coaching1

Lucia coaching this afternoon.
After an hour and a half, we got through Regnava and half of the first duet.
That's actually the type of work I LOVE to do- completely detailed, not letting anything slide, do it AGAIN until- YES, that was it.

It's SUCH an added bonus to be coaching with a native Italian, AND a coach who is also a conductor. NO detail gets by- have I mentioned that?
Hahah.

Things I have to think about:
1. Rhythm is marked for a REASON, but that does not mean that I have to be rhythMIC about my singing. Take the time to make a LINE, to make a PHRASE, and to make only what is important stand out- NOT every rhythm perfect.

2. The 'big girl' voice. OK. I have written about this before and I will write about this again.
I can kind of adapt my voice to whatever 'sound' people like/want. What comes 'naturally' out of me? I actually don't really know. I feel like it's different in different styles of repertoire.
I DO know when I feel that I am 'on', with the breath, with this column of air that sweeps me into the high and dips me into the low. BUT- I don't know whether that is the big girl voice or something perhaps younger-SOUNDING, not less supported, but for some reason, more pointed, precise, and therefore..small.

The round big(ger) thing most of the time feels sloppy to me--but I am repeatedly told that it is most certainly NOT sloppy, and that it makes my voice bloom, and sound so much bigger and rounder and bla bla bla etc.

HOWEVER the round big thing also comes with a catch- IF I can't keep it supported all the time, and re-energized all the time, pitch suffers in the high passaggio. Not D,E, but F,G. And for a role that sits on those notes CONSTANTLY in the duets, it is certainly going to be my challenge for the next 2 months to figure out HOW to get this how I want it.

Can I do 'the voice' that 'they like' in ALL of the role? Can I save energy, air, and concentration by doing it the way 'it comes out' (which...may not be "that" sound that they want all the time...but still comes out, cuts, carries, and is ON pitch?) in shorter non-solo sections and just try and really mold the arias into ALL that they CAN be with this rounder sound?

Well--these are all certainly things that I can try to work on. But at the end of the day, I want to sing on pitch, carry over the orchestra, and most importantly, BE this Character dramatically.
Vocally, I am what I am. And I am NOT a lyric soprano singing Lucia. I got that. We all got that.
It's not a STRETCH but it's also certainly not 'common casting practice' right now.

I will use my voice the best way that it comes out on stage, nerves, drama, excitement and all-- and will bring my best and most crazy to it all.

Coaching number 2 and 3 next week.