09-01-2009, 12:09 PM | #201 |
Lady of Andúnië
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For starters, i have a whole book of Handel arias for soprano. It has Bel piacere and a few others that are more well-known, as well as some more obscure stuff. I'm also considering the Cleopatra arias, which have been suggested to me before. I've worked on Piangero in the past but i think Se pieta would suit me better.
I need to get some more sheet music. There's a book of Purcell songs and arias that i want. I also should get a Dowland book. I did some Dowland on a recital once and it was very well received. I love the beautiful melancholy of his songs.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
09-01-2009, 08:30 PM | #202 | |
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OH!!! Dowland! I love his music... it's so beautiful. I have a really weird CD of his stuff where some tenor who wasn't all that great recorded some of Dowland's pieces... and oddly enough there is a saxophone in the accompaniment . Yeah... it's weird. But I LOVE the music!
I think this new teacher might actually be pretty darn good. She's stretching my upper range, which I like, and she's helping me release some of the tension in the upper notes. She's definitely going to be fabulous for my diction. Today we worked on In Der Fremde and spent most of our lesson on just speaking it and trying to get my (unfortunately atrocious!) diction corrected. One kind of cool thing is that we were singing In Der Fremde and I was having some trouble with a little double-gracenote area, and she said, "It would probably help if you sang it a little softer." I had been holding my voice back anyways, but I realized then that I actually had to hold it back even more. It was... kind of exciting . Without any pushing or trying, in fact trying not to be loud, I was actually too loud anyways! Hehehe.... I never used to have that problem. It's nice to know my voice isn't too tiny. Even if she is good, though, I intend to continue with the coaching and whatnot and (hopefully) eventually tell her about it. Quote:
The thing is... I don't want to be a great singer so that people will know who I am. I want to be a great singer because I want people to sit back and be truly moved by the music that they hear. I want them to say, "WOW! What an incredible sound!" because even though I don't really give a crap if they remember my name, or my face, I want them to remember the feeling the music gave them. My hope for Pirates isn't that when I start to sing everyone will snatch up their programs and go, "Oh my God, what an amazing Baritone, I must memorize his name and go shower praise and adulation on him!" But that they will be so entertained that years from now they'll go, "Do you remember that police sergeant from the Pirates of Penzance production we saw? Wasn't that great?" In a way I'm not so much trying to prepare myself for the real Met... it's like a metaphorical Met. I just think of the people who make it to the Met as being the 'cream of the crop' and that's how good I want to be. It's like when my friend who's such an amazing singer sings something, or when I listen to someone like Placido Domingo or Mario Lanza and it's just painfully beautiful and fills my heart with everything that's good about music. I want to give that to people, because anyone can hurt your feelings or make you feel like crap, but I want to be one of the people who can do something to give that beautiful feeling in your soul back to you. It's like being a musical doctor, you know? I don't feel like I have the gift of wanting to be a doctor or nurse to help people that way, but I hope that maybe I can help people through performing amazingly. And the thing is, to make that music you have to be around other incredible musicians, and you usually find those people at the top. So if I want to make that kind of music and move people that way, then I need to strive to make it up there. Annnnyways. That's my thing. Maybe it's ridiculous and impossible, but there it is. |
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09-01-2009, 08:52 PM | #203 | |||||||
Lady of Andúnië
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That Dowland cd of yours does sound like it must be weird!
I personally love things with period instruments. I'm a sucker for "historically-informed performance" and all that sort of stuff But i'm a spoiled brat! Quote:
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-01-2009, 10:27 PM | #204 | |||
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I think you just don't hear small baritone voices on the stage because honestly when your voice is that low you've gotta have at least a medium sized voice or you'll never be heard. We're not like tenors or sopranos who can get away with a little voice because of the frequencies cutting through... if you're a baritone you better have a bigger voice or you will never be heard. Same for mezzos, I'd assume. In thinking about it, I can come up with a number of tenor and soprano voices who have great careers and small voices, but really no baritone or mezzo voices like that. I think the lower voices just have to be bigger if they want to be on stage. Quote:
I actually decided to take a little more time on my song reports just to cram more information into them. I could've turned them in, but my hope is that if I can make them really detailed I'll not only benefit musically, but she'll realize that I am totally unafraid of hard work and will trust me and work with me for it. |
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09-01-2009, 11:50 PM | #205 | |||
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-02-2009, 12:56 AM | #206 |
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Says the early music soprano. But seriously, speaking as a layman, I have to say the Met comes across as a bit silly and stodgy. Particularly when I was reading Opera News! My God, the entire magazine was just about how awesome the Met was, and it really started to make me sick.
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09-02-2009, 11:18 AM | #207 | |
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Of course the Met isn't the only place where the top musicians go by a long shot... but it is a very important institution in the world of Opera. Ironically enough, now that I have a decent amount of control over my voice, I have the proper diction for In Der Fremde, and I have a solid outline in my head of how I want it to work stylistically and technically... It's taking me forever to sing it. I spent a good half hour working just the first couple of measures because there are so many tiny little hitches and flaws that I need to fix. Finally I realized just how much time I'd spent on not even a whole page so I went ahead and finished singing through it a couple of times. But it's frustrating. >.< I wish I had the voice, not to mention the time, to work my music more. On the plus side, I think I've got those first couple of measures pretty solid. I just need to get them into my voice a little more so that the things I'm doing just happen by habit and I don't have to think of them so much. |
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09-02-2009, 12:23 PM | #208 | |
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Well, LOL, true - the Met/La Scala/Covent Garden/etc is not the be-all/end-all goal (symbolic or not) for me that it would be for someone on the more mainstream operatic path, like Tessar. If i could sing anywhere it would be somewhere in Europe with Les Arts Florissants or something. (Hey i can dream, right? ). So i can understand Tessar and his "metaphorical Met".
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-02-2009, 03:09 PM | #209 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Now, I think the ROH is better about putting up early music than some of the other big ones.
In fact, if you look at their website, they are apparently staging ARTAXERXES this season! Now, THERE'S an oddity for you!
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09-02-2009, 09:23 PM | #210 | |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Just saw this episode:
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Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
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09-03-2009, 03:48 PM | #211 |
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So, apparently my new voice teacher is friends with one of my favorite baritones, and with my favorite dramatic soprano Christine Brewer. O_o You know... the Christine Brewer who sings at the Met. and internationally and friggin' EVERYWHERE? I mean good Lord...
I do like her... I think she may be an even better teacher than I initially gave her credit for. I seem to be over the F# 'hump' I'd been at, and the G is getting more consistent. It'll be a while till it's really "in my voice" though. GREAT NEWS!!!! I introduced her to the idea of one (unfortunately not the one I wanted to!) coach this morning because the topic came up. We were talking about falsetto... I have a strange thing in my voice where I have difficulty humming above an A3, and by the time I hit C#4 my hum is strained and thin. I've worked it pretty hard, and I can't seem to make it want to work. She said it's not uncommon for men who have no falsetto to have difficulty humming... I told her I have a pretty extensive falsetto, and after I demonstrated it for her she said, "I'd love to see if we can get a little of that falsetto to blend into your low voice because I think it would free up your high voice." Well is there a more perfect opening then that? I said that I'd coached with an early music soprano over the summer doing falsetto stuff, and that the coach had said the same thing... and I said how much it had helped my high voice. I asked if I could continue to see that coach, and she somewhat hesitantly said yes. So one coach is now out in the open. Thank you for the encouragement to mention the coaching, Voronwen. I don't think I would've even mentioned it otherwise. I hope that given time, maybe even waiting till next semester, I can bring up my other coach. At this point I think that might be all he needs to be... I think this teacher will be a strong technician for my voice, and she's just building more on the things my summer teacher was so amazing at... so... *shrug* I have no intention of giving him up as a mentor, though. I mean come on. Incredible ear, great technician, he and I understand each other so well, we communicate well, he's even my friggin' voice type, and he genuinely seems to want to help me towards building a career... coaches like that don't just grow on trees, ya know . So I feel all at once frustrated by my vocal problems, but also incredibly blessed. It's so weird how it's like all of these great teachers have suddenly appeared out of nowhere to help me, you know? O_o I really feel like I'm being guided towards this path, however it turns out in the end. Last edited by Tessar : 09-03-2009 at 03:50 PM. |
09-03-2009, 04:36 PM | #212 | ||
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-03-2009, 09:53 PM | #213 |
Lady of Andúnië
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Well, i practiced until my voice was tired today. I know, bad girl But it made me happy.
Of course, then my sister called with all manner of things to talk about regarding the details of her wedding, which led to even more vocal fatigue I'll be ok.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
09-05-2009, 09:29 AM | #214 |
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How's the voice now? All better?
I often find it surprising how resilient my voice can be. It seems like when I use good technique, even if I way overuse my voice, it's usually back to almost normal the next day. The problem is when I don't use good technique, then I need to rest it for a few days. Know what else was really interesting to hear? Apparently even Christine Brewer (I heard this from an interview) who has a HUGE dramatic soprano voice... says her voice is very delicate. According to her, if she doesn't warm up enough she can lose her voice very quickly, and if she doesn't stay right on top of her technique she can have trouble making it through even one aria. Isn't that weird? O_o I always assumed bigger voices were naturally more resilient, because I've heard some big ol' voices that have horrible technique, but they manage to keep belting out that way for hours. But apparently even some big voices need to be careful . So, I'm really glad that I'm planning to keep my 'secret' voice teacher because GUESS WHAT? Apparently they're only hiring my official one for a year. She has high hopes that her contract will be continued after that and that she can get on a tenure track... but my school is EXTREMELY bad about tenure. Teachers who have been there for years don't have it. Oh well. It's an annoyance, but at this point I'm not sure that it's anything more than an annoyance so long as I can keep up with good coaches. Last edited by Tessar : 09-05-2009 at 09:32 AM. |
09-05-2009, 10:19 AM | #215 | ||
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That said, my small soprano voice is feeling much better Usually i've recovered from vocal fatigue within a day. Yesterday i was fine when i woke up and was able to do some more practicing late in the morning, which went very well and felt wonderful. I think the day before i was having a technical issue relating to placement that was getting me off my usual track, hence the fatigue. I had some minor dental work earlier that morning so i probably didn't have my usual control over the finer points of placement, and may have been slightly overcompensating with the throat. I probably shouldn't have been singing at all. But yesterday's practice made up for it. Quote:
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-06-2009, 07:47 PM | #216 |
Lady of Andúnië
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Crossing over
Tessar, et al - Has anyone here spent all this time on classical training and then decide they want to do something completely different with it all?
Actually what i'm thinking about isn't all that different, if you make the jump from 'early music'. But i also have a feel for Celtic style music and, much of it is written in a soprano range. I seem to be able to sing in this style and even ornament much in the same way as i would some early music, ie. Dowland songs. It's just a style where i can be expressive in some ways that i cannot be within the confines of 'classical' technique - even though all good technique works the same (as the voice only works correctly one way) and the classical background can only serve as a foundation for other things. I wouldn't entirely want to throw away all that i can do as a classical singer, though. It'd be more of a crossing-over thing.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
09-06-2009, 10:06 PM | #217 | |||
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I'm probably just bitter . But I feel that they get far too much credit just because they have good instruments, and people overlook how poor their musicality often is. Like some of the 'star' students at my school... great voices, but also pretty much the exact same voice they've had since they arrived. They just don't do what it takes to improve musically or vocally. I think a great example of a small, pure voice is Sissel... not sure how to spell her last name. Kejrkbo? She's not my favorite voice, but she's extremely musical, where as I feel as if the Celtic Women are all pretty voices without much else. Quote:
Definitely. I think you can do that . Although if I were you I would focus more on the baroque music. Celtic music is a very small nitch, at least from what I've observed, and I think finding venues would be even more challenging than to find work as a baroque soprano. Plus it seems like the really successful ones (Loreena, Enya, Orla, etc.) all have some instrument they play, like piano or harp. Except maybe Moya Brennan, Enya's sister, but I think the major part of her successful beginning was being in the band Clannad... she didn't need to play because her family band was so full of talented musicians. |
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09-06-2009, 10:31 PM | #218 | |||
Lady of Andúnië
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You're right too, about Celtic music being a very small niche, even moreso than Baroque. I guess the bottom line is that 'crossing over' just appeals to me. Why should i only do one thing with my voice when it is definitely capable of others too? I can see myself almost creating my own niche, of sorts... the kind of weirdo who would program Celtic ballads and Handel arias on the same recital.
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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09-06-2009, 11:58 PM | #219 | |
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Hmm. *single arched eyebrow* I'm not sure that would really appeal to the mass public, but then you have Sessel who's made a career out of singing pop ballads AND opera arias in the same concert, so who knows? I've been finding that sometimes to keep my tongue forward I have to really feel like I'm shoving it forward. I think it's just going to be one of those things that will take me longer than I'd hoped to fix. I think with this delightful extra day of freedom I might just work some on the Catalogue Aria and take it in on Tuesday for my voice lesson. I don't think she can be too upset with me bringing in something new since I've also learned Where'er You Walk this weekend, and I'm planning to have In Der Fremde and Man is for the Woman Made completely memorized by Tuesday. She said we could work on other stuff, so... Worth a shot. I'm probably going to sing In Der Fremde next Thursday for voice seminar. They really liked my When A Felon's Not Engaged In His Employment from Pirates last Thursday. It was embarrassing though, because no one had any comments for me but positive stuff. I finally said, "Look, I appreciate the complements but I'd also love some criticism." After an awkward silence... One of the freshmen girls pipped up and said, "We just can't think of anything. It was really good." Which was awfully sweet of her, but I wish there were some upper level singers in my studio because I can promise you there were wrong things that someone more experienced would've picked up on. As a Junior, I'm the most 'senior' member of the studio. :-/ My teacher did have some good critiques, thank God, and her main thing was that my walking didn't match the energy that my voice and my upper body were expressing, which was great to know. We'll see how In Der Fremde goes. I wish I had more time to prepare it!!! It's so beautiful and I don't think I'll do it justice, but that's what seminar is for... to get a better grasp on what you need to work on in a piece, it's not a real performance. |
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09-07-2009, 01:14 AM | #220 | |||
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" ...But the Exiles on the shores of the sea, if they turned towards the West in the desire of their hearts, spoke of Mar-nu-Falmar that was whelmed in the waves, Akallabêth the Downfallen, Atalantë in the Eldarin tongue." "Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient, Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the forest ... " ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline |
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