On this last day of the year we get the usual summing up in the newspapers of many notables in the arts who departed this world in the year now finishing...we've been reminded that in the realm of the vocal arts we lost several giants in the field: Sills, Pavarotti, Hunt-Lieberson, Stich-Randall. But I can't let the year end without mentioning one very special artist.
For me and many others who heard her hauntingly beautiful voice and knew her irrepressible spirit, a shadow was cast over the year by the rapid illness and then the death in June of the mezzo-soprano Alexandra Montano, at the age of 46. Alexandra was an unforgettable friend and colleague for many tours over the years with the Philip Glass Ensemble...many worldwide heard her perform Glass' "La Belle et la Bete," or more recently, in the premiere live performances of "Naqoyqatsi." Her versatility was remarkable: including not only Glass' music, but recordings and performances ranging from medieval music to standard-repertoire art songs by Faure and Ravel to oratorio performances with orchestra to work with improv-oriented "downtown" new music folks like Mark Dresser and Denman Maroney. (Another tribute to her from that corner of the music scene can be found
here.)
Her
website is still up, and I hope that through that site, or by other means, some of her recent recordings will be available for others to discover her gift, and that voice, a voice like a deep plummy Syrah. I rarely spent time with Alexandra outside of the Glass tours, but she was the ultimate fun tour colleague, and she made me laugh as much or more than most anybody I've ever known. In fact her rich, hearty laugh is something those of us who knew her can never forget, a laugh that told us she was always wringing the most and the best out of life. We had a running gag going whereby she used to tease me mercilessly about religiously carrying a comb like a talisman with me onstage, even though a) I hardly have any hair left to comb, and b) when can you comb your hair onstage anyway?...and me responding by bringing ever more elaborate combs, bright red afro-picks, sticking out of my back pocket. The mother of two teenagers, she needled me good-naturedly about getting around to having a baby...and in the midst of her year-long battle against brain tumors I was happy to be able to let her know that it was finally happening.
The whole year 2007 was for me such a mind-bender about life, its coming into existence, its extinguishing, the effect that a life, or lives, can have on those it touches. Alexandra's departure was really difficult to absorb. She was born February 1961, a month after me. She died in Paris in early June, 2007. Our son Spencer was born less than three weeks later, on June 25. There's been a lot to think about this year. Anyway, I couldn't let the year end without writing about Alexandra and how much I've thought about her wonderful gift and how sad it is that she is gone.
If you have a chance, google Alexandra or look her up on Amazon and download some of her work. Meanwhile, make sure that in 2008 you resolve to tell friends, colleagues, family, how much they mean to you. Everybody, have a great New Year 2008.
Philip Glass Ensemble, Singapore, 2000. Clockwise around table from nearest to viewer: Philip Glass, Alexandra Montano, Jon Gibson, Andrew Sterman, Richard Peck, Michael Riesman, Mick Rossi, Lisa Bielawa, Phillip Bush, Eleanor Sandresky.
[photo credit: Jim Woodard]
