Fach

One of my perennial irritations is that the opera singers scoffed at my claims of being a unicorn. Baryton-martin is quite a rare voice type. John Raitt had it, and Don's probably got it too (that's how he hits the pure high notes). - Essentially I can hit a Bb or B with power - as in the 'heavy fall' climax of These Words Are Meant For Someone - yet still get below the C below middle C. Tenors can't really do that. Opera singers scoffed at the idea of me writing one as well thanks to all that anti-light opera, anti-musicals bs ... now they're believing, but they're still treating it as if I want to be a singer. It's exploitative to tell me to do a role in The Perfumed Garden, and from my POV it's essentially an excuse to limit my opportunities for creative input during rehearsals. - It's also about technique, not just raw voice power. One thing I read online years ago was that to sing really well as a baritone, then you should blend chest and head voice from around the A below middle C. It's a French thing re: the tone. Yes, I can sing, but I'm hardly Pavarotti. Others can sing better, while I write well. It's only a demonstration, not an audition. I'm doing it for fun, and that's why it's fun. It's not fun to socialise with arrogant, conceited, vain people. Singers and actors... Not going to be talked into it: if you want to do the opera I'm writing, then you'll need to respect me as a composer and allow me to handle the fine details that a composer is typically in charge of during a show.