# 17. Prep for opera role



## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE FOR YOUR OPERA ROLE:

Where does one start?

It can be difficult to learn a new role here are some steps that need to be taken:

1. Listen to the opera
2. Know what the opera is about
3. Translate the words (if needed)
4. Work with a native speaker on your pronunciation 
5. Learn the music by Acts 
6. Make sure you learn the music with correct rhythm
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Please add anything and everything that I might have missed. 
Thanks for the help =)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Anna Larsson said when talking about learning the role of Kundry that she spoke the role for six months before even starting to sing it. But that's Wagner....


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## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

Hello mamascarlatti!

I need to start preparing for a role in Italian. And it is a little overwhelming when you look at the full opera. 
I wonder if opera singers have some strategies that they use and maybe ideas on where to start when learning an opera.

Six months before singing it... wow it must have taken her forever to learn the role... =)


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I suggest you relate the role to your life - how can you mean what you sing if you don't believe it and feel it from inside first?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I've read interview with soprano famous for her performance of Salome. The fame didn't come from her voice but from the fact that she actually got all nude on stage during the seven veils dance. She said that her preparation for the role was watching her little daughter walking around without clothes, to absorb the appearance of uninhibited, natural nudity.

Maybe you should use this strategy, if you don't have children yet, try watching some other member of your family walking around crudely.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

DimiFrang said:


> 1. Listen to the opera


also watch the opera. Although I'm not a singer and thus I can't give you any tips on preparing the singing part, from a theatrical point of view and as an opera lover I like watching and hearing different takes on the roles I especially like. You learn a bit from everybody, not just your favourite singers. See what's been done, how many different angles there can be to your character, see the new trends, so to speak, in approaching a character.

I've watched interviews with opera singers talking about roles and some of them go really in depth, as in reading about the time period when the opera is set, so they can understand where the character is coming from even how they would act physically on stage. Basically you should try to make the character your own, so it stands out when you're on stage. That can take a long time, especially with an opera which is new to you.


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## DimiFrang (Jan 23, 2014)

Thank you for the suggestions...

I agree that you have to know the character in depth and the time period...

And it will help a lot to maybe somehow relate the role to your life...


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

DimiFrang said:


> Hello mamascarlatti!
> 
> I need to start preparing for a role in Italian. And it is a little overwhelming when you look at the full opera.
> I wonder if opera singers have some strategies that they use and maybe ideas on where to start when learning an opera.
> ...


Do you speak Italian? If not you will have to learn the role phonetically which can be done, but you still need to understand the meaning of each word.

For pronunciation, I would suggest that one thing you can do is listen to a lot of Italian, even if you don't understand what is being said, so that you can get the cadences of the language. And do a lot of repetition, listening carefully to yourself and comparing it to the model. Even "shadowing" - which is to listen to one sentence over and over, then repeat after, then to speak it at the same time, with the same intonation, as the speaker, trying to sound as much as possible like them.


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