Tools of the Trade

Today, I spent a lot of time with the Italian dictionary and Italian "501 verbs" books you can see on the bottom of the stack. When you learn a new art song or aria, it's critical to translate word-for-word to understand exactly what is meant on a particular note. A general translation or even a word-for-word one by somebody else doesn't cut it - you have to know what the word means because that affects how you color a particular note. Saying "I love him" is different than "He is loved by me." In the first example, you'd focus on the second word. In the second example, you focus on the third (assuming you're emphasizing "love.") Love itself has various colors, and languages use different words to express them that may not appear in a generic translation: "I desire him," "I adore him," "I like him," "I am committed to him," -- all different forms of that general "love".

Looking up words in a dictionary sounds pretty straightforward, but what makes this tricky is that some of the operas and art songs were written a few centuries back. That means modern dictionaries don't always have some of the words as they were used then. Figuring out idioms is also fun. Luckily, there are amazing teachers and coaches here who are very helpful on all fronts. This is why, too, it's often considered vital for opera singers to become fluent in French, Italian, and German. I think Spanish will rise to prominence as well as people increasingly look to Spanish art song and operas for new material.

Another reason to pick up the dictionaries is pronunciation. You are expected to sound like a native when singing in a language - no accent. Actually, you're expected to sound better than a native. (Evidently Pavarotti did some funky things with his Italian.) Think of having absolutely pure English as opposed to English with a Longuyland accent or Southern twang. Same deal in Italian, French, and German.

I'm thankful for my little stack of books and pleased as a junebug that I'm in one spot for a little while so that I'm not trying to stuff them all into a suitcase.

Life is good.

~Hope