Never Isabelle darling....you jabber on Reg.
>Barbara, > >I'm writing this privately because I suspect people >are getting sick of hearing me spout my opinions in >the last few days! :) > >To my reading, Miller made a distinction between >soubrettes (basically lighter lyrics with the young, >attractive persona) and coloraturas, although >soubrettes often mature into coloraturas or overlap >the same roles. I wouldn't feel spinto-longing if I >were you. Lyrics are the bread-and-butter soprano >roles of the repertoire. In terms of "what's a facile >lyric," I thought he was saying that they're not any >type of coloratura, but a true lyric with an upper >extension and agility. Some lyrics have great high >D's and can sing breakneck runs, and some can't -- >those who can are "facile," or at least that was my >interpretation. > >The liciro-spinto category (again, my impression upon >reading -- I don't know if this will help you or not, >since I'm just clarifying my own understanding of >Miller) is basically a full, hefty lyric voice with >the steel and bite for the meatier roles. A full >spinto voice is huge and dark, with a powerful lower >voice and the ability to cleft through orchestrations >like Leonora's and Salome's. Then a dramatic voice is >HUGE and DARK. > >I agree that it would have been useful if Miller had >named some known sopranos to epitomize his fachs. If >it helps you see where I'm coming from, here are my >opinions. Lyric: Licia Albanese, Victoria de los >Angeles, young Mirella Freni. Larger lyric: Kiri Te >Kanawa, Renee Fleming. Lirico-spinto: Renata Tebaldi, >Diana Soviero. Spinto: Dorothy Kirsten, Magda Olivero. > > >So, to my reading, a large lyric is a lyric voice with >a full, heavy heft (warmth and richness being what >makes it "big"). A lirico-spinto is a lyric voice >with a steely, cutting bite (both darker and more >piercing). The voices may sometimes be the same >"size," but the lirico-spinto will pierce through >heavier orchestration. Many people prefer the lyric >sound as more soft and feminine, or dislike the >lirico-spinto sound as too metallic. > >Don't get spinto envy! Lyrics sing most of the young, >beautiful heroines of the standard reps (and spintos >sing mostly the slightly deranged, wildly dramatic >ones) -- Mimi, Juliette, Louise, Antonia, Susanna, >Nedda, Pamina, Musetta, Micaela, Liu, Nanetta, >Rosalinda, Countess in Figaro, Tatiana, Capriccio, >Manon, Magda, Bellini's Elvira, if you've got an >extension Giulietta, Violetta, Amina, etc. > >Plus, lyrics can often sing either light lyric roles >or coloratura roles, and they often mature into more >lirico-spinto roles in their 40s. And lyric voices >sound better at an earlier age than spintos. And >sound more youthful. And many people find the sound >more appealing. True, there aren't as many >wrist-slashing moments of tragic drama, but think of >all the great love duets and heart-melting arias that >are yours. > >Isabelle B., always glad to jabber on > >===== >Isabelle Bracamonte >San Francisco, CA >ibracamonte@y... > > > > >__________________________________________________ >
|
| |