Mark Ross Clark - Singing, Acting, and Movement in Opera: A Guide to Singer-Getics

Cover

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MARK ROSS CLARK
LYNN V. CLARK, Curriculum Designer

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SINGING, ACTING, AND MOVEMENT IN Opera

A Guide to Singer-getics

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This book is a publication of

Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA

http://iupress.indiana.edu

Telephone orders 800-842-6796
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2002 by Mark Ross Clark
''Postural Alignment" by Emily Bogard 2002
by Indiana University Press

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses' Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark, Mark Ross, date
Singing, acting, and movement in opera : a guide to singer
getics / by Mark Ross Clark ; Lynn V. Clark, curriculum
designer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-253-34113-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-253-21532-3
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Acting in opera. 2. SingingInterpretation (Phrasing,
dynamics, etc.) I. Clark, Lynn V. II. Title.
MT956 .C65 2002
792.5'028dc21
2002000416

1 2 3 4 5 07 06 05 04 03 02

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The great works of art that endure and last forever are those that never cease to produce new meanings within their interpreters, performers, readers, viewers, listeners, and audiences. To reach this state of validity in opera, an art form comprised of a ''sublime ambiguity of the greatest artistic disciplines, all led by the human voice," we must provide its future artists and teachers every available tool to make possible, without limitations, new ways of expression and interpretation in our time of constant change and evolution.

The present book is a remarkable collection of observations and reflections on past experiences by many excellent artists and teachers that will doubtless help the new generation of those interested in creating "opera magic." They will find new answers to questions of emotional searching, motivation, responses to past failures, and ways of discovering, reevaluating, and affirming past values. The inclusion of many exercises encourages experimentation in finding the individuality and singularity of each artist, proving that time and again, with the discipline of the proper talent and perseverance, everything onstage can be possible.

This book clearly avoids the intellectual contradiction that denies the spontaneous and passionate "projection of emotion" that rules opera, offering innumerable avenues and a variety of ways to achieve creativity and conviction of expression.

In our contemporary state of "mega-multiculturalism," socioeconomic globalization, and technological revolution, it is extremely necessary in all of the arts, and most especially in opera, that we reconsider every aspect involved to ensure a sensitive and true participation in our own cultural future. If we want to expand the boundaries of people's perceptions, the following pages are a serious attempt to achieve just that.

Tito Capobianco
February 2001

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I would like to thank the following artists and experts for sharing their time and talents during interviews. Their words and wisdom have been invaluable to this book.