Helpful websites
http://www.amazon.com
If you just want to hear snippets of some of the singers we be talking about on this site, just key the names into the search bar here and you'll have instant access.
http://www.aria-database.com/
Here you will find IPA, translations, midi files and plots and character tessitura.
http://www.classicalsinger.com/
A great resource for the professional singer for jobs and auditions, health, singing abroad, and singing programs in general. They always have in depth articles and interviews with up and coming singers as well as the experienced old guard of international opera stars.
http://www.wyastone.co.uk/nrl/pvoce.html
This is the PRIMA VOCE historical recording site. Here you can download and listen to many famous and important singers from the golden age of opera.
http://www.classicalvocalrep.com/
Need a particular piece in your key? Not in print anymore? This is the ultimate site for mail order repertoire. He has everything! Glendower Jones, the owner of CVR has been catering to the special needs of professional singers for over 21 years. If he doesn't have it- you probably have to pay for a transcription because it doesn't exsist.
http://www.colonymusic.com/
Just for fun...
http://www.patelson.com/index1.html
A wonderful store with an extremely knowledgeable staff located in a beautiful old building right behind Carnegie Hall.
http://www.metoperafamily.org
The MET has recently changed General Managers and also updated their website. If you haven't been there in awhile- you have to go. This site is loads of fun now.
Read Any Good Books Lately?
There are several wonderful books written on the subject of singing- and a few have pretty detailed accounts of proper breath technique among other important things.
The Jerome Hines books: THE FOUR VOICES OF MAN and GREAT SINGERS ON GREAT SINGING are an incredible legacy. In GREAT SINGERS ON GREAT SINGING, the great American Operatic Bass Jerome Hines interviews his Metropolitan Opera colleagues and attempts to – well, force- them to explain how they do what they do. He doesn’t let them off the hook, but keeps asking persistent questions of them until they have informed the reader about their technique. It’s a brilliant book that can be read in sections- feel free to skip about from performer to performer. Everybody from Rosa Ponselle, Beverly Sills, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, famous otolaryngologists, Franco Corelli, Birgit Nilsson- and the list goes on. You will find scales, medical information, and the benefit of superstar performance knowledge dating back to the early 1900’s with the chapter on Rosa Ponselle. An invaluable book for breathing and it’s many ---well options. Check out the sections on Rosa Poselle, Placido Domingo and Marilyn Horne.
In his second book THE FOUR VOICES OF MAN, Hines takes a stab at REALLY describing the breathing process- and makes very clear work of it complete with diagrams. He also attempts in performances such as BORIS GODUNOV to use a single breath technique to find validity or to debunk its value for the student. He also takes an in-depth look at vocal registers and how we use them in speech and song. It tends to be a little technical, but he weaves in stories of his performances so we can truly see the applications. When I finally got to study in Italy, so much of this book made incredible sense and I was able to clearly see his points.
For all you tenors out there, there is a book called TRAINING TENOR VOICES by pedagogist/teacher Richard Miller. The book is expensive, highly scientific, and technical. But it gives the singer an almost complete understanding of passagio, breath technique, resonance/vibration, historical comparisons to recorded tenors of the 20th century, our vocal physiology, repertoire and musical passages to demonstrate particular technical bits. Another incredibly detailed but rather dry book. Teachers, tenors and all voice students who are interested at all in pedagogy will eat it up
Enrico Caruso got into the pedagogy game as well. Check out CARUSO'S METHOD OF VOICE PRODUCTION as dictated by P. Mario Marafioti.
The definitive book on scales and register changes seems to be OVERTONES OF BEL CANTO: Phonetic Basis of Artistic Singing with 100 Chromatic Vowel-Chart Exercises by Berton Coffin. It comes with a handy piano chart so that you can understand more clearly vowel modulation as you change registers during scale work.
Certainly the Zen Master of all books on the art of singing is VOCAL WISDOM: Maxims Of Giovanni Battista Lamperti as told to William Earl Brown. This handy pocket sized reference book will soothe your soul with thoughtful ideaology for you to apply to the art of singing.
A wonderful look at one of today's most graceful and vocally pure sopranos THE INNER VOICE : The Making of a Singer by Renee Fleming. She refers to it as "the autobiography of my voice" . It is a must read for any singer trying to make a career in the opera world. She has much to say about preparation and being able to do your job at a moments notice. The book also provides a rare glimpse into the private life and developement of an international opera star.
Joan Dornemann and Maria Ciaccia's incredible in-depth look at the operatic audition process is called COMPLETE PREPARATION : A Guide to Auditioning for Opera. The clarity with which our greatest American répétiteuse, Joan Dornemann, speaks is brilliant. She is able to make sense out of the nonsense of the audition process, offers tough love regarding style, acting, the use of a fit body as a total instrument, and speaks the experience of more than 25 years at The MET. This book is a must have for the new and seasoned auditionee.
CD Sheet Music
When you travel for audtions or for performances, don't you wish you could bring your whole library with you incase you wanted a particular aria or duet that just wasn't in your book? The company called CD Sheet Music has reduced everything- and I mean everything- into PDF files on CDs. All you need to do is print them out on your computer when you want them. The entire works of Wagner, Puccini, Verdi, and all repertoire in catagory by voice type as well as composer. Check it out: CD Sheet Music Ultimate Tenor Aria Album and CD Sheet Music Verdi Operas, Complete Vocal Scores.
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