Martina Arroyo on favorite composers and singing

TRANSCRIPT

Martina Arroyo: High up on the list would be Verdi. I love Puccini. I love Strauss. Mozart, can''t do anything without him. I mean from my way of thinking, not for everybody but I think to keep your voice in shape and young you should always be able to sing Mozart, Handel. You have to go back there but the voice has to be fresh and clean, and the voice should always be fresh and clean but it's just that certain things are allowed with Puccini and Verismo that you can't get away with in the earlier music. That's all I'm saying. So that you don't start-- scooping is a way of singing rather than a way of making that phrase make sense in a Verismo opera. Verismo is the style of acting that's most closest to romantic life. Puccini, where you get the characters very emotional and you can express yourself emotionally, you can use lots of colors but you could allow the voice to do certain things that is not acceptable in Mozart, even through the characters must be just as deep and just as well thought out and just as honest.