Well, I’ve read an article this month in the Singer magazine, Personality traits by Mark Glanville, about how the personality of a singer doesn’t always align with their voice type and the problems that can arise from such a situation. In fact, it goes so far as to say, “Many Singers less talented… and less accepting,…though with enough quality to have made a good career, would seem to have fallen by the wayside simply because they have had the misfortune to be gifted with a voice which was out of kilter with their personality.”
This really struck a chord for me, forgive the pun, but it wasn’t intentional, I’ve always had a very flexible voice, so it has fitted to a variety of genres, but I can honestly say, they have not all ‘fit like a glove’. I’ve always been a soprano who has wanted to be a mezzo – fatal. It has caused me to look outside myself to find the identity of my voice, which, really at the end of the day, is not for anyone else to tell me, only I really know the answer to that. I’ve just been fishing around and boy is that evident in the CV and by what people have said over the years!
This article really made me look at what I’ve been doing and to take a closer look at myself; at what I am doing and thinking, so I can be more accepting and appreciative of what I do have, so I can then use that to its best potential. So what if I’m not a Handelian, Mozart or Wagnerian soprano, there is a lot that will fit me just fine in-between, such as Puccini and Strauss.
I must admit it hasn’t always been easy nor have I always liked what is most suited to me, but the road a head offers me many more opportunities, I just need to be more aware of what I like and what really does work best for me.
The glove that tends to fit me is in the Romantic period with its lushness and beauty, so I look forward to shopping around for just the right colour and size. What glove type are you?
Good for people to know.