Sonia Prina, Se l'inganno sortisce felice, Ariodante '08

Sonia Prina as Polinesso. San Francisco, July 6, 2008.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sonia
• prina
• ariodante
• polinesso
• handel
• haendel
• baroque

[rv728]

Graham was better, but not as fast. Prina's singing to me is not as pleasant as Podles or Graham, but she has talents they don't have, I hope her tone will become more even and beautiful with time.

[rv728]

...and talking of faulty coloratura, Podles's looks (and even sounds) pretty laborious live, all that head-bobbing... Prina's was done with astonishing ease.

[serenaluce]

Horror! Prina is just competing with Bartoli whose singing is uglier and with more visceral special effect! Such women forgot that opera is first of all about BEAUTY, and not clicking hen's technique and awful grimaces... Such singers are the sign of degradation ot the musical world...

[CountertenorJ]

Sadly, that is not the case. The health of a speaking voice is usually very indicative of the health of the singing voice. We also do not know exactly what anyone of note really sounded like, because all we have are words. Moreschi has a rather shrill voice at times and his lower register is not smooth AT ALL. The transition is not clean and he uses it very aggressively. He was also taught by Mustafa who was said to be a very fine soprano in his own right.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater As far as shrillness, Senesino was reported to have a rather shrill speaking voice, though it was from a débutante of the day. ‘We thought it a fat old woman; but it spoke in a shrill little pipe, and proved itself to be Senesini’. So we can assume that this was in old age and not indicative of the stage. And not all castrati were said to have sweet voices -- Senesino and Guadagni notably.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater The castrati strove for register blend, but did, indeed, have distinct registers. Burney and Quantz both commented on how the registers were used. Castrati were often noted as singing harder in the lower registers, much like pop singers do today -- Moreschi is an easy show of that. It was also done to prove that they weren't just impotent boys, but still men. They did not gain more flexibility and or range than most boys had. The lung capacity is what was different.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater If only Ms. Callas had the technique to back it up...such wonderful recordings in the early years only to be destroyed by a loss of technique in the later years...Listening to how Alessandro Moreschi used his voice is probably a good indication, even if it isn't what we currently consider tasteful, of just how much chest voice was utilized by castrati. I have an odd feeling if we were to hear Farinelli, there would be much more chest voice than we were comfortable hearing.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater Some castrati were known for longevity. Many were not. Some were even specifically known for not being. I'll have to look them up, but it was a chuckle-worthy read. I believe Ms. Prina has a "natural coloratura" facility and instead of actually cultivating it, she just "went with it." It shows in how it is never consistent in tempo and always slows down and speeds up. It's like a primal form of Andreas Scholl's -- only without grace or purpose.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater Edit from last post: chosen* (not choose). More on Ms. Gruberova, her coloratura in "Rejoice Greatly" is lovely. She chooses to do the "easier" (though singing triplets is harder for me), and far prettier -- in my opinion, version of "Rejoice" written in 12/8 instead of 4/4. The lines are longer, but the coloratura is much easier on the voice, due to its more linear fashion.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater I agree wholeheartedly. I try to teach people to sing in this less-than-Baroque, but much healthier style to keep longevity. But it is good to know that aspirations aren't inherently evil or bad, but a tool that must be delicately choose and utilized, because some of the material to sing is nigh impossible for most people to sing without it. Ms. Gruberova has lovely coloratura, but would not be able to handle Handel's operas. His oratorios, sure, but not primo uomo roles.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater Handelian coloratura, like what we are hearing in this clip, is much less linear and more vocally taxing that much of the coloratura found in Rossini and some Vivaldi. That does not mean it is easier, but the various lines of leaps in thirds, rapid changes in direction and less movement in a scalar fashion makes it more difficult to execute without aspiration or diaphragmatic involvement. Just because singers come from the same school does not mean they can do the same things.

[CountertenorJ]

@SkateNater If you could point me to these older singers who are doing Handelian-operatic coloratura I'd be very appreciative. There are many types of coloratura, and Handel did not write it for the aging voice. I think this goes specifically to singers themselves and not just their technique, because everyone's body is different -- including its fortitude. While there are indications of castrati giving late-life concerts, there are also many who lost their voice by middle age.