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Goren, Neal. Beyond the Aria: Artistic Self-Empowerment for the Classical Singer. Lanham, MD: Amadeus Press, 2021. Paper, 204 pp., $29.95. ISBN978–1-5381–3793–2; eBook $28.50. 978–1-5381–3794–9.
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Singers preparing for a career in classical music must hone myriad skills, including mastering an instrument that is omnipresent, out of sight, and susceptible to environmental changes. Neal Goren asserts that the vocal training for singers often supersedes their musical preparation, leaving them inadequately equipped for the rigors of careers in the field. Goren, who is founder and artistic director of Gotham Chamber Opera, avers that providing singers with the tools to make their own artistic choices will lead to their self-empowerment. This handbook offers broad guidance in score analysis, text study, and performance practice, and shares interviews with eight notable singers as a source of practical insight.

Goren counsels the aspiring singer to begin with an examination of phrase structure. This must be made in tandem with study of the text to ascertain the direction and purpose of each phrase and guide emotional motivation. Expression and dynamic markings lend valuable insight into the score, but Goren cautions the singer to seek the spirit of the music rather than a rigid adherence to markings. He also offers some concise guidance on ornamentation and recitatives.

In the discussion of performance practice, Goren urges the singer to become familiar with the expressive goals of the composer and the era. He identifies factors to consider

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When preparing lieder, mélodie, and operatic literature. Goren has strong opinions about performance practice. For instance, he maintains that the interpretation of the lied moved “from joyful freedom and spontaneity to joyless suppression” (58) in the mid-twentieth century; he attributes the change to a specific artist who influenced generations of singers. The author perceives opera to exist on a continuum, with one end characterized by vocal elegance and purity and the other “technique-be-damned hyper-emotionalism.” (67) Singers who lean toward the latter employ special effects in their performances, including portamenti and manipulation of vibrato and intonation. Numerous other considerations, from performance pitch in Baroque to balancing emotion with vocal artistry in verismo, are addressed in the discussion.

The author identifies current performance standards for several opera traditions. Although changes to the vocal line (such as word placement) and cuts are permissible, interpolation or lengthening of high notes is questionable, and transposition (which was common in recent centuries) has widely fallen out of favor. Goren also muses about specific arias he considers vexing because there are contradictions between the text and music.

For singers to achieve self-empowerment, they must learn how to interact with the professionals in their field. Goren offers strategies for communicating with collaborators, such as conductors, stage directors, continuo players, and other singers. He includes condensed recommendations for successful auditions, and examples of analyses for five arias and one art song. Finally, the author shares interviews he conducted with eight noteworthy singer-actors: Harolyn Blackwell, Barbara Hannigan, Audra McDonald, Diana Soviero, Christa Ludwig, Iestyn Davies, Jonas Kaufmann, and Davóne Tines. The artists share their process in learning a role and developing a character, and address the demands of a wide range of repertoire.

From the outset of the volume, Goren is brutally honest about why singers are not musically prepared for a career. “Our industry is teeming with

charlatans” (5), he writes, declaring that many coaches do not teach musical self-empowerment because they are afraid of losing their income, and that some voice teachers do not impart the requisite information because they do not know it themselves, or because they emphasize vocal technique at the expense of musical skills. To coaches and pedagogues, these statements may be an affront, but when placed in

the context of the entire volume, it is obvious that the observations are not intended to be inflammatory, but revelatory. Working with an artistically empowered singer, explains Goren, is both rewarding and intellectually challenging. He encourages singers and their collaborative partners to embark upon the process of musical discovery. If they do, they will find this volume a useful guide.

Featured on p. 37

In Composer and Critic, his survey of two centuries of music criticism, the Viennese writer Max Graf stressed that historically one of the most frequent faults in the field has been—in broad terms—criticizing Beethoven for not being Mozart. Neal Goren would perhaps replace Beethoven with Bellini—if not Verdi or Wagner— but he offers vocalists similar caveats. Much of Beyond the Aria: Artistic Self-Empowerment for the Classical Singer concerns fitting the appropriate vocal style and performance techniques to a repertory stretching from before Mozart to Wagner and beyond. He also touches on how audience sensibilities have changed over time…