Here in the United States, classical vocal music has always had the reputation of being elitist, possibly because much of it is sung in foreign languages. To overcome this stigma, opera houses have introduced super-titles, which involve the projection of the translated text above the proscenium. As the result of this and a few other innovations, there has been a marked improvement in attendance, particularly among young people.
Titles for opera are usually projected above the stage or on the backs of seats, a method which makes it possible to offer translations in more than one language.
Because these simultaneous translations have proven to be popular with the opera audience, there is a current movement to provide them for concerts and recitals as well, especially since, at the moment, the vocal recital has fallen on hard times. Many chamber music series, which had in the past presented at least one vocalist each season, now feature instrumental music only, because it is thought to be more saleable.
Vocal recitals by big recording stars are sold out in this country’s most cultured cities like New York and San Francisco, but people living in smaller towns have little chance of hearing a recital of lieder or art songs unless it is sponsored by a college or foundation.
The Marilyn Horne Foundation in New York City and The Lotte Lehmann Foundation in Hawaii are dedicated to the presentation and preservation of song recitals. Both of these fine institutions have been endeavoring to establish a workable system that presents an easy-to-read, effective simultaneous translation of recital texts in such a way that it does not distract in any way from the singer’s presentation.
Because titles make the words accessible while they are being sung, it is thought that they can make classical song recitals appeal to larger audiences in an age that would seem to have lost its affection for the simple combination of singer and piano. Today’s audiences have grown up with visual media, and all art forms have had to make some adjustments to new demands. Recitals, too, have to keep up with the times, and it is hoped that the use of titles will help.
In February of 2001 the Lehmann Foundation sponsored a recital at the University of Hawaii to demonstrate an experimental system of titles, and they invited an audience of 40 people whose backgrounds differed widely. The hall was darkened so that the projections could be seen, and both the original text and its translations were shown. The English text of one American song was also shown. When the guests were asked for their reactions at the end of the performance, the following points were noted:
1. The screen should be as close to the singer as possible so that the translation can be seen without taking one’s eyes off the performer.
2. Each title should be shown at the exact time that part of the text is sung.
3. Projection of the original language is not necessary when there is a translation, but most people appreciated seeing the English text of the American song.
The singers of this performance were enthusiastic about the titles, because they thought it brought about better communication with their audience.
The following April an improved title system was used at the graduate recital of soprano Mary Chestnut, which was given in the same hall. This time only the translations of foreign language songs were shown, and the timing was carefully rehearsed so that the appearance of each title matched the phrasing of the artist.
Among the 200 listeners in this 300-seat hall, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, although a few people said they found the titles distracting. Many of the attendees thought that recital audiences would increase if announcements and newspaper ads explained that titles would be shown.
The Marilyn Horne Foundation sponsored its first titled recital at the Julliard Theater in NYC in January of 2002. Unfortunately, the screen was placed more than eight feet above the singers’ heads, making it necessary to look back and forth between performers and text. As an experiment, the titles were projected for the first half of the program only.
When that audience was surveyed at the end of the program, it was found that 76 percent of them thought that the titles increased their understanding of the foreign language songs. Seventy-two percent of the audience stated a desire to see titles used at more recitals. Because of those findings, the Horne Foundation decided to use titles at its recitals in New York City, but with a much lower screen, and they bought their own equipment so that they would not have to pay rental costs.
You can do it too! Here’s how:
First, prepare the text to be projected. If you make your own translations, there is no need to pay a translator, but be sure to get permission and to pay any fee required if you use someone else’s work. If you want to order translations from a professional, you will need to allow at least a month for that work to be done.
Title translations need not be poetic, but they should contain words that fit the mood and the era of the song. Be extremely careful to avoid unintended double entendres or any combination of words that might bring about an inappropriate laugh.
Your titles need to be short and easy to grasp at a glance, while retaining as much of their poetic value as possible. They must also be grammatically correct unless there is a dialect involved. The reader must be able to comprehend the sung line during the time it takes to sing it. If you feel insecure about doing this yourself, you might want to ask a friend who majored in English to help you.
Although some singers think it is insulting to ask them to show titles for material sung in English, no one’s diction is perfectly understandable on every pitch. Thus, even with the best diction in the world, not every word sung on a high note will be comprehensible, and the audience will appreciate seeing the text.
When you rent a hall for a recital, ask the house manager about projecting titles. If titles have been shown in that hall before, the manager will have all the necessary data. If not, he or she will be able to tell you what can and cannot be done there. Be sure to ask about hanging the screen upon which the titles will be shown. If there is no projector available in the hall, you can rent one from a firm called Boxlight (www.boxlight.com).
If, however, you intend to present a series of recitals, it may pay you to buy one. The firm from which you rent or buy the projector will show you how to hook it up to your laptop. Be sure you and your projection crew read the manual carefully.
The software used by most opera companies is PowerPoint, part of Microsoft’s Office suite, and it is available for both Mac and PC. You need to have that on the laptop used by your projection crew, and they must be thoroughly familiar with it. When they set up your equipment to rehearse, be sure they call technical support and find out how to handle any imaginable emergency that might occur during a performance.
The singer and the projection crew can do a great deal of the work on titles at home using PowerPoint. First, you must decide whether to use one or two-line titles. Then, you need to divide the text into the phrases that will be projected, and they must match your sung phrases. There will be a number for each title in PowerPoint, but in all probability you will also want to number each song’s titles separately so that you can easily use any piece in another program. Once you have acquired good, usable titles for a group of songs, you can keep them on your computer and simply re-configure them each time you use them.
The cue-giver needs to go through all the titles using a “cue score” and mark the title number or an X above the note at which each title should be shown. Because this is a technical job, the cue-giver should be a musician. A coach or accompanist can do this well and will know what to do if you forget some of the words. The projectionist, on the other hand, needs only to know how to work the projector.
The person preparing the titles needs to create a template in PowerPoint using white text with a black background and to see that it is centered. Later, in the hall, it can be adjusted for distance, angle, lens strength, etc.
You need, also, to decide on the style and size of the print you will use. Celeste Montemarano of the New York City Opera, who has run titles for many of the recitals sponsored by the Horne Foundation, suggests Arial or Arial Narrow in a size between 16 and 30 points. When you have selected the size, check to see how it will fit on the screen you expect to use.
A screen often has to be designed to fit the peculiarities of a given hall. Because you want the screen to be no more than five feet above your head when you are singing and not very far behind you, either, you may have to improvise. The Lehmann Foundation first tried using a screen made out of Styrofoam but soon found that the best material was canvas, which can be stiffened with the kind of shock-corded poles that are used for dome tents. That type of screen is easily portable, as well.
Most halls frown on having holes drilled in their walls or ceiling, so your screen will most likely have to be hung from the overhead lights. If that is not possible, two stanchions, hidden behind drapery, can be used to hold it. Occasionally it is even possible to project the titles directly on a light-colored back wall.
When you are ready to rehearse, print out scripts showing both the PowerPoint number and your own number for each title. With that information, the cue-giver and projectionist can jump to any particular title needed. Give a script to each person involved, because everyone’s input is important.
Having done all this, the cue-giver can now rehearse timing the titles with the sung phrases using just the laptop. Since the computer operator will need to strike the key slightly before each title will appear, the key should be hit when the singer takes the breath for that phrase.
Check the titles to be sure that you will not show a “punch line” before it is sung. If you find that one particular title contains too much information, break it in two. When you have finished your preparation, put everything on a floppy disc or other backup medium to be sure nothing can be lost. You could then transfer the file to another computer if necessary.
Ms. Montemarano recommends loading the file on to the computer being used and operating the titles from the hard drive, through the PowerPoint viewer, not directly from a floppy disc. That will give your crew a faster response and lessen the chance of a mishap. The cue-giver might also want to have headphones in order to eliminate extraneous noise. To do that you need to hook the headphones up to a tape recorder set on “record” and “pause” and a “shotgun” microphone.
Now that you have prepared for every possible emergency, your titled performance should go off without a hitch, but if Murphy’s Law should rear its ugly head, your cue-giver and projectionist will know exactly what to do and can prevent the loss of the translation for more than a minute or two.
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I would like to thank the following people for helping me with this article:
Celeste Montemarano of the NYC Opera gave me invaluable assistance on all the technical aspects of projecting titles, while Barbara Hocher of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and Gary Hickling of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, along with some of their singers, were extremely helpful in telling me about their experiences with song recitals at which titles were shown.
