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Charlotte Dobbs Shares her Experience with Caramoor's Vocal Rising Stars |
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Home > What's New > Caramoor Blog > Charlotte Dobbs Shares her Experience with Caramoor's Vocal Rising Stars
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April 12, 2010
I don’t think I will ever forget the week I spent at Caramoor preparing this program with Steve and Michael! It was heavenly on so many levels… but first of all the music we sang, which every day revealed itself in a new way. I was really excited about the songs I had on the program. My two selections on the first half, Bachelet’s “Chere nuit” and the Ravel “Vocalise en forme de habanera”, were very vocal and also both very sensual – the first ecstatic along the lines of “Depuis le jour”, and the Ravel hot and tropical. On the second half, I had two of the most witty songs on the program – Poulenc’s hypochondriacal “Petite servante”, and the polyamorous shenanigans of “Attendez le prochain bateau”. Listening to the program as a whole, I was really amazed by the way Steve put together a program of French song that was totally lively and engaging for the whole evening. If I were to put together an all-French recital, my first impulse would be to do only intoxicating, slow Debussy songs and similarly heady music by Faure, Poulenc, and Ravel – but I think Steve’s programming made the few well-chosen impressionistic gems crystallize much more strongly in the ears of our audience.
I also had an amazing time just being with all the people at Caramoor. The other singers and I had a lot of fun staying in “The Giff”, which was really comfortable and a great way to get to know each other well. It was also very conducive to late-night “Petite carree” study sessions (this ensemble was a beast to memorize!). John made us some amazing breakfasts, and I cooked a simple dinner for everyone in the middle of the week. I deeply appreciated the opportunity to get to know my three colleagues in such an intimate way, and I feel like I have made some lifelong friendships! It was also really cool to meet everyone in the Caramoor family – there are some amazing individuals on the staff there and I only wish I could have had more time to talk to everyone. But the nicest part for me was the extended stretch of “Steve time” and “Michael time”. Since graduating from Juilliard, I have been a bit starved of both!
Charlotte Dobbs, soprano
The Caramoor grounds and house are an amazing place to make this kind of music – it’s just the kind of setting you could imagine some of these songs taking place, particularly the intimate “salon” kind of pieces we did on the first half of the program. It’s very peaceful and quiet – the first few nights, everyone was falling asleep at 8:30 because of the fresh air and unsettling absence of traffic noise. It was a magical week, and I wish it could have lasted forever. Leave the first comment
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