{"id":3698,"date":"2015-05-28T06:54:29","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T10:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rockwellblake.com\/blog\/?p=3698"},"modified":"2015-05-28T10:24:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T14:24:25","slug":"almost-two-weeks-to-torino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rockwellblake.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/28\/almost-two-weeks-to-torino\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost Two Weeks to Torino!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I left\u00a0my previous blog<\/a> with the promise to write \u201cmore\u201d about \u201cUna furtiva lagrima\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019m back with\u00a0a little bit more Falsetto<\/a> stuff, and an invitation to meet me in Torino, Italy<\/a> for a Master Class<\/a>.\u00a0 It starts on June 9, and I am looking forward to making new friends as well as getting back to work with\u00a0those of you signed up already\u00a0for\u00a0more of what Garcia spent his life teaching.\u00a0 Even if you haven’t already signed up, I hope to see you there if you will let me help you.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0case Torino is too far to travel or just doesn’t fit your calendar, please come to my home town, Plattsburgh, NY, for a Master Class<\/a>. It will begin August 10 and finish with a concert on August 16.\u00a0 Last year’s Plattsburgh event\u00a0was a blast\u00a0that moved\u00a0some of our participants to make some really big changes in their vocal lives.\u00a0 Come and see if we can\u00a0bring your singing to a higher level.<\/p>\n

Now to get back to dragging Falsetto out of today\u2019s confusion, let\u2019s first remember what the Great Master had to say about discerning talent:<\/p>\n

Garcia writes:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Often one needs an experienced judgment to recognize in the voice of the student the germ of the true qualities which it possesses. Generally, these qualities are only in the rudimentary state, or well veiled by numerous faults from which it is necessary to free them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part One by Manuel Garcia II<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone needs any experience or judgment to admit that Luciano Pavarotti had a fantastic talent, and successfully sang all over the World.\u00a0 I seem to remember that when anyone wanted to talk about the \u201cfaults\u201d that Luciano may have possessed while he was still singing, critics and theatre goers were more concerned with non-vocal imperfections.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember anyone quibbling with his vocal qualities.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s push off into the Falsetto fog by agreeing that Luciano is not displaying any \u201cfaults\u201d in the little video embedded at the end of this blog.<\/p>\n

The audience response recorded at the end of this video should help me convince you to agree.<\/p>\n

\"Mario<\/a>

Mario Salerno<\/p><\/div>\n

Luciano used enough Falsetto in his interpretation of Nemorino\u2019s aria to fulfill the traditional interpretive mannerisms I learned from a fantastic old man of the theatre, Mario Salerno.\u00a0 \u201cWho was Mario?\u201d could be a stand-alone blog, or\u00a0a page,\u00a0and I may get to it one day, but for now I introduce him as my\u00a0guide\u00a0to a lot more Falsetto use in Nemorino\u2019s aria than Luciano\u00a0used when he was caught on video tape.<\/p>\n

Falsetto can be a big fault in the singing of a student when it appears unintentionally on notes that a composer would argue should be sung in Chest Voice. \u00a0I encountered, in Roveretto, just such a student.<\/p>\n

In that same jewel of a town, Roveretto, I ran into an un-tenor that reported the displeasure of certain important Italian Opera operatives with a tenor that used a lot of\u00a0Falsetto\u00a0in Nemorino\u2019s aria just as I had I taught him to sing it\u00a0in Torino last year.<\/p>\n

I can agree that when Falsetto is the only function used by a fella, it is a fault.<\/p>\n

When Falsetto is used convincingly, according to traditional interpretive values, it is not a \u201cfault\u201d but is a wonderful tool.<\/p>\n

Back to Luciano: I suggest you download the music (by clicking here)<\/a>\u00a0and follow along with the video.\u00a0 You will find that my markings in the music indicate where Luciano used \u201cCGC<\/a>\u201d – \u201cComplete Glottal Closure\u201d or \u201cChest Voice<\/a>\u201d and where he incorporated in his singing \u201cIGC<\/a>\u201d – \u201cIncomplete Glottal Closure\u201d or \u201cFalsetto<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

This blog is an introduction to my analysis of Luciano\u2019s performance and only addresses two issues.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Where did Luciano change from Chest Voice to Falsetto?<\/li>\n
  2. What does Falsetto – IGC and Chest Voice – CGC sound like?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Luciano\u2019s voice has a striking divergence of quality when he moves from Chest Voice to Falsetto and back.\u00a0 The difference that you can hear in this video is an excellent example to use for recognizing these two functions in the singing of other vocalists, and in your own singing if you happen to be a guy.<\/p>\n

    How much of either function should a singer use?<\/p>\n

    An answer to that question was dumped on me by that un-tenor in Roveretto who put me on notice that Falsetto is just not good singing.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad Luciano knew better.<\/p>\n