Call me a snob, or look at me with the disdain of the oldest tenured professor on the planet being asked for an extension on a paper, I don't care. I have no fascination with child prodigies and it frankly makes me physically sick to see their extortion. If you tell me that your 10 year old plays Rachmaninov, I may just smack you, AND the next person to ask my opinion about the X year old child phenomenon singing opera like a 30 year old, well I may just disembowel them.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think that children aren't capable of beautiful and amazing things. I have personally encouraged one child, with serious discussion with the parent, who was particularly gifted. Special concessions for lessons were made to foster her growth on her musical level, yet still appropriate to her age, for that one child already had years of keyboard appreciation behind her. Sadly for that one case, I've seen numerous other TV and youtube video's of children performing amazing things that a professional adult would sell their souls to a certain cloven hoofed individual to attain even a percentage of such fame. Why should a child ever sound like a 30 year old? What's wrong with the beauty of a child appropriate voice?
Who's in a hurry to grow these children up and have them perform adult appropriate repertoire? I might add to that some Operatic story lines are completely inappropriate for children as well. 'O mio babbino caro'? The character has a tantrum and tells her father that if he doesn't let her marry the man she loves then she will kill herself. Child appropriate repertoire? Hardly. I also strongly believe that it is inappropriate for young children to perform certain technical pyrotechnics, just cause they sound like they can. I base my opinion on what I know of my studies into the voice and my reasoning comes down to two factors.
Firstly, children are structurally built different than a 30year old. It is because of this physicality that it is dangerous and reckless for parents and teachers to allow that child to sing certain music, or require certain kinetics of their small frames. The bones and muscles of a child are not meant to take the strain of the technique required for big operatic music. The vocal action is so delicate and precise that even Adult Opera singers are cautious of strain. Even at the undergraduate level, students are encouraged to wait on particular arias till their bodies are ready for it.
Secondly, the psychological impact on these young singers is my concern. One gets used to singing a certain level of aria, and for children when their bodies change (eminent puberty happens) their physical proficiency and familiarity in performing those arias will most likely change. This relearning about their new body, or regression of difficulty level, while reworking technique is hard on the psyche of the most mature vocalist, let alone on the psychology of a child. It takes a monumental personal strength to change one's identity, and doing so in a public limelight is not the most nurturing of places for a young child. Just ask an singer who has been injured, or lost a significant amount of weight, how hard it was to reexamine their technique.
What I am saying is that a child should learn music that is appropriate to their level and not forced into something that in the long run will weaken their artistic gifts. If a child can play Liszt then their teachers and parents should keep in mind that how a child learns is different than how they will as an adult: imitation verses inspiration and wisdom. A child should never be forced to sing arias outside their appropriate maturity or technical level.
Children should learn about music, and it's fine to start even as early as 2 years old if the class is right. What a child should learn in those formative years is solid musical theory, musicianship, the beginnings of critical thinking, and a foundation of passion that they will carry with them forever.
Yes I am well aware of the few success stories of those child proteges who came out clean on the other side. I do not deny the few successful, but mourn the vast majority of lost souls. You are welcome to like what you like and in turn I will dislike what I dislike. I believe in fostering a passion for life, not a passion for now.
You know that these days, it ain't about finding a new Mozart. It's about a Mom or Dad or both who had dreams of being famous and didn't make it. So now, they whore out their kid in hopes of raking in the dough.
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