Baritone Roderick WIlliams shares six steps to help learning a role

Need help learning a role?

International baritone Roderick WIlliams shares "six little steps to help learning a role".

Photograph by Theo Williams

1. Explore the source

When possible, enjoy exploring the source novel/story/poem although bear in mind what changes 'opera-fication’ make on the original. What you learn in terms of back story may or may not be useful in creating your operatic character.

2. Pay attention to ALL the text

Especially when working in a foreign language (and apart from all the language coaching you may require to sing the role) it’s worth paying attention not only to what your character says, but what others say to you. It avoids your having to stare blankly whenever someone else is singing to you!

3. Discover or create your character's backstory

Bearing thoughts 1) and 2) in mind, comb the libretto for any mentions of your character outside your scenes. How do other characters relate to you? Any clues you might find in the libretto to flesh out your back-story will be useful in giving your characterisation depth. And when there are few or no clues, then let your imagination run wild!

4. Can you relate to, or understand your character?

It’s easiest to base a character on yourself. Even when playing over-dramatic monsters (and there are a few of them in opera!), whether you like the character you are playing or not, for it to ring true, you need to try to find a way in. Perhaps you can ask yourself, "what choice would I have made in this situation?".  And when that choice is different, try to understand what it is about your character that causes them to turn in their direction. And on some level, you have to try to invest in that choice.

5. Give your work a test run

Some people learn operatic roles by themselves, others do a lot of work with singing teachers, opera repetiteurs and language coaches. I find it’s really useful at some point before formal rehearsals begin to sing your role through to somebody. It could be someone with operatic experience who can give you advice from a position of knowledge, but it could be someone who gives you an instinctive response. Can they hear your text clearly? Does your emotional journey ring true?

6. Observing other interpretations

Audio and video sources are a very useful tool. It is fascinating to observe how singers, both famous and relatively unknown, have tackled a role and how hugely varied stage directors' responses can be.  When possible, exploring many different versions can help you work out how you want to express the role yourself, stealing the best ideas and rejecting aspects you don’t like. If you have a favourite recording, by all means use that in your learning process but know when it is time to leave it behind. It can be weirdly useful to find details in even the best performances when you think, I’d do that differently. Always go back to the score as your ultimate source and see if you can make what the composer and librettist have written work for you.