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From: Karen Mercedes
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Opera Recordings
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

On Thu, 20 Jan 2000 Aliaknife-at-aol.com wrote:

> Dear List:
> can't hear any flaws. But then on the other hand I listen to Marilyn Horne
> (someone who everyone swears has a terrific technique) makes me cringe inside

You're not the only one! Horne, to my ears, has always had that excessive
"hootiness" that make some people detest mezzos and contraltos. I also
hear it in Jennifer Larmore's voice. I find it extremely unpleasant to
listen to, and I avoid both singers recordings, and instead listen to
Tatiana Troyanos, Rise Stevens, Anne Sofie von Otter, and early Teresa
Berganza when I want to hear good lyric mezzo singing (there are other
lyric mezzos I also listen to, but these are the "big four"), and to early
Shirley Verrett and early Giulietta Simionata when I want to hear good
dramatic coloratura mezzo singing.

If you want to hear an example of Callas with vocal problems, listen to
some of her recordings - particularly the live recordings - from the very
late 1960s and the 1970s, particularly any recordings from her sad final
tour.

> when I hear her voice. How can an inexperienced ear become more experienced
> at listening to recordings? Also, what sort of things should one be looking
> for when it comes to technique( i.e. what constitutes a good technique)? Any
> other thoughts on using recordings would be helpful.

Recordings are not the best way to listen for vocal technique -
particularly not studio recordings. I'd strongly suggest watching videos
of singers in live performance of concerts and operas instead. That way,
you not only HEAR the voice, but you see the vocal technique at work. I'm
always AMAZED to watch some of the bizarre things some singers do that one
cannot hear on a recording, but which one KNOWS is bad news. The most
extreme, and much discussed, example is Cecilia Bartoli. She sounds great
on those studio albums, but God knows watching her you would NEVER want to
use her as a technical role model. Kathleen Battle, similarly, does all
sorts of bizarre contortions when she sings. Yet she sounds lovely on CD.
I was shocked to watch Fiorenza Cossotto on a video of TROVATORE. Azucena
is a role she *owned*, and yet, the spreading of her mouth on the "i"
vowel was absolutely shocking and difficult to watch. Similarly, Shirley
Verrett does the same spreading thing on the SAMSON ET DALILA (1978 San
Francisco Opera) video, which is worth watching not just for her little
technical foibles and her high heeled gold sandals (VERY 1970s), but for
Placido Domingo at his absolutely most gorgeous, showing off a LOT of
sexy, soccer-sculpted leg in that mini-skirt toga thing he wears in Act I
(and a lot of hunky chest hair). Plus ,he sings the role magnificently -
at his lirico-spinto peak in the late 1970s.

On the other hand, watch Edita Gruberova. This woman is a technical
phenomenon. Absolutely perfect control of her voice, her coloratura, her
dynamics, and it all looks absolutely effortless. A goddess. It's also
instructive to watch Neil Shicoff, who truly "got" the lesson about
keeping the mouth VERTICAL and not HORIZONTAL. His lips never venture
beyond some form of an "O" - the vowels are all changed through use of the
tongue and opening or closing the "O". It's very instructive (he's also a
brilliant actor - and it can be fun to watch just how much he perspires on
stage, poor baby). Compare that with the spread mouth and downthrust jaw
of the post-leukemia Carerras performances, and the bizarre retroflexed
tongue and downthrust jaw of Domingo's high notes.

Anyway, I think what you'll find is that your appreciation of different
singers will wax and wane as your own knowledge and understanding of vocal
technique increases. But ultimately it will all come down to personal
aesthetics. I know Pavarotti is a technical god, but I just don't like
the way his voice sounds, so I don't listen to his recordings very often.
People swear to me that Franco Corelli was a flawless singer. I can't
stand the barky quality I hear in his voice. Go figure. Other people
dislike the effortful quality of Domingo's voice, especially hiis upper
register. Still others dislike the plaintive quality of Shicoff's voice,
but that's a bit part of why it appeals to me. On the other hand, the
supreme beauty of Tito Schipa's voice is totally lost on me. It sounds
plain weak to me. So, ultimately, it's all a matter of taste.

Karen Mercedes
=====
There is delight in singing,
tho' none hear Beside the singer.
- Walter Savage Landor
-----
MY WEB PAGE: http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
MY NEIL SHICOFF PAGE: http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html