Hello buzzcen@a...
On 15-Oct-00, buzzcen@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 10/15/00 11:36:30 AM Central Daylight Time,
> lloyd.hanson@n... writes:
>
> << In particular,
> the topic revolved around the attempt to improve diction but at the
> expense
> of maintaining a required singing line (which I called a "vowel line") >>
>
>
> By some of the singers you would cite as examples of this (flemming,
> price, etc.), what I hear are vowels that are modified at even the lowest
> registers making them incomprehensible. It's not the lack of consonants,
> it's the muddiness of the vowels and lack of speech like quality that
> makes the diction poor.
Comment: What is written below is, perhaps, a bit harsh but I am not trying
to be subtle nor persuasive. Please forgive me if I am confrontive.
Yes, Fleming, Price, Bjorling, Warren, Tebaldi, Callas, Tucker, Pierce, etc.
do tend to alter their vowels away from speech pronunciation. But which
speech pronunciation do you use as reference. Dixie Speech, Georgia
Speech, Minnesota Speech, Norwegian Speech, Tuscano Italian, Romano
Italian, Venitian Italian, Neopolitian Italian, Viennese German, Hamburg
German, Munich German, Parisian French, ETC, ETC, ETC.
There are no pure vowels. It is a myth. Speech patterns occur as needed by
those who reflect their backgrounds. Bjorling's Italian will always
reflect the heavy umlaut quality of the Swedish language. Pavarotti's and
Freni's Italian will always reflect their common roots in central Italy,
Leontyne's Italian, or any language will always reflect her speaking
heritage, whatever that may be and no matter how she is trained.
Vowels serve tone. Nothing more. The only vowel centered language in
western Europe is Italian and Italian singers USE vowels, they do not try
to keep them pure, regardless of what they may say. The content of the
singing line is the vowel; the vowel is the tonal center of the singing
line. To be a slave to some concept of pure, spoken vowels is to deny the
essence of what singing is all about.
If a singer produces a tonal quality that conveys the meaning of the text
and, more importantly, the emotional content of the text, that singer is
conveying the essence of that role, regardless of the purity of the vowels
found in any register of the voice. And it is this very quality of the
singing tone that is never defined in the writings of the composer because
it cannot be defined. It is that part of the drama of music theatre that
is left completely to the performer. Critics try, again and again, to
defined this quality but all are left with a "you should have been there"
kind of comment.
And it this very quality that makes opera absolutely magic.
I respect your concern for correct and efficient vocal technique. We share
a common goal in this respect. I only wish to draw your attention to
another aspect of what makes a singer live within the audience's memory.
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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