Hi!

I just finished reading your first chapter, and there were a few things that are a bit "off".

First a small nitpick. You wrote, "this day would mark the opening night of La Boehm..." I'm sure you meant "La Bohème" ;oP

Your biggest slip is this, "Her voice, characterized by rich notes and depth, was that of an alto."

The word "alto" does not refer to a female voice type in classical music, but is the name used for the second highest voice part in a chorus (which in Baroque usually was sung by either boys or castrati). You see, an alto is not necessarily a woman, and people who work in an opera would never call a mezzo "alto". People might shorten "contralto" (which your OC certainly isn't, considering her age), but even that would be a sacrilege for some...

Your OC is a mezzo-soprano. That's the one and only term used for her voice type.

May I suggest that you look up this wiki artilce (you need to replace the "." with . , the stupid site doesn't allow links):

wiki/Fach

It should correct another misconception of yours, namely the idea that a singer whose range "only" reaches up to the high C is a mezzo. Soubrette, Wagnerian, lyric and dramatic soprano roles all fall within the reach of your OC. She could sing famous soprano arias like "Deh, vieni, non tardar", from Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro", "Vedrai carino" and "Là ci darem la mano", the famous duet, from "Don Giovanni" (actually, Zerlina is quite often played by mezzos...), Rusalka's song to the moon, Pamina's "Ach ich fühl's" from the Magic Flute, and, and, and. You can look up the roles in the link.

What makes the difference between a soprano and a mezzo is often not the range, but the tessitura.

I'd like to give you two examples on youtube of mezzos singing famous soprano arias.

The first one is Cecilia Bartoli (one of my favorite singers), who sings "Casta Diva":

watch?vgU6bVIYQnNg

To prove that she's really a mezzo, here's a link to her singing "Voi che sapete", Cherobino's famous aria from "Le Nozze di Figaro", a true mezzo show-piece:

watch?vrJtr0xq1uI0

The other mezzo is Agnes Baltsa, singing the soprano part of the Barcarolle from Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann":

watch?vKEiZ-J97O5A

And here is a link to her in a mezzo role:

watch?vTFG_OLWHsPI

I chose the last example to show you that, indeed, there are operas with a mezzo as "prima donna". The two best known are Bizet's Carmen, and Dalila from Saint-Saens' "Samson et Dalila".

"Carmen" very often is sung by sopranos, because mezzos are so rare.

Here's a rendition by Maria Callas:

watch?vlKnR9VIK3MA

On a more general note.

One of the things that bugged me about PotO was always the idea that girls have the physical prowess to master difficult arias. They don't. Like boys, girls have a phase during puberty when their voices change. It's not as dramatic as with boys, but it still happens, and it takes longer.

I can't begin to describe how utterly sorry I felt for Emmy Rossum when she was forced to sing "Think of Me" in the latest film. There are several parts where you can distinctly hear that her voice is still "broken" and can't (yet) make the fast transitions the song requires. The poor girl never had a chance, and that makes me mad...

I can't blame you for having a 19 year old as your heroine, considering the Phantom canon, but I still flinch. I can't help it. Forcing a girl of this age to sing the demanding repertoire of opera would utterly destroy her voice before her 23rd birthday.

Opera singers start their careers at about 25 and are their best between 30 and 35. Very few are able to extend their career beyond their 50s.

Well, this rant isn't very helpful for you. Sorry. One of my pet peeves. Since I've worked with opera singers, I have difficulties to suspend my disbelief, and swallow that a teenager could have the capacity to render pros speechless, no matter how much talent she has.

*cough*

Back to your story. There is one thing that I don't get, and I've seen a lot of people do this besides you. It's the "perfect pitch" thing.

You wrote, "She even began to develop perfect pitch."

You can't. "Develop" perfect pitch, that is. Nobody above the age of 5 has ever "learned" absolute pitch. Many scientists believe it's genetic.

But even if you could, those people I've met who had it as kids all agreed that it was an utter relief when they lost perfect pitch. I've heard more than one story about how incredibly torturous it can be to have original Baroque tuning (which is usually 1/4 - 1/2 lower than modern), and hear it all "wrong".

I don't get why people think it's even desirable. The overwhelming majority of professional musicians don't have perfect pitch and don't miss it. For all I know, it seems to be more of a burden than a gift.

Okay, now that I have the musical stuff out of the way, there is one more thing I'd like to address. I promise I'll stop after that (I've quite extended my welcome, haven't I?).

It's a small warning. Don't make your character too accomplished. I've only read the first chapter so far and already I have the feeling you drift dangerously close to the dreaded Sue territory. It's much, much easier for a writer to make her characters lovable if they are as fallible as we readers.

But don't worry, you haven't crossed the line yet.

That's it, for now.

Happy writing!

I like it. Can't wait to read what will happen next.

This is a wonderful new installment of this story! I had nearly forgotten about it! _ It's a great chapter, though, and I can't wait for the next one!

~Kristine

Just stumbled across your story and I love it! I notice you haven't updated in quite a while, are you going to continue it?

i like it, but i'm a bit confused about the whole christine is haunting her thng. i guess it will be cleared up in a bit...don't get the phantom to out of character, though thus far you've done a good job. i hate it when people made him to soft. Anywho, it's good, keep writing so i can keep reading. Long chapters are good things, by the way...

Interesting story. A few things about musicality, though:

First, what you probably think of as an alto, in opera is actually a mezzosoprano. (alto is not an opera term) The lowest female voice in opera is a contralto, and there are actually a good number of lead or secondary parts for them (as well as mezzos). Second, just because Vivian can sing songs centered high up the staff doesn't mean she should. Those songs are out of her tessatura and singing for sustained periods in that area could badly damage her voice (as Erik should very well know!) Also, she needs to vocalize more to "warm-up" her voice.

(if you couldn't tell, I'm a music student) Otherwise, a decent story. Keep up the good work!

S. Kenobi

I really liked this story! I like the fact that it's about an alto, a lot of people think that to have musical talent a girl must be a soprano, but I like the fact that this story supports altos, I happen to be an alto myself, I'm going to look for more of your fics, you're good at writing!

This is such a gorgeous piece of work!

Please continue as fast as you can!

Again, it is so astounding!

Sincerely

xEternalxDarknessx

This is getting SO exciting! I can't wait for the next chapter! DARN THAT CHRISTINE! Poor Vive! If only Christine can just let Erik live his life in peace with someone to love him. Or mayhap it's Vive's conscience making her believe it's Christine in her head; she feels guilty that she's taking Christine's man...?IDK...just a wild guess! _

Good luck on the next chapter! Can't wait for more!

~Kristine

O_o OH. My. Gosh. This story is getting SO good! I can barely wait in anticipation for the next chapter!

AW! They're such the perfect couple! It's such a shame that the next chapter is the last one for awhile till updates. :'(

:O! ALL right! Go erik! lol

Yep, I've decided that somehow, magically, this story is about me. Yeah... .

OH! Vive and Er-ik sitting in a tree...k-i-s-s-i-n-g! LOL!

HAHAHA! That's great! I love this story!