James Hall as Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Montpellier Opera (Photo Mark Ginot) |
I recently met up with James to chat about these in a lively conversation which also covered such issues as the differences between performing in concert and in opera, and the challenges facing young singers trying to build a career.
Rinaldo was at Glyndebourne this Summer, where James was covering the role of Goffredo, which was played by Tim Mead. James found covering the role incredibly useful, it was a real learning curve for him, particularly following an artist like Tim Mead who, having performed the role in an earlier revival at Glyndebourne, gave a really solid performance. With such a small cast, each revival of the opera is different and James has found the atmosphere on the tour different again, as a change of cast bring new perspectives on ideas about the opera. When we spoke, he had just two performances of Rinaldo to go and was just back from performing it in Liverpool, where James commented on the sheer number of record stores!
James Hall |
When I ask about the production, which he later describes as very imaginative, his first comment is that he hopes he fits into the corset better in January!
Having to sing in a corset he found so bizarre, and very inconvenient. People tell you that it gives you something to push against, but he didn't find it that simple and he now has great respect for those singers who spend a lot of time in corsets!
The production is set roughly in the 1930s with the fairy world being all black and white, inspired by the silver screen so that Oberon has a top hat and slicked hair, and there are glamorous clothes for the lovers, with a minimal set. James is also looking forward to working with a children's chorus as the fairies. For him, the best moment of the opera is the final chorus, 'Now until the break of day' which Oberon sings with the children's chorus of fairies.
Again, James has covered the role at Glyndebourne when Tim Mead sang it two years ago in the revival of the Peter Hall production, which James describes as timeless and beautiful.
James Hall and Iestyn Davies recording Countertenor Duets (Photo David Gough/Vivat Music Foundation) |
The role of Oberon was written for the counter-tenor Alfred Deller (in 1960), and James points out that the operatic confidence in operatic roles has grown considerably since then. You can listen to both Deller [Deller's studio recording with Britten conducting is still available, as is the live recording from the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh in June 1960 from Testament] and Russell Oberlin (who sang the role when the opera received its first performance at Covent Garden) and they sound almost like different voice types to many modern counter-tenors.
At this point we have an interesting discussion about low notes in parts for counter-tenors, with James talking about the recent duet disc, Elegy, including a Blow duet with remarkable low notes for both singers, and the roles of Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern in Brett Dean's Hamlet [which premiered at Glyndebourne in 2017] both having notes in the baritone register. And I mention the role of Edgar in Aribert Reimann's Lear which is written in both the baritone and counter-tenor registers.
Brett Dean: Hamlet - Louise Winter, William Dazeley, James Hall, Rupert Enticknapp - Glyndebourne on Tour (Photo Richard Hubert Smith) |
Whilst James enjoyed recording the Elegy disc, and the music of Blow and Purcell is very much the style of music that got him singing counter-tenor in the first place, it was somewhat disconcerting to be standing in some very distinguished shoes in this repertoire. As well as recording the disc, James performed the programme a number of times with Iestyn Davies, Robert King and the King's Consort, and enjoyed this immensely. He enjoys the concert platform, where he can focus purely on the singing, and found the way the performance differed each night gave him immense satisfaction. Iestyn Davies brought a great spontaneity to his use of ornamentation, and James found that he learned a great deal from Iestyn.
In fact, James admits that his singing has evolved greatly over the last year as a result of working with such singers as Iestyn Davies and Tim Mead. He talks about learning from the way Iestyn Davies seemed to have complete confidence when working with the microphone. He has also found that his confidence on stage has grown, and he is learning to be able to be in the moment, to do it and move on; understanding the need for the music to be right at that time, and having the confidence to know that this will work on the recording too. One of their concerts was live streamed, and his girl-friend watched it this way, and saved some clips of him. He found it a strange experience watching a recording of a performance which had only ever been live.
Handel: Rinaldo in rehearsal - Jake Arditti, James Hall, Anna Devin - Glyndebourne on Tour (Photo James Bellorini) |
Rylance very much led the company from within, and this was another masterclass for James in how to be a colleague and a leader, and a celebrity. Whatever time Rylance left the theatre, people would be still waiting for him, and he was warm and generous to the waiting fans.
James rather fell into singing. As a treble he was persuaded to join the school choir and when his voice broke he found support from an excellent music teacher who was also an alto in Salisbury Cathedral Choir, and he guided James. The rest seemed to follow, a singing teacher introduced him to the music of John Dowland and others (in the school choir the repertoire had been largely 'Beatles medleys') and from the age of 16 he became obsessed. Hearing Andreas Scholl singing at the Last Night of The Proms in 2005 was a major turning point. It was the first time head had seen a counter-tenor singing solo on a large stage and he realised that that was what he wanted to do.
As well as Oberon in Berlin, James will be singing Handel's Messiah with Edward Higginbottom in Spain, and has a Vivaldi concert with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to look forward to. He will also be returning to the Academy of Ancient Music for Musick for a While, a concert of chamber music by Purcell (at Champs Hill, 3/7/2020 and Oxford, 6/7/20), and this is the style of repertoire that he hopes to do more of.
Handel: Rinaldo in rehearsal - James Hall, Francesca Gilpin (revival director), Anna Devin - Glyndebourne on Tour (Photo James Bellorini) |
As a young singer, you usually do a lot of early music and modern pieces and James comments about the year he did a dozen performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas alongside a considerable amount of contemporary music, and he learned a lot so doing. James feels that he learned a lot this way after he left college, But all young artists need to find the balance between hubris and reality; having fallen in love with the job because of incredible performances and roles, they want to emulate them. But a young artist first needs to find their own voice, and you definitely have to give yourself to patience. It does not help that in the modern operatic world everyone is looking for the new buzz singer, and young singers can find themselves seduced into doing things because they always wanted to do it, rather than because it is a good role for them at that point in their development.
So, young singers need to take it slow and steady, but it is difficult to say no, particularly to a UK-based job as most singers love to work at home and it takes a brave person to refuse such a good offer.
James Hall as Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Montpellier Opera (Photo Mark Ginot) |
James is still finding the right balance between concert and opera performances in his career, and he quotes Andreas Scholl who once described himself as a concert singer who does opera, and James enjoys the discipline of the concert stage. Every performance is different, and this transient nature means that you have to make the music live and breathe all the time. With familiar works like Bach's Passions, James lives with the music every day and finds great beauty in the works' gradual progression. With rare works, you really only have one go at the piece, yet still have to give a solid performance of it.
James finds concert performances easier, to be himself and perform, whereas in opera he has to learn to be comfortable as someone else. In concert, you have to have the ability to be on stage and just be, to give and emote, but in opera there is so much more. In any performance, the singer has to be red hot inside, even if they are still, so that the smallest gesture counts. James is interested in trying to make audience members sit forward, to draw them in. And James admires the type of singers who draw you in by singing honestly, and feels he can learn a lot from such performers.
He found there were plenty such moments in Farinelli, watching both Mark Rylance and Iestyn Davies. But there was also the reaction of the audiences, as there were often audience members who were unfamiliar with the counter-tenor voice. Whilst this is rarer nowadays, with the prevalence of recordings, it still happens. And James talks about his delightful experiences in 2018 when performing Malcolm Williamson's Oscar Wilde-based opera The Happy Prince with the children of Jubilee Opera, many of whom did not know what a counter-tenor voice was and showed surprise and delight when hearing James for the first time.
Handel: Rinaldo - Glyndebourne on Tour - Theatre Royal, Norwich - 6 December 2019
Britten: A Midsummer Night's Deram - Deutsche Oper, Berlin - 26 January - 22 February 2020 (five performances)
Full details of James' performances from his website.
Elegy: Counter-tenor duets by Blow and Purcell - Iestyn Davies, James Hall, The King's Consort, Robert King - Vivat [support Planet Hugill by buying this from Amazon]
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