The Bitter and the Sweet (Reprise)

The Bitter: For the first time in a long time, I decided to investigate an audition listed in the back of Classical Singer.  When I went to their web site and read their mission statement, there was the "Y" word loud and clear (and no, I don't mean "yelp", I mean "young").  In my last several posts I mentioned their being a "glut" of opera groups, which is true, and at least half of them use the "Y" word in their mission statement.  The next thing that happened, which would be funny if it weren't so sad, was I googled "opportunities for older singers" and the first hit was an article was about how to get "youth choruses" to accept older teenagers and the second hit was an old post I had made on the Forum. Which about tells you how many of these opportunities there are.

The Sweet:Well, this article allayed my fears about being homeless, at least for a while, so I can focus on other things. (The downside is I won't be moving to that hypothetical small town where I can be a real diva, either, but will be staying in my cubbyhole in the armpit of Lincoln Center.) And I sang through "Lux Aeterna" from the Requiem and it sounds really good! And I have fallen in love with a new role: Gertrude in Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas. It is lush and lovely, and is mostly in a middle register. Jennifer Larmore had referred to the role as "high", which to me seems odd as it does not go above an A, I don't think. My recording features Denyce Graves, who, when I think of it, is probably the closest to me, as a total package (despite the ethnic difference), rather than Dolora Zajick. Zajick has a big dramatic voice but is also blessed with easy top notes, which I am not, and plummy low notes, which I am not either, and sex appeal is not her strong suit. Graves seems to have made a career out of singing three roles: Carmen, Dalila, and Charlotte, all of which require a sensuous beauty, both vocal and otherwise, and do not go up into the vocal stratosphere. When I look at my CD, the arias on it are a close match to those on her aria CD, in fact I think she has recorded them all. In any event, she is the perfect Gertrude, and I think I am going to try to do something with this opera, after the Requiem, which now gives me a long view.