Molly wrote:
>Did I also mention that among the judges, not one was a singer????
Ah, now I understand. Well, in that case, the voice has to sound halfway decent, but presentation is really important. Think of your average non-afficiado opera audience. When I first started going, before I knew much about singing, I liked the opera singers best who gave me a highly effective emotional experience. (I still like that, but only if the voice is adequate to the role being sung and the technique is acceptable.)
So given you want to "win" and these are the judges (assuming the voice faculty hasn't influenced a change in adjudication approach) choose arias that you can "deliver" (and sing well, of course). (I still think that if a singer has the voice and temperment for "Vissi d'arte", it's a great aria to choose, because audiences just love it. )
Focus a lot of your preparation from the outset on the interpretation of the aria. Maybe get some help on that score from a stage director with experience staging opera. If you were in this area, I'd say take Richard Crittenden's weekend aria preparation workshop, because that's exactly what he helps singers with (and very effectively, based on people I've seen while and just after they've worked with him). Maybe there's someone at your school or city who has something similar to offer.
Peggy
--- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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