Friday, August 20, 2010

I'm a what?!?

My current and previous 2 teachers have all gone through the same exercise - trying to figure out where my voice sits so they know what music to have me work on. Soprano? Mezzo with an extension? My last 2 teachers finally settled on mezzo, but NA has decided differently. Last week she told me she thinks I've got a lyric soprano inside me trying to break free, that If I've previously been "diagnosed" a mezzo, it's because I was "under-energized" and not supporting properly and therefore not singing to my full capability.

Perhaps to start to stretch my vocal envelope, as it were, she helped me pick a new audition piece: Offenbach's Hymn to Bacchus, from Orphee aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld). It's quite range-y - goes down to an A below middle C and up to the A below high C, a full 2 octaves. The lower A is no problem, but that upper one? I'm gonna hafta work to get into training for that one, but my teacher seems to think that if I get on track with "focused practice", I'll be fine. Sure hope so; I anticipate needing it sometime in October or November.

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