The best thing about opera is you have all these different aspects coming together. You\u2019ve got music and words but also staging, scenery, costumes, lighting, and movement \u2013 it\u2019s an immersive way of experiencing stories.<\/p>\n
Do you think there are any misconceptions about opera? <\/strong><\/p>\n When people think of opera, they often think of really loud singing in a huge space, and actually you don\u2019t have to have a massive voice to sing opera. You have to be interested in storytelling and the music, and what the music is telling us, and you have to commit to character and drama. It\u2019s not about making the most noise, especially when your voice is still growing.<\/p>\n What are the challenges of teaching and learning opera? <\/strong><\/p>\n For young singers, like we have here at Chetham\u2019s, part of the challenge is that their instrument, their voice itself, is still developing. It\u2019s like someone playing clarinet and having to physically build the instrument as well as learning how to play it. Some are not ready to sing certain operatic music, but they can still develop all the skills they need.<\/p>\n Another challenge is that to put across a character really well, you have to sound like you speak that language fluently. You have to know how to pronounce all the words and you also have to know every bit of meaning, not just literal meaning, but the subtext and the nuance. You have to put the character and emotion into a language you don\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n How do you go about training young people to sing in a foreign language? <\/strong><\/p>\n We do a lot of work on the sound of the language, the different vowel and consonant sounds. We do work on meaning and ways of integrating the meaning with what you\u2019re singing, swapping between English and Italian or French, and always trying to link to the narrative.<\/p>\n What is your advice to people that have never experienced opera before? <\/strong><\/p>\n With opera, the best thing to do is to see it to get the whole effect of it. It\u2019s the most amazing type of music! You\u2019ve got everything from dramatic dark stories, like Peter Grimes, to huge romantic stories like La Boheme. You\u2019ve got opera that is modern and gritty, and others are timeless and funny. There\u2019s really something for every moment.<\/p>\n
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