To: "'VOCALIST'" <vocalist>
Subject: RE: Arias Transposed?
Date sent: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 13:33:58 +0100
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

> if some
>baritone wants to sing 'come dal ciel precipito' and he moves it up to f or

>f#min. and does a good job singing it i don't think verdi would have minded

>too much, especially if it has been excerpted. i certainly think he would
>appreciate a baritone doing a nice job of it in the wrong fach over a bass
>screwing it up in the right fach

I think Verdi would have preferred a bass doing a good job of it. That's why
he gave the piece to a bass. The baritones get to sing 'Pieta, Rispetto,
Onore.'

And Verdi would have been right. The colour of a bass singing his low b in
this piece in no way resembles the colour or weight of a heavy baritone
singing his low db. A Bass singing his top E makes a different kind of
climax to a baritone singing his top F#. These differences are far greater
than those offered by individual voices within a voice-type. This piece is
so beautifully suited to the bass voice (well, gee, anyone would think that
Verdi was some kind of genius) that taking it down a semitone to accomodate
a bass having an off-night does far less violence to this piece than trying
to jam a baritone into Bass clothes. I think Verdi would have condoned such
a transposition, but probably not liked it.

All of which was, I think, Karen's point.

Each voice has enough repertoire suited to itself to last several singing
lifetimes, to say nothing of all the music that can legitimately by such by
different voice types. Why waste time fossicking around the treasure chests
of others when there are so many neglected treasures in our own chests?
Honour the composers, they almost always know better than we do.

Regards / vriendelijke groeten

Laurie Kubiak
Commercial Analyst - Europe & Africa SMMS
Sales and Contract Support, Shell Services International
Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA
Telephone: +44 171 934 3853; Fax: +44 171 934 6674
Mobile: 07771 971 921: E.mail: Laurence.l.Kubiak-at-is.shell.com
Office: LON-SC 631