Discovering The “Open Throat” With The Help Of Enrico Caruso Pt. 1

Through my studies in Austin, Texas, I became acquainted with the controversial ideas of a famous Italian voice teacher from the middle of the 20th century, a certain Arturo Melocchi, who was reputed to have said daily, “the voice needs to be pushed.” He was the teacher of the famed operatic tenors of the 50s and 60s, Mario Del Monico and Franco Corelli. (Corelli had only one lesson from Melocchi himself and then studied afterwards with one of his students.)

I began studying the recordings of these two singers, and noticed that not only did Del Monico’s and Corelli’s voices resemble each other in striking ways, but both of their voices bore remarkable similarities to that of Enrico Caruso—the most celebrated tenor in history.

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Another Underwhelming Night For Singing At The Oscars

The 85th Academy Awards, unfortunately, was blemished with problematic singing:

1) Katherine Zeta Jones was clearly lip-syncing in the Chicago piece.  The maneuver should have been a no-no in light of the Beyonce's poor judgement call to lip-sync the "National Anthem" not too long ago.

2) Despite her large, exciting sound, Jennifer Hudson's screaming-like singing is finally showing early signs of vocal deterioration as her voice when she sings her high notes is beginning to wobble

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Methodology In Singing

A method of vocal development goes right to the core of one of the most controversial issues in the world of singing and singing instruction: Is a uniform system of singing possible? What about voice training? Is a uniform system of voice training possible? The answer is that while a singer’s artistic choices and singing technique are (or should be) individual to him alone, voice teaching/voice building principles and techniques are standardized and have universal application.

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Frank Sinatra: The Master of Rubato

In analyzing Sinatra’s singing at its best, lovers of the art of singing have pointed to its many virtues—e.g., his fine musicianship, his ability to sing with intimate feeling, his flawless legato (connected singing), his careful employment of vibrato, and his cello-like vocal tone. Still others have believed that the creative way he moved his golden voice through his songs was the crowning achievement of his singing. Let’s consider for a moment this last virtue. What was is about the way Sinatra moved his voice that contributed so much to his remarkable singing?

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Italian Sources Of Singing Pt. 3

Read Part 1 here.

Read Part 2 here.

In reviewing the pertinent literature on 18th-century singing—the best source for information about the old-school, Italian singing art—one great Italian maestro stands out—among a number of notable ones—as perhaps the most articulate with respect to what he understood as proper voice training and artful singing.

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