Conductor Barbara Hannigan pushing boundaries on stage
Music-making in bondage attire
NYTimes.com did a piece on female conductors cracking the glass ceiling in a male-dominated arena.
I’m not going to discuss female conductors, but the new energy and experience that comes of Conductor-Performers. See Barbara Hannigan in the photo there? The flare she exudes — like she is spewing wizardry powers from her palms, prompted my exploration.
You’re like, come-on, cut to the chase: where is the bondage?
When I popped “Barbara Hannigan” into YouTube, little did I expect that in the first video, one bar into the piece that she was conducting, Hannigan turned around, back to the orchestra, and belted out an aria! Her hand gestures were vast, and she communicated much through her singing. Even on video, the music felt cohesive and flowingly expressive — without a separate conductor arbitrating between soloist and orchestra. A great way to conserving energy when the soloist could manage as conductor also. (Do they get paid double then, I wonder.)
Patience! I’m coming to the bondage bit now: next in queue after the three Mozart Arias, YouTube starts playing a video of a woman in bondage attire, stumbling out from a corner of the stage.
A bob-head femme fatale rocking sky-high lace-up boots makes a very peculiar scene against a stage-full of seated, suited men behind music stands. Yes, you guessed right: ‘tis Conductor-Soprano Barbara Hannigan in character! Hannigan was totally in her element in heels and wig; the performance captivating as the opera unfolded under her powerful direction+singing+acting. She reminded me of PINA Bausch who pioneered dance theatre by introducing a theatrical element new to contemporary dance then.
A Must Watch. Hit Play.
Symbiosis
The symbiosis comes out of practice, attentiveness and individual responsibility. One finishes off another’s sentence, the group operate as one, each member is interconnected.
However, the first time I noticed a vibe/tonality difference when the conductor was also performing came earlier this year during the Hong Kong Arts Festival with Harpsichordist-Conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen. Immediately noticeable, their music-making felt more cohesive and balanced than when a conductor is on the rostrum conducting. When a conductor also plays, every musician, instead of typically relying on the conductor for all the cues, would have to be more sensitive to other’s sound for the music to succeed. The symbiosis comes out of practice, attentiveness and individual responsibility. One finishes off another’s sentence, the group operate as one, each member is interconnected.
After the Concerto Copenhagen concert with Mortensen as conductor and harpsichordist, my take-away was that they had the sense of one-ness probably is thanks to Mortensen’s band-sense (He was a member of rock band Culpeper’s Orchard in his earlier days.)
Conductor-performers might not be the norm in the classical music arena, but the practice is de rigueur in jazz or latin-jazz-lounge hybrids like Pink Martini. With Pink Martini, you’d see Conductor-Pianist Thomas Lauderdale guiding the group while he plays the piano. We had a great time up on stage dancing to their music at the Hong Kong Arts Festival 2015 last year.
A shame that the NYTimes article didn’t mention Mitsuko Uchida, Concert Pianist-Conductor. Brilliant. Not to be missed:
- Special thanks to Shirley P. for letting me use the picture she took with Mortensen. As promised, I masked your identity behind Brown.
