LIVE! Maria Callas - D'amor sull'ali rosee- Il Trovatore - Verdi

Maria Callas (December 3, 1923 September 16, 1977) at only 28 years old. No vibrato issues at all. I will say that technically she tends to pull off the scuro too much in the middle part of her voice too much at times. And the high pianissimi that you hear get too tight because she squeezes the glottal space closed to try and make the sound quieter. That is what lead to the wobble.

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[MrCafiero]

@MrCafiero her weight loss surgery. When that happens all of the fatty tissue that used to surround the muscles in the larynx and the breathing have all lessened greatly and the spacing is different. So it takes time for the body to adjust to that. Fleming is a whole other mess! LOL!

[MrCafiero]

@ghostofyeats Yeah, that certainly is not the case for Callas. What happened with her is that she started pulling out of scuro, especially in her middle. The falsetto muscles got weak and she starting signing chest higher and higher. Also, she starting singing pianissimi by using the closing muscles of the throat (constricting) and when those muscles got stronger than the opening muscles the top wobbled as they fought each other. Voigt's problem is that she lost weight too fast...cont'd

[ghostofyeats]

@MrCafiero What about the theory, advanced by Renee Fleming, Voigt, and Callas herself, that loss of breath support in the diaphragm was the primary cause (and the psychological turmoil that resulted)?

[Paddy818]

MrC - Google Maria Callas Illness - curious to know what you think.  Tried to paste link but couldn't.

[longlifeluke]

(meglio di quella del 1958, qui la voce è più corposa e gli acuti più squillanti!!!)

[MrCafiero]

@Ariadne7710 Travel schedules were better back then than now. It was not that either. Plenty of others had rigorous schedules and did just fine. Yes, she gave up a career for Onassis. Stop practicing, started pulling off the scuro in her voice, starting constricting the high notes. All of those things are the exact reasons for her failure and nothing else.

[MrCafiero]

@Ariadne7710 Sorry, but singing "heavy roles" has nothing to do with age. If you are vocally fit and with a good technique you are not too young. Which she wasn't. That is not why she declined or she would never have first risen to greatness. Studying for hours does not mean singing for hours either.

[Ariadne7710]

@MrCafiero ...with belcanto roles like Puritani. Lucia etc and a very heavy performance schedule all of which took their toll on her vocal chords. And although her jetset lifestyle when she met Onassis was a also very a big factor I really can't blame her for wanting to be a woman and to experience love and romance. We all want that. Sadly she picked the wrong man who was crude and uncultured and didn't understand or wanted to nurture her artistic needs. His demands were catastrophic for her.

[Ariadne7710]

@MrCafiero I am so glad that someone has at last pointed out that the MUSIC must come first and that is what matters. I was lucky enough to hear Callas several times fro 1955 to 1959 and can attest to her mastery of using her voice to convey emotion. My theory of her early decline is that from the age of about 14 onwards she a)studied and practised obsessively for many hours a day b) started singing very heavy roles from an early age eg Tosca, Fidelio, Aida, etc then intermixing them.......

[Ariadne7710]

@Gydinglight12 Operas are musical dramas composed with the intention to perform them as such in the same way as plays are. Some performers nowadays who perform arias and other excerpts in concerts try to include more realism into them by adding props or gestures or facial expressions to give them more life. In some cases this works but occasionally it is a bit over the top. They could try to use the voice more to convey the mood and emotions expressed as well as gestures and props.