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singing

2002-04-03 - 3:12 p.m.

Rex noster promptus est suscipe de sanguinem innocentum, sed nubes super est eunden sanguinem planguent.

Ah! Jehanne! Jehanne! Oh! Valde beatus fuisti cum verbum Dei te in ignem columbe imbuit, ubi tu quasi aurora illuminatus est.

(Please excuse my crappy Latin spelling.)

No more modern rants. But y'all should get out to a video store and see La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc--really excellent film. Richard Einhorn wrote an accompanying opera/oratorio (it is neither, curiosuly enough), which, if you ever get the opportunity, you should def. go see in a live performance. Some of you heathen may remember that I did a live performance of this last year with Anonymous 4--the Wealhtheow fiance will not get too upset when I say this was one of the GREAT HIGHLIGHTS of my life.

Singing is perhaps the most narcissitic and vulnerable of the arts. It exposes you more than anything else I've tried. There are no props, just you and your body. But when you do it well, it's hard not to get a big head about it. And quite frankly, irresponsable not to acknowledge that you have a greater talent than most. I'm not thinking about myself here, but rather about an interview with Marilyn Horne that I read a while back. It appears in Jerome Hines "Great Singers on Great Singing" (more about this in a moment). Horne talks about the exercises her teacher did to help her iron out her passagio, the part of the voice that is between registers and can often be rough. She then says, "But that was me, with my great talent." Sounds egotistical, but think about it. Marilyn Horne IS one of the most gifted singers in the world. Would it really be responsible of her to say "If anyone sings like this, and works hard enough, they too can become a grand diva and have many leading roles at the Met?" Come on.

Hines' book is great--those of you who I think read this site might get enjoyment out of it. But if there are any young singers out there, DO NOT read this book without a teacher. DO NOT try stuff in this book without talking to your teacher. What works for Marilyn Horne might not work for you. Also, singing is so freaking subjective that it is extremely easy to misunderstand what one of these singers is saying and seriously injure your voice. That said, this is still a great resource book. It really helped clarify a few things my teacher was telling me about.

If you want to know what the translation of the quotes up top are, you'll have to e-mail me. Sorry.

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Die Entfuehrung
Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction From
the Seraglio).
Which Mozart Opera Does Your Life Most Resemble?
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