I also want to point out that most of the 17-year-olds
who make a lot of noise about how they want to become
opera singers, rarely do. MOST of the teenagers I
know are not prepared to sacrifice their rock
concerts, football games, late-night parties, beer, or
even just the shopping and daydreaming that healthy
teens do, to put in the practice required to be an
early superstar. Also, it's not like instrumentalism;
you don't have to wait until you're in your late
twenties to find out if your piano strings are going
to mature the way you want them to (so the "early
superstar" thing often doesn't work out even if the
teen in question does devote the time and work to the
art). I nearly always take the young singers who
describe themselves as "14-year-old opera singers"
with a grain of salt, simply because they rarely have
the dedication and willingness to sacrifice the fun
that it would take for them to have enough of a "leg
up" required for jealousy. It's convoluted thinking,
but it keeps me from feeling like there is a mountain
of singers with more advantages underneath me.
I'm sure Dean, who sees the 1% of young kids prepared
to devote themselves to music, would be able to either
support or refute my theory that "turning teenager"
often takes someone's attention away from a developing
career.
On the other hand, it's extremely hard to watch
someone younger, prettier, fresher, and all that, do a
job you want, or regret giving up the chance for.
This is especially true for women, I think, where
"younger" is automatically given an attractive
quality. Also, I think that women in our society tend
to compare themselves to other women more (the
thought, "what a lovely hair-style," or "wow, she has
stunning legs" always seems to be accompanied by "I
wonder if it would look good on me," and "I ought to
lose five more pounds" in our minds).
So I guess my point is that a) all those young singers
aren't necessarily better off, after all, and b) it's
a healthy, healthy reaction in any case.
Sort of a spin-off angle, but I notice that, of the
high-profile singers who have been successful and have
retired, some tend to eat their hearts out in jealousy
of the new singers who do "their" roles better and
younger, and others dedicate themselves to mentoring
and patronizing the young singers of the day. I bet
that, if I become artistically successful and take the
"patroness and mentor to the new generation" stance
after retirement, I would find myself subconsciously
much more supportive of singers outside of my old
fach. But then, I would be able to give so much more
insight to singers of my fach, so I would hope to
conquer the jealousy monster. Of course, the whole
point may be moot, but it's fun to speculate.
Isabelle B.
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Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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