Wednesday, October 12, 2011

My Tribute to Jose Van Dam

Have you ever had an experience of seeing one of your favorite performers live? In my mind this type of experience is untouchable. I have been fortunate enough to have this kind of experience in my life. Since I am a musician and I got to see my favorite singer in person, it was a spiritual experience for me. The singer whom I saw was the great bass-baritone Jose Van Dam. I was sitting quietly and thinking of something to write about. I was also looking for some inspiration. I thought of the few times when I got to hear Van Dam, and it reminded me of why I love singing so much. Hearing him took me to a realm where I was completely drawn to him because he had such unbelievable artistry. He was capable of singing a hauntingly beautiful pianissimo anytime he wanted, but he could also roar like a lion. He sang repertoire from the baroque period through late twentieth century, and he has done it for around 50 years. I am not going to go into details about when and where he performed such and such. Boring, as Homer Simpson would say. I got to hear this great artist in both opera and recital. Both were surreal experiences. My father was with me on both occasions, and he agrees. Life is about experiencing, so I want to talk about the experience of hearing this amazing artist. I remember buying Van Dam's recording of Duparc songs, which I happened to find by chance at the old Tower Records in Philly. That was the first recording I heard of him. I was just blown away, and thought to myself, I have to hear this artist So, I looked through the met season for the 2000-2001 season, and there was Van Dam's name, and he was cast as Golaud in Pelleas et Melisande. What a night it was. My dad and I were sitting in the balcony level in the Metropolitan Opera House. James Levine conducted and Suzanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft and Robert Lloyd rounded out this great cast. I remember when Van Dam starting singing in the first scene. It was very delicate, but I was wondering if that was all he had. I sure was wrong to ask myself that question. He was taking out his watercolors of vocal colors and was pacing himself like the singing sage that he is.. As the show went along I just remember being captivated by his presence on stage. When I am at a show, I am distracted very easily most of the time. When I saw this performance, it was as if I was in the room alone with Van Dam. I had never had that experience before. He sang with an astounding dynamic range considering how big the stage is at the Metropolitan Opera House. Also, the beauty of his soft singing in the final act is something that is hard to put into words. It was pathetic, yet hauntingly beautiful. Golaud is consumed with jealousy. Even when Melisande is dying in childbirth, he is still pressing her on whether she loved Pelleas or not. Pretty sick isn't it? At the beginning of my final year at Peabody, Wayne Conner told me that he was doing preconcert lecture for a recital that Van Dam was giving at the Perleman Theatre at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. I managed to get two, so my father could go too. We were sitting about 10 rows from ten front. Van Dam was 62 years old at this point and he did the Kerner Lieder by Schumann and Dichterliebe for the second half. The first half blew me away. It is amazing how vocally healthy he sounded at that age. There were tears in my eyes during some of the songs because of the gorgeous sounds Van Dam was making. So, he performed an hour and a half worth if music, then he encored with "Extase" by Duparc, which is an intimate and soft song. After that he sang "La Calunia" from "The Barber of Sevile", during which Van Dam cranked up the volume. I really wasn't expecting Van Dam to be as good as he was in this recital. If you need inspiration, seeing your favorite artist is always a good way to find it. I remember feeling very inspired after these two experiences of hearing Van Dam in person.

2 comments:

  1. The Music Teacher really introduced me to van Dam. What a truly amazing artist this man became in every sense of the word.

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  2. That is a great movie. I remember "Ich bin der welt" from that. Thanks for commenting.

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