Tuesday, February 23, 2010

While we were on the subject....

I have been commenting lately about how great Renée Fleming sounds these days, better than ever, in fact. And I have noticed an interesting feature of her technique.

Most singers learn to fix their larynx at a certain spot in their neck. (They learn this whether they know they do or not.) When the larynx is fixed at a low position, it becomes a standard feature of a verismo or Wagnerian style.

It is curious that Renée while singing a lot of verismo, does not do this. As the pitch of her voice goes up and down, her larynx position goes up and down with it. She manages this with an extraordinary amount of precision and finesse. To darken or lighten the tone she lowers and raises her larynx in relation to this moving position.

Fascinating. This is very easy on the voice, avoiding the muscle strain that can develop with a fixed position.

Just thought I would mention.

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