I also want to point out that most of the 17-year-olds who make a lot of noise about how they want to become opera singers, rarely do. MOST of the teenagers I know are not prepared to sacrifice their rock concerts, football games, late-night parties, beer, or even just the shopping and daydreaming that healthy teens do, to put in the practice required to be an early superstar. Also, it's not like instrumentalism; you don't have to wait until you're in your late twenties to find out if your piano strings are going to mature the way you want them to (so the "early superstar" thing often doesn't work out even if the teen in question does devote the time and work to the art). I nearly always take the young singers who describe themselves as "14-year-old opera singers" with a grain of salt, simply because they rarely have the dedication and willingness to sacrifice the fun that it would take for them to have enough of a "leg up" required for jealousy. It's convoluted thinking, but it keeps me from feeling like there is a mountain of singers with more advantages underneath me.
I'm sure Dean, who sees the 1% of young kids prepared to devote themselves to music, would be able to either support or refute my theory that "turning teenager" often takes someone's attention away from a developing career.
On the other hand, it's extremely hard to watch someone younger, prettier, fresher, and all that, do a job you want, or regret giving up the chance for. This is especially true for women, I think, where "younger" is automatically given an attractive quality. Also, I think that women in our society tend to compare themselves to other women more (the thought, "what a lovely hair-style," or "wow, she has stunning legs" always seems to be accompanied by "I wonder if it would look good on me," and "I ought to lose five more pounds" in our minds).
So I guess my point is that a) all those young singers aren't necessarily better off, after all, and b) it's a healthy, healthy reaction in any case.
Sort of a spin-off angle, but I notice that, of the high-profile singers who have been successful and have retired, some tend to eat their hearts out in jealousy of the new singers who do "their" roles better and younger, and others dedicate themselves to mentoring and patronizing the young singers of the day. I bet that, if I become artistically successful and take the "patroness and mentor to the new generation" stance after retirement, I would find myself subconsciously much more supportive of singers outside of my old fach. But then, I would be able to give so much more insight to singers of my fach, so I would hope to conquer the jealousy monster. Of course, the whole point may be moot, but it's fun to speculate.
Isabelle B.
===== Isabelle Bracamonte San Francisco, CA ibracamonte@y...
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