By DAVID KECK

Singing is a visceral art. The elements involved in the production of a beautiful sound and the delivery of a dramatic text are internal, and consequently avoid ready manipulation. While technical jargon and physiological explanation may work for one performer, imagery and metaphor speak to another. Despite these potential discrepancies in learning style, it is difficult to deny the power that the simple presence of a world-class performer has on students. It is an enigmatic phenomenon, but the presence of such experience and control—whether observed from an audience's perspective or, more effectively, in a master-class setting—can have a profound effect on a young performer still developing his or her art. With this in mind, the Vocal Arts Department of The Juilliard School had the foresight to invite Regina Resnik, not simply for a master class, but for an entire week of coaching and discussion, culminating in a final master class before the public on December 5.

Mezzo-soprano Faith Sherman was one of four singers who took part in the December 5 master class with Regina Resnik. (Photo by Hiroyuki Ito)

Ms. Resnik began her career as a dramatic soprano, making her debut (on 24 hours' notice) as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with the New Opera Company of New York, under the baton of Fritz Busch, in 1942. This was followed two years later by her Metropolitan Opera debut as Leonora in Il trovatore, also on 24 hours' notice. After 13 years of singing the great soprano repertoire, she went on to an even more remarkable conquest of the mezzo-soprano roles, with regular invitations in New York, London, Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Milan, Berlin, and Buenos Aires. Collaborating with the great conductors of the past century (Bernstein, Solti, Karajan, Klemperer, Walter, Kleiber, Reiner, and Rostropovich), Ms. Resnik set the standard in countless roles, most notably in her portrayals of Carmen, Mistress Quickly (Falstaff), Klytemnestra (Elektra), and the Countess (Queen of Spades). In the 1970s she and her husband, the late painter Arbit Blatas, collaborated on the design for numerous international productions, from the Hamburg State Opera to the Australian Opera. In 1983 Ms. Resnik made her documentary-directing debut with Geto: The Historic Ghetto of Venice, shown on PBS, which was followed more recently by Blatas: A Painter's Homage to The Threepenny Opera. In 1987 Ms. Resnik made her Broadway debut as Frau Schneider in Cabaret with Joel Gray, a performance that garnered wide acclaim and a Tony nomination, and in 1990 she received a Drama Desk Award for her Mme. Armfeldt in Sondheim's A Little Night Music with New York City Opera.

Currently Ms. Resnik provides the greatest service an artist of her experience can: she is imparting her knowledge to the next generation, giving master classes and instruction at Mannes College of Music (where she was recently named master teacher-in-residence), the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera, as well as abroad.

Four mezzo-sopranos (Michèle Losier, Ronnita Nicole Miller, Sasha Cooke, and Faith Sherman) and two collaborative pianists (Vlad Iftinca and Matthew Odell) at Juilliard were invited to participate in a series of classes with Ms. Resnik in late November and early December. The week began with an introduction to Ms. Resnik—an informal meeting that turned into something of an audition, as each of the singers was asked to perform. This was followed by discussion with Ms. Resnik regarding the repertoire that each singer had presented, as well as what sort of repertoire she deemed appropriate for each of them—a notoriously difficult topic for young singers. The fach system (translated loosely from the German as "compartment") was devised in Germany in the 19th century to classify singers by vocal range, color, and weight (coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, soubrette, etc.). It is an insidiously static framework for singers who are still in the development process; some of the greatest singers of the last century (including Ms. Resnik herself) have undergone major transitions in fach.

A private master class for members of the Vocal Arts Department and a week of private coaching with Ms. Resnik followed—an opportunity for singers and pianists to work for hourlong sessions in a private setting on the repertoire to be presented in the public master class.

The four singers and two pianists presented the results of their work with Ms. Resnik on December 5 in Morse Hall. Ms. Losier, a new member of the Juilliard Opera Center who studies with Marlena Malas, began the evening with "Que fais-tu blanche tourterelle" from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette followed by the suicidal lament of Dido, "When I am laid," from Dido and Aeneas of Henry Purcell. Ms. Resnik asked that Michèle focus on the connection between her body and her voice—more specifically, the way her breath could bring out more of her voice and express her intentions in the piece. In both of these arias Ms. Resnik pushed Michèle to engage all of her being in the presentation of the text, not simply her voice.

Ms. Miller (also in her first year with the J.O.C., and studying with Cynthia Hoffmann) was scheduled to perform after Ms. Losier but was unfortunately ill, and after singing the first of her pieces ("Voce di donna" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda), she was unable to continue.

Sasha Cooke (a second-year master's student studying with Stephen Smith) was next on the program, and began with Olga's aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky. Ms. Resnik focused on the difficulties of Russian diction, especially singing through the consonant clusters. Ms. Cooke then presented "Must the winter come so soon?" from Barber's Vanessa, in which Ms. Resnik sought to bring out the shifts in character and dramatic impetus of the text, asking Ms. Cooke to show the changes in character with her face as well as her voice.

Faith Sherman (also studying with Mr. Smith, and in her first year of J.O.C.) unfortunately only had time for one piece, "Wie du warst" from Der Rosenkavalier of Richard Strauss. Ms. Resnik brought her formidable experience with language to bear on the rich text of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's libretto. She asked Ms. Sherman to take special care with the German consonants, even starting the enunciation before the beat if necessary to make the words understood through Strauss's rich orchestration.

Throughout the class, Ms. Resnik focused very strongly upon two primary issues, the first of which was breathing. As Ms. Cooke commented, "in our private coachings, almost every time I sang a phrase that I felt was not great, Ms. Resnik pointed out that I hadn't taken a good breath." (Not one singer escaped the reminder that breathing properly is the foundation of proper singing.) The second issue was the pace at which young singers are being rushed into their careers. "It's like running a marathon without proper training," Ms. Resnik commented regarding improper technical preparation. She supported work with exercises like those of Vaccai, comparing this work to that of a pianist doing scales. The time that is given to proper role preparation has been dramatically shortened over the years—certainly since the time when Ms. Resnik coached three times a week for two months with Bruno Walter before presenting her first Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera.

The less-than-ideal acoustics of Morse Hall could not detract from the stunning presentation of the students, and the thorough and capable fashion in which Ms. Resnik worked with them. An artist and musician of profound experience, she took each of the singers from a high level of competence in their performance, to the next step of truly presenting the text and music in all its subtlety and nuance—exactly what one hopes for in a master class.

If the practice of week-long residencies and workshops is to become a trend, it is an encouraging one. The students involved were consistent in their feeling that this experience was vastly more effective than a single master class. Ms. Cooke commented that the most effective and influential aspect of the week was her personal class with Ms. Resnik—a chance to work in an intimate setting, without the intrusion of observers. The opportunity to work with Ms. Resnik in a private setting before working publicly led to a much more thorough and gratifying educational process—evident even to those of us only privy to the first and final classes of this "mini-residency."

David Keck is a diploma candidate in voice.