The vocal soloist in this repertoire has the most forbidding task of all musicians. With no tonic to relate to and rhythmic complexity to secure, there is little to hold on to except the conductor’s direction. Jane Manning’s vast repertoire, with hundreds of premieres in her catalogue of performances, makes her a supreme authority on the subject. While she is complimentary about certain conductors she is also critical of those who show no understanding of the specific concerns of a vocal soloist. She stresses that ‘The most important issue is breathing. If a conductor has not absorbed the substance and pacing of a new work there is a danger that the tempo can slacken to the point where a singer will run out of breath.’ She has experienced this even with notable conductors who do not seem to be able to empathise with vocal performance requirements. This is by no means an issue related only to contemporary music. Wagner warned that conductors ‘cannot find the true tempo because they are ignorant of singing. … These people look upon music as a singularly abstract sort of thing, an amalgam of grammar, arithmetic and digital gymnastics’. Manning uses less abrasive words to make the same observation about conductors who do not possess enough flexibility in their technique of directing to accommodate breathing. ‘A conductor should not interfere with a soloist’s pacing and style. He/she should allow the singer to lead like a good piano accompanist, who will simply be with the soloist.’ While Manning thinks that a conductor ‘must feel all of this’ the beating manner which conveys anticipation is the key to ‘making a singer feel comfortable’. Without such an approach the conductor can ‘make easy passages feel difficult’ adding to the difficulties which a score might possess for a singer.

These observations take issue with conductors who are unaware of the practicalities which inhibit an effective performance from singers. Manning is also critical of singers who do not prepare their parts sufficiently. As an artist who is widely known to be note-perfect at every rehearsal she has little patience with singers who fail in this regard because conductors often spend a disproportionate amount of rehearsal time dealing with their problems rather than the musical results.