Studying, Oratorios, reading…
Hi there! This week was a week full of practising what I worked with Mr. Alvarez. I also was busy learning 2 Oratorios for an upcoming concert next week. And did some re reading from different books I previously read on singing.
It is always challenging to change your mind about something, or at least it is always interesting how I perceive things differently even if it is the same concept. To learn is to keep exploring and re discovering things in a different way of how you perhaps understood them at some point in the past. For me singing has been like that, because I constantly shift my ideas and question them, so over the years I tried different ways to try to find my voice and the different ways I can use it to produce a classical sound, sometimes driven by certain concepts, some times instinct and sometimes right ideas applied in a wrong way and sometimes the right way. I am sure singers reading this would understand what I am talking about. Also, do not forget the repertoire plays a hug role on how you sing, also the body changes over the years, and one, I believe has to learn to adapt to those changes as well.
Learning the Oratorios from Camille Saint-Saëns and Bob Chilcott is really nice. Specially challenging because it has been such a long time since I sang in English any sacred music. I am singing the Saint-Saëns in English, so that is pretty rare and of course the Chilcott is in English. As I am the Evangelist and the angel Gabriel in this Chilcott, I have a hug amount of text and singing in English to me as a Latin language speaker is pretty difficult. The consonants and the diphthongs, long vowels, short vowels, the color of the vowels, close or open vowels, all of that, I have so much respect for the language. Even speaking with my colleagues they find also challenging singing in English as native speakers. I pay special care because I want to be understood while singing but not sacrificing my technique for the sake of the text, this requires a lot of concentration and focus and it is really mentally exhausting. So, in order to find a balance I must work a lot on the text first, to be able to really grasp the meaning and the logic to it, work on the right pronunciation and then how to sing it that it sounds good. I am going through over and over and marking on the music, the places where I have to be careful to not forget to pronounce, must of the times the ending consonants, or some vowel coloring, also places that I pronounce in my brain well or when I speak but when singing I modified too much because of the technique. Only then I can focus on the dynamics of the music, I am grateful that the dynamics are very based on the meaning of the text so I feel is coherent and natural, so the phrasing is clear and organic.
I continue doing my daily pages, 4 times a week exercise routine and readying my Daily Stoic and Tolstoi.
I hope you are well and take care. See you next week.
