@@paulennini3655 a lot of opera singers do imo when they sing pop. obviously they have vocal chops if they can perform full operas, even if in a mediocre fashion, and the requirements for pop are just not as strenuous and challenging as opera so they sound really like the best stars in the world imo when they sing pop
I was told i was a leggero tenor, like JDF, thankfully I moved from town; new singers and new teachers, it was a shock for me when I realized I wasn't singing with my natural voice. Long story short: im a baritone. JDF sounded nice in those low notes, wishing him well
A lot of this has merit. You’re also showcasing singers with a lot of natural balance and ease in this type of singing. Demonstrating the “small” sound concept, particularly as you ascend, is a healthy approach to understanding how higher notes function. What I heard in the first few minutes are these singers trying to have the student feel or even hear a sound that is smaller in their head which benefits the maximum acoustical benefits of the sound. Fleming’s demonstration sounded the most “on the body” to me to approach the note as a noise rather than a singing sound.
Just goes to show just because you excel in your area of music (singing, piano, organ or instrumental) doesn’t mean you are meant to teach it. I’m a very good musician in my area. I used to be great, but that was when I could practice every single day and had recitals and competitions to prepare for. I don’t teach my main instrument because I suck at it. I’ve seen “voice teachers” screw up teenager voices. Parents signed their child up because the “teacher” had graduated from the local music school. One mutual student (I teach piano) had the most weird sound come out of her mouth and she was 13. When I asked what her teacher’s music degree was in, she told me ACCOMPANYING. (Today it is called collaborative piano - so stupid). I was required to take voice lessons since organ was my main instrument. Complete waste of time. It didn’t do anything except make me so confused as to the terms and how to “sing in your face mask.” Just because someone took some lessons doesn’t mean they can teach. Around here, we have pianists who took a year of organ and they call themselves organists. Nope. You are a ______ (your primary instrument) and took a few required lessons in a minor area.
By the time I started to listen to opera, I got that opera is different than other ways to sing cause it caught me for those big loud and dark voices. Sadly, now I can see some of those great singers anymore 😕 😪
Marilyn Horne sang with a dark chest voice. So, why is she teaching someone to sing as brightly as she can? To not get into trouble at the conservatory? I don't like how DiDonato is incorporating nasality into that singer's sound. Singing nasality doesn't enable you to project your voice further. Renée Fleming is right that the aria that woman is singing is a more feminine aria than most of the arias. But, she should be covering her sound as she sings the "ee" voice. I actually watched Nilsson teach that person. She sang that this person must sing from the pharynx but should feel the effect of bringing the sound in front of your face because your sound is projected well. So, she's trying to teach projection through the pharynx; but, using an analogy with the mask so that the singer can feel his sound coming out. Joan Sutherland actually said that you have to use all of the resonators to project the sound. So, Nilsson has the right idea; but, she's not totally explaining her way of singing.
Everything you said was Rt on the money, except for Marilyn Horne. She sang w/an extremely mask placed chest voice. Don’t you hear it in her tone? Like she’s forcing the voice through her nose or as if the sound was sort of trapped in her face? When you hear Marilyn Horne singing in modal voice, vs. Ghena Dimitrova, Shirley Verrett, Reneta Tebaldi, Fedora Barbieri, Elena Obratsova, etc. The sound is a far darker, cavernous sound. Way more released & free also.
I've been going to the opera for 40 years. I can confirm that the decline in voices and the corresponding quality began a long time ago. In the meantime, even at the biggest opera houses, you have to fear that you will hear over-sung sopranos, poor tenors and no mezzos at all in the relevant roles. It seems more important that they meet the requirements of crazy directors, roll around half-naked on stage and can sing well at the same time. Granted - singers look better than they used to, but they sing much worse. And anyone who looks at the so-called superstars - Garanca, Netrebko or Kaufmann - knows what I mean.
Absolutely. My friend made his debut at the Met in that dumbass production of Agrippina in 2020 just before the pandemic and I walked out at intermission, pretended I'd seen the entire thing and got roses for him and went backstage to congratulate him. I myself had pursued a career and I was absolutely assured that evening, after 25 years, that I would have hated having to perform in these ridiculous productions where there are dancers onstage distracting the audience from the music. One conductor told me they do this because they think the audience won't buy just the drama of the storyline and the music, they take the audience intelligence for granted.
Nilsson's entire technique was based on this frontal placement so I find her consistent in her teaching. Maybe the creator of this video likes her too much to admit it. As for Callas, she was an exciting singer, but her vocal problems came too soon to make her a good example of technique.
Start by doing a tenth of the career of these singers you criticize and you will be able to speak. The fact of wanting to impose only one way of doing things on all singers shows that you have very little teaching experience. The vibrational sensations are different depending on where you are in the vocal range of the singer. Imposing an affondo on a singer who swells his voice is madness. Likewise, wanting to forcibly place a voice that is tight in the mask is also madness. Teachers who are gurus and claim to have the absolute truth should be banned from teaching. There are as many vocal particularities as there are students. It is up to the teacher to use all his knowledge and to demonstrate the greatest humility. For my part, I have been singing for 45 years and teaching for 30. The more I advance, the more I doubt.
i generally agree with you about current opera singers lacking chest resonation, but i think you dont know much about the process of LEARNING how to sing. these nasal, pitchy sounds are the BASIS of singing. u first need to open up your nasal resonators to even be able to emit the sound, especially high notes. its the first step. only then u need to learn how to drag chest resonation along with it. always when i warm up i start with pitchy, nasal noises, to open up my nasal cavity resonators.
My 2 cents all that emotion, musicsl expression different colours tessitura, frazing, decibels coming from 2 tiny tiny muscels , the vocal cords. Its quiet a mystery how it works, there isnt a definite recepy as the maker of this video suggests . Talent temperament musicality. Lung capacity, inner ear, physiology. Capacity to concentrate and so on and so on Many reasons also why todays singers sound tired overworked then only a bad technique. Just imagine how much time it took to travel up to 1940. And how much singers sing these days Monday new york wednesday paris and so on A hell of a lot of pressure on 2 tiny muscles.
El peor enseñando es Florez, y encima faltándole el respeto a Rossini…madre mía! La Simionato le da tres vueltas…la ópera con buen vibrato, core, acento y expresividad., nada de mosquitos. Muchas gracias ❤❤❤
It is a misconception that the educators in this video are advocating nasality. They try to get the "student" to use all sound chambers and equalize the voice and at the same time achieve tessiatura with high formants and a timbre that reaches beyond the edge of the stage. This is not achieved by trying to darken the voice and make unnatural widening of the pharynx. The exercises with the aim of getting the student to find sinuses behind the nose and in the forehead can sometimes contain what at the moment is judged nasally. But when you then start with equalization, this is removed while maintaining the head sound.
Sorry, but this doesn't seem to match what Florez said in the end of this video. He clearly said that if the audience doesn't hear you "it's their problem". It seems to me he doesn't actually wants the student to fill up the theater with her voice. Also, I don't know whether you've listened to Florez or not, but his singing sounds really nasal to me. Besides, I can confirm that all of the opera singers I have listened live in the last 15 years at least without amplification are barely audible.
Tone and resonance are important elements when singing opera. Work on developing a clear, ringing tone and a resonant sound that fills the room. It is important to use the resonance spaces the body has and to equalize the voice so that the registers can flow into each other. This can be achieved through exercises such as humming, singing nasals to find the main timbre and then equalizing the voice to give a beautiful and smooth transition between different registers in agreement. Then singing with an open mouth and relaxed throat is a must. On the other hand, I defend against a forced widening of the entire pharynx because it easily creates tension, can cause a lump and a guttural sound.
@@vandersvanders They don’t generally. It is not possible to generalize and lump all younger up-and-coming singers under one roof. But there is, as I see it, a phalanx where acting takes a bigger place in education than singing technique. And then I wonder if the trainers haven't missed that we go to opera and vocal concerts first and foremost for the vocal experience? Otherwise, there are generally better actors in dramatic theaters than on the opera stage. I understand what you mean and believe that there would be room for analysis and reflection in some institutions that train in artistic singing technique.
Definitely no… I think Kraus sounds good if we compare him to the likes of Florez ou Villazon… but as soon as we here Schipa, Valetti or Pavarotti in his brilliant begging days, we can’t really put him amongst the best…
@@drefesou8912Kraus' nasality got visibly worse as he aged too. Here he sounds pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. But as he got later in his career he got worse and worse. I've heard some totally nasal Cs out of his mouth that had me absolutely cringing! Bad enough to deal with that. But the other problem is dealing with people who deny it completely, who tell me that Kraus has NEVER gone nasal, that I don't know what I'm talking about.
The tenor voice is can be precarious. You have to allow a much more energized breath connection that is difficult to balance in sweeter belcanto rep. Hadley does a beautiful job of finding the chiaroscuro in his sound. Polenzani has that in droves live, but here you hear much more forward focused projection to help with the passaggio. But there’s a lot of squillo! I haven’t heard Brownlee or javier live.
Sorry but if youve got no idea about technique you shouldnt insult the professional singers just because you dont like their sound. Especially not with such a bad editing
Whoever made this sounds like one of those old snobs. But despite that, I appreciate it because it's like a window to the old times. It shows me the nuances of different techniques and how human bias plays a part in finding the "correct" sound
No. It’s you who has no idea. If you think Flores’s teachings for example is correct, then you’re the 1 who needs to go back to studying. B/c that goes completely against the way OPERA is supposed to be sung.
Nilson is nobody, she is just a mezzo, what they know about singing? Like mezzo callas. Guelfi? Teaching a screams to be like a bass caruso. "Great" hadley? 5:58 bari forced a top. 7:16 that yells are awful by mezzo. Channels are dont know nothing on timbres, more and more nonsense
Yet your comment is about individual singers. When people make comments like this, I always wonder what YOU sound like since you seem to Be the arbiter.
Oh what an ignorant comment! Who do you really think you are? Birgit Nilsson became court singer in 1954 and received the corresponding title, Kammersängerin, in Austria in 1968 and then also in Bavaria in 1970. She became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in 1960 and was named professor in 1998. And she was in high demand in all the world's opera houses.
