In a message dated 5/22/2001 3:43:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, BLYTHE@B... writes: BLYTHE@B... writes:
<< Isn't there a general agreement that power tends to lessen in a voice as it descends in pitch? Do you assert that there is a resurgence of power at a certain low pitch, or perhaps just that it didn't fade as much as voices usually do? >>
john,
i think you may have misunderstood me a bit. i think of climax notes for all voices as their high notes. i don't think a bass' low notes are his climax notes though they might be half his money notes. all those notes i was refering to in those bass arias are the high notes.
so yes, if power does diminish the lower one sings, it does make sense that a male who is capable of taking the paint off the walls on the D just above middle C is probably not your average baritone. it seems that all the climax notes for all voices are written above the passaggio. of course, someone who has not been able to access his high range correctly, who has a big voice, might be able to get away with fooling people into thinking he is a bass when he is really just a baritone with a strong voice and no top.
then, of course, there is the problem created in thinking that voice catagories are mutually exclusive to each other as if we are all a different species or from different planets and there is nothing in between. and, there is also an assumption that we are all limited to the same amount of voice and that there is no such thing as a 'both'. we have certainly seen a number of singers (morris, diaz, raimondi, vinay, domingo, ewing, de los angeles, etc.) who are either in between, both or capable of faking one or the other.
i have always felt that if you can sing all the notes and don't sound stupid, it's yours.
mike
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