Throaty singing VS Dark singing tenors 

No me gusta Kaufmann ni Cura nada, pero Gedda en sus últimos años daba pena.

Glad you like them!

@@Thisisopera I do! thanks for still keeping them online! I cant watch them enough times!

@@Thisisopera This phenomenon partially contributed by the improvment of recording technology. If any two kinds style singers live in same stage, I think it would be no doubt of what you are preaching.

LIFE IS NOT FAIR

Gedda used a Knödel a lot. It was ok, but if you want to sing bigger then it will hold you back. Listen carefully.

Oke, I agree but his high tessitura is not constricted it is a bigger sound than Mdm. But what do you say about my critic to Mdm ,I am curious.

"the food was inedible, and the potions were too small"

Yeah, singers in Corelli’s age weren’t really expected to master singing in non native languages, so even undergraduate level singers are better at French diction nowadays than corelli was. But every language should be sung with clarity and full connection to the body, not just Italian. So from that perspective, Corelli sang all those other languages better than Kaufmann sings any of them 🤷🏻‍♂️

Are you deaf? Corelli is way better than Kaufmann

MDM is singing "Amor ti vieta" from Fedora. Corelli is singing "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca.

Jose Cura?

I Agree! He is very very good. Beautiful voice sounding freely, without any constricting strength. Amazing!

I hate the voice of Kaufman. Overrated modern tenor with dark voice. He need a microphone to send his voice to audience.

Obvio que Ud.jamás en su vida tomó clases de canto. Sino no escrbiría tal disparate...con todo respeto.

Le respondo a " San Anton!!"

The point is that opera genuinely doesn’t involve the same levels of skill, athleticism, etc, that it once did. It’s harder to really understand the difference from recordings, but opera was built for the theater, not for recordings on RU-vid, and the modern voices that fill RU-vid might sound excellent in a recording, but they do not work nearly as well in a theater. Many are just straight up not loud enough in a theater. Those that are loud enough are rarely consistently loud enough. Another thing is that, even if it is loud enough to be heard, how much of the voice are you hearing? Are you really mostly just hearing some of the brightest overtones or are you hearing more of the entire voice? Not only did old school singers carry better in a theater, but MORE of their entire voices carried. Some singers, you can hear, but you really only hear those bright overtones. Sometimes it feels more like their voice is another texture in the orchestra. With old school singers, it was just that their squillo (the ring in the voice) was louder. They’re entire voice was more grounded, firmer, and as such the vowels were much much clearer and their voices stood out from the orchestra. Even when a singer like Kaufmann is singing loudly, I feel like I hear part of his voice. I don’t hear this firm, grounded entire voice. I hear a piece of it. When Franco Corelli or Mario Del Monaco sings, I feel like I hear their whole voice, every bit of it, not just this floating ethereal ring that blends into the orchestra. It stands out from the orchestra. And their goal was for that to always be the case, no matter what dynamic they were singing. The voice never became some ethereal thing that was disconnected from the body and would float around. It was always firmly connected to their body, firmly HUMAN. again, you might think Kaufmann carries in a theater perfectly fine to your taste, but I promise you, if you could hear someone like Corelli or any of these old school singers in a theater, it would change your mind. We can still sing that way today, and I think a lot of young singers are starting to get tired of the netrebko’s and the kaufmann’s and some are starting to explore older ways of singing (back when opera was about the sound in the theater rather than the sound on a recording) Several years ago, I used to also think this page and people like it were just stuffy, old fashioned haters.. and I’m sure some of that “it was better back in the day” bias is a part of it.. it always is. But there is real truth to it here.. singers really used to sing in a way that was just much much more effective for a theater. Much more exciting to listen to. And those singers spanned from dramatic voices to lyric and light voices. They still shared that grounded, fully embodied sound. It was overly shaped to “sound like opera.” It was just real full voice, and it was insane in the theater. It really was better in that way. Voices were shaped for the theater rather than for recordings, and even if modern voices are good enough in a theater to your ears, they were just built better for it back before recordings were a thing. And it really effects the quality of the performance for those who are there in the theater to see it

@@aaronmckone8973 spot on description over here. Although these videos aren't always infallible, they provide enough material for students to equip themselves with the knowledge on what to look for in a good technique and voice

I'm terribly sorry this happened to you. I bet his so-called talent wasn't worth a dime as compared to the real tenors. I wonder if you could describe how he truly sounded like when he sang 💀

He’s an ex-member of the larger group who was working his way up the ranks. He was in their discord channel and Facebook groups, and he’s still part of the same circles. It’s all the same bullshit, from yet another guy who knows all the solutions but has never solved a puzzle.

You lower your larynx

The lowering and relaxation of the larynx comes from breathing prop. Don’t depress your larynx on purpose to push the sound to be dark. When you breathe, open the space behind your tongue. You should be able to put your hand on the back of your neck and feel the pharyngeal space open. Each phrase, start with that space, then train your low notes until this becomes easy. The space shou be open, and if you put your hand on your chest, you should feel the soft bones of the larynx ringing. You’re looking to keep that ringing throughout every note in your range. It’s easier to find when speaking or singing low. Then you just keep working to bring more opening but keeping the ringing as you go up and the voice mixes.

Honestly, not really.. not to the level they used to be. Mostly because in the past, the vast majority of listening to opera was done in THE THEATER. Recordings were made, yes, but they were never more important than the actual performance in the theater. Everything was about what was best in the theater, everything was done to optimize the sound in the theater. Recordings kind of thwart all of that, and it has affected every single singer out there, myself fully included. Why sing louder and fuller when you can just move the mic closer to you? Or when you can just rebalance the volume of the singer and the orchestra in post. It affects everyone, even the most well meaning singers. But when the theater was basically all there was and recordings weren’t so prevalent and so all-important, what worked best in the theater was what prevailed. And the truth of the matter is that opera is an art form of the theater.. sure places are experimenting with putting operas in unconventional venues, but still, it is ultimately and vastly an art that was built for the theater.. so when we started singing for the microphones rather than the theater, we really lost was made it AMAZING (or EVEN MORE AMAZING) in a theater. And now I think we’re so far removed from that that we don’t even really realize how much better it could be. There are singers who are closer to that way of singing that is most effective for the theater, but really none of them are on that level of singing that spawned voices like those of the greats of the 20th century that we have on recording but who still sang for the theater rather than for the microphone

@everyday tenor I definitely agree with all these things, 100%. It’s a really tough time to be trying to do anything without amplification. It’s a really tough time to try and advocate for yourself and your own vocal health. The industry is kind of built around all the wrongs things, things that aren’t going to promote vocal health and development. It’s true everywhere, and especially so in America. It’s definitely all wrapped up together into one bigger picture. I shouldn’t overlook or understate that reality. I do still believe we also do just sing differently than the singers of that time sang. Not just Del Monaco or Corelli. The basis for teaching is different. And a lot of that difference in teaching probably arises from the changing industry. But nonetheless, I don’t think we singers are taught to sing the same way singers were once taught to sing. Like, the teaching is good, but it’s not teaching all the same things. And while we have plenty of good, well taught singers, nearly all of us, even those who aren’t all obsessed with old school singing, still listen to the greats of ages past and wish we could hear more singers like them today. Yet, even the best teachers really don’t insist upon the same foundations that were insisted upon from those great singers we love. The way we are trained and learn to sing today simply will not produce voices like what was heard 60-70-100 years ago. Obviously, I haven’t worked with every teacher out there, but I’ve worked with a pretty broad sample and seen these things to be true. It’s not all the teachers’ faults, no. Like I said, I suspect they are just teaching for the industry that exists today, but I question if we need to…. I’m at least toying with some concepts now in my own voice that harken back to concepts I’ve heard of from singers and teachers of the past. Because I sure wouldn’t mind sounding like Corelli. And I don’t think the way singers are taught today will really allow for voices like that to develop, at least not without a little tweaking. I’m also in strong communication with my teachers of past and present about this process and all my thoughts, so no I’m not just advocating for fully separating yourself from your teacher lol. But I think this industry is really pretty off base from its origins and from what works best in the theater, and I’m interested in at least exploring that in my own voice.

Check out poets of the fall sweet perfume of absense alexander theatre sessions

Dark singing isn’t bad singing. It’s obviously not as brilliant and doesn’t use as much squillo, but tastes and techniques change. Cura and Kaufman are great (or were), as was Bergonzi and Kraus, Gedda and Gigli, Di Stefano, Pavarotti, and my personal forever favorite, Bjoerling. Jerry Hadley was terrific at one time, and Litricia, Alagna and so many others. They all have helped to keep interest in this very specialized, niche art form alive. I’m not overly fond of the “tenortone” or the “baritenor,” but it is what it is. Thank God we have recordings so young singers and (if they do the work) can listen and hear what is and what was, and what can be.

​@@robinrubendunst869 The issue is that there are different ways of achieving darkness. The correct way will produce brightness as well (chiaro + scuro), whereas the incorrect way will sound woofy.

Considering that in this video he probably had 30 years of career and his prime behind him, it is not so bad!

Look how old he was at that time as well as the aria is almost to the max he could go in his fach.