Che gelida…

For the concert that I am singing next week in Munich I must prepare some parts from Puccini's La bohème and I have have been practising non stop Rodolfo's aria "Che gelida manina". This aria is very challenging but so beautiful, the text of it is really beautiful and musically full of colors and dynamics. In my tenor register the one note that always is so difficult for me to decide how to approach is the high b flat. This particular note I can sing in a more head voice direction or I can approach this note on a more chesty voice. The problem comes that either way I try I am never comfortable singing this particular note as I can not always bring the balance that it needs to be in the right quality. Of course it depends on the repertoire that I sing that the approach to this note varies for me, but it is only in the last few days that I am finding perhaps the right way for me to sing this note. I found a more connected sound on this note but with still head resonances, I still get sometimes the note to heavy and to anchored to the lower side of it that therefore becomes a flat note a bit under the pitch, only when I can find the right hight to the note and I do not push it or try to make the sound then I get it right, still fully connected. I know it may be confusing to understand what I am describing and I really understand if the terms I use may not be neccessarily the right ones for you to understand as there are many ways to interpret how someone describes something specially talking about singing. All I want to say is that I am finding the right balance for this note specially now with practising Che gelida manina.

Currently I am working very carefully with the starting of my phrases. I tend, if I am not careful, to start the phrases with my larynx therefore sometimes throaty sound a bit tight and not on the right natural resonance with a more on the breath singing. I also must be careful not to over pronounce while singing, what I mean sometimes I try to pronounce to correct that I end up cutting the legato of the phrase and while doing so at the same time my voice then changes the quality. For example when I pronounce a double consonant to hard, the sound becomes hard and changes the quality of the following notes. Another example is if I start with a vowels and the attack is with too much glotis then the sound becomes throaty and affects the whole phrase. So this examples are just to show that mantaining the equilibrium of the voice is a very meticulus work that never ceases, and I must always keep going back to the practise room to correct and remember concepts that are so known to me but sometimes forget to apply them myself. I do all this because I love singing and taking on new challenges in my career. I do hope that I can go further in my career and sing for many many years to come. I keep working hard cause I want to be sure that I get the right technique that allows me to protect my voice in order to sing for many years and because I want to be able to keep living from my singing. I am preparing for when the opportunities come to be ready for them. I do hope in the future I can provide more for my family in Mexico, this is another big motor in my life as a singer, to be able to be more succesfull so that I can visit my family more often and being more helpful to them and have more time together, not only during the summer once a year after I finish the season in the theater.

Take care and until next week.