Nicholas Isherwood
Interview by Giorgos Frangiskos
Nicholas Isherwood is one of the leading singers of early music and contemporary music in the world today. He has worked with Joel Cohen, William Christie, Peter Eötvös, Paul McCreesh, Nicholas McGegan, Kent Nagano, Zubin Mehta and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky as well as composers Sylvano Bussotti, Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Hans Werner Henze, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Olivier Messiaen, Giacinto Scelsi, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis in prestigious venues around the world (La Scala, Covent Garden, the Théatre des Champs Elysées, Salzburg Festival, Concertgebouw, Berlin Staatsoper, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tanglewood). Operatic roles include "Antinoo" in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria with Boston Baroque, "Claudio" in Händel’s Agrippina with Nicholas McGegan, "Satiro" in Rossi’s Orfeo and “Pan” in Marais’ Alcione with Les Arts Florissants, "Joas" in Porpora's "Il Gedeone" with Martin Haselböck, "Frère Léon" in Saint François d’Assise in the last composer supervised production, "Der Tod" in the two productions of Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the Bach Akademie in Stuttgart and 2e2m, “Roméo” in Dusapin’s Roméo et Juliette at the Avignon Festival, “Lear” in Hosokawa’s Vision of Lear for the Munich Biennale, "Il Testimone" in Bussotti’s Tieste at the Rome Opera, “Micromégas” Mefano's Micromégas and "Lucifer" in the world premieres of Stockhausen’s Montag, Dienstag, and Freitag from Licht at La Scala and the Leipzig Opera and in Donnerstag aus Licht at Covent Garden. He has improvised with Steve Lacy, Joelle Léandre, Sainkho Namtchilak and David Moss,recorded 48 cd’s and appeared in three films. He has published an article on Scelsi the journal of the Scelsi Foundation. His article on the vocal vibrato will be published next year in the Journal of Singing in 2007 and his book The Techniques of Singing will be published in 2008 by Bärenreiter Verlag. He has been visiting professor of singing at SUNY at Buffalo, Notre Dame and the Ecole Normale de Musique and taught master classes in venues such as the Paris Conservatoire, Salzburg Mozarteum, Milan Conservatory and Stanford.
You have served such diverse music genres as Early Music and Contemporary Music with passion and have received enthusiastic critiques for both. What are the things you like the most about each genre?
Discovery. In the case of early music, archeology in libraries can reveal hidden jewels from the past. Similarly, a world premiere opens new horizons for all eternity.
Stockhausen and Xenakis have each played a tremendously important role in the creation and evolution of Electronic Music. You have worked with both. Would you share with us your view of these people's spirit, talent, view on art and your cooperation in general.
Stockhausen was like a musical father for me. He taught me how to be a performer, the meaning of music and so much more. Xenakis was a more distant figure. I especially remember his marvelous sense of humor and the way he new exactly what he wanted from his scores, including how to scream (Ais: "cri horrible")
To what degree do you think has modern technology changed the way people understand music ?
Electronics have added a new dimension to music.
Do you think the younger generation of composers offers new ideas to contemporary music? How different are younger composers and in what respects?
Steve Lacy said, "The giants are dead and the midgets are taking over." On a more positive note, I think that performers are taking back the creative act. Musicians such as Heinz Holliger, Stefano Scodanibbio, Cathy Milliken and your own Maria Aloupi are showing that it is possible to play and instrument AND compose!
Technology has brought the creation of music close to a larger public. Do you think that this will bring better music to the worldwide audiences?
Attempts to bring music to a mass audience are linked to commerce, not to art.
Contemporary music and some of its Electroacoustic music appears to speak to limited audiences; why do you think this is the case? What do you think needs to be done in to change this situation?
Elite and Popular culture have always existed. Mozart also reached a "limited audience." How big a market is there for great poetry? How many people eat at the French Laundry compared to Macdonalds? Where is the food better? NOTHING needs to be done to change the situation.
Have you worked with any Greek composers of contemporary or electroacoustic music? Are you interested in such a cooperation?
Working with living composers is the most exciting thing I do. I am always looking for opportunities to cooperate with composers. Greek is a marvelous country and it is a joy to perform there.
You are a citizen of the world: What are -in your opinion- the differences in both the creation and acceptance of contemporary music in Europe and the Americas?
In Europe, decisions are made by politics; in the U.S. by commerce. I honestly do not know which is worse.
I am currently rehearsing for a music theater project on the music of Sylvano Bussotti at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, writing a book called "Techniques of Singing" for Bärenreiter Verlag and working on a PhD dissertation on the songs of the Kuna Indians of Panama. I have an annual project involving new pieces for my voice and electronics coupled with a reference piece. This year the project involves Edoardo Polonio (Seville), Gerard Pape (Paris), David Felder (Buffalo) and Maria Aloupi & Andreas Diktyopoulos from Athens. The reference piece is Stockhausen's "Capricorn." Next year's reference piece will be John Cage's "Aria with Fontana Mix."
