Karen Mercedes wrote:
KM> Would that Herr Bach had been so kind, when writing that fiendish run in
KM> the "Esurientes" from his MAGNIFICAT, or, indeed, Mr. Handel when writing
KM> that extended passage (a' pia-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-anti miei) in "Cara
KM> sposa". Or, indeed, Herr Mozart, when he wrote "Parto, parto" in LA
KM> CLEMENZA DI TITO. My former voice teacher suggested that the thing the
KM> latter two of these pieces had in common was that they were composed to be
KM> sung by castrati who, by the peculiarities of their physiognomy -
KM> child-sized voice in man-sized body (with man-sized lung capacity) - were
KM> able to sing endless phrases on a single breath (I'd be interested in
KM> other people's thoughts on this theory). But that still doesn't explain
KM> Herr Bach's expectations, because I don't believe he wrote for castrati.
Hi, Karen,
While I will agree that up until now I've never figured out how to
negotiate the run in "Esurientes," (always need an extra breath), I can
attest to the fact that it is possible to sing the runs in "Parto,
parto" without breathing in the middle of them, because I just did it
yesterday in my voice lesson. I'd been working recently on
readjusting the breath flow, and it finally clicked. I have hopes
that the Bach will eventually be manageable as well.
And I'm not even a castrato. ;-)
Vicki Bryant mailto:MezzoNotte@e...
Naperville, IL
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