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The bel canto technique has been cultivated by many composers, among them Alessandro Scarlatti, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Georg Friedrich Handel and Johann Adolf Hasse. In many of Scarlatti's solfeggios, it is enough to add text to turn them into arias, and vice versa.

In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the aesthetic and stylistic aspects of bel canto would be gradually abandoned until they disappeared almost completely around the middle of the nineteenth century (the last traces of this aspect of bel canto can be found in early work Giuseppe Verdi).

But with the technical-vocal aspect, things are different. Italian bel canto, being a technique of free natural physiological production of sound, perfectly syntonized from an acoustic point of view, is the essence of singing, it was the main trend of the largest schools and singers until the 1930s. Enrico Caruso, Aureliano Pertile, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Beniamino Gigli and Tito Skipa are her most well-known representatives. Their vocal technique can be fully considered bel canto. More precisely, we are talking about a technique that works deeply with the nature of the voice and makes possible the synthesis of opposites: tenderness of sound and power, piercing and roundness, brilliance and softness, flowing legato and dramatic accent, recitation and flexibility of sound.

From the beginning of the 30s of the 20th century, new techniques based on other principles began to spread in Italy, thereby contributing to the decline of Italian bel canto.

Stages of development of bel canto

• the birth of Italian opera (C. Monteverdi);
• the heyday of the "Neapolitan school" (Alessandro Scarlatti);
• period creative activity V. Bellini and G. Donizetti;
• creativity of G. Verdi
• veristic school (Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, etc.)

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Notes

Literature

• Antonio Juvarra, "I segreti del belcanto. Storia delle tecniche e dei metodi vocali dal "700 ai nostri giorni", Curci, 2006
• Mathilde Marchesi, Bel Canto: A Theoretical and Practical Vocal Method, Dover, 1970 - ISBN 0-486-22315-9
• James A Stark, Bel Canto, University of Toronto Press, 2003 - ISBN 0-8020-8614-4
• Leonardo Ciampa , The Twilight of Belcanto, AuthorHouse, 2nd ed. 2005 - ISBN 1-4184-5956-9
• Cornelius L Reid, Bel Canto: Principles and Practices, Joseph Patelson Music House, 1950 - ISBN 0-915282-01-1
• Morozov V.P. The art of resonant singing. Fundamentals of Resonance Theory and Technique. - M .: MGK, Center "Art and Science", 2008. - 596 p.

Links

An excerpt characterizing Belcanto

He quietly entered the room. The princess, plump, ruddy, with work in her hands, sat on an armchair and talked incessantly, sorting through Petersburg memories and even phrases. Prince Andrei came up, stroked her head and asked if she had rested from the journey. She answered and continued the same conversation.
The stroller stood in six at the entrance. It was a dark autumn night outside. The coachman did not see the drawbar of the carriage. People with lanterns bustled about on the porch. The huge house burned with lights through its large windows. In the hall crowded the courtyards, who wanted to say goodbye to the young prince; all the household were standing in the hall: Mikhail Ivanovich, m lle Bourienne, Princess Mary and the princess.
Prince Andrei was called to his father's office, who wanted to say goodbye to him face to face. Everyone was waiting for them to come out.
When Prince Andrei entered the office, the old prince, wearing old man's glasses and in his white coat, in which he received no one except his son, was sitting at the table and writing. He looked back.
– Are you going? And he began to write again.
- I came to say goodbye.
- Kiss here, - he showed his cheek, - thank you, thank you!
- What do you thank me for?
- Because you don’t overstay, you don’t hold on to a woman’s skirt. Service first. Thank you, thank you! And he continued to write, so that the spray flew from the crackling pen. - If you need to say something, say it. These two things I can do together,” he added.
“About my wife… I’m so ashamed that I’m leaving her in your arms…”
- What are you lying? Say what you need.
- When your wife has time to give birth, send to Moscow for an obstetrician ... So that he is here.
The old prince stopped and, as if not understanding, stared with stern eyes at his son.
“I know that no one can help if nature does not help,” said Prince Andrei, apparently embarrassed. “I agree that out of a million cases, one is unfortunate, but this is her fantasy and mine. They told her, she saw it in a dream, and she is afraid.
“Hm ... hm ...” the old prince said to himself, continuing to finish writing. - I will.
He crossed out the signature, suddenly turned quickly to his son and laughed.
- It's bad, isn't it?
- What's wrong, father?
- Wife! said the old prince shortly and significantly.
“I don’t understand,” said Prince Andrei.
“Yes, there’s nothing to do, my friend,” the prince said, “they are all like that, you won’t get married.” Do not be afraid; I won't tell anyone; and you yourself know.
He grabbed his hand with his bony little hand, shook it, looked straight into his son's face with his quick eyes, which seemed to see right through the man, and again laughed his cold laugh.
The son sighed, confessing with this sigh that his father understood him. The old man, continuing to fold and print letters, with his usual speed, seized and threw sealing wax, seal and paper.
- What to do? Beautiful! I'll do everything. You be calm,” he said curtly while typing.
Andrei was silent: it was both pleasant and unpleasant for him that his father understood him. The old man got up and handed the letter to his son.
“Listen,” he said, “do not worry about your wife: what can be done will be done.” Now listen: give the letter to Mikhail Ilarionovich. I am writing to get you good places I used it and did not hold it for a long time as an adjutant: a bad position! Tell him that I remember him and love him. Yes, write how he will accept you. If it's good, serve. Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky's son, out of mercy, will not serve anyone. Well, now come here.
He spoke in such a rapid way that he did not finish half of the words, but the son was used to understanding him. He led his son to the bureau, threw back the lid, pulled out a drawer, and took out a notebook covered in his large, long, concise handwriting.
“I must die before you.” Know that here are my notes, to transfer them to the sovereign after my death. Now here - here is a pawn ticket and a letter: this is a prize to the one who writes the history of the Suvorov wars. Submit to the academy. Here are my remarks, after me read for yourself, you will find something useful.
Andrei did not tell his father that he would probably live for a long time. He knew he didn't need to say it.
“I will do everything, father,” he said.
- Well, now goodbye! He let his son kiss his hand and hugged him. “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt the old man ...” He suddenly fell silent and suddenly continued in a loud voice: “and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, I will be ... ashamed! he screeched.
“You could not tell me that, father,” said the son, smiling.
The old man was silent.
“I also wanted to ask you,” continued Prince Andrei, “if they kill me and if I have a son, do not let him go away from you, as I told you yesterday, so that he grows up with you ... please.
- Don't give it to your wife? the old man said and laughed.
They stood silently facing each other. The old man's quick eyes were fixed directly on his son's eyes. Something quivered in the lower part of the old prince's face.

Brilliant, light and graceful style of singing, typical of the Italian vocal art of the mid-17th - 1st half of the 19th centuries. In a wider modern understanding- melodiousness of vocal performance. Belcanto requires a perfect vocal technique from the singer: impeccable cantilena, thinning, virtuoso coloratura, emotionally rich beautiful singing tone. The emergence of Belcanto is associated with the development of the homophonic style of vocal music, the formation Italian opera(early 17th century).

In the future, while maintaining the artistic and aesthetic basis, ital. B. evolved, enriched with new artistic techniques, paints. Early, so-called. the pathetic style of Belcanto (operas by C. Monteverdi, F. Cavalli, A. Chesti, A. Scarlatti) is based on expressive cantilena, elevated poetic text, small coloratura embellishments introduced to enhance the dramatic effect; vocal performance was distinguished by sensitivity, pathos. Among the outstanding Belcanto singers of the 2nd half of the 17th century are P. Tosi, A. Stradella, F. A. Pistocchi, B. Ferri and others (most of them were both composers and vocal teachers).

By the end of the 17th century. already in Scarlatti's operas, arias begin to be built on a wide cantilena of a bravura character, using an extended coloratura. The so-called bravura style of Belcanto (common in the 18th century and existed until the 1st quarter of the 19th century) is a brilliant virtuoso style dominated by coloratura. The art of singing during this period was mainly subordinated to the task of revealing the highly developed vocal and technical capabilities of the singer - the duration of breathing, the skill of thinning, the ability to perform the most difficult passages, cadences, trills (there were 8 types of them); singers competed in strength and duration of sound with the trumpet and other instruments of the orchestra.

In the "pathetic style" of Belcanto, the singer had to vary the 2nd part in the aria da capo, and the number and skillfulness of the variations served as an indicator of his skill; the decorations of the arias were supposed to be changed at each performance.

In the "bravura style" of Belcanto, this feature became dominant. Thus, in addition to perfect possession of the voice, the art of Belcanto required the singer to have a wide musical and artistic development, the ability to vary the composer's melody, to improvise (this continued until the appearance of operas by G. Rossini, who himself began to compose all cadenzas and coloratura).

By the end of the 18th century, the Italian opera became the opera of the "stars", completely obeying the requirements of showing the vocal abilities of the singers.

Outstanding representatives of Belcanto were: castrato singers A. M. Bernacchi, G. Cresentini, A. Uberti (Porporino), Caffarelli, Senesino, Farinelli, L. Marchesi, G. Guadagni, G. Pacyarotti, J. Velluti; singers - F. Bordoni, R. Mingotti, C. Gabrielli, A. Catalani, C. Coltelini; singers - D. Jizzi, A. Nozari, J. David, and others. The requirements of the B. style determined a certain system for educating singers.

As in the 17th century, composers of the 18th century were also vocal teachers (A. Scarlatti, L. Vinci, J. Pergolesi, N. Porpora, L. Leo, etc.). Education was conducted in conservatories (which were educational establishments and at the same time hostels where teachers lived with students) for 6-9 years, with daily classes from morning to late evening. If the child had an outstanding voice, then he was subjected to castration in the hope of preserving the former qualities of the voice after the mutation; if successful, singers with phenomenal voices and technique were obtained (see Castratos-singers).

The most significant vocal school was the Bologna School of F. Pistocchi (opened in 1700). Of the other schools, the most famous are: Roman, Florentine, Venetian, Milanese and especially Neapolitan, in which A. Scarlatti, N. Porpora, L. Leo worked.

A new period in the development of Belcanto begins when the opera regains its lost integrity and receives a new development thanks to the work of G. Rossini, S. Mercadante, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti. Although the vocal parts in operas are still overloaded with coloratura embellishments, the singers are already required to realistically convey the feelings of living characters; the increase in the tessitura of the parts, the greater saturation of the orchestral accompaniment impose increased dynamic demands on the voice. Belcanto is enriched with a palette of new timbre and dynamic colors. Outstanding singers of this time are J. Pasta, A. Catalani, sisters (Giuditta, Giulia) Grisi, E. Tadolini, J. Rubini, J. Mario, L. Lablache, F. and D. Ronconi.

The end of the era of classical Belcanto is associated with the appearance of operas by G. Verdi. The dominance of coloratura, characteristic of the Belcanto style, disappears. Decorations in the vocal parts of Verdi's operas remain only in the soprano, and in latest operas the composer (as later among the verists - see Verism) is not found at all. Cantilena, continuing to occupy the main place, developing, is strongly dramatized, enriched with more subtle psychological nuances. The overall dynamic palette of vocal parts is changing in the direction of increasing sonority; the singer is required to have a two-octave range of smooth sounding voice with strong upper notes. The term "Belcanto" loses its original meaning, they begin to denote the perfect mastery of vocal means and, above all, cantilena.

Outstanding representatives of Belcanto of this period - I. Colbran, L. Giraldoni, B. Marchisio, A. Cotogni, S. Gaillarre, V. Morel, A. Patti, F. Tamagno, M. Battistini, later E. Caruso, L. Bori , A. Bonci, G. Martinelli, T. Skipa, B. Gigli, E. Pinza, G. Lauri-Volpi, E. Stignani, T. Dal Monte, A. Pertile. Among contemporary masters B. - G. Di Stefano, M. Del Monaco, R. Tebaldi, D. Semionato, F. Barbieri, E. Bastianini, D. Guelfi, P. Siepi, N. Rossi-Lemeni, R. Scotto, M. Freni , F. Cossotto, G. Tucci, F. Corelli, D. Raimondi, S. Bruscantini, P. Cappuccili, T. Gobbi.

The Belcanto style influenced most European national vocal schools, incl. into Russian. Many Belcanto artists have toured and taught in Russia. The Russian vocal school, developing in an original way, bypassing the period of formal passion for singing sound, used the technical principles of Italian singing. Remaining deeply national artists, outstanding Russian artists F. I. Chaliapin, A. V. Nezhdanova, L. V. Sobinov and others mastered the art of Belcanto to perfection.

Modern Italian Belcanto continues to be the standard of classical beauty of singing tone, cantilena and other types of sound science. Art is based on it. best singers world (D. Sutherland, M. Kallas, B. Nilson, B. Hristov, N. Gyaurov and others).

Literature: Mazurin K., Methodology of singing, vol. 1-2, M., 1902-1903; Bagadurov V., Essays on the history of vocal methodology, vol. I, M., 1929, no. II-III, M., 1932-1956; Nazarenko I., The Art of Singing, M., 1968; Lauri-Volpi J., Vocal Parallels, trans. from Italian, L., 1972; Laurens J., Belcanto et mission italien, P., 1950; Duey Ph. A., Belcanto in its golden age, N. U., 1951; Maragliano Mori R., I maestri dei belcanto, Roma, 1953; Valdornini U., Belcanto, P., 1956; Merlin, A., Lebelcanto, P., 1961.

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Meaning of the word bel canto

bel canto in the crossword dictionary

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

bel canto

cf. non-cl.

1. A style of vocal performance characterized by lightness, grace, melodiousness and beauty of sound.

adj. unchangeable Distinguished by lightness, grace, melodiousness and beauty of sound (about the style of vocal performance).

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

bel canto

BELCANTO (Italian bel canto, lit. - beautiful singing) vocal style (originated in Italy in the 17th century), distinguished by melodiousness, lightness, beauty of sound, perfection of cantilena, grace, virtuosity of coloratura.

Belcanto

(Italian bel canto, literally - beautiful singing), a style of vocal performance that developed in Italy by the middle of the 17th century. and forming the basis of the Italian vocal school. B. is characterized by the beauty and plasticity of vocalization, the utmost lightness, flexibility, and freedom of singing, the smoothness of transitions from sound to sound (see Legato), and the grace and virtuoso brilliance of performance. These specific features, inherent in the Italian vocal school at all stages of its development, are associated with sound coloring and structural features Italian, as well as with folk song traditions. While retaining its artistic and aesthetic foundation, ballet was enriched with new performing techniques. The main stages in the development of ballet are: the birth of Italian opera, the work of C. Monteverdi, the flowering of the “Neapolitan school” (A. Scarlatti), the period of creative activity of V. Bellini and G. Donizetti (the so-called classical ballet), the work of G. Verdi, veristic school.

B. influenced other national vocal schools. Sometimes B. is understood as the Italian vocal culture as a whole, the melodiousness of any vocal performance.

V. V. Timokhin.

Wikipedia

Belcanto

Belcanto- a technique of virtuoso singing, which is characterized by a smooth transition from sound to sound, unforced sound production, beautiful and rich coloring of sound, evenness of the voice in all registers, ease of sound leading, which is preserved in technically mobile and sophisticated places of the melodic pattern. In bel canto, the voice is the singer's instrument.

Examples of the use of the word bel canto in the literature.

bel canto

Heidegger's speech was perceived as a philosophical aria bel canto, and the standing ovation was due to the fact that he hit the highest notes, so beloved in the fifties.

Against Italian school bel canto rebelled french school, led by J.

Bellini entered the history of musical culture as an outstanding master bel canto, which in Italian means beautiful singing.

On the contrary, they have always inspired my fiction and my bel canto not to mention the fluidity of movement they have always contributed to!

Notebook of a vocal teacher: about singers, bel canto technique, problems of vocal pedagogy.

FROM THE HISTORY OF VOCAL ART

The first textbook on solo singing was published at the Paris Academy in 1803. The teaching method was formed on the basis of the old Bologna school of the 17th-18th centuries. A convenient vowel was - A. It was believed that low masculine and female voices- two registers: chest and head; tall females have three registers (chest, middle and head).

Professor of solo singing at the Paris Conservatory (1842-1850) J. Dupre promotes another method of preparing singers, which will be based on covered sound. Convenient vowel - U. Dupre introduces the idea of ​​the need to form a mixed case and a covered upper case. Dupre was called a reformer. Later, Dupre pointed out the lowered position of the larynx for a better sounding of the voice; at the same time, the concept of three registers was also established in low voices: male and female. The upper register Dupre called the head. The construction of the voice starts from the center. He introduced the concept of "head" voice.

M. Garcia (son), professor at the Paris Academy (1840-1850), also divides all voices into three registers: chest, falsetto (unnatural) and head. Garcia recommends tuning voices from the lower register, but not from the spoken voice. The Garcia school is scientific. Garcia does not oppose his method to the Dupre school or the practice of the Italian school, but tries to give a scientific explanation of all the phenomena associated with the construction of the voice and its control. As a wise scientist, Professor Garcia does not close questions about the voice with his method, but calls for solving problems through physics and biology.

But other teachers are also known, the methodology of which differs from that generally recognized in Italy.

In the methods of I. Corradetti and Mazetti there is general directions: Lots of vocalizations and difficult exercises. Corradetti says that the "old" school was distinguished by a properly raised throat. The singer's throat was like an instrument, because such was the music. A long training was necessary, starting at the age of 15 or even from early childhood(for castrati). So it turned out a very special throat of sopranists, vocal virtuosos. It was an amazing gymnastics for the larynx, but art, in our understanding, was not enough. This led to the decline of singing.

Students sing a lot of vocalizations that differ in complex tone system, dissonant sound. All this is much more difficult both for hearing and for the singing tone, sound, since they must be sung not in an academic manner, but in a different way. There are wonderful students who can't make this music... After all, short chants or vocalizations are one thing, real extended melodies with words are another. Two years of preparation is not enough for this.

M. Garcia prepared singers for the stage in one year!

"Vocalises are essential material for the development of vocal-technical skills," Mazetti writes of his method. Mazetti considered the vowel A to be the most convenient. After A, they moved on to O and to E. Mazetti's vocal exercises are complex and not always logical. Why knock down the voice on vocalises, if the works will have a completely different sound? So it turns out that the method of both Coradetti and Mazetti is an echo of the old school. Since Mazetti's theses differ from those of Garcia, who excluded the study of vocalizations, the methods of Mazetti and Coradetti were rather individual. The attitude of the experienced leading Soviet teacher Blagovidova (Odessa) to vocalizations is indicative. She first turned them into works, and then less and less began to use them.

“At the heart of classical singing is covered singing,” Dupre wrote in the middle of the 19th century.

“The leading vowel is U,” Garcia agreed with him. “And we always sang like that!”, - the leading Italian teachers said.

These attitudes did not affect maestro A. Budi (Bologna), Mazetti's teacher. For four years (!) Mazetti sang vocalises and was one of the best students of A. Budi. Actually singing career he didn't, he was a musician, pianist, composer... However, he was invited to teach at the Moscow Conservatory. Mazetti's students are considered magnificent Russian singers: A. Nezhdanova and N. Obukhova. But the merit of Mazetti in the development of their vocal abilities, given the above, is very doubtful.

In those days, singers had several teachers. That teacher, whose method was more successful, laid the foundation of the voice.

Maria Callas in Lauretta's aria opened both Sol and La in the center, but further: the notes C and Do did not sound. For this, she was greatly criticized by her teacher Hidalgo. Where it is thin, it breaks there. You need to know these subtle places.

Transmission about Sutherland

The singer was quickly noticed by a good musician, director, married her and devoted his life to her. He brought up in her an excellent bel canto singer: dramatic and lyrical coloratura.

Opera "Cinderella" G.Rossini, Italy, Pesaro

Cinderella - Sonia Panassi, mezzo. During the performance of Cavatina in the soprano register, the muscles of the face are intensively moved. (Bergansa sings this Cavatina as if jokingly.) Clorinda - Ekaterina Morozova, a Russian singer from the provinces. In Moscow she graduated from the conservatory, worked at the Novaya Opera, sang the Queen of the Night; in the "Big" she performed Violetta and went abroad. The prince in this production was sung by Juan Diego Floris, a lyric tenor.

“M. Kallas proved that Violetta can be sung by one voice, and not by two different ones in the first and fourth acts.” (Music critic)

It is difficult to respond to such ridiculous statements by male critics, because they cannot be reproached for not being able to verify this in their own voice.

In the 19th century, composers worked on operas in consultation with singers and singers.

Herbert von Karajan - the director (husband of the singer Elizabeth Schwarzkopf) admired Callas, and Elizabeth did not want to sing the parts performed by Callas. Herbert von Karajan knew how to "follow the voice", which is so necessary for singers.

In Italy, it is not customary to talk about bel canto techniques. The bel canto technique is a national treasure, a secret.

The first recording of Gioconda became a sensation: it was impossible to believe that a singer with such a deaf and dramatic voice could sing Lucia.

Critics are surprised, but you and I, singers, know that there is nothing to be surprised at: this is normal!

In the Berlin performance, M. Kallas sings all the time in the voice of a “little girl” with a soaring open sound. Not "open", but light sounding and that's fine!

But, unfortunately, critics found in this sound a “weakened state” of the singer’s voice, and not the fulfillment of an acting task, and they heard the first signs of a fading voice.

Well, what do they allow themselves, these critics? What do they understand in female vocals?

Mario del Monaco sang with Callas in Norma. He complained about M. Kallas that she beat him and pushed him away from the public.

Such eccentricities are pardonable for lyrical tenors, but Mario del Monaco - a dramatic tenor - is almost a baritone. Not solid!

Book Jurgen Kesting "Maria Callas"

The book is not only about Callas, it is about musicians, about singers.

“She insisted on singing everything, and she sang. Today, almost every singer is trying to follow in her footsteps, but, unfortunately, without success. (Renata Tebaldi about Maria Callas.)

"M. Callas was a reformer in the art of singing" - Lauri-Volpi.

She absorbed all the achievements of the 19th century, the century of bel canto, into her technique.

M. Garcia wrote: "Study biology and physiology to understand voices."

But people are so fond of fantasizing and do not see what is obvious, and tend to see what is not and cannot be. Every singer has his own destiny.

Dramatic soprano - Nina Fomina, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, sang Norma in a thick voice, and Oksana from Cherevichki - bright, gentle, lyrical,

Puccini had an interest in "great pain in small souls".

Look and be horrified.

The performance of veristic music is not valued (in Italy) as highly as the music and technique of performing the music of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Verdi.

In the upper register there are (notes) of gradual voicing, and there are "take-off". This must be taken into account. So the mezzo-soprano goes up to Sol-La, and “flies up” to C, because “movement” is still important in the voice (according to Garcia).

Dupre has cover, Barr has it, Garcia has it. “We always sang like this (in U)” - the opinion of Italian teachers.

Smiling singing is used to actively contract the square muscles of the face, but the main position for voice leading is vertical, "when horizontal, the muscles get tired," as Barra once noted. This fact is not found in our literature.

Cover is not just a technique, but a manner of classical singing (according to Dupre). The cover is the "eight of the lips - 8" (according to Barra), if the vertical mouth is 0, and not the "cap on top", as one domestic teacher believed.

Problem: how to balance the high position of the sound of the voice and the low position of the larynx?

The answer is mobility. And a high position is not always high, it is instantly corrected; and the position of the larynx - not always low - it changes. But it is often presented by teachers as if the high position of the sound and the low position of the larynx should not change. Voice control is in fractions of a second.

W. Mozart (XVIII century) was a composer of the instrumental style, but he was also very interested in the new direction of style in vocal music. He, like his contemporaries, developed a new style. G. Rossini (in the 19th century) wrote Cavatina Figaro in the style of Don Juan's Arias with Champagne. So the genius of Mozart stepped into the 19th century. In the operatic music of Mozart, we are happy to find arias written in the bel canto style!

Master class with Renata Scotto.

The first aspiring singer was with a creeping intonation. R. Scotto tried to equalize her voice, but to no avail: along with the descending melody, the singer's voice "slid" down. The great singer Renata Scotto abandoned her lesson and sadly returned to her seat. Soon R.Scotto was once again asked to come up. A girl with a thick voice sang a piece of bel canto, but in a strange style. R.Scotto said with a sad expression on her face: “You do not have the elementary technique of singing to perform such a complex piece of bel canto.”

Problems in nature are solved at the physical level. That's what scientists say. Therefore, M. Garcia got to the “point” of the problem, explaining the Italian vocal school from the point of view of physics, because man is part of nature.

But it is difficult to understand the Garcia school, because many singers do not like: physics, biology, algebra, but they love to fantasize from scratch.

“The arias of Farlaf, Gorislava, Lyudmila were written by Glinka as if simply, but in reality it turned out that it was very difficult to sing them freely and naturally,” - Irina Arkhipova.

There is a problem here, but here is my opinion. Farlaf's aria is pure bel canto ("patter" - according to Rossini), Gorislava's aria is strictly vertical Italian singing. But Ludmila's Cavatina (as well as Antonida's Cavatina) are written in the instrumental style of the old school. Therefore, only light coloratura sopranos can handle these parts with the least risk of weakening their voice.

The aria of the Snow Maiden “Walking on the berries with girlfriends” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as the aria of the Swan Princess, also require a strictly vertical covert performance. Young singers usually do not know what to do with the requirements of good diction and go through the distortion of intonation, i.e. voice deterioration.

“Maria Guleghina - mezzo-soprano (?) (Odessa Conservatory) declared herself as a soprano at the Tchaikovsky competition, and sang arias for mezzo; and in Rosina's Cavatina inserted soprano cadences, which is not allowed under the terms of the competition. (From cultural news.)

In fact, Maria Guleghina is a dramatic soprano.

Where did you get this old Venetian school? Where did you get this Neapolitan school of performance?” - asked questions to Irina Arkhipova in Italy.

In Italy, they may not know our cultural history, but we must remember it!

At the discussion about the Russian vocal school at sharp criticism singer P. said: "Yes, we are different."

P.I. Tchaikovsky, like other Russian composers in the 19th century, wrote correct music for singers, as was customary in Europe. Italian teachers worked in the conservatories of Russia, and the singers were trained in the correct voice leading.

Italian school in Russia - teachers and singers of the 19th - 20th centuries.

Teachers: K. Everardi (student of M. Garcia), Polina Viardo-Garcia, A. Dodonov, Usatov (student of Everardi), Druzhinina (student of Viardot), Kondaurova, Rebrikov, Shatrova ...

Singers: D. Smirnov, N. Khanaev, S. Lemeshev, F. Chaliapin, I. Tartakov, F. Stravinsky, M. Bocharov, G. Nisson-Saloman, Pavlovsky, Slavina, Deisha-Sionitskaya, Bragina, Zarudnaya, Baturin, Noreika, Preobrazhenskaya.

This is far from a complete list!

In lower case dramatic soprano- three tones. The dramatic tenor also has three tones, Enrico Caruso wrote about this. You can talk about the palette of colors of classical voices for a long time. I advise you to listen carefully and study the recordings of great singers. You can argue for a long time on any topic and not find the truth. And all the truths are in Garcia's physical school. We have materials on theory, but no description of practice. True, there is a description of the Neapolitan school in the materials of L.B. Dmitriev and B.M. Lushin. These are very close schools.

A light soprano is the “voice of a little girl” (in terms of timbre), and if we are talking about a male voice, then “the voice of a boy or a young man” (but we are not talking about falsetto). These young voices live both separately and within each more solid voice. What a trick! And it is also important to preserve and cherish this young voice, because the beauty and loudness of your thick voice depends on the sonority of a small one. The leading Soviet teacher Blagovidova (Odessa) does not even have a methodology for building this light high voice.

The luck for a singer when a dramatic soprano develops from a thick voice (mezzo) is more difficult when from a soprano. Historically, it so happened that many parts for soprano in Russia in Soviet times were performed by lyric-coloratura voices. Therefore, many of us perceive the word "soprano" as a light female voice. In Italy, the "soprano" voice is often a dramatic soprano, it is listened to as a high mezzo-soprano and all parts in operas have always been written for these voices.

F.I. Chaliapin sang Russian folk songs superbly. It's a miracle how good the Russian songs were performed by S.Ya. Lemeshev and N.A. Obukhova! And, after all, they all owned an Italian school!

Young singers turned to N.A. Obukhova: “When will you teach us to sing like that, Nadezhda Andreevna? “Oh, how clever! she answered, laughing. “I still want to sing!” And she sang until the end of her days. She understood that the bel canto school is very difficult, and if you are engaged in teaching activities, then you need to completely immerse yourself in this work. (From the memoirs of E.M. Shatrova.)

Mikaela's aria was often sung by lyric sopranos. There is serious problem for a thick soprano: a non-vocal vowel E falls on high C. Performance of Michaela's aria with Russian text may result in a temporary loss of voice.

Dangerous for the great soprano is the “Elvira Scene” from “Ernani” by G. Verdi, if the singer does not know special reception Italian school. This technique is also used in La Traviata and in other operas.

When resolving a complex vocal fragment, you need to choose a solution to the problem. There is not always only one solution.

Kurt Honollka - "Great Divas".

The prima donna was the name given to the leading soloist of the theater in the early 18th century in Naples.

Primadonna assoluta - singing everything, in all styles.

Maria Callas - prima donna of the 20th century.

The original is always valued above the copy. But in vocal art There is no and cannot be a pure copy, so it is very useful for a singer to listen to recordings of great singers, thereby learning vocals from them. But only for kindred voices!

FROM THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCAL ART

"Daphne" by Jacopo Peri - the first opera (1597).

The father of the famous scientist G. Galileo was a famous musician. Kurt Honollka writes about him.

Galileo's creed: speech is the absolute mistress of harmony. This is how solo vocal art was born. It was an open challenge to the high culture of polyphony in the work of Palestrina. The word was drowned in a complex polyphony, in a skillful interweaving of musical lines.

Soon a musical drama appeared in Italy, as new genre, where one voice stood out, capable of pronouncing words, the voice of a person (often a woman).

Arias Monteverdi, XVII century - this is the beginning, the cradle of opera and vocals. This is an instrumental style, andante, wave formations.

We, who live in the 21st century, when we hear the bright music of Rossini and Tchaikovsky from childhood, are not interested in singing Monteverdi's arias: the rhythm of life is not the same. But this is how vocal art was born.

The 18th century is the century of reforms in vocal art. Gluck, Scarlatti, Mozart and others are in search of a new vocal style. Capricious prima donnas and prime ministers require composers to write vocal music that is convenient for the voice.

Castrati - "vocal virtuosos", judging by the films of that time, curse both their lives and the "music they have to sing."

Composer Gluck is called a reformer, he was the first to guess what singers need: correct wave constructions and ray constructions associated with human speech. Composers do not impose their music, they try to please the singers and work on vocal works in close cooperation with singers.

The Baroque style flourishes. The baroque style gradually passes, through selection, into a new correct favorite style of singers, which is later called the bel canto style. The singers themselves noticed that a melody convenient for the voice, with a change in tempo towards acceleration, becomes more elegant, magical. This fast style was called bel canto (“patter” according to Rossini - XIX century).

The old vocal school for educating a “special flexible larynx” for singers, namely castrati who performed extraordinary virtuoso melodies, became simply unnecessary with the birth of bel canto, the need for it disappeared along with the abandonment of this wild operation for homeless boys. The eyes of the musicians were turned to Italian singers who endlessly supplied beautiful young singers from their midst. Experienced singers taught the young "from the voice."

In the 19th century, Professor M. Garcia of the Paris Academy created a physical vocal school based on the Neapolitan school. M. Garcia reasonably accepts all the reforms of J. Dupre, so the “school of Garcia” becomes the strongest and most popular in the 19th century. But the fact that J. Dupre did not take the Garcia school seriously speaks of its complexity, because the Garcia School requires a special look at the singing voice using knowledge from physics, biology, mathematics and even medicine.

The Garcia school does not “rebuild” the voice, but re-tune it to work properly, just like a master tunes a piano. The right skills are deepened and consolidated, and the wrong ones are forgotten. The voice needs to be adjusted every time. Professional singers tune their voice in different ways: some - through exercises, some - through works, and some - in the process of singing.

Future soloists differ sharply from future choristers in their independence: they do not just study, but eagerly try to learn everything themselves and figure everything out.

The modest Soviet teachers of singing treated the voices with care.

The teacher Shatrova (Druzhinina's student) actively developed her voices and the repertoire was "leading". She analyzed individual works with a student, showing with her voice ...

Classical music is physiological. (Opinion of scientists.)

Aria Mozart "Сome scoglio" - pure bel canto at the level of Verdi's arias. But, this is not Verdi, this is Mozart!

Apparently, the parts of Antonida and Lyudmila in Glinka's operas in the first productions were sung not by dramatic sopranos, as was customary in the West, but by light coloratura ones. So the instrumental arias remained unprocessed for their performance by dramatic sopranos. In Soviet times, these parts were always performed by light sopranos. Such, apparently, was the desire of the Leader, who often visited the Bolshoi. IN contemporary theater this strict selection of singers for Glinka's operas was forgotten, and the performance, especially of two cavatinas, became a problem for female voices. The instrumental style of the two cavatinas is not indicative of the Russian music XIX century, rather this is an unfortunate exception.

There is another problem. I think it was not worth transferring the problem with castrati to Russian soil, because we did not have this phenomenon in Russia. Vanya's part, and especially Ratmir's part, needs to be reworked for male voices. Returning men's parties to men is a problem that is sometimes solved in the West in favor of men. N. Rimsky-Korsakov also has male parts that men can sing: Lel, Nezhata.

From A. Parin's book "On singing, on opera, on fame."

Opinion of singer A.: “Lyubasha, a sinner, but a strong female nature, which appreciates love above faith in God. She kills Marfa not because of jealousy, but because Marfa does not like Dirty.

Very strange! In my opinion, only the eldest wife of the khan in the harem can talk like that.

“Zara Dolukhanova considered the romance “Burn, burn, my star” to be vulgar, sung ...”

We cannot agree with this. The romance is often sung because it is well written and comfortable for the voice. It awakens some kind of dream in a singing person. And there is no vulgarity here: a romance loved by the people.

“In Paris, E.V. Obraztsova was called “the last queen of Russian vocals.”

Why "last"?! If we don't have our own teachers, we'll call the Italians or we'll learn from the recordings of great singers.

The habit of singing melodies in the right style gives the singer a taste for music written according to the laws of nature, i.e. a habit is developed for logical constructions in vocal music. Illogical constructions are unpleasantly surprising. But you have to play this music too. I think that it is now easier for bel canto singers to cope with the Baroque style than for 18th century singers who did not yet know the correct constructions of bel canto.

“The origins of Rossini's style is that, knowing a few melodies, you can already guess what will follow next. The evil is in the correctness of Rossini's music,” writes Stendhal.

This is not "evil", this is a joy for the singer and this is the physiology of the style! And a big mystery for non-singers.

Stendhal:

For Italian music, melody and harmony are important, but for German music, the beauty of sounds, even devoid of melody, is enough.

Stendhal explains this by the peculiarities of national characters. Indeed, we often observe that the sound of German music depends on the beauty of the timbre of the singer's or singer's voice.

Stendhal:

Once in Rome, everyone unanimously declared that foreigners exalt Mozart's works too much.

Not all works by Mozart are masterpieces. But how many masterpieces were created by composers transition period(not to mention late)? A. Mozart wrote many arias in a new style - bel canto, so his music will live forever.

Stendhal:

Difficulties in performance are not very significant advantages of music.

At that time (beginning of the 19th century) “Don Giovanni” “did not exist” for the Italians, it was a thing too difficult to learn, due to its instrumental style.

Of course, instrumental pieces for the human voice (Donna Anna arias) are very difficult. It is a pity that the great Mozart was not able to fully adapt to the new style, he simply did not have enough life to rewrite these arias. But here there is a wonderful aria for Don Juan - "Aria with Champagne", in a new style - bel canto! This is the 18th century...

Stendhal:

Into what abyss of triviality does German composer trying to create fun music!

M. Kallas - "absolute".

"Absolute" - a singer singing all the masterpieces of world classics. She sang everything written for dramatic soprano, all masterpieces, in all styles. She was the queen of bel canto! She revived this XIX style century, and now Italian teachers will not miss it!

Hosts: Pavel Tokarev, Boris Ignatov, Alexei Parin.

M. Kallas once sang an aria of Orpheus (mezzo), using the contralto lows of her voice for sobs. The audience accepted the singer with delight. (Record sounds.)

The woman sings the part of the man, and everyone is delighted. This pleasure is not entirely clear to me!

In the party of Ratmir it would be preferable to see and hear a man.

At the Children's Theater Lelya successfully sang a tenor.

To increase the sound volume of the wave, it is necessary to pay attention to breathing, i.e. develop chest breathing.

All the time there are questions about pauses in musical notation and pauses in vocal phrases. Pianists and teachers require the performance of pauses even with moving singing. More often, pauses in musical writing coincide with pauses in vocal phrases, but ...

You need to understand that vocal phrasing is connected with the singer's breathing, with the dynamics of the development of the phrase, with the conservation of energy, with the singer's calculations, and with many "little things" related to the singing technique.

The musician cannot know all the specifics of voice control and cannot control the singer so much that he always tells him where to breathe.

The singer himself must know this, the teacher must teach him this. In order to perfectly perform high notes, not to suffocate, the singer must accurately calculate everything, as athletes do.

The singer himself is responsible for the quality of the performance. Losing your breath is very harmful. Singing in small phrases is tiring. They say this: there is no staccato in singing - there is non legato. Non legato: this is when the singer makes sound intervals, but does not stop breathing, i.e. it is the same if he sang legato.

The same independence of the singer is manifested in the duration of individual notes. The singer reduces the off-bar notes, he does not calculate them, the same thing - often the last notes in the phrase. If he needs to breathe between phrases and there is no pause, he widens the gap between phrases, reducing the duration of the notes on both sides in order to have time to take a breath.

Notes to the singer serve only to designate the phrase and all the fragments of the phrasing. But while singing, the singer does not have and should not have notes in his mind. He represents the sound wave and controls it.

That is why you should not enter into a subordinate relationship with accompanists: they do not understand the problems of singers.

The relationship with the conductor is very important for a singer.

How should a singer respond to rave reviews for her performance of masterpieces of vocal art?

Calmly or even with some anxiety. You are given a “bar”, as in sports, below which you are no longer allowed to fall. But not all works are masterpieces.

A singer can win only by perfectly performing well-known, universally recognized masterpieces of vocal classics. An unknown work, even a beautifully written and excellently performed one, may remain incomprehensible to the majority of the public, which is what the history of vocal art tells us about.

ABOUT SOPRANO

Only a thick soprano can perform Rosina's Cavatina for mezzo-soprano. The parts of the lyric soprano can be performed by any soprano: dramatic, lyric and coloratura. An example can be: M. Callas, R. Scotto, J. Sutherland and many others. Keeping "thickness" in the voice is very important for a singer performing a lyrical repertoire. This is not about keeping a constantly thick timbre, rather, I am against a constant timbre.

It is important to maintain the center of the voice so that the density of sound in extremely high tones does not disappear. It is customary for us to evaluate the type of voice according to the repertoire, but this is wrong! Singers - dramatic sopranos seem to have proved this for a long time, but mistakes in the assessment of voices continue.

Negro singers performed the opera Porgy and Bess in classical voices so decently that it was hard to believe that this was not a "setup." But they were taught the culture of classical singing. Taught! And taught.

Before Dupré's reforms, the upper register of voices was indefinite: the transition was only with a soft attack, and in male voices the upper register was often falsetto, i.e. with incomplete closure of ligaments. Dupre wrote that a thick, strong voice should be conducted from below in one timbre, as high as possible with a solid attack.

In Soviet times, Russia tried to carry out a reform in vocal pedagogy, but they decided that it was very difficult. We agreed to study the experience of the Italian school.

A well-known countertenor among us promised to sing the part of Cio-Cio-san. In the West it is now fashionable. They say that in Italy there is a school for training countertenors. I think that this is taught by men, because. in Italy it is customary to learn from the voice.

I read a funny phrase in the book “100 Operas” in the libretto of G. Bizet’s opera “Carmen”: “The Song of a Formidable Husband” (!), The seguidilla and the duet of Carmen and José create a multifaceted image of a freedom-loving gypsy.”

I suspect that in French opera by the will of the author, the “Song of Zemfira” (gypsies) from Pushkin’s poem “Gypsies”, written by P. Tchaikovsky, made his way: “ old husband formidable husband, cut me, burn me: I am firm, I am not afraid of fire or sword!

Maria Callas was a singer-actress. She made extensive use of the colors of her voice. Gilda was previously performed by singers with lyrical voices. M. Kallas sang this part in a thick voice, changing weak character girls on strong. She rarely used only soprano paint, knowing how critics treat it unfairly, considering it a weakness of the singer's voice.

The bel canto singer - Renata Scotto - has a lyrical soprano - a deaf timbre (according to records), a light lyrical coloratura - piercingly sonorous. Once she said that she was preparing the party of Aida. “It's amazing,” I thought, “does R. Scotto really have a dramatic soprano?” Certainly! Soon I heard how she sang in a duet with a dramatic tenor and was in no way inferior to him in the strength of her voice.

Our critic called Beverly Seals a light lyric soprano. B. Seals is called the American Queen of Opera. But to be called a Queen, you have to be very strong singer: if soprano, then only - dramatic.

M. Plisetskaya talks about ballet in a very interesting way. “Not everything in the dance is conscious, there are also subconscious movements and gestures, for this you need to feel the music. Once I had a brief gesture with my hand. Someone admired this gesture. I thought about it and that’s it: the gesture disappeared.”

This is very clear to me. What do these two types of art have in common? Movement! The teacher Shatrova said: "Vocal art is difficult, but ballet is more difficult ... in terms of physical activity."

J. Sutherland sang in Donizetti's opera Queen Elizabeth as a lyric-dramatic soprano. In terms of voice timbre, she is closer to M. Caballe. There are even contralto phrases in this part. And the final note is mi3! Such are the possibilities of a dramatic soprano!

Musicologist Volkov wrote in his book that Manuel Garcia the father was a mellifluous tenor... and sang Othello! Obviously, it was a dramatic multifaceted tenor!

Apparently, the rigidity of his father pushed M. Garcia the son to a careful study of the Neapolitan school. My father sang with Rossini, was fond of bel canto. The son was next to him, singing in bass. Soon he realized that the study of the Italian (Neapolitan) school was taking place seriously, calmly and joyfully.

So, the Garcia school is the Italian school of bel canto, understood by the scientist (he became a professor), from the point of view of science: physics (mechanics), biology (physiology).

Kurt Honolk "The Great Divas"

Maria Felicita Malibran (Garcia) was a prima donna for ten years. Frantic artistic temperament. The best Desdemona, who did not submit to Othello. She took three octaves, could sing both alto and soprano: Norma and Zerlina. The fiery temperament pushed the fragile body of Malibran to the most desperate deeds. On stage, she fell into hysterics, into mental turmoil.

At the age of 28, Malibran fell off her horse, injuring her insides. She sang a concerto and died 9 days later on September 23, 1837.

Musicality, talent, love for the theater Maria Malibran inherited from her father - Manuel del Popolo Garcia. M. Garcia is a tenor of world importance. He was friends and sang with G. Rossini and was his first Almaviva. His son Manuel was the best teacher of his time (he died in 1906 at the age of 106).

Pauline Viardot (Garcia) was born in 1821. Polina had a mezzo-soprano voice, but she also sang soprano parts (Donna Anna and Norma). Once, while in St. Petersburg, I tried to sing Lyudmila.

If Viardot sang Donna Anna, the baroque part, then Lyudmila could, as it seemed to her, easily sing. True, here the author writes that she had "exhaustion of the ligaments." From another source - she caught a cold. Sopranos have often suffered and are suffering from the parts of both Lyudmila and Antonida.

Pauline Viardot sang Gluck's Orpheus 150 times, Gluck's Alceste. I was fond of German music. She was friends with Turgenev for 40 years, until the day of his death. "Queen of queens" were his last words. Polina died in 1910.

In Kurt Honolk's book, in an article about Maria Callas, we read: "Kallas turned her life into a tightrope dance without insurance."

"Renata Tebaldi rocked Arturo Toscanini with her angelic voice."

And M. Callas and R. Tebaldi, both sang Aida, Santucia, Butterfly, Mimi, Tosca. But they cannot be considered real competitors: Tebaldi did not sing Medea or Lucia, etc., and her Violetta was blooming, she amazes with the rich fullness of the soprano.

Tebaldi did not take modern music seriously at all, finding it non-vocal and even destructive to the voice. (Kurt Honollka)

The first singer in the world: Maria Guleghina, Russian. Studied in Odessa. He sings in Italy the entire dramatic repertoire and in bel canto operas.

I.A. Moiseev - the creator of the dance theater. He demanded that the dancer simply not technically dance, but spiritualize every movement. Rhythm is simplified.

Singers! It is necessary to explain the rhythm to yourself in a simplified way.

Placido Domingo. A tenor who "was at the beginning a baritone". Director of two theaters. He holds "Domingo contests" and suits young singers.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that Domingo sang a baritone, in my opinion.

Placido Domingo is the great tenor of our time.

Russian singer Olga Borodina (mezzo-soprano) says that she sang bel canto from a young age, from nature. Irina Arkhipova looked into her mouth and asked: “How do you do it?”

By imitation, you can learn to sing even in the bel canto style, but not everyone succeeds in comprehending this technique. Once again, you can be convinced that bel canto is a perfect style, but not artificial, and not alien to us, Russians.

Belcanto as a "patter" happens: thick and light. A great soprano, technically equipped, strives to master the technique of both dramatic coloratura and lyric. An example of this is Maria Guleghina.

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Akimo Freier is a German stage director. He puts on The Magic Flute at the Novaya Opera. To the question: “Who is more important: a star or a director?”, - he said that there are no problems with the stars, only with old singers. “Stars love to work and sing the best. Singing is acrobatics!”

Each singer or singer builds their relationship with the conductor, or they leave ...

Conductors, of course, do not like to talk about it.

Anna Netrebko

beautiful singer with bright voice. Dramatic soprano. Anna complains that from a young age she was often told that she had no voice and, despite the hostility of people, she became a singer. She works hard, sings in the West and at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Anna Netrebko lacked technique in her early youth, so it was very difficult to raise the entire repertoire of a dramatic soprano. She sang mostly lyrical repertoire.

Teachers need to think more about the technique of singing. And love your students...

Olga Gurikova, like a dramatic soprano, disappeared from the horizon of Moscow singers, exhausted by the part of Elvira from Verdi's Ernani. Remember, the singer's voice poured out in a powerful wave?

Having got acquainted with the aria, I immediately felt its complexity and danger in muscle strain. Here, as in La Traviata, there is a special defensive technique.

R.Scotto knows this defensive technique like everyone else Italian singers, and we must somehow guess ourselves, listening to their recordings. Have you read how E. Obraztsova learned from the greats in order to become great herself? True, the soprano technique is the most difficult.

Ninel Tkachenko

Ninel Tkachenko, a dramatic soprano, sang at the Bolshoi Italian technology knew! However, maybe she didn’t know, but she did it.

Here I look at her record: the price is 1 ruble 45 kopecks. Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, conductor M. Ermler and F. Mansurov. Who is Ninel Tkachenko? She sang in Italian and French. Reading: Tosca, Mimi, Cio-Cio-San, Abigail, Aida and further: Carmen and Eboli! And, believe me, she sang beautifully! But there is not a word about her on the record.

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Questions to the American conductor James Conollon. About the music of the bel canto era and about singers, about Russian music and about Russian singers. The American musician answers, persuades not to worry: both bel canto lives, and Russian opera music interesting in the West, and there are enough bel canto singers, and it is difficult to distinguish Russian singers from non-Russian ones!

The tradition of bel canto operas must be continued.

Patricia Choppe, a lyric soprano, sang the part of Violetta in a theater in the West very gracefully and tragically, but the direction, where Violetta is a street girl, was unworthy of Verdi's opera.

At the concert of N. Baskov on October 15, 2006, the great M. Caballe was present and directed the young singer - her student. Before the high note, the singer crossed himself. Takes high notes, but does not hold them for a long time. It does not always hit the “point” of resonance. There is no silver in "piano". However, he did get better at singing. Aria sang well.

Duet of Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Rene Fleming

Dmitry in the role of Germont is somewhat softer than before, but still cynical and unnecessarily cruel.

In the role of Onegin, he is depressed, but he is not very sorry, because, apparently, he is very courageous.

Rene as Tatiana is charming.

Dmitry in the role of Don Juan, of course, is very convincing.

Zerlina (in the opera) - a cunning girl who is trying to "outplay" Don Juan, to marry the master to herself. Zerlina (Rene) is a simple-hearted girl.

“The school is one,” said Galina Vishnevskaya.

There is only one school, but it is difficult. Two techniques for two voices in one: thick voice and light voiced. Two voices in one, and therefore two methods.

A large pop concert was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Nikolai Baskov

Our prominent singers, at a difficult time for young singer time, did not support him, for some reason not recognizing him as a classical singer. Lev Leshchenko, a universally recognized, beloved pop singer who can sing in a classical manner, defended Nikolai, saying: "If there was a voice, but you can sing in different ways."

Scandal at the Bolshoi

The new play "Eugene Onegin" was attended by Galina Vishnevskaya. She did not like the new direction of the opera, in which she once shone in the part of Tatyana. They say she said indignantly: “I will not come to your brothel again!”

Concert dedicated to singer Galina Vishnevskaya

Sang: Vladimir Chernov - baritone, Larisa Dyatko. The singer surprised by changing the melody in the “Fortune-telling of Martha” scene, apparently because of the high note. Makvala Kasrashvili sang Tosca. Scenes from operas featuring Galina Vishnevskaya were shown.

“I will work with a singer if he can sing,” says G. Vishnevskaya.

Galina Vishnevskaya left the stage at the age of 45. “Happiness has gone from singing, the book has closed.”

The singer came to the opera from the operetta. In an operetta, a prima's voice should be bright, strong with different timbre colors, because an operetta artist not only sings, but also dances and speaks loudly.

“It is sung in the same way as it is played on an instrument: higher and higher or lower and lower ...”, - G. Vishnevskaya believes so.

Maxim Mironov - lyrical tenor himself tuned his voice to the bel canto style (attentively listening to the recordings of bel canto singers). Works abroad.

M. Callas and R. Scotto have always strived for a variety of timbres in order to be actresses of the opera theater and preserve imagery in vocal art. For the sake of vocal art, they always risked being unrecognizable.

Performance based on W. Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni"

Dmitry Hvorostovsky sings both parties: Don Giovanni and Leporello. The singer's voice was enriched with new colors. Even "Aria with Champagne" sounded brighter. And in a duet with Zerlina, the singer's voice became unrecognizable: soft, gentle.

Bartoli - mezzo-soprano, bel canto singer is fond of baroque works.

Tenor Jose Carreras gives concerts of lyrical music. Such music does not overload the singer and calms the listeners.

Anna Netrebko first sang Violetta in a lyrical vein, then in the West she sang it already as a dramatic soprano and was very tired, according to her. This part is not for a beginner singer.

About the dramatic soprano Maria Guleghina, who sings in the West and here, at the Mariinsky Theater, they say: large and light.

“They graduate from the conservatory, but they don’t know how to sing in Russian,” - G. Vishnevskaya.

Say a phrase with expression, referring to someone specifically: "I love you!" Then sing the same phrase to the same person again. In the exact performance - this will be vocal speech (see "Dictionary of mistakes in vocal pedagogy").

Zara Dolukhanova: “I prefer talent to vocal perfection.”

It is often difficult to separate vocal excellence from talent; Where can he be if there is no talent? Performing Cinderella's Cavatina brilliantly is the hardest part vocal work, - this is both talent and vocal perfection. Another thing is that the singer can intuitively come to this vocal perfection, but this is talent!

“There was no need to teach me vocals: everything went by itself,” Z. Dolukhanova said to A. Parin and ... made an unexpected conclusion: “For the singer’s maximum self-disclosure, we must try to inspire him that everything is easy.”

No, it's far from it! Spontaneous staging of a classical voice such as that of Zara Dolukhanova is still a rare and happy occasion.

“The Russian school of expressive singing has always been opposed by the Western school of pure vocals,” writes Alexei Parin.

There was a time: maestro Rebrikov taught the Italian school, all the vocalists in Moscow knew about it. And then they sang better in theaters, and what amateur singers were, because we had such a maestro more than one!

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Anna Netrebko, a Russian young singer, tried to sing Elvira in The Puritans and Amina in La Sonnambula in Italy, but she lacked the technique.

Irina Arkhipova

“The difficult part of Eboli in Don Carlos by G. Verdi. It was a pleasure to hit the extreme top notes every time, to bring out passages, to win, as if you were shooting at ten.

Great! Bravo! Such sensations are caused only by the methods of the Italian school! Here we are not talking about expressiveness, but about physiological sensations, as in sports.

Finally, E. Obraztsova admitted that G. Vishnevskaya helped her at first in the technique of singing. It is not known on what occasion, E.V. She said: "We need to help the strong." Just the phrase came up to this occasion!

“I never went on about the director! Never!" - E. Obraztsova.

“In Italy, the continuity of performance (without seams) of vocal sentences (several phrases) is highly valued” - R.Scotto.

Anna Netrebko's recordings were shown in the Tsar's Lodge program. She looks great. Sings a lot. Learns a lot of parties. Tired and tries hard. She sadly says that "in Germany she is invited everywhere, but not to Italy." She heavily sings bel canto works, and this is not liked in Italy. Belcanto is a special technique, Anna does not know it, they did not teach it (at that time).

A competition for young vocalists is taking place in St. Petersburg. The voices are beautiful, but the performance is strange. So the well-known romance by N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Captured by a rose, nightingale ...” the singer sang in a thick voice (for the first time, it seems, in the history of Russian vocals), and the vocalization was a gentle coloratura soprano. Excuse me, but this is not a pop number, is it? Did you really hope to surprise someone with the fact that a thick soprano can sing with a light voice?

Concert by Zaur Tutov

A beautiful lyrical baritone sings softly and tenderly beautiful romances, Italian songs, sometimes in the manner of a lyrical tenor. Perhaps he is now one of the best performers of romances and songs. At one time he graduated from the Gnessin Academy and believes that the school there is excellent.

From the story of singers who came from Europe

South Korea is a rich country. Many are fond of opera. Europe is full of Koreans studying classical vocals.

In the Three Stars concert, Anna Netrebko sang with famous tenors: the bel canto master Placido Domingo and the young and bright tenor Rollando Villazon.

Anna is still singing the lyrical repertoire. Real success for a dramatic soprano begins with bel canto arias or cantabile arias (G. Verdi).

Anna Netrebko and Rollando Villazon sing the scene "Mimi with Rudolf". At first, Anna sings in a thick voice, but suddenly changes the timbre and then sings ringing voice. Why such negligence? Mimi, a girl with poor health, her singers always sang in a lyrical sonorous voice.

Singer Mirella Freni in Russia was called a lyric soprano, but ... In 2002, the singer came to Moscow with a concert. She sang many dramatic arias brightly, powerfully, clearly proving that she perfectly masters her strong voice - a dramatic soprano! Mirella Freni is actively engaged in teaching activities.

The young lyric tenor, Juan Diego Flores, is fluent in the bel canto technique (singing the parts of Count Almaviva and the Prince from Cinderella).

Alexander Malinin performed with the orchestra in the Great Hall of the Conservatory

A. Malinin is a bright pop singer who has always been a great success with the public. Many did not even guess that his voice was a tenor, because on the stage both a tenor and a baritone can sound the same. And although Alexander has repeatedly emphasized that he is a tenor, it will not occur to anyone to compare him with N. Baskov. Nikolai Baskov has his own individual place, his own story, which has not yet unfolded in full force.

A. Malinin has his own image, his place, his own love of the audience.

Alexei Parin talks with Renata Scotto, an outstanding singer of our time.

In Russia, Renata Scotto's recordings appeared earlier than Sutherland's, so Renata's voice was a bel canto voice, and its brightness perfectly tuned the upper soprano register.

R.Scotto's statements:

“Maria Callas appeared different every time. The sound depends on the nature of the image.

"I studied in Milan with the same teachers (as Kallas)."

"Callas and Sutherland - made romantic bel canto the property of the modern opera world."

“The teachers of bel canto survived (in Italy) and preserved themselves. The vocal technique for bel canto and Mozart's music is the development of the voice, being mobile, singing in a row from low to high notes, the ability to control wide breathing, easily move from high to low tessitura. The voice must be trained. You can’t sing solely at the expense of natural data.

"Singers have forgotten how to sing in style."

"The teachers sacredly kept the covenants of the past."

"You can sing the verist repertoire only if you have the technique of bel canto."

“We saw at the Moscow master classes sometimes the complete disorganization of singing.”

“But what Russians don’t have is a sense of style, an understanding of what the bel canto technique is. Blame the teachers... The school did not want to be transformed ... ".

“I have a feeling that the Iron Curtain is to blame.”

A. Parin: “It seems to me that the problem is much more complicated. Our vocal teachers too conservative."

A. Parin states that the classical romance is leaving.

Does this mean that part of our Russian culture is leaving?! It is impossible to agree with this. The urban romance was leaving, but the brilliant Lyubov Kazarnovskaya came, and the romance returned. I believe that the classic romance will return! As long as a Russian person is alive, he will not let the culture of our great ancestors fall and perish.

In the 19th century, there was a European culture in Russia.

Maria Guleghina

On stage, Maria Guleghina is very different. Maria studied a lot with Professor E.N. Ivanov (Odessa). Maria Guleghina has long been considered an "absolute prima donna" abroad. In Moscow, we hear it very rarely. M. Guleghina covered almost all of Verdi's operas. Sings in operas by Puccini, Bellini, Giordano, Mascagni.

"Patience and work" is Mary's motto.

Our three baritones sing in the West: Sergei Leiferkus, Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Vladimir Chernov.

Vladimir Chernov sang at the Mariinsky Theatre, they did not take him to the Bolshoi. “I came to the State Concert, received another refusal, but a chance meeting - I met the managers ... An opera career is part of the opera business and a whim of chance.”

Dmitry Hvorostovsky dreamed of becoming a tenor: the tenor has more fame. D. Hvorostovsky's father sings a lot. The son learned to sing by listening to his father.

Nikolai Putilin - baritone, graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Conservatory, class of Professor Ioffel. He sang in Kazan, in Moscow, in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater. The first teacher is Fomin.

Singer Elena Prokina says:

“There are more choices in the West. In Russia, unfortunately, this is not the case. Here in the theater there is always main man and all politics is subject only to him. There is nothing to choose from."

She began to study vocals in Odessa, in the class of Blagovidova. A wonderful school, simple, very close to Italian. All exercises quickly reached the student. The breath was set, the range developed. All you had to do was sing it loud. Worked for 5 years.

Elena Prokina also studied in Leningrad: at the conservatory, as an assistant. Got into Mariinskii Opera House. Sang with Domingo.

Elena Zelenskaya - dramatic soprano. Sings at the Bolshoi Theatre. He also sings in the West, in operas by Verdi and Puccini.

Marina Meshcheryakova - soprano. The debut on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater took place in 1991. She sang Antonida(!) in A Life for the Tsar and believed that this part suited her very well(?). A. Parin: "Antonida is not the simplest of opera parts, let's face it."

Amazing transformations are taking place with our singers and singers: teachers do not explain to them what the style of a work is, and they lump everything together.

M. Meshcheryakova at first “attached” her voice to Antonida’s instrumental part, but having become acquainted with Italian vocal music, she suddenly made an amazing statement: “I don’t have the right voice to feel more organic in the Russian repertoire ... Maybe I’m not quite a Russian singer ".

Maybe she was so tormented by the part of Antonida that she decided that Russian classical singing is torment?

With conductor Andrey Chistyakov, the young singer prepared Marfa and ... Norma. She has already sung Norma in Stockholm!

The Russian language is not as vocal as Italian, so it is necessary to sing "according to the sound wave", i.e. pronunciation is the second problem, but not the first.

Very competent composers worked in Russian vocal art in the 19th century, they created on high level Western culture: Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov. This is a great vocal culture!

There were some shortcomings: Antonida and Lyudmila - these parts were written in an instrumental style. But a lot of beautiful music was written, wonderful classical romances. There are parts that are unreasonably difficult to write: Marfa (“The Tsar's Bride”), Snegurochka, the Swan Princess.

There is also a lot of complex music in the West, and not all of it is bel canto.

Boris Pokrovsky - a famous director who previously worked at the Bolshoi tells. “I won’t sing, I’m bored,” said Galina Vishnevskaya about the scene in Tatiana’s Letters. He scolded her.

Pokrovsky: “We wanted to suck up to Stalin and put on an opera about rural life showed the leader. But Stalin did not like it. He asked: “How long ago did they put” queen of spades? And we washed ... "

Marina Domashenko

Mezzo-soprano, started her career abroad. She studied music in Kemerovo. She studied at the Yekaterinburg Conservatory with S.V. Zaliznyak. I went to the competition in Prague, and received six awards!

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

baroque music

Baroque music is the music of the pre-Belcant period. Basically it's an instrumental style. Not all singers manage to sing this music beautifully, let alone love it.

Baroque music is fond of Cecilia Bartoli, she opened the parts of 10 operas by Antonio Vivaldi. Here the singer is in a subordinate state from orchestral music, but she likes it.

“Is it possible to understand the free ability of the singer to fly in the clouds?” - A. Parin about C. Bartoli.

“We must learn to work on the quality of sound and enjoy singing” - C. Bartoli.

Of course, singers get great pleasure from singing, otherwise they would not do it, but the main thing is that others should be pleased to listen to it. Bartoli, having a wonderful mezzo-soprano voice, often goes into the realm of someone else's voice - soprano, where she cannot take the heights.

Bartoli sang the soprano part in the production of W. Mozart's opera “That's what everyone does”. And, since the viola part was performed by a singer with a strong voice, Bartoli was not heard in the duets. The beautiful opera has lost its sound. In addition, in the opera this part was written for a strong dramatic soprano, which Bartoli clearly does not take into account.

Bartoli behaves like a prima donna, but this number does not work in the 21st century.

A. Parin for some reason compares the voice of O. Guryakova with coloratura sopranos: Nezhdanova, Zabella-Vrubel. O. Guryakova brilliantly performed the part of Elvira (Ernani by G. Verdi) on the stage of the Moscow theater - a very difficult part for a dramatic soprano, requiring a high vocal technique of bel canto.

Joseph Kalei

Lyric tenor sings in Germany, repertoire: Bellini and Puccini. School from Mario del Monaco (school of dramatic tenor?). He does not speak in a bright voice, which is very harmful for a tenor.

He sings "Frederico's Lament" with a very beautiful timbre, but does not always hit the mark.

The singer's voice is not focused, the fault of the del Monaco school, the latter was also criticized for lack of lyricism. A lyric tenor needs to sing on a soft attack and constantly monitor the sonority of his voice, and Mario del Monaco was a dramatic tenor. You need to learn the lyric tenor from a similar voice, i.e. at the lyric tenor!

E.V. Obraztsova came to the Saturday evening to pop singers, i.e. to Nikolai Baskov.

She told him: "In classical vocals, it is not so much the technique that is important, but the soul, so that there is something to say."

Nikolai has a soul, but to sing in a dramatic tenor, you need TECHNIQUE.

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Maxim Mironov - singer, lyric tenor. Sang in Helikon. Leaves Russia for the USA.

Sings the part of the Prince in Cinderella. Born in Tula, studied chemistry and biology. He studied at the Gnessin School. I listened to bel canto tenors a lot and realized that I could sing like that too. I went to the private school of Vladimir Devyatov. The singer is very serious, he works hard. Travels all over the world.

Breen Festival

Bryn Toffel - bass-baritone. He sometimes sings tenor arias, but in a baritone tessitura, sometimes even changing the melody to suit his voice. In my opinion, this is not interesting, besides disrespect for the composer's work. We allow this in folk songs and urban romances, that is, in the light genre. But is it possible to distort everyone's favorite popular classical arias?

Meanwhile, he sings great arias for bass-baritone!

Renee Fleming performed in the concert. She sang all the arias for soprano amazingly beautifully, but in one thick timbre, even Zerlina. And everywhere was the magnificent Renee Fleming!

They say that Maria Guleghina cannot be called a Russian singer, because. All of her work takes place abroad. Who says that? Whose opinion is this? And the fact that she studied in Russia also does not count? A lot of Russian singers have worked and are working abroad. The great Chaliapin worked a lot abroad!

In Russia, rumors about bel canto have always been shrouded in mystery, as if the formation of this style took place in ancient times, and not in the time of Pushkin.

I think it's naive to believe that humanity is so ignorant and primitive that it would not try to find the keys to the secret of the classical singing voice (and to bel canto).

Jessie Norman is a black woman, she sings in a beautiful strong classical voice - a dramatic soprano.

Every great singer has his own story.

Tenor Zurab Sotkilava talks about a serious technique that brings up the voice. Sotkilava believes that neither Domingo nor Pavarotti could sing at the Bolshoi, because here you need to sing, not shout. But Sotkilava loves to grumble...

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

The best bel canto in the world - Renata Scotto.

Renata Scotto trained as a mezzo-soprano. She has covered the entire repertoire for dramatic soprano, and in all styles she is a very bright singer.

Broadcast on "Culture". Donizetti's opera "Daughter of the Regiment" in Tyrrol. The performance was held at a high level. But after the performance, Zurab Sotkilava spoke and said that he was not impressed (!) by tenor Jose Flores. He likes: Pavarotti, Correras, Domingo - real tenors! He takes Flores "for a young man whose mutation has not yet completely passed." Otherwise, how unjustified arrogance can not be called!

José Flores is a lyric tenor bel canto, recognized as one of the best tenors in the world.

May 5, 2007 Anna Netrebko was recognized this year as a popular Russian person, along with chess player and politician G. Kasparov. At Covengardan, Anna sang Gilda in Rigoletto, three Violettas in Munich, and Donna Anna in Salzburg. Anna is accepted in Germany, in America.

Anna calls herself a gypsy (after her father). Often sings in a duet with Rollando Villazon.

Anna Netrebko praises the Russian vocal school, but sometimes she feels sad for some reason ... Tatyana does not want to sing.

Anna Samuil sings carefully Violetta, Musetta and other arias in a lyrical vein and, apparently, will be a stable singer.

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Great tenor Luciano Pavarotti. The arias of the pre-belcant period sound. Here the voice does not find opportunities to turn around in all its glory. Further sound: Tonio's aria from Donizetti's Daughter, Regiment, Richard Recardo's aria from Un ballo in maschera by Verdi, Manrico's aria from Troubodour.

You experience real pleasure from the sound of Pavarotti's beautiful, rich in colors voice in bel canto operas. Compare and feel the difference.

Abroad, especially in Italy, there is a strong opinion that classical vocals are not taught in Moscow.

TV channel culture. Vladimir Chernov talks about himself.

Studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was very obedient. The teacher inspired him that he was a tenor, but time showed that he was still a baritone. Sings abroad: Figaro, Shelkalova.

There are three types of baritones in nature: lyrical, dramatic and lyrical-dramatic. The voice is determined by the "center of gravity". Baritone is the central voice.

The lyric baritone often sings the tenor part in the choir, since it almost does not differ from the tenor in timbre. It is also gentle and lyrical, and more reliable.

Dramatic baritones (strong and bright) are usually numerous, but lyric-dramatic baritones are rare. Perhaps, due to their youth, they are mistaken for tenors and thereby slow down the development of their nature?

Chernov's main teacher, according to him, is the great Chaliapin.

In my opinion, this is not very correct, because. this practice can "heavy" the singer's voice. Learn better from soft baritones.

Here's the weirdo! But he is very nice and speaks softly, whispering like Chumak. So cutesy and flirtatious, like a lyrical tenor. I bent about some kind of squiggle in my mouth, I didn’t understand. And he immediately said: “Don’t you understand? And you will never understand! He praised the teachers, even cried.

We once broadcast the opera "Eugene Onegin" from Paris, where V. Chernov sang with Olga Guryakova. The staging of the opera was kind of strange. Olga was a very persuasive Tatyana, and Chernov was an unusual Onegin with a soft voice and lush hair. But in the last act, he suffered so much that he made us believe that we are facing the real Onegin!

Even in our literature they wrote that Italian teachers worked in Russia, who knew how to "set" votes "from scratch".

“We have lost, we have lost,” V. Chernov repeated sadly.

Someone loses, and someone finds!

In Italy, the secrets of bel canto are carefully preserved and cherished, it is not supposed to talk about it there.

Anna Netrebko says that she tries not to play herself, but does not take into account that the main color of the image is the timbre of her voice. If the singer sings all the parts with the same timbre, then no one will guess that she is not playing herself. All the heroines will differ little from each other.

Zara Dolukhanova died (at 89). She really didn't understand her voice sometimes. They reminded and showed how she suddenly felt that her beautiful mezzo had turned into a soprano. She diligently takes a high note with a soprano timbre, but it's just A (the soprano goes much higher). Voice type is not determined by timbre.

Zara Dolukhanova had a unique voice: beautiful mezzo-soprano, natural production, high palate, strong vibrato (at the request of the singer), beautiful trill. They say she was a childishly naive person. She sang a lot on the stage, on the radio, toured a lot. Later she worked at the Gnessin Institute as a teacher.

Zara Dolukhanova was a sincere person. Her voice was magical when she sang Rossini's Cinderella and Grieg's Hut. There are recordings of her wonderful voice.

Alexander Vedernikov

Alexander Vedernikov talks about his creative life. For the first time, the singer and teacher opened the curtain on the life of Soviet classical singers. He spoke about the difficulties of teaching vocals, about difficult relationships with teachers, and then with conductors in theaters.

The singer was lucky to get an internship at La Scala. Our young singers went to Italy in exchange for teaching ballet to Italian dancers by our teachers, i.e. it was a cultural exchange.

Vedernikov realized that it was necessary to sing not with the throat, but with “air”.

Recordings of his recording sounded: Susanin, Boris, Farlaf - everything is fine, everything is unrecognizable at a high level. Varlaam, the singer always sang in a manner close to folk, which is quite justified, but other recordings either did not sound or sounded very rarely, and there was a wrong opinion about the singer's voice, as not quite classical.

I really liked the make-up of Boris - it was a stunningly accurate face of the Russian Tsar.

Vedernikov even left the Bolshoi Theater, because. could not agree with the conductor. None of our singers was so frank and honest.

Yevgeny Nesterenko sings arias with "air", and Russian songs - with clear diction.

Now there is such a hobby: to teach children classical vocals. A young man at 14 years old can be taught to sing male voice, but… Learning classical vocals requires a lot of independence and maturity. The singer does not hear himself! And such a “deaf” person can be offended very easily. At this age, he is not yet able to figure out who is right and who is wrong. And it's even dangerous!

We often do not like young talents, they consider them upstarts, they envy them. Example: N.Baskov. Not everyone can handle that kind of pressure.

Successes at an early age inspire, and small failures - even just a lie and inattention of adults - expose and hurt a still fragile soul.

Nikolai finally sang with the full force of his voice, not being afraid of high notes! Lensky impresses him.

Nikolai Baskov was very criticized for pop singing. As if they don’t remember the performances of the handsome Karel Gott - Czech pop singer- a tenor with a quite classical voice. He perfectly sang pop songs, brilliantly performed Italian songs in a classical manner and not only. Once at a concert, he performed the Russian folk song “Along the Piterskaya” with “bass”! And all the time he laughed: “Well, that’s my character!”

January 2008 Anna Netrebko and Rollando Villazon sing.

Rollando Villazon is a brilliant tenor and sings everything at a high level.

Juliet's waltz is first sung by the singer, as if it were Anna's waltz - with a thick timbre, soon the singer changes to a lyric soprano and easily sings this elegant aria.

The scene from "Iolanta" is very surprising with its flaw. Apparently, Anna did not understand the image of a blind girl: at first she plays her innocence and naivety, but in the very first duet she suddenly sharply changes the character of the girl to her usual one - her own: the strong and decisive character of Anna Netrebko.

The image of Mimi in a thick timbre is very inferior compared to the gentle lyrical timbre accepted in the world of art, depicting a dreamy, tender, weak health girl.

On January 8, 2008, V. Vinokur and his ensemble appeared on television with a satirical number that "the classical singer and ballerina were thrown onto the stage."

Anniversary (70 years) of Evgeny Nesterenko.

He always sang beautifully with his wide rich bass, especially Italian arias. But, having become a teacher, he wrote a dissertation on the topic of diction. And now he sings Russian songs, minting every word. I remember that someone accurately defined such singing as "the movement of the Statue of the Commander."

Anna Netrebko often comes to the Mariinsky Theater to sing in operas: Don Giovanni, in La Traviata. Anna very diligently sings the instrumental and complex part of Donna-Anna, prepares the "Russian Album of Anna Netrebko" with classical romances.

Anniversary of A. Vedernikov.

A. Vedernikov speaks about new production opera Boris Godunov. He doesn't like this show very much. A. Vedernikov believes that "fashionable" directors should not work in the main theater. The whole production works for destruction. I also don't like the staging of the opera Eugene Onegin. The director "pulls the blanket" over himself. There is a struggle in the theater because of the first cast.

The singer talks about himself. He performed a lot in concerts, independently prepared the part of Boris and other parts and achieved performances. He sang a lot of sacred music, even when it was punishable.

In the new production of the opera Othello at the Mariinsky Theater, the Moor Othello strangles Desdemona not lying down, but standing up, with a bandit technique.

Nikolai Baskov sang with great success in one of the theaters of Europe the part of Canio from the opera Pagliacci. At 32, tenors have never sung such a complex dramatic part!

Recital by Rolando Villazon

“I am the whole instrument, not just my voice,” says the singer. Performing Werther's aria, he suffers so much that his face becomes beautiful and very sensual. He sings, completely surrendering to the music with great joy. This joy of his is conveyed to the public. He runs after the performance of the aria to the dressing room and ... jumps, jumps. “I relax like that, relieve tension,” the singer says, rejoicing like a child.

Villazon - you are a miracle!

"Opera Club", radio station "Echo of Moscow".

Salzburg. Festival. Anna Netrebko sings Donna Anna in Don Juan, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. "Suzanne's Serenade" is highly valued here, and Anna sings it softly, not thickly, and very beautifully. So, Anna can sing in different timbres.

Belcanto

But with the technical-vocal aspect, things are different. Italian bel canto, being a technique of free natural physiological production of sound, perfectly syntonized from an acoustic point of view, is the essence of singing, it was the main trend of the largest schools and singers until the 1930s. Enrico Caruso, Aureliano Pertile, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Beniamino Gigli and Tito Skipa are its most famous representatives. Their vocal technique can be fully considered bel canto. More precisely, it is a technique that works deeply with the nature of the voice and makes possible the synthesis of opposites: tenderness of sound and power, piercing and roundness, brilliance and softness, flowing legato and dramatic accent, recitation and flexibility of sound.

Also, this technique can and should be used if the singer wants to keep the voice healthy.

From the beginning of the 30s of the 20th century, new techniques based on other principles began to spread in Italy, thereby contributing to the decline of Italian bel canto. Luciano Pavarotti is, from this point of view, a modern exponent of this historic Italian vocal technique.

Stages of development of bel canto

• the birth of Italian opera (C. Monteverdi);
• the heyday of the "Neapolitan school" (Alessandro Scarlatti);
• the period of creative activity of V. Bellini and G. Donizetti;
• creativity of G. Verdi
• veristic school (Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, etc.)

Notes

Literature

• Antonio Juvarra, "I segreti del belcanto. Storia delle tecniche e dei metodi vocali dal "700 ai nostri giorni", Curci, 2006
• Mathilde Marchesi, Bel Canto: A Theoretical and Practical Vocal Method, Dover, 1970 - ISBN 0-486-22315-9
• James A Stark, Bel Canto, University of Toronto Press, 2003 - ISBN 0-8020-8614-4
• Leonardo Ciampa, The Twilight of Belcanto, AuthorHouse, 2nd ed. 2005 - ISBN 1-4184-5956-9
• Cornelius L Reid, Bel Canto: Principles and Practices, Joseph Patelson Music House, 1950 - ISBN 0-915282-01-1
• Morozov V.P. The art of resonant singing. Fundamentals of resonance theory and technology. - M .: MGK, IP RAS, Center "Art and Science", 2008. - 596 p.

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Synonyms:

See what "Belcanto" is in other dictionaries:

Belcanto ... Spelling Dictionary

- (Italian bel canto lit. beautiful singing), vocal style (originated in Italy in the 17th century), distinguished by melodiousness, lightness, beauty of sound, cantilena perfection, grace, coloratura virtuosity ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Exist., number of synonyms: 2 lilies (71) singing (42) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

Belcanto- (Italian bel canto, literally beautiful singing), a vocal style (originated in Italy in the 17th century in connection with the development of opera art), distinguished by melodiousness, lightness, beauty of sound, grace, and virtuosity of coloratura. Influenced... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Italian bel canto, beautiful singing), a singing style that arose in Italy in the 17th century, and in the 18th century. spread throughout Europe. Belcanto is closely associated with the Neapolitan type of opera, where the focus was not on the interests of dramatic action, but ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

It. bel canto lit. beautiful singing) music. a style of vocal performance that was developed in Italian opera art. distinctive features: lightness and beauty of sound, melodic coherence (cantilena), virtuoso possession of vocal ... ... Dictionary foreign words Russian language

unchanged; cf. [ital. bel canto beautiful singing] Music. The style of vocal performance of opera parts, songs, etc., distinguished by lightness, grace, and melodiousness. * * * bel canto (Italian bel canto, literally beautiful singing), vocal style (originated ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary