Cornell MacNeil & Renata Tebaldi - Ciel! mio padre - Aida - Verdi

[ktrum492]

I am an opera singer in his formative years, and I vow, one day, to sing with this kind of passion and energy. This is fantastic!! :-D

[MrCafiero]

@ktrum492 Where do you study? The training you need to sing like this is not found in any university.

[ktrum492]

@MrCafiero I'm currently in undergrad in a smallish university in Pennsylvania called IUP. It's not a conservatory or anything, but my private teacher is excellent and I've made much progress under him thus far. Only time and practice will tell what happens after, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to become the best singer I can be.

[MrCafiero]

@ktrum492 Well, I am going to be honest, there are very few people in the world that can teach this kind of singing. So you need to go wherever you can to get it if it is your true passion.

[mazzone1]

Now this is what great singing is all about. Oh to hear voices like this today.

[MrCafiero]

@mazzone1 I am working on it!! They are out there, they just need the training.

[sirenadellopera]

The best Aida/Amonasro duet ever!! Also the tempi!

[adolfoa1961]

@sirenadellopera For me this is the best Aida opera recording

[ChristophePhilippe]

Now, this is excitement.

[MrMattsboy]

God, what singing!

[7bbuwe]

Beste Aida!

[robertwbecker]

Yeah, this is MacNeil at his Jaw Dropping best,,,,, what a force of Nature this voice was,, Tebaldi isn't too bad in this either,,,,,,

[angeloMarcucci]

Can you define what you mean by chiaroscuro voice? I am not sure I understand the term. Thanks

[MrCafiero]

@angeloMarcucci Chiaro means clear or "bright". And scuro means "dark". Great voices are dark and ringing clear.

[angeloMarcucci]

@MrCafiero Thanks... I knew that those terms meant clear or bright and dark.. I was curious to ask you what you meant by combining them, and what a voice that was chairoscuro.. would sound like... Dark with a lot of squillo or ring?

[MrCafiero]

@angeloMarcucci Exactly. That is old school. That is lost today.

[angeloMarcucci]

@MrCafiero I agree with you. I dislike these "white" voices of today, and many of them lack any buzz too!

[MrCafiero]

@angeloMarcucci And it is because the teachers have no clue what they are doing.

[schlosba]

@MrCafiero Ciaroscuro is not an old school concept. It is still used by many voice teachers today who teach real singing. The term refers to when you achieve proper balance. One wants the squillo of a bright tone, allowing it to cut over an orchestra, while still maintaining the darkness that comes with a mature sound. This is achieved in the throat by properly emphasizing the harmonics that fall within the singer's formant (between 2800 hertz and 3200 hertz) depending on the voice type

[MrCafiero]

@schlosba Are you really trying to "teach" me what chiaroscuro is? LOL! Thanks, but I am well aware of what it is...and it most certainly IS and old school concept. Even old painters and visual artists used the term. Voice teachers now may use the term, but he singers sure as heck don't sound like they used to.

[MrCafiero]

@schlosba And scuro or "darkness" doesn't just come from a "mature sound". It is due to an elongation of the vocal track which brings in more darkness. And you cannot just bring in "chiaro" by knowing what hertz range it is in.  The chiaro is produced by the acoustical energy given by the "chest" voice...more specifically the thyroarytenoid. So that has to be developed properly.

[ezev8logos]

this is one of the most exiting moments in the history of music!!!

Tremendous!!!

[billyguns2]

OMG, i had forgotten how tremendous MacNeil once was! This is sensational signing, from both him and Tebaldi. There was also once a time when Karajan collaborated with appropriate sized voices and let these great singers have their way; that as before he started hiring too small, "pretty" voices that he could dominate. I think his best years were from 1952 through 1972, which includes this AIDA.

[cdgray2]

Simply, another testament to the greatness of Macneil.

[TheValdoro]

examine how Macniel sings that incredible phrase( ONE OF THE GREATEST PHRASES IN ALL OPERA) Pensate un popolo vinta stracciato all in one breath up to the high note then with the most expressive intake of breath on stracciato he leaves us all breathlesss. and RENATA every murmur is sublime and leads us from climax to climax . and No dearest Renata you were not " such fools" , because We Get It ,We understand and are eternally greatfull to you all!!!!!

[MrCafiero]

@TheValdoro He does breathe before straziato, but still.....up to there in one breath is amazing!

[TheValdoro]

the point is that not breathing till after the high note makes us the audience hold our breaths in awe so that when finally he gasps a breath the expression on strazziato is so strong that it takes our breath away. Only a great singer can do this, he is a genious!

[MrCafiero]

Agreed. And I already got that point! LOL! He was amazing.

[iriisblue]

@TheValdoro Almost: he takes an expert scatti breath before "stracciato."

[robertwbecker]

Thanks for this marvelous post with these great singers. Also thanks for the Tebaldi quote! She's right, mosquitoes,,, I love it!

[bisigato]

Two huge voices together.

La Tebaldi had a Wagnerian volume

[robertwbecker]

As did MacNeil!

[mrrk]

Wonderfull. The best recording of Aida ever.