Manoj Kamps, student Conducting about Reinbert de Leeuw: “He has the energy of a young guy and he hits the table and he screams and spits and shouts. Inspired by the piece he transmits this energy to us. It is a great experience to meet and work with him.”
Alex Fleischman (student Classical singing in The Royal Conservatoire):”It is really planning ahead all the time and I think it is not a piece for sight reading, you should really know what is coming next and then after the next, in order to plan the use of your voice and you breaths. Dynamics help a lot. In the first rehearsal we were talking about the harmony and the meaning of it, what Schoenberg wanted to say with the harmony.”
Lilian Farahani (student Classical singing in The Royal Conservatoire):”I feel very lucky to have got this opportunity. The music is quite difficult vocally: a lot of high B flats. Women sing only six minutes in this part but after the rehearsals you feel quite tired, and especially when the conductor asks for pianissimos or non-vibrato while we have high notes. You really have to find your own healthy way to deal with it."
Luise Kimm ( student Classical singing in The Royal Conservatoire): “Gurrelieder is a big piece. It is really important to stick to the pulse because otherwise the voices don't sound together especially with so many singers in the choir. It has quite weird colours and harmonics but is still nice. You should have a good technique for this piece because you use the whole range of your voice. Schoenberg demands for easy big romantic lines but then he writes extreme pitches, very low and very high, and also some jumps are not easy at all.