Now you can understand this complicated system with a few clicks. Use the repertoire you know and sing and quickly find out what German agents and theaters are listening for. Match your repertoire and their expectations and tailor your audition package to succeed in Germany. Professional or a student, agent or singer this database is comprehensive, authoritative yet simple to use, and has garnered praise from German agents as a useful resource..
Use the arias you know and sing to understand how Germans hear them. This database lets you see exactly what you need to know and more. Get an invaluable perspective on your repertoire from a database which lists up to 3 categories which are considered for a role. By looking carefully at the categories assigned to a role you’ll come to understand the qualities and sound they hire for and tailor your audition package to display your strengths for their system. Through your knowledge of your repertoire you’ll come to understand their viewpoint and what they’re looking for.
Let’s say a singer sings a terrific Micaela. Will it sell ing Germany, and what else should she offer? Now you can search by role, or opera, composer, voice category or even aria title and find the vocal categories Germans assign the role. Easily compare this to other familiar roles in the same vocal category. Pay special attention to the 2nd or 3rd categories that sing the role and you’ll get a clear idea of what they’ll hire for this role. A good Micaela here may not always be what a German theater is looking for in the role. With this database you can find out.
Is she also an Agathe in Freischütz or can she still sing a big Susanna? You can understand a lot if you look at other roles in the same categories. Sort by just the Young Dramatic category; are those your roles now. Or look at Susanna, which is listed first as a Lyric Coloratura and second as a Lyric. Look through these roles; do they suit you better? The same is true for all voices. You can learn about yourself and the German system with this database and your personal experience.…
A WORD ABOUT DENGLISH
I use some German terms and some English. We call this DENG-lish (Deutsch-English) and it’s completely unofficial. If you make a life in Germany you’ll probably fall into it, and especially in Berlin you hear it all the time on the subway from students at the many international schools who are fluent in both languages and switch effortlessly between them.
For instance in this post I am using the American vocal categories so you will understand how this works, but in the database the categories are in German because this is a German system and you need to know their terminology. However abbreviations and a few other things are in English since it is not a grammar primer but a tool to be used.