{"id":43147,"date":"2017-02-22T17:35:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T22:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=43147"},"modified":"2017-12-06T10:01:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:01:14","slug":"feature-when-divas-are-fashionistas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/02\/22\/feature-when-divas-are-fashionistas\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | When Divas Are Fashionistas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robin Roger chats with COC Ensemble Studio performers about how they created their visual signature.<\/h3>\n
\"Leather
Leather dress, Gucci, Snakeskin clutch, Lanvin. Jennifer Meyer 18-karat gold and diamond hoops. (Photo: Yossi Michaeli)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

W<\/span>e go to a concert or recital to listen <\/em>to music, but our very first impression is visual.\u00a0 As that side door opens and the performer strides onto the stage, we rapidly appraise what we see and how it makes us feel.\u00a0 Once the music starts the sound dominates our attention but the performer is still plainly visible, and his or her appearance continues to influence us.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve often wondered how musicians chose to appear as they do on stage. \u00a0Given how much time, effort and expense they devote to their music, what headspace and resources do they have to give to appearance?\u00a0 And how much enthusiasm do they have for this part of the game?\u00a0 Some may be indifferent to the whole matter, content to comply with conventional dress codes, while others might feel that their presentation has almost magical powers to enhance their performance. \u00a0I was once at a chamber music concert at which three men appeared in business suits, while the fourth wore jeans and a button down shirt. \u00a0I thought he was a maverick rebelling against stuffy formality until he announced that his outfit was courtesy of the airline, which had lost his bag. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t sure if he announced this so we could adjust to the visual dissonance or whether he was explaining that he wasn\u2019t quite himself in jeans, so we should reduce our expectations of him.<\/p>\n

Surely, the need to appear attractive is the most intense for vocalists, especially female soloists, who offer full-frontal visibility while displaying their art. Withstanding intense visual scrutiny without the shield of a cello or the prop of a piano must require a great deal of careful thought and preparation, aside from musical training.<\/p>\n

My curiosity about how singers arrive at this confident state was piqued at this year\u2019s COC season launch, when two young women from the Ensemble Studio with strikingly different visual signatures each stopped the show with bravissima-worthy performances. \u00a0In Turner Classic Movie terms, soprano Danika Lor\u00e8n, in a demure tea-gown length silk dress with a fitted bodice and waving blonde hair, was a latter-day Deanna Durbin and mezzo-soprano Emily D\u2019Angelo, in a sleek, tux suit, with skull-cropped short hair, was an insouciant Kate Hepburn. \u00a0In the midst of opera rehearsals, preparation for this week\u2019s showcase:\u00a0 An Evening with the Ensemble Studio<\/em>, and the Quilico Vocal Award competition, Danika and Emily each took time to explain how they create their look. \u00a0I was impressed with their voices before this exchange; since our discussion, I\u2019m also amazed by their resourcefulness, ingenuity, and practicality.<\/p>\n

For the COC launch, in each case, the young women gave careful thought to the way their outfits would allude to the Opera role they were performing in their excerpt. \u00a0Danika, who sang Gilda\u2019s aria\u00a0 \u201cCaro nome\u201d <\/em>\u00a0from Rigoletto,\u00a0 was inspired by the 2012 Michael Mayer production at the Metropolitan Opera.\u00a0 This accounts for the slightly Retro femininity of the tight bodice and full-skirted silhouette of this dress, as well as the modest ornamentation.\u00a0 Loren increased the flare factor of the dress to suit the sizzle of the occasion by hand-painting the skirt with a modulated spectrum of colours.<\/p>\n

\"Soprano
Soprano Danika Lor\u00e8n (Photo: Gaetz photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFor every performance, the style I chose starts with the music,\u201d Danika told me.\u00a0 Given that she performs a range of music in a variety of locations, this results in a diverse wardrobe, much of which she creates or embellishes herself, using a host of skills including sewing, beading, and painting.\u00a0 When she sang in P.E.I., she painted a wave pattern on her dress.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Emily confirmed my hunch that she wore a tux at the COC launch because she was singing a \u201cpants role\u201dc\u2014 the young court musician Smeton <\/em>from Anna Bolena.\u00a0 <\/em>This is a common occurrence for Mezzos, and she will be wearing the tux again this week when she sings Ariodante <\/em>at the Evening with the Ensemble Studio <\/em>on Thursday night.\u00a0 But Emily has certainly performed in skirts and dresses.\u00a0 She even managed to turn a cast into an accessory, when she sang in the COC competition finals with a broken foot in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Emily D\u2019Angelo, in a sleek, tux suit, with skull-cropped short hair. (Photo: Gaetz photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The elegant simplicity of Emily\u2019s tux not only suits the aria she sang at the COC season launch and will wear a second time this week, it exemplifies her taste for quality over quantity in clothes, which she attributes in part to her Italian heritage. \u00a0\u201cThere is […] an elegance and fearlessness to Italian style that I adore,\u201d comments D\u2019Angelo, who has a few basic pieces that she combines in different ways rather than an extensive wardrobe.\u00a0 She\u2019s thought through her approach to fashion artistically, practically, financially and even environmentally, trying to source clothes from Vintage\/thrift shops where possible, and giving her outfits repeat performances without hesitation.\u00a0 \u201cNo man would ever be called out for wearing the same suit twice, or 20 times,\u201d she declares.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”\u201cHigh Fashion and opera are a match made in heaven\u201d \u2014 soprano Danika Lor\u00e8n” username=””]<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that both Danika and Emily get a lot of satisfaction from the wardrobe side of their work, even though this isn\u2019t their central focus.\u00a0 \u201cHigh Fashion and opera are a match made in heaven,\u201d commented Danika. \u00a0Emily was equally enthusiastic: \u201cI enjoy expressing myself through my clothing, though I\u2019m not a big shopper.\u00a0 With travel and moving around it\u2019s not practical to have a huge wardrobe.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising that two singers who are so accomplished already, would show such sensible discipline about their clothes, and also already have developed a strong sense of themselves that they express through their appearance. But for some musicians finding the right style and wardrobe is too daunting.\u00a0 That\u2019s where consultants such as Liz Parker step in to make sure they are ready to meet the public and the media.\u00a0 This is the subject of part two of this series.\u00a0Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i>
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Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n

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How do performers create their appearance and what does it cost in time, effort and money? In the first of a series looking at musicians\u2019 style and image Robin Roger chats with COC Ensemble Studio performers about how they created their visual signature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":43157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,4967,43,63],"tags":[5780,6594,5671],"yst_prominent_words":[14563,14566,14559,14568,11116,14560,7306,14567,14558,14564,13130,13129,14570,14565,14557,11113,14569,14561,14572,14562],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/Opera_fashion.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-bdV","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43147"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49704,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43147\/revisions\/49704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43147"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=43147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}