Character Preparation

Last week, I asked you to choose a character and then prepare that character's rendition of an aria - not your rendition but the character's rendition. If you sing the aria from the character's perspective, your voice will assume certain colors and nuances that are distinct for that character. The character you choose might or might not be entirely different from your own personal character. At all events there will be differences and it is those differences that you must define and master if you are to portray that character convincingly. I mentioned that a good place to start would be to make your dissection of the character.

What are the traits or qualities that the character is lacking? Eliminate those missing characteristics from your own personality. For instance, Carmen lacks compassion, any sense of pity; she can feel lust but not love. Love is like a prison to her. Lust is not only enjoyable but it is her form of control over others. She is amoral whereas you might have a high standard of morality. When you play Carmen, you must eliminate your moral beliefs or you cannot be convincing. Gene Hackman, for instance is a deeply religious, quiet and introverted man. He has to eliminate those traits when he plays the cussing tough detective, Popeye Doyle in the "French Connection." In short, you must enter another character's skin. In doing so, your gestures will be those of the character. Your walk will be the walk of the character. Your facial expressions will be those of the character. You cannot have a life in opera with the one constant walk for all characters. Some characters will be like quicksilver - as Mary Pickford once said of her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, "he was like an arrow." Some characters will be like rocks - steadfast and firm in their walk. Some will be crippled and carry more than their affliction, appearing to carry the world on their back such as Rigoletto. For those of you who have seen movies it sufficient to bring up Burt Lancaster as an example. He could move like a swashbuckler or an acrobat when the role required it or he could move like a broken man in "Come back little Sheba" or "The Killers". It is inconceivable that Carmen, Mignon and Rosina could move or hold themselves the same way. It is equally inconceivable that Don Jose and Count Almaviva (Lindoro) could move or hold themselves the same way. Their social background, their upbringing, their mentalities are entirely different. We are just starting. I don't expect a finished character next week but I do expect that you have gone past the surface of that character so that we can build from there.

I attach a quotation from Chaliapin. The American entrepreneur that Chaliapin is talking about is Sol Hurok. Gaisberg was the head of HMV, which later morphed into E.M.I. Gaisberg said of Chaliapin, "the voice itself was rather wooden and dry, very uninteresting really until he started to act because then he started to emote and his voice became an orchestra with all the colors and subleties of a fine symphony conducted by a master." Some of those recordings were made by Chaliapin in the Homebush, Sydney studios of HMV. I found out when I had a brain wave of using the man-made rubies that were the jewels of the Swiss Watch Movements as long lasting gramophone needles to replace the steel needles. I had the Swiss make them and then pursuaded HMV, Stromberg Carlson and a Japanese Firm, Neat Denko Ongyi to combine efforts and bring out a long playing record and record player. The man at HMV, George Southey was a classical music enthusiast and he told me that Chaliapin paced the studios, acting out the part as he was being recorded, while the sound engineer chased him with the microphone and the men behind the booth tore their hair out. I bring up this point to emphasise that the voices of most singers are uninteresting until they start painting with the voice. One paints with the voice when one is in character. To be in character, one must exercise the imagination and that in itself is a prime requisite for a singer. If characterization helps build imagination it is absolutely worthwhile. Imagination is a tool which actors/singers develop as they work at it. Then imagination can conjure up any scene to make it alive. That live scene, whether it be operatic or art song etc., is what establishes the communication between artist and audience. One could say that these first forays into characterization are the first forays into communicating with your audience. So research the character you have chosen and start forming all the mental and physical traits and quirks of that character. You will find that your aria takes on a whole new meaning and your voice takes on a whole new color.