>From: Isabelle Bracamonte <ibracamonte@y...>
>Or you can sing everything correctly, with ring and
>cut, and practice seeing if you can (at the same
>dynamic level as everyone else) stick out anyway.
>Then when your director glares at you, say, "But I
>have a naturally large instrument, I am a future
>Butterfly/ Radames/Eboli/Wotan!" This tactic will
>arouse the jealousy of your fellow students and the
>ire of the director, however, so I think
>mouthing/faking is a better choice.
Ah, but the chances that the future Eboli, Wotan, Cio-Cio-San or Radames
will actually SING that role in a major house is about the same as the
chances that a neighborhood basketball whiz will play in the NBA. Better to
take the advice of one Rosemary Clooney: "Be nice to the people you meet on
the way up, because you WILL meet them on the way down."
>
>I just think it's a waste of time. Opera chorus is
>not so bad, since everyone in it is a trained singer
>and directors have usually given up on the blend thing
>and stick to staging (at least at San Francisco Opera,
>where the chorus sounds horrible most of the time and
>you can hear individual voices sticking out all over
>the place).
Isabelle, the SF Bay Area is FULL of opera companies. Why not check out
Opera San Jose (for a little over half what an SFO ticket will cost) or West
Bay or Bay Shore Lyric (respectively one-third and one-quarter of SFO
prices)? You'll hear small, well-rehearsed and talented choruses. Just
might change your mind...
A well-run chorus will NOT require that you compromise your technique for
the sake of "blending." My church job is with a tiny mostly-volunteer
choir; I usually sing with one other alto (who is quite good, thank G*d).
If I start to go off the tracks technically, it's MY fault, not the
director's. And yes, this is the same Mighty Mezzo who has the S.O.B.
(Stamp Out Bodymikes) manifesto posted on my web site, who has no trouble
making herself heard, even when I don't really WANT to be heard. :-D
(I need the church job for my spiritual well-being too, but I don't want to
start THAT argument again!)
Elizabeth Finkler
http://home.earthlink.net/~mightymezzo/
mightymezzo@h...
"Virtue is triumphant only in theatrical productions." --The Mikado
"Quitters never win. Winners never quit. But those who never win and never
quit are just plain stupid." --anonymousse
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