LA VIE EN ROSE
A classical collection
When I was 9 years old, I began having singing lessons in my local village. I had always loved music, and after having suggestion from teachers at school, my parents encouraged me to pursue singing. I loved it.
I had always been told I had a classical voice, therefore my singing lessons were primarily focussed around developing this technique. While I have a love for all genres of singing, classical technique is a style that I have been actively developing for over 10 years.
Now, after completing my A Level in Music Technology, and coming to the end of my degree in Music Performance and Production, I have recorded and fully produced an album of classical and musical songs.
'La Vie En Rose' is the collection of songs that have remained solid in my repertoire list throughout the years; from my favourites, to the songs that took me months to learn! I wanted to make these songs my own and create an orginal performance of each.
To celebrate the creation of this collection of songs, I also performed them live to an invited audience at All Saints Church in Weston-super-Mare - a venue known for its fantastic acoustics and beautiful setting. I was accompanied by the fantastic pianist Richard Lennox, who also features as the pianist on the album.
To find out more about this release, please read on below. I am very proud and excited to show you more!
Lucy x
TRACK LIST
La Vie En Rose
QUANDO ME'N VO
(Musetta's Waltz)
Written by Giacomo Puccini for his 1896 opera 'La Boheme', Quando Me'n Vo is sung by the character Musetta, in the presence of her friends, hoping to reclaim the attention of her occasional boyfriend Marcello.
"When I walk
When I walk all alone in the street,
people stop and stare at me
and look for my whole beauty
from head to feet ...
And then I taste the slight yearning
which transpires from their eyes
and which is able to perceive from manifest charms
to most hidden beauties.
So the scent of desire is all around me,
it makes me happy!
And you, while knowing, reminding and longing,
you shrink from me?
I know it very well:
you don't want to express your anguish,
but you feel as if you're dying!"
To create a more orignal interpretation of this performance, I wanted to express the longing and desire in Musetta as she sings this piece. I focussed less on the showing off of her attributes, and more on the desire she has for Marcello.
LA VIE EN ROSE
Edith Piaf
La Vie En Rose (french for 'life in pink') is the signature song of French singer Edith Piaf. I first learnt this song in 2019 when I sang it abroad for a wedding. I wanted to include the original french lyrics (as the bride was partially French) yet create a version that could be understood by english speaking guests, as I think the words are truly beautiful. I sing the first verse in french and then repeat in english, for my orginal performance of La Vie En Rose.
O MIO BABBINO CARO
Oh My Beloved Father
Another piece from Giacomo Puccini, for his opera 'Gianni Schicchi' (1918). It is sung by Lauretta to her father, after tensions between her father and her lover Rinuccio reach a breaking point. It is a deeply emotional piece, and I wanted to convey this sadness in my rednition of the song.
I have sang this piece since I was 16 and have had the pleasure of singing it on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence in 2019 to passer-bys on the bridge.
HE WISHES FOR THE CLOTHS OF HEAVEN
William Butler Yeats/Donald Swann/Lowell Liebermann
A song which began life as a poem, written by William Butler Yeats in 1899. It is the final song in Lowell Liebermann's song cycle 'A Poet to His Beloved'.
I first sang this song in 2019, origianlly drawn to the piece by the beautiful lines 'but I being poor have only my dreams' and 'tread softly for you tread on my dreams'. To create a unique performance of this song, I wanted to capture sincere emotion for these lines. The song repeats the motifs in this section twice, with the second time beginning with a stronger dynamic delivery and ending softly, to paralell the words sung.
WHAT GOOD WOULD THE MOON BE
Kurt Weill
'What Good Would The Moon Be' is a cavatina piece from the American opera 'Street Scene' (1946) by Kurt Weill, Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice.
It is sung by the character Rose as she defends herself from the advances of her boss as he promises her a glittering career on Broadway if she agrees to become his lover.
THINK OF ME
The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of my favourite productions of all time! I absolutely adore the music in this show and it has always been an ambition of mine to one day play the role of Christina.
Think of me is sang by Christina and Raoul in the first act. To make this an original solo piece, I omitted Raoul's section and it was replaced with a piano solo, performed by Richard Lennox.
ART IS CALLING FOR ME
The Enchantress
Written by Victor Herbert, Art is Calling for Me is from the operetta 'The Enchantress' which was first performed in 1911. It is sung by the character Vivien Savary, deemed to be the enchantress who captivates the attention of Prince Ivan.
I love performing this piece, as it allows for so much comedic acting and exciting vocal trills. I wanted to create another original interpretation to this song, and therefore have added my own unique trills and actions to create an original performance.
THE RECORDING PROCESS
Creating La Vie En Rose
I was fortunate enough to be able to use a full recording studio to record my vocals. This studio was one of the facilities from University Centre Weston. To capture the vocals, I used a Peluso P12 microphone. I opted for this microphone due to the clarity and balanced sound that this microphone produces.
To record Richard Lennox on the piano tracks, I used a direct input to record the piano straight into Logic Pro X.
The mixing process could then be carried out anywhere, mostly from the comfort of my bedroom!
When setting up the recording for All Saints Church, I used a microphone with two JBL speakers balanced with slight reverb to match the dynamic range of the piano. The footage was also captured on a zoom sound recorder, as well as two camcorders recording image from different perspectives.
LA VIE EN ROSE, THROUGH THE YEARS
A look back at past performances
As I've been performing these songs many years, I felt it appropraite to include a little throwback collection of videos to showcase past performances of these songs.
My busiest year to date for singing was 2019 (as you can see!) however there are some oldie/goldie videos of performances from as many as 6 years ago in the collection below!
I want to highlight how these songs have evolved throughout the years I've been performing them; from arrangement, to stylistic changes in performance - these songs have grown with me through the years, and I hold them very dearly to me.
