From: Alex Honzen
Subject: Transposed Arias
To: vocalist-at-lists.oulu.fi
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

I don't understand why people are becoming so insensed
when told that operatic arias are usually expected to
be sung in their original key. If you want to
transpose an aria into your vocal category and do it
for a recital, its your perogative. If you bring the
same aria into an audition, it will not get a good
reaction from a large percentage of the auditors out
there. You can call this purism, snobbism, whatever -
opera is theatre and there is most certainly "typing"
involved in how people perceive things. A bass
singing a tenor aria dropped down a fifth jostles this
somewhat - how many basses consider themselves to be
cheery young ingenues? This is a different dynamic
than art songs, which are often narrative in nature
and, when not, require a different, less material
approach to characterization than opera. I think this
is what most of the anti-transpostion posts are
referring to, as opposed to appointing themselves as
arbiters of good taste or making some sort of personal
attack...

In a situation where you are making the call, you can
transpose anything any way you want. Realistically,
how many performance situations does one find oneself
in where that is the case (especially as a
younger/fledgling singer)?
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