Category: Vocal Styles

• The Bel Canto Tradition

  In my last post I quickly mentioned the fact that Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor is a bel canto opera.  Here’s a link to a fabulous 3-year old essay by New York Times critic, Anthony Tommasini that can serve as a primer about the bel canto tradition. Bel canto essentally means fine singing or beautiful singing.…

  stephanieadrian

  March 22, 2011

  Opera History, Vocal Styles

• Two Vocal Styles, the Same Singer

  Here I’ve included two videos of soprano Renee Fleming.  The first is Fleming singing Liu’s aria from Puccini’s Turandot and the second is a clip from her new Indie record, Dark Hope.   These recordings highlight a distinctive difference in vocal styles.  What are the characteristics of classical singing as opposed to a pop sound?  To quote pedagogue Richard Miller,  “Classical vocalism, as practiced in…

  stephanieadrian

  January 13, 2011

  Great Singers, Vocal Styles

  Dark Hope, Renee Fleming, Richard Miller