1. Assessment
Give a 15-minute presentation in which you will relate a specific
research methodology, text or other material to your own
individual practice as a musician.
You will also submit a written outline of your presentation and a
bibliography / list of resources.

2. Research Methodology
Action Research
Plan-act-evaluate-reflect

3. Plan
Loved by Hitler
and Morse
Hard !
Wagner
German Fat ladies

4. Act
Sang through the piece with my
teacher
Looked on YouTube :
Birgit Nilsson
Too old-fashioned
Karita Mattila

5. Karita Mattila
 Finnish
 Won the Cardiff Singer of the World
Competition in 1983
 She began her career as a lyric soprano
 Now sings a wide range: Mozart,
Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Richard Strauss
and Janacek.

6. Act
What is the story of the opera ?
An interpretive Guide to Opera by
Martial Singher
The Penguin Opera Guide ed Amanda
Holden
Who my character is
Why she’s singing this
The overall story

7. Other things
Translated the text
Worked on pronunciation with
vocal coach
Learnt the music

8. All was going well until….
ATOS Conference
Back to the beginning….
Does my current teacher say yes ?
Does it strain my voice in any way ?
Does it sound good ?

9. Evaluation
Stronger column of air to
support the long phrases
More dynamic contrast
More variety of colour in the
phrases
Take the listener on an
intentional journey

10. Evaluation
Stronger column of air to support
the long phrases
Look at my breathing technique
Lack of back Need to increase
muscles being actual feeling of
engaged support
Alexander Think ‘wider’ not
Pilates
Technique ‘longer’
core
strength

11. Evaluation
More dynamic contrast
More variety of colour in the
phrases
Take the listener on an
intentional journey
Understand the
Find a way of getting ‘under Decide where to
character’s
the skin of the character’ take the listener
motivation
Don’t get bogged down What’s the desired
in the technicalities of dramatic outcome
the song within the narrative

12. Reflect
 Time to consider ?
 Extensive reading around the story
 Work with experts on making the
character come alive – possibly drama
coach ?
 Build up a criteria for what makes a good
performance, using a mixture of primary
and secondary sources
 Consider if that criteria is identical for
every performance – concert vs staged

13. Bibliography
 New Essays on Performance Practice, F Neuman,
University of Rochester Press, 1989
 Musical performance: a guide to understanding,
edited by John Rink, Cambridge University
Press, 2002.
 An interpretive Guide to Opera by Martial
Singher,
 The Penguin Opera Guide ed Amanda Holden,
Penguin 1995
 Viva La Liberta! Politics in Opera, A Arblaster,
Verso 1992
 The Craft of Research, Booth, University of
Chicago Press 2008