| From: Karen Mercedes To: VOCALIST <vocalist> Subject: Re: Domingo - a baritone? Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
I fear that Mr. Gordon has misread my original post. He has also edited what I wrote in an interesting way that projects an implication that was NOT in what I originally wrote.
What I originally wrote was that Domingo has called himself a baritone at some times, and a tenor at others. The fact that he has chosen to make a VERY successful career as a tenor would appear to confirm which he truly believes he is. My only observation was that, on hearing him sing the baritone role of Figaro (and also the Don Giovanni "La ci darem" duet, which I didn't mention in my original post), I feel that my ears are reliable enough to be able to tell that his voice is truly "tenorial" in colour, and not "baritonal".
I also still stand by my assertion that Domingo has technical problems with his high notes, that are more likely due to his odd way of using his tongue and tightening of his jaw than his not really being wholly comfortable as a tenor. I don't believe that ANYONE has ever questioned Jose Carreras' being a tenor, and he does the same weird thing with his lower jaw, with similarly unpleasant-sounding results on his high notes (for him, the habit seems to have begun when he took on repertoire that was too heavy for his lyric tenor voice, and was exacerbated when he resumed singing after his long illness with leukemia). There are quite a few other tenors, as well as singers in other categories, who fall into a similar technical trap on high notes. Until recently, I did so myself, so I totally understand why these singers are doing what they do. One's highest notes are the hardest to get used to in terms of how they sound to one's self vs. how they sound to one's audience.
I do know that when I watch tenors who have no problem with their highest notes - both lyric and dramatic tenors - the technical aspect they all share in common is an essentially relaxed although vertically expanded mouth, with none of the squarish downthrust of the lower jaw that I see in Domingo and Carreras, nor the odd way of curling up the tongue (instead of keeping it relaxed) that Domingo practises. I don't think these weird little habits have anything to do with Domingo being or not being a true tenor. I think he'd probably do the same thing were he a bass trying to sing his high notes. They're just a sign of a technique flaw. That has nothing to do with _fach_.
KM ===== There is delight in singing, tho' none hear Beside the singer. - Walter Savage Landor ----- http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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