NEA Opera Honors: Federica Von Stade on Marilyn Horne

I don't think I remember the first time. I think it was probably so wonderful that part of me has blocked it out, but I certainly remember singing with her and I remember meeting her. And not only is there a greatness in Marilyn Horne, the performer, but there is also an incredible greatness in her as a human being. There's something about Jackie that when you're with her, around her, talking to her, almost even seeing a picture of her, you feel like everything is right in the world. Everything will be fine. You know, things will work out. There is a life force that comes from it, a courage, an energy, and it is really a huge, huge amount of good will, good will for life.

And people of good will tell the truth. She is good at telling the truth. But somehow, the truth is more comforting than alarming. So I remember very well singing with her with this incredible voice and her incredible commitment to what she makes of her. It is a lifelong commitment and is based on a deep respect and love for music, which is truly the essence of it. And she's never pretended to be anything else, which I think is wonderful. It's an incredible voice. It's an unusual voice. When I first heard her sing, there was more of a soprano voice and I heard her sing soprano roles.

And that's what she always impressed me with: this incredible reach. But there are moments when he sounds like a tenor, and I think of his voice as having a kind of commitment and power, a great devotion to diction and words and meaning and an extraordinary commitment to writing: doing what It is said that. I was lucky enough to be around a lot when Henry worked together. And I adored Henry. I simply adored him. He was just an amazing, amazing musician and a wonderful man. I just...then I saw his working process and I knew...I saw glimpses of it and I knew how much energy and devotion he required.

Oh, I think a lot, but both from general and specific ideas. I wish I had been a student at the time she taught. I worked with her once. I went to her house and she said, "Don't bother with this. Do this. Do this right. Now, do this really well. No, slower. Do it again. It has to be right. It has to." . be clean." And all those lessons. But a lot of them come just from her singing, from precision and intention. Jackie is a lot about intention. And where... one of the places I think she What influenced me the most was in her recitals.

There was warmth and generosity in what she gives to the audience and what she has prepared for them. She is very aware of entertaining, of being, and of everything that involves entertaining, not just doing it. people's jaws dropped in amazement, but really making them laugh, making them cry, all that stuff. And I... you just... to this day, I talked to her on her cell phone the other day, and. There's something in that voice that... she's there. It's like present and sure. You feel like everything is going to be okay with Jackie. part of how much he liked to teach.

Not all singers like to teach or are good at it. But I have seen his master classes for a long time. And she does: she is like a loving babysitter. She is the nanny of the grades and she is the nanny of this human spirit. And she has a way of letting children know what is expected of them and what they can do, because that is teaching. It's about giving children concrete examples of what they can do that they didn't know they could do. And of course, a lot of them would approach it saying, "Oh, my God.

I'm singing for Marilyn Horne." But quickly, that takes a second step towards what they can achieve, what music they are suitable for or what suits them. And that's a big commitment on her part, huge. And that she has chosen to give her life in this way and with all the teaching that she does about her is very typical of who she is, because I don't know how she would have managed to find a route to everything that she has to offer. . This was very obvious and sensational to the world at this time, because I know, from my experience, what kind of shows one does now are very different from what they were when I started singing.

Many German, French, Russian songs and many of these have fallen by the wayside because people want to understand. And when I started singing, there were still pockets of a group of German people in this country, of course in Europe and/or in France or in Italy. Now, that doesn't exist; generations have passed. One of the best things he's done is the surtitles. People want to know when the bird jumps off the twig, or when the boy falls in love with the girl, or whatever. They want to know exactly when it will happen. It makes it much more entertaining and attractive.

And you can't... half the time, at my age, you can't read the show. So you can't remember a complete Schubert song with five verses. And that has been a wonderful gift that she has given me. I was sitting next to her on stage doing my first performance at Carnegie Hall. And I was, you know, an ignoramus fidgeting and looking around her, and Jackie was saying quietly, "Sit still and keep your face in the light." I just... and I've been doing it for 40 years. It was one of the best pieces of advice. Just because you're sitting there and not singing, people are still looking at you and it's part of your responsibility to perform.

But it was, "Sit still and keep your face to the light." And there's no way you can't treasure that. Oh, I think she sings. No doubt about that. No doubt about that. I have a collection of her songs, one of... an EMI collection, I think, or a Decca; I'm probably making a terrible mistake. But I hear it all the time, just to know the kind of... the geography of a part and its intensity. And I just love it. I hear Jackie through him. I hear it from her...if you ever hear her talk, you know how she talks about herself a lot, that's a huge gift for her too.

She is a brilliant woman and she is capable of having many things on her mind. And her intentions are pure, so that people respond to that. They want to give back what she is giving them, because her intention is to honor the music, honor the singing, honor the children who sing, honor the composers, honor the public. She is one of the most respected artists, respectful and respected artists, because of the way she treats her audience. And she makes things clear and easy around her, because she is committed to perfection. But she's not nervous or frantic; It's very clear.

What I think of Jackie is her laugh. And I have had the opportunity in recent years to have dinner with her in New York without her or me rushing. And I just treasure it. I value what she says. I trust her opinions. I trust her judgment. She just...she gives me faith in the profession and faith in human nature.