OCTOBER 2010
TOOLS OF THE TRADE (i.e.
LEARNING REPERTOIRE)
When Julius Rudel hired
me at the New York City
Opera, I knew ONLY four
arias and half of the
role of Marcello, in La
Bohème. He had first
heard me nine months
earlier but apparently
had nothing to offer at
the time, since the
Company routinely booked
a year in advance. He
assigned me the role of
Morales (More-or-less)
in Carmen, Count Ceprano
in Rigoletto and
Schaunard in La Bohème.
I had come in for the
audition from Tamiment,
PA, where I was doing
ten weeks of Review
work. I had to return
right after the audition
and had to make a trip
back to NY the following
Monday to buy the scores
for the three operas, as
well as the “seconds”
records of each opera...
as well as a portable
record player with which
to learn the roles.
I had three more weeks
of Tamiment, then
a week off, before
starting my first
rehearsal at City Opera.
Of course each week, I
had to learn a
completely new review,
which included the
opening and closing
songs, a duet and solo,
as well as a “Blackout”
a short comedy routine
that ends with a
“blackout!” We had to
learn all of the music
“by rote,” (they had no
music to read so it was
lyrics and a pianist
playing your melody)
which was maddening. I
also had to sing a
concert on Wed nights
and the Show Saturday
night. What little time
I had to myself, was
spent learning my music.
Where I had previously
only learned half of
Marcello in a year
(lazy), I had the three
roles memorized in three
weeks.
The learning of music
was a lot different
before cassette players
came out. To hear the
phrases time and again,
I had to find the place
on the record and gently
search with the needle
to find the right place,
hundreds of times to
find the vocal line I
had to sing... amongst
the many other voices
that were often singing
at the same time. I had
patiently played all of
my music on the piano,
being ultra careful to
learn the notes just as
the man wrote it.
After I could sing a
given phrase or two
without a mistake,
always “sotto voce” I
would move on to the
next one and do the same
thing. It would take
hours! The secret was to
not try to sing anything
full-voice, no matter
how tempting it was and
not necessarily in the
proper key. That way I
could repeat ad
infinitum without
getting vocally tired.
When I got through the
whole role, it was back
to the beginning and do
it all over again. Each
time I did this, I got
through the piece in
much less time... until
I had it virtually
memorized. Only then did
I sing the role in the
voice required for the
stage. I was a novice...
but I wasn’t stoopid!
While Count Ceprano was
vocally very short...
there were pages and
pages of chorus I had to
learn. But always “sotto
voce” until I knew it
well... and then I sang
it out! That’s how I was
able to learn the three
operas ... while
learning and performing
the remaining three
Review Shows... without
ever tiring my voice.
Fortunately, my debut
was as Schaunard. In
those days, there were
seven daily Newspapers
in New York. I got a
paragraph in five of
them for my debut... and
the sang my first
leading role with the
company five months
later, Giuseppe Palmieri
in The Gondoliers, by
Gilbert and Sullivan. My
“brother” was the
wonderful tenor John
Alexander. I did his
last opera with him,
Roberto Devereux, with
Beverly Sills as
Elizabeth.
When I was asked to do
La Forza for my debut
with the Met... I didn’t
know one note of it!
They gave it to me
thirty days before I was
to sing it in Wolf Trap,
Vienna, VA, on tour with
the Met. Doing what I
have just outlined
above... I had the very
demanding, hour-long
Verdi role of Don Carlo
memorized in eighteen
days... and that
was the first day I
began to sing it fully
into my voice. I sang a
full run-through the day
eleven days later, with
all of the high notes,
ninety percent and with
the conductor actually
taking my tempo for “Una
fatale...” which he now
accepted. My debut the
following night was one
of my best performances
of my life.
(Parenthetically, my
primary aria was always
the Largo al factotum
(Figaro aria) from
Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
I owned that aria,
having sung it in The
Horn, a Night Club in
Santa Monica, CA,
sometimes three times a
night, by request. It
has all of the high
notes and makes a great
audition piece because
the singing of it
immediately lays to rest
any concern the
auditioner might have
for your facility with
the high voice. My
second aria was always
Eri tu... from
Ballo in Maschera, which
demonstrated facility
with the Verdi
repertoire, as it
requires a fuller,
somewhat more dramatic
timbre, for contrast,
with the Largo, with a
great high G and
powerful high ending. I
used that for my Met
audition where I debuted
as Don Carlo in La
Forza del Destino.)