Isabelle Bracamonte wrote:
> Who can give me a "how-to" opinion on pianissimi?
> I'm experimenting with a bunch of different things
> lately -- and the bottom line may be that I'm just too
> young to have it all together yet -- but I'd like to
> know how all you singers or teachers make a pianissimo
> happen. A high one, I mean.
I finally figured out that the pianissimo feels just like the fortissimo in
every way except the amount of air pushed through. I.e., the phonation and
support are just as solid and strong. It's very difficult to describe.
> The other is a cored, whittled-down, pinpoint of sound
> that makes you gasp for breath and lean forward in
> your seat, a tiny thread of sound that is quiet but
> not soft. I heard Ana Catharina Antonacci do one last
> year. Tebaldi, Milanov, Callas have all recorded good
> ones.
Yes, this is the sound I am talking about.
> Unfortunately, most of the singers' comments I have
> heard go along the lines of, "How do you achieve your
> divine pianissimo that makes the fans go wild?" "I
> was born with it." Except Milanov. She says that she
> had to work for it, which gives me hope.
> I know Dr. Diane studied with Milanov... did she
> share?
The year that I studied with Milanov was the year after she had retired
from the Met. I don't believe she had done much teaching at that point in
her career. Therefore, she was not yet very articulate about HOW to do
things. I'm fairly certain that she didn't always even know how she did
what she did. What she did in lessons was to SHOW us what she wanted and
keep bugging us (making suggestions) till we got it! I can tell you that
there is no feeling quite like standing two feet from Zinka Milanov while
she is demonstrating that fabulous pianissimo and saying, "Here, darling,
do it this way!" Words fail me! :-)
> Or the rest of you -- how to you do/teach a good
> pianissimo?
I don't let beginning students sing softly, because they end up singing
unsupported. After they learn their support, they figure out on their own
how to adjust the air flow and get dynamics.
--
|\ Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof./Chair, Music Department
| Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112
| 901-843-3782, dclark@r...
() http://gray.music.rhodes.edu/musichtmls/faculty/dclark.html
|
|  |
