"still vie die nacht"?

Question:im singing this for issma competition, how have you all done this stylistically? more operatically or more straightfoward...any tips are helpful too

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: im singing this for issma competition, how have you all done this stylistically? more operatically or more straightfoward...any tips are helpful too

as with any Lied, it's important that you know your text. Not just in a figurative sense, either, but word-for-word.
This helps us stop emphasizing the wrong words. you wouldn't want to sing " my country tis OF thee?", you'd want to put the accent where it belongs.
Get a good German-English dictionary, and work it out. some of the translations that we have printed in our books are poetic, and not at all in line with the original text.
Next, make sure you know how your text is intertwined with the accompaniment and harmony. It's not just about you singing. The more you know about the music itself, the better prepared you are. Lieder were written as teamwork music, not master-and-slave. Many famous Lieder give the most important musical stuff to the pianist ( Der Erlk?nig by Schubert comes to mind).
As far as operatically or straightforward, that depends on the level of your singing abilities. Most opera singers give Lieder recitals, and don't feel the need to change their singing voice one bit. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a bit of reverse snobbery on your part- work on it and get rid of it- either you are singing well or you are not, and that's what counts most.
If you deliver the text in a way that means you understand it, if you are making the best singing sound that you can muster on the day, you don't need to go into histrionics or ham acting ( that's operatic?!?!?!?) to get a song across.
If you are unsure of the meaning of the words, and are just mouthing syllables while making a pretty noise ( that's straightforward?!?!?!) I'll hide my yawn behind my hand as well as the rest of the judges.
You gotta do the work to get the results.
Go get 'em!