What makes an amazing singer?

Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 9:44 pm. 1 comment

I just got out of La Boheme run-through with Arizona Opera. We have to fabulous casts.  All the singers are wonderful.  But, one, tenor Gaston Rivero, draws me in and makes me pay attention EVERY time he opens his mouth.  For those of you who’ve sat through oepra run-through rehearsals (especially as chorus), you know how rare this is.

Last run-through (this past Tuesday night, 1/19/10), I could NOT stay in my “rut” of just reading & waiting until it was my turn to go on.  I was drawn into Mr. Rivero’s singing each time he sang.  Even in rehearsal, with the chorus sitting upstage of all the action (i.e. the soloists had their back to us), I couldn’t do anything BUT pay attention to his voice.  There is something special about this man.

Both of our Mimi’s and Rodolfo’s are technically fabulous.  I don’t worry about the high notes or the line and everything is very well-sung.  Tonight’s Mimi & Rodolfo (I won’t name names) were technically wonderful, but just didn’t move me.  I was happy when I was offstage reading my book and working on the computer with wonderful singing going on in the background, even when the Mimi was told by our stage director “That’s perfect.  Do it that way every time.  Don’t change a thing.  Every time.” I just wasn’t moved – it was technical perfection, and perhaps her face showed more emotion, but it wasn’t PAIRED with the sound to draw me in.

So, what IS it that makes an artist so special that you can’t help but pay attention to them?  What makes you hold your breath while you’re listening and then just release it on a sigh when the aria is over?  It’s NOT musical perfection.  It’s not “acting” everything exactly as the director requests of you.

What I’ve found moves ME is vocal ability that is seamless, but with an intensity of dramatic connection that I stop thinking like a voice teacher and just live in the moment.  I admit, it’s rare for that to occur for me.  I almost never stop analyzing, listening and learning.  When the body is totally committed.  When the face stays constantly engaged in the moment.  When the voice is stable and just present in every moment, with ease, consistency and emotional engagement.  What’s written on the page is being sung, but it has MORE.  There is life & breath to the sound, a fluidity that can only come from an intense physical connection to the sound that is generated from the emotional connection.  It is so much more than the notes on the page and MUCH more than perfection of technical sound.

The voice of our Mimi tonight is such that I will NEVER worry about any of her notes.  Her voice is a perfection of clear, vibrated tone.  That dreaded high C that ends Act One is shimmering in it’s beauty.  I find that I really don’t care.  It’s all so perfectly sung that, for me, there is no character present.  The face is emotional, but in the voice, there are few distinguishing moments where there is a CONTRAST from the beauty of the sound.  The emotions generated by La Boheme need to be so present, that consistent beauty actually rings false, at least to my ear.

Mr. Rivero’s voice is also beautiful, solid and consistent.  He has a connection between the notes that is amazing to listen to – THIS technique is what I try to teach my students.  But, he also has that “more” where the voice just gives itself over to the emotion and so amazing music is made.  His total commitment to character and allowing his ego to be subsumed by the entire process draws me and makes it impossible for me to do anything besides listen, watch, and enjoy being in the presence of a great artist.

What do YOU find moves you most in a vocal performance?  In any musical performance?  In any stage performance?  Is there a commonality of loss of “actor” into the role that helps to create that performance that grabs you by the throat?  In Amanda Ameer’s blog on being a publicist for classical musicians, Life’s a Pitch, guest blogger Jonathan Biss wrote yesterday about how Meryl Streep might be as successful an actress as she is because we, the audience, DON’T know everything about her personal life, so she is able to be almost consumed by the character and be in a different state of being than those younger actors about whom we know their slightest move (thanks to the tabloids, et al). Read the blog entry entitled “Not all ‘special’ is created equal” and let me know what you think on all these thoughts.  But, most of all, check out Mr. Rivero. He is a tenor well worth watching.  I am enjoying every minute that I am priveleged to be in his presence.

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