My life has been so enriched by the work I have done with The Mankind Project. I went through their training weekend 16 years ago and got immersed in a world of Iron John and initiation into mature masculinity. There’s problematic stuff along with the beneficial and the organization is working towards modernizing along with the world around us. But the concepts have validity. And usefulness. Sometimes in ways and places where one might not think. Like singing! To be fair, the weekend itself played like a production of The Magic Flute as staged by Carl Jung and Robert Bly. One moment was so “theatrical” that I almost giggled, but I bit my lip and reminded myself not to spoil anyone else’s experience!
Much of the work is rooted in the concept of archetypes and how they live in us. The Lover, the Warrior, the Magician, and the Sovereign. How they balance each other and how they are—or are not—themselves balanced. Each has potential shadow aspects. And the whole point of the weekend is to identify one’s shadows and know them, own them, so that they don’t direct behavior unconsciously.
Singing involves all of these archetypes. The lover shares the joy of singing—and that joy must underpin everything! Joan Sutherland sang with a sense of total delight. The warrior masters technique, not to mention the music. Melba. The Magician interprets and transforms. My hero, Richard Tauber. The Sovereign organizes and balances the others. Pol Plançon. A weak warrior lacks the rigor to get things right. No names here—they tend not to become successful. An overactive magician can be annoying. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf! A weak lover isn’t much fun to listen to. Kurt Baum.
I teach by evoking those archetypical energies where I see the need. And I listen and analyze by identifying which energies are dominant or lacking. Thus I had a vivid experience when two albums landed in my CD listening queue. Two baritones, both oh so American, almost contemporaries, both of them leading men of their eras.
Lawrence Tibbett was the reigning Verdi baritone at the Met in the 1930s. Alfred Drake was one of the prime leading men on Broadway in the ‘40s/‘50s. They shared the basics of a vocal technique—legit, as it used to be called. Supported full throated singing, designed to project in theaters without amplification. But how different they were!
Tibbett played serious characters in opera but performed and recorded a lot of “pop” material of his era. His earlier recordings show more dynamic shading and emotional range. As his voice hardened he became all warrior all the time. Which suited much of his stage work. I like him best in middle-brow repertory. His Verdi is awesome yet somehow lacking, when set next to the color palette of Tito Gobbi or the tonal splendor of Warren, Merrill, and MacNeil. And I recognize that my reaction is my own, subjective, and comes from my bias towards magician energy.
Which is why I take such delight in the singing of Alfred Drake. Warm, rich tone—check. But also a way with text that seems far more specific, alive, and most important spontaneous. I can imagine him playing some of Tibbett’s roles but not vice-versa (although Tibbett did end up doing some Broadway and show touring near the end of his career). There’s an awful lot of forgettable material on the Alfred Drake 2CD set. But also some magical things. There’s far more worthy music on the 10CD Lawrence Tibbett set. I recommend both—with liberal use of the fast forward button!
Tibbett singing with sensitivity and very musical rubato:
Tibbett at his Verdi-est:
Drake (with fellow magician Barbara Cook!):
Drake in his element!