Yesterday evening I had a coaching session with the concert producer on the duet "Je Vais Danser en Votre Honneur". Some interesting things came up. First, she pointed out that the lower middle part of my range is not strong, so I need to sing all the "La la las" differently. She said rather than sticking to where the "l"s are in the score, I should put in as many as I want to make the sound more pointed. Also, I realized that the two pages of "La la las" are not all that interesting musically, so I will need to do something (aka act sexy and move around) to keep the piece vibrant. She also suggested having the pianist play my notes underneath. And she said she herself might play castanets! For some of the later parts of the duet, she also said I should sing the optional higher notes. These are not high notes; mostly Ds, Es, and one F. She said she will get back to me regarding where to sing the higher, rather than the lower notes. As a point of interest, she said she thinks that even though I have a mezzo range, my voice has a soprano color. Now this could be said of many mezzos with voices of all sizes, including Ebe Stignani, whom years ago I was told I sounded like. It's so odd; I get so many conflicting messages about my voice type; the only thing that's consistent is that no matter what I do with my voice, it doesn't really function outside the Wikipedia mezzo range from low A to high A.
The other thing I've been doing is tightening up the selections I've made from the book. I have really enjoyed this because it allows me to use the skills I use as a playwright.
So now I really need to dig into this duet! One thing I am grateful to my choir director for is that he has taught me how to work on music: first the rhythm, then the words, then the notes. I don't yet have any tools for memorizing, but I will figure it out (it's the words I have trouble memorizing, not the music).
As for how things are shaping up, here's a rundown:
Habanera (could sing in my sleep)
Sequidilla (need to learn the recit and, well, just accept that the B at the end is dicey - or transpose the page down. I will ask the producer what she thinks.)
Chanson Boheme (in good shape; I may be able to get the Micaela to sing the bridges between the verses)
Je Vais Danser (need to learn from the score, not just by ear, and memorize the words)
Card Aria (may cut; if we keep it, need to memorize).
Death Scene (need to memorize)
We now have a narrator. She is only 18!!!! (but in all fairness looks older; I would say mid 20s). She is going to be a musical theater major at a prestigious university, and already has an amazingly pure, well-trained, and facile voice. It is a small voice, but it sparkles like a jewel, with a flute-like extension at the top that I would kill for (some mezzos have it, but it is often not integrated with the rest of their voice). She is equally at home singing in the classical style and belting. She has been performing in public since she was 11, and received intensive vocal training in high school, similar to what young people get in conservatory pre-college programs. She is really not that different from the two young women who became "stars" in the choir (one left for a paying church job). Young, trained from a early age, able to sing classical music and to belt, with a focused sound throughout their ranges.
It is in the presence of this that I feel so inadequate. Voices that are built as they are growing, and molded in the right direction, have something that voices that are discovered when a lot of damage is done and bad habits are ingrained, never will. There are notes in my range that are full, ones that are not, notes that sound lovely, ones that often do not, passages that are still effortful, no matter how many approaches I try. Something analogous is that I have very bad scoliosis. That is why I keep getting shorter and why my legs are not the same length. Nowadays this can be corrected in young people either with braces, or, as a last resort, surgery. When I was growing up there wasn't even a name for it. I just thought I was "klutzy", whereas in point of fact my body was out of alignment. Everything starts so young now. The preparation for future excellence doesn't even begin at 18 or 20 the way it did when I was growing up (of course there was always an exception for ballet, certain sports, and playing musical instruments) but now begins practically in grade school. For example both the star sopranos who took the choir by storm had been singing seriously since before puberty. No one any more has a chance if they discover their passion at 30 or 40, not to mention over 50. It isn't just "ageism"; it's that muscles are harder to train and shape.
So let's just hope that the musical, artistic, and literary wisdom that I've acquired over all these decades makes my age an asset, since in the scheme of things it is nothing but a liability.
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