Practice Perfect Opera Piano Accompaniments on CD Compact disc recordings of roles, chorus parts, or entire operas with sampled piano accompaniment. Created by singer/teacher Gary Fisher (San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Opera).
Cost: $40/ single role, $160-$180/entire opera.
Method: Piano-vocal score accompaniment.
Current offerings: All roles, plus chorus, for: Cosí fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Carmen, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Coming soon: L’elisir d’Amore, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Faust, Aïda, and I Pagliacci.
Contact: Phone: 800/821-3840 or 707/937-0460. For international orders, fax 707/937-0459; http://www.opera practiceperfect.com/
THE SINGERS REPORT
SOPRANO (Violetta, Susanna)
The quality of the accompaniment was quite good. I had the most trouble with tempi. It’s much easier to add stylistic bits when polishing the role with a live coach than it is to clean-up things learned from a recording. Cadenzas were also a problem; I would finish a cadenza and be ready to go on, but the recording was not. This is inherent due to the format; one can’t escape that problem when working with any recording. The recording quality is excellent, it’s fairly priced, and the packaging is good. In general the Practice Perfect CDs are an excellent product, and I can certainly see using them regularly. Practice Perfect isn’t very useful when one is learning a role, since there are no cues, and no help with notes. I recommend it for students and professionals, but not beginners, who need cues and pitches.
BARITONE (Germont, Marcello, Sharpless, Figaro [Barber])
It was often confusing to figure out where exactly in the score they were starting, especially in the ensembles. For example, in the Germont/Violetta duet, sometimes they skip Violetta’s solo sections and sometimes they don’t. The tempi of the individual sections were generally acceptable.
Part of learning a role is actually getting it into your body, in addition to the musical considerations. Because of the lack of cues, I think it would be difficult for a singer at any level to foster good physical habits using this product. I enjoyed going through familiar roles to see if I could follow the tempi.
MEZZO-SOPRANO (Carmen, Suzuki)
The CD format might allow quick access to the tracks, but with few exceptions each piece is listed generically, without the actual title. – “Duet” rather than the actual title.
It’s difficult to locate particular scenes. It’s nice that some of the more complicated ensembles are also played at a slower tempo, but it’s nearly impossible to sing something like the Carmen quintet without vocal cues from other parts. The product could be beneficial for reviewing a role, memorization, or testing your command of the vocal line by itself.
TENOR (Alfredo, Rodolfo)
Because of the sameness of the accompaniment, if you get lost, you often have to start all over again. A way to reference rehearsal numbers (a beep or signal) would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes it’s difficult to gauge the rest length and amount of time for breathing with these recordings. The dynamic markings are faithfully adhered to. Not addressed is the need to hold one’s own pitch while singing with other parts. Perhaps synthesizing the other voices might be considered.
Being able to rewind or scan/search/repeat is of particular use to the practicing singer. A single interpretation in no way replaces the practiced variations provided by a good coach.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Rehearsal habits are intensely personal; what one singer considers negligible another may find indispensable. Although our panelists often shared likes and dislikes about Practice Perfect, they differed on how or whether they would incorporate it into their own practice sessions. They also noted that, although there are difficulties inherent with any type of recorded accompaniment, when used with care and awareness, these tools can be useful to the practicing singer.
COMING SOON: Reviews of MGP Study Tapes and Pocket Coach Publications
