Matthias Goerne singing Wanderers Nachtlied by Schubert...
Wow. This is a serious blog we're doing here... I've not sung a one page Schubert piece ever in my life, so this is interesting that you have to fit it all in in one page... First, I do hear a sensitivity to each note on the page, and I find it extra tender that the accompanist is equally as sensitive. Secondly, he seems to genuinely BE the character he is portraying. Love it. Thirdly, I don't hear anything extraordinarily getting in the way.. his breath management, which seems in tact considering he can carry those long phrases to San Francisco and back, vowels and where they're placed, nor clicks in the sound between registers. A fine example of a singer who, as Ms. Moulson would say, "just sings." No over thinking needed. Each note sung by Mr. Goerne sounds, and with my sympathetic throat, feels, supported and forward moving, with spin, as though each has a destination.
Peter Pears singing O Waly, Waly...
I've never heard Peter Pears, so this is a day of firsts for me...
Wow. Mr. Pears sings equally as tenderhearted as Mr. Goerne, though in an old school way... His tone is beautiful, and supported, though sometimes sounds a bit covered to me... His vowels are sung so purely, and I am sure when we reach the 'b' section or the second verse (?) as his sound is more supported, as though he knows personally the struggle of which he sings...
Now that I know more of Benjamin Britten, I hear his quirky chords in the piano accompaniment, which I've come to expect!! Great to see him playing confidently over there...
Both of these gentleman move around quite a bit when they're singing, which is interesting to me since perhaps a stillness is suggested by many voice teachers in a performance setting... I think it aids in their performance of the repertoire myself...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
The 'a' vowel... Blog #5
Cecelia Bartoli singing Mozart's Exultate Jubilate.
Do I think she needs to do what she is doing? Nope. You know though I do think she is portraying pure energy singing the text, which I think Mozart would appreciate.
Why would she? Perhaps she is using her mouth in such a way that she thinks the text will come across more clearly if it is very 'chewed?' I like the excitement behind the performance, but she sings rather beautifully without such modulations of the mouth. The melismatic a's are rather buoyant... but she doesn't need to move the mouth, and jaw so much since her breath support is obviously in tact.
Kathleen Battle singing Exultate Jubilate
I think I'd like to stand on my own platform some day, that's my first thought after seeing this video!!! (Just being a girl here.)
How is her 'a' vowel?
To answer the question, I actually think she has taken some time to practice this vowel, and I hear it come across in a few different ways. One in that she drops her jaw to sing 'ah' (lips very involved here) and secondly an 'ah' that is placed further back in the throat but seems supported... She does have some mouth modifications that seem perhaps unnecessary... What a beautiful, connected-to-the-breath sound from such a little body!
Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah -- Arguably my favorite piece of music ever written, just so you know. Man, I have only great great experiences with this song. Maybe we can share our "Hallelujah" stories someday...
More care of their vowels needed? Perhaps more care is needed, especially on Mr. Timberlake's part... The video cut out a million times, so I'm going on the limited amount I heard... For both of these gentleman, the 'ah's' are more like 'uh's' as I hear it... But you know, I think this piece needs a little bit of 'raw' vowels to make it what Leonard Cohen had intended...?
When the text "how to shoot somebody who outdrew you..." is sung Mr. Timberlake does make some (unnecessary) adjustments to his mouth shape, so I see where more care is needed in regards to vowels here...
Less nasality? I don't know that I hear an insane amount of nasality..?
Less breathiness? I think I actually could stand to hear a smidge amount more 'to the pitch' singing but Mr. Morris has a good supported sound to my ear, even a little vibrato!
Thanks for choosing this video Mr. Clement!!
Do I think she needs to do what she is doing? Nope. You know though I do think she is portraying pure energy singing the text, which I think Mozart would appreciate.
Why would she? Perhaps she is using her mouth in such a way that she thinks the text will come across more clearly if it is very 'chewed?' I like the excitement behind the performance, but she sings rather beautifully without such modulations of the mouth. The melismatic a's are rather buoyant... but she doesn't need to move the mouth, and jaw so much since her breath support is obviously in tact.
Kathleen Battle singing Exultate Jubilate
I think I'd like to stand on my own platform some day, that's my first thought after seeing this video!!! (Just being a girl here.)
How is her 'a' vowel?
To answer the question, I actually think she has taken some time to practice this vowel, and I hear it come across in a few different ways. One in that she drops her jaw to sing 'ah' (lips very involved here) and secondly an 'ah' that is placed further back in the throat but seems supported... She does have some mouth modifications that seem perhaps unnecessary... What a beautiful, connected-to-the-breath sound from such a little body!
Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah -- Arguably my favorite piece of music ever written, just so you know. Man, I have only great great experiences with this song. Maybe we can share our "Hallelujah" stories someday...
More care of their vowels needed? Perhaps more care is needed, especially on Mr. Timberlake's part... The video cut out a million times, so I'm going on the limited amount I heard... For both of these gentleman, the 'ah's' are more like 'uh's' as I hear it... But you know, I think this piece needs a little bit of 'raw' vowels to make it what Leonard Cohen had intended...?
When the text "how to shoot somebody who outdrew you..." is sung Mr. Timberlake does make some (unnecessary) adjustments to his mouth shape, so I see where more care is needed in regards to vowels here...
Less nasality? I don't know that I hear an insane amount of nasality..?
Less breathiness? I think I actually could stand to hear a smidge amount more 'to the pitch' singing but Mr. Morris has a good supported sound to my ear, even a little vibrato!
Thanks for choosing this video Mr. Clement!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Youtube Singers #15/#16
For the eighth week of classes, I've chosen to comment on Thomas Hampson and Anna Netrebko...
Mr. Thomas Hampson, baritone sang Bring Him Home from Les Miserables and I found it to be sung pretty well.. It sounds a little covered to me in this recording... Is this written for a baritone? I can clearly understand what he is singing, and he seems to have a great image in his mind of what is happening in the context of the piece.
I then checked out Mr. Hampson singing The Barber of Seville's well known Largo Al Factotum. His voice seems to fit this piece better... with a million la-la-la's, I find it to be sung buoyantly, and with clear diction. He doesn't need to move his mouth strangely to get all of these words out, which I appreciate. The tempo is incredibly quick! Thank you James Levine! The man can act, he's good looking, he can sing! What a catch! Mr. Hampson is singing with support throughout this entire piece, and when he sings a higher pitch, I actually do not hear a large transition occur... maybe it's because a large transition isn't occurring or because he's just that good at hiding it? It seems there is spin on each note, and his musical relationship with the orchestra is divine!!
Secondly, Ms. Anna Netrebko, Russan born Soprano singing O Soave Fanciulla with Rolando Villazon. Oh my goodness! How beautiful are these two together! She sings with such vibrancy and I have millions of goosebumps! Her support and sound is incredible, but looks effortless, the ultimate balance, it seems. Her low notes even have spin, and focus.. though the upper notes have depth and richness to them as well. Her breath support makes her voice sound even across the board and her facial expression doesn't get in the way, but adds to her ability to show us what the text is trying to say. Love her. Love her. Love her.
Mr. Thomas Hampson, baritone sang Bring Him Home from Les Miserables and I found it to be sung pretty well.. It sounds a little covered to me in this recording... Is this written for a baritone? I can clearly understand what he is singing, and he seems to have a great image in his mind of what is happening in the context of the piece.
I then checked out Mr. Hampson singing The Barber of Seville's well known Largo Al Factotum. His voice seems to fit this piece better... with a million la-la-la's, I find it to be sung buoyantly, and with clear diction. He doesn't need to move his mouth strangely to get all of these words out, which I appreciate. The tempo is incredibly quick! Thank you James Levine! The man can act, he's good looking, he can sing! What a catch! Mr. Hampson is singing with support throughout this entire piece, and when he sings a higher pitch, I actually do not hear a large transition occur... maybe it's because a large transition isn't occurring or because he's just that good at hiding it? It seems there is spin on each note, and his musical relationship with the orchestra is divine!!
Secondly, Ms. Anna Netrebko, Russan born Soprano singing O Soave Fanciulla with Rolando Villazon. Oh my goodness! How beautiful are these two together! She sings with such vibrancy and I have millions of goosebumps! Her support and sound is incredible, but looks effortless, the ultimate balance, it seems. Her low notes even have spin, and focus.. though the upper notes have depth and richness to them as well. Her breath support makes her voice sound even across the board and her facial expression doesn't get in the way, but adds to her ability to show us what the text is trying to say. Love her. Love her. Love her.
Youtube Singers #13/#14
Let's look at some men, shall we?
For today's youtube blog, I have chosen Brian Asawa and John McCormack.
Mr. Brian Asawa, countertenor, sang Henry Purcell's Musik for a While. - first, he is really good looking. Okay, back to the task at hand.. His voice is clear, and the text he sings is understandable. On the moving notes, I hear a few extra h's (when he sings the word 'wandering')... Perhaps this is because he doesn't have enough breath support? (I really wish I knew why a singer does this!) His throat seems open, and relaxed and his breath relatively supported throughout - I hear a steady stream of sound supporting each musical phrase. His crescendos are rather beautifully executed. You know he handles the fact that the accompaniment is not especially supportive of his musical line really well. Sometimes the countertenor voice quality appears to sit underneath the pitch a little bit to me..? He doesn't seem to manufacture the sound in any strange way.. no funny mouth movements with this guy. Refreshing.
Secondly, Mr. John McCormack from Ireland singing I Hear You Calling Me. Though the video was older, I can hear an even sound throughout his voice, and the high notes were stunning! Unhurried, and elegant.. He seems to use the text to his benefit, letting the text propel his voice forward, always on the breath. His vibrato is even and the voice seems to stay in the vertical column we have discussed in class. The piano seems to support him at the right volume and tempo.. quite the pair, I'd say!
For today's youtube blog, I have chosen Brian Asawa and John McCormack.
Mr. Brian Asawa, countertenor, sang Henry Purcell's Musik for a While. - first, he is really good looking. Okay, back to the task at hand.. His voice is clear, and the text he sings is understandable. On the moving notes, I hear a few extra h's (when he sings the word 'wandering')... Perhaps this is because he doesn't have enough breath support? (I really wish I knew why a singer does this!) His throat seems open, and relaxed and his breath relatively supported throughout - I hear a steady stream of sound supporting each musical phrase. His crescendos are rather beautifully executed. You know he handles the fact that the accompaniment is not especially supportive of his musical line really well. Sometimes the countertenor voice quality appears to sit underneath the pitch a little bit to me..? He doesn't seem to manufacture the sound in any strange way.. no funny mouth movements with this guy. Refreshing.
Secondly, Mr. John McCormack from Ireland singing I Hear You Calling Me. Though the video was older, I can hear an even sound throughout his voice, and the high notes were stunning! Unhurried, and elegant.. He seems to use the text to his benefit, letting the text propel his voice forward, always on the breath. His vibrato is even and the voice seems to stay in the vertical column we have discussed in class. The piano seems to support him at the right volume and tempo.. quite the pair, I'd say!
Youtube Singers #11/#12
Kathleen Battle. Give Me Jesus. Oh my goodness... she has control of that instrument, and I love it. The sax accompanying her is a beautiful addition. Since I don't know that I could sing a spiritual like that, I gotta give it to the woman. The text came across very clearly overall but when she sings the words, "Just about the break of day.." it seems she is holding her jaw tightly.. this section doesn't seem as musical as the rest, but she could be doin' something stylistically..? She sings with ease, and the piece seems to have a real flow to it, especially with the instrumental accompaniment.
I also checked out Voices of Spring by Strauss. While the conductor's gestural language has me baffled, she maneuvers through those quick moving passages beautifully! She seems to be holding her shoulders up though? I wonder why she's on the list of those not to emulate.. because she moves her mouth a little strangely? I do see a bit of unnecessary movement of her mouth...
I enjoy the sound she makes, and it seems to match the overall feel of the waltz very well. Her voice sounds very fresh in this recording to me. She seems to sing with support, though you don't see much abdominal movement as I did with some of the other singers I've watched. Near the end of this piece, when she sings exactly what the flute plays (imitating her,) I was amazed!! It was just right on!
Secondly, I watched Sylvia McNair sing, under the direction of the late Robert Shaw, Shepherds Abiding. Her voice seems even throughout, and she sings the recit nicely... I can understand the text, and she doesn't do anything really crazy with her mouth. The eager tempo is nicely executed.
Since I didn't get to hear her solo voice in an art song/aria kind of setting in the first video, I then watched her sing Alleluia from Exultate Jubilate by Mozart. The way she pronounces Alleluia seems a little odd to my ear... it's so heavy on Ah-LAY-loo-ya in stead of the vowels being taller and more narrow. The incredible part of this video is that she hardly opens her mouth on the melismatic runs- perhaps this is what is supposed to happen? She maneuvers those runs beautifully despite the lack of opening.. On the final high note, we can be confident that she doesn't keep her tongue stuck in the back of her throat, I can see it almost sticking out.
I can't be sure that her sound is even as far as it all being in the vertical tower of sound.. She breathes in through the vowel often, which is a great habit to have. This woman perplexes me a bit! I think she has a beautiful tone, but some of the technical issues seem to get in the way.
I also checked out Voices of Spring by Strauss. While the conductor's gestural language has me baffled, she maneuvers through those quick moving passages beautifully! She seems to be holding her shoulders up though? I wonder why she's on the list of those not to emulate.. because she moves her mouth a little strangely? I do see a bit of unnecessary movement of her mouth...
I enjoy the sound she makes, and it seems to match the overall feel of the waltz very well. Her voice sounds very fresh in this recording to me. She seems to sing with support, though you don't see much abdominal movement as I did with some of the other singers I've watched. Near the end of this piece, when she sings exactly what the flute plays (imitating her,) I was amazed!! It was just right on!
Secondly, I watched Sylvia McNair sing, under the direction of the late Robert Shaw, Shepherds Abiding. Her voice seems even throughout, and she sings the recit nicely... I can understand the text, and she doesn't do anything really crazy with her mouth. The eager tempo is nicely executed.
Since I didn't get to hear her solo voice in an art song/aria kind of setting in the first video, I then watched her sing Alleluia from Exultate Jubilate by Mozart. The way she pronounces Alleluia seems a little odd to my ear... it's so heavy on Ah-LAY-loo-ya in stead of the vowels being taller and more narrow. The incredible part of this video is that she hardly opens her mouth on the melismatic runs- perhaps this is what is supposed to happen? She maneuvers those runs beautifully despite the lack of opening.. On the final high note, we can be confident that she doesn't keep her tongue stuck in the back of her throat, I can see it almost sticking out.
I can't be sure that her sound is even as far as it all being in the vertical tower of sound.. She breathes in through the vowel often, which is a great habit to have. This woman perplexes me a bit! I think she has a beautiful tone, but some of the technical issues seem to get in the way.
Youtube Singers #9/#10
Elly Ameling!! How lovely are you!
I listened to Ms. Ameling sing Widmung by Schumann and heard a beautiful even tone throughout her voice... It all seemed to be in the 'tall, narrow space' we have spoken of in class... Her diction was clear, and the pianist and she seemed to be as one unit. One moment stuck out to me.. when she sings the word, "shmerz" the vowel seems to fall out of line and sounds lazy... though on a second listen it seems she is singing a messa di voce on that note, so perhaps that was purposeful. Ms. Ameling's high notes are so 'free-sounding' and the German text flows from her lips so effortlessly. Her breathing mechanism seems consistently activated, and it sounds that she uses that support on every note of the piece. Her hands being in front of her body seem to work for her.. I do not find it distracting.
I listened to our girl Elly sing Schumann's Seit ich ihn gesehen. The same beautiful voice erupts here, and the tone in the upper register is so stunning. I know that's not a real technical term... Her shifts between the upper and lower voice are so nonabrasive... No clicks are heard between the two. When I watch her, I don't feel she 'gets in the way' of the music. It is as though she is simply the vehicle for which the text is expressed.
Secondly, I listened to Jessye Norman sing for the first time... (Erlkonig by Schubert) Well, the girl has facial expression, and an ability portray the text with her body language, I'll give her that. It sounds that she has a healthy capability to manage her upper voice, and her lower register as well, expressing the various characters of the Erlkonig very effectively.
I could only handle watching the video that accompanied her singing this for so long on account of wild computer graphics, so I then listened to her sing, Dich teure Halle from Tannhauser. I kind of love it. She sings with such support, and her crescendos are very even. She does open her mouth really wide, but perhaps that's because she needs room to get the sound out?! She and the orchestra are partners in equal output and it seems to balance out well.
I listened to Ms. Ameling sing Widmung by Schumann and heard a beautiful even tone throughout her voice... It all seemed to be in the 'tall, narrow space' we have spoken of in class... Her diction was clear, and the pianist and she seemed to be as one unit. One moment stuck out to me.. when she sings the word, "shmerz" the vowel seems to fall out of line and sounds lazy... though on a second listen it seems she is singing a messa di voce on that note, so perhaps that was purposeful. Ms. Ameling's high notes are so 'free-sounding' and the German text flows from her lips so effortlessly. Her breathing mechanism seems consistently activated, and it sounds that she uses that support on every note of the piece. Her hands being in front of her body seem to work for her.. I do not find it distracting.
I listened to our girl Elly sing Schumann's Seit ich ihn gesehen. The same beautiful voice erupts here, and the tone in the upper register is so stunning. I know that's not a real technical term... Her shifts between the upper and lower voice are so nonabrasive... No clicks are heard between the two. When I watch her, I don't feel she 'gets in the way' of the music. It is as though she is simply the vehicle for which the text is expressed.
Secondly, I listened to Jessye Norman sing for the first time... (Erlkonig by Schubert) Well, the girl has facial expression, and an ability portray the text with her body language, I'll give her that. It sounds that she has a healthy capability to manage her upper voice, and her lower register as well, expressing the various characters of the Erlkonig very effectively.
I could only handle watching the video that accompanied her singing this for so long on account of wild computer graphics, so I then listened to her sing, Dich teure Halle from Tannhauser. I kind of love it. She sings with such support, and her crescendos are very even. She does open her mouth really wide, but perhaps that's because she needs room to get the sound out?! She and the orchestra are partners in equal output and it seems to balance out well.
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