On the Pedagogical Priorities of Teachers-vocalists of the Initial Period of Activity of the Saratov Conservatory

Abstract

The object of this study is the initial period of activity of the Saratov Conservatory; the subject can be called the pedagogical priorities of vocal teachers of this period under consideration. In the article, based on rare archival data, surviving printed evidence, and student memoirs, an attempt is made to restore the pedagogical priorities of the most famous and influential in the musical circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg, active participants in concert events of the Imperial Russian Musical Society: Mikhail Efimovich Medvedev - the first performer of the role of Lensky in the opera P. I. Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" and Alevtina Mikhailovna Paskhalova, who embodied the image of the Snow Maiden in the opera of the same name by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The scientific novelty of the study includes the fact that the author identifies and for the first time introduces into scientific circulation data on the pedagogical priorities of the most prominent vocal teachers who have made a significant contribution to improving the educational process of the department of academic singing. It is revealed that the pedagogical priorities of M. E. Medvedev and A. M. Paskhalova include: a fairly low type of breathing, increased attention to developing a sense of support for sound, a cautious attitude towards the development of the full range of the voice, the development of clear diction, evenness of sound production, smoothness of register transitions; soft sound attack; the ability to qualitatively vocalize various dynamic gradations of sound; the use of the “concentric” teaching method in the pedagogical process, increased attention to the education of the emotional and dramatic component of the performer’s personality. The analysis also showed that the features that distinguish the pedagogical views of the professors of the initial period of the Saratov Conservatory include the use of the repertoire of Russian composers in class work with a beginning singer.