Choir "Gossip" and A Conundrum

Well, wouldn't you know? Only a few years have passed since Little Miss left and now we have a bona fide dramatic soprano (a 30-year-old training to sing Strauss) in the choir.  Apparently she has been living in New York for seven years, but only just now decided she wanted to find a "home church".  So we will see.  She is very different from Little Miss.  She is quite shy, and seems like a grownup (not a child bubbling over expecting - and getting - oodles of praise).  I first saw her name on the solo list, which is fine.  There is plenty of room for anyone who wants to sing a solo: there are probably 45 Sundays where at least one service has no choir singing and a few other special services (and the Spanish service). I don't really know why this woman wants to sing with the choir.  It will definitely be good to have her singing on Good Friday, when we will be doing sacred pieces by Schumann.  She is singing in the soprano section, so I am singing in the alto section, which makes sense because nobody in the alto section can make a big enough sound to sing with an orchestra.  I just don't want to get stuck in the alto section not because I don't like singing low, but because (I have probably mentioned this before) although soprano parts sometimes go low, alto parts never go high, so singing alto all the time is like going to the gym and only exercising half my body.

A while back I spoke to the choir director and asked if there would be any solos in the Good Friday music and was told that there might be a sopranos solo that was not too high that I might sing.  So what will happen now? Best scenario would be if the music contains both a soprano and an alto solo.  Then everyone will be happy. 

I think what bothered me so much about the situation with Little Miss wasn't how well she sang (although yes, it was gut-wrenching to know that I was less vocally polished than a 20-year-old;  being less polished than a 30-year-old would probably smart less) but all the attention she got.  To me that bespoke poor leadership as much as anything because particularly in a group setting whoever does or does not get solos, it is not appropriate to ooh and ah and gush over someone.

It is interesting also to see how different these two women's Facebook presences are.  Little Miss's page is filled with videos of her (often posted by other people) shared and circulated everywhere and gushed over by family and voice teachers. On the other hand, the new dramatic soprano has nothing on her Facebook page but pictures of her wedding.

As for other solos, I will have something either on Maundy Thursday or the Sunday after Easter. So between that and wanting to make a big plummy "professional" sound on the alto part in the Schumann, I am going to work on my lower register for a while (the Maundy Thursday solo would probably be the Vivaldi "Qui Sedes al Dexteram Patris").

I suppose the saddest thing isn't this or that individual, but that because of where I live, every year a new tidal wave of elite singers gets vomited up from conservatories all over the country, so no matter how much better I sing with each passing year, I can't get off the ocean floor.

A Somewhat Upbeat Update

Well, I now have a recital venue.  The Salvation Army residence that I sang at in 2015.  I was told that the audience would be small; they are moving and therefore aren't taking in new residents (and some have moved elsewhere because they don't like the neighborhood they will be moving into if they stay), and I can't invite choir people because it's on a Thursday night, but it will be a recital.  I don't know if my teacher will join me.  I have until after Easter to decide, because that's when I have to get the programs out.  (The recital is in May).

It will be basically the same program I have been doing but I am definitely going to add "Tanti Affetti".  I am quite astounded at how easy this feels to sing.  I will take two traditional cuts and am making one other cut (at my teacher's suggestion).  All the B flats except the last one are part of runs, and as I said a B flat now feel the way a G used to.   I had thought of using this aria to replace "Cruda Sorte", but I quite like "Cruda Sorte" so I think I will sing both and pass on the "Violin Aria", which I was going to use to replace the "Habanera", which for now I am totally bored with.

As for church solos, I may have a short solo for Good Friday.  We will be singing pieces by Schumann.  I don't know yet if I will be singing soprano or alto in the choir.  I think the solo in mind is for a soprano but it is not high.

And then I will have some other solo during the season.  The "Easter Hymn" is out because the only time slots after Easter are at 9 (not a comfortable time for me to sing in a high tessitura) so I have offered to sing Mary Magdalene's aria "Saget mir geschwinde" from the Bach Easter Oratorio.

Right now I mostly seem to want to sing Bach, Handel, and Rossini.  Mozart is a question mark.  I struggled (unsuccessfully) with the big "Laudamus te" whenever I tried to sing it.  With my new, more solid, technique and extra top notes (actually "Laudamus te" only goes up to an A; the problem is finding places to breathe and not getting tight) I might be able to nail it.  I don't know.  It would be nice to sing in the summer but we have to get our bids in by right after Easter, so if it feels iffy, I will sing something else.