The Fiendish First Phrase of Mozart’s ‘Soave sia il vento': Letters Between Singers | Warm Technical

Stephan Loges (Alfonso 'Cosi fan tutte', Bass Soloist 'St John Passion', and some seasons ago Golaud in our exquisite 'Pelleas et Melisande') starts off a filmed letter to his colleagues in this year’s Mozart production, talking to them about the challenges of that famous (and famously difficult) trio ‘Soave sia il vento’, to which Joanna Skillet, Sky Ingram, Martha Jones and Edward Hawkins will reply in weeks to come.
Stephan grew up in Dresden in the 1980's and came to love singing through being a choir boy in the Dresden. However Stephan had his heart set on becoming a professional footballer (played for Dynamo Dresden youth team) before this.
During lock down, Stephan has spent more time running, taking walks and loves listening to historical recordings of singers.
Take a look at Stephan Loges' lesson on Fricative, Passagio and Legato! • Adults' Singing Lesson...
Presented by Stephan Loges
Edited by Joe Kirk
***
For 40 years, English Touring Opera (ETO) has toured outstanding live productions, with a commitment to rediscovering and reimagining work, and impactful education and community projects to more towns and cities than any other UK opera company. At the heart of our ethos is making exceptional artistic experiences available and accessible to everyone. We reach over 50,000 people per year with five mainstage productions, two specially commissioned operas for children and young people with special educational needs, a series of creative workshops for people with dementia and their carers, and more than 70 workshops for people of all abilities and ages. We produce ambitious programmes of high-quality, innovative opera that introduce, educate and inspire audiences with distinctive new repertoire. In doing so we advance public awareness, engagement and enjoyment of this powerful art form.
Every tour starts with a residency at Hackney Empire in London, then travels across the UK from Truro in Cornwall and Perth in Scotland. The quality of our work has been formally recognised with the 2014 Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Opera’ and the ‘Best New Opera Production’ from the 2017 WhatsOnStage Opera Poll.
‘Hats off to ETO. It's a jewel in the country's operatic crown for three reasons: the uncompromising enterprise of its programming, the high calibre of performing and creative talent it engages, and the sheer dogged extent of its nationwide travels. As a truly national opera company, ETO more than lives up to its billing.’ - WhatsOnStage (Spring 2016)
A key aspect of ETO’s mission is a dedication to supporting young artists in the early stages of their careers and singers from BAME backgrounds. ETO offers emerging artists wide ranging performance opportunities and provides additional training and guidance. Many distinguished singers had their earliest experiences of professional performance with ETO, including Sarah Connolly, Amanda Echalaz and James Rutherford.
Our mainstage work is completed by a programme of imaginative education and community projects. ETO seeks to inspire children and adults of all backgrounds, dispelling the myth that opera is reserved for the privileged. Our education work is wide ranging and includes commissioning operas for schools and children with profound learning disabilities, delivering projects for people with dementia and their carers, and creating large scale operas to engage whole communities. Each year, our award winning education programme reaches over 15,000 children and adults nationwide, offering the chance to create, participate in and see bespoke performances.

[@caltamino]

I love this marvelous trio for several reasons. The music is incredibly beautiful, just like the Goodbye magical quintet that precedes it a few minutes earlier in the Opera.. Mozart as always in all his operas sets the atmosphere in the orchestra. The violins play the tranquil waves motif that the trio talks about. Ferrando and Guiglielmo have just embarked on a ship to go to war. So the two women and Don Alfonso wish them a safe journey in this magical trio. The lyrics are simple: Soave sia il vento ( let the winds be gentle), Tranquilla sia il l'onda, (let the waves be tranquil), ed ogni elemento, ( and all elements), benigno risponda ( respond benignly), al nostri desir ( to our desires.) Simple, right? Wrong. Nothing is ever simple in Mozart. For they sing these lyrics twice. The first time it is straightforward, and they are just wishing their lovers and best friends of Don Alfonso a safe voyage. But the second time, Mozart does a bit of magic when they come to the word desir (desires). He introduces in the orchestra a slightly dissonant chord, which we feel as a tugging on our insides, which changes the entire meaning of what they sing! Mozart just transformed nostri desir (our desires) into sexual desires with this single chord. He continues with the women melting in a sinuous descending scale, against Don Alfonso's ascending scale, to end the trio in gorgeous breaths and sighs. In about 150 seconds Mozart shows us why no one ever surpassed him in creating infinite beauty in his music, creating delight, laughter, or tears always in unsurpassable ways. How lucky we are that 235 years after his death in 1791, we can still enjoy his extraordinary genius.

[@janwilson9485]

Lovely to hear the singers discussing their approach and feeling for the music. Still not a substitute for you touring. Missing your operas so much - they were a beautiful punctuation to my years. Hoping to see you touring again soon.

[@elizabethfletcher6029]

I love hearing about how singers feel about certain passages in opera. This one is so calm and lovely. Thank you for choosing it.

[@EnglishTouringOpera]

Thank you so much Elizabeth. We will have another one coming out later today, hope you enjoy!