TV REVIEW : ‘Class’ Shows Diva as a Tough Teacher

Bracketed by luminous archival footage of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing the Marschallin in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier,” “Master Class” (tonight at 10 on KOCE Channel 50) offers a fascinating look at the renowned diva teaching seven young, promising American singers.

In addition to providing viewers with valuable insights into what constitutes good singing, the one-hour broadcast also becomes emotionally gripping as the singers struggle with their tensions, fears, anger and moments of jubilation and gratitude under Schwarzkopf’s relentlessly probing commentary.

Several of the singers--all drawn from the Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts in Carmel--cannot finish even a single bar before Schwarzkopf stops them, often several times.

“That’s not what singing is,” she says to soprano Karen Hall, one of singers gathered at Schwarzkopf’s home near Zurich, Switzerland, in 1985 for the five-day class.

“It’s plain hideous,” she tells baritone Bob Mattern.

But Schwarzkopf is not a virago, and she appears to take no pleasure in making such judgments.

“Very marvelous,” she tells baritone Reg Huston, with a touching smile. “It’s perfect,” she tells tenor Jonathan Welch. “Hats off!”

Clearly she is troubled and perplexed about Mattern’s vocal problems, and she struggles to pinpoint the reasons. “I could let you sing as you sing,” she says, “but that’s not why you’re here.”

In a separate interview segment, Schwarzkopf explains her approach: “Sound without meaning is nothing to me. . . . And it is nothing.”

In the skillfully constructed program, producer Louise Pencavel adroitly shifts among shots of the workshop, the interview with Schwarzkopf and interviews with the singers conducted three years later, after some had begun carving out international careers.

“I wanted to punch her,” Hall says in retrospect. “I thought she was just being mean.”

Still, the soprano acknowledges that the workshop prompted her to spend no less than three years revising her technique because “the road I was taking was not good enough.” Her career now appears to be getting on track.

“She gets on you every minute,” recalls Huston, who shifted his career focus to arts administration after the birth of his first child. “It can get to you.”

In contrast, Welch declares, “I really learned what it meant to be dedicated.” And baritone Rodney Gilfry smiles broadly when he says that any vocal problem he discovers now, “Schwarzkopf told me that three years ago.”

In an illuminating moment, Pencavel shifts back and forth between soprano Ruth Golden singing the same Mozart aria at the workshop and later in a recital. Schwarzkopf’s comments have been deftly integrated into the later singing. No explanation is needed.

Four of the workshop singers are familiar to Southland audiences. Mezzo-soprano Alice Baker sang in Verdi’s “Otello” for the Los Angeles Music Center Opera in 1986. Gilfry has been in a number of LAMCO productions, most recently as Figaro in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere de Siviglia” in November 1991.

Welch sang Pinkerton for San Diego Opera in 1989 and for Opera Pacific in 1991. Golden, who now teaches at Chapman University in Orange, appeared with the New York City Opera when it came to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in 1989 and also has concertized frequently in the county.

Hall has sung in the Seattle “Ring” cycle; Huston sang with her in concert in Seattle.

Mattern was the youngest in the group and the one some predicted to emerge as the Wunderkind of the class. “Well, I didn’t,” he says dryly. “I wound up more tied up than I had been in a long time.”

In fact, the experience was so traumatic for him that he decided to abandon the career temporarily while working to shift his vocal range from baritone to tenor. Meanwhile, he runs a macrobiotic restaurant in Philadelphia. One wonders whether he will ever return to the profession. . . . Still, one cannot feel Schwarzkopf’s comments about his singing were unjust.

In a closing sequence, each student talks about the profession, the remarks ranging from the exultant to the practical. For viewers, there is no question but that their understanding of the art will deepen from the broadcast.

“Master Class” is a co-production of KTEH in San Jose and director Pencavel, in association with the Hidden Valley Institute.