Marco Gilardetti wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:33 am
Are you American? Your "R"s are absolutely perfect!
The only thing I dare to suggest from the bottom of my ignorance is to take care of "doubles" (? double letters in a word) and to work a bit on them, if you feel there is still room for improvement.
I am from Poland, but I studied in the states. Thank you! Yes, I am aware of it that sometimes when I get too excited I do too much pressure with my breath, and this is why doubles come up. I still have much to work on with the languages, and accents.
Marco Gilardetti wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:33 am
What really brings you close to Titta Ruffo in my humble opinion is how well all words are comprehensible in your singing. That's fairly unusual in operatic singers, and was among Titta's preminent qualities. As Titta sang, Italians didn't need to have any
libretto under their eyes - a remarkable quality that can be still perceived today in the recordings he left.
I am very much inspired by his declaratory style. Today it's a rarity to understand anything, or sometimes hear the voice at all while being in a theater, unfortunately. I believe this is why many of us listen to 78s records instead of going to the opera.
Marco Gilardetti wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:33 am
Just for the sake of curiosity, what do you mean with "faulty schooling"? Were you initiated to a different scale perhaps?
Yes, I started singing when I was 21 and from my very first lesson I was trained to be a basso, where in fact I was always a baritone. After being stucked for 9 years in universities, and singing wrong fach for another 5 years I started singing baritone recently. Transition was due to old books on singing, and old records. They don't teach any of those in the universities, nor in private voice studios.
Singing a wrong fach is very common today. It happens to many voices that has a dark colour. Many beginners have difficulty with the high notes, and the teachers instead of teaching them to sing the tops (often they don't know how to teach), they judge those voices as short in range at the top, and associate the voice as a lower type. That's why we have dramatic tenors being lyric baritones, and big baritones singing basso cantante today. It's a broad topic really.
I am thankful for the community of phonograph collectors and for my journey that brought me here. All of you must have very gifted ears.
Many Greetings