Never Isabelle darling....you jabber on Reg.
>Barbara,
>
>I'm writing this privately because I suspect people
>are getting sick of hearing me spout my opinions in
>the last few days! :)
>
>To my reading, Miller made a distinction between
>soubrettes (basically lighter lyrics with the young,
>attractive persona) and coloraturas, although
>soubrettes often mature into coloraturas or overlap
>the same roles. I wouldn't feel spinto-longing if I
>were you. Lyrics are the bread-and-butter soprano
>roles of the repertoire. In terms of "what's a facile
>lyric," I thought he was saying that they're not any
>type of coloratura, but a true lyric with an upper
>extension and agility. Some lyrics have great high
>D's and can sing breakneck runs, and some can't --
>those who can are "facile," or at least that was my
>interpretation.
>
>The liciro-spinto category (again, my impression upon
>reading -- I don't know if this will help you or not,
>since I'm just clarifying my own understanding of
>Miller) is basically a full, hefty lyric voice with
>the steel and bite for the meatier roles. A full
>spinto voice is huge and dark, with a powerful lower
>voice and the ability to cleft through orchestrations
>like Leonora's and Salome's. Then a dramatic voice is
>HUGE and DARK.
>
>I agree that it would have been useful if Miller had
>named some known sopranos to epitomize his fachs. If
>it helps you see where I'm coming from, here are my
>opinions. Lyric: Licia Albanese, Victoria de los
>Angeles, young Mirella Freni. Larger lyric: Kiri Te
>Kanawa, Renee Fleming. Lirico-spinto: Renata Tebaldi,
>Diana Soviero. Spinto: Dorothy Kirsten, Magda Olivero.
>
>
>So, to my reading, a large lyric is a lyric voice with
>a full, heavy heft (warmth and richness being what
>makes it "big"). A lirico-spinto is a lyric voice
>with a steely, cutting bite (both darker and more
>piercing). The voices may sometimes be the same
>"size," but the lirico-spinto will pierce through
>heavier orchestration. Many people prefer the lyric
>sound as more soft and feminine, or dislike the
>lirico-spinto sound as too metallic.
>
>Don't get spinto envy! Lyrics sing most of the young,
>beautiful heroines of the standard reps (and spintos
>sing mostly the slightly deranged, wildly dramatic
>ones) -- Mimi, Juliette, Louise, Antonia, Susanna,
>Nedda, Pamina, Musetta, Micaela, Liu, Nanetta,
>Rosalinda, Countess in Figaro, Tatiana, Capriccio,
>Manon, Magda, Bellini's Elvira, if you've got an
>extension Giulietta, Violetta, Amina, etc.
>
>Plus, lyrics can often sing either light lyric roles
>or coloratura roles, and they often mature into more
>lirico-spinto roles in their 40s. And lyric voices
>sound better at an earlier age than spintos. And
>sound more youthful. And many people find the sound
>more appealing. True, there aren't as many
>wrist-slashing moments of tragic drama, but think of
>all the great love duets and heart-melting arias that
>are yours.
>
>Isabelle B., always glad to jabber on
>
>=====
>Isabelle Bracamonte
>San Francisco, CA
>ibracamonte@y...
>
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
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