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hey there, i need help. i'm a soprano and i'm going to audition for university in order to study voice performance in two months, as of now i'm a soubrette with a pretty high voice (i can comfortably sing up to an E6, on some good days even higher, however only when i warm up, i wouldn't dare to sing an aria that goes beyond a b flat tbh) and a bright timbre. but i just don't know if i am enough, i feel terribly inadequate and very self conscious about the size of my voice (c)

Hello!

First: Best of luck on your auditions, you are going to well!

Second: Everyone feels like they’re inadequate when they’re faced with something like a college audition, but the thing to remember is that music schools don’t care about taking students that are already technically flawless. You go to school to learn, and a good teacher is going to see a passionate young student with a budding instrument and get up in arms to get them into their studio.

Third: Do not even worry about singing an aria that caps at Bb. With a few very specific exceptions (like you’re Rachel Gilmore breaking the record for highest note sung on the met stage), you literally never want to take something into a performance that takes you up to the very top of your range; excel at something reasonable rather than take a risk on something extreme. A panel of judges doesn’t give a flying fuck in space about how extensive your range is, they want to see you sing something beautifully and artistically.

Fourth: As you gain mastery over your voice, in all likelihood the size of it will grow. I have a friend who started as a tiny soubrette and ended up with a career in Germany singing big-as-fuck Verdi. I have another whose voice stayed small and light but who is raking it in singing Handel, Lully, and Charpentier. There is music out there for every type of voice. Think about Diana Damrau: homegirl does not have a big instrument (a huge instrument wouldn’t be able to handle any of that crazy coloratura she sings) but because she has the resonance of a champion she cuts over any orchestra in any house, and people eat her up.

You are going to kill your audition. Go in, kick ass with the pieces you present, and show them how you as an artist as well as a singer are here to contribute to the art form at large.

-AP

P.S. If it makes you feel any better, I got into a great music school on a voice audition as a scrappy sound engineer who couldn’t sing above a D5. You’ll be fine.

#auditions #opera #operatag #musician #singer

(c) i know that is ridiculous because i'm only 20 but still i do it. i'm self conscious about the size of my head because someone once said that singers need a big head in order to get that amazing resonance and to project over an orchestra. i have a comparatively small head, however nothing out of the ordinary and this might sound absolutely ridiculous but i'm still scared that my head size will limit my chances as a singer so pls help?? thanks for reading this, i know it's a mess

First of all, what a rude and unhelpful thing to say. Second: it is 100% normal to feel like some random physical attribute of yours is going to hinder your career: I spent a lot of my college years feeling like I would never get hired as a mezzo because I refused to follow the trend and cut my hair pants-role short. In hindsight, I realize how irrational this is.

But that is neither here nor there. What matters at this moment is talking about how resonance and the singer’s formant work. Basically, the sound that we hear when someone sings isn’t just what happens when their vocal folds vibrate (if that was all we heard, it would sound like the buzz you get when you blow air through your lips), but rather what happens when the sound wave created by the vocal folds resonates through the chamber of air defined by the vocal tract. it’s not the vocal tract itself that our sound resonates off of, but rather the air inside it, so as long as there is enough space in the resonating space for the sound wave to fully resonate (hint: there will be, regardless of size of head/body), the singer’s formant (“An acoustical boost in resonance high in the range of overtones, that allows a singer’s voice to carry over instruments and in large spaces” (Excerpt From: Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen & Kurt-Alexander Zeller. What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body)) can be accessed. A singer can access the singer’s formant regardless of head size because what determines a singer’s resonance is the relative size and shape of the vocal tract, not the head. You access this by adjusting the movable structures that affect the shape of the vocal tract: balance of the head on the atlanto-occipital joint, the pharyngeal constrictors, the soft palate, the jaw, tongue, lips, buccinator muscle, larynx, and the aryepiglottic sphincter. So basically, whatever micromovement you cultivate in these specific structures will affect how you sound and how well you resonate.

I appreciate that this is a little in the weeds, so bear a few things in mind:

1) There is no body type/manifestation of physical characteristics that is better suited for singing than others. That’s why we see such a diverse range of magnificent and artistic singers in our lives.

2) You are young, and have plenty of time to figure out exactly how your sound works. It takes a tremendous amount of patience and self-empathy, but I can 100% guaranty it gets easier over time. Be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself.

All of this information about resonance can be found in the book What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body by Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen and Kurt-Alexander Zeller. This is the best pedagogical tool a singer can have in their arsenal. It runs about 50 bucks (which is really pricey, I know) but local used bookstores might carry it, and there are digital copies floating around.

Best of luck and lots of support,

-AP

#opera #opera tag #singers #resonance #technique

I am a 16 year old girl who has been taking singing lessons for 2 years. I am getting trained in both musical theater singing and classical. I am a soprano, who can comfortably sing up to a C6, and can comfortably sing down to a G3. My voice teacher (a retired opera singer) has told me she hasn't met many girls my age who can sing that high easily. She is also surprised that my lowest note as a soprano is a G3. Because of this, I'm concerned if what I'm doing is healthy for my voice? Please help

Hi there! Sorry for taking so long to respond! Your range is very similar to mine. It sounds like you have a great talent at a younger age than most! Embrace it. Your voice teacher will know what is best for you. The most important thing is to listen to what your voice is telling you. If you ever feel straining or discomfort, don’t push yourself. It is hard to know what is going to be healthy for your voice individually without actually hearing it, so that is the best advice I can give. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

The word “opera” is also the proper Latin plural of “opus.”

#the more you know #opera #opera tag #opus tag #useless opera fact

thevocalspot

Vocal Masterclasses: Opera/Classical Edition

I created this list for those of you that spend all their free time geeking out over master classes on YouTube. This is something that I will continue adding to over time. Enjoy!

Joyce DiDonato

Carnegie Hall

More Carnegie Hall

Guildhall School of Music

Royal Opera House

Juilliard

Shepherd School of Music

Renée Fleming

ESCM

Juilliard

Guildhall School of Music

University of Oxford

Shepherd School of Music

Harvard

More Harvard

Even More Harvard

Aspen Summer Music Festival

American Voices Symposium

Thomas Hampson

Manhattan School of Music

Juilliard

San Fransisco Conservatory of Music

Lied Akademie

More Lied Akademie

NATS

Kiri Te Kanawa

RSMI

RWCMD

Met Opera/BBC Documentary

Teatro Colón

Barbara Bonney

Amateur Singers

Quando me’n vo’

Unknown

Placido Domingo

Philadelphia

NH and Japan

L’anima ho stanca

Gerald Finley

Royal College of Music

Guildhall School of Music

Marilyn Horne

Music Academy of the West

More Music Academy of the West

CMIM

New England Conservatory

Carnegie Hall

More Carnegie Hall

Even More Carnegie Hall

Denyce Graves

Boston University

Opera Carolina

New England Conservatory

Peabody Conservatory

Harrower Opera Workshop

Keith Miller

U of Central Florida

Gwyneth Jones

Royal Opera House

Grace Bumbry

Boston University

#learn you something

Monday the 23rd, fireworks; Tuesday the 24th, illuminations; Wednesday the 25th, revolution

Daniel Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici, is well-known for two major reasons:

1) It is considered the first French Grand Opera

2) It is intimately associated with the Belgian Revolution of 1830.

The opera was picked to be performed as part of a three-day celebration of King William I’s 15-year reign at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels seen here:

Prior to the opera’s performance, code words were circulated through the Courrier des Pays-Bas indicating that revolutionaries should leave immediately before the 5th act.

“When Lafeuillade and Casscl began singing the celebrated duet. "Amour sacre de la patrie" enthusiasm exploded irresistibly and [the singers] found it necessary to start afresh in the midst of the cheering. Finally, when Masaniello (Lafeuillade) launched into his entreaty, the invocation "Aux Armes!," the public could no longer be restrained. They acclaimed aria and actor, they booed the fifth act in order to stop the performance, and the delirious crowd [hurled itself] out of the hall—into history. Welcomed by the other crowd which waited outside, it joined in the demonstrations which loosed the revolution of 1830″ (eyewitness account)

The piece that started it all: Amour sacre de la patrie.

-AP

#opera #opera tag #useless opera fact #auber #revolution #la muette de Portici

atoneindvorak

If you need to take a day off from practicing then stressing for half a day, deciding you need a break and then feeling guilty about it is not having a break.

Decide in the morning that today is a rest day. You don’t have to completely forbid yourself from playing just think ‘if I feel like getting my instrument out later I will, if I don’t it’s no big deal.’ Then forget about it for a day.

Trust me the sooner you learn to do this the less time you actually ‘waste’.

"Moby Dick" by Jake Heggie?

Probably the best fact is that the whole opera is available to watch on PBS for free!

But a slightly more academic fact: the librettist, Gene Scheer, composed almost half of the libretto of text from directly Melville’s novel, showing an incredible degree of faith to the source text that is often not seen in libretti. The one major change, however, was that Scheer completely removed the voice of the narrator, and it fell completely upon Heggie’s shoulder’s to recreate the narrator in the music. -AP

#moby dick #jake heggie #opera #opera tag #useless opera fact

I’m Back!

Hey all! I’ve been absent most of the summer, traveling and singing around Germany, but the prodigal mezzo has returned. Shout out to my lovely co-host for keeping things active in my absence. Can’t wait to dive back into things! -AP

#I'm back

Puccini wrote two arias for mezzo though, cuz there's the Edgar, and the aunt has an aria in Suor.

Yes, but given the vast amount of music that Puccini wrote, the inclusion of two arias for minor characters is nowhere near what you could call appropriate representation of an entire fach. Puccini was, of course, by no means obligated to write for mezzo, but the fact that settings for mezzo make up an embarrassingly small percentage of his catalog shows a certain lack of compositional diversity, which in turn indicates a certain degree of unwillingness or inability to write for low female voice.

Regardless of how everyone may or may not feel about Puccini, (I personally really like Turandot) the lack of vocal diversity for women in his operas is a legitimate criticism. -AP

#Puccini #mezzo soprano

To the coloratura anon: Villanelle by Eva Dell'Acqua (I still use this tbh), Handel arias w ornamentation, Mozart's Alleluia, Poor wandering one by G&S, Bellini & Rossini art song. You also want to show that you have a strong middle and nice legato, etc. so don't sing only "coloratura" rep! Also most high schoolers aren't ready for the big coloratura arias (like Juliette and the queen). It can be more impressive to nail "easy" songs and arias then kinda make it through a big one. Good luck!

This is great advice! It is much better to sing something simple nearly perfectly than get half of a difficult piece. Poor Wandering One is a great piece to have in the rep, especially if you’re ever considering doing NATS because it would qualify for Musical Theater competition while being more operatic in nature.

So, where do I start? I LOVE musical theater, but frankly, I'm a coloratura. My voice has a really great operatic quality. I think I could love opera, too, I just don't know where to start. I AM familiar with Gilbert & Sullivan's, bc some people do consider it the beginning of Music theater. Also, this fall my school's doing Pirates of Penzance and I'm a heavy contender for Mabel. But like, for foreign language operas... ???????????????????

Ok, because it’s really difficult to just suggest a quintessential starting point for opera (because it’s a massive art form) would you mind answering a few questions and then I can throw a few suggestions your way? We know you’re a soprano, so that’s a good place to start. Here are a few things that will influence which operas I suggest you start with:

1) What kind of non-classical music do you like?

2) What kinds of literature do you like?

3) Favorite musicals?

4) Favorite Movies/TV shows?

5) What do you love about musical theatre?

6) How old are you/how long have you been singing?

It might seem a little bit arbitrary, but taste is incredibly personal, and I would hate to suggest operas that you would be predisposed to disliking, and then make it harder for you to find interest in opera, rather than easier. Best! -AP

Traviata. I'm the Turandot anon trying to make up for making you talk about Puccini :) not sure if Verdi is better for a mezzo.

I know this is a very late response. But YES! Verdi is much better for mezzo than Puccini. Basically every composer ever is better for mezzos than Puccini.

Here’s your Traviata fact: The plot was a huge influence on the film Pretty Woman (1990).

Age?

Are you asking about my age? Or is this an opera I’m not aware of?

My age is 22. I’m still a baby mezzo.

-LS

musiciansagainstelitism

Musician Spotlight: Unsuk Chin

(Every month, Musicians Against Elitism will feature one lesser-known composer belonging to a minority demographic. If you have any ideas, please feel free to send them over!)

Unsuk Chin is a Korean composer whose music has been described as colorful, audacious, and darkly humorous. She won the the Grawemeyer Award in 2004 and the Arnold Schoenberg Prize in 2005, among others. Her second opera, Alice Through the Looking Glass, is set to premiere in 2018.

Keep reading

useless-operafacts-blog

This is now on my list of must-see operas.