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.)

JANUARY 10 - BALANCING THE VOICE

DECEMBER 09 - LOVE CAN REIGN - LINK

NOVEMBER 09 - ABSENCE OF EXCESSIVE TENSION

OCTOBER 09 - YOUR OTHER BEST FRIEND - YOUR MIRROR

SEPTEMBER 09 - EVERYONE CAN SING!

AUGUST 09 - LATENT HERNIAS AND OTHER SUPPORT PROBLEMS

JULY 09 - PRINCE IMRAN RAZA STATESMAN/ROCK STAR

JUNE 09 - ANOTHER NATURAL SINGER - DAVID BURKE

MAY 09 -DISCOVERY OF VOIC
E

APRIL 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT  Part 2

MARCH 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT

FEBRUARY 09 - SINGING IN ENGLISH

JANUARY 09 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 4)

DECEMBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 3)

NOVEMBER 08 -
GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 2)

OCTOBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 1)

SEPTEMBER 08 - HEAVY BREATHING ADVISED FOR JOCKS

AUGUST 08 -  THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 3)

JULY 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 2)

JUNE 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 1)

MAY 08 - ABSENCE OF TENSION

APRIL 08 -
THE FLAT TONGUE TECHNIQUE AND HOW DO YOU MAKE A VOWEL

MARCH 08  - THE VOICE COACHING THAT  MADE MY CAREER

FEBRUARY 08 - WHAT ARE YOU SINGING?

JANUARY 08 -
VIBRATO/WOBBLE

DECEMBER 07 - BREATHING REVISITED

NOVEMBER  07 - HOW TO KILL A COLD IN FIVE DAYS

OCTOBER 07 - A BIT MORE SUPPORT

SEPTEMBER 07 - MORE SUPPORT

AUGUST 07 - INTRO & BREATHING/SUPPORT