Friday, July 6, 2012

Great Historical Singers (Luciano Pavarotti)

I still hate referring to Luciano Pavarotti in the past tense, because it is still hard to believe he's gone. Pavarotti had the most recognizable singing voice for an opera singer that I can remember. I remember my father playing Pavarotti's recording of "La donna e mobile" from Rigoletto when I was less than two years old. I was told that I was singing along with it. Pavarotti had an exciting sound because his voice had a stunning ring to it. His high notes were like a trumpet in his glory years. Pavarotti used the analogy of blowing into a trumpet for the top voice in a master class. Pavarotti had a great technique when he was in his prime. I am writing this post to share my thoughts on Pavarotti's technique, more than writing a summary of his life. There are plenty of writings about Pavarotti's life all over the Internet. When he was in his prime, Pavarotti's voice was balanced throughout the range, powerful and rich. The remarkable beauty of his voice is what made his voice so recognizable. Even people who are not familiar with opera have heard of Pavarotti. There are several types of tenor voices. They are leggieros, lyric, spinto, dramatic and heldon. Those labels are there in order to classify tenors for appropriate roles. Pavarotti was a lyric tenor, which is considered a light voice that carries, but isn't big. Pavarotti was a very unusual lyric tenor. His voice had an incredible forward resonance in a natural way. I am not saying that he placed the voice to make it sound a certain way. Singing is an exaggerated form of talking. When watching Pavarotti, his tongue was flat as a pancake. When listening to him, the vowels were very clear, and one could hear the transition from chest to head voice clearly. When I say transition from chest to head voice, I am referring to the passagio. That transition results in a mix between chest and head vice in the male voice. The mix between head and chest voice results in high notes being turned over. That whole sensation of turning the voice over can be heard really clearly in Pavarotti's voice, which serves as a good example to singers who are learning. My point in all this is that Pavarotti was really important as a technician, and he knew what he was doing technically. I had the pleasure of hearing Pavarotti in person three times, although he was well past his prime on all of them. The first time he sang in a gala at the Met in 1998. He sang "Quando le sera il placido" from "Luisa Miller." His voice had an incredible resonance to it which was effortless. He was far from 100% when my dad and I heard this. Pavarotti was unable to finish the entire gala because of dizziness. Still, we got to hear that one aria. Pavarotti got healthier for a while, so I got to hear him again in Puccini's "Tosca." Again he was no where near in his prime, but it was very worth hearing. The voice was still there. However, nothing cannlast forever. The last time I heard him, it was historical, because it was his second to last Met performance, but his voice just didn't work. Voices die, just like people die. He tried desperately to make his voice work in that performance, but was unable to do it. When I heard Pavarotti the previous two times, he had the most sound of the three tenors in person. I heard them all live, which is a huge blessing. To say he had more sound than Placido Domingo sounds like a wild statement, because Domingo has a much weightier voice, and sang much heavier roles such as Siegmund in Wagner's Ring Cycle. Pavarotti had the natural forward resonance, or squillo if you will, which was tremendously exciting. I cannot help but wonder if there will ever be another Luciano Pavarotti. There are many great tenors from the past who were also really well known, like Caruso of course, but if someone says the word opera Pavarotti comes to mind.

4 comments:

  1. Nice article, thank you. I heard him in his prime and of course, later. Too bad his vocal life wasn't many more years! I fear USA will not produce so great a talent because of the focus on belters for contest winners in shows like American Idol or the Voice. Maybe Italy can still provide us with another great singer.

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  2. Hi Nick ... you're right, of course.

    Can I, out of the blue, place on your radar my video ‘Pavarotti’s Exemplars’? This is a feature-length slideshow illustrating a valuable and otherwise unavailable 1994 radio interview in which Pavarotti discusses with defrocked British politician David Mellor the tenors who inspired and continued to inform his own singing.

    Since I can't include links here, to view the video you will need to search on its title. The YouTube version is blocked in the US owing to copyright on some of the records used so Vimeo is your way forward.

    If you find the project interesting, chances are you might appreciate my eclectic music website playlistasartform.com, from which it is a sort of spinoff. Again, you will need to search the web on this name.

    Best wishes ... Fin

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  3. He was wonderful. I am no expert,but in my view he was the best tenor I ever heard. I did not ever hear him live. I still cannot believe he is gone. 8years. I recently found a tenor by the name of Morschi Franz who is dutch. He has a lovely voice though not in the same level of Luciano Pavarotti still gorgeous. Thankyou for your observations. In my view there will never be another of the same calibre of Pavarotti. Still missed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. He was wonderful. I am no expert,but in my view he was the best tenor I ever heard. I did not ever hear him live. I still cannot believe he is gone. 8years. I recently found a tenor by the name of Morschi Franz who is dutch. He has a lovely voice though not in the same level of Luciano Pavarotti still gorgeous. Thankyou for your observations. In my view there will never be another of the same calibre of Pavarotti. Still missed.

    ReplyDelete