Isabelle asked:
> 1. How does carrying X or Y number of extra pounds
> affect your singing? Do you find support easier or is
> it harder to move around the stage? Where do you draw
> the line -- Eaglen/Pavarotti are obviously negatively
> affected onstage; is Voigt? is Bartoli? is Swenson? Is
> it an extra 10, 30, 15, 45, or simply when you start
> to feel clunky moving around and start to get costumed
> without waistlines?
My personal opinion is that one's absolute weight makes no difference in how
well one
sings. However, drastic CHANGES in weight over a short period of time could
make a
difference in that we singers rely so much on "feel" for our technique,
particularly in
breathing. Myself, as I've gotten older, I've put on weight. And I've never
sung better.
But I think the reason for singing better has nothing to do with weight - it's
that my
technique has continued to improve through study, and the weight thing is pure
coincidence. My problem (aside from hitting that half-century mark), is that I
have an
ingenue's voice in a matron's body. Lucky for me and potential audiences that
I don't
aspire to a professional stage career!
I think singers like Caballe/Fleming, Pavarotti/Domingo and others demonstrate
that either
heavy people or skinny people can be spectacular singers. I think the problem
with weight
is the same for singers as for non-singers. Note the serious physical infirmity
that
Pavarotti displayed in the recent Met Aida - at a relatively young age (in a
non-singing
context). Compare with Domingo, only 5 years younger, who's been a little on
the chubby
side now and then, but who appears to be in terrific physical and singing
condition. Then
again, professional athletes who've kept themselves fit, but whose athletic
endeavors has
taken a toll over 20 or so years, can be in even worse shape than Pavarotti at
age 65.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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