Hi, Y'all!
Some reactions to Max's thought-provoking post here:
I fully agree with everything Max says about "Dove sono." But were I
a soprano, I would find "Porgi amor" even more difficult for exactly the
same reasons. And "Voi che sapete" is a terror for mezzos, because it
presents exactly the same difficulties.
Skillful vocal ornamentation of any type, provided in any manner, can
say as much about the plot, the characters, the setting, and the central
theme of an opera fully as well as can the music it is designed to ornament.
Is Maria Callas the only singer in the history of music who ever truly
understood this point?
Nilsson never had coloratura, and every stab she made at it failed
miserably. A clear example is in her commerically recorded "Oberon," where a
truly noble, MIGHTY "Ozean, du Ungeheuer!" is preceded by a florid first
act "entrance aria" that she simply cannot negotiate. And whatever in the
world made her accept a contract to record Donna Anna? The color of
Nilsson's voice was always totally wrong in both vocal color and temperament for
the role of the empress in "Die Frau." Why in the world would she have ever
wanted to sing it, when she was such a superb Farberin?
I once read somewhere--I THINK it was in a biography of Marilyn Horne,
but am no longer positive--that Horne learned to trill the same way that
instrumentalists learn runs and passagework: simply produce one note after
another at however slow a tempo is necessary to get the notes right.
Practice and practice and practice, gradually increasing the speed as you are
able to and keep it right. And once you can actually negotiate a good trill,
you keep practicing them slowly so as to always keep the facility to do
them up to tempo. (I remember three weeks of practicing that exact process
to get the clarinet runs in the third movement of "Sheherizade" just right.)
Best,
Dennis Ryan
In a message dated 3/24/2017 7:01:37 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
I think that aria is deceptively difficult. I've heard numerous sopranos
talk about how, on paper, it seems like no big deal but then turns out to be
surprisingly hard to sing well. Much of it sits in that upper break where
sopranos can be challenged with breath support and intonation and it's
extremely exposed. Any slight unsteadiness or tendency to flat is ruthlessly
laid bare. A good Countess also manages to infuse it with elegance and a
melancholy nobility.
I'm sure Steber worked very hard and absorbed what teaching and coaching
she got, but she had an innate profound musicality. Same with Flagstad. A
sense for shape and balance of phrase and the taste to know what's enough to
give but not too much. There really isn't a precedent for her powerfully
shaped performances of the Berlioz "Nuits d'Été" cycle - earlier recordings
by Teyte, etc. are very different from her approach.
I've heard singers and pedagogues argue about whether elements of florid
singing and ornamentation can be taught or if they're just part of the natu
ral voice and talent. I think there's an element of motivation involved.
Some singers really dig in and enjoy executing challenging fioritura. Others
seem to do it only when they absolutely have to.
I recall Nilsson saying that one reason she never sang Strauss' Empress
was her opening scene with the coloratura and high D. She commented "I hate
coloratura." Flagstad, with at least as weighty and big a voice, loved it
and regretted she didn't have more opportunities. She was very sad to drop
the role of Rodelinda. Definitely, in those faster moving sections I've heard
of Nilsson singing Mozart's Elettra or Donna Anna, she gave the impression
that she was doing it because she "had to."
I do know, from personal experience, that a trill can be learned. It can
take a great deal of practice and, when right, can sound very strange to the
singer performing it, but it can be learned.
Max Paley
Sent from my iPhone
> On Mar 24, 2017, at 15:59, Jon Goldberg <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Technical trouble aside, how does a routine decoration on a note stop
the flow of the aria?
> Especially when it's not a part of an out-of-time cadenza, nor in any
other way changes the
> beat or tempo?
>
> That trill is, to my ears, part of a very common cadential progression
in Mozart and in
> other music of his time. In fact, as a pianist, it tends to make me
instantly think of a very
> similar moment in that most (in)famous of his C major piano sonatas
(i.e. the one
> everyone knows instantly by its first few bars, and one of those pieces
that certainly every
> young piano student is assigned early on.)
>
> Hear the phrase leading to the trill and cadence around the 0:45 mark
and (for the trill on
> the same notes as in the aria) the 2;45 mark, as beautifully rendered by
Daniel
> Barenboim.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vDxlnJVvW8
>
>
> Oh - I do sincerely apologize for suggesting that classical piano music
(clearly off-topic)
> should ever be discussed on an opera listserv such as this one. How dare
I even think such
> a thing. I'll never do it again...until the next time. ;-)
>
>
>
>
>> On Wed, 22 Mar 2017 22:42:19 +0000, Takis Pavl. <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>>
>> I've always found that final trill on "ingrato" a bit weird. I feel it
stops the flow of the aria
> and causes a lot of trouble to most sopranos who otherwise excel (or
not) in Nozze di
> Figaro and this particular aria.
>
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