I just wrapped up singing Nemorino in Doña Ana Lyric Opera’s production of L’Elisir d’amore. It was an amazing and fun experience, and I got to meet and work with some wonderful people. By all accounts (who have spoken to me), I did well at it. It was a real challenge though.
I’ve had roles in operas before. I was John Brooke in Mark Adamo’s Little Women, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, and Bardolfo in Falstaff. I’ve had major parts in musical theater and oratorio.
But singing a lead role like Nemorino in L’Elisir d’amore is hard. Like really really hard.
My teacher for the past few years was a Helden tenor. His main role in Europe was Siegfried in Wagner’s Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Thus he’s had plenty of experience with very long and challenging performances. He gave me enough training for me to know how to deal so much singing, but it was still shocking to feel it in the moment.
Just to be clear, Nemorino is in no way as tough as the real dramatic leads of Wagner’s operas. But for my first major role, he was tough enough. Why?
- It’s long. In the first act, Nemorino is on stage and singing through almost every moment except for the first chorus number and Dulcamara’s entrance. This can be very tiring and can affect how you sing the second act.
- It’s high. The highest written note is an A, but the tessitura is consistently high. Listen to the following duet between Nemorino and Dulcamara. It never goes higher than a G (though tenors often add an A at the end), but that G is sung repeatedly as an accented note on offbeats. At one point, the tenor rocks back and forth between F# and G. Also notice how the tempo changes at certain points to deliberately help the tenor.
- There’s an orchestra. That may seem like a “Yea, duh” statement, but the difference between singing with piano accompaniment and an orchestra with percussion and brass is just monumental. Even in a lyric opera like L’Elisir d’amore, the orchestra can get very loud.
- Opera is just plain complicated. Besides having to focus on vocal stamina, I had to pay attention to the development of Nemorino as a character. He goes through a big change in this opera, and if I had gotten too caught up in my throat, then I would have been bad at telling the story.There are also mechanical issues related to working on a stage. There’s an audience, and I had to consistently sing out to them even if it wasn’t natural. There’s also the orchestra pit, which can be very intimidating. In one scene, Nemorino is accosted by the town’s girls. On both nights that I sang, we got very close to the pit, and some of my attention had to be divided between singing, acting, and being safe (and keeping them safe).
- You’re expected to be an artist. Even with all of the challenges, I was expected to go on stage and make artistic choices and have the confidence and capabilities to see them through. No one cares if I could survive singing “Una furtiva lagrima”. They want to hear music. They want to feel passion.
Now that I’ve done it, I feel like a much stronger and smarter singer. Experience is oftentimes the best teacher. I began to make automatic changes to my singing once I was confronted with the orchestra. Because of all the high singing, I feel much smarter about how I move through my passaggio.
However, I am glad that I sang this role now instead of several years ago. In no way would I have been prepared to sing a role like this, say, two or three years ago.
So thanks, Doña Ana Lyric Opera, for allowing me to sing this role. It was a blast.
I was there! I saw the whole thing, and you did absolutely beautiful work.
Thanks. :)
okay, when you use the term tessitura, what does it mean in classical voice speak? Tessie Tura is one of the older strippers in Gypsy (Gotta Have a Gimmick); Tessitura is a software application that non profits are using to manage their fundraising activities.
It means the average range of a piece. A piece can have a couple of really high notes but on average sit low. In the case of Nemorino, the character has few traditional tenor high notes (no C's or B's) but it sits fairly high and stays there (F's, F#'s, G's).
It's imprecise, but it's a good way to tell whether someone is capable of singing any specific piece. If they can sing the high notes but can't really handle the tessitura for an extended period, then it's probably not a good fit.
It's funny how the term has been used in other contexts. :)
Oh my gosh. Talk about long. Nemorino never leaves the stage!
You mentioned that you have had lots of positive feedback on your performance, but how do you feel about it? Do you find that you are able to conjure a non-judgmental analysis of your performances?
Hi, Tara!
For the most part I can look at it without much emotional interpretation. I certainly have my criticisms of my work, but I also can recognize what I did well.
But even more surprising is that I rarely think of it now. In many ways, by simply having done the opera I've already moved beyond it. Things I couldn't do then I can do now. It's like I was lifting vocal weights during the rehearsals and the performances and only AFTER – when I gave myself some real rest – was I able to let myself recuperate into a new place technically. I have very little desire to judge what I did because I know that I can already do better now.
The challenge now is to stay in shape and not lose that growth.
How about you?