Hello All,
Two of the most
important aspects of Italian diction (and it can be said of any language) are
the clarity of vowels and the way the syllables are put together. The reason the infamous ‘24 Italian Songs and
Arias’ have lasted so long is that they deal so much with these two
things. As with all tools, there is
nothing magical about them but if you can learn to sing them with proper pure
vowels, a sense of words, good dynamics, a round vibrating tone, and a good
amount of legato, you probably know how to sing.
I present to
you two singers this week from the long ago recorded and filmed opera past
which display these qualities of diction beautifully. First up is Gabriella Tucci singing Caro Nome
from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” Tucci was born
in Rome in 1929 and is still alive. The
meat of her career was during the golden age of 20th century opera –
that is to say, the 50s and 60s. In this
live televised recording, notice especially her [a] vowel. This aria turns into a vocalise and the
writing looks almost instrumental rather than vocal as was so often the way
soprano singing was treated by the composers of the bel canto era. Notice which vowel these vocalises are on –
the famous [a]. From the depth of her
range to the upper limits, does her [a] vowel change? What are the properties of her [a]
vowel? How are her ‘e’ and ‘o’
vowels? The score is provided. She doesn’t sing the semi-recitative so go to
page 2.
Second up is
the soprano Amelita Galli-Curci who was born in Milan in 1882 and died in 1963
in California. Galli-Curci was one of
the first sopranos to be known in the recorded age and therefore was a
worldwide star, appearing throughout not only Europe and the U.S. but also
Russia and South America. The recording
you’re going to hear is of Tosti’s “La Serenata.” It was made in 1926 and so you won’t get a
lot of the warm tones of the voice we’re used to in modern recordings but the
diction is fantastic in this song which has a lot of words. Notice how she sings so cleanly but there is
an easy sense of what syllables are a part of multi syllabic words and what
syllables are words themselves. How does
she achieve this? Also, how are her
double consonants? Are her ‘o’s and ‘e’s
generally open or closed? Are her [a]s
consistent? Generally, the singing of
Neapolitan songs is male dominated. My
theory is that the style of Neapolitan singing was always considered a bit
brutal for females in the past – not refined enough. Can you tell a difference in the style
Galli-Curci incorporates as opposed to that of some of the men we’ve
heard?
Enjoy,
R
Caro Nome –
Gabriella Tucci
Score
La Serenata –
Amelita Galli-Curci
Score
