So, you've started singing in some houses, you've finished a young artist program, or you are embarking on your career. Things seem to be going well. But do you have a plan?? What types of roles do you see yourself doing next year, the two years after, in five years? What will you be known for at the end of your career? Going back to the same "what are your outstanding qualities" question - what are the things that are unique about your voice or your musicality, and what roles are going to show these off? Which of these roles do you really connect with from a dramatic perspective? You can be drawn all day to roles that appeal to your dramatic senses, but this is OPERA, not just THEATER. What not only just suits your voice but stands out in your voice is going to be the vehicle of your career.
Everyone advised me at the beginning of my career to specialize, and I resisted. In school, in competitions, and even auditions, we are required to be a well-rounded musician, showing that we can shine in EVERY type of music and style.
Once you get into a career, you need to throw away this idea that "being a versatile artist" is a great selling point. It is not, and nobody shines in everything - not Thomas Hampson, not Renee Fleming, not Natalie Dessay... Versatility confuses people who want an easy "product" to buy - it doesn't mean anything to them. I have resisted so long in specializing that maybe it is too late now.. It is not saying that you are selling out to concentrate on one thing for a while, so you can "make your name." It is, in marketing terms, defining your product. And in personal and musical terms, it means defining who you are, getting to know yourself and your strengths and weaknesses, and only underlining your strengths! Once you have established yourself with name recognition and reputation, and people know you as "the best" at something, you can do whatever you want to do. Then people will comment on your wonderful versatility, but not before you have established your "brand name" first. You do not want to buy diapers from Gerbers, nor baby food from Pampers, although in the long run, they are probably run by the same company.
So figure out what it is that makes you shine. Do not take it for granted that just because people say "oh you'd make a great Adina" that you will... Ask them exactly what it is in the role that they think would make your voice shine and see if it is true for you. If they can't come up with specifics (and things in the ARIAS that will make you shine) then either the role may not be for you, or you need to be asking someone else for advice on these things. Maybe even ask YOURSELF! What a thought.
A role is the sum of its parts. Just because you like one aria does not mean the entire opera will suit you well. Make sure ALL the arias do something for your talents, or at least see if you can BEND the ones that aren't exactly showing you off to your talents. See if there are things in the ensembles that really suit your singing and temperament. Sometimes we like an opera because we know one aria from it. But that one aria is just one moment in the development of your character. You need to be able to not only sing but to SHINE in the ENTIRE opera. ESPECIALLY your last appearance in the opera - this is what sticks with the audience the most. You can be forgiven some weaknesses early on in an opera if you make up for it with a fantastic ending. But if you kill yourself doing wonderful things in the beginning of the opera, only to fizzle in the last act, your audience will be thinking of that as they leave the theater, not that you showed great promise in the beginning. Choose your roles well. And SAY NO in a nice way if something is not particularly suited to you. I have told many theaters the following, with total sincerity, not haughtiness or cynicism - "I just can't do justice to that part, although I would LOVE to sing in your theater. I wouldn't want to render that DISservice to your theatergoers by doing something for them that is not just WONDERFUL. " And it is true. I have, however, accepted some engagements either for the money or for the prestige of the theater or because someone guilted me into it, or because I just had the free time and was afraid to say no.... and invariably, I should've followed my first instincts. Thus, a very stinky Norina at New York City Opera, an even stinkier Fiakermilli at San Francisco Opera.... etc. etc. I would've been better off saying NO. I still flinch at some of the critiques of these operas! Don't let it happen to you! Learn from MY mistakes, if you can!! PLEASE!!
Here is one example from my career: Adina in L'Elisir d'amore. It's a really nice role, and I remembered Ruth Ann Swenson singing a beautiful Adina in San Francisco - I sang Giannetta in the production with her as a young artist there. So when I got an offer to sing this role in Lausanne at the beginning of my career, I was very excited! The role has some beautiful singing. However... The first aria is very low and does not show me off. Even though I could be heard, it never felt very present nor did I feel I had much character in that aria in the legato parts (too low in my voice) or the "Elisir di si perfetta, di si rara qualita'" etc... because the vocal writing didn't suit my particular voice. It didn't sound brilliant, and the top of the phrase ("la ricetta") didn't give me time to do anything with the note. Ok, so I liked the ensembles. The character is neither nice nor really bitchy, but just toying with this poor guy. I don't really like her nor identify much with her. Now let's skip to the end of the opera - my big aria "Prendi." I love the first part - suits me wonderfully, and I had a lovely cadenza which showed off some soulful legato and pianissimo high notes. Great, so far. But then there's the cabaletta. Clean coloratura, musical lines: impressive right? Uh... but what is the big high note at the end? I've gone to ALL this effort and sung my you-know-whats off all night and what is the big high note at the end? It's in the key of F. So, a high C. A high F would be horrible in this context, and extremely out of place. And a high C is not "big" in my voice - that's where my high notes START. So it is not a big, loud culminating high note - it is the stop-off point as I go up to something else. In my voice, a high C sounds like an A above the staff for most lyric sopranos. No biggie. And this is supposed to be the brilliant thing to cap off the excitement of the whole evening for my character? It just doesn't sound that impressive in my voice because it doesn't go up high enough. And the writing in the middle tends to be "sharp" rather than lyric, with brilliant singing ringing up to a G or A suddenly and then going back down - something that just makes me sound a bit acidic instead of brilliant. Although I have all the notes and did a "good" job, it is not something where people walk away saying "WOW - that Laura Claycomb is really something, isn't she?" Whereas there are other roles by the same composer, even, that elicit those kinds of responses. I think it's better for me to stick with THOSE kinds of roles (Lucia, Giulietta, Gilda...) and forget the rest. Just because people think you should be good in ALL the -ina and -etta roles doesn't mean each one suits your particular bag of talents.
I don't think it is so ridiculous to concentrate on two or three roles, and do those all over the place, so that THAT role becomes associated with you. Jennie Larmore - Cenerentola, Barbiere; Denyce Graves - Carmen, Dalilah; Natalie Dessay - Queen of the Night, Olympia; Susan Graham - Mozart; Dawn Upshaw - modern, innovative, Mozart; Ainhoa Arteta - Violetta; Bartoli - light, fast coloratura; Eva Marton - Turandot; Thomas Hampson - the Count; Carol Van Ness - Mozart and now Verdi. The list goes on.... But what is the common denominator? They concentrated on a small, select group of roles in the beginning and branched out LATER. Even Dawn Upshaw, who's now known for her innovative choices, started out doing Mozart at the Met. Then she got a following for her distinctive sound, and moved into different repertoire. The sooner you can decide and divine what are "YOUR" roles, and hone in on them, the better chance you have to shine. It sounds simple, but I've been somewhat resisting for 10 years now! Wow. I hope I can save you 10 years of "versatility" which is actually just scatterbrainedness.
You need to be SEEN, not only on stage but in print. It sounds elementary, but this requires you to work a lot. You should try and intersperse American and European engagements, so you don't end up on one side of the pond or the other exclusively for years on end. In the early stages of a career, you just need to BE WORKING. You need to just be out there so people can hear and see you. And so your name gets put in print, so people will begin to say, "Well, who IS this Laura Claycomb?"
For example: People didn't know who I was in the U.S., even though I was doing work with American companies every now and then, and working with great companies in Europe. I was mainly working in Europe. And I wasn't getting enough national coverage when I sang in the U.S. I had a huge success in Los Angeles Opera in I Capuleti e I Montecchi , but only the local newspapers raved about it. You would've thought it was a fart in the wind. Of national and international reviews, it got ONE - in Opera News, and that was the one person who was pissy about me! Americans didn't see my name in THEIR print, and they weren't able to see ME in the U.S. All that changed with Houston Grand Opera's interest in me, and in the press that came with it. After a huge success in one show, I made myself available for interviews, etc... by talking to HGO's public relations person. HGO alone has upped my exposure amazingly simply by their attention to details and by putting me forward for interviews or articles. It is thanks to their publicity person that I was on the January cover of Britain's Opera magazine! People in the U.S. are finally waking up.
I have had people tell me that I have a great press agent. Well, thank you, it's ME! ...with the help of my many generous friends and their friends, my agents, and the wonderful people who do their job exceptionally well like Joy Partain at HGO! Ask your parents/family and their friends, college/childhood friends, sorority/fraternity sisters, club members, etc... if they have contacts in the press in towns where you will sing. You will be amazed at the connections your friends have. You can contact these people, see if they are interested in you, get them to interview you, and get some press for yourself and in promotion of your upcoming engagement. Everyone is happy - they have an interesting "special interest/arts" story, and you get some press coverage. Think about press for the next gig about two months before it comes up. Start calling/writing people, and set things up. Talk to the PR person at the opera or symphony and see if there is anything you can do to help sell the show.
For an interview, have a goal in mind. What is the main point you want to get across? How do you want the article to read? Try and write down what you want to say in an interview, so you have a concrete guide you can study before doing the interview. Stay in control YOURSELF of the interview, so you don't get caught up in some stupid, insipid tangent that then makes you look like an airhead. Guide the conversation to your subjects with or despite the questions the interviewer asks you. Be careful of putting out glib or incendiary comments, as those will become the crux of the article, I assure you. The glib or ironic ditty you said off-the-cuff at some point will become that cutesy "clincher" line at the very end of the article, to which they tailor the REST of the article before it to lead. If you say something like this that you think could be taken out of context, say "well, of course, that's off the record. I was just joking." I have lived this - - they asked me about my private life once, at which I wryly tossed off, "Well, I'm not going to let singing get in the way of my dating!" This became the breathless, airy ending line of the article, to which the rest of the article pointed - she's so cute, she's just a young little stupid blonde under that red hair.... I wanted to kill them! So be careful, as they are not going to keep things in their context. They are looking for snappy comebacks to splice into their background blather about you. Unfortunately, I usually oblige them without knowing it. As much as I warn you against it, I fall into the trap often. Maybe I am blonde, or maybe I'm just too accomodating. In your preparation, come up with your own snappy quotable quotes that you think they might jump on - - they can then form the big quote they use at the end or the quote they put in the caption box around the story... Give them what they need, and don't just leave it to your off-the-cuff remarks.
Know your audience for the article. Most writers for the arts are NOT that specialized in music or opera, or even the arts sometimes. I have had the sports writer interview me before... I always ask an interviewer about him/herself and how he/she got to do this job (basically asking in a nice way what the hell kind of background he or she has.) Ask them what the scope of the article will be, how long, and in what section. This helps you know on what level you can talk about music, and also how in-depth or general an article is going to be. I have come up with some glib, short explanations of things which a general interviewer may not know about opera singers. Otherwise, the article becomes about these stupid elementary parts of an opera singer's life, and not about ME personally! Sorry, but I'm not wasting more breath on "the life of an opera singer" for one more article. They can go read my website for that. Actually, I usually do refer them to my website before an interview, in any case.
Explanations that might help in interviews:
All of this is news to many interviewers, so make it as dry and concise as possible, otherwise the article becomes all about this lifestyle. ugh.
You also need to be on the ball about the publicity that's going on at an
opera house. See if there is some kind of interesting slant to a story that
connects you to their house, and tell their P.R. person about it. OR better
yet, include it in your official biography for their house. CHECK your bio
when you get there, as there will still be time to change it. If you wait
until the week before your show opens, there may not be time to adjust that
stinky bio your agent sent the company way back when they were proposing you
for the first time, which could be at least 3-4 years ago!!
About that slant - sometimes it just takes creativity. You know the Cinderella story about Anna Netrebko, that she was washing the floors at the Opera house, and then she ended up on the stage there? Bah, humbug! I'm sure there was plenty of study both before and after her picking up a mop, if a mop ever was picked up... My sister brought to my attention that right before my big break in Geneva, I was trying to make some money as a pedi-cab driver (you know, those bicycles that have two seats behind them to carry around tourists?) I only did it a week, because the hills in San Francisco nearly killed me, but still the same, it would make a great story. I'd nearly forgotten about it. Poor little Cinderella Laura was lugging tourists up the hills of San Francisco, when she got that call to go to Geneva! Hmmm. And it's TRUE! I think I will mention this in my next interview. Nobody really wants to hear about the hard work and the practice that goes into this career. They want to hear the stupid fantastic, miraculous "discovery" stories. "I was a brick-layer and then someone discovered me!" etc. etc... They always forget to mention the conservatory that went in there, or private study. I find it annoying, but the public seems to love it. If you have a great "discovery story," by all means mention it in articles. If you have some other specialty, such as "I studied English literature before moving into singing" (i.e. Ian Bostridge), or "I was a policeman for a while" - then by all means, tell people about it. It brings human depth to a story about artists. They eat it up. But for my sake, please mention the hard work that went into your musical studies. There's nothing that pisses me off more than articles which act like anyone can just roll out of bed and become an international opera star because they have a couple of good high notes.
Show up to donor parties, do those extra giglets for patrons that you can while you're at an opera companies - the free mini-concerts, the meet-the-guild parties, the talks for the patrons... Bring photos to give to patrons (in Europe). Send thank-you notes to people who throw parties for you and who sponsor your operas. Your audience of operaphiles wants to feel that they know you, not just onstage, but off - - indulge them a bit, and they will be invested in you and in hearing you in the future. I did all that I could while I was in Houston, and guess who was the TOP requested singer in their audience survey last year, taken, by the way while they were doing Renée Fleming's much-touted first Traviatas? Others in the top were Pavarotti, Fleming, Domingo and top of the bunch - ME! It pays to be nice, after all. I was the only one without a press agent and a major record label pushing me.
What else seems to be an element of a big career? Recording contracts. The recording industry is going through colossal change lately, because of buy-outs by huge companies. Last I checked, Universal owned two of the biggest classical recording companies. It's probably changed since this went into print. So the "bottom line" is becoming more of a goal than recording things for posterity. And classical music, for all its beauty and artistry, is not a big money-maker. When you have a "great" record sell 500,000 records in the classical sector, it pales in comparison to the millions Brittney Spears can sell. So they are not keeping a "roster" of classical artists like they did before. They have also shot themselves in the foot by this same roster system, in which they have artists signed up for something like a 5-record contract in 5 years, and end up using their stable of singers for a generic reading of an opera so they can fulfill the contract obligations, other than using the best or most suited singers for that specific piece. So they have flooded the market with recordings of questionable overall merit. The result is that the confused consumer just goes ahead and buys that vintage re-issue of the Callas version. In addition, many of the big orchestras and ALL of the orchestra unions still have in mind the bloated "good old days" and insist on unrealistic, exhorbitant fees in this dismal financial climate. It makes it nearly impossible to record with orchestras in the U.S. and Western Europe. Luckily, some few orchestras are wisening up and including some recording work in their contracts, and including rights to record concerts that will take place anyway.
Nevertheless, all of the big recording companies have had to tighten their belts, and the first thing to go is classical. If you will notice in the MINUTE classical section of your local record shop, if it has a classical section, more RE-releases of "historic" recordings (read: already brand-known names) are being done these days than new albums by the handful of singers that are left doing new solo recordings. I dare you to name 5 singers who will come out with more than one album this year. Or 1, at this point. Frighteningly enough, many classical sections in music stores still exist today thanks in a great part to ilk like Andrea Boccelli.... Because he sells volume to the unknowing masses, we are allowed to keep our classical section! The only thing that can be done is to popularize classical music, but somehow do it without cheapening the product. No one seems to have found a way to do that yet. I think they are underestimating their audience! AND I think that we have forgotten that classical music needs to go forward, instead of sitting on its laurels. New compositions are not supported or pushed, and thus we lose touch with current audiences. But that's another discussion entirely, for another day!
Check out the names of labels of albums you like. Do some research. See where they are based. See if your agent knows anyone in the company. See if you know anyone who works with that label a lot (esp. conductors, accompanists, orchestras). You may be surprised that someone you know has a link and would be glad to refer you for a project. CD's are not only fun to make, they make it easier for audiences to get to know you. They can have something to carry home with them and listen to when you're not in town. Someone who's only read about you can hear you by going to his corner music store, peering past the Boccelli albums and finally special-ordering the damn thing in frustration. Er, I mean he can buy an album of you at the music store.... I am being pessimistic, am I not? Anyhow, it is a great way for people to get to know you even before you've sung in their town. At this juncture, I would not advise trying to make your own album or label, though, as it is very expensive and the main problems are distribution and P.R. The channels of distribution are the main problem in this business. In a shop where they have VERY little shelf space to begin with for classical, it is doubtful that they will stock your cd unless it flies off the shelf. And it's hard to get ANY classical cd to fly off the shelf. However, check out archival articles in Classical singer to find out more about recordings.
Italy's fees, which used to be astronomical (most likely because you have to put up with so much gross disorganization and craziness) are now down to what a lot of other European countries offer. No more cash cow. But they do still cast extremely late, so if you have gaps coming up in your schedule, Italy might be a great place to try and fill them.
With the advent of cd-burners, it is now feasible for you or your agent to make tailored demo cd's for each venue. Make sure your agent has a high-quality copy of your originals, with only your arias on it, and TRACKED. That way, your agent can pick and choose which aria on your cd to put onto a demo to send out. You don't want to ask your agent to do any editing (if you give them a cd with just one big track on it of the whole opera!) nor do you want him to have to figure out which track on multitudinous cd's of entire operas are YOUR arias. The easier you make it for your agent, the more likely you are to get things done in a timely manner, if at all. They do have other things to do.
We have also gotten interest to hear me audition as a result of the cd, or where it opened the door for me to have a working session with a conductor. Venues who THOUGHT they knew me all of a sudden perked up after hearing me recently on the demo cd.
Some venues where my cd was instrumental in my hiring: Cleveland Orchestra debut in Carmina Burana; Ophelie in Hamlet in Trieste, Italy; and concerts with Roger Norrington, among others. Not bad, huh?
For recital venues, send them a cd of you singing recital repertoire, as well as at least three sample programs written out. I would try and include one "lighter" recital, since in the U.S., at least, recitals are a hard sell in the first place. I try to include a "themed" recital and a more serious recital. This way, they have a smattering of different ways you can program , and can see you are interested in doing more than the standard Dichterliebe.