This survey of 48 opera singers explored their processes for learning and performing arias. The key findings were: - Singers prefer to learn arias by watching the full opera to understand context, though time/cost constraints can limit this. - In concerts without staging, singers rely on physicality, facial expressions and hand gestures to convey character. - Opinions varied on whether arias should remain true to their original plot context in concerts or be reimagined, though fully comprehending the original role and plot is ideal for characterization. - There are barriers to character development in concerts, but also opportunities for personal expression without staging constraints. Thorough preparation of the original role is important to singing ari

1. Quantitative and Qualitative
Results of the survey
‘Getting into Character’
April and May 2012

2. KEY STATS
•Survey between 23rd April – 31st May
2012
•48 respondents
•Respondents taken from Trinity Laban
College and Facebook Group ‘Opera
Talk’

3. 1. What is the first thing you do when you have a
new aria to learn ?
Watch the aria on
DVD/youtube
Watch the whole
opera
Find out the plot
Learn the text of the
aria
Translate the aria
Learn the music
Other

4. 2. When learning new arias, how frequently do
you watch the whole opera (live and/or DVD)
from which they originate ?
40
35
30
25
Sometimes
20
Never
15
10
5
0

5. 2. When learning new arias, how frequently do
you watch the whole opera (live and/or DVD)
from which they originate ?
Comments can be summarised as :
•Time/cost issues
•Don’t want to pick up others’ mistakes

6. 3. In a concert setting, what techniques do you
use to convey the character to an audience (ie
when you have no other characters on stage, no
costume and no props) ?
35 I adopt a physicality
appropriate to the
30 character
I alter my facial
25 expressions
20 I use my
arms/hands to
15 show meaning
I choose what I'm
10 wearing carefully
5 I walk around the
stage (in a concert
0 setting)

7. 3. In a concert setting, what techniques do you
use to convey the character to an audience (ie
when you have no other characters on stage, no
costume and no props) ?
Comments can be summarised as :
•Act !
•Appropriate suitable physicality for the character

8. 4. Do you prefer to sing arias in a staged
format (ie costumed, with props and other
characters) or in a concert setting ?
Staged format
Concert setting

9. 4. Do you prefer to sing arias in a staged format (ie
costumed, with props and other characters) or in a
concert setting ?
Comments can be summarised as :
•12 people said ‘easier’
•Many comments surrounding ‘more personal
input’ and ‘flexibility’ in a concert setting
•More fun (3 people)

10. 5. What, if any, barriers do you find in performing an
aria in a concert setting ?
30
20
10
0
No other characters on stage to react to
Difficulty in switching from one character to another in quick succession
No costume to help me get into character
No director to help my movements/choreography
Lack of understanding of the character
Lack of knowledge of the whole plot

11. 5. What, if any, barriers do you find in performing an
aria in a concert setting ?
Respondents were equally split in their
comments:-
•4 people said ‘no barriers’ (out of 8
responses)

12. 6. What top tip can you give to help a singer
characterise an aria in a concert setting ?
Overwhelmingly, people said :-
•Know the whole role/fully understand the
character, by the following :
Understand the text
The whole opera’s plot
Visualise the surroundings of the aria
(woods, glade etc)
Research the opera’s context

13. In your opinion, how important is it that the aria
remains true to the original plot when sung in the
concert setting ? (38 respondents)
Differing opinions :-
‘There may be too much back-story…..therefore, to provide a meaningful
performance, a new context needs to be invented and communicated.
The plot isn't necessarily important to the audience but they should hear
the emotion and understanding in your voice.
Versus:-
‘Some arias don't make any sense out of context - in this case, better to
give a straight performance than try to convey the whole sense of what's
going on!’
And then the middle way :-
‘It really depends on the aria!’

14. Conclusions
•Singers prefer to sing the whole role in a fully staged
opera as it’s easier to get into character and more fun
to perform the whole role.
•When singing arias in a concert, there are mixed
opinions in terms of whether an aria should be
‘generalised’ or whether it should still be sung as if in its
original context.
•They all agree that ideally, to characterise one aria
properly, the whole role should be totally understood,
along with the whole opera.

15. Conclusions (cont.)
•There are no short cuts in preparing an aria for
a concert setting rather than the whole role in
an opera.
This has implications for the amount of
preparation time necessary for an opera
‘concert’ comprising arias from numerous
operas.

16. END
Thank you