CallL Sheet 2004-9

FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2004

There will be 2 rooms and 2 pianists as usual.

IMMEDIATE AIM

We have a concert for Sunday March 28 at Hebrew Tabernacle - 4:30pm.

We need to prepare new material/repertoire. This can include recent numbers that have not yet been sung at the Hebrew Tabernacle.

ROLE PREPARATION:

Guys, you were terrific in the concert last week. Each concert is better than the last. However, we are getting there number by number. You can all see how wonderful you become when you know your character's role and personality in the ensemble/scene but we have hardly touched the surface of your potential. Let's see if we can help you to get there.

You have chosen opera and song as your artistic medium. In short, you have chosen a performing art to express yourself and, therefore, you have entered the entertainment business. You are very close to another performing art, i.e. the art of the actor in live theatre NOT CINEMA. You have chosen an art where you must communicate with your audience. If you start concentrating on vocal technique during performance, you will cut off all communication and you will have failed to entertain.

What makes an actor/singer? The essential tasks of a singer/actor are dedication to research which will include the general historical, sociological, and, in many cases, the geographical background that applies to the character being portrayed, analysis of role and how that role interacts with the other characters, the convincing delivery of words through the character itself so that each word is full of the character's meaning, not yours, and the character's reactions to the words being spoken by others. That is just a few of the things that make up the task of a singer/actor.

What, therefore, is acting? It is 90% imagination. but the imagination must have material with which to work. The imagination is fed by the singer/actor's tasks mentioned above.

In order to deliver the words of the character, the actor must have good clear diction and must be able to project that diction. He/she cannot do that if his/her consonants interfere with the requisite flow of breath. Good pronunciation of consonants in the Italian fashion achieve just that because, unlike German, French and English consonants they are pronounced on the tongue and lips and never back in the throat. They act as a gateway to the vowel upon which is carried the tonal stream of breath. When I first arrived in America, I was asked to give master classes to actors. I got to know many of them. The serious students of that time studied voice production as it applied to acting in live theatre. I could not help but be struck with the instruction they were given on consonants. Acting students were being taught to pronounce their consonants in the Italian fashion. Now, I can tell you that all good singers, including predominant German singers such Fischer Diskau or French Singers such as Susan Danco always applied the Italian consonants wherever possible. When Germans had to apply the guttural "Ch" sound they softened it so that "Ich liebe dich" was sounded almost like "ish liebe dish" without concluding the actual english "sh" sound (as in ship) but stopping just short so that the teeth never quite reached the position of the "sh" and the sound produced was more like a little hiss that in no way interfered with the flow of breath. The French never try to pronounce a French "r" on live stage. It is impossible to do so without completely interrupting the breath flow. They use an Italian "r" which is well forward and just behind the teeth like the sound of the double "R" in the English word "Burrow" or "Thorough". (For the newer members, I am attaching notes on pronunciation. The older members can also download them if you have misplaced your original notes). For the Spanish speakers, even more so than the English speakers, it is imperative that you conquer the Italian consonants and practice them daily (speaking voice is sufficient) until they become second nature.

Now, let us say the actor/singer has fully mastered good diction. He/she must then deliver his/her lines with the full meaning the character intends. The singer's task is somewhat harder, because, unlike the actor he/she frequently must deliver those lines in a foreign language in order to capture the weight, nuance, texture and meaning of the words demanded by the original color and nuance of the music. You speak in phrases not in syllables, yet many of you start singing syllables and not even words when you bring a new piece. That simply means that you have paid no attention to your words up to that point. What then must be done?

First, it is best to get a literal translation of the piece. Study it and then start repeating the words in the phrasing demanded by both the words and the music, over and over again, until those words just trip off your tongue in measured phrases. We speak a line of words. We do not speak in syllables but many of you sing a new piece as if to say: "I am! go! ing! to! en! chant! you with! a mar! ve! lous! new pi! ece!". Guys, you are singing single notes, not music, and not words. Translations can be obtained free from www.aria_database.com. There are also bi-lingual librettos available from Dover Press in New York for about $5.00 each. Quite often, the English translations of opera CDs are very literal and excellent.

Next, go to the library, if you have to, but get a good English translation of the libretto of the whole opera or the song you wish to sing. If you are singing lied, go to the Goethe Institute or the Cultural section of the German Consul. Do the same for French and Italian pieces. Above all know why you are singing what you are singing. In many cases you can get translations from such institutes online.

Once you have read the libretto, through and through, make sure that you refresh your reading every two weeks or so. It is amazing what you will discover in each reading. From the outset, examine your character minutely. Let's say, you want to play Mimi. The historical background shows us that everyone flocked to Paris at the start of the industrial revolution. Infant mortality rate was 60%. Hyegine was almost non existent. Liquid products had not started to be pasteurised. People shopped in open market places where all manner of food was displayed in open barrels, touched frequently by many unscrubbed hands and breathed upon by everyone. The populace had no idea of how disease spread. Tuberculosis was called the white death. It took two out of every three Parisians. Most people without adequate means were undernourished and sick. If you were not well enough to work in a factory (like Charpentier's Louise), you eaked out a living doing piecemeal work at home. If you contracted TB, did you know how you contracted it? Were you sentenced to a short life simply by chance or did life play a cruel trick upon you. Weren't you ready to live in the short time you had left? Does Mimi know she is sick? This will be answered simply by your imagination which should be working by now. But let me paraphrase Mimi's lines in English in the emotional musical surge Puccini imparts to "Si mi chiamino Mimi" at the line "I look on the roofs and into the sky, but when the first thaw comes, the first sunshine is mine - the first kiss of April is mine!" To me, that sounds like a girl who has made it through another winter and is grateful for the very small things that the living can find like the scent of a fresh spring flower. What gives it all the more force is the strong emotional musical surge that Puccini has implanted right there. I have laid out a scenario. How you interpret Mimi at that moment will depend on your own imagination. You might want to keep her ignorant of her sickness, you might want her to have full knowledge of it. It is your artistic freedom to make your own choice but once you have made that choice, let your imagination grow and grow in that choice and you will be a true artist. Mimi does not have time to think about where she is placing her voice, how she is producing a note. Mimi only has time to communicate her thoughts to Rudolfo and through Rudolfo to the audience. In short, know your words so well, impart Mimi's meaning as you perceive it, and the character will be singing for you. That's what singing and acting is all about.

I suggest you print out these attachments on pronunciation. If you find you cannot print all pages, e-mail me, giving me your Operating system (The actual version of Windows you use (98, 98SE, ME or XP) and I'll tell you how to reset your printer so that you will always be able to print every page.

See you all on Tuesday.