So, you\u2019ve started singing in some houses, you\u2019ve finished a young artist program, or you are embarking on your career. Things seem to be going well. But do you have a plan?? What types of roles do you see yourself doing next year, the two years after, in five years? What will you be known for at the end of your career? Going back to the same \u201cwhat are your outstanding qualities\u201d question \u2013 what are the things that are unique about your voice or your musicality, and what roles are going to show these off? Which of these roles do you really connect with from a dramatic perspective? You can be drawn all day to roles that appeal to your dramatic senses, but this is OPERA, not just THEATER. What not only just suits your voice but\u00a0\u8131\u9896\u800c\u51fa\u00a0<\/b>\u5728\u4f60\u7684\u58f0\u97f3\u4e2d\u5c06\u6210\u4e3a\u4f60\u804c\u4e1a\u751f\u6daf\u7684\u8f7d\u4f53\u3002<\/p>\n
\u5728\u6211\u804c\u4e1a\u751f\u6daf\u4e4b\u521d\uff0c\u6bcf\u4e2a\u4eba\u90fd\u5efa\u8bae\u6211\u4e13\u653b\uff0c\u4f46\u6211\u62d2\u7edd\u4e86\u3002\u5728\u5b66\u6821\u91cc\uff0c\u5728\u6bd4\u8d5b\u4e2d\uff0c\u751a\u81f3\u5728\u8bd5\u955c\u4e2d\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u90fd\u88ab\u8981\u6c42\u6210\u4e3a\u4e00\u4e2a\u5168\u9762\u7684\u97f3\u4e50\u5bb6\uff0c\u5c55\u793a\u6211\u4eec\u53ef\u4ee5\u5728\u6bcf\u4e00\u79cd\u97f3\u4e50\u548c\u98ce\u683c\u4e2d\u5927\u653e\u5f02\u5f69\u3002<\/p>\n
Once you get into a career, you need to throw away this idea that \u201cbeing a versatile artist\u201d is a great selling point. It is not, and nobody shines in everything \u2013 not Thomas Hampson, not Renee Fleming, not Natalie Dessay\u2026 Versatility confuses people who want an easy \u201cproduct\u201d to buy \u2013 it doesn\u2019t mean anything to them. I have resisted so long in\u00a0\u4e13\u653b\u00a0<\/b>that maybe it is too late now.. It is not saying that you are selling out to concentrate on one thing for a while, so you can \u201cmake your name.\u201d It is, in marketing terms, defining your product. And in personal and musical terms, it means defining who you are, getting to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, and only underlining your strengths!\u00a0\u4e00\u6b21\u00a0<\/b>you have established yourself with name recognition and reputation, and people know you as \u201cthe best\u201d at something, you can do whatever you want to do. Then people will comment on your wonderful versatility, but not before you have established your \u201cbrand name\u201d first. You do not want to buy diapers from Gerbers, nor baby food from Pampers, although in the long run, they are probably run by the same company.<\/p>\n\u662f\u4ec0\u4e48\u8ba9\u4f60\u95ea\u8000\uff1f<\/h3>\n
So figure out what it is that makes you shine. Do not take it for granted that just because people say \u201coh you\u2019d make a great Adina\u201d that you will\u2026 Ask them exactly what it is in the role that they think would make your voice shine and see if it is true for you. If they can\u2019t come up with specifics (and things in the ARIAS that will make you shine) then either the role may not be for you, or you need to be asking someone else for advice on these things. Maybe even ask YOURSELF! What a thought.<\/p>\n
A role is the sum of its parts. Just because you like one aria does not mean the entire opera will suit you well. Make sure ALL the arias do something for your talents, or at least see if you can BEND the ones that aren\u2019t exactly showing you off to your talents. See if there are things in the ensembles that really suit your singing and temperament. Sometimes we like an opera because we know one aria from it. But that one aria is just one moment in the development of your character. You need to be able to not only sing but to SHINE in the ENTIRE opera. ESPECIALLY your last appearance in the opera \u2013 this is what sticks with the audience the most. You can be forgiven some weaknesses early on in an opera if you make up for it with a fantastic ending. But if you kill yourself doing wonderful things in the beginning of the opera, only to fizzle in the last act, your audience will be thinking of that as they leave the theater, not that you showed great promise in the beginning.<\/p>\n
Choose your roles well. And SAY NO in a nice way if something is not particularly suited to you. I have told many theaters the following, with total sincerity, not haughtiness or cynicism \u2013 \u201cI just can\u2019t do justice to that part, although I would LOVE to sing in your theater. I wouldn\u2019t want to render that DISservice to your theatergoers by doing something for them that is not just WONDERFUL. \u201d And it is true. I have, however, accepted some engagements either for the money or for the prestige of the theater or because someone guilted me into it, or because I just had the free time and was afraid to say no\u2026. and invariably, I should\u2019ve followed my first instincts. Thus, a very stinky Norina at New York City Opera, an even stinkier Fiakermilli at San Francisco Opera\u2026. etc. etc. I would\u2019ve been better off saying NO. I still flinch at some of the critiques of these operas! Don\u2019t let it happen to you! Learn from MY mistakes, if you can!! PLEASE!!<\/p>\n
Here is one example from my career: Adina in L\u2019Elisir d\u2019amore. It\u2019s a really nice role, and I remembered Ruth Ann Swenson singing a beautiful Adina in San Francisco \u2013 I sang Giannetta in the production with her as a young artist there. So when I got an offer to sing this role in Lausanne at the beginning of my career, I was very excited! The role has some beautiful singing. However\u2026 The first aria is very low and does not show me off. Even though I could be heard, it never felt very present nor did I feel I had much character in that aria in the legato parts (too low in my voice) or the \u201cElisir di si perfetta, di si rara qualita’\u201d etc\u2026 because the vocal writing didn\u2019t suit my particular voice. It didn\u2019t sound brilliant, and the top of the phrase (\u201cla ricetta\u201d) didn\u2019t give me time to do anything with the note. Ok, so I liked the ensembles. The character is neither nice nor really bitchy, but just toying with this poor guy. I don\u2019t really like her nor identify much with her. Now let\u2019s skip to the end of the opera \u2013 my big aria \u201cPrendi.\u201d I love the first part \u2013 suits me wonderfully, and I had a lovely cadenza which showed off some soulful legato and pianissimo high notes. Great, so far. But then there\u2019s the cabaletta. Clean coloratura, musical lines: impressive right? Uh\u2026 but what is the big high note at the end? I\u2019ve gone to ALL this effort and sung my you-know-whats off all night and what is the big high note at the end? It\u2019s in the key of F. So, a high C. A high F would be horrible in this context, and extremely out of place. And a high C is not \u201cbig\u201d in my voice \u2013 that\u2019s where my high notes START. So it is not a big, loud culminating high note \u2013 it is the stop-off point as I go up to something else. In my voice, a high C sounds like an A above the staff for most lyric sopranos. No biggie. And this is supposed to be the brilliant thing to cap off the excitement of the whole evening for my character? It just doesn\u2019t sound that impressive in my voice because it doesn\u2019t go up high enough. And the writing in the middle tends to be \u201csharp\u201d rather than lyric, with brilliant singing ringing up to a G or A suddenly and then going back down \u2013 something that just makes me sound a bit acidic instead of brilliant. Although I have all the notes and did a \u201cgood\u201d job, it is not something where people walk away saying \u201cWOW \u2013 that Laura Claycomb is really something, isn\u2019t she?\u201d Whereas there are other roles by the same composer, even, that elicit those kinds of responses. I think it\u2019s better for me to stick with THOSE kinds of roles (Lucia, Giulietta, Gilda\u2026) and forget the rest. Just because people think you should be good in ALL the -ina and -etta roles doesn\u2019t mean each one suits your particular bag of talents.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think it is so ridiculous to concentrate on two or three roles, and do those all over the place, so that THAT role becomes associated with you. Jennie Larmore \u2013 Cenerentola, Barbiere; Denyce Graves \u2013 Carmen, Dalilah; Natalie Dessay \u2013 Queen of the Night, Olympia; Susan Graham \u2013 Mozart; Dawn Upshaw \u2013 modern, innovative, Mozart; Ainhoa Arteta \u2013 Violetta; Bartoli \u2013 light, fast coloratura; Eva Marton \u2013 Turandot; Thomas Hampson \u2013 the Count; Carol Van Ness \u2013 Mozart and now Verdi. The list goes on\u2026. But what is the common denominator? They concentrated on a small, select group of roles in the beginning and branched out LATER. Even Dawn Upshaw, who\u2019s now known for her innovative choices, started out doing Mozart at the Met. Then she got a following for her distinctive sound, and moved into different repertoire. The sooner you can decide and divine what are \u201cYOUR\u201d roles, and hone in on them, the better chance you have to shine. It sounds simple, but I\u2019ve been somewhat resisting for 10 years now! Wow. I hope I can save you 10 years of \u201cversatility\u201d which is actually just scatterbrainedness.<\/p>\n
You need to be SEEN, not only on stage but in print. It sounds elementary, but this requires you to work a lot. You should try and intersperse American and European engagements, so you don\u2019t end up on one side of the pond or the other exclusively for years on end. In the early stages of a career, you just need to BE WORKING. You need to just be out there so people can hear and see you. And so your name gets put in print, so people will begin to say, \u201cWell, who IS this Laura Claycomb?\u201d<\/p>\n
For example: People didn\u2019t know who I was in the U.S., even though I was doing work with American companies every now and then, and working with great companies in Europe. I was mainly working in Europe. And I wasn\u2019t getting enough national coverage when I sang in the U.S. I had a huge success in Los Angeles Opera in\u00a0I Capuleti e I Montecchi\u00a0<\/i>, but only the local newspapers raved about it. You would\u2019ve thought it was a fart in the wind. Of national and international reviews, it got ONE \u2013 in Opera News, and that was the\u00a0\u4e00\u00a0<\/i>person who was pissy about me! Americans didn\u2019t see my name in THEIR print, and they weren\u2019t able to see ME in the U.S. All that changed with Houston Grand Opera\u2019s interest in me, and in the press that came with it. After a huge success in one show, I made myself available for interviews, etc\u2026 by talking to HGO\u2019s public relations person. HGO alone has upped my exposure amazingly simply by their attention to details and by putting me forward for interviews or articles. It is thanks to their publicity person that I was on the January cover of Britain\u2019s Opera magazine! People in the U.S. were finally waking up.<\/p>\n\u5f55\u97f3<\/h3>\n
What else seems to be an element of a big career? Recording contracts. The recording industry is going through colossal change the past 15 years, because of buy-outs by huge companies and\u00a0the \u201cbottom line\u201d is becoming more of a goal than recording things for posterity. And classical music, for all its beauty and artistry, is not a big money-maker. When you have a \u201cgreat\u201d record sell 500,000 records in the classical sector, it pales in comparison to the millions Brittney Spears can sell. So they are not keeping a \u201croster\u201d of classical artists like they did before.<\/p>\n
They have also shot themselves in the foot by this same roster system, in which they have artists signed up for something like a 5-record contract in 5 years, and end up using their stable of singers for a generic reading of an opera so they can fulfill the contract obligations, other than using the best or most suited singers for that specific piece. So they have flooded the market with recordings of questionable overall merit. The result is that the confused consumer just goes ahead and buys that vintage re-issue of the Callas version. In addition, many of the big orchestras and ALL of the orchestra unions still have in mind the bloated \u201cgood old days\u201d and insist on unrealistic, exhorbitant fees in this dismal financial climate. It makes it nearly impossible to record with orchestras in the U.S. and Western Europe. Luckily, some few orchestras are wisening up and including some recording work in their contracts, and including rights to record concerts that will take place anyway.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, all of the big recording companies have had to tighten their belts, and the first thing to go is classical. If you will notice in the MINUTE classical section of your local record shop, if it has a classical section, more RE-releases of \u201chistoric\u201d recordings (read: already brand-known names) are being done these days than new albums by the handful of singers that are left doing new solo recordings. I dare you to name 5 singers who will come out with more than one album this year. Or 1, at this point. Frighteningly enough, many classical sections in music stores still exist today thanks in a great part to ilk like Andrea Boccelli\u2026. Because he sells volume to the unknowing masses, we are allowed to keep our classical section! The only thing that can be done is to popularize classical music, but somehow do it without cheapening the product. No one seems to have found a way to do that yet. I think they are underestimating their audience! AND I think that we have forgotten that classical music needs to go forward, instead of sitting on its laurels. New compositions are not supported or pushed, and thus we lose touch with current audiences. But that\u2019s another discussion entirely, for another day!<\/p>\n
So it seems the hallmark of this next century is going to be the smaller, niche record company. Ironically, they can afford to do the artistic kind of work that the big company can not afford with its bottom line and shareholders, etc\u2026 So maybe this will bring in a new era of more interesting music on disk. Or maybe it will just mean you get more insipid crossover \u201cKiri sings Andrew Lloyd Weber with Boccelli\u201d and \u201cCharlotte Church\u2019s favorite Puccini heroines.\u201d Let\u2019s hope not. One interesting movement in all this is a renewed interest in Baroque music, which used to be done stylistically incorrectly by big names, or stylistically correctly with compromised voices. Now that there is a renewed interest, this repertoire is being re-discovered, and more interestingly, recorded for the first time in many cases, and with great voices. This is due to the great Baroque conductors doing this music, and probably due to people like Bartoli, who have shown the listener that it is exciting, beautiful, listenable music.<\/p>\n
Check out the names of labels of albums you like. Do some research. See where they are based. See if your agent knows anyone in the company. See if you know anyone who works with that label a lot (esp. conductors, accompanists, orchestras). You may be surprised that someone you know has a link and would be glad to refer you for a project. CD\u2019s are not only fun to make, they make it easier for audiences to get to know you. They can have something to carry home with them and listen to when you\u2019re not in town. Someone who\u2019s only read about you can hear you by going to his corner music store, peering past the Boccelli albums and finally special-ordering the damn thing in frustration. Er, I mean he can buy an album of you at the music store\u2026. I am being pessimistic, am I not? Anyhow, it is a great way for people to get to know you even before you\u2019ve sung in their town. At this juncture, I would not advise trying to make your own album or label, though, as it is very expensive and the main problems are distribution and P.R. The channels of distribution are the main problem in this business. In a shop where they have VERY little shelf space to begin with for classical, it is doubtful that they will stock your cd unless it flies off the shelf. And it\u2019s hard to get ANY classical cd to fly off the shelf. However, check out archival articles in\u00a0\u53e4\u5178\u6b4c\u624b<\/a>\u00a0\u4e86\u89e3\u66f4\u591a\u5173\u4e8e\u5f55\u97f3\u7684\u4fe1\u606f\u3002<\/p>\n One rather unpleasant by-product of the \u201ceconomic slowdown\u201d has been that theaters are booking MUCH later, and fees are not going up as much as they did in the past. There is also new competition from Eastern-block singers on the market since the fall of the Berlin wall. As a result, fest contracts in German-speaking countries are even harder to find, and guesting fees in German-speaking countries are even more dismal when compared with \u201clatin\u201d countries\u2019 fees. With taxes for foreigners as they are in Germany, and the dismal fees, you would be lucky as an American guesting there to make ANY money after paying for your housing and eating while you\u2019ve been there. Not so, if you are a fest singer, though, so I hear\u2026 Late booking can be a blessing for a young singer, though, as this may mean you get an opportunity to sing because the more seasoned singers are taken already. I hope you\u2019re a quick study, or have learned lots of roles!<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s fees, which used to be astronomical (most likely because you have to put up with so much gross disorganization and craziness) are now down to what a lot of other European countries offer. No more cash cow. But they do still cast extremely late, so if you have gaps coming up in your schedule, Italy might be a great place to try and fill them.<\/p>\n I have found that persistence with auditions can actually get results. I know that most medium-sized theaters in Europe will audition people if their experience and resume looks promising enough. \u2026 Even if they don\u2019t have a European agent. All it may take is persistence and a will to make the phone calls, faxes and letters necessary. \u201cI will happen to be in Paris in the month of May \u2013 are you doing any auditions then, so that you may hear me?\u201d Also, if you have any connections with any conductors, try and get a \u201cworking session\u201d \u2013 a type of coaching with the conductor, if you will. That way they can see how they like to work with you, and it\u2019s a bit more relaxed atmosphere. You could feasibly pay them for their time without feeling weird, although no one has ever permitted me to pay them. To ask for auditions yourself for an opera house (you don\u2019t have an agent, or don\u2019t have an agent in Europe, for example):<\/p>\n For auditions\/working sessions for conductors, it is also a matter of sheer persistence. Target your conductor. Sing for him because there is an affinity in your repertoire, etc\u2026 so there is a reason he can use you in the future. Find out the conductor\u2019s schedule. Somehow. Look at his website, look him up on Operabase.com, talk to his agent if you can about where he will be in the coming months. See if you will be anywhere near there in the coming months and try and get an audition with him then. If he is in the same town as you, make sure and go to a concert. Wait afterwards to meet him, and tell him how much you loved the concert (if you did) and your desire to sing for him, if ever possible. Tell him\u00a0\u7b80\u8981\u5730<\/i>\u00a0\u4e3a\u4ec0\u4e48\u4f60\u60f3\u4e3a\u4ed6\u5531\u6b4c\uff0c\u4ee5\u53ca\u00a0\u7b80\u8981\u5730<\/i>\u00a0what you have been doing important lately that might interest him in your work. Talk to his agent, if you can. Be your sweetest self ever and try and find out from the agent if there is anything he\u2019ll be doing in the future (that\u2019s not cast) that you might be able to sing for him. Send his agent your press kit \u201cfor him.\u201d Find out if it\u2019s best to contact him directly or through the agent for this sort of thing. Most of the time, the agent will not know exactly what his schedule is, so if you can be flexible and stay in contact with the agent without being overbearing, and he might be interested in hearing you, you may be able to set something up with him. It is usually between rehearsals, etc\u2026, so you need to be loose with your schedule as well in order to jump in when he can hear you. It is tricky to set up, but can be a great introduction to a conductor who may be casting for orchestral concerts, and even operas.<\/p>\n I barely ever do auditions anymore, but any time I have sung for someone, especially a working session with a conductor, they invariably did not have my materials. Their agent had them\u2026 You also want to stay on top of what your agent is giving out to theaters. I was horrified when I got these awful different colored photocopies stapled together from my agent \u2013 this was the promotional packet that they were sending out. Yuck. If they\u2019re not willing to make it look nicer, make up your own (with their logo and contact info on it) and ask them how many copies they want of it. I know it\u2019s their job, but you would probably rather have them working on making phone calls and meeting up with people than compiling your PR materials, if this is what they\u2019re sending out. Make things as easy as possible for your agent to do their job, and they will oblige you by doing a lot for you. Make sure you ask them periodically to send you a packet, so you can see what they\u2019re sending out, and correct anything you don\u2019t like. (or ask them why they\u2019re doing something a certain way \u2013 perhaps there\u2019s some rhyme or reason to it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, you\u2019ve started singing in some houses, you\u2019ve finished a young artist program, or you are embarking on your career. Things seem to be going well. But do you have a plan?? What types of roles do you see yourself …<\/p>\n\u5ef6\u8fdf\u9884\u8ba2<\/h3>\n
\u5c0a\u91cd\u7684\u575a\u6301<\/h3>\n
\n
\u59cb\u7ec8\u786e\u4fdd\u60a8\u5c06\u81ea\u5df1\u7684\u6750\u6599\u5e26\u5230\u8bd5\u955c\u4e2d\uff01<\/h4>\n