Sing with the Royal Opera House (29.04.2022, ROH, Paul Hamlyn's hall)

Amongst many activities, that the Royal Opera House proposes to the public every month, the "Sing with the Royal Opera House" has certainly its firm place and it's the one not to be missed, if you're interested in singing and learning something new or seeking some professional advice about the singing technique. This was my first time that I attended this activity and I was really surprised by the high level of musical education that the public had. I didn't know what to expect, but about a half of the public were people who regularly sing in a choir (and so they could sight-read the music and follow it without any problem). I'm myself musically educated (I play piano and I can read the music), however I cannot sing directly from the score without having previously learnt it.

The lesson started with a couple of exercises to relax our bodies and mouths and to engage our tummies - so important for the breathing and support. After that we went straight to singing the first aria Come away fellow sailors from the opera Dido and Aenes by Purcell. Personally, I wasn't familiar with this aria (neither with the opera), so I felt a little lost and struggled at the beginning - even more so, because the aria is set quite high (I'm a mezzo-soprano). So I started to sing rather quietly in order not to disturb my well-singing neighbours. Our vocal coach and the conductor Joanna Tomlinson explained what was the aria about and sang it for us, so we could hear the outcome. Then we proceeded to learning this aria (by bits), nevertheless, it was an intense learning. Joanna also mentioned that we could sing an octave (or tho octaves) lower, but you had to know what an "octave" was and how to sing it. Luckily, on the second page of that aria, there were variations for different types of voices, so I could sing lower and louder. The voice coach also explained a little bit of the singing style (the baroque) and the general context of this aria, so we could also express some emotions and understand the purpose of this music, rather than just sing the notes. Well - I got there in the and, even though I didn't excel in his one, I've tried.

The second aria was much easier, partly because the tune was more familiar - aria Che faro senza Euridice (by Gluck) from the opera Orfeo and Euridice, and partly because it was not so high as the previous one (therefore more comfortable for the mezzo-sopranos). We had, likewise with the first piece, a short introduction into the opera and especially the emotional context of this aria and then Joanna sang it to us (in Italian). With a little bit of the language preparation about the pronunciation - were to put the accents and how to sing the vowels - we set off. This aria was really nice to sing because, as the text repeated itself a lot, we didn't have to worry about it that much and could put more attention to music, legato, dynamics and emotions.

The third piece was (probably) even more well-known - aria of Papageno and Papagena Pa Pa Pa, from the famous Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Seemingly simple tune was not, however, without its challenges - notably the rhythm, as it's a quick piece (we sang it in English - I presume to simplify the matter; otherwise we would have needed more time for learning the German pronunciation). We were divided into two groups: the first singing Papageno and the second Papagena. These two characters interact with each other very swiftly (in this aria) and also sing together, so we had to be very aware of the music and of each-other replicas. It was, none the less, a great fun and pleasure to sing.

Joanna brought a lot of joy and energy into the Paul Hamly's hall and gave us some technical tips & tricks on how to sing consonants and vowels (by explaining were to place our tongue and how to open our mouth), how to breath to support the airflow and how to correctly posture our bodies to support our breath and to relax our muscles). The whole experience was a fantastic one and I'd recommend it to anyone: whether you are a professional or amateur singer or just interested in singing and learning something new or getting familiar with the work of an opera singers, vocal coaches and répétiteurs. This is really a good opportunity to take and enjoy. I'll certainly attend another one.