Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Ricciardi, Rick" <RRicciardi@S...>
Date:  Tue May 9, 2000  3:46 pm
Subject:  RE: [vocalist-temporary] apprenticeships and careers (was: The Me t auditions)


I read once that Christa Ludwig, the famous mezzo, divorced her husband, the
equally famous operatic baritone Walter Berry because her marriage was
getting in the way of her up-and-coming singing career. Of course, she ended
up with a fabulously international and very renown career as an opera
singer. Who knows the truth, but this is something that she confessed in an
interview (or so I've been told).

Talk about commitment to your craft !!!

Rick

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Isabelle Bracamonte [SMTP:ibracamonte@y...]
> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2000 11:44 PM
> To: vocalist-temporary@egroups.com
> Subject: [vocalist-temporary] apprenticeships and careers (was: The
> Met auditions)
>
>
> Here's a spin-off question about the "big"
> apprenticeship programs (of which the Met is one).
> The others are Merola in San Francisco, Houston's
> apprentice program, and Chicago's. Merola is a summer
> program but the next-tier Adler Fellowship is a year,
> so I am counting them as generally equal in length and
> intensity. In each year-long, highly prestigious
> program, the apprentice receives coachings, training,
> small parts in mainstage productions (and often large
> parts in B casts or less-popular operas), and the
> exposure or "boost" to start a successful career.
>
> Are the programs mututally exclusive? I have only
> seen one Merola participant who had already gone
> through one of the others, the Houston program (she
> was Joyce DiDonato). Opera News had an article on the
> Houston program which basically said that anyone who
> comes out of their apprenticeship is ready for an
> international career (implying that one needs no other
> "finishing" after them). The Met has the reputation
> for taking on the "natural" talent (usually quite
> young, stunning voices), and giving them training and
> exposure (but are they thus rocketed to stardom? no; I
> would guess that's because they're too young and
> unformed). I don't know what much about Chicago, but
> that it's prestigious.
>
> Are there many singers who do more than one
> apprenticeship, or is it more a "pick your favorite"
> and have your career launched from there? Should you
> enter a program like those after you are polished and
> ready for an international career, or when you are
> (probably in your mid-twenties) still learning and
> growing? It seems like you would benefit career-wise
> from the first approach, but training-wise from the
> second.
>
> What is the best path to take to an international
> career? By that, I mean... well... the path to
> stardom, I guess. What do I mean by "international
> career" (and I suppose this also means, "what kind of
> career do I want")? Being a working singer who is
> offered more contracts than she has time to accept;
> singing big roles in big houses; having a name which
> is recognized by the majority of opera-lovers. There,
> that's my definition.
>
> So what's the best way to get it? Wait until you're
> perfect and then using a big apprenticeship program to
> "get launched," or going through the ranks and gaining
> skills from these programs, then working to launch
> yourself after you're through them?
>
> Isabelle B.
>
> =====
> Isabelle Bracamonte
> San Francisco, CA
> ibracamonte@y...
>
>
>
>
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