tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post836694582019662018..comments2024-03-05T22:44:45.962-05:00Comments on Great Opera Singers: A Reflection On The Many Classifications of Operatic VoicesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-75454878648620329462011-08-06T08:31:25.201-04:002011-08-06T08:31:25.201-04:00I assume you have read the comments above yours. ...I assume you have read the comments above yours. I especially recommend the comment by "Nate," and the one immediately above yours, by Mr. Florio-Maragioglio, both of whom are very knowledgeable on the subject. Personally, as my article probably suggests, I think the whole thing is a bit of a tempest in a teapot. Were it up to me, I would use the choral SATB structure and let it go at that. 90% of what remains is--honestly described--simply a matter of color, flexibility and range. But of course that would make your research paper very short:)Edmund StAustellhttp://gmail.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-47290389873334424752011-08-06T07:29:49.542-04:002011-08-06T07:29:49.542-04:00I just stumbled upon this page while doing a resea...I just stumbled upon this page while doing a research project on the history of voice types. I would love to communicate with anyone interested in the topic! <br /><br />At the moment I am focusing on the rather tortured history of the term "soprano sfogato".snide76201https://www.blogger.com/profile/00508264829327317778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-33599775792917510472011-07-03T19:43:22.961-04:002011-07-03T19:43:22.961-04:00In my opinion, the complex vocal classifications a...In my opinion, the complex vocal classifications are only important to the soprano and tenor voices. <br /><br />Baritones and basses have not the dangers of repertoire (compared to tenors): for example, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the German lyric baritone who has been called tenor-like nevertheless sang all the major heavy baritone roles like Iago, Scarpia and Wotan, and did this with little consequences to his voice. <br /><br />Mezzo-sopranos and Contraltos, given the rarity of the latter, always sing each other's, such as the one day in 1964 at Teatro alla Scala where I saw Fiorenza Cossotto sing the role of Rosina: a dramatic mezzo-soprano singing the role of a coloratura contralto! And she did it very well. <br /><br />These classifications are (should) all about tessitura, timbre, and technical abilities: not about range. For example, both Tito Schipa and Cesare Valletti had very bad upper registers, but their tessitura was firmly in the tenor range and nobody could deny they were light leggero tenors. So is Juan Diego Florez, yet his top seems much better. <br /><br />Or the soprano register: consider the difference between Joan Sutherland and Anita Cerquetti: Sutherland's upper register was not so much better than Cerquetti's for she could easily match the Dame on D6: yet she is a dramatic soprano and Sutherland a dramatic coloratura because her voice was lighter and more agile. <br /><br />I always think that these classifications should describe the voice, not the repertoire, because for example a "lyric" tenor can have tremendous success singing roles that are not lyric and not damage their voices: for example Richard Tucker, Jussi Björling, Gianni Raimondi were "lyric" tenors yet all had thirty year careers in which they triumphed in much bigger roles. It is all a matter of technique: continuing to study across the career, maintaining the voice in excellent condition and be disciplined. <br /><br />Björling, the most famous example, sang just about every role in Italian repertoire, including Manrico and Radamès, onstage around the world over his thirty year career. <br /><br />Did his voice ever suffer? No! Did his upper register shrink? No! <br /><br />Björling's voice had darkened and gained in richness over his career, probably the result of singing these heavier roles. Unless you restrict your repertoire right down, like Alfredo Kraus, the voice is going to darken nevertheless. <br /><br />In the soprano register, there is Mirella Freni, who through the same careful management and technique has excelled as Verdi's Leonore! <br /><br />How did they do this? By maintaining study, and by understanding even though they could sing these roles with impunity, they were not to become the core of the repertoire. Björling never gave up his Fausts and Bohèmes, for example. <br /><br />In the same way, there are many, like Katia Ricciarelli and Ferruccio Tagliavini who jumped into heavy roles unprepared and without the study or timing, and so their voices were utterly ruined. <br /><br />And thus, you can see that the correct vocal classification should be one describing the voice, not giving it a repertoire: the very opposite of the German facher system, which I think had ruined many voices.Gioacchino Fiurezi-Maragiogliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08962732548145492243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-16760218474658140082011-02-14T00:12:51.181-05:002011-02-14T00:12:51.181-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Avvocato Orsinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17661214869928249432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-52647906039902178192011-02-13T09:09:01.653-05:002011-02-13T09:09:01.653-05:00OOOPS!! SORRY! I JUST FOUND YOUR BLOG, AND IT...OOOPS!! SORRY! I JUST FOUND YOUR BLOG, AND IT'S IN ENGLISH, SO THERE GO TWO PROBLEMS DOWN THE DRAIN IN ONE FELL SWOOP:) I WILL SET ABOUT TO READ YOUR PIECE ON THE THREE TENORS, WHICH SEEMS TO BE THE LATEST BLOG ENTRY.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-14751065520534400662011-01-17T20:53:35.680-05:002011-01-17T20:53:35.680-05:00Thank you very much for an excellent comment, whic...Thank you very much for an excellent comment, which I greatly appreciate. Your observations on Kozlovsky are especially interesting. He almost defies classfying. I think those that said he was a "character tenor" (we call them comprimario tenors)were on the right track. When he portrayed the Holy Fool, for example, in Boris Godunov, he was really excellent. On the other hand, I once heard heard a recording of his--I think it was "ecco ridente in cielo," that was just dreadful. He would have been laughed off the stage here. I personally think that if Kozlovsky had not been such a good friend of Stalin's, he would not have had a career. He was not nearly as good as Lemeshev, and he is never mentioned in the West with the same respect given to Lemeshev, Sobinov or Smirnov, all of whom were great tenors. But I digress....yes, you are right...classifications become meaningless when the right singer meets the right roll. They are simply good for the part, and then people try to make up a name that decribes them:D Thanks again; always a pleasure to hear from you.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-35336455332266144142011-01-17T19:29:41.952-05:002011-01-17T19:29:41.952-05:00The article is very interesting.
“The vocal classi...The article is very interesting.<br />“The vocal classifications applied to any of these individuals usually reflects, in some degree at least, their appropriate repertoire, in combination with their public persona and the degree of acceptance their particular kind of singing and acting has earned them.’<br /><br />Yes, this is absolutely true. Sometimes singers perform parts written not for their voices only because their artistry and acting abilities allow that. Kozlovsky, for example was a famous Lohengrin, though he was not a heldentenor. He could sing in a very hard, “strong willed’ manner and to create a heroic impression, though his voice was very high . Some people call him ‘altino’, others say that he had a ‘character tenor’ . I don’t know if this category exists in the West, or not, in Russia they call so tenors whose voice is not beautiful enough for leading roles. Kozlovsky sang very high notes beautifully, though in general his timbre was nasal. His repertoire was very big though. Ivan Yershov was a famous Wagnerian tenor, though his voice was not ‘heroic’ either. <br />Besides, people always argue about voices, so it’s hard to say anything precisely. There always will be someone, who will say that Callas was miscast as Violetta:)Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that there may be so different opinions on famous singers and their repertoire. The only thing is clear is that there are main classifications – basso, baritone, tenor, etc. <br /><br />n.a.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-60196210944553680622011-01-16T15:53:43.418-05:002011-01-16T15:53:43.418-05:00Yes, indeed. Absolutely. That's what it'...Yes, indeed. Absolutely. That's what it's all about. Thank you.Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-48341639787597314582011-01-16T14:28:08.036-05:002011-01-16T14:28:08.036-05:00Yes, I remember Pavarotti's talking about the ...Yes, I remember Pavarotti's talking about the treacherous tenor passaggio. Even the late, great Joan Sutherland refused to sing Konstanze in Abduction from the Seraglio at the Met later in her career (she had wanted to sing it earlier but the package deal with Bing fell through) because of the grueling tessitura. And, as I noted elsewhere, Lily Pons would not sing Debussy's Melisande, in part because the tessitura lay too much in the middle register and, as we know, she was much more comfortable in the stratosphere.Natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-78438715937907596742011-01-16T13:57:07.013-05:002011-01-16T13:57:07.013-05:00Superb comment, Nate, and very much appreciated. ...Superb comment, Nate, and very much appreciated. Your discussion of tessiture in Horne's case is important, and something I failed to mention. You are absolutely right. Some of the tenor arias, for example, that are most difficult, are not the ones that have the extremely high notes in them, but ones where the median of notes is higher than average. Most tenors will acknowledge the extreme difficulty of "Ella mi fu rapita," from Rigoletto, for example. It only goes to a Bb at the end, but the whole aria lies right in the area of the passagio, around F natural, and nothing is more tiring than maintaining that particular tessiture. Another very tough aria is Edgardo's "Tu che a dio spiegasti l'ali," from Act III, Scene 2 of Lucia. It hammers away mercilessly in that area, and I have heard tenors die musically before they die from the dagger blow at that point:-) So yes indeed, tessiture and the ability to maintain it is a crucial element in voice classification. Thanks again!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-89325830586967209342011-01-16T13:23:16.271-05:002011-01-16T13:23:16.271-05:00Thank you, Edmund, for your fascinating and enligh...Thank you, Edmund, for your fascinating and enlightening discussion of operatic vocal classifications from both the musicological and non-musicological perspectives. Since I am, admittedly, one of those you mention who delight in showing off, I would add other vocal categories to the ones you cite, including subdivisions of both the heldentenor and Wagnerian soprano, for example, as well as the spinto (or lyrico-spinto) soprano and tenor. Leontyne Price, incidentally, identified herself as a "juicy spinto soprano." And then there are the labels of soprano sfogato (Callas, for some) and the falcon, leggiero soprano, mezzo-coloratura, dramatic coloratura (which you mention), sometimes called dramatic soprano d'agilita, as well as the disparaging term "tenorino" and a few other, non-disparaging tenor subdivisions. However, as you rightly point out, these classifications are not infrequently the product of sociological, cultural, gender, and other non-musicological influences. As noted, even in purely musical terms, range is not the only determinant, but also vocal texture, timbre, and color. You mention Marilyn Horne, who seems to have (as Herman Klein asserted regarding the nineteenth century singer, Sofia Scalchi) more of a mezzo than contralto texture even though she can certainly sing the low notes of a true contralto. Horne herself admits, however, that the high tessitura was always uncomfortable for her and that is why she decided not to pursue the soprano repertoire which she had started out singing. Both Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry made different choices in that regard. I think tessitura is a critical factor here; that is, not merely being able to sing an occasional high note or two but rather "setting up shop" in the upper register. My main point, though, which I have taken quite a long route arriving at, is that there may very well be a psychological, motivational need all of us humans have to categorize virtually everything; and often the more categories, the merrier. This, I think, is because categories afford us not only a sense of superiority but a basic feeling of security, knowing that everything and everyone has their place in the world and making it easier for us to understand and relate to them in an appropriate manner. Musically speaking, I would say this is reflected not only by our need to categorize (opera) voices, but also by our tendency to categorize music in general into so many different types, which we often are hard put to differentiate on a strictly musical basis.Natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-55898084903267315062011-01-16T12:01:09.071-05:002011-01-16T12:01:09.071-05:00Thank you very much, my friend, I appreciate that!...Thank you very much, my friend, I appreciate that! And please permit me to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!Edmund St. Austellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490721790447218365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6166918155946600787.post-47509691166583304642011-01-16T11:41:18.106-05:002011-01-16T11:41:18.106-05:00as usual ... a master-class in the topic at hand. ...as usual ... a master-class in the topic at hand. beautifully donecoraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03645573592247798140noreply@blogger.com