{"id":127,"date":"2023-07-28T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opera.education\/?p=127"},"modified":"2023-07-28T13:26:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T13:26:36","slug":"travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/2023\/07\/28\/\u043f\u0443\u0442\u0435\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c\/","title":{"rendered":"\u041f\u0443\u0442\u0435\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Do you really get to know the city where you\u2019re singing, either? Everyone always assumes you have time to \u201cvacation\u201d in that city, which is not true. You have many things to do, most opera seasons are during the cruddiest weather periods (on purpose) of that region, and no one wants to wander around a foreign city in the cold and rain by himself. I\u2019ve had to force myself to take a look around the places I\u2019ve sung. Otherwise, what\u2019s the perk in travelling to all these places? Making local friends is always the best bet. But naturally, that would require that you SPEAK THE LANGUAGE!<\/p>\n

\u0420\u0410\u0421\u041f\u0418\u0421\u0410\u041d\u0418\u0415 \u0410\u0414!<\/h4>\n

Speaking of working, let me explain about rehearsal schedules. (Small tangent.) Because most directors have no idea how far they\u2019ll get from one day to the next, they have a very loose rehearsal schedule, which gets changed daily. You will know for sure the time periods of rehearsal usually, but not whether or not you\u2019re called, until the day beforehand.\u00a0This is STANDARD. This is not just a bad dream or one lone theater\u2019s quirkiness!\u00a0<\/i>This means that although you can be relieved that you don\u2019t have to rehearse every day from (for example) 10:30-12:30 and then 1:30-4:30, then 7-10, you could be called for any one of those time periods, or all. (Depending on the theater, of course.) You usually won\u2019t know until the day beforehand, and even if you know two or three days beforehand, they can change their minds \u2013 \u2013 you\u2019re there to work for THEM in that time period. There\u2019s usually one day off a week \u2013 usually Sunday or Monday. Which means you can\u2019t make plans to do anything in advance during the week, like dinner plans, dates with friends, going to the theater, going to a concert, having a doctor\u2019s appointment, etc\u2026. When you are working, things are as concentrated as possible, since it doesn\u2019t pay for them to take their leisure to put a show together with all these people coming in from all over to do this show. So, your time will be very filled with your work. Your life can become JUST your work.<\/p>\n

\u041e\u0414\u0418\u041d\u041e\u0427\u0415\u0421\u0422\u0412\u041e<\/h4>\n

The major thing about travelling all the time is the loneliness. I still haven\u2019t come to terms with this. Some men\u2019s wives travel with them all the time. I have no idea what she does all day in a strange city while he rehearses. I\u2019ve had a boyfriend travel with me in the past, which almost always is uncomfortable for him, since in our sexist world, people accept that a woman can spend her life doing nothing, but yet a man\u2019s ego is continually battered if he\u2019s not \u201cdoing something!\u201d A very large percentage of singers I know are divorced, or having major relationship problems because of the distance. It\u2019s hard work just to *maintain* a relationship long-distance and I\u2019m not at all convinced that it can *grow* at a distance. Heck, it\u2019s tough enough to have a good intimate relationship, period! Add stress and distance. Lots of opera singers cheat on their spouses; lots of singers form intense friendships with their costars, then forget them once they\u2019ve left town. Then there\u2019s always the problem of receiving mail, getting bills paid on time, and staying in touch with the people you need to stay in touch with, because your address and phone are always changing. Email for me is essential.<\/p>\n

\u042f\u0417\u042b\u041a\u0418<\/h5>\n

My next and favorite subject for young American singers is LANGUAGE! You MUST learn foreign languages if you want to do well in this business and if you want to do justice to your art. \u2026Even if you don\u2019t have a career in Europe. Not only must you communicate, but how else can you get the most out of the texts you\u2019re singing? I\u2019d always understood what I was saying and had good diction in Italian; but until I was fluent, I hadn\u2019t realized what a huge difference it made in how I approached the music. It makes making music so much easier!! Although English has become the modern \u201clingua franca,\u201d and it\u2019s not too difficult to find someone in the cast or production team who speaks English, speaking more languages can only help you. All opera music is nuanced primarily by the words. If you only know the words by rote, or only know a word-for-word translation (bravo! but that\u2019s not enough\u2026) then you can miss out on the play and style of the music. Plus, you will gain much more respect in your work with conductors, directors and singers alike by speaking the language.<\/p>\n

\u041e\u0422\u041a\u0410\u0417 \u041e\u0422 \u041e\u0422\u0412\u0415\u0422\u0421\u0422\u0412\u0415\u041d\u041d\u041e\u0421\u0422\u0418<\/h5>\n

I don\u2019t necessarily want to scare everyone to death about a free-lance opera career, but I think it\u2019s so important to know what you\u2019re getting into before doing it, so that you can safeguard against the pitfalls of this career. Most people think that love is enough, not realizing that making life decisions to actually SEE your spouse on a regular basis is tantamount to success in a relationship with a singer. And how do you want to raise your children? Do you want to home-school them, and drag them all around with you, uprooting them all the time? (Home-schooling is a very serious endeavor which is many times more labor-intensive and time-consuming on your part, and must needs be taken on with proper guidance, intense research and a great network of help!) Or do you want to become an absentee parent? They\u2019re two extremes, but that\u2019s why I asked in paragraph one what was important to you. You can carve out your ideal life with compromises on each front, if you keep in mind what is most important, whatever that might be for you. Without planning and foresight, you can be continually frustrated because one factor of your life is getting ignored.<\/p>\n

\u0415\u0429\u0415 \u041e\u0414\u0418\u041d \u041e\u0422\u041a\u0410\u0417 \u041e\u0422 \u041e\u0422\u0412\u0415\u0422\u0421\u0422\u0412\u0415\u041d\u041d\u041e\u0421\u0422\u0418! \u0418 \u0412\u0410\u0420\u0418\u0410\u041d\u0422\u042b!<\/h5>\n

After all that negative spiel, I have to say that I love singing, and I love it that this career allows me to do what I love and actually get paid for it. I have to love it in order to put up with all the B.S. involved!!! If you don\u2019t love it enough to put up with these kinds of bothers, then don\u2019t do it!!!! There are so many other venues in which you can make music \u2013 \u2013 church choir, solos in your community, setting up recitals or private concerts, music THERAPY!, singing programs in nursing homes and hospices, starting your own little playhouse (don\u2019t laugh, I have a friend who runs a quite successful one with other 9-5\u2019ers who miss doing theater), or TEACHING (one of the most important jobs in this world!) The list is very long. It just matters if you feel you MUST sing opera as your CAREER, or maybe you\u2019d like to have a \u201cnormal\u201d life, too.<\/p>\n

\u0427\u0442\u043e\u0431\u044b \u0443\u0437\u043d\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0431\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043e \u0441\u0442\u0438\u043b\u0435 \u0436\u0438\u0437\u043d\u0438 \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435\u043a\u0430, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e \u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0432\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0438\u043c \u043f\u0435\u0432\u0446\u043e\u043c, \u0438 \u043e \u0442\u043e\u043c, \u043a\u0430\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043e\u0442\u0434\u0430\u0447\u0430 \u0432 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0442\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u0434 \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0435\u0439 \u043c\u0443\u0437\u044b\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u0438 \u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0441\u043e\u043c \u043d\u0435\u043e\u0431\u0445\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0430, \u0447\u0442\u043e\u0431\u044b \u0441\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0432\u0435\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0438\u043c \u043f\u0435\u0432\u0446\u043e\u043c, \u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0439\u0442\u0435 \u0437\u0434\u0435\u0441\u044c.\u00a0\u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0431\u0438\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0444\u0438\u044f \u0414\u0436\u043e\u0430\u043d \u0421\u0430\u0437\u0435\u0440\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0434.<\/a>\u00a0It\u2019s a bit simple, but she decided against a ghost-writer; thus you get a real sense of this incredible woman. It wouldn\u2019t hurt to read a few other auto-biographies, although some (\u201cMa voix et moi\u201d for example) tend to be patting themselves on the back a bit too much. Check out your local \u201cartsy\u201d bookstore, or library. The same themes will be found in all of these autobiographies \u2013 incredibly hard work, singlemindedness and passion for their art.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you really get to know the city where you\u2019re singing, either? Everyone always assumes you have time to \u201cvacation\u201d in that city, which is not true. You have many things to do, most opera seasons are during the cruddiest …<\/p>\n

\u041f\u0443\u0442\u0435\u0448\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c<\/span> \u0427\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0435 \u2192<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yac"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/opera.education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/F38761.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}