HN008 OPERA INFLUENCES AN ARCHITECT

Louis Sullivan, the great American architect of the late 19th century, called ‘Lieber Meister’ by his better known protege, Frank Lloyd Wright was not only a builder of theatres for Grand Opera, but an early lover of the Art of Opera.

Most architecture aficionados know that Sullivan and his partner Dankmar Adler designed the Auditorium Building in Chicago, a 4,500 seater for Grand Opera completed in 1889. Though sadly the theatre Sullivan designed no longer exists as envisaged, contemporaries marvelled at the acoustics which were considered the best in the world. It also was at the time, the tallest, largest and most expensive building in the world. At its opening the President of the United States attended and Adelina Patti sang. It was as we might call it, the social and artistic event of the year.

But what makes for a great architect when it comes to opera houses? Perhaps there is a clue in Sullivan’s own writing. In his Autobiography of an Idea published in 1924 a few years before his death in poverty in 1926.

‘About this time flamboyantly arose Patrick Gilmore with his band and his World Jubilee. Then Louis discovered there had been in existence music quite other than oratorio, hymn, sentimental songs of the hoi polloi and burnt-cork minstrels, or the classic grinding of the hurdy-gurdy.

He found it refreshing and gay, melodious above all. When he hears full bosomed Parepa sing in coloratura, he could scarcely keep his seat; never was such a soprano heard in oratorio, and when the elder Strauss like a little he-wren mounted the conductor’s stand, violin in hand, and dancing, led the orchestra through the lively cadence of the blue Danube, Louis thought him the biggest little man on earth; and when it came to the “sextette” from Lucia, Louis roared his approval and listened just as eagerly to the inevitable encore. And the “Anvil Chorus” – oh, the Anvil Chorus! And so on, day by day, night by night from glorious beginning to glorious end. He had heard the finest voices in the world, great orchestral out-pouring, immense choruses. But he was, above all, amazed at the power of the single voice, when trained to perfection of control. He felt again with delight its unique quality, its range, its fluency, its flexibility, its emotional gamut, its direct personal intimate appeal; he felt a soul, a being, in a single voice, the heartful, the perfect instrument whereby to interpret and convey every state of feeling and of thought; and he was glad indeed.’

Let’s unwrap this a little, and repeat the words… ‘above all, [he was] amazed at the power of the single voice, when trained to perfection of control. He felt again with delight its unique quality, its range, its fluency, its flexibility, its emotional gamut, its direct personal intimate appeal; he felt a soul, a being, in a single voice, the heartful, the perfect instrument whereby to interpret and convey every state of feeling and of thought;’ Has anyone expressed so perfectly what great singing brings? How could such a human being have not known how to design a setting to bring out the best in a voice?

Also, think that Louis in the year that he first heard Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa was a mere 16 years old. Hearing Strauss senior play and conduct the Blue Danube, … I think its tempting to say that Sullivan’s encounter with Opera and great classical music was one of the greatest formative experiences in his life.

It doesn’t end here though. Sullivan is credited with the first true ‘skyscaper’ aesthetic. Yet even here, when he expressed his thoughts he had to refer to music. In 1896 he wrote, ‘…what is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? And at once we answer, it is lofty. This loftiness is to the artist-nature its thrilling aspect. It is the very open organ-tone in its appeal. It must be in turn the dominant chord in his expression of it, the true excitant of his imagination. It must be tall, every inch of it tall…..It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation….’ [italics mine].

Opera and music was integral to the way a great visual artist such as Louis Sullivan saw and created their world. It was one of the supreme aesthetic awakenings in his artistic life to hear performances by great musicians and this in turn influenced the course of architecture.

HN008 OPERA INFLUENCES AN ARCHITECT

Louis Sullivan, the great American architect of the late 19th century, called ‘Lieber Meister’ by his better known protege, Frank Lloyd Wright was not only a builder of theatres for Grand Opera, but an early lover of the Art of Opera.

Most architecture aficionados know that Sullivan and his partner Dankmar Adler designed the Auditorium Building in Chicago, a 4,500 seater for Grand Opera completed in 1889. Though sadly the theatre Sullivan designed no longer exists as envisaged, contemporaries marvelled at the acoustics which were considered the best in the world. It also was at the time, the tallest, largest and most expensive building in the world. At its opening the President of the United States attended and Adelina Patti sang. It was as we might call it, the social and artistic event of the year.

But what makes for a great architect when it comes to opera houses? Perhaps there is a clue in Sullivan’s own writing. In his Autobiography of an Idea published in 1924 a few years before his death in poverty in 1926.

‘About this time flamboyantly arose Patrick Gilmore with his band and his World Jubilee. Then Louis discovered there had been in existence music quite other than oratorio, hymn, sentimental songs of the hoi polloi and burnt-cork minstrels, or the classic grinding of the hurdy-gurdy.

He found it refreshing and gay, melodious above all. When he hears full bosomed Parepa sing in coloratura, he could scarcely keep his seat; never was such a soprano heard in oratorio, and when the elder Strauss like a little he-wren mounted the conductor’s stand, violin in hand, and dancing, led the orchestra through the lively cadence of the blue Danube, Louis thought him the biggest little man on earth; and when it came to the “sextette” from Lucia, Louis roared his approval and listened just as eagerly to the inevitable encore. And the “Anvil Chorus” – oh, the Anvil Chorus! And so on, day by day, night by night from glorious beginning to glorious end. He had heard the finest voices in the world, great orchestral out-pouring, immense choruses. But he was, above all, amazed at the power of the single voice, when trained to perfection of control. He felt again with delight its unique quality, its range, its fluency, its flexibility, its emotional gamut, its direct personal intimate appeal; he felt a soul, a being, in a single voice, the heartful, the perfect instrument whereby to interpret and convey every state of feeling and of thought; and he was glad indeed.’

Let’s unwrap this a little, and repeat the words… ‘above all, [he was] amazed at the power of the single voice, when trained to perfection of control. He felt again with delight its unique quality, its range, its fluency, its flexibility, its emotional gamut, its direct personal intimate appeal; he felt a soul, a being, in a single voice, the heartful, the perfect instrument whereby to interpret and convey every state of feeling and of thought;’ Has anyone expressed so perfectly what great singing brings? How could such a human being have not known how to design a setting to bring out the best in a voice?

Also, think that Louis in the year that he first heard Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa was a mere 16 years old. Hearing Strauss senior play and conduct the Blue Danube, … I think its tempting to say that Sullivan’s encounter with Opera and great classical music was one of the greatest formative experiences in his life.

It doesn’t end here though. Sullivan is credited with the first true ‘skyscaper’ aesthetic. Yet even here, when he expressed his thoughts he had to refer to music. In 1896 he wrote, ‘…what is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? And at once we answer, it is lofty. This loftiness is to the artist-nature its thrilling aspect. It is the very open organ-tone in its appeal. It must be in turn the dominant chord in his expression of it, the true excitant of his imagination. It must be tall, every inch of it tall…..It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation….’ [italics mine].

Opera and music was integral to the way a great visual artist such as Louis Sullivan saw and created their world. It was one of the supreme aesthetic awakenings in his artistic life to hear performances by great musicians and this in turn influenced the course of architecture.

MARIA CANIGLIA, SOPRANO, MAY 5TH, 1905

‘I think she will do.’

So spoke the composer Mascagni, when Maria Caniglia auditioned before him as an emergency replacement for the role of Rosaura in Le Maschere. Maria was 24 years old and in her first season at La Scala and the year was 1930. The audition took place two days before the dress rehearsal.

The triumphant outcome of this rather off-hand praise depended upon the character and determination of the young singer. She learned and mastered the role in those two days, and throughout her long career Caniglia was noted for her outgoing and engaging personality. We would now recognise her as a team-player who would give all for her side. Indeed she told interviewer Lanfranco Rasponi, ‘I belong to a group of singers,…, who gave too much of themselves.’ She further, with characteristic honesty said, ‘I suffered a great deal in the theatre, for every time I conferred all my heart and soul. If toward the end my vocal resources were no longer what they had been, the public respected and loved me, because instinctively it recognised I did not spare one ounce of my being.’

Maria Caniglia was born in Naples in 1906 and studied singing at the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella. Although engaged at La Scala for the 1930-31 season, her first professional performance took place in Turin in 1930. as Chrysothemis in Strauss’ Elektra. She sang most of the Verdi lyric-dramatic heroines, but Caniglia made her mark especially in the verismo operas which were being composed throughout this period. However, she was not confined to Italian repertoire. Early in her career she performed Senta in Der Fliegender Holländer and spoke glowingly of Wagner, ‘How marvellously Wagner wrote for the voice! But a lot of breath control is needed for the legatos and the poetical phrasing.’

She was continuously at La Scala until 1943. In the same period Maria sang at Covent Garden and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. She returned to La Scala between 1948 and 1951 after which Caniglia left for Rome as the realised that two other great sopranos were engaged for the same roles ahead of her. In Rome, such was the calibre of her performances ‘she became as big an attraction at the Opera as the Sistine Chapel was at the Vatican.’ However, she never regretted the years at La Scale and noted that, ‘In my epoch there, if we made a mistake, the conductor never called us to task but rather reprimanded the assistant who had prepared us: ‘Why didn’t Signorina Caniglia hold that breath five seconds longer?’ or something of that sort.’ Does this still happen anywhere? It seems a very different world.

Her voice was noted for its sensuous and warm timbre, which made her an ideal verismo heroine. There are a number of recordings of complete operas with Beniamino Gigli, most significantly a Tosca, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, and Andrea Chenier. According to the Grove Book of Singers, her most representative recording is in the role of Leonora in La forza del destino, ‘where her gifts as a genuine lirico spinto soprano’, are displayed.

MARIA CANIGLIA, SOPRANO, MAY 5TH, 1905

‘I think she will do.’

So spoke the composer Mascagni, when Maria Caniglia auditioned before him as an emergency replacement for the role of Rosaura in Le Maschere. Maria was 24 years old and in her first season at La Scala and the year was 1930. The audition took place two days before the dress rehearsal.

The triumphant outcome of this rather off-hand praise depended upon the character and determination of the young singer. She learned and mastered the role in those two days, and throughout her long career Caniglia was noted for her outgoing and engaging personality. We would now recognise her as a team-player who would give all for her side. Indeed she told interviewer Lanfranco Rasponi, ‘I belong to a group of singers,…, who gave too much of themselves.’ She further, with characteristic honesty said, ‘I suffered a great deal in the theatre, for every time I conferred all my heart and soul. If toward the end my vocal resources were no longer what they had been, the public respected and loved me, because instinctively it recognised I did not spare one ounce of my being.’

Maria Caniglia was born in Naples in 1906 and studied singing at the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella. Although engaged at La Scala for the 1930-31 season, her first professional performance took place in Turin in 1930. as Chrysothemis in Strauss’ Elektra. She sang most of the Verdi lyric-dramatic heroines, but Caniglia made her mark especially in the verismo operas which were being composed throughout this period. However, she was not confined to Italian repertoire. Early in her career she performed Senta in Der Fliegender Holländer and spoke glowingly of Wagner, ‘How marvellously Wagner wrote for the voice! But a lot of breath control is needed for the legatos and the poetical phrasing.’

She was continuously at La Scala until 1943. In the same period Maria sang at Covent Garden and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. She returned to La Scala between 1948 and 1951 after which Caniglia left for Rome as the realised that two other great sopranos were engaged for the same roles ahead of her. In Rome, such was the calibre of her performances ‘she became as big an attraction at the Opera as the Sistine Chapel was at the Vatican.’ However, she never regretted the years at La Scale and noted that, ‘In my epoch there, if we made a mistake, the conductor never called us to task but rather reprimanded the assistant who had prepared us: ‘Why didn’t Signorina Caniglia hold that breath five seconds longer?’ or something of that sort.’ Does this still happen anywhere? It seems a very different world.

Her voice was noted for its sensuous and warm timbre, which made her an ideal verismo heroine. There are a number of recordings of complete operas with Beniamino Gigli, most significantly a Tosca, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, and Andrea Chenier. According to the Grove Book of Singers, her most representative recording is in the role of Leonora in La forza del destino, ‘where her gifts as a genuine lirico spinto soprano’, are displayed.

Episode 11 Of The Voice Detective Show with Liane Keegan and the Ensemble Creatus

Ensemble Creatus is Artist in Residence at the Victorian Artists Society in Melbourne, Australia in 2025. Their offering is named Seasons of Song, each concert being integral to the season during the year in which it is performed. The first of these concerts took place on the 9 February and coincided with the Victorian Artists Society’s Summer Exhibition. The Summer of course, being in the Southern Hemisphere. This concert is what the Voice Detective experienced, and excerpts form part of the Vodcast, by kind permission of Ensemble Creatus.

The concert series showcases the work of British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams whose art songs are filled with rich harmonics and an impressive narrative gift. The intention is highlighted in the concert title, ‘When Art meets the Art of the English Song’ It is particularly appropriate that the concert took place in an historic setting with direct links to Dame Nellie Melba who taught singing in this building and the her contemporaries, the Australian painters who initiated a distinct movement in Australian art and who founded the Victorian Artists Society. The Ensemble Creatus team consists of contralto, Liane Keegan, accompanist and co-founder of the Ensemble Toni Lalich OAM, mezzo-soprano Juel Riggall, and sopranos Bethan Ellsmore and Naomi Summers.

The interview is with, Liane, a true contralto, has performed across the world in many of the leading opera houses. She is a specialist in Wagner and Verdi roles, as well as the concert and oratorio repertoire for contralto.

The programme presented was as follows:

Three Vocalises (1958) (wordless)
1. Prelude – Juel Riggall
2. Scherzo – Bethan Ellsmore
3. Quasi Menuetto – Naomi Summers
How can a tree but wither (1896) – Bethan Ellsmore
Poem by Thomas, Lord Vaux (1509- 1556)
Three songs from Shakespeare (1925) – Naomi Summers
Poems by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
1. Take, O Take
2. When Icicles Hang by the Wall
3. Orpheus with his Lute
To Daffodils (1895) – Bethan Ellsmore
Poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Excerpts from Seven Songs from The Pilgrims Progress (pre-1951)
No 1. Watchful’s Song – Liane Keegan
No. 4 – The Song of the Leaves of Life & the Water of Life – Bethan & Juel
No. 5 – The Song of Vanity Fair – Naomi Sumers
No. 6 – The Woodcutter’s Song – Juel Riggall
No. 7 – The Bird’s Song – Juel Riggall
Text from The King James Bible [1, 4, 7], John Bunyan
(1628-1688) [6] and Ursula Vaughan Williams (1911 – 2007) [5]
Five Mystical Songs (1906-11) – Liane Keegan
Poems by George Herbert 1593-1633
1. Easter
2. I got me Flowers
3. Love bade me welcome
4. The Call
5. Antiphon

Episode 11 Of The Voice Detective Show with Liane Keegan and the Ensemble Creatus

Ensemble Creatus is Artist in Residence at the Victorian Artists Society in Melbourne, Australia in 2025. Their offering is named Seasons of Song, each concert being integral to the season during the year in which it is performed. The first of these concerts took place on the 9 February and coincided with the Victorian Artists Society’s Summer Exhibition. The Summer of course, being in the Southern Hemisphere. This concert is what the Voice Detective experienced, and excerpts form part of the Vodcast, by kind permission of Ensemble Creatus.

The concert series showcases the work of British composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams whose art songs are filled with rich harmonics and an impressive narrative gift. The intention is highlighted in the concert title, ‘When Art meets the Art of the English Song’ It is particularly appropriate that the concert took place in an historic setting with direct links to Dame Nellie Melba who taught singing in this building and the her contemporaries, the Australian painters who initiated a distinct movement in Australian art and who founded the Victorian Artists Society. The Ensemble Creatus team consists of contralto, Liane Keegan, accompanist and co-founder of the Ensemble Toni Lalich OAM, mezzo-soprano Juel Riggall, and sopranos Bethan Ellsmore and Naomi Summers.

The interview is with, Liane, a true contralto, has performed across the world in many of the leading opera houses. She is a specialist in Wagner and Verdi roles, as well as the concert and oratorio repertoire for contralto.

The programme presented was as follows:

Three Vocalises (1958) (wordless)
1. Prelude – Juel Riggall
2. Scherzo – Bethan Ellsmore
3. Quasi Menuetto – Naomi Summers
How can a tree but wither (1896) – Bethan Ellsmore
Poem by Thomas, Lord Vaux (1509- 1556)
Three songs from Shakespeare (1925) – Naomi Summers
Poems by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
1. Take, O Take
2. When Icicles Hang by the Wall
3. Orpheus with his Lute
To Daffodils (1895) – Bethan Ellsmore
Poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Excerpts from Seven Songs from The Pilgrims Progress (pre-1951)
No 1. Watchful’s Song – Liane Keegan
No. 4 – The Song of the Leaves of Life & the Water of Life – Bethan & Juel
No. 5 – The Song of Vanity Fair – Naomi Sumers
No. 6 – The Woodcutter’s Song – Juel Riggall
No. 7 – The Bird’s Song – Juel Riggall
Text from The King James Bible [1, 4, 7], John Bunyan
(1628-1688) [6] and Ursula Vaughan Williams (1911 – 2007) [5]
Five Mystical Songs (1906-11) – Liane Keegan
Poems by George Herbert 1593-1633
1. Easter
2. I got me Flowers
3. Love bade me welcome
4. The Call
5. Antiphon

SHORT009 IS THE PANAMA HAT THE SECRET BEHIND THE TENOR HIGH NOTES?

Is the Panama Hat the secret behind the tenor high notes? Gyaan Lyon aka The Voice Detective puts the theory to the test. Watch to find out the results…

SHORT009 IS THE PANAMA HAT THE SECRET BEHIND THE TENOR HIGH NOTES?

Is the Panama Hat the secret behind the tenor high notes? Gyaan Lyon aka The Voice Detective puts the theory to the test. Watch to find out the results…

HN007 CESARE RIPA’S ICONOGRAPHIA

Did you know that Cesare Ripa’s famous Iconographia published in 1593 provides 200 different iconographic descriptions of various ideas, concepts and moral guidance. Our description is the translation made by Edward A. Maser.

Number 192 is Musica.

Musica is depicted as a beautiful young woman sitting astride a celestial sphere. The sphere represents the harmony of the spheres of heaven upon which earthly harmony is dependent. She is young and beautiful because Music itself is pleasurable and beautiful. Nearby is an anvil from whence according to legend Pythagoras had his moment of inspiration that the tones struck might be written down for musicians. There is also a set of scales representing the blending and balance required for harmonious music. Before her a shrub plays a lute and at the cherub’s feet a bird singing – these two represent instruments made by humankind and the music of nature herself. In the background the west wind blows gently upon a flock of swans who are alleged to sing only if praised by gentle and warm encouragement, or “like some musicians who will only sing if they are soothed by the soft breeze of praise and admiration,” to quote Ripa himself. Finally, the god of Music, Apollo himself is present in the form of a monument with a lyre – his representative musical instrument.

HN007 CESARE RIPA’S ICONOGRAPHIA

Did you know that Cesare Ripa’s famous Iconographia published in 1593 provides 200 different iconographic descriptions of various ideas, concepts and moral guidance. Our description is the translation made by Edward A. Maser.

Number 192 is Musica.

Musica is depicted as a beautiful young woman sitting astride a celestial sphere. The sphere represents the harmony of the spheres of heaven upon which earthly harmony is dependent. She is young and beautiful because Music itself is pleasurable and beautiful. Nearby is an anvil from whence according to legend Pythagoras had his moment of inspiration that the tones struck might be written down for musicians. There is also a set of scales representing the blending and balance required for harmonious music. Before her a shrub plays a lute and at the cherub’s feet a bird singing – these two represent instruments made by humankind and the music of nature herself. In the background the west wind blows gently upon a flock of swans who are alleged to sing only if praised by gentle and warm encouragement, or “like some musicians who will only sing if they are soothed by the soft breeze of praise and admiration,” to quote Ripa himself. Finally, the god of Music, Apollo himself is present in the form of a monument with a lyre – his representative musical instrument.