Although the plan was good in theory, we soon experienced the difficulties of recording separately. Some were on the pianist’s side and some were on ours – the singers‘ sides. For example, the pianist, never really having rehearsed the pieces with us, drove through some of them as if chased by a serial killer, leaving no time to breathe or cadenzas. Other were the opposite and much too slow.
We did the best we could to sing on them. However, in the end, I worked all day for about a week to get all voices and the piano together in a way to content me.
At this point – I must say – I‘m a terrible critic. I criticize each and every performance, all high notes and coloraturas and especially the lack of feeling you get, when a scene is sung passively and without meaning. This especially when I sing something myself. I‘m never content with myself and my performances never seem good enough (not to say that my writing is!). This feeling of not-being-enough is multiplied especially when I record my voice (video or not) while not on stage. Feelings are much more difficult to get into and show, when there is no scene. Notes are much more difficult to get perfect when you have no orchestra and especially when trying to get it right onto a recorded accompaniment.
So, in retrospect, I really had to put many of my uncertainties and critiques into a box and shut the lit as closely as possible. Also, I learned so much about myself and my singing when listening to my voice trying to catch up with the piano, trying to get the best possible notes and pitch in a contained, truthful and sentiment showing way.