Institute
The Institute for Singing Research "Bel canto and Music Drama" was founded in December 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
It sees itself as a forum for the exchange of views on all forms of vocal music, but especially on opera.
The focus of the institute's interest is "singing" as a special form of human artistic creativity.
For this reason, the institute primarily addresses its research work to practicing and aspiring singers, but also to all those who are professionally involved with the subject of "singing": conductors, orchestra musicians, theater managers and employees of artistic agencies.
It is the concern of the members of the institute to explain to all the groups of specialists working in the theater more about the subject, which is still shrouded in legend and is often obscure to this day, in order to help them to better orient themselves on the way to the future.
In the artistic work of the most important opera singers whose sound documents are available to us, such as E. Caruso, M. Callas, B. Gigli, R. Tebaldi, J. Sutherland, L. Pavarotti etc., there are clear similarities. Do these similarities belong to the area of vocal technique or rather to interpretation? Were all of these singers trained in a bel canto tradition? And if so, is bel canto a good vocal technique for interpreting the dramatic operatic repertoire? If you want to know the answers to these questions, then take a look at the workshops to be held by the institute.
A special interest of the research work of our institute is the authentic bel canto singing technique Canto sul fiato. In his book In the history of bel canto , Rodolfo Celletti defines this singing technique as follows:
The castrati primarily cultivated sul fiato or singing formed and supported by the breath , which theoreticians such as Tosi and Mancini - two castrati - called chest resistance in their empirical language and described as: "the sustain the voice with the natural strength of the chest without constricting the throat, otherwise the tone is "flaky and sluggish". Breath would be more correct than chest, and the two authors wanted to say that with correct phonation a tone is formed, sustained, strengthened and weakened solely with the amount of air consciously released from the lungs when singing, whereby the singer regulates the activity of the diaphragm and the antagonism of the muscles to a and lets play exhale.
Rodolfo Celletti, History of Bel Canto , Kassel, 1989, pp. 114-115.
In the lexicon of the singing voice, this singing technique is described as follows:
Cantare sul fiato means singing on the breath. What is meant is the tonally ideal breathing regulation, which leads to a balanced tone that is sonorous but not depressed at the same time.
Ann-Christine Mecke, Martin Pfleiderer, Bernhard Richter and Thomas Seedorf (ed.), Lexicon of the singing voice , Laaber: Laaber, ² 2018, p. 616.
Furthermore, in Celletti's book we find the following references to this, which has almost been forgotten today Singing technique:
It is not easy to describe the voice produced "sul fiato", although the trained ear recognizes it immediately . Ibid., p. 115. With records it is easy to tell whether an artist is singing sul fiato or not; and yet the difference goes unnoticed by most teachers teaching today .
In the recordings of the greatest prima donnas of the last thirty years there is a return to classical phonation, which had almost entirely disappeared and only reappeared with Callas, Tebaldi, Olivero, Simionato and Schwarzkopf just after the war. It was subsequently adopted by Gencer, Sutherland, Horne, Caballe, Freni, Verrett, Kabaivanska and others... In the male voices it is exactly the opposite; a technical decline is unmistakable here, which is why it is always the great tenors, baritone players and bass players of the 1920s and 1930s who give the best examples of singing sul fiato .
Ibid., p. 116.
It sees itself as a forum for the exchange of views on all forms of vocal music, but especially on opera.
The focus of the institute's interest is "singing" as a special form of human artistic creativity.
For this reason, the institute primarily addresses its research work to practicing and aspiring singers, but also to all those who are professionally involved with the subject of "singing": conductors, orchestra musicians, theater managers and employees of artistic agencies.
It is the concern of the members of the institute to explain to all the groups of specialists working in the theater more about the subject, which is still shrouded in legend and is often obscure to this day, in order to help them to better orient themselves on the way to the future.
In the artistic work of the most important opera singers whose sound documents are available to us, such as E. Caruso, M. Callas, B. Gigli, R. Tebaldi, J. Sutherland, L. Pavarotti etc., there are clear similarities. Do these similarities belong to the area of vocal technique or rather to interpretation? Were all of these singers trained in a bel canto tradition? And if so, is bel canto a good vocal technique for interpreting the dramatic operatic repertoire? If you want to know the answers to these questions, then take a look at the workshops to be held by the institute.
A special interest of the research work of our institute is the authentic bel canto singing technique Canto sul fiato. In his book In the history of bel canto , Rodolfo Celletti defines this singing technique as follows:
The castrati primarily cultivated sul fiato or singing formed and supported by the breath , which theoreticians such as Tosi and Mancini - two castrati - called chest resistance in their empirical language and described as: "the sustain the voice with the natural strength of the chest without constricting the throat, otherwise the tone is "flaky and sluggish". Breath would be more correct than chest, and the two authors wanted to say that with correct phonation a tone is formed, sustained, strengthened and weakened solely with the amount of air consciously released from the lungs when singing, whereby the singer regulates the activity of the diaphragm and the antagonism of the muscles to a and lets play exhale.
Rodolfo Celletti, History of Bel Canto , Kassel, 1989, pp. 114-115.
In the lexicon of the singing voice, this singing technique is described as follows:
Cantare sul fiato means singing on the breath. What is meant is the tonally ideal breathing regulation, which leads to a balanced tone that is sonorous but not depressed at the same time.
Ann-Christine Mecke, Martin Pfleiderer, Bernhard Richter and Thomas Seedorf (ed.), Lexicon of the singing voice , Laaber: Laaber, ² 2018, p. 616.
Furthermore, in Celletti's book we find the following references to this, which has almost been forgotten today Singing technique:
It is not easy to describe the voice produced "sul fiato", although the trained ear recognizes it immediately . Ibid., p. 115. With records it is easy to tell whether an artist is singing sul fiato or not; and yet the difference goes unnoticed by most teachers teaching today .
In the recordings of the greatest prima donnas of the last thirty years there is a return to classical phonation, which had almost entirely disappeared and only reappeared with Callas, Tebaldi, Olivero, Simionato and Schwarzkopf just after the war. It was subsequently adopted by Gencer, Sutherland, Horne, Caballe, Freni, Verrett, Kabaivanska and others... In the male voices it is exactly the opposite; a technical decline is unmistakable here, which is why it is always the great tenors, baritone players and bass players of the 1920s and 1930s who give the best examples of singing sul fiato .
Ibid., p. 116.
Es versteht sich als ein Forum für den Meinungsaustausch in Bezug auf alle Formen der Vokalmusik, insbesondere aber - auf die Oper.
Im Zentrum des Interesses des Instituts steht "der Gesang" als eine besondere Form der künstlerischen Kreativität des Menschen.
Aus diesem Grunde adressiert das Institut seine Forschungsarbeit in erster Linie den ausübenden und den angehenden Sängern, doch auch all denen, die beruflich mit dem Thema "Gesang" zu tun haben: den Dirigenten, den Orchestermusikern, den Theatermanagern und den Mitarbeitern der künstlerischen Agenturen.
Es ist das Anliegen der Mitglieder des Instituts, all den genannten Gruppen der am Theater tätiger Spezialisten mehr über das bis heute sagenumwobene und öfters im Dunkel liegende Thema zu erklären, um ihnen zu helfen, sich auf dem Weg in die Zukunft besser orientieren zu können.
Im Kunstschaffen der bedeutendsten Opernsänger, derer Tondokumente uns zur Verfügung stehen, wie E. Caruso, M. Callas, B. Gigli, R. Tebaldi, J. Sutherland, L. Pavarotti etc. erweisen sich eindeutuge Gemeinsamkeiten. Gehören diese Gemeinsamkeiten zum Bereich der Gesangstechnik oder eher zur Interpretation? Waren alle diese Sänger in einer Belcanto-Tradition ausgebildet? Und wenn ja, ist der Belcanto als eine Gesangstechnik für die Interpretation des dramatischen Opernrepertoires gut geeignet? Wenn Sie die Antworte auf diese Fragen erfahren wollen, dann werfen Sie einen Blick auf die vom Institut durchzuführende Workshops.
Ein besonderes Interesse der Forschungsarbeit unseres Instituts gilt der authentischen Belcanto-Gesangstechnik Canto sul fiato. In seinem Buch Geschichte des Belcanto definiert Rodolfo Celletti diese Gesangstechnik wie folgt:
Von den Kastraten wurde vor allem sul fiato oder vom Atem gebildete und gestützte Gesang geplegt, den Theoretiker wie Tosi und Mancini - zwei Kastraten - in ihrer empirischen Sprache Brustresistenz nannten und umschrieben als: "die Stimme mit der natürlichen Kraft der Brust halten, ohne dabei die Gurgel zusammenzuziehen, da der Ton sonst fehlerhaft und schwerfällig" sei. Korrekter wäre wohl Atem anstellle von Brust, und sagen wollten die beiden Autoren, dass bei richtiger Phonation ein Ton allein mit der ganz bewußt beim Singen aus der Lunge entlassenen Luftmenge gebildet, ausgehalten, verstärkt und abgeschwächt wird, wobei der Sänger die Tätigkeit des Zwerchfells reguliert und den Antagonismus der Muskeln zum Ein- und Ausatmen spielen läßt.
Rodolfo Celletti, Geschichte des Belcanto, Kassel, 1989, S. 114-115.
Im Lexikon der Gesangsstimme wird diese Gesangstechnik so beschrieben:
Unter cantare sul fiato versteht man ein Singen auf dem Atem. Gemeint ist die klanglich ideale Atemregulation, die zu einem balancierten Ton führt, der zugleich klangvoll, aber nicht gedrückt ist.
Ann-Christine Mecke, Martin Pfleiderer, Bernhard Richter und Thomas Seedorf (hrsg.), Lexikon der Gesangsstimme, Laaber: Laaber, ²2018, S. 616.
Des Weiteren finden wir im Buch von Celletti folgende Hinweise auf diese heutzutage fast in Vergessenheit geratene Gesangstechnik:
Es fällt nicht ganz leicht, die „sul fiato“ erzeugte Stimme zu beschreiben, obwohl sie das geschulte Ohr sofort erkennt.
Ebd., S. 115.
Bei Schallplatten kann man leicht erkennen, ob ein Interpret sul fiato singt oder nicht; und doch wird der Unterschied von den meisten heute unterrichtenden Lehrern nicht wahrgenommen. Bei den Aufnahmen der größten Primadonnen der vergangenen dreißig Jahre zeichnet sich eine Rückkehr zur klassischen Phonation ab, die schon fast ganz verschwunden war, und erst wieder auftauchte mit Callas, Tebaldi, Olivero, Simionato und Schwarzkopf gleich nach dem Krieg. Von Gencer, Sutherland, Horne, Caballe, Freni,Verrett, Kabaivanska und andern wurde sie anschließend übernommen… Im Bereich der Männerstimmen verhält es sich genau umgekehrt; hier ist ein technischer Verfall unverkennbar, darum sind es immer die großen Tenöre, Baritonisten und Bassisten der Zwanziger- und Dreißigerjahre, die die tauglichsten Beispiele für das Singen sul fiato geben.
Ebd., S. 116.