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Vocal Process Reports...
Acting coaching for
auditions
When The Singer
Magazine was approached by an opera singer, K, desperately seeking
help on acting coaching for auditions, journalist Josette Lesser
brought her along to Jeremy. Here is an excerpt from the resulting
article:
Fisher starts his
class with K by discussing her requirements. He then gives her the
option of talking through the audition set-up, or singing and
experiencing it. When she admits that she's an intellectualiser,
Fisher tells her to sing! The piece she chooses is Pace, pace mio
dio from Verdi's La forza del destino. After her first rendition,
Fisher gives her feedback: "The first thing I see is that you're not
completely committed. I can see why somebody would say that the
emotions don't come across. It's not true that you're not doing the
emotions. You are. I want to work with you on doing something
completely different with it, because I think that you've got an
image of what this person is, should be, behaves like."
He also points out
that, although the music is very static, emotionally it is heartfelt
and powerful. He asks her to pace up and down and work entirely
against the music. "Sing it exactly the same," he instructs, "but
physically you're going to be really frustrated, fraught, angry,
fiery, hyper."
The difference is
immediately apparent: "It's a question of not going with what you
think you should be doing, and going with something that fits you"
he explains. "We've got to take you and put you into the character,
not the other way round. And sometimes you have to go to the other
extreme to find something of yours that you can bring in."
Fisher asks what the
aria is about, and as the discussion deepens, it is clear that he is
going to make K use every ounce of her own, very outgoing
personality: "Victims don't suit you" he declares. He gets her to
analyze the words victim and passive, slowly leading her to the idea
of an active, boxed-in character: "I think your image of victim is:
Not dealing with the situation. And I think you're going: This is
not what I do. I can sing the notes, I can do the phrases, I'm
musical, but I don't have any resonance with that character. So for
you, character-wise, were going to use a slightly different version:
she's frustrated as hell and she fights. Let me die! - frustration
is a very hot, angry emotion. Passive isn't hot, but by moving you
around were already getting some of the heat of: I am in a terrible
situation and I can't do anything about it. It's about putting your
sense of drama into what you're doing."
However, drama and
emotion are all very well but, as we well know, they should never
affect the quality of ones singing. Fisher's solution to this is to
fake the emotion: "Ultimately your job is to make us feel it", he
tells her. "I don't care if you feel it. In fact, if you did feel it
and let your singing down, Id be really annoyed. So that's your job
as an actor in any shape or form."
By the end of the
session he has also covered everything from biting into the voiced
consonants for extra effect, to reviewing the actual audition
procedure. And the difference in K's performance is quite
remarkable. Afterwards I asked her how she felt? "It was exactly
what I was looking for!" she enthuses, "I came away elated and
optimistic that Jeremy could help me move towards where I want to
be. His combination of theoretical knowledge and practical exercises
impressed me, combined with obvious musical ability - well, who
could ask for anything more? I've come away with a lot to think
about, practical things I can do to improve my performing, not just
theories. My brain is humming, and so am I."
“Just what we at The Singer like to hear. Next query."
The Singer,
October/November 2002
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