Breathing, supporting and finally singing-- priceless lessons Sutherland, Horne and Pavarotti

Yesterday I had a coaching session where I was told to "sing ah-s with a smile to bring out it's expression". While I understand that it is the expression which brings the life and vibrancy to a piece, I don't believe one can constantly sing with a smile, it takes many muscles to form a motion such as a smile, and that would be extra work for singers when muscles are suppose to be "engaged" and not tightened. Today I tried practicing with an "artificial smile", some of the sound came out beautiful but I might have over-done it. Now I have a fatigued, sore and thickened cord. Em, lesson learned. Each singer has his/her natural vertebrato and tune, and the most important key in opera-singing is that the voice can not be put on stress at any time, it must surf with vibrancy and energy, all of which requires a solid foundation and good training. Technique is what we survive on, along with hard work and self confidence. When performing in front of hundreds of people, when you feel like you are about to have a heart attack, remember, this is done everyday and hundreds of years by many many singers--BREATH, SUPPORT AND PROJECT. :)