actually, i prefer bjoerlings loud singing before '39. the tone is
darker and the vibrato does not seem overspun.
of course, it is probably ridiculous to be talking about a singer who
recorded over the period he did. hearing james morris live, before he
started singing wagner, was a different experience from hearing him on
record. there were things about his voice that did not show up in a
recording. (i speak of morris' pre-wagner as his voice seems to have
changed alot since, at least in recording, and, i have not heard him live
since.)
again, i have to reject the notion of 'perfect' in reference to an
artform. obviously, 'perfect' for opera and 'perfect' for bossa-nova are
two different things. and how we decide what is 'perfect' for an artform,
ultimately, boils down to personal taste, educated or otherwise. the
discussion of 'perfect' has sidetracked me from the original point i was
making (not that i mind 'sidetracking- as the son of a retired social studies
teacher, it is in my genes).
fans of bjoerling's energy and fans of his effort could both, probably,
agree that, towards the end of the thirties, bjoerling increased the 'energy'
in his singing and, i would say expertly so. and i would think it is fair
to say that this was accompanied by an increase in sub-glottal pressure
which, of course, he balanced expertly. to balance this, an increase in
effort in the vocal folds is required (not to mention the extrinsic muscles
stabilizing the larynx). whether or not we want to call it more energy or
more effort, 'more' is required. the original point i was making is that,
at a certain point (different for each voice), we can no longer continue to
increase pitch and resistance to the breath pressure. i would suggest that
choosing to increase pitch without increasing resistance to the breath
pressure, leads to a 'headier tone' and, requires less effort (if i am not
mistaken, this is one of the principles of 'speech level' instruction, yes?).
choosing to increase resistance to the breath pressure, i would suggest,
leads to a 'chestier tone'. i would say further, that, because of the
aesthetic allowance for a 'headier tone' for female opera singers, women have
less of a problem with this than men (decreasing pitch is the opposite).
oddly enough, the roles are reversed in some other types of music (some R&B,
various pop, world musics, etc.).
to those of you who have had the energy to follow this thread, thank you
for your efforts!
mike
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