<p>I need help choosing opera arias for my pre-screening CD. One of the schools I'm applying to requires one to sing at least 4 operatic arias. My teacher told me he didn't really know what I should sing because (according to him at least) I have a heroic Wagnerian Soprano voice, but otherwise I am a Dramatic Mezzo (maybe developing into a Heroic Contralto later) because my voice would be "too heroic sounding" for the Italian Spinto and Dramatic Soprano roles. </p>
<p>However singing either Verdi or Wagner (either Mezzo or Soprano) is absolutely forbidden for anyone under the age of 30, so I have been singing a lot of Rossini (the mezzo/contralto versions, not the soprano) and Mozart instead. I went to the classical singer convention a while ago and got very mixed feedback there, I was told that Rossini and Mozart are much too light for me and would hurt my voice and I would never be hired for such roles either. </p>
<p>So if I'm not allowed to sing Classical rep. and Romantic rep., what should I do? Sing Handel? If so, should I do the Heroic Contralto rep., like Giulio Cesare?</p>
<p>Maybe you should wait to go to grad school. Your voice is still finding itself and growing. If the one who knows your voice best is stumped, perhaps you should continue to study privately while working in a temporary job and develop further before trying grad school. </p>
<p>DD’s voice teacher is having her do just that. Her voice is big and growing and there are few age appropriate arias for her. Her teacher said she will not be ready for the roles until she is older. It makes sense to spend the time off now, go to grad school in a couple of years, and then be ready for roles when finished with grad school. She feels this is better than rushing to grad school and then spending a few years unemployable in the roles because voice/age is not ready yet. It is a thought.</p>
<p>Thank you for such a quick response…! I am considering waiting to go to grad. school later, but I have no idea then who to study with privately. My current teacher is employed as a teacher in the university, but otherwise is a very busy director so he doesn’t have much time outside of that to teach a student privately. I’m also a little afraid, because I feel like without the school context I would feel lost and not really know who to study with.</p>
<p>That your voice WILL be heavier later does not mean you should be concerned with that now- a real problem with American voice teachers now is that they “over-fach” people and limit their options. Forgive me if this is a little disjointed, but I’m going to throw a lot of ideas out here!</p>
<p>Mozart will NEVER harm your voice and it’s perfectly fine to sing arias now that you will not be cast in later on. Although no one at your age should even be considering themself as a “Spinto”, that Full Lyric rep is where you should be looking right now. The Contessa in Figaro and Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera have suitable pieces as does Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Marcellina’s aria in Figaro would be fine too. Have you worked on anything from Cosi fan tutti yet? No one every accused Fiordiligi of having a small voice!! There IS Verdi that can be sung by younger voices, Amelia in “Ballo” for instance, should suit your voice but may be too heavy now, but check out what Alice Ford sings in Falstaff. Look at Monteverdi (L’incoronazione di Poppea) for some not as common arias, and if you’re considering Handel’s Giulio Cesare "Pianger</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all that advice! In that case, if I were to apply to grad. school this year, should I have on my CD a selection of both Puccini arias and Mezzo arias, or present myself just as a mezzo? In which case, Mozart trouser roles and Rossini heroines would be a good choice…? And since my voice and stamina will grow into a Wagnerian voice, should I then “study” those roles until I’m ready for them?</p>
<p>I am gravely concerned that repertory is being suggested for a singer whose abilities and limitations cannot be known to us. We should not be suggesting repertory to singers here. It would be unprofessional, even if we were all experienced voice teachers and singers. The repertory I see being discussed is all over the map, and I cannot imagine the singer for whom these suggestions would be appropriate. </p>
<p>If your teacher is not able to suggest repertory, find another teacher and coach to ask. If you are totally trusting in your teacher, except for this issue, ask your teacher to suggest someone with whom you can consult. </p>
<p>It is not necessary that you put off the idea of graduate school just because you can not at this stage fulfill the requirements of a particular professional vocal Fach. Perhaps the school that requires four arias is inappropriate for you at this time. You need to be under the guidance of an experienced teacher throughout this process. </p>
<p>Thank you for your opinion. I agree that it isn’t wise to ask people that have never heard my voice to suggest repertoire for me. I asked this question more to get a sense if anyone else my age is having similar issues. I already have a very long dialogue running with my teacher about appropriate rep. I LIKE bel canto, so I’m more than happy singing Cherubino and I love art songs. It is because I have asked quite a few very established teachers and coaches what I might sing, that I come here to see what other people think. </p>
<p>I’m not going to take anything anyone here says and immediately apply it; I would run anything by my teacher first (if he would answer his email). </p>
<p>In terms of singing experience, I have already sung the role of Lady Billows in Albert Herring and will be singing the role of Cecilia March in Little Women by Mark Adamo this upcoming year. </p>
<p>Honestly though, I wish my teacher would give me more guidance, so far he’s mostly asked me to pick my own rep. with the only guideline being no Verdi and no Wagner.</p>
<p>Lorelei, I agree with you and didn’t mean my suggestions to be taken as “Gospel”, but rather as a starting point for the OP to open a discussion with her teacher. Of course we don’t know her capabilities and exact voice type, but a good many people don’t wish to go into such details here on an open board. I was really hoping that her teacher would sit down and talk with her if she brought something to the table, since he didn’t seem to have offered much guidance, especially since it’s getting on the late side for her to go and find someone else with whom to work.</p>
<p>Then the question you might ask yourself is if your teacher CAN guide you. Perhaps he is too busy for you, or perhaps he is unable to help you. Only you know this. Teachers can max out in terms of what they can offer their students. The best ones know to send their students for other resources and guidance. </p>
<p>Some teachers let the singers pick all their own repertory and then they veto what is inappropriate. Certainly there are many tools for listening and learning, with recordings, YouTube, etc. Others pick a swath of appropriate repertory, and after the student explores, the student chooses what they like. Some repertory assignments are to fill in language and style knowledge. Others are to help develop particular technical issues. Others are competition/audition pieces that show the singer to good advantage without displaying current flaws and limitations.</p>