The conductor and the Audio Recording: A case study on the recorded performance of the Song Cycle “My Eye See You” by Stephen Lounsbrough.
Conducting. Recording. Song Cycle. Stephen Lounsbrough
The present research consists of a case study in the field of audio recording. The study focuses on the recording process of the work "My Eyes See You" (2014) by Stephen Lounsbrough from the perspective of the conductor. It is a song cycle for bass-baritone and chamber orchestra that premiered in 2015 at the Banco do Nordeste Cultural Center in Juazeiro do Norte (CE) under the direction of the conductor Victor Almeida, graduate student, researcher and writer of this text. A guest orchestra performed the cycle at the Onofre Lopes Auditorium in Natal. The performance was led by the same conductor, and the baritone soloist was Lailson Toscano. The recording of the final product of the performance created the opportunity to comprehend and report the process of the work’s interpretation. Going through the analysis of the score with a performative purpose until the day of capture itself, ending in post-production. This last step was not performed by the researcher-conductor but required opinions and important information for equalization, for example. During the reading of the work, there is an overview of the issues related to prominent conductors and their relationship with orchestral recording. In addition, an explanation of the research methodology, the type of musical analysis, and the most common ways of capturing orchestral sound. Furthermore, information about the composer, the text and the parts of the analysis is needed to explain how the method is applied and what its link is with the execution of the work. After that, there is the application of this in the practice of interpretation and, finally, the final considerations.