The problem here is that although we men do sing "in the mask", DON'T feel it there like a woman does. Women who teach DEMAND this sense of "in the mask"...and it is very confusing to a young male singer. If we attempt to feel what women demand, our voices get tight, nasal and ugly. Nilsson was a great great singer, but she doesn't understand a man's vocal production.
The tenor has a very nice voice actually. A little 'light' for my taste, but most prefer their tenor with this type of hue so what the heck do I know beyond my tastes?
dunque:ottima come interpretazione,quell'aria deve essere cantata molto legata e leggera,come tecnica vocale mi sembra un pò povera anche se le cose sono giuste.bene
You dont have to speak German or Italian to understand what shes telling him to do, simple, use what voice teachers call "the mask" and dont sing so stacato.
You dont have to speak German or Italian to understand what shes telling him to do, simple, use what voice teachers call "the mask" and dont sing so stacato.
You can see when she cross her hands, she is looking at him thinking,... Oh Jesus if I had a baseball bat, Oh Lord if I had one right now.... any way let me help what I believe is impossible
I hope that somebody will give me an English translation of this lesson. Not a word of German do I get. This clip, however, convinces me that Birgit Nilsson retained her beautiful voice throughout her life. How long ago was this lesson given?
sehr schön anschaulich hat sie das erklärt, grade die gestik macht es gut verständlich, und das ist neben ihrem gesang ja auch schon wieder eine hohe kunst.
Nillson was a Wagnerian heavyweight soprano, but she knew the subtleties of Bel Canto, and teaches accordingly here. He is far too heavy with his passiago. Bel Canto is all about smooth transitions, clean phrasing. He sounded like he had decent potential though.
Oh, I wish she was still alive and she could be my voice teacher! She has it SO right. There are millions and millions of "good" singers out there who you can hear are doing it so WRONG, my goodness.. Nilsson had the voice I want (haha, as if.. maybe some day :)).
Can you imagine the pressure one must be feeling when singing for Birgit Nilsson? But she seemed here to be very accessible and direct, which surely must go a long way in putting a student at ease. I would love to hear the entire master class, even though I don't understand what she is saying.
That's the problem with master classes that I just could never quite get. Why would you have to learn how to sing all over again in a master class? No one should have to tell you to sing in the mask in a master class. Much of it should be about interpretation. The vocal technique you should already have.
@babydrane Well, he wasn't singing in the mask and his throat was closed. What she said was correct and needed to be said. You'd be surprised to find out how many teachers produce students who sing that way - probably most of them.
@noammor BRAVA! you are so right, most teacher have no idea about the mask much less how to convey getting there....he was singing straight out the mouth and she was trying to get him in to the mask...love it.
in additon this doesnt even bring us to the basics that sutherland correclty stresses from garcia exercises, which is breadth, support and projection, they sound so easy, yet as any singer should know, the breadth is critical for placing the tone and the suppor of the tone is critical for moving through the middle passaggio and flipping into what the hifh voice. without proper breadth, proper support and proper projecition--which is placement---the upper voce does not have its shelf to sit on
its too big a subject to be talked about here. you have to build the voice from three separate registers, decide where the passagio in the top middle voice to be, to properly place the high voice so that it does not become squeezed in the ascent. and then there are the vowel issues, the ooo mentioned here is part of a ponselle exercise that took her from a, to oo to moo in the high voice, and horne prefers the e for the low voice, while she also stresses a merman nasl ah, to for high voice
furthermore I think that highness follows support since, without support you get no height. The power of suggestion determines that as soon as you think of a localized feeling, inevitably, that is where the voice will be placed. For balanced sound, the breath is free, the body supporting the flow of breath, and the vowels are relaxed, yet clearly defined. Anything else results in a shrill tin-like sounding upper register without warmth or a heavy strained lower register.
I commend these young singers for their efforts. It must be the most difficult thing to be a singer - when your instrument is your body, and it has good and bad days.
And we must not be too severe,this is only2 minutes.She says AS WE SAID YESTERDAY. I am sure allher technique is not these 2 minutes.Master Classes follow a thread of concepts day after day. Also there is what I call " vocal intelligence ". If pupils are short of it...if they lack that intuition they have voices but perhaps are not fully equipped for a professional career. Or they must work three times more than the gifted ones .A teacher is not a magician.
You are rtight in your assertion.I am a voice teacher myself, yet if thinking in the mask can lead to nasality NOT THINKING AT ALL CAN LEAD TO THROATINESS and unprotected sounds.The idea is THINKING IN THE SKULL but NOT PLACING THE VOICE.If you place the voice it is highly probably you will PUT IT IN THE NOSE.Where else. But thinking a high production helps the support. It is the support that must FOLLOW the highness.If you only think in the body the voice can get thick and unruly.
The problem with telling a young singer to sing more in the mask, is that they often, like here, tighten the throat and get nasal. Sometimes its better to tell the opposite; link the voice more to the body... and the result often is a more relaxed throat and larynx, that leads to a more reconant voice, which finally got the "mask" to it. But the great la Nilsson knows it all. She's amazing.
agreed. the voice should ring in the mask but shouldn't be shoved or muscled there. a resonator is accessed by correct vocal coordination not from force.
I love that she is so interested in getting her point across that she uses three different languages that singers would know. I understood every word but I had to pay attention to which language she was using
It is just 2 minutes of a class. She refers to concepts of the day before. What he teaches is crystal clear. It is a Master Class, she cannot give a lecture on mask every time she has a pupil. What she did is to make the student remember what they spoke. They got along marvellously and she helped him a lot. He is Polish tenor.
Certes, dans ce cadre, Nilsson n'aurait même pas à faire remarquer à un jeune chanteur des défauts aussi basiques, dont la correction appartient au tout début des études de chant, vu que une telle classe de maître, la technique vocale devrait être maîtrisée...
Tout ce qu'elle dit est parfaitement juste. Elle a visiblement une oreille bien plus affinée que les professeurs qui ont formé le ténor et qui l'ont laissé chanter sur la gorge.
Mais, même si ses conseils sont d'une justesse absolue, comment peut-il les mettre en pratique, vu qu'elle ne lui en donne pas les clefs? Ce n'est pas en lui disant qu'il chante sur la gorge qu'un élève pourra instantanément trouver la place haute et "di testa".
I adore Nilsson. Thanks for posting this. It doesn't seem to be clicking with him. Not a critcism. It's always easier to watch than do. I do hear a great many singers these days, particularly sopranos and tenors, whose diaphragms are not engaged. The sound is wispy, breathy, wiry and unsupported. Their singing is erratic and inartistic because the basics are missing...like a house built on sand. It's not easy, but this should be in place before attempting a career in opera.
I am reading a book by one of her Students, Denes Striny, and watching this video was sure illuminating with the text! Thank you for posting this!
Oh, and yes, I always found masterclasses excruciating because you want so badly to hear what they are saying but sometimes cannot because of nerves and everyone who is straining to listen to you and gleen from your experience with the teacher!! THis poor boy comes across as if he is in a pressure cooker.
She is trying so hard (and with great compassion) to try to get this boy to get both more head and more "mask" (a higher and more forward placement inotherwords), and a more legato approach, all of which would have produced a more brilliant and yet warmer tone, with less constriction. It is unfortunate that most singers at master classes are not able to understand what is being taught, And the extreme nerves of singing for a Nilsson must paralize them as well.
How unbelievably kind of you to say that. Birgit and Sutherland, two very different voices--but they understood that the throat is not what needs to be engaged in singing--and both produced huge, dramatic sounds.. It's that amazing thing in singing that when you sing in a slender (piu leggiero, says Birgit!) more highly placed way, better focused way, the sound produced will be both brighter AND fuller. Look how hard Birgit tries to get this acroos. Very moving. And thank you again.
I was only saying the truth, since I am going through one of my less inspired phases in singing (since I am now in Egypt and won't be back to Vienna before December 2009). Something clicked within my head when I read your version of her desire :-). Therefore, your comment made me go back to the piano and start working again, yesterday and today - and I thank you for this.
Not being critical at all, but I am astounded that anyone who has any interest in opera whatsoever has never heard of Birgit Nilsson. It is apparent , though , from what I find on youtube comments that most who comment on opera have not either. She had the most phenomenal voice and repretoire of perhaps anyone in the century. Domingo said she was perhaps the "greatest singer ever." Nice that recognized her genius from such a small sampling of her work,
For me the fun of this example is that she is groping with explaining in three different languages. I think the guy speaks Italian and doesn't get the parts in German and English.
I don´t think you are going to learn a lot of techinque in a masterclass, maybe you will learn something about the style of certain composer...but technique needs time and lessons every week. We go masterclasses just to add it to our "curricula vitae"..at least i do.
La Nilsson is right, but if you don't know how to open your throat or how tou use your high resonances, you are not going to learn it in a massterclass. For all the critics here...RESPECT!!!he is not stupid...it is pretty difficult
Well, Callas was a total failure as a teacher. So was Else Brems - a lovely soprano - she gave up teaching, as singing came so natural to her, that she could not empathise with the difficulties of the student.
It seems there are a lot of opera singers here.i mean, everyday that passes it is harder for me to criticize somebody. Above all about tenor voices; i am sorry for what i am going to say but, it is harder for a tenor than for a soprano...i mean, not to sing well (which is difficult for all of us)but to project the voice and this is cause sopranos (by sopranos i mean soprano, mezzo, alto and countertenor voices, are using naturally the head voice. A tenor has to find it, it is pretty difficult.
He is singing in his throat. The problem with Master Classes is that the student is totally devoid of the correct vocal placement, passagio, therefore the classes are of no effect
To sing in the mask means TO ALLOW the aire vibrate against the different places in the skull. For that you need breat support. If you do not have breath support you will tighten your throat muscles, the neck, anything around the larynx zone. It is not exactly closing, it is a sort of half bloking due to tension. As soon as you open the throat the air goes to the mask.
he didn't understand anything she said and continued to listen to himself and do what he knew best. His voice was in his throat and not in the mask and supported correctly. I do think he has a nice voice though. She's the technique Goddess!
It isn't that he doesn't listen. She's explaining a concept that is difficult to correct in an instant - it's about the soft palette being raised, allowing the sound to fill the head. Perhaps she didn't explain it so well but it's not something that can instantly be corrected by simply imitating another singer.
its something thats impossible to explain in one masterclass! He has to re educate the palette to lift and toopen the resonators in the 'mask'...that can take a while to grasp!
First singing in the throat will eventually do damage to a voice. But more importantly, if in the throat, the voice will not carry in a large room -- the overtones necessary to carry are not present.
And she also says a word in Spanish : SIEMPRE which means ALWAYS and in Italian is SEMPRE witthout the A. Nilsson came 7 times to Argentina, my country and she even knew some dirty words very well ! LOLOLOL
I wouldn't even be able to PHONATE in front of Nilsson! I'd be too nervous to sing in front of someone who was so technically and artistically marvelous.
I'm not certain that the tenor (excellent voice) heeded her advice. Isn't it fascinating that one doesn't have to know the language in order to understand the points she's making. I do understand what she's saying but her body language and facial expressions really tell the entire story. Marvelous artist and apparently a great teacher.
Miss Nilsson teaches in a deep but apparently simple way, and she was that way : seemingly a simple woman but a deep soul, rooted in reality. And, she has a lovely way of showing the examples to the pupil, even when she mocks a sound she is not agressive. She had a very motherly side. We all miss her very much.
@Greatfan I think she was too patience with him. Someone like her shouldn't have to reteach someone how to sing. I am not trying to be rude, but ... she devoted her life to music, so she should have at least someone that has same passion. This video shows how humble she was. If was someone like Renata Tebaldi she would ate him alive lol
@RonaldBarone The problem today is that the new vogue is to accept pupils a bit below the Master Class level. Still " green " as we say in Spanish. This is a good pupil but more for a normal class in a Musica School than to refine his art in front of Miss Nilsson. I learn she appreciated him a lot and helped him start his career, he is a tenor from Poland they told me. Tebaldi has no patience at all, very tough with that soprano. There should be always a pre selection .
@Greatfan2011 Nilson is like a mom here. I dont like Tebaldi but I have to agree with her, in order to send someone to have a master class with a singer like Tebaldi, you need to know how to sing well already. She will only help you to make that sound better, but she wont teach you how to sing, it isnt her duty at all.
Nilson has a reputation of been a very nice lady. So I am not surprised why she was so calm.
@Greatfan What a beautiful comment about one of my absolute favorite singers of all time. I try hard to approach my own singing in this way. It requires a lot of practice to over come the habits which interfere with this approach to great singing. Many singers don't like to practice and it shows today.
BN: One moment, one moment, more lightly, more lightly, ::BN singing example:: as I said yesterday, it must be much lighter and higher, more in the mask ::singer argues:: BN: no, it was ::BN sings from throat:: too much throat, too much from here (gestures to throat), one must conserve that, support here (gestures to mask) and here (gestures to diaphragm). And not so much pressure/pushing, more lightly, more gently ::BN sings each note pushed vs. legato line:: understand? tenor: yes. BN: good.
I finally received a useful exercise to instruct / develop the passagio: imagine being totally disgusted by something to the point of feeling cramped-up and say "oo" (as in "ooo yuck that's filthy!"). Say it in the middle upper region of the voice, and use the emotion of disgust to compress and pinch the voice until you start to feel the tone close. Once found on oo, fit the other vowels within that enclosed space.
She is trying to make him learn how to sing! He is singing with the throat and Divine Birgit knows throat should never be used...singing with the trhoat you sing for ten years or less, singing in the mask, as Birgit says, you go on on singing for 40 years!
Wonderful opportunity for anybody interested in learning what good singing is. She was an excellent teacher with complete knowledge of vocal technique. You can see she gets desperate when she sees he understood zilch. He seems to be too proud to accept positive criticism, or maybe he couldn't help it...
I was in that Masterclass with Nilsson!!! It was held in Wolfenbuettel, Germany in 1985. She invited me there after I sang in a Masterclass for the benefit of Pittsburgh Opera earlier in May of that year. The singer she is working with is a Polish tenor who had a lovely instrument. Trust me when I say she liked him!
I am not a professional but only a student (baritone) in classical singing. I just couldn't understand why so many today's tenors (including a few professional ones) seem to be not able to develop good "head voice" and have quite "chesty" high notes. Is this a problem of today's music education in which students are required to sing heavier pieces at an earlier stage in their studies?
head voice at the beginning is much lighter in colour, thinner and therefore is thought of as despicable. by the way this is a problem with all kind of voices.
later, if one studies well, the voice gets darker and richer but most don't have the patience, they just want to sing heavy pieces with a dark voice right from the start
Great point! I was lucky to have a soprano as my first voice teacher and taught by her to (try to) use head voice from the beginning of my studies. I am still learning that, but at least I feel so comfortable now with high notes.
My first two teachers were Sopranos who taught me a light approach to the top end of my voice however I recently discovered that in attempting to "float" the top of my voice I was not supporting the sound. It is a delicate balance of the two I think.
Personally, I am a young tenor myself, and I quickly discovered once I started studying (to my great pleasure) that I had knife-like high notes with great security, because I regularly speak in head voice. However, I don't have much of a lower register.
It is all OK,the student is learning and she is teaching, and she teaches very clearly. This is not coaching or high repertoir, this is clearly a Master Class on singing by one of the greatest singer in XX century. The student can sing but has failures. Let¡s not be too exquisite as to find silly faults in everything ! over subtlety can kill art ! This is not a profficiency test ! Today most singers come technically perfect but zeros as artists because of tight aproaches !
@brividokaldo Do you have the complete masterclass and could you post it? Thank you for that very small but interesting part:)
Oberon90 5 days ago
The problem here is that although we men do sing "in the mask", DON'T feel it there like a woman does. Women who teach DEMAND this sense of "in the mask"...and it is very confusing to a young male singer. If we attempt to feel what women demand, our voices get tight, nasal and ugly. Nilsson was a great great singer, but she doesn't understand a man's vocal production.
Operanobility 3 weeks ago
The tenor has a very nice voice actually. A little 'light' for my taste, but most prefer their tenor with this type of hue so what the heck do I know beyond my tastes?
btw, could Nilsson be any more adorable?
calaftheeast 1 month ago
OMG masterclass with Nilsson?!? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA <3
architecandy 3 months ago
dunque:ottima come interpretazione,quell'aria deve essere cantata molto legata e leggera,come tecnica vocale mi sembra un pò povera anche se le cose sono giuste.bene
BigBassValbisentine 4 months ago
I hope he took her advice about the throatiness of his sound. He doesn't have a bad voice at all. It's a damn good raw talent.
voceangelo 6 months ago
I wonder if she asked him to just sing the tones without articulating the words? oh to see the whole class...
fanufanufan 7 months ago
That guy has such a beautiful voice, I hope he managed to get the technical advice because I love the voice. Does anybody know if he had a carrer?
muchomezzo 7 months ago 2
Anyone wants to become anopera singer has to learn Italian German and French, at least.
Miauriceful 8 months ago
You dont have to speak German or Italian to understand what shes telling him to do, simple, use what voice teachers call "the mask" and dont sing so stacato.
Isaviolin 8 months ago
You dont have to speak German or Italian to understand what shes telling him to do, simple, use what voice teachers call "the mask" and dont sing so stacato.
Isaviolin 8 months ago
RIP Nilsson you will be truly missed!
classicalgalNYC 8 months ago
You can see when she cross her hands, she is looking at him thinking,... Oh Jesus if I had a baseball bat, Oh Lord if I had one right now.... any way let me help what I believe is impossible
RonaldBarone 9 months ago
Più avanti,ma come trovare questa posizione "più avanti" la maestra non dice nulla...
bodiloto 9 months ago
I hope that somebody will give me an English translation of this lesson. Not a word of German do I get. This clip, however, convinces me that Birgit Nilsson retained her beautiful voice throughout her life. How long ago was this lesson given?
Bluejeans0701 10 months ago
sehr schön anschaulich hat sie das erklärt, grade die gestik macht es gut verständlich, und das ist neben ihrem gesang ja auch schon wieder eine hohe kunst.
lakritzeslena 10 months ago
Nillson was a Wagnerian heavyweight soprano, but she knew the subtleties of Bel Canto, and teaches accordingly here. He is far too heavy with his passiago. Bel Canto is all about smooth transitions, clean phrasing. He sounded like he had decent potential though.
jmiller05 11 months ago
this is great! i'm actually working on Una furtiva and Quanto e bella! thank you!
tenor20002 1 year ago
Oh wie gern hätt ich ne Masterclass bei ihr gehabt :)
MaxLuetgendorff 1 year ago
I'm sure she was more hard with herself than with this pupils. She was great, not only singing.
frustrado 1 year ago
She's sooo patient, trying to explain in 3
languages! More like Caballe than Tebaldi:)
Jeanne90275 1 year ago
It's all about the MASK!!! without it the voice will wither and die.
Ising4u333 1 year ago
Semplice ma efficace, BRAVA BIRGIT NILSSON !!!
31122051 1 year ago
Oh, I wish she was still alive and she could be my voice teacher! She has it SO right. There are millions and millions of "good" singers out there who you can hear are doing it so WRONG, my goodness.. Nilsson had the voice I want (haha, as if.. maybe some day :)).
MzKatzy 1 year ago
I love the hodgepodge of German, Italian, a little English, etc. xoxo Birgit
jhwalker1963 1 year ago
Can you imagine the pressure one must be feeling when singing for Birgit Nilsson? But she seemed here to be very accessible and direct, which surely must go a long way in putting a student at ease. I would love to hear the entire master class, even though I don't understand what she is saying.
karlakor 1 year ago
What year is this?
TreblesBasses 1 year ago
That's the problem with master classes that I just could never quite get. Why would you have to learn how to sing all over again in a master class? No one should have to tell you to sing in the mask in a master class. Much of it should be about interpretation. The vocal technique you should already have.
babydrane 1 year ago
@babydrane Well, he wasn't singing in the mask and his throat was closed. What she said was correct and needed to be said. You'd be surprised to find out how many teachers produce students who sing that way - probably most of them.
noammor 1 year ago 3
@noammor BRAVA! you are so right, most teacher have no idea about the mask much less how to convey getting there....he was singing straight out the mouth and she was trying to get him in to the mask...love it.
Ising4u333 1 year ago
parla un pò di italiano La Nilsson
mary75mm 1 year ago
thanks for the video!!!
too bad it's too short...
do you have other videos of her conducting a masterclass?
if you do, please post!!!
LaBartoli 2 years ago
Thank you brividokaldo for a great clip!
jussi2100 2 years ago
in additon this doesnt even bring us to the basics that sutherland correclty stresses from garcia exercises, which is breadth, support and projection, they sound so easy, yet as any singer should know, the breadth is critical for placing the tone and the suppor of the tone is critical for moving through the middle passaggio and flipping into what the hifh voice. without proper breadth, proper support and proper projecition--which is placement---the upper voce does not have its shelf to sit on
mmbriggs 2 years ago 2
its too big a subject to be talked about here. you have to build the voice from three separate registers, decide where the passagio in the top middle voice to be, to properly place the high voice so that it does not become squeezed in the ascent. and then there are the vowel issues, the ooo mentioned here is part of a ponselle exercise that took her from a, to oo to moo in the high voice, and horne prefers the e for the low voice, while she also stresses a merman nasl ah, to for high voice
mmbriggs 2 years ago
furthermore I think that highness follows support since, without support you get no height. The power of suggestion determines that as soon as you think of a localized feeling, inevitably, that is where the voice will be placed. For balanced sound, the breath is free, the body supporting the flow of breath, and the vowels are relaxed, yet clearly defined. Anything else results in a shrill tin-like sounding upper register without warmth or a heavy strained lower register.
CarlaMusic 2 years ago
I commend these young singers for their efforts. It must be the most difficult thing to be a singer - when your instrument is your body, and it has good and bad days.
stickershomeplus 2 years ago 6
And we must not be too severe,this is only2 minutes.She says AS WE SAID YESTERDAY. I am sure allher technique is not these 2 minutes.Master Classes follow a thread of concepts day after day. Also there is what I call " vocal intelligence ". If pupils are short of it...if they lack that intuition they have voices but perhaps are not fully equipped for a professional career. Or they must work three times more than the gifted ones .A teacher is not a magician.
Greatfan 2 years ago 2
You are rtight in your assertion.I am a voice teacher myself, yet if thinking in the mask can lead to nasality NOT THINKING AT ALL CAN LEAD TO THROATINESS and unprotected sounds.The idea is THINKING IN THE SKULL but NOT PLACING THE VOICE.If you place the voice it is highly probably you will PUT IT IN THE NOSE.Where else. But thinking a high production helps the support. It is the support that must FOLLOW the highness.If you only think in the body the voice can get thick and unruly.
Greatfan 2 years ago
Agree!
Albertmaximus1 2 years ago
The problem with telling a young singer to sing more in the mask, is that they often, like here, tighten the throat and get nasal. Sometimes its better to tell the opposite; link the voice more to the body... and the result often is a more relaxed throat and larynx, that leads to a more reconant voice, which finally got the "mask" to it. But the great la Nilsson knows it all. She's amazing.
bloydaage 2 years ago
agreed. the voice should ring in the mask but shouldn't be shoved or muscled there. a resonator is accessed by correct vocal coordination not from force.
aspsingr 2 years ago
is this aria from the elixir of love?
belcunto 2 years ago
@belcunto Yes, it's from ''L' elisir d' amore'' by Donizetti. It's called ''Una furtiva lagrima''.
Remalia19 1 year ago
I love that she is so interested in getting her point across that she uses three different languages that singers would know. I understood every word but I had to pay attention to which language she was using
TrebleB4Mi 2 years ago
It is just 2 minutes of a class. She refers to concepts of the day before. What he teaches is crystal clear. It is a Master Class, she cannot give a lecture on mask every time she has a pupil. What she did is to make the student remember what they spoke. They got along marvellously and she helped him a lot. He is Polish tenor.
Greatfan 2 years ago 2
Thank you! Yes, i could hear the improvement of his singing - that is what a master class is supposed to do!
crooner62 2 years ago
is she talking in german italian and english to this guy? RIP Birgit vi saknar dig, sveriges juvel.
tissetatten 2 years ago
Certes, dans ce cadre, Nilsson n'aurait même pas à faire remarquer à un jeune chanteur des défauts aussi basiques, dont la correction appartient au tout début des études de chant, vu que une telle classe de maître, la technique vocale devrait être maîtrisée...
toupelitidl 2 years ago
Tout ce qu'elle dit est parfaitement juste. Elle a visiblement une oreille bien plus affinée que les professeurs qui ont formé le ténor et qui l'ont laissé chanter sur la gorge.
Mais, même si ses conseils sont d'une justesse absolue, comment peut-il les mettre en pratique, vu qu'elle ne lui en donne pas les clefs? Ce n'est pas en lui disant qu'il chante sur la gorge qu'un élève pourra instantanément trouver la place haute et "di testa".
toupelitidl 2 years ago
I adore Nilsson. Thanks for posting this. It doesn't seem to be clicking with him. Not a critcism. It's always easier to watch than do. I do hear a great many singers these days, particularly sopranos and tenors, whose diaphragms are not engaged. The sound is wispy, breathy, wiry and unsupported. Their singing is erratic and inartistic because the basics are missing...like a house built on sand. It's not easy, but this should be in place before attempting a career in opera.
yes4albert 2 years ago
I am reading a book by one of her Students, Denes Striny, and watching this video was sure illuminating with the text! Thank you for posting this!
Oh, and yes, I always found masterclasses excruciating because you want so badly to hear what they are saying but sometimes cannot because of nerves and everyone who is straining to listen to you and gleen from your experience with the teacher!! THis poor boy comes across as if he is in a pressure cooker.
anoldnightengale 2 years ago
She is trying so hard (and with great compassion) to try to get this boy to get both more head and more "mask" (a higher and more forward placement inotherwords), and a more legato approach, all of which would have produced a more brilliant and yet warmer tone, with less constriction. It is unfortunate that most singers at master classes are not able to understand what is being taught, And the extreme nerves of singing for a Nilsson must paralize them as well.
Richiesutherland 2 years ago 10
You have no idea how much your comment helped me - Thank you.
mannousha 2 years ago
How unbelievably kind of you to say that. Birgit and Sutherland, two very different voices--but they understood that the throat is not what needs to be engaged in singing--and both produced huge, dramatic sounds.. It's that amazing thing in singing that when you sing in a slender (piu leggiero, says Birgit!) more highly placed way, better focused way, the sound produced will be both brighter AND fuller. Look how hard Birgit tries to get this acroos. Very moving. And thank you again.
Richiesutherland 2 years ago
I was only saying the truth, since I am going through one of my less inspired phases in singing (since I am now in Egypt and won't be back to Vienna before December 2009). Something clicked within my head when I read your version of her desire :-). Therefore, your comment made me go back to the piano and start working again, yesterday and today - and I thank you for this.
mannousha 2 years ago
wow I've never heard of her before but shes a genius!!!
alSation81 2 years ago
She is AMAZING!!!
If you liked this video, you should search more of her. Trust me, this woman is unbelievable.
nancho21 2 years ago
Not being critical at all, but I am astounded that anyone who has any interest in opera whatsoever has never heard of Birgit Nilsson. It is apparent , though , from what I find on youtube comments that most who comment on opera have not either. She had the most phenomenal voice and repretoire of perhaps anyone in the century. Domingo said she was perhaps the "greatest singer ever." Nice that recognized her genius from such a small sampling of her work,
Operanut9 2 years ago 2
She speaks in 3 languages at once. I love it!
daffodilnyc 2 years ago 2
yes, it's really funny.
896423658 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
and in no particular order!
2920Thomas 2 years ago
I did a sang in a master class once and I was a nervous wreck!!! so I can sympothize with him!
Melanie89209 2 years ago
For me the fun of this example is that she is groping with explaining in three different languages. I think the guy speaks Italian and doesn't get the parts in German and English.
drbarbarabaker 2 years ago
I don´t think you are going to learn a lot of techinque in a masterclass, maybe you will learn something about the style of certain composer...but technique needs time and lessons every week. We go masterclasses just to add it to our "curricula vitae"..at least i do.
La Nilsson is right, but if you don't know how to open your throat or how tou use your high resonances, you are not going to learn it in a massterclass. For all the critics here...RESPECT!!!he is not stupid...it is pretty difficult
Schollistico 2 years ago 3
hear, hear!
cornificius22vain 2 years ago
Well, Callas was a total failure as a teacher. So was Else Brems - a lovely soprano - she gave up teaching, as singing came so natural to her, that she could not empathise with the difficulties of the student.
2920Thomas 2 years ago
It seems there are a lot of opera singers here.i mean, everyday that passes it is harder for me to criticize somebody. Above all about tenor voices; i am sorry for what i am going to say but, it is harder for a tenor than for a soprano...i mean, not to sing well (which is difficult for all of us)but to project the voice and this is cause sopranos (by sopranos i mean soprano, mezzo, alto and countertenor voices, are using naturally the head voice. A tenor has to find it, it is pretty difficult.
Schollistico 2 years ago 3
i dissagree, i think some ppl just have a harder time finding there high notes no matter what they are.
tissetatten 2 years ago
He is singing in his throat. The problem with Master Classes is that the student is totally devoid of the correct vocal placement, passagio, therefore the classes are of no effect
796824 2 years ago
I couldn't agree more.
Operaddict 2 years ago
QUELLE FEST.....No ,no,no
Piu leggero,capisce??
Si,QEELLLE FESTOOO. . .
Non ha capito niente da niente!Sembra una pietra queste ragazzo!
ideiao 2 years ago
"greenharmonium789" and "Greatfan" have right. That the way it is.
ForAll23 2 years ago
What is the name of this piece? i love it!
Egbert23 2 years ago
UNA FURTIVA LAGRIMA
TreblesBasses 2 years ago
To sing in the mask means TO ALLOW the aire vibrate against the different places in the skull. For that you need breat support. If you do not have breath support you will tighten your throat muscles, the neck, anything around the larynx zone. It is not exactly closing, it is a sort of half bloking due to tension. As soon as you open the throat the air goes to the mask.
Greatfan 2 years ago 2
in your dreams.
CreaturaDura 2 years ago
It was funny how she gets tight and bit angry when he doesn't pay attention to what she says...:)
Is there a continuation video\s?
And where was it taken?
LaBartoli 2 years ago
he didn't understand anything she said and continued to listen to himself and do what he knew best. His voice was in his throat and not in the mask and supported correctly. I do think he has a nice voice though. She's the technique Goddess!
JasminaH79 2 years ago 3
what is the difference between having a voice in the throat and one in the mask...sorry im new to this,,,
Egbert23 2 years ago
It's difficult to explain, she does it in her autobiography, but i agree, he doesn't listen.
mozzrt 2 years ago
It isn't that he doesn't listen. She's explaining a concept that is difficult to correct in an instant - it's about the soft palette being raised, allowing the sound to fill the head. Perhaps she didn't explain it so well but it's not something that can instantly be corrected by simply imitating another singer.
greenharmonium789 2 years ago 3
its something thats impossible to explain in one masterclass! He has to re educate the palette to lift and toopen the resonators in the 'mask'...that can take a while to grasp!
senilangakali 2 years ago
First singing in the throat will eventually do damage to a voice. But more importantly, if in the throat, the voice will not carry in a large room -- the overtones necessary to carry are not present.
mwk12kev 2 years ago
the problem is open the throat for the voice resonating in the mask. the voice remain in he throat because the throat is closen
galehout 2 years ago
d'accordo! i agree!
CreaturaDura 2 years ago
I love how she speaks many languages all at once... There's so German, Italian, English...
pianoandpipes 2 years ago 18
And she also says a word in Spanish : SIEMPRE which means ALWAYS and in Italian is SEMPRE witthout the A. Nilsson came 7 times to Argentina, my country and she even knew some dirty words very well ! LOLOLOL
Greatfan 2 years ago
@pianoandpipes Right but she is ours :) Swedish :P
Xedome 1 year ago
Quanto è brava...quanto vorrei avuto la possibilità cantare per lei una sola volta!
sirenadellopera 2 years ago
she was an incredibly classy and kind lady who knew she was good and was humble about her artistry.
cmhmuscle 2 years ago 2
Thank you for posting this incredible piece of music history. I would love to see the entire master class!
rkrealtorva 2 years ago 3
I wouldn't even be able to PHONATE in front of Nilsson! I'd be too nervous to sing in front of someone who was so technically and artistically marvelous.
taggart81 2 years ago
I'm not certain that the tenor (excellent voice) heeded her advice. Isn't it fascinating that one doesn't have to know the language in order to understand the points she's making. I do understand what she's saying but her body language and facial expressions really tell the entire story. Marvelous artist and apparently a great teacher.
marlyharris 2 years ago 7
il miglior soprano drammatico di tutto il mondo...una Dea
marcobenve 2 years ago 2
this woman is a saint
gibraltarrr 2 years ago 5
this dude SUCKS. he sings like someone just hit him in the balls.
raigekimaru 2 years ago
Miss Nilsson teaches in a deep but apparently simple way, and she was that way : seemingly a simple woman but a deep soul, rooted in reality. And, she has a lovely way of showing the examples to the pupil, even when she mocks a sound she is not agressive. She had a very motherly side. We all miss her very much.
Greatfan 3 years ago 19
@Greatfan I think she was too patience with him. Someone like her shouldn't have to reteach someone how to sing. I am not trying to be rude, but ... she devoted her life to music, so she should have at least someone that has same passion. This video shows how humble she was. If was someone like Renata Tebaldi she would ate him alive lol
RonaldBarone 1 year ago
@RonaldBarone The problem today is that the new vogue is to accept pupils a bit below the Master Class level. Still " green " as we say in Spanish. This is a good pupil but more for a normal class in a Musica School than to refine his art in front of Miss Nilsson. I learn she appreciated him a lot and helped him start his career, he is a tenor from Poland they told me. Tebaldi has no patience at all, very tough with that soprano. There should be always a pre selection .
Greatfan2011 1 year ago
@Greatfan2011 Nilson is like a mom here. I dont like Tebaldi but I have to agree with her, in order to send someone to have a master class with a singer like Tebaldi, you need to know how to sing well already. She will only help you to make that sound better, but she wont teach you how to sing, it isnt her duty at all.
Nilson has a reputation of been a very nice lady. So I am not surprised why she was so calm.
RonaldBarone 1 year ago
@Greatfan What a beautiful comment about one of my absolute favorite singers of all time. I try hard to approach my own singing in this way. It requires a lot of practice to over come the habits which interfere with this approach to great singing. Many singers don't like to practice and it shows today.
MrNeilsy 8 months ago
Who is the student?
Tigermuc 3 years ago
BN: One moment, one moment, more lightly, more lightly, ::BN singing example:: as I said yesterday, it must be much lighter and higher, more in the mask ::singer argues:: BN: no, it was ::BN sings from throat:: too much throat, too much from here (gestures to throat), one must conserve that, support here (gestures to mask) and here (gestures to diaphragm). And not so much pressure/pushing, more lightly, more gently ::BN sings each note pushed vs. legato line:: understand? tenor: yes. BN: good.
isolde316 3 years ago
thank you so much! i always appreciate someone who takes the trouble to translate a segment.
eliasbb 2 years ago
she was a class act
BernardProfitendieu 3 years ago 3
Even her speaking voice is huge!!
zacharybr 3 years ago 2
she is so sweet, i like her... and interesting, one of the biggest voices on earth says leggero, leggero!! lol!
myrtha77 3 years ago 5
Boy, is she wasting her time on this guy. He does it absolutely the same each time.
iriisblue 3 years ago 5
I finally received a useful exercise to instruct / develop the passagio: imagine being totally disgusted by something to the point of feeling cramped-up and say "oo" (as in "ooo yuck that's filthy!"). Say it in the middle upper region of the voice, and use the emotion of disgust to compress and pinch the voice until you start to feel the tone close. Once found on oo, fit the other vowels within that enclosed space.
calafsdream 3 years ago 2
Noobody knows how to "TEACH" the passaggio!!! Except for one person...
cleanears 3 years ago
Who?? :) I would like to know ! ;)
Fillefjonkan 3 years ago
The funnies is that she is loocked like Hyasint Bouquet:-)
PN9K5 3 years ago
he doesn't get it in the end and she just lets him go on, lol. oh welll.
JuillHope17 3 years ago 2
Can somebody please translate it to English...? :(
smartestwoman 3 years ago
Yes I can. What you like to know? The complet text?
jaybee005 3 years ago
Yes please, if you can
But today I listen it again (after some lessons with my teacher) and somehow I started to have an idea what she was talking about :)
smartestwoman 3 years ago
Why, Nilsson is mixing herself!
2920Thomas 2 years ago
Non capisce niente
guappaione 3 years ago
mais combien de langues parlait-ell?
HoD3 3 years ago
He needs to get the voice focused before he goes to a MAster Class!
All Tenors should vocalize while holding their nose and sing on Oh and then go to Awh!
You will find the focus and get the Ring in the voice! Takes about 6months but it works!
Operaman41 3 years ago
a master!
gibraltarrr 3 years ago
There are so many stupid singers out there.
Webarton 3 years ago 2
I absolutely agree too :-D!!
Birgitt20 3 years ago
This is wonderful! Thanks for posting this!!
maryjivinjane 3 years ago 2
What she is trying to get him to do... its funny, cause, thats the KEY to the tenor voice..
Webarton 3 years ago
She is trying to make him learn how to sing! He is singing with the throat and Divine Birgit knows throat should never be used...singing with the trhoat you sing for ten years or less, singing in the mask, as Birgit says, you go on on singing for 40 years!
Birgitt20 3 years ago 3
Absolutely agree.
=)
Webarton 3 years ago 2
She´s simply the best. Better than all the rest!
swe50 3 years ago 2
Poor Birgit.
iriisblue 3 years ago
wow, please upload more of this! Does anyone know where one can get the complete sessions?
cornificius22vain 3 years ago 3
Ditto!
maryjivinjane 3 years ago
quiero mas videos asi de nilsson!!!!!!!!!!
isisclassic 3 years ago
i fucking love her...even when she's not singing!
thisizjoey 3 years ago 3
i love how she switches in and out of german, italian, and english when she talks to him. lol.
foxxywilma 3 years ago 4
more! more!
ashleyknightmusic 3 years ago 3
Wonderful opportunity for anybody interested in learning what good singing is. She was an excellent teacher with complete knowledge of vocal technique. You can see she gets desperate when she sees he understood zilch. He seems to be too proud to accept positive criticism, or maybe he couldn't help it...
nilsuthor 3 years ago 2
I was in that Masterclass with Nilsson!!! It was held in Wolfenbuettel, Germany in 1985. She invited me there after I sang in a Masterclass for the benefit of Pittsburgh Opera earlier in May of that year. The singer she is working with is a Polish tenor who had a lovely instrument. Trust me when I say she liked him!
Conburro 3 years ago
I am not a professional but only a student (baritone) in classical singing. I just couldn't understand why so many today's tenors (including a few professional ones) seem to be not able to develop good "head voice" and have quite "chesty" high notes. Is this a problem of today's music education in which students are required to sing heavier pieces at an earlier stage in their studies?
cyeh2 3 years ago
head voice at the beginning is much lighter in colour, thinner and therefore is thought of as despicable. by the way this is a problem with all kind of voices.
later, if one studies well, the voice gets darker and richer but most don't have the patience, they just want to sing heavy pieces with a dark voice right from the start
idraote 3 years ago 2
Great point! I was lucky to have a soprano as my first voice teacher and taught by her to (try to) use head voice from the beginning of my studies. I am still learning that, but at least I feel so comfortable now with high notes.
cyeh2 3 years ago
My first two teachers were Sopranos who taught me a light approach to the top end of my voice however I recently discovered that in attempting to "float" the top of my voice I was not supporting the sound. It is a delicate balance of the two I think.
daniel01141975 3 years ago
Personally, I am a young tenor myself, and I quickly discovered once I started studying (to my great pleasure) that I had knife-like high notes with great security, because I regularly speak in head voice. However, I don't have much of a lower register.
phantom4087 3 years ago
mi piacrebbe avere piu di questo master classes, qualcuno sai dove trovare? grazie
sbellato 3 years ago
It is all OK,the student is learning and she is teaching, and she teaches very clearly. This is not coaching or high repertoir, this is clearly a Master Class on singing by one of the greatest singer in XX century. The student can sing but has failures. Let¡s not be too exquisite as to find silly faults in everything ! over subtlety can kill art ! This is not a profficiency test ! Today most singers come technically perfect but zeros as artists because of tight aproaches !
Greatfan 3 years ago 2
Give us more from this masterclass, please!!
Caskader 3 years ago 3
He just didn't get it!
leadingbyxample 3 years ago 3
How does a singer manage to end up doing master classes with someone the calibre of Birgit Nilsson if he hasn't mastered the basics?
TheRealYeletsky 3 years ago 3
Poor student has no clue what she's trying to have him do. He's all throat and she can't stand it.
bosancherosi 3 years ago 7
do you have more videos like this one
Royalorgans 3 years ago 3
please send more from this masterclass:))please..
distediste 3 years ago 4
I love her:)))
distediste 3 years ago 4
She's really funny!
Klassizismus 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Grandissima Birgit!!! Un mostro di tecnica!!!
Orbazzano 3 years ago
how the hell did this comment get 7 thumbs down??? it says "great Birgit!!! a show of technique!!!"
explain to me what is SO terrible about that comment.
OettingerCroat 3 years ago 6
Well you know, people are such lemmings...
Caskader 3 years ago 2
I believe you got +5, not -7. The number is on the left, even if the rating is negative.
pasfresh123 3 years ago
maybe someone was just practicing how to use his mouse.
pasfresh123 3 years ago
lool, i think you're right
OettingerCroat 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Adorable Birgit, this video shows why people loved her so much ! She could be that warm and sensitive too !
Greatfan 3 years ago
How did this comment attract 7 negatives?
Is it Nilsson or Greatfan "bash week"?
If you find out, please let me know as it
is puzzling to say the least.
Birgit Nilsson was more than a great singer, she was a "phenomenon", she was unique.
nutty42 3 years ago 4
MORE, MORE, THIS IS FANTASTIC !
Greatfan 3 years ago
who could imagine Nilsson and Donizetti...
tklogan11809 3 years ago 2
It's a bit as if Natalie Dessay would sing Verdi's Lady Macbeth^^
Klassizismus 3 years ago