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

Looking back, the cold day I received my diploma in Psychology at Hiyoshi amidst sleet was also the day the results for the vocal department at Tokyo University of the Arts 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 performance opportunities such as the university's Max Reger Lieder concert (broadcast on SWR), cantatas during Bach Week as part of a masterclass, and French songs at a manor on the Rhine. In Vienna, the day before I sang an aria from Gluck's Orfeo, Professor Sylvia Geszty taught me about the "Sternstunde" (blissful moment) on stage. She said it is not something you can obtain by intention, but something that descends from above when you are completely devoted to your craft. My doctoral supervisor at Tokyo University of the Arts—who happened to have studied under the legendary singer Lotte Lehmann in the United States—was a strange coincidence, as I had once picked up Lehmann's book "Midway in My Song" at the Mita library.

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 I have sung German Lieder more than anything else. Lieder refers to art songs. Composers include Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, Richard Strauss, and many others, while poets include Goethe, Heine, Mörike, Eichendorff, Klopstock, Rückert, and more. The content ranges from songs about nature and views on life and death to songs of love, which make up the majority. It is a naive, passionate, and condensed world of a few minutes per song accompanied by piano. There, the faces of the great masters appear in ways not seen in large-scale works like symphonies, 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 we can share the rich content together.

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 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, and 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.