When a singer is young—say in their early to mid 20s—the voice, like any other part of the body, is quite flexible, limber, and can do just about anything—which is great! Hey, the world is your oyster; you can explore with the repertoire in your Fach all you want. Ma . . . when it comes time to choosing the five or six arias for your “wow ‘em, knock ‘em out” package, please, please, consider the following.
Choose repertoire for which your instrument is either just a bit big or just the right fit. For the latter, I am referring in particular to very light voices, both male and female. I emphasize this because the competition out there is abundant and fierce. The best and most immediate way you can make a positive, lasting impression is by giving yourself the “room” your voice has by being slightly big for the “rep” you’ve chosen to shade the arias in the most meaningful and outstanding way. In other words, leave room to play around with the dynamic shading to make the pieces much more your own. That alone will bring out your originality and uniqueness as an artist and voice. This works particularly well for sopranos.
When beginning the auditions and competitions circuit during the last year of my master’s degree from Juilliard, I had chosen both “Caro nome” and “Come scoglio” in the same group. My ability to sing the Cosi fan tutte aria with comfort showed that I had room to play around and shade ‘til the cows came home in “Caro nome.” I had to make a decision: Would I go in the direction of “Come Scoglio,” which means I would be at my then limit, or would I go for arias in the same vein as “Caro Nome,” where I felt most flexible with regards to interpretation and dynamic range?
My decision came after a coaching and talk with my wonderful French vocal literature teacher, Tom Grubb. He enlightened me to the fact that in the minds of many judges, there would be a discrepancy in their perception of what my correct, appropriate repertoire was if I put those two somewhat extreme colors of the spectrum on my list. He explained that the judges were looking not just for vocal presence and preparedness, but for uniformity of Fach within the repertoire the singers chose.
Since I did not want any strikes against me before I even opened my mouth, I took to heart what Mr. Grubb shared with me and chose to go in the direction that gave me the greatest possibility to shine: “Caro nome.”
That brings me to another very important key element that is also perfectly logical and obvious, but many times, believe it or not, overlooked: the absolute need for every selection on your list to be as well prepared as the next. There can be no room for different degrees of preparedness and finesse between any of your selections.
Such an ever-so-slight discrepancy cost me a competition win. Looking back, I am grateful I learned that lesson while I was not yet in my professional career. Jonathan Pell, one of the judges, was kind enough to share his feedback with me. He told me that the judges wanted to give me a prize, but the very high level of the singers and therefore, the stiff competition meant that the slight discrepancy between the polish and dynamic expressiveness of the aria I offered to begin the audition with and the one the judges chose, unfortunately, was enough to count me out. Believe me, I made sure from that moment to prepare every aria painstakingly to the best of my ability, as well as every role I have gone on to perform.
I urge young singers to approach the judges—regardless of whether the singer wins a prize—and ask for feedback. You will learn loads of necessary, life-improving lessons 99 percent of the time.
