Sasha Novak
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WAGNER'S HELDENTENOR Album Information
The Artist - Sasha Novak
Sasha Novak received vocal coaching under the guidance of Dr Margaret Grace Bennett, whose vocal technique goes back to the legendary Heldentenor, Jean de Reszke. Sasha completed a Graduate Diploma in Opera at the Victorian College of the Arts in Australia. Although he focused mainly on the Italian dramatic tenor parts during his early period, such as Otello, Radames and Cavardossi, his training in the bel canto method and the declamatory style of singing, provided a solid foundation for the demanding Heldentenor repertoire.
The Composer - Richard Wagner
Born in Leipzig on 22 May, 1813, Richard Wagner was a great yet highly controversial composer.
Inspired by his love for Beethoven and Mozart and his passion for the theatre, Wagner created the music-drama. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Wagner composed the music and also wrote his own libretti. This enabled him to strengthen the relationship between the written text, the music played by the orchestra and the drama occurring on stage. It also led to the development of the leitmotiv - a musical concept which reveals itself throughout the course of his works to help clarify, communicate or reinforce a particular idea and add depth to the music-drama.
Wagner's contribution to opera remains unmatched not only due to its scale and complexity, but also its ability to transcend its audience. His musical reform has influenced many composers, movie scores and modern day music.
Richard Wagner died in 1883.
The Conductor - Greg Hocking
On completion of his studies at the University of Melbourne, Greg Hocking joined the Queensland Opera and later the Australian Opera. Since then he has conducted many operas, including L'Elisir d'Amore, Un ballo in Maschera, Don Giovanni, Carmen and Il Trovatore for Melbourne City Opera, Madame Butterfly for Globe Opera and La Grande Duchess de Gerolstein for Sydney Light Opera. Currently he is the Musical Director of the Essendon Choral Society and the Hayden Chamber Orchestra.
What is a Heldentenor?
Wagner's pioneering style accelerated the trend towards new orchestration practices, which also brought with it many challenges. This included the need for a new breed of tenor - the Heldentenor (helden = heroic in German). This type of tenor possesses a voice of steel like power, with a trumpet sound ring on the high notes. It is warm and baritonal in timbre in the low to middle register, and has an evocative sound. The metallic quality in the top register makes it capable of cutting through Wagner's immense orchestration.
