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Behind the Curtain by Living Opera
Behind the Curtain, hosted by soprano Soula Parassidis and tenor Norman Reinhardt at the beautiful Hotel Bristol in Vienna, is a video podcast by Living Opera that takes listeners beyond the grand performances and into the heart of opera. Through candid, thought-provoking conversations, the podcast reveals insights that transcend the stage, exploring universal themes such as personal growth, leadership, and perseverance. Whether you're a seasoned opera enthusiast or simply curious about how artistry intersects with everyday life, Behind the Curtain offers a unique perspective that bridges the world of performance with real-world challenges and experiences. Watch the video version of this podcast on Living Opera's Facebook and YouTube Channels.
Behind the Curtain by Living Opera
The Spotlight – Navigating High Notes and Finding Your Voice
Imagine standing on stage, the spotlight burning down on you, as you prepare to hit that elusive high note—your personal Roman Emplire, constantly looming in your thoughts. In our latest episode, we promise an eye-opening journey into the minds and souls of opera singers, exploring the immense mental and physical preparation required for these critical moments. Through candid reflections, we uncover how the pressure of high notes is not just an opera singer's challenge but a universal struggle shared by anyone in a high-stakes profession.
We also take a lighthearted look at the humorous side of performing, recounting a personal anecdote from a competition where an unexpected illness led to a memorable stage mishap. There's nothing quite like an unexpected nod from an audience member to break the tension of a challenging aria and remind us of the importance of humor and resilience. This episode shines a spotlight on the delicate balance performers maintain between consistency and risk-taking, revealing how experimentation can lead to exhilarating live performances for artists and audiences alike.
The episode wraps up with an exploration of artistic growth, where we trace the journey from novice beginnings to achieving personal excellence. It's a story of embracing vulnerabilities, learning from setbacks, and finding one's unique voice both on and off the stage. We delve into the significance of vocal "cover" and how it relates to broader themes of self-expression and identity, offering insights that resonate not just with singers but with anyone striving for excellence in their field. Join us for a heartfelt exploration of artistry, identity, and the relentless pursuit of growth.
The Behind the Curtain Podcast is hosted by Soprano Soula Parassidis and Tenor Norman Reinhardt. Follow Living Opera on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Website.
Watch A VIDEO version of this podcast on Living Opera's Facebook or YouTube Channels.
So this project, this podcast, is about the behind the scenes of not just being an opera singer, but just any sort of high pressure situation in a sense. Yeah, and I wanted to dedicate at least one episode on what I would call our Roman Empire as a community. So do you remember when okay, I know you don't how do you not remember that? Oh my gosh, I texted you in October and I said have you seen this Roman Empire trend?
Soula Parassidis:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, roman, oh my gosh and you were like why are they thinking about that?
Norman Reinhardt:I haven't thought about it, since I don't think about the Roman Empire ever.
Soula Parassidis:I don't get it.
Norman Reinhardt:Do people really think about the Roman Empire?
Soula Parassidis:That's not what this is about, but yes, of course they do.
Norman Reinhardt:Is this episode about the Roman Empire? Okay, because if it is, I will be talking very little. No, the point.
Soula Parassidis:it sort of became like a metaphor for a thing that you keep thinking about, you can't get out of your mind, and I was like, oh my gosh, like our Roman Empire is high notes as opera singers literally.
Norman Reinhardt:That's for sure, right, yeah, I'm thinking about it right now.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, of course you are.
Norman Reinhardt:I'm not thinking about anything else. I'm just sitting here thinking about high notes, sitting here thinking about high notes.
Soula Parassidis:That's true, okay, but in that context, how much time do you dedicate, do you honestly? I know you're going to give me a funny answer, but what do you? Think you honestly spend. How much time do you honestly spend thinking about that?
Norman Reinhardt:In all honesty. Yes, I mean, if I'm being really really honest yes, Not really that much.
Soula Parassidis:Are you serious?
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, what are you I'm thinking about? Of course, I think about high notes. To be honest, I probably should think about them more. Yeah, you need to think about them more, but so I've just I'm sorry to every high voice, or any voice, all voices that sing high notes, which is all of them, but I only think about, yeah, the percentage. I don't know an actual percentage. I'm usually thinking about it more. I'm thinking more about high notes in setup than I am about the specific note, Because if I get the stuff before it the way I want it, the high note will happen.
Soula Parassidis:You're making coffee.
Norman Reinhardt:Oh no, I'm not thinking about high notes when I'm not singing. So, alright, that's fair enough, but I think Should we start over and I give a different answer.
Soula Parassidis:No, it's great. This is definitely the most singer-y topic that we have in this series this time around. But if you're not a singer, I still want you to stick around, because I think some of the sort of mental gymnastics that we go through in order to achieve high notes have sort of methodology that anybody can appreciate.
Norman Reinhardt:Absolutely.
Soula Parassidis:Sorry, I've got this piece of hair. That's like I'm like what if I hate this episode now because of this piece of hair?
Norman Reinhardt:Do you want me to do something about it?
Soula Parassidis:No, does it look okay?
Norman Reinhardt:It looks great, Okay great.
Soula Parassidis:But I think high notes are sort of like this moment in time for every singer where the rubber hits the road.
Norman Reinhardt:Oh, big time.
Soula Parassidis:Big time.
Norman Reinhardt:And I've splatted.
Soula Parassidis:Yes we have such funny stories about that, we have to talk about that. Totally, but it's like, I think, in any high-performance job or just any job in general, there's a moment where there's like that performance element that has to kick in.
Norman Reinhardt:Oh, big time.
Soula Parassidis:But for us, as opera singers, that's the one, oh, that's the one, and let's say, okay, maybe in like the day-to-day, you're not like sitting around thinking about high notes, but on a show day. You're thinking about high notes how much mental energy is spent thinking about that.
Norman Reinhardt:Because I'm telling you what if I know.
Soula Parassidis:I have anything. I'm thinking about it.
Norman Reinhardt:You're thinking about it, I'm thinking on it. I have a tendency generally to think of it more as a whole.
Soula Parassidis:Okay.
Norman Reinhardt:But I mean definitely it depends on how comfortable, because high notes are out of roll right. Each of them set up differently and so some of them set up more easily than others. And so that's a whole thing. So the ones you think about the most are the ones that don't set up well for you.
Soula Parassidis:Okay. So first of all I think that's a really valid point to make because for non-singers, I don't think that people appreciate sort of like the physical maneuvering and how to say this, like the setup that you mentioned.
Soula Parassidis:But how do I better express that? There's the mechanics behind every single sound you're going to make as an artist, but the sound is not what we memorize. The feeling is what we memorize, and so that's why it takes so much time to actually input every role into the body, because a feeling will betray, or a sound will betray but a feeling won't. So a B-flat isn't a B-flat isn't a B-flat all the time, which is, you know, that's a. Maybe we can put a little graphic like flat all the time, which is, you know, that's a. Maybe we can put a little graphic like what a B flat looks like. Anyway, it doesn't matter. But but it will be different depending on the role depending on the language, depending on the vowel.
Norman Reinhardt:What now?
Soula Parassidis:I just thought, if you, if you put a picture of a B flat, it's just somebody laughing at somebody.
Norman Reinhardt:Oh, I thought it would be like a flattened B like a honey bee.
Soula Parassidis:How disappointed do you think the audience is when we flub a high note?
Norman Reinhardt:It depends on the level of the flub.
Soula Parassidis:Let's say right up CAC, it's messed up hard, I think well. I mean well, Is that part of the fear around them that we're like oh, the audience is going to get set?
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, I mean this goes into a whole other thing, because sometimes you get an audience and they don't necessarily know about the high notes.
Soula Parassidis:Okay.
Norman Reinhardt:And so when you don't get one, it's less impactful. Okay, but if somebody is literally, the best example that's a tenor that you can give just about is the Bohème aria Mm-hmm and Sure, you've got the C at the end. Mm-hmm, everybody knows it's there. Yeah, everybody knows it's there. Everybody knows it's coming. You could sing the rest of the aria like Zeus came down and sang it for you and then you screw that C up and it affects everything else.
Soula Parassidis:It's kind of like dropping the baton on a hand off in a four meter kind of thing.
Norman Reinhardt:It absolutely is, and so there are C's that are.
Soula Parassidis:Like you still want to make the race. They're like look at that baton on the ground. That's it.
Norman Reinhardt:It's like Fille du Régiment with the nine C's Right. Those are when people come to see the show. They're looking for that.
Soula Parassidis:Right.
Norman Reinhardt:And so there are those shows that have that, but why?
Soula Parassidis:Why are we so attracted to high notes?
Norman Reinhardt:Because it's thrilling Because they're awesome.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, right.
Norman Reinhardt:A great high note is man.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah.
Norman Reinhardt:Nothing like it.
Soula Parassidis:It's like a supernatural experience. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Norman Reinhardt:I totally get why high notes are. Yeah, they're amazing. If you nail one man, it's great, and as a singer, it's amazing. I thought you were going to talk about when you did that competition.
Soula Parassidis:Oh well, yeah, Because that's when we first met and you told me about the reaction of that old man in the audience Awesome. You have to tell them.
Norman Reinhardt:I love it. Well, first of all, I have to say one of the things that is probably not good about my personality, but when I screw up, I find it funny.
Soula Parassidis:Oh, that's good.
Norman Reinhardt:I think that's good Because I think that there's just we're not perfect and so sometimes we're in a setting and it's just not going to be your day, and that's okay. And I was doing a competition, I was about 22. And I did the competition and I was sick and I got past the first round. There was two and I got past the first round. There was two rounds. I got past the first round. I don't know how I remember, because I wasn't bad. I was sicker the next day than I was the day of the first round. So the second round comes and that is with audience. And you walk out on the stage and the audience is kind of at an angle, so there's some people below you, above you, and some people are eye level. And I warmed up that day and I knew that this was not going to be my day. Why did you?
Soula Parassidis:sing. Why did you do that?
Norman Reinhardt:I'm 22. I don't know what the heck I'm doing.
Soula Parassidis:Okay, fair enough, I sang anyway.
Norman Reinhardt:Okay, and so I sang the first aria. I mean, and none of them had real high notes Like, if you're thinking like, high Cs. There was none of that involved in this. It was Uno Fortivo, which has the A flats and one A a couple. You know the A situation and I sang through that and I flailed around a little bit, but it wasn't a complete.
Soula Parassidis:Splat.
Norman Reinhardt:Splat. It was close Boy. It was on the verge. Yeah, it's hard, aren't you? And I knew, because I had to sing. After that, I sang Il mio tesoro from Giovanni and I knew that that one was. I was like this isn't? First of all, you had some guts doing those back to back. Good for you, Well it wasn't guts, it was just what I had. Okay, so I wasn't, I didn't, and I also didn't know that it took guts to do that.
Soula Parassidis:Of course not.
Norman Reinhardt:Which is probably why I was doing it I was doing.
Soula Parassidis:ignorance is bliss, exactly.
Norman Reinhardt:So, but I knew there's a phrase in in. You know what it is otahoronar sea.
Soula Parassidis:How high is that? Like a G, I don't know A flat.
Norman Reinhardt:I don't even remember. It's been so long. It's either an A flat, I think it's an A flat, it's an A flat, not an A. But I knew it wasn't going to happen. I was like this isn't going to happen. So I'm going along and it wasn't horrible Not great, but it could have been worse. But I knew that that was going to not just be not good.
Soula Parassidis:That's the worst feeling when you just know the body's telling you this isn't happening for you today.
Norman Reinhardt:And it's not even going to be mediocre, it's just going to be like nothing. Yeah, now, what was awesome is I'm looking at these faces, I'm singing, but I'm looking at the people around and I happen to look right here and there was this older gentleman and he was sitting there and he had his eyes closed. Now, he wasn't asleep. I know that's your first thought, because that was my first thought, but he wasn't asleep. He was listening because he was also kind of nodding. He's like nodding and he's kind of doing that thing where he's just listening. Okay, and I happened to, in this phrase, be looking kind of at him and I, whatever it is, nun siò voglio tornà, and I just really laid it out for him. Well, and he was sitting there like this, and I sang the phrase and I and he went and I about lost it. I almost stopped singing because I found it. So, even though I know you're gonna- do it, I'm still laughing every time I cry.
Norman Reinhardt:I found it so hilarious it was hilarious Because he was right. It was one of those. It was one of those.
Soula Parassidis:You know what's terrible. It's like I wish if people were just listening on audio they're not going to get the reaction, but it's like he just shook his hand, but it was just like, oh no.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, it was one of those poor guy, that poor fella that poor guy.
Soula Parassidis:I like that poor fella.
Norman Reinhardt:That poor fella. He didn't know what he was getting into. Woo yeah.
Soula Parassidis:How did you keep going? It was great.
Norman Reinhardt:I almost stopped because, I was laughing, not because I felt bad, because I found it hilarious.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah.
Norman Reinhardt:It wasn't because I was like, oh no, I have to run because I suck. No, it's like that's hysterical and it is funny when people go, it's hilarious. Now, nobody thinks that.
Soula Parassidis:If you're in a theater and you're like I get it. Well, that's not it you did. Now I would love to spend a second figuring out. What is that about you? How could you find that funny? Because most artists would like. I mean, we talked about the reaction you had when you sang, well, in Paris. You're like I'm quitting this business. Yeah. And about the reaction you had when you sang well, in Paris You're like I'm quitting this business, yeah. And then like this time.
Norman Reinhardt:I know it was before you knew better but just your personality.
Soula Parassidis:It's my personality, I mean you're like that, when you'll get a cold, or you're like throwing up or something.
Norman Reinhardt:Thanks for throwing that in. Yeah, sorry, but like.
Soula Parassidis:Norma will literally start to laugh. He's like wow, I feel so pitiful that he actually finds it almost funny.
Norman Reinhardt:I find it funny, I find it hilarious, and it's one of those things that I don't know. There's something about it. There's something about human weakness that we just have to laugh or cry about it.
Norman Reinhardt:And here we are, and so I have a tendency and I have a tendency to. I have a tendency to be very on stage unless I'm just feeling awful. If I'm normal, if I'm normal and I'm not having some kind of brain issue, I have a tendency to experiment on stage and try stuff and go okay, let's try this on this tonight, or let's try this, which can be good and bad, because on occasion it won't work, but I think that's how you learn. And some would say, well, that's not the time to learn. I'm like well, when else am I going to learn? Right, because there's some. I mean, this is another conversation, but the stage teaches you something that the practice room doesn't.
Soula Parassidis:Oh, absolutely.
Norman Reinhardt:And so and the truth of the matter is also just performance, it's live theater Mm-hmm, and that kind of experimentation and playing is what live theater is about. I don't want to hear somebody Even if it's awesome and I can think of this examples of this and it's not a criticism. But I don't like it as much when somebody will sing something and then go back the next night and it's literally like I'm listening to a recording and they do everything exactly the same way. The pronunciation is the same, the nuance is the same, the nuance is the same, and there's a part of me that goes wow, that's impressive that they can repeat that so precisely. It's extraordinary.
Norman Reinhardt:But I do think I shouldn't say I don't like it. That's not the right word. I do like it because I find it's amazing that people can do that. But I do also love elements where I'm going to try and sing this, because we all do that, because there is a track through, a role or an aria you go through and you build it a certain way. So there is that in it and there's definitely you hit your marks. So I don't mean that, but I also think there's definitely. We have to find room for playfulness.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, I think you're talking about risk-taking too, risk-taking, and when you do that, you know risk is risk and there's a reason. It's risk, right, and you'll miss it sometimes.
Soula Parassidis:But I think that's also just different personalities.
Norman Reinhardt:Yes, it is. It's a personality thing. Yeah, I mean, there are lots of reasons for it and it really isn't a criticism. Everybody performs the way they perform but you have what? Yeah, but you have what you're attracted to and what you think is exciting. Yeah, that's what I like.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, yeah, I mean on and on the flip side. Some people might find that like oh, why are they doing that tonight?
Norman Reinhardt:like oh, yeah, for sure, and I'm sure it's. Yeah, exactly, it's the other thing it's like well, I don't like that at all. Yeah, yeah, and I get it. I totally get it.
Soula Parassidis:Okay, I feel like it's got up until now how should we turn the episode?
Norman Reinhardt:Well, now we're going to. How can we get it to high notes?
Soula Parassidis:That being said, because you started with, we're talking about high notes, I want to answer community questions and then I want to get to a more macro understanding of basically being able to perform under pressure.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean it's a risk-taking thing, but now it's like okay, how now?
Soula Parassidis:You could ask me at the end, because you haven't asked me any questions that you could.
Norman Reinhardt:No.
Soula Parassidis:You could.
Norman Reinhardt:I was going to say I need to. Oh, it's okay, we can do community questions now. Yeah.
Soula Parassidis:And then you could say you're sort of like a macro thinker, like when we're talking about high notes. That's one way to show sort of like grace under pressure. Do you have any ways that you deal with that when you're? And I can maybe give an anecdote. We can do it that way.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, when we talk about performance under pressure, okay, yeah.
Soula Parassidis:I wanted Living Opera Community, because we have a global community, yeah, and I wanted, in some of these episodes, to feature some of their questions.
Norman Reinhardt:Of course.
Soula Parassidis:And I've kind of let you see the questions. But just to keep spontaneity, which?
Norman Reinhardt:is terrifying.
Soula Parassidis:No, no, it's good.
Norman Reinhardt:Especially hints after just what I just said.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, yeah, well, you know, Can you hand me my phone? It's in your pocket. No, so I've got the community questions on my phone.
Norman Reinhardt:That's amazing, it's like a magic trick. It's like a magic trick. I should have done more hand work there. I should have done more hand work there.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, next time you really need to up the production value on this.
Norman Reinhardt:Production value.
Soula Parassidis:But I wanted to include them because this is sort of how we got started through this account and to me it's quite funny to do these episodes and not have the live feedback.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, the live feedback is always. It is fun. The live feedback is fun.
Soula Parassidis:Okay, so there's a lot of them, so I will just try to. Okay, I think this is a very valid one for you to answer, because it's come up a few times. No, no, no, because this is a natural gift that you have, but could you break down how to sing pianissimo on high notes? And for anybody who's not a singer, pianissimo just means like really soft, really softly, quietly. How do you sing pianissimo on high notes and I, oh, I okay, people didn't put their names, so you know, who you are, if you asked that.
Soula Parassidis:So sorry that I don't want to botch your instagram handle. So yeah, can you? Can you, because this is really your forte. I have my own answer, but I feel like this is really your wheelhouse. Can you just break down how one does that?
Norman Reinhardt:Well, I love that this is being set up as my wheelhouse. It is though You're going to hear an answer and be like that doesn't sound like it's his wheelhouse.
Soula Parassidis:Norman, I'm sorry but it is.
Norman Reinhardt:I have in the past been okay at singing soft hymns.
Soula Parassidis:You can do it right now if you really want to do it right now.
Norman Reinhardt:No, I don't, I don't want to do it, but there are a few things. Number one soft high notes start with the breath. So the position of your body is already in the same position it would be if you're singing a normal high note. You don't, it's not. You know, it's not about you have to be, because the energy and the focus is just the same. It's no different. It's not like I'm going to sing a high note like this and then I'm going to sing soft. So that means go. No, it's just as much energy, if not more. So the position of the body, so the position of the body, the position of the torso and this is where everybody's different, because you know how you understand your breath and all that is is different. But if I'm in and do what I'm trying to do, if I'm in the position, I'm up, I'm open, I'm as open as I can be in the the torso In the torso.
Norman Reinhardt:So for me it's in the breath and this is all set, this is all prepared beforehand. It's not in the last second you go and it works. No, it's like anything else you have to prepare all of it. And if you're in a position where you don't have time in the context of the piece to prep it, then you take it out in the practice room and you set it up and you practice it over and over in the practice room so that then, when you put it in context of the aria, you know what position the body needs to be in, so that you have that set up when it becomes a part of your approach. Okay, so anyway. But if you're just kind of doing it, for me it's in the body, it's open, so that I get a good breath. I feel really expanded here, low, all those things that everybody always says. And then up here my mouth is in the position of the high note, so I don't set the breath and then for the high note we go from here. No, no, I'm already in the position. So my mouth's already open, it's already. If it's a, b, whatever it is, wherever that extremity is in your register, you're already in the position of that. So you set the body, you set the position of the mouth, you connect here before you make the sound. It's a low connection here, so that it's a little engaged. It's not a full down here. It's not a full, not, it's actually just kind of a. It's almost like a small little tuck so that it's engaged. And then when you go to attack the note, it's not a blow at the sound, it's not a blow at the chords, it is like you're plucking a guitar string. So it's very, if these are my chords like this, it's like I go boo. So it's very, if these are my chords like this, it's like I go boo. And so, because if you overblow, if you throw a lot of air at the sound, you blow your chords apart. So there's no way that in a fine, it's a very fine, it's very narrow, it's very slender, and so you really, and you come at it from above, you don't come at it from below, okay, so you've set all the positions Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, and then that's.
Norman Reinhardt:There's this idea of in Rossini and a lot of music with a lot of movement, coloratura, a lot of speed that the cover is more of. I get to a certain point in the voice, the voice actually more seals off, seals off, okay, and so, as opposed to, the sound goes here ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, the voice seals off so that the sound doesn't keep going, ha, but it allows the voice to keep going straight up, okay, and you up and I go there, mm-hmm, as more weight comes in the repertoire, mm-hmm. Then that may not necessarily be For some people, it totally works. That particular approach never quite worked for me, as the music got more lyric or more whatever, dramatic, whatever. There is more.
Norman Reinhardt:And when you listen to bigger voices sing bigger music, you just hear a different approach in the passaggio. If you listen to those old Italian singers, all those guys, and it didn't matter how light the music was, they all kind of did the same thing. So there is a point in and this is a very male thing and, as you said a second ago, we feel this when it gets, depending on the voice, f, f, sharp, g, a, flat, you feel this kind of that. You can't really see it, but it's like your cheeks blow up like a balloon.
Soula Parassidis:Internally, internally In a soft palate.
Norman Reinhardt:And in the reverse direction. Okay, so you feel it this way? Ah, ah, I feel this kind of balloon that goes up and the sound flips over the top, but it's not, it's that? So that's it's really about. Of course, I was hired. Huh, yeah, yeah, yeah, but.
Norman Reinhardt:But, with the passaggio, it is about how do I get the voice? You're, basically, I don't necessarily like the idea of cover in the sense, because what people will do is they'll do a muscular move and they'll go huh, huh, it's like hooking and they hook it in. Yeah, yeah, and that is something that I think we have to be careful with. I actually prefer the idea of training it up. So I go, my voice needs to turn on an F sharp, so I'm going to go, but the turn starts in the middle of the sound, the direction, the vowel, whatever you, however, you think of that, when it comes to the F, f, f sharp, g for tenor, the F, f, f, sharp, g for tenor, you know, when it comes to that point, there will be actually kind of a natural thing that will happen and you won't have to necessarily force it.
Norman Reinhardt:You just have to kind of allow it to take place and see what that feels like, and then if it's off, then most of the time that has to do with the breath, and so I like that approach more than saying when you get to this note, cover the voice, it's actually find that track that runs up and encourages the sound to stay within the column of air, within the tube that you've created, and when you get to the point of the voice where there is that move that needs that gesture, the move, the cover, the turn, the seal, whatever you want to call it, whenever it comes time for that to happen, if you go, ah, that's not right. If you go, ooh, that's not right. If you go, that's not right. It will be very tall, internally very tall, and for for a podcast like this, you know, for something like this, where you're not in the room, yeah, um, I don't want to go too. Does that make sense what I'm saying?
Soula Parassidis:Yes, I mean it sounds like cover is the Goldilocks of singing A little bit and wonderful.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, it's something that it is a closure of the voice, that it does feel like that little balloon thing.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah.
Norman Reinhardt:And then, from that position, you draw up to sing your high notes. The reason? Because most of the time, what happens is we go ah, most of the time we go out, right, and if you go out, the access to the top is toast, and that's the opposite of what we just discussed about holding the position of the top for the down like party voice.
Soula Parassidis:This is like holding the position of the speaking voice for your high register, so there has to be modification throughout.
Norman Reinhardt:And it's not about you have a position and then you move into a different position. It's actually an extension of the position you're already in, so it's not like you have to go from one place and suddenly flip into another position. That's why I say train it up so that you feel the connection to the position before it, to the note before it, because there will be a relationship. There's relationship between all those half steps and so you draw from each position up higher, boom, if I'm too in the middle voice, if I'm too high. That's why we prepare sooner, because it's already starting. I'm already going that way. So when I think about cover, actually I don't think about cover so much as I'm suddenly in this part of the voice. I have to cover the voice. It's actually related to everything else that has come before it and I know right where it needs to go. I don't know if that answers the question. I'm not trying to be vague.
Soula Parassidis:Well, first of all. You're answering a question for whoever's going to listen, and you can't be too specific If you want more answers on that, please ask.
Norman Reinhardt:I'm happy to actually have. I prefer at that point you go, I want to have a personal conversation. It's individual Did that answer the question at all.
Soula Parassidis:Of course, I can't tell if I answered the question at all. Yes, come on. Okay, you did a good job.
Norman Reinhardt:I don't want people to be like. What is he talking about?
Soula Parassidis:No, you're fine, he's talking hier Again. We already told them to fight you at the beginning of this, so yeah.
Norman Reinhardt:But yeah, I think there's. Actually, I think the idea of cover has gotten a lot of singers in trouble. Of course Not because it's not, it doesn't happen, but the way we've approached it it Well yeah, We've given it its own thing.
Soula Parassidis:Listen, I mean it's just like.
Norman Reinhardt:And it's actually connected to everything else.
Soula Parassidis:You have to connect it to the whole voice. Well, you just said it's the gateway to the top, and so, of course, people are really, really concerned about it.
Norman Reinhardt:As they should be. Yeah, I get it.
Soula Parassidis:But if that gets messed up, then of course you're not going to access your high notes. So it's a big, huge circle back to what we talked about in the very beginning, and that's why it's our Roman Empire.
Norman Reinhardt:It's the Roman Empire Actually, I would probably say my Roman Empire of all things. It wouldn't be high notes, it would be that.
Soula Parassidis:Oh, great it would be the passaggio.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, I would think about that more than Right now. The thing that I think about most when I sing is actually my upper middle, because my voice is changing.
Soula Parassidis:Mm-hmm.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah.
Soula Parassidis:Ah, vocal change.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, it's interesting, it's good times.
Soula Parassidis:It's good times. Yeah, I want to thank the Libby Opera community for your wonderful questions.
Norman Reinhardt:I'm sorry that I talked so much on that. You're good.
Soula Parassidis:The ones we didn't answer, we will try to answer via social media or other content.
Norman Reinhardt:Yes, so keep them. The things that I think is extraordinary about you is that because you do this in multiple areas- I don't know what you're going to say it's about high performance.
Soula Parassidis:Okay.
Norman Reinhardt:And you have the ability to operate at high levels in several different ways, in several different areas. So if it's in entrepreneurship, if it's building, if it's social media, if it's performance singing, you have all these different ways For me. I mean, I'm a singer. That's where my high performance, you know, goes. That's where my high performance goes.
Norman Reinhardt:What are ways that, when you think about and just in singing, however, it applies across the board what are the ways that you build yourself up? What are the ways that you prepare yourself to perform at high levels in whatever it is, in whatever you're tackling, if it's a role, if it's an aria, if it is going to meet whoever it is and talking about policy or whatever it is. You know you have these high stakes things going on. How do you prepare yourself? So we'll put it obviously in the context of music here, but how do you prepare yourself to mentally, physically, execute what you're trying to do, not without asking too broad of a question there but at the same time there is an approach there that's yeah, I mean, it's funny that you say that because I think when you're in the middle of it, you don't I mean I don't wake up and go like look at me just being so high performance, and you know it's just about a progression.
Norman Reinhardt:So okay, man, I had a lot of thoughts collide right then, when you asked me that question and also we're talking about high notes, which are high performance, high anxiety situations.
Soula Parassidis:So it's all part of that same conversation performance, high anxiety situations.
Norman Reinhardt:So it's all part of that same conversation.
Soula Parassidis:I think, for me. I've always known that I'm a multifaceted person which is why I didn't like being stuck in the just a singer box and I have noticed growth in my ability to excel in singing as I filled up the other sort of buckets of my life. I think everything, whether people want to admit it or not, everything sort of starts a little bit as a fake it till. You make it kind of thing because you were talking about being 22 and you didn't know any better.
Soula Parassidis:And it's like, once you are aware of your deficit, you're like, oh my gosh, this is just so much worse than I imagined.
Norman Reinhardt:When I go back and listen to certain things, I'm like how did I even do that? Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Soula Parassidis:So I think it's getting to a place in your life where, first of all, you even know what questions to ask. You even know what questions to ask because you can't you can't achieve and execute at a high level until you know what you're missing and lacking in knowledge. So now, for example, when I, when I go into a voice lesson, it's totally different than when I was a student, because I'm going in saying, oh my goodness, you know, I'm hearing. On this note, there's something that I don't like. I don't understand this concept fully. This used to be easy, and I'm coming in with plenty of questions to solve the issue that I see in my own execution, because I want to execute at a high level, and that's the other thing. I want to execute at a high level, and that's the other thing.
Soula Parassidis:I think it's like a matter of a desire for personal excellence, where you aren't demanding of yourself in a way that you are being unreasonable, but just knowing that there's more, and I can always tell when I have reached my limit on something, versus when there's still something more that can be wrung out, and I mean in a healthy way.
Soula Parassidis:So no, I just haven't reached it yet, and so I would say I'm very, very picky about who I have in my inner circle. I don't like it when I have assigned someone to fulfill something in my life and I can just tell they're not meeting me there and now. You also can't expect something from someone. If they don't, they don't have that gift or talent. But you can tell when somebody is meeting you at the level, whatever they have to offer, whatever they can bring to the table, and so that's what I try to do as an artist, um in on the platform, as a friend, whatever it is, I try to think about and exceed the need. Whatever it is. It really bothers me, for example, when I know I can hear. Like you know, I've been thinking about the role of Tosca and I've been thinking about the aria Bicidati for so long because it's such an unusual moment in the opera.
Norman Reinhardt:Yes.
Soula Parassidis:And when I can hear exactly how I want it to go in my head and I can't quite get the body and the voice to just bring about the manifestation of my imagination. It's irritating to me?
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, I get it, and for me, you know what it's not even enough, Like you know what it's not even enough.
Soula Parassidis:Like you know, last year it was like my year of Iphigenia on tour. It was just like I sang the same role everywhere and it really bothered me that there was this one phrase and hilariously it was around sort of the high note that I couldn't. I just couldn't quite get it to be what I wanted.
Norman Reinhardt:The way you wanted it to be.
Soula Parassidis:Technically, but also just in the moment, dramatically. And it's because I, because this is how I work If I can't break open the drama of the moment, I can't break it open vocally either.
Norman Reinhardt:Well, you come at it from everybody's different how they approach roles. You come at it from that. I come at it from the kind of vocal perspective first, and then I add, as I go along, you come at it from the dramatic perspective first, and the more the deeper your understanding of that, the more it opens up the vocalism.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, yeah, and that's also why I don't know. I mean, every artist is so individual too. So for example, for me, a high note is it's a cry, you know, but, but, yeah, but what's it? What's it expressing?
Norman Reinhardt:you know, I used to love to study, I, I love the coloratura soprano repertoire and I wanted so, yeah I know badly, you know like I just in my mind, dramatically, I think it's just because that's my personality I like to have fun, like I don't like to be down in the dumps.
Soula Parassidis:I, donula, wanted to be a co-artist. You know, like I just in my mind, dramatically, I think it's just because that's my personality I like to have fun, like I don't like to be down in the dumps, I don't like to be sad, I don't like drama in my life. I actually hate all of that, even though I'm kind of a, you know, demonstrative kind of person. I literally love to have fun.
Norman Reinhardt:You know what?
Soula Parassidis:I mean so, like if I could have my dream list of roles, it would be like Zerbinetta and Norina, like mi piace scherzar, like that's who I am, but that's not the voice that I have. And people when I say that they're like oh my gosh, you're so ungrateful, like you get to sing such cool music. Who says you're ungrateful? Ah yeah, it's like. Oh, you know, people love to sing Wagner, puccini, blah, blah, blah.
Soula Parassidis:But I think then it comes down to okay, if I can't connect with this me as a person, then how do I connect with it dramatically? And then for me that comes first and then I can connect with it musically. And I think you know that has its benefits. But it can also be challenging, because sometimes you just have to be able to execute, and I am trying to embrace and develop the side that gets excited about even more just executing on a technical level, whether I've worked out the scene or the character or not, because you don't always have time to do that and you're not always doing it with a director, that you guys totally understand each other.
Norman Reinhardt:Also true. So what level? When you're talking about this and I mean I think this is very, but what level of that goes into you know you're in the moment and you're having what how much importance then and I think we can say there's a lot, but how much importance then is on the preparation that you're putting into before you get into those moments. How do you structure that preparation so that when you're, you know when you're? Under pressure you can hit it.
Soula Parassidis:Well, it really depends. So, yeah, it depends on how a person likes to work. Some people, you know, have a different method of preparing than I do, but I think it's what I described about really connecting with the character and then if there's a technical block, like so, I was just with our teacher and I said hey, you know, I just I need to crack open the literal, technical approach, because now I understand how to how to sing this aria and this character.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, and he, and he just basically said ah, you know you the jaw extended here I was like, oh okay, shoot. And then it was fine, because for me that was the missing piece, but I don't even know. It goes back to answering the questions. I don't even know what questions to ask, fully technically, if I don't know what color I'm going for, because you know, one of my favorite arias to sing is Wehe mein Mann from die.
Norman Reinhardt:Frauen des Schadens. The Heis Mein Mann from the.
Soula Parassidis:Fraunerschatten, the Kaiserin area. I just love how extreme it is, it's just fun. It's just fun, you know, and just like that, that, that that, that just like big. D flat. You know that's fun. I don't have to think about how to do that. That's like literally.
Norman Reinhardt:Yeah, you just do it, it's practically screaming.
Soula Parassidis:I mean it's lead where you have to call it a beautiful blooming high B flat, and I guess it always goes back for me first answering the question why did the composer write it that way? And then will I be able to connect with this enough to technically execute on it? Yep, but I wouldn't say that's a method everybody should take. That's literally just how I am, it's whatever works.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, yeah, but it is hard because it's I don't know if it's my own feeling disconnected from some of the characters that I have to play Because, like I said, I don't like playing sad characters or characters that die. I don't like it, you know.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, I get it, so I don't know if it's just me protecting myself or what. Yeah, yeah, that's fair enough. What? Yeah, but uh, but I, at this point, uh, I only take on roles where I feel like I can do a great job from start to finish, and it's not worth it for me just to have a job.
Norman Reinhardt:To have a job, it's like yeah, I just know, because I will just be okay if I do that.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, yeah and that's really hard to discipline yourself to say no when you really really, really really want to perform too. Oh yeah, and that's a whole other conversation.
Norman Reinhardt:That's a whole other conversation.
Soula Parassidis:But just to go back to your question about high notes as a high-performance activity, I think you have to remain curious and I would say you have to be willing to fail, because if you're afraid of failing, you can't sing a high note, you can't build anything, you can't succeed in anything you're trying to do because you are going to I mean, it's like you know that's part of achieving something great because you're going to be terrible the first thousand times around when you're trying it, but then you will achieve a level of mastery, and that's where the enjoyment comes.
Soula Parassidis:I actually think the greatest artistic expression comes through technical mastery and then you can really have fun with your characters, which is why it's so frustrating for me to be built the way that I am because I logically understand that if I just keep honing the skills, I'll have all the freedom in the world. But it's been funny for me just to understand you're built this way. You have to embrace it. And you're fine, yeah, totally. It's not been the easiest way, but it's been fun. And then, of course, having a.
Norman Reinhardt:I mean it works. That's the thing.
Soula Parassidis:I hope so.
Norman Reinhardt:I don't know, I don't know if it does or not.
Soula Parassidis:Yeah, it works, you know, it's just the way I am.
Norman Reinhardt:It's the way you're wired. It works.
Soula Parassidis:I've stopped fighting against it.
Norman Reinhardt:No, you've got to own it.
Soula Parassidis:And I think that's what you know, artists, people, whoever, whatever we are, there's only so long where you can't accept who you are, and then you have to be, you have to be who you are with the methods that that you need to use to achieve the results you're trying to go after, and you have to be at peace with that. Well, you're constantly fighting within yourself first, and we're already in enough of a fight outside of in the world and and so, uh, that's.
Soula Parassidis:Anyway. It helped me to bring resolution and achieve what I've achieved up until now, and I hope much, much more, but it's not always easy but also too, you know, when you're doing that kind of thing you work that way.
Norman Reinhardt:Then when you hit something that doesn't work, then you know okay, I gotta find it. Then I find this point another way, and that's what you do, but it feels very vulnerable yeah, it is well that's coming from. That character side is very vulnerable. Yeah, it is.
Soula Parassidis:Well, that's coming from that character side. It is very vulnerable.
Norman Reinhardt:And uncomfortable.
Soula Parassidis:That's how that goes, but I guess it's honest.
Norman Reinhardt:It is honest.
Soula Parassidis:Anyway, yeah, I feel like we hit the high note. We hit the high notes.
Norman Reinhardt:We want to end on a high note. We end on a high note.
Soula Parassidis:Sorry, I was like we're not going to make that pun. We have to, though. End on a high note yes, end the episode on a high note.
Norman Reinhardt:We want to again thank the Bristol for hosting us. Thank you so much.
Soula Parassidis:We're so, so grateful to be here and for our team behind the scenes, that is, if you could see how they're just managing everything running around and making sure everything looks perfect, sounds perfect.
Soula Parassidis:We don't deserve it, but they're here making sure everything looks perfect, sounds perfect. We don't deserve it, but they're here. We're super grateful. If you haven't yet subscribed to the channel, please do be part of our community and check out our website. It's wwwlivingoperaorg, and I'm looking in the wrong camera. Well, you know, I'm a singer, not a camera person, camera lady, Sorry. Anyway, you can subscribe. You got the picture and we're just very, very grateful that you're here and we hope that you got something out of it. Feel free to ask questions and we'll see you next time.
Norman Reinhardt:Bye, bye.
