Veronika Harcsa is currently recording an album in BMC featuring compositions by guitarist Gábor Gadó. The first performance will premiere on April 22 in Opus Jazz Club. In addition to the challenges of working together, we also asked the singer about her ever-growing work related to classical music.

How did the invitation for a joint recording with Gábor Gadó come about?

Gábor Gadó invited me to sing in this project, in which we will be six in the field of classical music and jazz. The line-up is special: there will be two wind instruments coming from jazz, the Belgian trumpet player Laurent Blondiau on one and the other on the saxophone János Ávéd. There are also two classical musicians: Tamás Zétényi will play the cello and Éva Csermák, who lives in Berlin, will play the violin. It is important to say that this request came before Gábor Winand's death, so it is not a question of replacing him, as Gábor Gadó imagined this music specifically for a female voice.

What kind of technical skill and attitude does this music require on your part? Rather, it is based on your classical musical affinity, which is Debussy NOW! was it heard on the records released under the care of BMC Records, or do you assume the thinking and attitude of a jazz singer?

This musical material, which, with the exception of a Handel aria, consists exclusively of Gadó compositions, is very difficult to categorize. There will be a lot of improvisation in it, of course, but there will be classical music on it on several levels. At the level of musicians, as well as in orchestration, Gábor also wrote vocals for cello and violin that evoke classical forms. The fact that there is no rhythm section, drums and bass here also refutes the traditional jazz sound. In addition, the titles of the compositions strongly refer to classical musical inspirations: the piece entitled Hommage á Ustvolskaya was inspired, for example, by the person of Galina Ustvolskaya, a composer from St. Petersburg, and there is an opus called Hiromi, which I understand is also translated by In addition, I hear Bach and renaissance authors in this music. But with all this plethora of classical music references, this can’t be said to be a classical music record either. It is much more accurate to say that a cross-genre album with many improvisations is coming.

You write the text yourself for some of the compositions. How do you work as a lyricist in cases where you’re not looking for words for your own tunes - your own voice?

I can divide these compositions into two parts: there are absolutely song-like and easy to sing, and there are some that aren’t very vocal, with huge vocal jumps, fast, virtuoso melodies full of many intonation challenges. For the latter, I make my own singing thing easier with a well-written lyrics. In the case of non-vocal compositions, I start working on the lyrics by first learning the melody and then testing what vowels and consonants fit well into a given musical sound. Because as a singer, there’s a lot of technical preference for such heavy pieces. From an artistic point of view, however, the most important part is the content of the texts. So far I have written three, and in each case the job title given by Gábor was one of the starting points. In the case of the aforementioned piece addressed to Ustvolskaya, I first became acquainted with the life and work of this eccentric author, who turned out to live in St. Petersburg, where I had the good fortune to tour with the Modern Art Orchestra last year. These two experiences were enough to create the text strung on them. Another composition bears the working title Shekinah, which means the divine quality, the divine presence, in all cultures that is constantly present in us in all cultures. This idea was fortunately met with a recent reading experience: The Book of the World was about a shaman woman who was buried with animals twelve to a thousand years ago, and it became clear to researchers that she was a spiritual leader. This book moved me a lot, and the above description was immediately related to the title that Gábor gave the song - the lyrics were composed of these two. So while writing lyrics, I try to keep technical preferences in mind and get inspired by the music, the title, and my own individual experiences.

How do these contributor requests fit into your work, your singing career?

They complement my own work very well, in which I participate as an author or creator of the concept - such as our joint work with Bálint Diamond or the joint Debussy NOW! With Anastasia Razvaljajeva and Márton Fenyvesi. It’s also a refreshment somewhere because I don’t have as much responsibility on it as on my own project, which I have to be involved in a lot of layers from songwriting to buying train tickets. There is a clear focus on the work here: what I sing, how I sing, maybe what text I write to it. This makes it easier to concentrate on what’s for the music. And I can connect to music regardless of whether I don't write it, in this case partly because I really like the music written by Gábor Gadó, partly because I find the points of freedom in it, and thirdly I learn a lot from it. That my experience is that in the course of these collaborative works there are always creative and musical experiences that I can utilize in my own authorial projects.

Can you give a specific example of when such an external request had a fruitful effect on your own creative work?

Tamás Zétényi, for example, who will be playing the cello on this Gadó album, last year we played Schönberg: Pierrot lunaire at the Academy of Music with the Classicus Ensemble, which was a crazy job for me. I really enjoyed it, among other things, because there are aspects of working with classical musicians that aren’t in jazz - and vice versa. So a classical musician tries differently than a jazz musician, he takes the score much more seriously, working with greater precision, while jazz rewards individual solutions much more. The two genres require a completely different attitude already during the rehearsal process, which is instructive for me. I’m not a classical singer, but the precision I needed for this Schönberg work is incredibly good to use during the similarly challenging Gadó recording, and I’m sure I’ll use it in later jazz-minded productions as well. then.

According to them, does Gábor Gadó work in a similar way as a classical music author?

Yes, for example, he gave specific instructions about the tone or how to release the sound. These are details that typically come from classical authors, they are the ones who have a deep-seated idea of ​​what to say. Here I can unfold myself with great humility, within someone else’s ideas, and then with more freedom in improvisation, but I also experience music using this experience. So I am very happy that both ways of working are present in my life.

It is not uncommon for a singer to gain a foothold in musical fields other than his own genre as a mature performer. How do you experience the change in your voice in the wake of an ever-growing, classical musical invitation?

I think that's what keeps me young. Two and a half years ago, when it became clear to me that more and more of this type of invitation was being born, I visited László Kéringer, for whom I am there for singing, and who is also an excellent teacher. He, though a classical singer, doesn’t want to carve a classical singer out of me. I wouldn’t even know, and neither was my goal to master that singing technique. Rather, we are working to expand my opportunities. Working with him also helps a lot in places where I didn’t even expect the blessing of it. I thought it would primarily improve me to be able to sing high tones more easily and flexibly, compared to which it also had an incredibly good effect on my deep voices, which I thought was already more secure in it through jazz. So it’s a great experience because I feel like I don’t have to work with a sealed set. Obviously, over time, my voice will have limitations and it will change as an organic instrument with my body, but it is also hopeful to experience that my voice can develop.

Improvisation or composition?

Both.

Can tradition and progression be reconciled in music?

They need each other, one without the other.

Is a mistake in music an opportunity or a stumbling block?

Possibility.

What is music to you: fun and forgetfulness, or a prayer reminder?

All this, but rather a prayer and a reminder.

Is composition a state inspired by the kiss of a muse, or is it hard, intellectual work?

Ever since I have been happily married, it has been hard intellectual work. As long as I had breaks, it was much easier to get the song.

Does jazz assume an educated listener, or visceral acceptance, openness?

I saw an example of both. Children are the best example of visceral inclusion who dance to jazz because it is rhythmic. At the same time, I see that in many cases, the lack of education causes them to dare not come to a jazz concert because they think something about jazz and get scared. Yet jazz is not scary. My experience is that once someone is there at the concert, we can already enchant him, as it is our job to invite him into a parallel dimension.

What was the biggest musical mystery you’ve solved in your career so far? A challenge that seemed unshakable and then proved feasible?

I think in the first round last year the performance of the already mentioned Schönberg work, Pierrot lunaire song cycle, and now in another round this is the Gadó album.

What do you need to feel at home in a musical medium?

It’s crucial to be able to identify with the intent of the music, because it can be a variety of things: entertainment, prayer, as you mentioned, and much more. And I need to be able to work well with the people I play with.

Do you have a favorite record released by BMC Records?

Now that I am listening to the music of Gábor Gadó, I would say that it is Corners of My Mind.

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