Graduate Recital

As this writer began preparation for the recital, many problems of performance began to manifest themselves, problems which are not encountered in opera or oratorio. First one must consider the problem of endurance . Would this singer be able to meet the demands of one full hour or recital performance? Inasmuch as some of the compositions chosen seemed more demanding than others, it seemed advisable to alternate numbers which placed great physical stress upon the singer with those which allowed some moments of ease and relaxation. It is also necessary to consider significant periods and styles of vocal literature and choose songs and arias which are representative. or all the vocal performing arts, recital singing may well offer the greatest challenge to singers. It is the responsibility or the singer to communicate to the audience throughout the entire performance, and this must be done without the aid of props, scenery, chorus, staging or lighting, elements that are so common to some other media or vocal performance. It then becomes apparent that it is the sole responsibility of the singer, together with a good accompanist, to keep the feeling of spontaneity and life flowing throughout the performance . Each song or aria requires a change of mood and emotion and it is often difficult for a singer to accomplish this readily. In order to accurately represent the important forms of vocal literature , it is necessary to have singing proficiencies in a minimum of four languages: English, Italian, French and German. Each language offers a unique challenge. One difficulty in singing English lies in the fact that each section of our country tends to develop its own peculiar inflections and accents. It is difficult to sing English songs without falling victim to one\u27s own speech habits..