Audition Rep Redux
November 30, 2007 - Okay, so I've gotten some responses to my audition post-mortem post, particularly my frustration at singers offering arias that are somewhat irrelevant to the repertoire we are casting. I must say it was quite illuminating to find out that just publishing the repertoire for the season is not sufficient. Evidently singers want to be told that I want to hear prospective Donna Elviras sing "Mi tradi", prospective Octavias sing "Addio, Roma", prospective Nancys sing "What would Missus Herring say". Well, besides being a bit too wordy and cumbersome for the average audition listing, I have to say that prior to receiving these comments, I would have thought that such a spoon-feeding would have seemed patronizing to most singers. Isn't it self-evident that the best way to show that you are appropriate for certain roles is to sing a part of those roles? I guess not. So, in future we will be even more specific about what we want to hear. Hopefully that will save frustration on both sides of the audition table. - John Bowen
2 Comments:
I read your blog regularly and find it quite insightful. Thank you for taking the time to write about the business of singing from a director's perspective. One would think that this is what most singers would want.
To me it's just common sense to show up with arias from your upcoming season, or something comparable in every way so I don't understand what the brouhaha is all about.
Thanks again for your posts.
A baffled singer.
I've heard a plethora of different audition requests and tips. I've heard of companies that specifically request to hear anything other than arias from their upcoming operas and others who specifically request to hear arias from upcoming operas.
I personally don't think the repertoire makes a huge difference if you like what you hear during an audition.
If someone came in singing something from Siegfried incredibly but you're casting Magic Flute, does it really matter that you didn't hear a Mozart aria in the audition?
I can certainly see how you would want to hear something from your upcoming productions, but it's unreasonable to expect a singer to assume you want to hear an aria from those operas.
With that said, I've personally never auditioned for a role singing something from that role.
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