Anne Midgette is dismayed by the loss of the big American opera voice:
Young singers are not being taught the fundamentals, in particular, the proper use of breath. Breath support, the coordination of lungs and diaphragm, has long been regarded as the key to singing, the thing that sustains powerful voices in huge auditoriums without a microphone. Without it, it's difficult to hit the proper pitches (particularly the top notes), modulate from soft singing to loud, or even be heard beyond the footlights.
She illustrates her point in an MP3 audio clip in the story's sidebar, comparing two tenors singing the same passage: the full tone of Luciano Pavarotti and the pinched sound of Andrea Bocelli.
posted:
9:50:03 AM
|
|