise, I don’t have any particular warming-up exercises. The fundamental issue for me is to stay relaxed in the back, arms, and fingers.”
What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring artists?
To singers and instrumentalists alike: be on the lookout for companions with whom you can form small groups. Singers in duet and dialogue can offer real color and life to a program, as can arias with violin, flute, or oboe. So with just a handful of performers, you can put on great programs.
Singers, try to avoid singing all evening! When you have fine colleagues on those melody instruments, and maybe a genius accompanist on the lute, harpsichord, or piano, make sure you plan some moments when you can show them off to the audience while you relax and enjoy listening.
If you are lucky enough to find enough voices to make a consort, there is incredible scope for that. Some of the most wonderful repertoires ever written were for madrigal consorts. And in fact, when opera began in Italy, most of the singers were drawn from those groups. Find interesting themes to link the pieces together; film yourselves, use social media to build yourselves a profile, and see what responses there are out there. It’s a tricky time for everyone in this crowded field; if you get instant success, that will be terrific — or if it takes a while for you to be recognized, at least you’ll be enjoying yourselves in the meantime!
What musicians have inspired or influenced you the most and why?
Emma: Nigel Rogers, tenor – a crucial pioneer in earlier singing styles, who first demonstrated how to deal with Monteverdi’s florid passages, and sang with exquisite eloquence and flawless diction in four languages. Andrew Parrott, director, and musicologist, for whose Taverner Consort I sang in meticulously researched and musically exciting performances Anthony Rooley, lutenist, director, and inspired Renaissance thinker, Director of The Consort of Musicke, of which I was a delighted member for 25 years, singing lute songs and vocal consort music Christopher Hogwood, another great musician, musicologist and educator, founder of The Academy of Ancient Music, and many many others, singers, and players, with whom I’ve had the privilege to sing for so many years.
Jakob: The Beatles for getting me interested in music, Anthony Bailes for giving me my first lute lesson, Diana Poulton for assisting my research into the extraordinary wealth of lute repertoire from the 16th to the 18th centuries, Andrew Parrott for introducing me to the music of Claudio Monteverdi and for inspiring me to develop skills in playing from a figured bass.
Thank you to Dame Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg for their thoughtful answers to our questions. Join us at the LaBar Recital Hall on November 11, 2022, for their program “Still Music in Distracted Times” and experience the timeless cycle of struggle and triumph in expressive, meditative works by 16th and 17th-century composers.
