Singing in Greek: A Guide to Greek Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire

(Paperback)

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In Singing in Greek: A Guide to Greek Lyric Diction and Vocal Repertoire, Lyda Zervanos reveals to singers the vast riches of Greek vocal music. Dating back to 1770, Greek art musicfollowing the Western European styles, often drawing on themes from folk music and motifslong awaits its rightful place in a truly international vocal repertoire. Modern singers in search of new musical opportunities will find in Singing in Greek the necessary tools to locate and perform art songs and arias from this extensive national vocal repertoire. Concisely written and full of practical advice, the book opens with an introduction to the Greek alphabet and pronunciation, navigating the assignment of International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. Zervanos covers such topics as Greek vowels, digraphs, consonants, binary consonants, consonant combinations, palatalization, basic Greek grammatical concepts and their role in stress and length, syllabification, and punctuationall separated into easily referenced chapters and supported by online recordings of native Greek opera singers. In the second half of Singing in Greek, Zervanos offers a short history of Greek art music, biographies of prominent Greek composers, texts of their most representative works with IPA transcriptions, and word-for-word and poetic translations, with arias and art songs chosen for all voice types and levels. This book also includes indexes of direct vowel-to-IPA and consonant-to-IPA transcriptions, as well as useful appendixes on publications, organizations, and famous Greek poets. Singing in Greek is a must-have resource for every singer, voice teacher, vocal coach, collaborative pianist, and opera and choral conductor seeking to perform and teach in this unique language, explore the wealth of music available, and expand their knowledge of Greek repertoire.

Reviews

With this volume, Zervanos has taken away the obstacle of an unfamiliar language that, to this point, has prohibited wider exploration of Greek repertoire. In so doing, she has opened up a world of previously inaccessible music - and for this, singers everywhere can be grateful. (Brian Manternach) * Classical Singer Magazine *
Singing in Greek is not simply an exploration of the Greek language and pronunciation but also an overall and thorough presentation of Greek music. . . .[T]his book is a valuable source of information. . . .All the credit should go to the author Lyda Zervanos not only for her deep scientific knowledge and study of the Greek language as a whole and its lyric pronunciation specifically, but also for her knowledge of music history. A book that should be on the shelves of every musician and every music-lover. (Translated from Greek) * Operatikos *
Classical Greek repertoire needs to be done more often as it has so much to offer in extraordinary beauty of text, melody and style. Lydia Zervanos' Singing in Greek is a tool that can break down the barriers for artists and help them learn to sing thetragodia (songs)in thisbeautiful language. Not just a book about diction, it provides much needed information about this vast and important genre. I'm so delighted that this book exists and hope that it will be in the libraries of every singer, right along side their Italian, French and German language books. -- Maria Zouves, Greek-American soprano, producer, director, executive director of the Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs (VOICExperience & Savannah VOICE Festival)
At last we have a resource for the Greek vocal repertoireand what a terrific resource! Lyda Zervanos opens this vast repertoire up to us, with a very clear, detailed and easy-to-use guide to Greek diction (including understanding the Greek alphabet) and audio examples from some of the best Greek singers of our time. With her passion for the subject, she makes the history of Greek vocal music come alive, as well. A must have reference book for singers, coaches and conductors interested in broadening their repertoire. -- Ellen Rissinger, vocal coach, Semperoper Dresden, host of The Diction Police
A fully comprehensive guide to singing in the Greek Language; I am sure this landmark work will make Greek vocal literature accessible toa wider audience' -- Dr. Pantelis Polychronidis, senior lecturer/pianist, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Author Bio

Lyda Zervanos is a Greek-born soprano pursuing an active international performing career.