Here's something you might be interested in.
As I mentioned, I went the the local Met Auditions on Saturday at the Birch North Park Theater.
I want to make it clear, this is NOT an audition. It is a competition that is called an audition. Nobody knows why.
The judges select 5 singers to receive encouragement awards and 3 singers to move on the Regional Round in Los Angeles.
This event is for singers with "operatic potential" ages 20 to 30.
The range of operatic potential appears to be quite wide.
2 singers stood out to me during the competition, no, they didn't go through to L.A.
Both singers happened to be sopranos but since 99 percent of young singers seem to be sopranos, its not really a surprise.
One was not ready to sing at that level. The other was quite possible insane.
At first blush you may think these are negative comments.I am not intending to be mean spirited.
These two sopranos merely represent one end of the wide spectrum of operatic potential. I'm going to address the other end of the spectrum next time.
Soprano number one: She came on when the stage manager told her to but the judges were not ready. They asked her to wait.
There she stood, 21 years old, not a whisper in the house and everyone staring at her. This went on for, let's say, a while.
She introduced herself and announced her first aria, Madama Butterfly's un bel di vedremo.
Every single person in the audience had the same thought, "Well, we'll see about that." We were all correct. It was inappropriate for her both emotionally and vocally. Listen to it from the 20,000 seat Arena di Verona
The judges picked the second aria for her, she sang it and walked off the stage in a daze.
She stood out for me because of all the singers, her experience was probably the most intense.
The Butterfly aria swallowed her whole. She knew it, the judges knew it, we all knew it.
That kind of exposure makes your body go into survival mode. Blood flowed out of the face to the vital organs, hands trembled, sweat ducts flowed. We all watched it happen and that's an intense experience to share with a theater full of strangers.
However, my heart did not go out to her. I was reminded of a line from August Wilson's Two Trains Running, "You livin' in the world now baby."
Soprano number two: The judges asked her to sing "The Doll Aria" from The Tales of Hoffmann.
This is a very stylized aria that is sung by a clock work doll. It cannot be sung without the doll motions, even in concert.
Soprano number two did the movements, kind of.
She moved but in a way I've never seen a human move before. Instead of a doll, it was more like a reanimated corpse. I can't think of another way to put it.
Halfway through I realized I was enjoying her performance because she could have been Chuckee's evil twin sister. Put a knife in her hand and it would've been perfect. Joan Sutherland singing The Doll's Aria
Soprano number two has put some of her stuff up on youtube and it's actually pretty good. I'm not sure what was going on with her during the competition but it was incredible to watch.
As I mentioned, I went the the local Met Auditions on Saturday at the Birch North Park Theater.
I want to make it clear, this is NOT an audition. It is a competition that is called an audition. Nobody knows why.
The judges select 5 singers to receive encouragement awards and 3 singers to move on the Regional Round in Los Angeles.
This event is for singers with "operatic potential" ages 20 to 30.
The range of operatic potential appears to be quite wide.
2 singers stood out to me during the competition, no, they didn't go through to L.A.
Both singers happened to be sopranos but since 99 percent of young singers seem to be sopranos, its not really a surprise.
One was not ready to sing at that level. The other was quite possible insane.
At first blush you may think these are negative comments.I am not intending to be mean spirited.
These two sopranos merely represent one end of the wide spectrum of operatic potential. I'm going to address the other end of the spectrum next time.
Soprano number one: She came on when the stage manager told her to but the judges were not ready. They asked her to wait.
There she stood, 21 years old, not a whisper in the house and everyone staring at her. This went on for, let's say, a while.
She introduced herself and announced her first aria, Madama Butterfly's un bel di vedremo.
Every single person in the audience had the same thought, "Well, we'll see about that." We were all correct. It was inappropriate for her both emotionally and vocally. Listen to it from the 20,000 seat Arena di Verona
The judges picked the second aria for her, she sang it and walked off the stage in a daze.
She stood out for me because of all the singers, her experience was probably the most intense.
The Butterfly aria swallowed her whole. She knew it, the judges knew it, we all knew it.
That kind of exposure makes your body go into survival mode. Blood flowed out of the face to the vital organs, hands trembled, sweat ducts flowed. We all watched it happen and that's an intense experience to share with a theater full of strangers.
However, my heart did not go out to her. I was reminded of a line from August Wilson's Two Trains Running, "You livin' in the world now baby."
Soprano number two: The judges asked her to sing "The Doll Aria" from The Tales of Hoffmann.
This is a very stylized aria that is sung by a clock work doll. It cannot be sung without the doll motions, even in concert.
Soprano number two did the movements, kind of.
She moved but in a way I've never seen a human move before. Instead of a doll, it was more like a reanimated corpse. I can't think of another way to put it.
Halfway through I realized I was enjoying her performance because she could have been Chuckee's evil twin sister. Put a knife in her hand and it would've been perfect. Joan Sutherland singing The Doll's Aria
Soprano number two has put some of her stuff up on youtube and it's actually pretty good. I'm not sure what was going on with her during the competition but it was incredible to watch.