Being a Baroque Singer in a Modern World
Reflections on Händel and what the echos of the past have to teach us about interpretation.
Being a Baroque Singer in a Modern World
The world is becoming increasingly fascinated with the music of the Baroque. Yet while appreciation for this repertoire grows, many people—including performers, directors, and audiences—often lack the reference points needed to fully understand its stylistic nuances. As a Baroque specialist, I frequently navigate a space between admiration and misinformation, deep expertise and modern-day shortcuts.
Lately, this has been especially present in my mind as I prepare to sing the title role in Giulio Cesare for the first time in nearly a decade. After many years of portraying Tolomeo in various productions, returning to Cesare has reminded me just how layered and demanding this repertoire truly is. It’s a vivid reflection of what it means to embody the past while staying grounded in the present—and how much of the Baroque style still remains misunderstood or overlooked today.
Much like an archaeologist uncovering layers of history, being a Baroque singer involves decoding and reviving performance practices that have been largely forgotten or misrepresented. While I'm thrilled by the renewed interest in composers like Händel and Vivaldi, I often encounter misunderstandings about core elements of their work: poetic structure, vocal ornamentation, dance rhythms, and Baroque gesture. My challenge is to champion these tools with humor and passion, while staying open to imaginative reinterpretation.
Living with Händel’s Legacy
Georg Friedrich Händel exemplifies the dedication required to create opera that is both timeless and transcendent. His works, rich in vocal expression and theatrical ingenuity, are as demanding as they are rewarding. When I sing roles like Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare or Ruggiero in Alcina, I feel the weight of that legacy—Händel's gift for marrying tradition with the innovations of his own time.
Authentic opera, in my experience, arises from a profound respect for its foundations: music, rhythm, poetry, and drama, all orbiting the expressive power of the human voice. Too often, modern productions favor realism or disconnected visual spectacle over these deeper connections. I've seen Händel's music stripped of its rhetorical force by ignoring poetic structure or omitting essential expressive elements. The impulse to modernize is understandable, but when the composer’s intentions are lost, so is the opera’s soul.
The Poetic Foundation: A Language Nearly Lost
Eighteenth-century opera was intricately woven from poetry and music. The cadence of Italian verse shaped every melodic line, and singers were expected to engage with the text as deeply as with their technique. Today, poetic meter and rhetorical phrasing are often sidelined, resulting in performances that miss the emotional complexity Händel embedded in his music.
Earlier in my career, I too focused more on vocal brilliance than textual depth. The thrill of singing coloratura passages sometimes took precedence over fully inhabiting the poetry. But as my understanding deepened, I came to realize that the real power of this repertoire lies in the marriage of sound and meaning. It’s not just about singing beautifully—it's about storytelling through the texture of language and the shape of music.
Dance, Gesture, and the Physical Life of Baroque Opera
Baroque opera was never intended as a “park and bark” experience. The music pulses with the energy of dance, whether a solemn sarabande or a lively gigue. Understanding these dance forms is essential to phrasing and timing. Likewise, Baroque gesture—a codified system of expressive movement—offered a physical language that made the drama visually compelling, even for audiences unfamiliar with the text. Although there would be perhaps less movement on stage, there was a formal language that was transcribed to the audience through the art of gesture. I have been very lucky over my career to have worked with the gatekeepers in our time of this art form and it has hugely influenced the way I look at and interpret baroque works.
I don’t advocate for rigid historical reenactment, but I’ve found that integrating elements of Baroque movement and understanding the dance forms that structure its music can greatly enrich a performance. These tools invite deeper engagement with the music and create a more immersive theatrical experience. Unfortunately, they are too often dismissed in favor of abstract stage direction, which can flatten the very theatricality that makes this repertoire so compelling.
The Myth of the Modern Audience’s Short Attention Span
One of the most common arguments for cutting or rearranging Baroque operas is the belief that contemporary audiences won’t tolerate long recitatives or da capo arias. But in my experience, when these elements are performed with conviction and clarity, audiences are deeply moved. The da capo form, in particular, offers singers a chance to transform the music through ornamentation, intensifying emotional stakes in the process.
Opera is not passive entertainment—it thrives on engagement. In Händel’s time, audiences shouted, applauded, and lived inside the performance. They were engaged with the personalities on stage and perhaps much rowdier than our contemporary audiences, but it made a night a the opera positively electric with life. Today’s productions are often more restrained, with interactions discouraged and "unnecessary" repetitions trimmed. But in trimming, we often lose the improvisatory energy that made Baroque opera so electrifying in its day.
Finding the Balance: Tradition and Innovation
Händel himself was an innovator. He adapted his work constantly to suit new singers, trends, and audiences. But his innovations were always anchored in a deep understanding of tradition. This is the model I believe modern productions should follow: not a rejection of historical practices, but a thoughtful dialogue with them.
Innovation and tradition are not enemies. In fact, our most meaningful creative breakthroughs often emerge from rediscovering what has been lost. By breathing life into forgotten practices and allowing them to inform our modern interpretations, we preserve what makes this art form unique.
A Singer’s Mission
As a Baroque specialist, I see my role as a bridge between authenticity and contemporary expression. I want to share the humor, passion, and breathtaking beauty of this music without diluting its essence. My mission is to make Baroque opera feel alive, not like a relic behind glass.
There’s still much to do. But as I continue to perform, teach, and advocate for this repertoire, I’m encouraged by the growing curiosity surrounding the Baroque world. If I can help someone hear Händel with fresh ears and if I can make them feel the heartbeat of the past resonating in the present, then I know I’m doing something worthwhile.