BAD OPERA SINGING - all modern "Rossini" tenors
在樓下這個 聽一聽世界top羅西尼男高音石倚傑華麗的聲音演唱的羅西尼優美的曲目 我跟了一貼就是以上的視頻，明顯帖主對羅西尼男高音及其曆史和要求不了解，所以對我的跟帖大為光火，不知者不怪。為什麽現代羅西尼男高音都不是好的歌唱呢，要從羅西尼本人說起。
從19世紀的嚴肅歌劇(opera seria)歌劇開始，男高音開始被接受為年輕的情人或英雄的角色代替閹伶(castrato)，但更常見的選擇是使用隱蔽的女性角色，特別是女低音。這些婦女演唱的角色最初是為閹人歌手寫的，但新的角色開始為他們寫。對男高音作為情人的偏見仍然存在——在嚴肅的歌劇中，他們的聲音聽起來更具有男中音特質，但聲音越來越流行。
“男中音高音”（baritone-tenor）被認為是高貴的父親或對手，但現在開始扮演情人或英雄。盡管如此，羅西尼仍然沒有受到這些聲音的啟發去為他們寫浪漫的段落。對他來說，男高音的演唱方式應更為強勁，而不是像發自心底的或充滿哀傷的那樣。當“男高音”作為英雄或情人征服了更多的角色後，有人必須作為對手取代他。由於缺乏新的聲音，羅西尼不得不通過為英雄寫更高的聲域（tessitura ）來區分他們。我們有為“男中音男高音”而寫的角色，也有為男高音高音（tenorino）而寫的角色，聲音更輕。在羅西尼的第一部歌劇中，男高音有一個相當中心的tessitura ，沒有太多靈活的段落。對於阿爾蓋裏的意大利人( L'Italiana in Algeri ）來說，這個角色卻是取的非常高的，在意大利的伊爾圖爾科（ Il turco in Italia)也有同樣男高音的角色。但在《西維利亞的巴比裏》(Il Barbiere di Siviglia )中，男高音的角色又回到了中間的tessitura。這意味著羅西尼是為特定的聲音而寫作，並盡可能充分利用他們的個人能力。
在研究羅西尼的男高音角色時要記住的一個重要方麵是，無論是為男高音還是為男中音寫作，音域（tessitura）都不是一程不變保持相等的。男中音也要用假聲來唱高音C甚至D，而且都要唱花腔，但是男高音有更多的音程，而且大部分時間都坐得更高。
當羅西尼在1824年搬到巴黎時，他能夠與當時法國最偉大的男高音一起工作，並為他們在歌劇中寫了幾個重要的角色。他的最後一部歌劇，吉勞姆·退爾（Guillaume Tell, 1829），是巴黎大歌劇的一個新流派。音樂裝飾少了，唱得更戲劇化了。羅西尼的演唱方法為法國提供了可以與意大利人競爭的歌手。在某種程度上，作曲家能夠將世界和傳統結合起來。當時，他們在不同的歌唱學校進行了更大的交流，法國歌手在意大利和法國的意大利人都取得了巨大的成功。
到那時，唱歌的藝術很快就發生了變化 (我們將在後續中更詳細地討論這一點)。羅西尼在吉勞姆寫完之後就不再創作歌劇了，因為他覺得舊的華麗風格正在被一種緊張的風格所取代，在這種風格下，唱歌變成了嚎叫。對他來說，“歌唱的藝術已經腐朽了”。
歌劇創作留給了貝裏尼和多尼采蒂（以及稍後更年輕的威爾第），他們與不斷變化的聲音和歌唱技術合作，創造新的作品。歌劇正在發生變化，大多數美聲唱法作品的圓滿結局正讓位給浪漫歌劇的悲劇。男高音，現在有了更清晰，響亮的聲音，一勞永逸獲得了所有的角色，情人或英雄。男高音的聲音被認為是年輕人的聲音象征。
隨之男高音被賦予較少的花腔部分-除非角色是為羅西尼傳統的表演者寫的。多尼采蒂是那個修複了浪漫男高音真正的tessitura 的人——很高，但不過分，把它傳給了威爾第。
說了這麽多，我們來比較一下現代三種不同男高音對羅西尼的演繹：
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Nicolai Gedda - adequate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2uuTJfQOXY
Juan Diego Florez - good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu_ma50DYZo
Luigi Alva: how it should be done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xqRx5ggOqs
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我最喜歡男高音，也非常喜歡羅西尼，但很少有男高音唱得比“還行”更好
。事實上，隻有一個男高音-路易吉阿爾瓦 （Luigi Alva）-以應該有的方式演繹了羅西尼男高音角色。
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大多數羅西尼都是男高音歌唱家演唱的，聲音太重了（far too heavy a voice）——上麵的例子中，Gedda是一個Spinto 男高音歌唱家，與帕瓦羅蒂類型近似。盡管他巧妙地保留了自己的聲調和音量，並使之變輕，但他卻無法接近演唱這首詠歎調的裝飾性。
弗洛雷斯是一個更輕，更靈活的現代抒情男高音-但對羅西尼來說仍然太重的聲音-因為盡管他處理著大部分的裝飾，但他不能分開音符（notes），尤其是在音程（音階）中（ in the runs (the scales)）。
在這些之後聽阿爾瓦的會獲得一個啟示：這就是應該怎麽做。快速裝飾中的音符是分開的。阿爾瓦並不完美——有時在分開的音符之間會有一種可以聽見的渴望——但他是唯一一個能夠以應該唱的風格演唱羅西尼的人——在這種風格中，裝飾物對音樂的價值做出了巨大貢獻。如果聽不到這些裝飾物的全部價值，音樂就不會顯示出它的全部價值。
In terms of 裝飾音（fioritura）, Alva is by far the more capable of them. And for scores like those of Rossini, which call for fioritura, Alva is far more to be preferred.
即使羅西尼的威廉·泰爾-這是一個更重的聲音的角色（可能是Spinto，像帕瓦羅蒂）；但它需要能夠唱很多“發自胸部（chest）”的HiC（和類似的）。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gilbert_duprez
這些“發自胸部（chest）”的HiC 幾乎是現代羅西尼男高音無人能企及的。
Mister Opera 對正確與錯誤歌唱收集了大量對比
我們在期待 Mister Opera 的 a video of “correct” Rossini singing
Rossini singing - MODERN vs. OLD SCHOOL
MALE VOICE = CHEST VOICE (from bottom to top)
Singers in this video: 1. Mario del Monaco 2. Tom LoMonaco 3. Gino Bechi 4. Mario del Monaco 5. Giuseppe di Stefano 6. Cornell MacNeil 7. Giulio Neri 8. Beniamino Gigli 9. Tom LoMonaco
"Squillo, or what I call core; the harmonics in the sound comes from chest voice. When chest is weakened so is the squillo. And that is what is happening today with singers. Never mistake chest voice for constriction. That is one of the worst things that has ever happened in the history of voice. Now days teachers equate constriction with chest and therefore lesson chest which thins out and weakens the full voice. Chest voice is the foundation of the whole voice. It has been very much misunderstood and misinterpreted. Men should never lesson chest as they go into the passaggio and up UNLESS singing with softer dynamics. Put another way, men should be able to take full chest from the lowest notes all the way up to the top. The difference is that the cover comes in to help as he enters the passaggio. Chest should not lessen. Now days they are all taught to lessen it which is why voices are smaller and weaker. The old way of singing did not resemble what is taught today. I have heard before that some teachers say that there is a difference in the way the tenor voice works compared to the baritone or bass. That is unequivocally false. I think many of these teachers lure people in with these ideas that they have some inside knowledge others don't. So if you are a tenor it is tempting to believe this information. The baritone, tenor and bass voices work the exact same way. They have the exact same musculature and require the exact same development, balance and efficiency. Each voice has falsetto, chest and headvoice. Each voice has to learn to cover properly. They just cover at different points. A bass may cover at Db4 or D4 while a baritone will cover the E4. Tenors generally cover around F#4. This all depends on the size of each voice also. The main difference between each voice is the length, thickness and mass of the vocal folds. Basses have the largest of each, baritones less and tenors even less. Everything else is the same. So if someone tells you that there are certain tricks to training the different voices they are pulling your leg. There are no differences except range and covering points. One of the most misunderstood things in all of voice is the cover that men sing with. I see so many things written about it that are only partly true or completely off. The cover is not cupo. Cupo is a veiled voice used for effect. The cover happens in the passaggio. It is a muscular switch that happens which involves the vocal vectors. No one talks about the vocal vectors. Tom LoMonaco explained it very well. Picture the larynx held by 4 strings. One on the top, one on the bottom, one in the back and one in the front. There is an up pull, down pull, back pull, and front pull. These vectors must be balanced in order to achieve vocal efficiency. Without going into the exact muscles, what happens in the cover is that the down pull and back pull must be maintained in order to keep the larynx in a stable, lowered position. This keeps the sound dark and full. There is no lessening of chest and absolutely no lessening of squillo/core to the sound. I often hear people say the sound there becomes more "heady" of headvoice like and becomes less full of squillo/core. That is absolutely wrong. None of the great singers did this. They kept intense squillo throughout the range. This comes from the chest. In order to get a full, dark sound all the way up the chest must stay involved which causes this muscular switch. The only time you lessen chest is to sing mezza voce or pianissimo. The confusion comes in because the cricothyroid muscles pull more to stretch the vocal folds as you ascend into the passaggio. That is associated with "falsetto". However, falsetto only vibrates the edges of the vocal folds and leaves out the body. It creates a hooty sound with no core. Therefore chest must remain strong all the way up even with the pull of the cricothyroids which help stretch the vocal cords. People who do not do this end up with an airy sound in the passaggio and up or a thin, light sound. Then they try to get clarity by constricting to bring the vocal folds together. The great singers always tried to maintain full engagement of the voice all the way up, and by keeping the sound dark it caused the cover to happen. They did not lighten the voice. They did not know what was causing this sound, but they did make the sound. The proper knowledge of science explains how they could make these sounds and what should be done and what should not be done. You will hear no lessening of squillo or chest through the passaggio to the top in any of these singers. Instead you hear a bigger more bloomed sound on the top." (J. Silver)
