> I don't think that having a few hours a week
> coaching a role necessarily means you are not a Very
> Good Musician.
Yes, I see what you're saying. What I meant (sort of
rhetorically) was: Is it enough to take your new roles
to a coach to be taught the notes? Obviously, this is
the "dumb singer" way of doing things, and something
that is not well-accepted in this day and age. I.e.,
opera houses do not keep repetiteurs for the purpose
of teaching the singers new roles anymore... you're
really looked down upon if you need someone to "help"
you learn your music, I think, in the big-house world
today.
In the real world, a singer with a contract learns the
role on his own, then takes it to coaches for
intensive refining, then takes it to the opera house
for rehearsals fully memorized and polished. My
question is this: How do those singers learn the roles
on their own? Is it different per country (i.e.,
Americans have excellent piano skills, Italians learn
by ear with a coach -- as a sweeping generalization,
of course; I know that Americans are considered to be
technically and musically well-trained, if boring,
signers)...
How long would it take the average, dedicated (let's
say an hour of practice a day) adult (with no prior
piano skills) to learn how to play through your
average Verdi piano reduction score? Two years? Ten
years?
Like many singers, my ear is developed enough so that
I can listen to a recording of an opera three times
through, and be able to sing the part. Obviously,
there is a stigma attached to this, akin to the "dumb
singer" who needs a repetiteur. There are also
practical considerations, like unconscious imitation
-- even if you listen to three different recordings.
And, of course, then you're stuck when it comes to
world premiers, obscure and unrecorded repertoire or
art songs, and the like. But is it practical to
expect to be able to gain that level of piano
proficiency as an adult? Does anyone know what a
reasonable time frame would be for that?
Isabelle B.
=====
Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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