Singing in a foreign language

Living in Hong Kong, working here and in China, is a fascinating experience.  

Young singers here are very talented, but as with young singers anywhere in the world, working in foreign languages requires a learning process.

I often here many singers sing phonetically rather than looking at the music and knowing what each individual word is. 

Translating and reading a western language is hard for a Chinese person, just as it is virtually impossible for a Westerner to quickly grasp and work in the Chinese language quickly and correctly.
 

I often hear young singers make mistakes with such Italian words as: mia, tua, sua, via.

 

Everyone knows when speaking Italian we say, ‘MI-a, or TU-a, SU-a, VI-a.  But when singing I hear many singers sing:  mi-AH, or tu-AH, su-AH, vi-AH, with the emphasis on the last syllable, which is wrong.

I also hear young singers take a world like, beato (pronounced bay-AH-toh) and sing “be-ah-TOO.  They look at it phonetically and not as an entire word with the stress on the correct syllable. 

Another thing I hear because of lack of understanding of languages is a breath in the middle of a word.  I tease Chinese singers and explain it thus:  Tomorrow I will go to Bei (breath) jing. 

Well, you can’t separate the syllables of “Bei” and “jing” with a breath: you must say, “Beijing”. 

It is the same in other languages; you cannot split syllables with a word or it sounds so wrong.  That is why so much understanding of foreign languages is necessary. 

What is legato?

When a coach or teacher tells a singer to sing legato (legato means ‘tied together’ in Italian), what does that mean?  

Singers begin singing legato, or more smoothly, but what is true legato?

I have always been taught that true legato is actually the air constantly and smoothly coming out of the lungs. 

Many young singers need to look at how they study music and the phrases they sing.  Most pick up the music and start singing the words right away, fumbling with pronunciation as they fumble with the notes.  This is not the way to study a piece and makes singing legato impossible.

Furthermore, our body remembers this through muscle memory and we then need to go back and learn to sing true legato in the middle of studying a piece of music!

The best way is to have a study plan and learn to sing the music correctly from the first time you look at it.

What a singer needs to do is study the notes at the piano, phrase by phrase, and sing, ‘ah’.  Singing “ah’ is easier on the voice and combined with good support, can help the singer discover a true legato, which is the air smoothly and freely coming out of the lungs.

So when you pick up a new piece of music, sing, ‘ah’  or ‘oh’ or whatever vowel is easiest for you, and sing the song several times, phrase by phrase with just a vowel, and in doing so you will have an easier time at discovering true legato which is; the free and easy flow of air out of the lungs. 

The body memorizes this good free feeling very easily. 

It is at this point that you then add the words (which have
been studied and translated), and combined with body memory, helps keep a true legato line in the sound, even with the words added. 

One Opera Two Languages

When I was working in Luzern, Switzerland, we had presented a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor.  The beauty of the theater in Luzern was that as a rule we performed everything in the original language. Therefore, we performed the Lucia in Italian.

A month or so after the premiere, I received an emergency phone call from the theater in Pforzheim, Germany.  Their baritone was ill and they needed me to ‘jump in’ to their production of Lucia that very evening.  

It was 1pm in the afternoon and I immediately packed an overnight bag, my music, and hurried to the train station.  It was about a three hour trip to Pforzheim.  

I arrived there are 5:30 and the conductor picked me up from the train station.  

This was my second year in Europe so my German was advanced and that is what we spoke was he drove me to the theater for the rehearsal.  

We entered a practice room and he started playing the introduction to my music.   I began singing (in Italian) and he abruptly stopped with a shocked look on his face.  

He said, ‘Du singst auf Italienisch!!!” (you sing in Italian!!!)

I said yes, that in Luzern we sing everything in original language. 
He said, ‘aber unsere ist auf Deutsch!!!”  (but ours is in German!).   

Well, there was no time to find another baritone, so I sang in Italian and all the others in German.   It did work and the audience didn’t seem to mind!!!! 

A month later Pforzheim had the same emergency, and I was called in again, so I must have done alright! 

Importance of Languages

The first European contract I signed was a two year contract with the Stadttheater Luzern in Switzerland.  

Then by a stroke of luck I was asked by the Baseler Theater in Switzerland to sing one performance of Madama Butterfly, one of Don Pasquale, and then Junius in the Rape of Lucretia. The Butterfly and Don Pasquale were a week apart, so I had to come in completely prepared as I only had four days of staging for both productions.

Imagine my surprise the first day of rehearsal when I met the other singers in Butterfly:  None of the other guest singers spoke English! 

The soprano was Japanese and had lived in Italy, therefore she spoke Italian.  The Suzuki was Chinese and spoke French.  The tenor was from Cuba and spoke Spanish and German.  I spoke Spanish and a bit of Italian, but really hadn’t learned my German yet.  

How were we going to communicate? 
Fortunately the assistant stage director spoke six languages and was the bridge between us.  

Not all theaters had this luxury, but the Basel Theater and our cast was lucky.

I can’t emphasize how important it is to be actively engaged as a life’s work in learning and improving your language skills as a singer and international artist. 

Learning music on short notice, can you do it?

When I did my first audition for the Metropolitan Opera, my voice teacher was very connected with a pair of super agents in New York.  

I sang on a Thursday for the MET, and on Friday my teacher told me a rumour was going around that a baritone would bow out of a cover responsibility in Luisa Miller.  My teacher thought there was a strong possibility for me to be asked to stay in New York another week and cover the upcoming three performances.
 

Saturday morning I went to Patelson’s music store and purchased the music to Luisa Miller, and my teacher had a CD.  I took the music home and at 11am I begin learning the baritone role of Miller. 

On Sunday, I had an audition in which I tried out the big area from Miller. 

On Monday morning at 11am I finished memorizing the music.  

I received a call from the MET at 1pm in the afternoon and was in rehearsal Tuesday morning ready to participate in stage rehearsals.

Sometimes these opportunities come, and when they do, we as artists must make them work to our advantage.  You must really know yourself and your capabilities before taking on a last minute task as this one, but the pay off was my foot was in the door at the MET.

Overnight Audition

Luzern, Switzerland, November 1986

When I went to Europe for auditions for the first time I spoke no German, Italian or French. 

I spoke English and Spanish.  English and Spanish don’t help you much when you are basically in the major Germanic countries. 

I went to Vienna and sang for the assistant to Ioan Holender, and he sent me to the Vienna Volksoper and the theater in Luzern, Switzerland. 

I received an offer from the Volksoper, but the assistant, Herr Seitter, wanted me to sing in Luzern before I made any decision on accepting contracts. 

I traveled to Luzern for the audition and as I had almost no money for lodging (or the whole trip for that matter), I was looking for a very cheap hotel.

As it turned out there was a large event taking place in Luzern and no cheap hotels were available. I back-tracked to Zurich, and also, nothing cheap (well, Switzerland has never been cheap, anyway). 

As I was desperate to do anything rather than sit in a cold train station all night, I jumped on a train from Zurich to Milan.
I arrived in Milan around 1am, luckily sleeping on the train. 
I then had to wait four hours before returning to Zurich, so I walked around Milan until my train left. 

Once in Zurich (I wasn’t able to sleep much on this train), I doubled back to Luzern for the audition.   I had to wash on the train, cold shave, change clothes, and warm up, all in the small bathroom! I was tired arriving in Luzern and concerned I wouldn’t have a strong voice. 

When singers do a general audition they usually sing two arias, one other their choice then the theater management chooses the other.  

I sang Ford’s Monologue from Falstaff first, then they asked me if I would sing a German aria. Just as I was about to sing an aria from Tannhaeuser they also asked if I knew any other Verdi aria, and I did have “pari siamo’ from Rigoletto.  After the Tannhaeuser they also asked if I had the Count’s aria from Le Nozze di Figaro.  I had sung the aria, but not for over a year.  As I walked off stage they told me to take ten minutes to refresh my memory then sing the last two arias.   Well, I was in a bit of a panic but was able to put everything together.   So, in this audition I sang four arias.  Some how my voice was in great shape and I sailed through the audition.

I was asked after the audition to come to the office and speak with Herr Statkus and Marcello Viotti, who was coming in as the new General Music Director. They offered me a two year contract, in which I would sing Rigoletto and the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, among other operas. 

So began my European career with a wonderful two year stay in Luzern, Switzerland.

Claiming Control of Career

I have been fortunate to have well-meaning people and teachers around me.  Even though one of my teachers was considered by many to be very controlling, I met him when I was already beginning my career.  He did give great advice, and I was loyal to a fault.  I was fortunate that when I met him I was not always in New York; I was already a traveling artist.   However, we had a fruitful relationship for almost the first 15 years of my career. 

 

My first teacher was in Seattle where I was raised.  He had performed over 10 years in Europe and knew the importance of European training. He pushed me to the Lyric Opera of Chicago (another of his students had preceded me by one year to the Lyric), and then I found a manager BEFORE I moved to New York City to continue coaching and private study.

 

I now live in Hong Kong and see so many young professionals who are being sucked into following local teachers for years, or for wrong reasons.  I know that respect is very important in Chinese culture, but I see this respect being carried to such extremes that students get stuck with teachers far too long.  I also see singers gravitate to teachers who can help them locally, but don’t have the international skills (although the teachers will pompously tell the students otherwise) to bring them to where they need to be to get out of Hong Kong.   

 

A young singer must claim their freedom and have a balanced relationship with their teacher.   If a teacher is not working in the best interest of the students, not helping them to truly progress, then the student must be strong enough to move on to the best TEACHER and MENTOR.  A young singer must make plans, spend extended periods in a foreign environment, with a teacher who is truly international, or they do not progress as they should. 

 

I recently attended a small production of a main stream opera.  I was only positively surprised by two of the 9 young professionals that I heard.  The rest had the same issues and hindrances they showed while studying their undergraduate degrees.   If a young singer truly wants to progress, they must fight, struggle, and put in the time necessary to truly grow.   One of the challenges in Hong Kong is that young singers must make a living, hence they must teach.  However, the after hours dedication needed to progress if staying local is obviously not happening for the majority of the young singers. 

 

Put in the time, the effort, the pain, the struggle on your languages, style, technique, or you will always be grasping for roles.  Be truly prepared for every rehearsal, every production, then you will never look back with regrets.

The Early Days: Night Trains and WURST!

I went to Europe in 1986 to audition for opera houses.  

I had been living in New York, was poor, and had just worked the summer in Central City Colorado.  Central City had been a  great experience, singing a lead role on the main stage, but it wasn’t the highest paying contract (as is the case with most summer contracts in the USA). 

I was working as a temp secretary to make ends meet in New York.  

After singing for Herr Holeander in New York, I made plans to go to Europe.  I realized I didn’t have the necessary funds.  I asked a wonderful sponsor who had heard me in a summer program in the Ozarks, and he offered to pay my airfare.  

The Sullivan Foundation (in New York) said they would repay my Eurail Pass IF I WAS OFFERED A CONTRACT.  

I had 500 USD in my pocket to live and eat on in Europe for one month.  

Of course 500 USD was totally unrealistic and I had to sleep in Youth Hostels, ride night trains, and eat a great deal of WURST.  

I was lucky to only be in Europe 2.5 weeks, received a contract, and was back in the States, with 200 USD in my pocket.  I was truly fortunate.

The Early Days: Zwei und zwanzig Dezember Nineteen Fifty Six!

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and we reminisced about career beginnings and opportunities. 

At age twenty seven I apprenticed two seasons at the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists in Chicago and then moved to New York City. 

I was lucky to have found a manager at Columbia Artists Management Inc. (CAMI). At the time, CAMI was one of the top agencies in the world. 

My manager was new and didn’t’ have a lot of power, but one thing he did was fight for me to sing for Ioan Holeander.  Herr Holeander at the time was the most powerful manager in Europe, based in Vienna.  He subsequently took over and ran the Vienna Staatsoper for 20 years.

The upper management at CAMI wanted to present the top artists for guest contracts.  My manager was wise enough to know that although I had abilities, I needed experience. 

Europe was (and still is) the best training ground for singers. 

At the audition Herr Holeander asked me if I could speak German.  I truthfully told him ‘nur ein bischen’.  He then asked me in German when I was born and luckily I was able to answer with, “ich bin zwei und zwanzig Dezember Nineteen Fifty Six geboren…”  He laughed and said I would be fine.   He invited me to audition in Europe with a 90% guarantee of a contract. 

In Europe I sang two auditions, in Vienna at the Volksoper and in Luzern, Switzerland.  I was fortunate enough to get two offers and took the offer in Luzern. 

Singing In Mandarin

I have sung a couple standard popular love songs in Mandarin, but in June I will sing my first operatic role in Chinese. 

I will sing the role of the American Ambassador to CHIANG Kai-shek's Guomintang in the new opera, Soong Ching-ling (Madame SOON Yat-sen).  

This is work.

I have been looking at the music for several weeks, and although I speak some Chinese now, it is hard to memorize the words. 

The music is no problem; it is not tonally difficult. This will take time.
 

I relish the challenge as I believe I will be one of the first (or definitely few) Westerners to sing in a Mandarin opera in China.  It is at Beijing's National Center for Performing Arts, to boot!

One good thing is I am singing the role of the American Ambassador, so if my Chinese isn't perfect, it can fit nicely into the role...............

Italian recits to English dialogue to Mandarin: Writing last minute dialogues in China

Last December I had the wonderful opportunity of directing and singing in the first Western Opera ever presented in Guiyang, China. 

The opera presented was Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. The singers were young faculty members at Guizhou Normal University and several young professionals, plus myself. 

Working in China is sometimes daunting, and the weeks leading up to the rehearsals were a bit frustrating as I didn't get much information:  I didn't know how much music they were planning on presenting.  

Imagine my concern when I arrived and over the first three days of rehearsals found that only 60% of the music, and the only the standard recitative lead-ins to arias would be sung. 

They asked me to create dialogues to bind the musical scenes and story together.   Well, this was a challenge. The first four days I went home and was writing several dialogues in English, which I emailed to a wonderful young Chinese flutest who spoke great English.  She then translated them into Chinese and sent them on to the Chinese conductor, who would print them out and bring them to the morning rehearsal. 

We would then add local idioms and humour to spice up the recits.  We even ended up having a fun 'tai chi' theme for the distraught Countess throughout the show.  In the end it went very well and the audience was engaged throughout. 

It certainly kept me on my toes, having to produce the dialogues on the fly!

FAVOURITE OPERA TO DIE IN

Which opera is your favourite to die in and why?

There are several operas in which I enjoyed dying. 

One is Mercutio in Romeo and Juliette.  My first Romeo was Roberto Alagna, so that was fun.  It was made doubly nice as he is such an enjoyable colleague. 

I enjoyed dying as Posa in Don Carlo - It is a regal and elegant death. 

My favourite role in which to die is Scarpia in Tosca.  Why? 
I think the intensity of the death and in fact the entire role. 

From the moment Scarpia enters the stage he is all business and stays extremely intense through almost his entire role.  We get a glimpse of his carnal desires even in the Te Deum (in church of all places!) at the end of Act one.  And his expression of his desires and what he wants at the beginning of Act II.  He is a powerful, wanton man with huge desires and cravings.  His death at the hands of a woman is shocking because it is women that he could use and abuse on a whim; one strike of the dagger from a woman and it is shown that even a powerful man can fall.  I think when Scarpia is stabbed, many people in the audience will be thinking, "yes!  He deserved that!!!".

BEST OPERA ROLES FOR YOUNG BARITONES

What are the best roles for young baritones?

I think my time and experience as a 'young baritone' was very formative. 

I grew up in Seattle, and fortunately at that time in my Public School District we had a Summer Stock program.  My first lead role was the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan.  We had an experienced director who challenged us to be creative. 

Then next year I sang Emile in South Pacific.  So at a young age I was able to understand the rehearsal process.  

After returning from two years in Bolivia at age 21, I began to seriously study voice.  Within a 3 year period I had sung Danilo (Merry Widow), Frank Butler (Annie Get Your Gun), Sir Francis Chesney (Where's Charley?), Papageno (Magic Flute), Escamillo (Carmen), and John (The Face on the Barroom Floor).  All were good for me and helped me grow as and artist. 

My professional debut was as the Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly).  By the time I made my debut with Seattle Opera at age 26 I had already sung over half a dozen lead roles.

I think the key for a young singer is to seek any opportunity to perform,  and have a mentor to say "no" when you wish to take on a role too large.  We don't want young baritones singing Rigoletto or Scarpia too soon! 

Good roles for a young baritone (depending on your baritone voice type) would include:  

Papageno (Magic Flute)

Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte)

Schaunard (La Boheme)

Silvio (I Pagliacci)

Valentin (Faust)

Belcore (L'Elisr d'Amore)

Malatesta (Don Pasquale)

Mercutio (Romeo et Juliette)

Of course there are many smaller roles that one can accept that help develop your craft. 

As a young singer, we need to take advantage of opportunities to sing roles, be in productions.  Sometimes there is a bit of a financial sacrifice, but the more experience we get at an early age, the more solid our career can be down the road.  

This is why I always try to promote and find good opportunities for young singers to grow.

In Asia, there are some talented young singers that don't get an opportunity to sing a full opera, or sing enough of them.  Through summer programs outside of Asia, or the creation of productions in China or Hong Kong, we can offer desperately needed experience to young singers.