So it’s April Fools Day in Walter Hall and Ambur Braid is scheduled to give a masterclass to UoT Opera students.  Were they having us on?  I was doubly suspicious having just finished the really annoying Guardian April Fool crossword.  But, no, it was real; though frankly funnier than most April Fool pranks.  You can check it out for yourself because it’s all up on Youtube.

Since you can check it out for yourselves I’lljust make a few observations:

• The six students taking part; Christian Matta, Camille Labonté, Frank Yu,Teresa Tucci, Cameron Mazzei and Katherine Kirkpatrick, plus pianist Helen Becqué, all really entered into the spirit of the thing which meant giving as much of themselves as Ambur gave; which is saying a lot.  Good for them!

• Ambur really is about drama.  This will, of course, come as a huge shock.  But seriously, in her praxis every phrase exists for a reason and an aria works when every phrase serves the emotional and dramatic pierce of the aria.  Who is singing?  To whom?  Why?  What do they want?  It’s perhaps easier to get at this when on is dealing with Musetta; motivation clear enough, but what about an aria like “Una furtiva lagrima”?  Do Donizetti tenors have real emotions or are they as daft as they seem on the surface?  Why does Ophélie drown herself rather than, say, cutting her wrists?  Honestly addressing these questions unquestionably improved the singing.
• Ambur is brave and asks others to be equally brave, but she also looks at the dramatic value of only going  to the edge where it makes maximum impact;l otherwise keeping some energy/stamina back.  She’s also not afraid to fail; at least in rehearsal (she’s had lots of practice).
• She’s also engagingly honest; which is an increasingly rare quality these days, and she’s very, very funny.

I’ve been to quite a lot of masterclasses and I’ve seen different approaches; dogmatic focus on certain areas of technique, insightful critiques of technical issues, sheer, uncomprehending cruelty and more besides.  I’ve never enjoyed a master class as much as this one and I’m not sure I’ve ever learned more.  The students yesterday were very fortunate!