The Fandom of the Opera: A Linebacker, a White Whale... and a Secret
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What surprising connections exist between opera and sports?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out, I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
Right after this ad.
One of the basic things that I did not appreciate about opera until I was doing some amount of research into it was that you guys don't get to use the thing that we're talking into right now. Right. And I felt like such a idiot. I've talked to singers before and the microphone does a lot of the work. And then I'm realizing, oh, traditionally in opera, you guys don't use microphones.
It's just projection, just all voice, man. And your body's kind of one big resonating space. And, you know, if you have a larger head, it helps a little bit because that sound bounces around.
Wait, is that right? Like the skull actually creates an amplifying? As far as I'm concerned, that's a fact. I'm now going to measure Pavarotti's skull shape. That's right. I'm like, you.
Don't get me wrong. I know there's some smaller. I know there's some people that don't have the largest heads. But I know that when you start singing the bigger rep, everyone that I talk to seems to have a big old noggin. So, yeah.
I love that the opera combine where they measure the prospects. They're like, yeah, this guy's skull is a little small. Right. Gonna pass. I'll pass on that. But just even upkeep of your voice?
I was joking to you in the kitchen, but like, that is the moneymaker. I mean, it's a whole body thing because singing starts with the breath. So you need to have really fantastic breath support.
How does Brandon Jovanovich's background influence his opera career?
If you have really large lungs, that helps, you know, that helps tremendously. I don't. It's the craziest thing. You have mediocre lungs? Yeah, like I have... Yeah, exactly. It's the craziest thing. But I know how to use the diaphragm and stuff. So because you... train so much that you like walking you don't think about walking how to step and put the foot down and stuff but when you start singing you have to think that way and then you just use that more and more and more and then you all of a sudden you're singing and you don't have to think about the technique anymore i want to get eventually to your actual past life as a football player okay i do i don't just want to metaphorically talk about football i want to talk about that in real terms but your scouting report as an opera singer yeah
What is it, Fran and Jovanovic?
And thank you for being here, by the way. Oh, please, please, please. My pleasure. My pleasure. What position do you play? So I'm a tenor. There's all these subcategories. So there's a soprano, mezzo-soprano. There's something called a countertenor. There's a tenor, baritone, bass. And there's a bunch of different little categories within that. But I do a lot of analogies with bikes or automobiles. So with somebody's maybe a speed bike, somebody's maybe more of a Harley, somebody's maybe more of a race car, somebody's maybe a monster truck, a semi truck. I'm more of probably the semi truck or monster truck variety. You know, I've got to do these long haul operas that last, you know, some of the longest one, I think, with intermissions is about six hours.
Wow.
And there's a couple, you know, two breaks in there. But it's just, you know, it's a huge orchestra pumping out this sound. And you kind of have to learn to ride over that.
The physical upkeep.
What unique challenges do opera singers face without microphones?
Yeah.
The power that the monster truck needs to generate.
Oh, sure. Yeah.
Could you help convey to our audience what that might sound like? Some tastes of that?
Okay, okay. So, you know, as a tenor, I'm kind of known as a...
dramatic heroic tenors what i'm kind of called just the the repertoire that i sing i should say that we have never had opera performed in our studio before okay okay so you're breaking new ground and possibly glass i don't know how this is gonna go that's right that's right I don't know if I should move back or... You're looking at the wrong guy to give you advice on how to position this device that you'd normally never get to take advantage of. Yeah, I wish.
Oh my gosh, this would be amazing. This would be a game changer.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What surprising connections exist between opera and sports?
0:00–1:44
2
How does Brandon Jovanovich's background influence his opera career?
1:44–3:25
3
What unique challenges do opera singers face without microphones?
3:25–8:11
4
What is the significance of the character Captain Ahab in opera?
8:11–12:14
5
How does the concept of the castrato relate to opera history?
12:14–15:05
6
What personal struggles did Brandon face while performing at the Met?
15:05–18:29
7
How does Brandon manage his health while pursuing his opera career?
18:29–23:08
8
What insights can we gain from Brandon's journey in opera?
23:08–41:49
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Pablo Torre Finds Out
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