Practice Update

Since I may have alarmed folks by writing about my vocal burnout at Tuesday's lesson, I should write something about today's practice.

Today was a "working at home" day, meaning I had some copyediting to do. The great thing about working at home is I can wear pjs, eat food from my fridge (both things save money), and sing!!! during break times.

So I followed my teacher's suggestion about how to work on "Chi ti salva" etc. Not too bad. I sang that one section through several times (the only screech happened when I forgot to start on an E flat and started on an E natural instead) and then sang the whole piece from the beginning. I think things will be ok if I take advantage of the breaks and keep my larynx down by singing "Aw".

Then I picked up the Water Duet from Gioconda which I haven't sung since The Mentor Who Will Not be Discussed and I sang it at the Water Communion service at the Unitarian Church. Since it's just a xerox (I long since disposed of the score I had when I sang the role in 1980) it's full of his red pencil markings. Don't get me wrong. He was a very good voice teacher! And he worked in the Dalcroze method simultaneously to working with me on vocal technique. I just really didn't need all the gratuitous lascivious comments or the snark. Singing the opening of this I could hear how my voice has grown.

Since it's almost Gay Pride Sunday I will insert a few remarks that were part of a longer piece of writing I did about being a Lonely Lesbian singing opera in 1980. Since singing Laura was both the high point and the end of my earlier singing "career" (if you can call singing with the Opera Underground a "career") I feel like reposting them here.

While I enjoyed being the only Lesbian (to my knowledge) at work – I had to be there after all; I couldn’t cut and run because of all the straight people – being the only Lesbian in a small opera company made me question what I was doing there. Luckily, as a mezzo, I could be another kind of token – a shoo in for pants parts. This was rather ironic since in the context of being a Lesbian I was strictly a femme, but compared to the (mostly quite zaftig and often older) straight women I played against, I looked quite boyish. There were lots of giggles and lots of “I was only kidding” casual flirting. And no one had to tell me how to walk. All I had to do was imitate all the butches I knew, which was easier than trying to imitate a man and, ok, who are we kidding? Cherubino was really a little butch anyhow.

It got harder when a plum role came my way – Laura in La Gioconda. This was a dream role – a glamorous lady who got to run off with the hero at the end. Not everyday fare for mezzos. And such glorious music. The stumbling block was I had to kiss a guy.

Something that quite shocked me when I officially came out, was the extent to which many Lesbians, my partner included, really hated and feared men. I didn’t and I really didn’t understand this. I thought they were lousy lovers and mostly a bore, but a species to fear? No. But when I told my partner I was playing a real honest to God love scene that involved a little snogging with a man (never mind that he was in his 60s – ah the days when ageism in opera was unknown – and shorter than I was) she hit the ceiling. It was only permissible if I kept my disgust obvious, which of course made me appear a lousy actress. I didn’t know any Lesbian opera singers, so there was no one for me to check in with about how to handle this quandary. I really felt all alone.

Getting back to the present, I then ran through the duet with Alvise, which I will be singing with my bass friend in October. I sang this with him in another concert so I was rather shocked that I was having trouble remembering the notes. So I'd better put the recording on the next time I'm cleaning (I don't listen to music when I'm working). It's one of my favorite operas anyhow.