Yumi Shoji: Days of Weaving Songs—Toward a Moment of Bliss

2019/02/21

Looking back, the cold, sleety day I received my diploma as a psychology major at Hiyoshi was also the day the results for the vocal music department at Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) were announced. Since then, I have pushed forward on the path of vocal music. I studied abroad at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart for two and a half years. I was blessed with many performance opportunities, such as the university's Max Reger Lieder concert (broadcast on SWR), Bach Week cantatas as part of a masterclass, and French art songs at a manor along the Rhine. In Vienna, the day before I sang an aria from Gluck's Orfeo, Professor Sylvia Geszty taught me about the "Sternstunde" (moment of bliss) on stage. She said it is not something you can obtain by intention; rather, if you devote yourself entirely to your craft, it is something that descends upon you from above. My doctoral supervisor at Geidai—whom I chose after picking up the book "Midway on My Song" by the legendary singer Lotte Lehmann at the Mita library—coincidentally happened to be someone who had studied under Lehmann in the United States.

The masterclasses by Peter Schreier and Brigitte Fassbaender that I attended during my summer trips to Europe are also unforgettable. There was also my appearance in the Nikikai opera "Die Walküre" (broadcast on NHK-BS) and a recital commemorating the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth at the Beethoven House in Bonn. I suppose what I have sung most is German Lieder. Lieder refers to art songs. The composers include Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Richard Strauss, and many others, while the poets include Goethe, Heine, Mörike, Eichendorff, Klopstock, Rückert, and more. The subject matter ranges from songs about nature and views on life and death to love songs, which make up the majority. It is a naive, passionate, and condensed world of just a few minutes per song accompanied by piano. There, the faces of the great masters—faces not seen in large-scale works like symphonies—reveal themselves, and one often feels their presence closely. In my recitals where I sing these in their original languages, I make an effort to provide commentary and translated lyrics so that the audience can share in the rich content.

I also feel the significance of following not just the vertical threads of music history but the horizontal ones as well, leading me to sing in Italian, French, and Spanish. Last year, I enjoyed performing folk songs from the Auvergne region (in Occitan) arranged by Canteloube. This year, I am working hard on preparations for a recital in April featuring Schumann's song cycle "Dichterliebe" along with songs by Fauré and Schubert. In August, I am scheduled to sing the alto solo in a Bach Cantata concert conducted by Professor Ryuichi Higuchi, whose Bach lectures at Hiyoshi I remember fondly.