June 10, 2013: Application of Technique to Repertoire: Part 2 I spoke yesterday about Lindquest’s ‘voce cuperto’ and the critical importance of stabilizing the larynx and therefore registration. It reminds me of an interview with Lucian Pavarotti and how he spoke of using the expanded Italian pharyngeal ‘u’ vowel in applying technique to repertoire. Lindquest often had me use this vowel, applying this open-throated vowel to phrases. It is a basic foundation of the Italian School. As I said yesterday, if the vowel is open in the pharynx the singer will feel balance in registration when using the arpeggio version of this exercise (8,5,3,1,3,5,8,5,3,1). I have singers who either could execute this vowel or use the NG easily, which was more Flagstad’s took in orchestrating the voice into the music. The arpeggio version of the cuperto exercise requires that the singer feel the vocal weight drop off the voice when ascending. How does one do this? By keeping the pharynx stable when going from pitch to pitch within the arpeggio. The vocal folds are allowed to yodel the weight off the voice if the vowel strength is stable. This enables the singer to then insert text without changing the throat space dramatically. Again this is another approach to sustaining pharyngeal vowels through pitch, vowel, and consonant change. It can take some time, but this took is very valuable to the young singer who needs to orchestrate the voice into the music. If I were to define the Old Italian School in one sentence I would say that it is about finding the strong pharyngeal ‘u’ vowel, and then threading text through a similar feeling in the throat. I often use this with younger singers in the Sieber Vocalises, which Lindquest strongly recommended. Sieber was a Viennese voice teacher, trained in Italy, who designed these exercises to be like short melodies, each one designed to balance registration due to the vowel changes. One’s throat function is directly related to language of origin, regional dialect, and physical structure. Some singers relate more to the NG in terms of orchestrating the voice into the music. Nordic voices often find this an easier approach, while more Italianate voices seem to respond to the pharyngeal ‘u’ vowel. More later! Have a nice day! David
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:20:34 +0000
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