One of my favorite actresses of all time is Patricia Routledge. It's probably sort of strange for me to say that because the only things I've actually seen her in are the early 90s British sitcom "Keeping Up Appearances" and a later mystery series called "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates". Routledge plays two very different characters in these - the contrast is amazing! She hasn't been in many movies (though she was in this short awkward one about Hildegard von Bingen), and appears onstage in Shakespeare plays mostly these days (or maybe she's retired - 82 is sort of old...)
In addition to being a fabulous actress, Routledge is also a classically trained singer. She appeared on Broadway and the West End in London in the 1960s (notably in Leonard Bernstein's flop "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" and "The Sound of Music" in those respective venues).
I always thought the fact that she's actually a very good singer pretty amusing, because my first impression of her "singing" was in "Keeping Up Appearances" - a show in which she plays a conceited upper middle class housewife who wishes she was richer than she and her husband really are. In addition to just being downright irritating to the people around her, she is convinced that she is a talented musician and oftentimes offers to perform at her church or for her neighbor's brother (who is the "Head of the Ameture Operatic Society"). As a result, people literally run away and the neighbor hides when he thinks she's around. There are a few instances in which the audience actually hears the "singing" - awful.
One day some years ago, I was watching an episode of "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" (a show about a housewife detective etc.) in which Routledge's character pretends to sing in a church choir in order to gather information. During one of the rehearsals (probably explicitly to exploit her singing ability) she is shown singing a solo, and it is really her singing voice. I had some sort of personal crisis when I saw it, being used to some sort of infernal screeching.
I find it a little curious too that Routledge has never married or had children. I don't think she's ever come under fire for it, either (which is quite nice, really!). She is truly an actress of a different generation, so I'm not even sure whether she's been in some sort of serious relationship or not or whatever, and I'm also pretty certain there's no way to find out - and that's totally fine.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Japan.
In lieu of Japan being in the news this week 'cause of that earthquake, I thought I'd talk about my favorite genre of music to come out of it: enka. Enka started out in the 19th century as sort of a cross of east and west - it's stayed largely that, though after World War II there was another shift in it with the American occupation and jazz became a huge influence in the 1950s. As a result, enka is very popular with the generation who grew up with it then - that's right: old people.
There are both male and female enka singers who are considered stars in that universe - one in particular of whom I am thinking is Hibari Misora. This lady was born in the late '30s, and made her debut when she was twelve. She had more of a jazz career in the '50s and '60s, (which too became very popular in post-war Japan) but starting in the '60s and going into the '70s she turned more to enka. She continued appearing on TV and doing some shows until she died in 1989.
In Japan, cross-dressing has always been somewhat common in the entertainment industry, starting with the all-male casts of both noh and kabuki plays hundreds of years ago. Once women began to take the stage prominently (mostly in the 20th century, though women sometimes did appear in kabuki - I don't think in noh too much, though) the same applied; though it is curious that the cross-dressing was usually only in kimono rather than western clothes (basically, men wear dark, subdued colors at any age; girls and young women typically wear brighter colors. Once a women is married, however, her kimono gradually gets more...uhh, boring?...as with the knot in the obi) - and might sing from a man's point of view.
Another woman in this world is Sachiko Kobayashi - her work is definitely best-known in Japan (as with most of these stars, of course), most notably her work for Pokemon. She has sung for the popular songs in the original Japanese shows and the first movie (all of which the American companies dubbed over or replaced completely).
One last note: although in Japanese culture women are expected to speak very high (the higher, the more polite/feminine), female enka singers typically sing VERY low and in their chest. Not sure why - maybe they're trying to imitate the men? Perhaps too to manipulate their vibrato more - I don't know much about how to do that, but I do know that one particular characteristic of enka is a VERY wide vibrato - purposefully.
There are both male and female enka singers who are considered stars in that universe - one in particular of whom I am thinking is Hibari Misora. This lady was born in the late '30s, and made her debut when she was twelve. She had more of a jazz career in the '50s and '60s, (which too became very popular in post-war Japan) but starting in the '60s and going into the '70s she turned more to enka. She continued appearing on TV and doing some shows until she died in 1989.
In Japan, cross-dressing has always been somewhat common in the entertainment industry, starting with the all-male casts of both noh and kabuki plays hundreds of years ago. Once women began to take the stage prominently (mostly in the 20th century, though women sometimes did appear in kabuki - I don't think in noh too much, though) the same applied; though it is curious that the cross-dressing was usually only in kimono rather than western clothes (basically, men wear dark, subdued colors at any age; girls and young women typically wear brighter colors. Once a women is married, however, her kimono gradually gets more...uhh, boring?...as with the knot in the obi) - and might sing from a man's point of view.
Another woman in this world is Sachiko Kobayashi - her work is definitely best-known in Japan (as with most of these stars, of course), most notably her work for Pokemon. She has sung for the popular songs in the original Japanese shows and the first movie (all of which the American companies dubbed over or replaced completely).
One last note: although in Japanese culture women are expected to speak very high (the higher, the more polite/feminine), female enka singers typically sing VERY low and in their chest. Not sure why - maybe they're trying to imitate the men? Perhaps too to manipulate their vibrato more - I don't know much about how to do that, but I do know that one particular characteristic of enka is a VERY wide vibrato - purposefully.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Fanny Mendelssohn
You know, I'd always sort of figured Fanny Mendelssohn must have been something to have been remembered in "classical" music history, a largely male-dominated world. I'm doing my final project on her, so I also figured I would be able to find more on her than I'd ever imagined.
GET THIS: I found this book in the school library, The Reception of Bach's Organ Works from Mendelssohn to Brahms - looked pretty cool, so I checked it out for fun. Since it is wholly impossible to write seriously about Felix without at least mention of Fanny or two, it didn't shock me to find her mentioned a few times.
It DID, however, shock me to find out that she had memorized the entire (probably first book, it doesn't specify) Well-Tempered Clavichord by Bach and played it for her dad at the age of thirteen. I mean, I knew she was amazing and all...but wow. Wow. What's more, it would appear that during the 1820s she kept track of what Bach (mostly organ) scores the Mendelssohn family owned (they were rich, after all). I also didn't realize that Felix and Fanny's mother and aunt both studied with Kirnberger, one of Bach's pupils.
I've found myself a book for my bibliography!...
This book also mentions that while Fanny never took organ lessons (I'll have to cross check, but it wouldn't really surprise me), she would often to with Felix to his and probably picked it up that way. Apparently when Felix was playing in London, there were two women that I think he did end up meeting who were "prominent church organists there" - blast if I can remember their names off the top of my head! - another thing I found strange, as so many people took Paul's words that "women should keep their silence in the Church" seriously for so long.
GET THIS: I found this book in the school library, The Reception of Bach's Organ Works from Mendelssohn to Brahms - looked pretty cool, so I checked it out for fun. Since it is wholly impossible to write seriously about Felix without at least mention of Fanny or two, it didn't shock me to find her mentioned a few times.
It DID, however, shock me to find out that she had memorized the entire (probably first book, it doesn't specify) Well-Tempered Clavichord by Bach and played it for her dad at the age of thirteen. I mean, I knew she was amazing and all...but wow. Wow. What's more, it would appear that during the 1820s she kept track of what Bach (mostly organ) scores the Mendelssohn family owned (they were rich, after all). I also didn't realize that Felix and Fanny's mother and aunt both studied with Kirnberger, one of Bach's pupils.
I've found myself a book for my bibliography!...
This book also mentions that while Fanny never took organ lessons (I'll have to cross check, but it wouldn't really surprise me), she would often to with Felix to his and probably picked it up that way. Apparently when Felix was playing in London, there were two women that I think he did end up meeting who were "prominent church organists there" - blast if I can remember their names off the top of my head! - another thing I found strange, as so many people took Paul's words that "women should keep their silence in the Church" seriously for so long.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)