"Singing songs is balm for the throat"

‘Show off’ – we could have used this journalese in the previous sentence rather than ‘reveal’ but refrained from doing so for a good reason: there is nothing further from the song genre than deliberate showing off, virtuosity as a value in its own right. The song is an intimate expression of emotion, the vehicle for interpreting profound thoughts – at least in the context in which we, Central Europeans, have been raised in the German Lied tradition. Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Wolf, Richard Strauss – each a very different artistic personality – handled Lied with piano accompaniment as a genre of the highest order, creating an elite genre in the positive sense of the word. But can there be a different path for the song genre and song recital?

The recital of Szilvia Vörös in November will take us eastwards when she provides a selection of the melodies of Sergei Rachmaninoff. The image in Hungary of the Russian master, who died in 1943, is somewhat one-sided: concert programmes almost exclusively feature his piano concertos and symphonies; Rachmaninoff’s operas, choral and chamber music are virtually unknown here. As the grand prix winner of the I. Éva Marton International Singing Competition told the Concert Magazine, the programme is not only interesting for the novelty aspect, but together with Károly Mocsári, who provides piano accompaniment, they have tried to select pieces that delineate the thematic relations between piano works and songs, thereby offering new ways of interpreting both kinds of composition – after all, many Rachmaninoff songs started their lives as works for piano.

Szilvia Vörös (Photo: Zoltán Tuba)

Interestingly, these songs also represent something new for Szilvia Vörös, as this is the first time she performs Rachmaninoff works. However, the genre of song has always been one close to her heart. She confides: “Even when I was at the Liszt Academy, I considered it important to keep my stage and podium appearances in balance. Singing songs and oratorios presents one with a challenge of a different kind compared to the opera stage, and it is possible to profit from this differently. I find this very different, more intimate relationship that develops between audience and singer exciting. At the same time, it is extremely important from the aspect of vocal conditioning: singing songs is balm for the throat. This is the reason I constantly try to expand my repertoire. I have given a concert of works by Brahms and Mahler, but in partnership with a Spanish doctoral student, I am also preparing for a performance of the de Falla cycle Siete Canciones Populares Españolas.”

So of all the composers of Lieder that she has performed so far, who are her favourites? “The aforementioned Brahms and Mahler. Partly because I feel that of the Italian and German schools – so far I have dealt with these in greater depth – Italian is overly associated with opera music; the truly exciting things are happening in the German repertoire, not to speak of the fact that we deal more with this in the course of our studies. I feel particularly close to the melancholy of Brahms and diversity of Mahler; understanding the Songs on the Death of Children became an extremely important keystone in my relationship to the entire song repertoire. It would be valuable to study songs by Richard Strauss in future, but as the examples of Rachmaninoff and de Falla show, I am happy to look in other directions as well.”

Naturally, seeking new paths will also be fraught with difficulties, since in the presentation of song, language has perhaps a more important role than any other genre. Interpreting works by de Falla in Spanish, and romances of Rachmaninoff in Russian, represents a challenge in itself, although today help in various forms is at hand. “Naturally, the first step is acquiring precise pronunciation,” says Szilvia Vörös, “phonetically, note by note. Then comes the more difficult part: adjusting to the music – after all, the tempo, rhythm and in some cases the emphases of spoken language are different when applied to music. As well as native speakers, luckily these days we have plenty of recordings at our disposal, and these are very helpful in orienting ourselves.”

She considers the single most important benefit to have come out of the Marton Singing Competition to be the chance to broaden her repertoire: concert invitations received in the wake of the victory have lent her the opportunity to learn new works. For instance, at the time we conducted the interview she was singing Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Pécs and Budapest under the direction of an Italian conductor and with Italian singer partners. “I really hope that appearances such as these result in further invitations, and in this way I can build my repertoire so that I can continue to maintain the balance between stage and concert podium I mentioned earlier,” Szilvia Vörös concluded.

Gábor Bóka