Mandi has thrown down the guantlet (joke, :-D) and written:
>>>In reference to the suggestion I made regarding Porgi, amor I
would like to further open the floor for discussion (and the
possibility for a flood of opposing emails). The age of the Countess
is, I suppose, always a discussion among singers and directors
alike.<<<
I think the heart of this part of the discussion is the changes in
modern taste. When I first discovered opera I fell in love, but
remained continually irritated (not to mention confused) at why all
the performances both live and recorded featured overweight, often
visibly aging men and women who never seemed to visually convince
anyone that they could possibly be the characters they were
attempting to portray. (Keeping in mind I am in Australia so do not
have the benefit of the breadth of calibre of performances you in the
Northern hemisphere do.) The convention of the time (late 70's early
80's) was that Opera was an artform where you simply suspended that
disbelief and allowed the music to dominate your senses and for the
most part that worked for me and the audiences du jour. (The one
hugely notable exception being Dame Joan Sutherland singing La Fille
Du Regiment in about 1986. That still makes me shudder. Ye Gods but
that was hideous.)
So we could argue what "should be" and "what is" around and around
and never come to a satisfactory conclusion as what we accept as an
audience these days differs more wildly than ever, due to the
incredible changes in our society alone.
As a young vocalist in training it was a source of constant
frustration and annoyance to be told "not yet" and "Rome wasn't built
in a day" like it was some sort of sacred mantra. I chose to be
defiant and went above and beyond what my teacher was offering, which
after all, was what was expected of me anyway. I did this by firstly
finding out as much as I could about the world I so passionately
desired to enter. I started with the scores, and libretti and my own
pathetic piano skills before progressing to the recordings and learnt
as much from friends and senior students as I did from my own
research and my teachers. By the time most of us singers got to Third
Year History of Opera most of us could practically teach the class.
Although we may have been rare in this respect I am led to
believe/concede.
When bringing some of my more precious vocal discoveries to my
teacher, more often than not she would practically laugh me down for
even suggesting them. This was cruel and uneccessary, and I hate her
for this to this day. However for every song she allowed me to do, I
rebelliously spent a little time on others she wouldn't. One of which
actually clinched my inclusion in the Opera School so it can't have
been THAT bad for me could it?
So whilst I agree in principle with,
>>>>I guess I don't partake in the idea that arias should be sung by
singers who are vocally 'ready', both in maturity of voice and
technical knowledge and usage.<<<<
I also believe that Karena has very valid point which should not be
underestimated when she says,
>>>>but when this young singer who cut her teeth on Porgi Amor
becomes a young profesional who is learning the role of the
Contessa, she will mostly likely be stuck with this horrible muscle
memory to overcome from when she sang that aria with an incomplete
or bad technique. For this reason I think it is a better idea to
use art song repertoire. There is plenty of challenging art song out
there that can teach just the same things vocally as an aria like
Porgi Amor.<<<<
Mandi:>>>>vocal study shouldn't be limited to the works that the
student will and should perform.<<<<
It is very difficult for a mezzo to ever know what exactly she will
one day perform, as with age and training she can so often change, so
in this voice type at least, that is something to be considered. A
Soprano is not doing herself any favours studying contralto
repertoire, either developmentally, or time wise.
Mandi:>>>The ideas of 'heavy' or 'light' arias or roles
should be discarded in the vocal studio if there is something the
teacher feels the student can learn from the peice and it is
understood by the student that the peice is being used as a tool of
development.<<<<
I would have to say I pretty much agree with you there. Although I
have had two excessively headstrong 16 year olds so far who wouldn't
comprehend the distinction and made fools of themselves trying to
impress outside the studio.
Lloyd's suggestion
>>>>Mozart writes better for the soprano voice than for any other
voice type. He selects the best possible vowels for each pitch or
line emphasis which helps the singer produce the "freer usage of
(the) voice" that you mention. One has only to transpose a Mozart
soprano aria up or down to discover that his choice of vowels are
best for the original pitches selected.<<<<
is one I fully concur with also. Mozart wrote with an inate sense of
how to write for the human voice, moreso I think, than any other
composer I have ever come across.
As for the Contessa >>>>Her elegance and poise are often seen as
maturity, but this is not neccessarily so.<<<< Why not? Certainly her
understanding of her husband, her situation and of love as revealed
throughout the opera speaks of a maturity way beyond the young Rosina
we see in the "Barber of Seville" and indeed of Susanna. She has come
a LONG way from the flighty and head strong young woman of that first
play, which does suggest to many directors that she is indeed
a "mature woman". Don't confuse our current times obsession with
youth and beauty to mean mean she should be played by someone barely
out of her teens. One can hold an even more powerful (and in this
case credible, perhaps) beauty at thirtysomething. If you take her in
the context of Beaumarchias trilogy I think it could be valid to
suggest, as many have, that her elegance and poise does indeed come
from her maturity not simply from her appearance. Don't forget also,
as director you have to put Cherubino next to Susanna and The
Countess and make "him" believable too, both physically and vocally.
All the harder if you make Susanna and The Countess teenagers.
Another point to consider is that whilst Beaumarchais may have been
suggesting as per the custom of the day, that Rosina/The Countess and
Susanna are in their teens, it is highly unlikely that he has it in
mind that actors in their teens would have portrayed them on the
stage. A convention that is still alive and kicking as we speak.
Moreover, in our context, it is impossible to believe of Mozart that
he wrote the music he did with a teenager in mind. More likely he
wrote it for an older voice to portray a younger woman as has been
the convention until very recent times. (Indeed even Rossini wasn't
writing for a girl to perform.)
>>>I don't see any reason why she needs to be played by a more mature
woman.<<<
No reason to be played by a more mature woman, but plenty of reason
to be sung by one. Sometimes, but certainly not always, working on
those Arias which ultimately require far more stamina than you have
and that your average Art Song requires, can be detrimental to
healthy vocal development.
As for mounting a professional production with an early
twentysomething cast singing Figaro at the Met, I think the chances
of that putting bums on seats are as likely as hell freezing over.
The Conservatorium opera programme yes, a serious professional
production, no.
Michelle
|
