A recent discussion among teachers dipped into the perennial question: should teens and developing singers be encouraged to sing core 18th and 19th century operatic repertoire before their technique is fully developed? There is no one-size-fits-all answer - there are a handful of exceptional students who are ready to start building their operatic chops as teens, but in general I personally come down on the side of "no". I encourage these keen students to become familiar with the dramatic stage works they love and maybe even play around singing them for fun, but as performance and audition pieces? "Not yet....". They don't love me when I steer them away from O Mio Babbino Caro or Queen of the Night but, if they continue as serious singers, their 30-something selves will thank me for not letting them build youthful insufficiencies into what becomes their mature bread-and-butter repertoire! Beyond Handel and the 24/26/28, this st...
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