Artistry

Read the libretto through again and again until you feel you are actually in the story line. You must know what is being said to you. You must know why your character is reacting the way he/she is. You must know what brought the character to this point.

Let's just say I or Chloe, your judges, your opera directors, your opera house intendants (directors) etc. have heard an aria through some several hundred times sung by several hundred singers. From the time a soprano utters the first words of "Pace, Pace," from La Forza del Destino, we know how much she understands the piece, the story line, the depth of despair of the character, the pleading for death as the final escape, her resignation, her acceptance of the final escape from the misery she is suffering on earth. There is no load so heavy as a grieving heart.

Now for soprano no. 1, we hear "Pace, Pace" blasted out as if she is telling us, "hey guys, get a load of this, haven't I got a great voice?" Yes she does have a great voice but the opera house can't use her. She has no artistry. The opera house will be inclined to accept the lesser voice which does have artistry. Soprano No. 2 sings. She has no idea of what the words mean. We get a rather magnificent stream of sound but nothing else. Eliminated!!! Soprano No. 3 sings. We forget the voice, the very words Pace, Pace set our hearts aquiver. The word "pace" leaps at us, it is so poignant. In it we hear just the right blend of of nobleness, love and resignation. "Ah!" we say, "she has captured the character!" She is communicating someone's soul to us. Soprano no. 4 comes along. She has artistry and a better voice but she doesn't set our hearts aquiver. Our choice will be soprano no. 3. Now let's say, we are an Opera House, such as a French regional house like Lille, Toulon or Nice etc., or all the Belgian Opera Houses or the reformed non government funded Royal Opera House or English National Opera where production costs must be recouped from box-office and/or fund raising (funny thing about fund raising, there can be no worthwhile fund raising if you don't show good box office and good budget control). We are going to bet on soprano no. 3 who set our hearts aquiver. We want her, as a heroine, to set our audience's hearts aquiver. Up to now, we haven't really looked at her physical attributes. If she is a good figure with a pleasant face, we have nothing to worry about. If she is both tall and fat, we call in the wardrobe mistress and work out how to slim her down by dressing her in flowing garments which make her look more regal in the part. We'll ensure that she wears flat shoes. If her tenor is some few inches shorter, we will build him up. We will stage many scenes where he is elevated on a level above her or where she is sitting down. We'll overcome the physical disadvantages because we know this voice, or rather this artistry moves mountains.

The second aspect of reading is historical research. You can get thumb-nail sketches of the period and the place by referring to a concise history book or encyclopoedia or possibly the internet. Define the period well and take yourselves off to a good library to get as much information as you can. The New York Museum of Art is probably one of the best and easiest places in the world to find out about any period, customs and mores pertaining to any civilization at any given time. There is an old saying that "a picture is worth ten thousand words." That's very true if you have already read a few hundred words before you see the picture.

The second valuable guide is listening to singers of the past and reading about them. A good guide to help you know the names of the great singers is "The Great Singers" by Henry Pleasants -Simon & Schuster, New York. There are probably 100s of second hand editions available through the Strand Book Store or Amazon or E-Bay. Next hunt down the records on LP if you have such a player. If not, look for CDs but only under the EMI, Nimbus, Cetra, RCA or Telefunken labels. The other labels are poor reproductions with much extraneous noise. Do not listen to the voice. Listen to the communication. That's what it's all about. Do not try and sing like those artists or else you become a poor imitation who has not looked beyond the surface. Unfortunately young singers have not been exposed to the great artists and simply follow lesser artists so that the standard drops. Yes, everyone can make a sound. How many can communicate?

No matter what category of voice you have, here are some names that are worth pursuing:

Richard Tauber for Mozart, Operetta, Lieder and Pops
Vera Schwarz for German Repertoire,
Maggie Teyte for French Art Songs
Gerard Souzay for French Art Songs and Lieder
Alexander Kipnis for Russian and German Repertoire Opera and General including Mozart and Wagner
Chaliapin for Russian and Italian and French Opera and General
Lawrence Tibbet for Opera, Popular, Gershwin, Wagner and General
Teresa Berganza for the whole Spanish Repertoire
Marion Anderson for Spirituals
Gigli for just about anything
Bjorling until about 1948 but not beyond.
Tito Schipa for just about anything.
Titta Ruffo for Verdi and Giordano
Tito Gobbi until about 1960
Mafalda Favero until about 1938
Licia Albanese only until 1940
Vittoria di Los Angeles until about 1950
Fischer-Dieskau for Lieder only
Rosa Ponselle for just about anything
Galli-Curci for coloratura works
Guiseppe di Luca for any operatic work
Todd Duncan for Gerswhin
Thomas L. Thomas for the Welsh Repertoire
Charles Craig for Opera or Operetta in English but not otherwise
Caruso
Victor Maurel for all baritone repertoire
Marcel Journet for all baritone to Bass repertoire
Geraldine Farrar
Peter Dawson for Ballads
Regine Crespin for Berlioz
Kirsten Flagstad for Wagner
Christa Ludwig
Lois Elms
Fritz Wolf for Wagner
Emma Calve
Mary Garden

The above singers were the great communicators and stand well ahead of the great voices like Pinza or Tebaldi etc. There were greater singers/communicators like Tettrazini but it's impossible to get remastered recordings that sound decent.

It's up to you. But if you are going to make it in the world of singing, you must make it on your power to communicate the message to your listener.