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Thoughts on the Voice:
a 1993 Alfredo Kraus masterclass transcription. |
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At its simplist, the approach to
the voice described in Lamperti terminology can be summarized as ‘two points
in the body with a line of air running between’. Another way to think of this
is in the formula “breath +
resonance=the desired sound”. Having
taught for many years, I know it is easier to speak about the ‘simplicity’ of
voice production than to achieve it. When considering non-classical sounds,
the use of the resonance still cannot be ignored. The position will be
modified but the basic formula remains the same. Specific exercises
strengthen correct vocal function and coordination in guided study with an
expert teacher. The teacher monitors these elements of production with the
student as s/he exercises to develop control. ----------------------------------- Initial explanation and the concept of voice placement: "Thank you for you
warm welcome. I am pleased to see that so many of you have joined us for our
friendly chat this afternoon. I must first say that the voice is a mystery.
It is not tangible. It is a sound and not at all material. We cannot
even hear how it really sounds, because our ears perceive at the same time
both an external and internal sound, so we cannot understand what our own
voice in like. I repeat: we cannot touch it, we cannot see it. We can
see a piano, but not the voice. However it can be listened to and this
is its mystery. It is the most fascinating musical instrument that exists,
because are we ourselves the instrument, and we control it by means of
internal sensations. Why do we always hear
people talking about voice placement without ever giving an explanation?
We say "Putting the voice in the mask" and the reason for this
term is that placing the voice correctly we use the internal cavities
behind our facial bones (the so called "mask") as a natural
amplifier, because in the throat we have none. Quite otherwise, the area
that surrounds the vocal cords tends to absorb the sound as it is made
of soft mucous tissue and flesh. It is up to us to project it, with the use
of a column of air that passes through the vocal cords, as close to the
listener as possible, as "forward" as possible. The further forward
the sound is placed, the closer to the ear of the listener it is. The further
forward the sound is the more it is sustained in the mask. The more it
is sustained in the mask the better we use the facial amplifiers (ie.
the cavities we were speaking of before: the frontal sinuses, the nasal
sinuses, etc.). Why do we say voice in the
"mask"? We say so because a very intelligent person discovered
that there is one sound that is naturally placed in the facial
amplifiers, it is the Latin sounding vowel "'i" (as in igloo). It
is also the least tiring vowel to sing on. When we say "i"
the sound is already there, forward, and correctly placed in the mask,
when we say "e" (as in excellent) we notice that in respect to the
"i" it is further back, as for the "a'" (as in arrive) we
may as well wave good-bye, for the sound sinks completely into the
throat. However when we talk we can mostly get away with this, even if
many people end up having to go to specialist voice doctors (phoniatritians)
because they speak badly. If we could manage to put all the sounds in
the position of the "i” simply while talking, there would be no
work for these doctors". The "i" vowel opens the throat "There
is a real obsession in most schools of singing: that of darkening the
voice. But why should I darken my voice if it is naturally clear? It is
nature who decides if a voice is clear and bright or dark and rich, we cannot
make it become so by artificial colouring. Many of my colleagues, (even
famous ones), when they come to a latin "i" tend to sing a French
"u", or when they come to a latin "c" they pronounce it
"ö" (as in earth), instead of a" they say "c".
This is all mistaken. It is wrong to think that this darkening of the
sound helps technique and rests the voice: this method sends the voice
backwards into the throat, making it lose colour and sonority. Up until
a short time ago all that I am saying was mere theory (put to practical use
by those singers who have a correct technique, unfortunately they are
hard to come by). Now thanks to new studies, and to a video made by professor
Tapia of the Santandér University in Spain, we are able to actually see
the movements of the vocal chords and the surrounding area during the
emission of the voice. The revelations are amazing. It can be clearly
seen that the vowel that most widens the cavities (the famous "open
throat") is the "i" the weakest vowel. They have also measured
the sound frequencies, and the results show that the "i" has the
largest number of frequencies. How can we explain this?
Simple: the "i" may seem small but it has the right resonance, it
is sustained in the natural amplifiers and therefore has a larger number
of frequencies, you can hear it better. Volume doesn't count. The sound
must vibrate correctly and carry well arriving to every listener in an auditorium.
As you can see studying singing simply becomes a matter of placing the voice
in the natural position of the "i". That is all. Seems easy,
doesn't it ? I am no genius, neither am I a freak: if I am able to do it so
is anyone else. The problem is that very few people have talked about
this until now. It has become a technique in disuse. When I debuted at the
Rome Opera a Spanish friend of mine presented me to Giacomo Lauri Volpi.
Lauri Volpi himself accompanied me at the piano "as I sang "Questa
o quella" and "La donna è mobile". He exclaimed straight away:
This is the right technique. These days nobody sings like this
anymore". He also told me to be careful in my choice of repertory,
because if I kept to my correct repertory I would be able to continue singing
for a long time. Lauri Volpi knew what he was talking about! Everybody has their
virtues and their defects. I think that Lauri Volpi, apart from the style and
taste of his time, had an excellent technique. He sang a bit of everything,
this is true... even if he told me to he careful of my repertory. On the
other hand, it was customary to do so then. He was, in my opinion a
"heroic tenor" but he also sang light lyric roles with the aid
of a reinforced falsetto. Today this may be questionable, but then it was
perfectly acceptable. I think that both Lauri Volpi and Gigli denaturalised
their voices by the use of this reinforced falsetto. They were also somewhat
lacking in taste, as this is a very dated and strange way of lightening
the voice. But besides all this,
Lauri Volpi had a good technique, based on the principals I have just
explained to you, and what's more, he breathed excellently."
Intercostal-diaphragmatic breathing "Lauri Volpi confirmed that the
right breathing method is "intercostal- diaphragmatic". When
we open our ribs as widely as possible the elastic membrane we call the
diaphragm is completely flattened. In this way it is able to sustain the
column of air that is needed to sing. This is very important: while inspiring
all the ribs widen, then you must sustain by increasing the outwards
pressure of the diaphragm, so that it remains as flat as possible during the
whole process. It is wrong to pull in your stomach while exhaling, I'm
sorry if someone disagrees. By pulling in your stomach the membrane loses
tension and can no longer sustain the sound. Therefore, to sustain the
sound the diaphragm must remain tense and as flat as possible, and during the
emission of the breath you must push outwards. This is all. Of course there
are many small tricks and sensations to think about during study. They
may seem stupid, but are often very useful. To understand singing we
need a special language, and also a lot of imagination. It cannot be
explained in any other way. It is not like the piano that we can touch, and
that has visible keys on which we push. A person with little imagination
will always have difficulty in studying singing. Great difficulty." "An example: let's
imagine that there is a small hole in our forehead, between our eyes,
and that it is from this opening that the sound passes. This hole is always
the same size, it will never change. If this opening is the right size for
the "i" (igloo), and it passes through it perfectly (and it would
seem so) how can the "e" (excellent) which is larger, and the
"a" (arrive) larger still ever pass through it? Of course if I had
a magic power that automatically reduced the larger vowels making them
lighter and placed higher they would be able to pass easily. But instead it
seems almost impossible to put the "e" and "a" sounds
into the same opening as that of the "i". To do this we must be
assisted by our facial muscles. The heavier and the larger the vowel is, the
more we must lift it by raising our cheek muscles, lightening the sound
as we assend towards the high notes. Many singers pronounce "ö"
(as in soon) and '"eu" (as in earth) with their mouths tightly
pureed, or open in a 0-shape, without moving their facial muscles at
all. It would be best to remember that in singing neither "u" (as
in book) or"'o" (as in octopus) exist, even if unfortunately
sometimes we are obliged to sing them. The "u" is the most
difficult of all, as the "o" we may pronounce like a French '"a".
For example the word "amore", correctly become "am-a-re",
as if you were saying the Italian verb "amare" and not the noun
"amore". The "u", however, has hardly any frequencies so
we have to make do by putting it as near as possible to the "i", in
the cavities surrounding the nose. Be careful, do not put it in the
nose. Many people tend to confuse the two things. People, used to hearing
voices placed in the throat, hear a correctly placed voice and exclaim:"
He is singing in his nose" It is true that we are close to the nose, but
we are not in the nose. I can easily block my nose and continue to sing or
speak when my voice is sustained in the "mask". There are people
who have difficulty in understanding this difference because they are
used to hearing guttural or backwards placed voices. It is a problem for that
listener to resolve. We must go ahead and forget about the people who don't
want to understand. Another useful example is
to consider the length of the piano strings: the low notes have long strings,
the high ones have short strings. Let us think that our vocal chords are
not in our throat, where we cannot control them, but between the eyes where
we can manipulate them thanks to the air pressure exerted by the diaphragm.
Now let us make believe that we are singing normally and climbing towards the
high notes. As we increase outwards pressure of the diaphragm, therefore the
air pressure, the vocal chords are shortened, and the sound becomes higher
and more resonant. It is like a river that is at first wide and calm but when
the banks tighten it begins to flow faster and with more force". Avoid an "0",
shaped mouth "Another thing to avoid is the 0 shaped mouth that so
many singing teachers recommend: a round mouth and the chin lowered. One must
articulate logically, using the upper jaw, and not the lower one. If you
lower the chin the sound becomes closed, while using the upper jaw and
keeping the lower one still gives much more space and sonority to the voice.
A few days ago I was watching the Callas Competition on the television, and I
was particularly struck by the mezzosoprani who were amongst the
finalists. It was easy to understand that their teachers had always told
them: "Cover, darken the sound for you are a mezzosoprano" (it
would be interesting to see if they actually were mezzosoprani), the poor
girls kept darkening, losing both colour and sonority, and sending the voice
backwards. When, suddenly, on the high notes they were physiologically
forced to open their mouths wide and lift their cheeks, the sound became
far more brilliant. This is the basis of
singing. Everyone has their own individual instrument, each is different
from the next. But there is only one technique. The fact that many
people manage to sing with other techniques does not mean anything there
are voices that are as strong as iron, that can survive any sort of
treatment. However they all have their defects, and serious ones at that.
Try listening to how many tenors fail the "To-o-sca. Sei tu"
passage from Mario Cavaradossi's first aria! This is because they almost
all say Tu-u scou strangling the high B flat and sending the voice
backwards. Instead you must forget the "o" and think of a
dark "a". The audience will hear a clear, easy "To-o-sca,
but you have really said "Ta-a-sca". These seem like silly
little tricks, perhaps they are, but there is no escaping from
them." [Alfredo Kraus answers
questions from the students] Q: Can you explain how to
approach a note? AK: You must forget about
the throat and you must drop the sound from a high downwards, as if it came
from above your head. In this way the note will be perfectly clean from the
beginning, and stylistically correct, without those awful portamenti from
below, that touch the throat, or hiccups. Think about those small balls that
balance on top of water shoots in village fairs: the pressure must be
always maintained or else the ball falls off. It is the same sort of
mechanism that works for the breath in sound production. You must
maintain a constant air pressure, and sustain every note, including the descending
ones, keeping the position always high; the notes preceding a high note
are particularly important, they function like the steps of a
ladder." Q: What about the
passagio? AK: I never think about
the passaggio (or the so called "break" between the registers).
The further I climb the more I increase the pressure, raise higher the
position, and widen the sound. It almost feels as if your very head is
widening to give more space to the voice. Like when I want to call to a
friend standing on the other side of the street: I don't shout "üüü
!" which is a tight and closed sound, I shout ."aeeee !" which is
open and wide. Almost every teacher makes his student close the sound, cover
it, or turn it. Some even say you must vomit it. This is not the right
way to do things." Q: I would like to ask you
to explain the breathing again, because singing teachers are very often so
confusing on the subject. Did you say that during expiration you must
push downwards? AK: No, not at all, not
downwards: outwards! When I widen my ribs as much as possible and begin
to emit the sound I feel as if there are external forces that pull my
diaphragm, extending it always further. These forces are, of course, not
external but inside my own body. It is I who push outwards. Q: But doesn't the stomach
have to be pulled in during the process of exhalation ? AK: No, never. Singing is
the simplest thing in the world, but many people seem to want to
complicate it. I never talk about the passaggio: there are various changes of
registers, a low register, a middle register and a high register, but there
is no change in position. We do not have various throats in different
parts of our body, but only one, and one position in which we can
control it. Why make such problems over the passaggio? Many people make
a sort of vomiting sound when they "pass", a sort of "augh
!" that instead of opening the throat closes it. The point of resonance
is the same for every sound, chest voice and head voice. Women have great
facility in their chest voice, however it must also have a high
placement. We use technique to render similar all the notes in our range,
without the need of so called breaks or passaggi. If someone had a problem on
their high or low notes what should they do? What passaggio should they
look for? Should they pass over a bridge, or in a tunnel perhaps? Q: You criticised the
reinforced falsetto used by Lauri Volpi and Gigli, but I find the mezzavoce
used by Gigli sublinie. Is the mezzavoce out of fashion as well? AK: The mezzavoce is out
of fashion because nobody knows how to produce it. However I never
spoke about mezzavoce, I spoke about reinforced falsetto. They abused of
this falsetto, while mezzavoce is quite another thing. Once we have
asserted that the "i" vowel is the most open and free of all,
we can do nothing else than attempt to put all the other vowels in the
same position. It is obvious that there are other parts of our phoniatrical
aparatus that participate in forming the sound. They are the mouth, the
larynx, the pharyngical cavities, etc., but we cannot control them
consciously. We can only manipulate the voice once it is in the facial
amplifiers, starting from the point of the "i" which has the
highest position, and, therefore, is the most distant from the throat. Q In 1964 I remained very
impressed by Luciano Pavarotti who sang La Traviata at the Rome Opera.
Today his voice has become more robust and he has changed repertory. Do
ion think this is a correct evolution? AK: Let's forget about
Pavarotti. I think that a correct technique allows a voice to maintain its
best features intact throughout the years.... Q: Excuse me, but I have
always heard that a voice becomes more robust as time goes by... AK: Look: Gigli started
his career singing the repertory of a light lyric without being one, this
doesn't mean anything. Juan Oncina, one of my colleagues, always sung
parts for a light tenor. Once upon a time, thanks to a frequent use of
falsetto or mezzavoce, you could sing the light lyric repertory and at the
same time many works of the verismo school. Caruso did so at the beginning of
his career, but he did not really have a light voice. Why should a voice
change? Then should all our configuration change? It is clear that with time we grow older,
but our high remains the same. I may put on three kilos of weight, or
lose five kilos, but I won't change that much. Technique must help
preserve the voice as best as possible during the years. Of course there
will always be some slight change as time goes by, the voice might
darken slightly, or might gain sonority in the low notes, but mainly the
vocal features must remain the same. Certain tenors begin their career
singing the "Gelida manina", in the original key, and only five
years later they have to lower it by half a tone. Does this seem right
to you? What has happened? It is simple: they have rendered their voice
heavy, pushing on the middle register and losing the high notes. It is not
natural. Any respectable tenor must have a high C! Q: Could please explain,
once again, the correct method of breathing? AK: You haven't understood
it yet? Q: I have heard different
theories on this subject... AK: I only have one. The
breathing method is intercostal-diaphragmatic. You don't push your stomach out,
or pull it in. You must widen your ribs thus flattening the diaphragm:
once the diaphragm is completely flat all the way around. You emit the
voice while pushing out wards. We must continue to make the note
"travel" until the end. For example when I emit an "a" it
is not only one a'" but millions of "a's'" like machine gun
fire. [Alfredo Kraus sings
the high D b mol (La Fille du Régiment Paris 1986) Q: Maestro, I would like
to ask you about vocal agility. There are many singers with light voices that
should have no problems with it, but instead they have many
difficulties. What would you advise them to do? AK: It is a question of
practice. You must make sure that every note is part of a single flow
and are all sung legato without that awful "ha-ha-ha" sound.
We Latins have the habit of adding a sort of "h" before each note. It
is quite dangerous as with this system we risk loosing the sustainment of
the sound. The secret for singing well is that of singing legato. This will
also give you the agility needed. Q: Without discussing the
specific virtues of your colleagues, I would like to ask wou what the
difference is between the open method of singing (like Di Stefano) and
the rounded method (like Bergonzi)? AK: I cannot talk about
singing methods. For me there exists only one method for singing, only
one technique. You must pardon my presumption, but I retain that the correct
technique is the one use myself. The fact that anyone manages to sing well
because of their gifts does not mean anything. As I said before there
are the so called “iron voices”, that can survive any sort of treatment.
You must know how to listen accurately: hear if a "round"
voice can really resolve the high notes, or if a voice placed in the
throat can resolve them at all. Most listeners know nothing of these terms:
they only want to listen to a beautiful voice, especially one that screams
a lot, and everything is fine. It's a question of making do. Q: You mean as in the case
of some much publicized voices? AK: Exactly! Q: Can you explain how to
perform the mezzavoce? AK: This is one of the
many contradictions of singing. To diminish the sound we must increase the
pressure and decrease the volume, that is : we must compress the
diaphragm further while reducing the weight of the sound, lifting it ever
higher and lightening it. This is not easy. We cannot resolve this problem in
five minutes. However it is the only way to reduce the sound, keeping
the same position, without having to use any falsetto. The facial
muscles are very helpful in this as well. We must train them to be elastic
and mobile. Q: When you talk about the
sustainment of the voice, you make a vertical gesture. How can the
widening of the ribs horizontally have anything to do with this vertical
pressure? AK: Of course singing is
full of these contradictions. If I breathe pulling my stomach in, the
diaphragm could lose tension. How could I sustain the voice then? Q: So we must keep a
constant pressure, pushing outwards along the whole circumference of our
abdomen? AK: That's right. On all
sides. Thus the diaphragm remains as tense as possible. Q: Can you explain
yourself better please? AK: The diaphragm is an elastic membrane. When it is relaxed, in its normal position, it is not completely horizontal. If I keep it horizontal during expiration, by pushing outwards, I can support the column of air needed to sing. Otherwise where could I sustain it to be able to project it forwards? Take a trampoline artist, for example, from whence does be project himself when he jumps ? He is sustained by something that resists his pressure, then he jumps. Have you ever watched a small baby crying naked on a bed? What does he move? The ribs. And where does he sustain the sound ? In his facial mask. You can be sure that the baby will never lose his voice. The parents will jump out of the window from desperation, but the baby will cry for days on end without losing voice. This happens because he is using a physiologically perfect technique. He breathes naturally, widening the ribs to extend the diaphragm and projects the column of air into the facial amplifiers. I am afraid that I cannot be more understandable than that. |