Tito, Edgardo…
Hi there!
I continue with rehearsals of Lucia di Lammermoor, it is going well although this week was a bit slow because our stage director got sick, and this week we had less rehearsals than normal, fortunately he is slowly feeling better and I hope next week we can get again a good pace.
Today I had a performance of Tito and it went well again, but every performance is so different and you never really know how things will turn out, so one must be very alert and high sensed to be able to react to any change on stage and also, what happens in your voice changes throughout the performance.
At the moment, I am vocally trying to find out on my voice, what are is the similarities of singing Mozart and singing Donizetti, both belong to different periods both historically and stylistically. Technique was different and instrumentation was different. So one must have a solid vocal technique but remain flexible enough so you can approach different repertoire and styles. Of course having always in mind, which type of voice you have. For example my voice is definitely lyric and I would never learn some leading tenor role in a Wagner's opera. Not only because that is not my voice but it could also be harmful to it. The orchestration is huge and dense. Remember, we have only one voice, and we cannot change instruments (voices) at will, but also, do not be afraid of use your voice and experiment and challenge what are the limits, only through a very personal discovery of what your voice is capable, then you can fully use it to its maximun potential. You must also have in mind that your voice is slightly different everyday, so use it not only when you feel fresh and ready to sing, try to sing also when you are not complitely fit, and also when you have a slight cold, cause many times, if you work on a German theater you must sing performances, with a cold, or feeling tired, or maybe your body aches, or you are going through rough personal times. The truth is that you must sing, unless of course you have a throat infection or some severe decease. So, if you are scared of using your voice, do not be, cause it is stronger than you think, but be careful at the same time, remember if it hurts, it is not right, trust your instinct.
Our body is also our instrument and therefore we must also take care of it. We do not only sing with the vocal chords, they are sorrounded by our whole body. When we are on stage we must use every part of our body to interpret and sing the role we are performing on that specific day. Sing with your whole body, use it to your advantage.
As I mentioned in some of my early blogs on this website, I started around 3 years ago, to excercise regularly and to improve the quality of my eating. I can not tell you enough how important was that change for me, and specially how good I feel since. I still dedicate on weekly basis to learn further little by little more about nutrition and excersice. Pairing with this physical activity, reading about philosophy and keeping curious how I can cultivate and stimulate my brain and soul helps me a lot to find inner calm. I am by nature a nervous person I think, so, I try to educate myself into understanding where this nervousness comes from and how to rationalized and calm it, control it, and digest it. Our nature could be to react or feel certain way, but we must conquere it, if it is not something good for us or for others. We have a brain, let us use it, but wisely, cause, our brain can cause so much pain and destruction as well. I am a firm believer we came here to experience life and to live it to its maximum and we must educate ourselves to be able to free us, specially from our mental chanes, we must strive to become the better version of ourselves, not for others but for us, if we do and try, then others will also benefit, the better we are as human beings the better we will do for others. So, be kind and pacient to others, everyone is on their own journey and each of us struggle with different things, things that my seem bunkers to you, but remember, you could be that someone, to someone else.
Take care and see you here next week.
