ARIA, ARIA
Opera’s annual reality show sorts out the stars of tomorrow
Dramatic, unfettered and truly unpredictable, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions dismantle nearly all of the barriers that keep people away from music’s highest art form.
Expensive? Hardly. Tickets to the singing competition are $10 — and that is a “suggested” donation.
Elite? Not at all. Anyone can audition. Just sign up and pay a $30 fee, which helps to cover the expense of the contest and pay the pianist who is supplied at no additional cost for the audition. The event is surprisingly democratic.
Stuffy? Just the opposite. Unlike formal concerts, the Denver auditions go all day, for two days, and people come and go as they please. Folks get up to stretch, they change seats. There are plenty of young people in the audience getting their first dose of opera without having to sit perfectly still for three hours.
But the auditions are serious one way: They lead to careers and sometimes identify superstars. The roster of winners from auditions across the nation reads like a list of legends, or at least legends in the making: Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Samuel Ramey, Ben Heppner, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Patricia Racette, Deborah Voigt, Anthony Roth Costanzo.
There are actually two separate competitions in Denver this weekend, both at the Newman Center on the University of Denver campus, and both sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. On Saturday, singers from the Colorado/Wyoming District
go aria-to-aria in hopes of capturing the local title.
On Sunday, the previous day’s winners go up against top competitors from the Rocky Mountain Region, which also includes districts in Arizona andUtah.
Sunday’s champ heads to New York to compete for the national crown on March 1 at the MetropolitanOperaHouse,where The Met’s professional orchestra provides the accompaniment.
Thatmakesforabusy weekend, with 50 singers walking on stage, handing their sheet music to a pianist and showing off their best stuff. Competitors perform four arias each and they must sing in at least two languages. There are no rehearsals. “This really is meant to serveaspreparationfor professional auditions, and that’s the way it goes when you’re auditioning for a company,” said Melissa Wegner, executive director of the National Council Auditions organization, based in New York. In total, the council oversees 40 districts and 12 regions throughout the United States, Canada and, starting last year, Mexico.
Wegner is also a judge and has evaluated thousands of hopeful singers in her day. She breaks the scoring down into four basic categories, and knowing them gives audience members clues about whattowatchforatthe events.
Vocal skills, including the quality of the voice and technical skills.
Musicianship, which covers phrasing, rhythm and style.
Interpretation, or how singers portray the characterintheoperaand communicate with the audience.
Career potential. Who has the kind of charisma and stage presence that can sustain a career?
The competitors have to last through a long day to prevail. And many have to deal with an even tougher challenge: getting over their nerves. The singers are nearly all at the beginning of their careers and arrive with a varied amount of experience. Wegnersaysjudgescan usually tell if they’re hearing “someone who has beentoabunchofjob interviews” at opera companiesorifsomeonehas shown up for his “first or second big audition.”
Though, she acknowledges, those first impressions don’t always pan out in the performance. Confident singers can miss notes and newbies can shock the crowd with their talent. “Sometimes people have really bad nerves and they’re incredible.”
Wegner believes success starts with the right choice of material, which singers often agonize over, taking advice from teachers and coaches. They have to match their individual skills with what an audience might accept from them as performers onstage.
“You really have to figure out who you are as a singer and an artist and how you might fit into the bigger opera world,” she said.
For the winners, the rewards can be worth the effort. There’s the exposure and the glory of joining an illustrative lineup of singers. But there’s also a bit of cash, with singers splitting more than $400,000 in prize money nationally.
That cash is raised by National Council volunteers across the country, who help “keep the singer economy afloat” as Wegner puts it. Coaches, schools and accompanists are all expensive, and every bit of cash moves a careerforward.
Thecasualnatureofthe auditions — no dress code, no marathon sittings — makes them a good way for folks who don’t normally go to opera to get a taste of the art form. The audiencemaynotjudge the competitors with the same rigor that the judges apply, but they can’t sort out their favorites and pick their own winners. The Met Opera auditions are like a reality TV show, only they are live.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 11 or 81, or if you’re aseasonedproornewto this,” said Wegner. “I think all of us have a pretty good barometer for when something is great. We can recognize greatness.”