Respect for Opera

I'm going to start blogging about my artistic growth and what I'm learning.

I thought I'd start with what has influenced me in SUCH a major way as to what as I think about singing and bringing a character to full life.

One of the ideals that I want to pursue is that in opera, we must present REAL human beings in action, not mimics or indications of characters onstage. Opera is the musical theater equivalent of Shakespeare - in my opinion. Many of the challenges of actors in Shakespeare are similar to those faced by opera singers.

I think this idea of real humans really breaks open the notions that we have of "traditional" interpretation, and gives us a blank canvas with which each of us can begin the work. Art is something that we work TOWARD, it is not the end goal. There is no end.

Like Shakespeare's roles, we singers live with our own ghosts of past versions and interpretations of the roles of Tosca, Rodolfo, Carmen, Boris Godonov. But there CANNOT be any IDEAL interpretation of these operas, otherwise we would have to stop performing Norma because of Callas, for example. Why should we not re-examine these works with real human behavior? I think the secret to great opera lies in the fact that opera is GREAT THEATER. (Or it should be.)

I often think about the fleshing out of operas like La Boheme. In the opening act, Mimi comes to the apartment of Rodolfo because her candle has gone out. But is this REALLY the reason? Maybe she's cold and lonely on Christmas eve? How many times has she seen Rodolfo in the building or in the street where she lives? All these random questions should feed the scene where she passes out in front of Rodolfo. If I fainted in the apartment of someone I found attractive, my first instinct would be to be HORRIFIED and EMBARRASSED! (How are you going to have a chance of getting this guy to like you NOW?) Yet how many Mimis wake up with the attitude of "what's my next line?" I could see justification of her making it for the door to LEAVE - so great is her embarrassment, but Rodolfo pulls her back into the room.

That's why I think any singer wanting to perform as a singing-actor needs ACTING lessons. One of the teachers that has affected me is Uta Hagen. Her work has touched me for many reasons. One is that her parents and family were musicians and artists themselves. Her mother was an opera singer, and the fact that Uta later developed the Object Exercises is a testament to the musical self-discipline of her mother. As singers we all sings scales to balance the registers, train the breath, and secure our voices. Hagen's exercises do the same for the acting technique. Each exercise builds on the previous one, and by the time singers/actors finish the last one, they should have a good idea of how to create a role effectively.

In this blog, I'll be discussing the Hagen exercises and techniques in a step by step fashion, and I open the dialogue for discussion and considerations of specific application to opera.