First rehearsal of the season

[scarlettina]

So, tonight was the chorus' first rehearsal of the season. It was great to see everyone again. I'm jazzed about our new director and I have a feeling we're going to do some great stuff this season.

Because our director is new, he asked if all prior members of the chorus would sing for him just briefly to be sure he was comfortable with our placing in each section. And this year, just as with the last director, I was placed as Alto 1 (the higher end), only the new director told me very emphatically, brooking no argument, that I'm a mezzosoprano (ME?!) and that he had no doubt he'd have me singing there, that he was just gonna open up my throat and get a full, beautiful sound. I was immediately put in mind of what Richard (our beloved prior director) said last year (that he "was gonna loosen up my pipes"). Now, admittedly, Richard did get me singing higher than I ever have before and it felt fabulous. I enjoyed it hugely.

But this idea that I'm a mezzo is, well, new to me. (And here come the old tapes, kids; batten down the hatches!) Sopranos don't look like me! Sopranos . . . well, I should shut up about what sopranos look like, because one look at our soprano section pretty much blows my old ideas of what sopranos look like right out of the water. (For those who are curious, my image of sopranos was always that they were tall, thin and blond, and this goes back to elementary school.) Looks like I'm going to forever-and-amen burn those old tapes at long last.

Funny, isn't it, how the old tapes hang on? I actually felt different driving hom tonight. If I stop now and think about what I accomplished last season vocally, I shouldn't be surprised.

I think this is going to be a good fall. I hope it is.

Comments

[jaylake.livejournal.com]

Have fun in the high notes, babe. You deserve to open up the pipes and sing...

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

That's how I always think of Sopranos, all evidence to the contrary. Also, I tend to assume certain personality defects. Also, despite all available evidence. It's part of why I keep telling everyone I want to stay alto, even though I enjoy singing higher in my range. I also enjoy my low range, and I like the challenge to my ear of singing alto parts. Meh. It's all good.

[miss-swamp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think of myself as an alto with a soprano's range. A real soprano, she's all high-maintenance Barbie. But cool that you're developing your voice. I agree, it's gonna be a good fall.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

A real soprano, she's all high-maintenance Barbie.

::chuckle:: Honey, your voice don't lie: you're a soprano. But you definitely don't fit the stereotype, not a whit.

So I guess my next question is, where do we get this idea about what a soprano is supposed to look like? Obviously, my perception is not a unique one. Is it a common high school experience that the tall, thin, blond one gets all the leads and sings up at the top of the scale? If I think back to movie musicals, a careful reflection reveals most of the leading ladies to be brunettes or redheads. (Think of Julie Andrews in Sound of Music [was that blond or light brown?], Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain, Judy Garland in, well, everything— but there's still Shirley Jones in Oklahoma! Maybe she's the culprit!) So where's it from? Hmm....

Part of it is about . . .

[robespierrette.livejournal.com]

. . . who gets to sing soprano - in certain circumstances.

You know: Who gets the solo? Who gets to stand out in front and sing the melody?

As the soprano in a 3- to 4- person group, I'm the de facto front person. They don't understand why I'm constantly grateful to them just for "letting" me sing. In college, I had to play second banana to the director of the Early Music group I sang with, because she insisted on always taking the solos and melodies (even though she couldn't hit a few of the notes - bleah). She was one of those "sopranos" you're thinking of, in personality, if not in range.

Sadly, the longer I do this, the more of a diva I turn into. . .

Re: Part of it is about . . .

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the longer I do this, the more of a diva I turn into. . .

Well, that's as may be, but you're still a petite brainy redhead with more personality than most of these bimbos who hog the spotlight.

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

I dunno. The sopranos at my high school were largely glamorous and skinny and a primadonna-y. And in theatre school I encountered a petite, beautiful evil bitch soprano. She played MABEL in PIRATES for chrissakes. I was a pirate. Thank God she was always flat or I'd have gone insane.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Thank God she was always flat or I'd have gone insane.

Heh. I understand the feeling, believe me.

Sporano's: The Precious, Hated Few....

[kistha.livejournal.com]

On trying out for the school choir my senior year (because I so, so desperately wanted to sing)I sang less than a full middle C scale horribly stressed to the max (trying to tune to a piano rather than other people or a resonant woodwind or a whole band was HARD) and was bluntly told; "You're an alto just like everyone else." I didn't have the sort of self confidence then that I have now. So I meekly left shaking and wanting to cry.

I've been told I'm an alto, a metzo, and I've been told I'm a first and penny-whistle soprano.

*shrug*

I've never really gotten to sing with a group since they tend to be religious in origin once you leave school. I really envy your choir experiences.

Sing with your heart in whatever register or key.

Re: Sporano's: The Precious, Hated Few....

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Hey girl, if you want to sing, come sing with us! We're totally non-denominational and, though the chrous is called the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus, we've got people of every gender and orientation and then some. It's a great group and we need more voices! Rehearsals are once a week on Tuesday nights in Seattle and helluva lot of fun. We even have some East side choristers, so finding you a ride if you need one wouldn't be too hard, I don't think.

Something to consider if you want to sing.

The Sopranos

[snarke.livejournal.com]

OK, first of all, sweetie, you're not a soprano. You're a mezzo. You latched onto the wrong part. Mezzos are cool. A "Soprano" is always a coloratura soprano, a high-warbling-notes-that-make-dogs-howl soprano, a "can we have the two high sopranos step off the risers and go stand behind that screen?" soprano. You're not one of those, so don't bother shopping for peroxide. Mezzo's range is A below middle C (C5 or c') to F over C6 (or c''). (Note that the C above Middle C is not High C. That's the C that's two octaves up, C7.)

On the other hand, I know exactly where you're coming from. I've been a baritone for years. Heck, I still am.So last year, after a hiatus, I re-audition for my choir (the Seattle Choral Company, for those of you that didn't know), and the director declares that he's putting me in the bass section. Noooooooo! That can't be right! I'm too thin to be a bass!

Oh, and about that "stand behind the screen" thing I quoted earlier? That's a real actual quote from when the SCC spent an evening this summer providing the choral track for a movie trailer. We had about 45 voices, and there were just two high sopranos on the squeaky part, but they had to stand so the choir was between them and the microphones in order to get them to balance.

You a mezzo, gurl. Rock on.

Re: The Sopranos

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

You latched onto the wrong part.

Um...can I still feel different?

Mezzos are cool.

That's okay then. ::grin::

Coloratura ... You're not one of those, so don't bother shopping for peroxide.

Do you think that would ever happen anyway, soprano or not? I'm an affirmed Dramatic Brunette (tm), thank you very much! Hmph!

I'm too thin to be a bass!

::chuckle:: You should see some of the basses in SLGC—oh wait, you have! It's not the size of the instrument that matters... Oh wait, that's not what I meant either....

::blush::