Opera is all about details. We practice and polish and hone and obsess, sometimes to the point where we forget what all those details are in service of: performing. All of it is so that when we get up on that stage we have the tools to really, truly, make the art as we want it to be. We so desperately want to share and communicate with the people watching on a primal level, and working towards perfection allows us to communicate more easily and deeply.
Last Saturday I was able to do that thing where you make a roomful of people forget to breathe and wait to clap. Where they're still with you as the last chord fades and they need to sit with you for an extra few seconds while you hold the final energy of your aria. Honestly, that's the moment I live for in opera. It was exactly what I was aiming for with that particular piece, so even though I didn't advance in the competition I was singing for, I'm proud of myself. I didn't sing perfectly, but I took the audience somewhere else. I performed. That's what it's about. That's why I do this. To make people feel, to make them empathize. Not sympathize; empathize. To help them immerse so deeply their neurons line up with mine and they feel with me. I forget what I'm about sometimes when I get caught up in the day-to-day of making specialized throat noises, but that was not one of those days. I lost, but I won.
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I have finally started making vlogs! This first installment is my adventures on Sunday, 29 April. So excited to share this first video with you! I had the privilege of attending the Met Opera National Council Finals and learned a lot. If you are a singer, I highly recommend watching as many competitions as you can. It teaches you about, in no particular order:
In case you were wondering (and didn't just click on the MONC link above), the winners are: Ashley Dixon, Mezzo-Soprano, Northwest Region Jessica Faselt, Soprano, Upper Midwest Region Madison Leonard, Soprano, Middle Atlantic Region Carlos Santelli, Tenor, Western Region Hongni Wu, Mezzo-Soprano, Eastern Region I had a lot of fun making my first MezzoNerd video. Please subscribe to my youtube channel - there will be more vlogs in the future! |
AuthorMaayan is a Manhattan-based opera singer. Archives
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