| From: qed Organization: qed To: VOCALIST <vocalist> Subject: Re: Fischer-Dieskau, and others, was: Tenor timbre vs baritone timbre Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
John Alexander Blyth wrote:
> (This does go on a bit) > > > I have heard recordings of Bryn Terfel and have wondered what the > fuss was about - he's certainly good, but what is it that makes him > exceptional? I deduce two things: a) a dramatic flair, totally uncaptured on > cd and b) a big resonance and vocal presence which recordings have been > faking for everyone for years, but which he has in real life. >
Having watched on TV a concert in a Western Australian vineyard which Terfel did with Yvonne Kenny and, I think, the WA Symphony Orchestra, and having heard my teacher wax lyricxal about a live performance she went to in Melbourne, I would say that that the fuss is about the whole package. To put it somewhat clumsily, I think that we are hearing a person singing with ease and "joy" who is inviting us to "enjoy" the music with him. Yvonne Kenny has quite a lot of this quality too. It is as if performers such as these are offering not only the music but themselves to their audiences; they draw their audiences to themselves.
Climbing on soapbox now: Good/adeqaute technique, pleasing vocal quality, command of languages, understanding of style and so on, are all very important, but they are in the final analysis only a means to the desired end described above. (Climbing off soapbox.)
Helen Duggan qed-at-netconnect.com.au
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