Varekai

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

It's so satisfying for a mother.

That reminds me of something from late 1990/early 1991 when I was still singing with the Sacramento Opera Chorus. We were rehearsing Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann when I was activated to serve in Operation Desert Storm. (I was serving in the USAF Reserves while working on a teaching credential at CSU Sacramento at the time.)

Well, Goldberry, her mom, and my mother all went to see the performance despite the fact that I was in Germany. There's a scene in the opera where there's a (simulated) orgy. Later, after my return from overseas, my mother told me that she was happy that I wasn't able to perform in that opera.

Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour,
Souris à nos ivresses,
Nuit plus douce que le jour,
Ô belle nuit d'amour!

[Alatar]

A friend of mine is playing the Beadle, he's a high Tenor also. The most difficult role rangewise in the show is Pirelli the Barber. I would have thought that would be more up your street!

Toby after all is meant to be a young lad ideally, not an Old Tom Bombadillo

Prim, Children of Eden starts Feb 18th and runs for a week. I'm playing Noah in that which is a mid sized role, but no real pressure. Sweeney on the other hand is scary as all hell.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

A friend of mine is playing the Beadle, he's a high Tenor also. The most difficult role rangewise in the show is Pirelli the Barber. I would have thought that would be more up your street!

I hadn't thought of Pirelli, maybe because the guy who played him in the original production was so slender. I believe the singing was done all falsetto, too. It was bad singing at that, but is probably meant to be. That would be the difficult part.

I could do young. I'm only 5'6", and would be young-looking if I shaved and wore a wig, but I'd have to lose a serious amount of weight to be a starving lad.

[Alatar]

Actually, Pirelli should be heavy!

Seems an awful waste... such a nice plump frame, whats-his-name has... had?... has... nor it can't be traced

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Actually, Pirelli should be heavy!

Seems an awful waste... such a nice plump frame, whats-his-name has... had?... has... nor it can't be traced

I recall that line. You're right!

"It's a piccolo player...it's piping hot!"

[truehobbit]

Wow, cool, Alatar - congrats!

How about free tickets for your friends, hmmmh?

Prim, maybe it's just a the wrong technique that makes you drop so low when you sing? But, then, I'm an alto although, apparently, I have a very high speaking voice (according to what people say, can't tell myself, of course).
The main thing is that your viola studies would make it pretty easy for you to learn the intervals. And if you really are a tenor, then you sing the tenor part and we need to find another high voice instead.
Although I must warn you that Bach was mean to tenors. Really evil!

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

But, then, I'm an alto although, apparently, I have a very high speaking voice (according to what people say, can't tell myself, of course).

There are three basic male voices and three basic female voices. The male voices are tenor, baritone, and bass. The female voices are soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto.

This differs from choral parts which are generally soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. (The choral parts are often divided into two parts, so you have soprano 1, soprano 2, etc.)

As I mentioned before, contraltos are pretty rare. Often you'll have sopranos and mezzo-sopranos singing the alto part in a choir. For instance, my wife has a pretty soprano voice but doesn't have a particularly large range. She was usually a soprano 2 or alto 1 in choir. Similarly, you'll often have baritones singing the tenor part in a choir due to the shortage of true tenors.

Classifying voices can be a tricky business, particularly if the vocalist is young. Like other parts of the anatomy, one's vocal chords (and other singing apparatus) matures as one ages. At 45 my voice is much more robust than when I was in my late 20s. Untrained voices can also be difficult to classify precisely, as tone and range usually improve at least a little with training. (I wasn't singing high Cs before I studied voice.)

That's the long way of saying that hobby is probably a soprano or mezzo-soprano who is placed in the alto section of her choir.

[truehobbit]

Hehe - our choir director calls them "lazy voices" - the people who sing alto although they could sing soprano.
Yes, maybe I could improve my range with some training, but right now it's really limited, at least when I'm singing. Of course it's a bit better during warm-up exercises. Hmmh, I don't know how the octaves are numbered in English, but in warm-up I go from the E (maybe even D?) below the system to the B (not sure about the C - I know I can squeak an A on a good day) above it, so two and a half octaves at most. In normal singing, though, my 'E's are pathetic, even a 'D' has me struggling (I know, I know - that is definitely due to lack of proper support ), and lower than a low A you don't really hear a lot. But I think that even without training this general comfort-range points to alto more than soprano range.
And as far as choral voices are concerned, as an alto you don't get below A as often as you would get above D if you are a soprano.

However, if we could find a Bach choral that doesn't go higher than D for the soprano, I'd take that on and leave the alto part for Prim.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Hmmh, I don't know how the octaves are numbered in English, but in warm-up I go from the E (maybe even D?) below the system to the B (not sure about the C - I know I can squeak an A on a good day) above it, so two and a half octaves at most.

If you can sing anything above the staff you have a much higher range than average. I recall from singing in church that most people would strain at the D on the second line from the top of the staff, and E would be out of the range of nearly everyone. You definitely wouldn't find a contralto singing those notes.

Of course being able to hit a note and singing it with a quality that anyone would want to hear are two different things. I recall hitting an A-flat (G-sharp) above high C in the practice room but I'm sure that it was mostly a shriek.

I think the most showy piece I ever sung was "Pour mon âme" from Donizetti's La fille du regiment. IIRC it starts on a high G, and has nine high Cs.

Below is a link to a video on YouTube. Just listen to the ovation this guy gets when he finishes!

Juan Diego Florez - Pour mon ame

[Alatar]

Wow, cool, Alatar - congrats!

How about free tickets for your friends, hmmmh?

If you have time while in Ireland you're welcome to come along to one of the rehearsals. I'm sure you'll have better things to be doing though