Renée Fleming, an artist renowned for her vivid portrayals of some of opera’s greatest characters, points out that today’s singers have an opportunity and resource that was unavailable to previous generations. “We are the first generation to have 100 years of recorded history at our disposal.”
Fleming says recordings are indispen-sable tools in her creative process. “I listen to be informed about the variety of interpretations, but also to find out how interpretations have changed over time.” When preparing a new role, she seeks out every recording she can find and then hones in on a few favorites.
Some singers avoid recordings because they do not want someone else’s “take” to influence their own, but Fleming suggests that singers should listen to everything that is available. “It gives you a multitude of choices, and it helps you determine what your taste is and what’s important to you, whether it’s tone, style, or a unique take on a role,” she says. “But because not everything is on CD, one has to dig and sort through different media. The Internet and YouTube are wonderful resources; it’s amazing how many historic recordings and videos have been uploaded.”
When choosing recordings, Fleming suggests the following, “Singing well and singing in tune are the first steps, but they are only the foundation. I look for those that communicate effectively, are emotionally connected, and engage the listener authentically—and I listen for authentic language and style.”
Like Fleming, many important figures in our field place great value on the practical application of recordings. Their willingness to share their thoughts, ideas, and recommendations can encourage and inspire all of us to further explore the musical riches of a century’s worth of recorded history.
On recordings and why we should listen
For tenor Eric Cutler, winner of the 2005 Richard Tucker Award and featured on the August ’08 cover of CS, “Knowing what came before, [and] knowing the history of what you’re doing” is important in every endeavor, be it baseball, car repair, or singing.
To gain this knowledge in part, he turns to recordings—particularly those made prior to the 1960s. “I love the honesty of those performances, and the true expression,” he says. They’re examples of emotionally compelling and true performances, not something that is, frankly, over-marketed, glossy, and plastic.”
Cutler is quickly becoming one of the world’s leading tenors. He speaks with zeal about how changes in the recording industry have affected the recordings themselves. “In the 1970s, . . . it became glaringly obvious that the objective was to produce a product that was musically ‘correct.’ In the end, there was a freshness and energy lost in the attempt to sell a product that was note perfect, marketable, and pretty. What we’re left with is a dull version, spliced and void of its original intent, but perfect, nonetheless.”
Cutler says that certain aspects of personal expression have been lost as a result. “There was a rawness, an honesty, even occasional ugliness on those records. People were allowed to make ugly sounds when the words called for it. It was OK to not be perfect. That is what live theater is all about!”
On what we can hear
Martin Katz, revered coach/accompanist, and Artur Schnabel, Collegiate Professor of Collaborative Piano at the University of Michigan, make clear points about what we can glean from older records.
“One can hear the technical security inherent in historically important singers,” says Katz. “One can appreciate how musical style and performance practice change over the years. Mozart style in 1930 was very different from today. With longer careers, one can hear the same voice as a young instrument and then as a mature or even too mature one. This is very different from listening to today’s instant celebrities whose track records are as yet unproven.
“Don’t let the unpolished technology of the recording process fool you. These voices were gorgeous. What sounds like non-vibrato singing is probably not.”
Likewise, soprano Dina Kuznetsova—who scored a triumph as Tatyana opposite Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Eugene Onegin earlier this year in Chicago—encourages singers to look beyond the scratches to the treasures contained within many older recordings.
“First of all, one should not turn away from the old recordings because of the recording quality and extra ‘noise,’ which is often present. . . . After a short while one can learn to ignore the recording imperfections. What one gets in return is invaluable: a sense of continuity of musical style; a sense of a singer’s technique which had not been tampered with in any way—no splicing, no sound engineers. Every vibration of the voice is the way the singer sang it in one take. . . . It is a thrill to listen to the voices of people long gone. Their emotions, their souls come to us.”
On live recordings
Recordings of live performances are increasingly available and are unique and important resources. Conductor Stephen Lord, music director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, sees them as a deep well of musical information.
“Historic live performances, when they can be found, can be the most valuable,” says Lord. “The [Beniamino] Gigli one hears live, for example, is not the same man on commercial disc—far superior in performance. The same can be said for later singers, such as [Renata] Tebaldi, [Franco] Corelli, etc. There is no such thing as a perfect performance, while there might be a perfect commercial recording. Remember, RCA is full of Caruso ‘outtakes.’ In the live performance, what separates the greats from the merely good is the ability to . . . [run into] a tough patch and survive it, or, if there is even more danger, find a way to recoup. This is something the young singer needs to learn.”
On the use of language
As we know, opera and song employ music as the vehicle by which emotion and text are expressed. Genuine delivery and use of language is paramount. This precept rings true for Fleming and many of the contributors to this article.
“I think one should always listen to native speakers for certain roles, as the language will then be authentic,” advises Sheri Greenawald, noted soprano and director of the San Francisco Opera Center.
On the issue of language, Lord is emphatic. “The chief thing in a historic recording one must listen for is the use of text and how it is communicated. Today’s emphasis on anything but that turns my blood cold. So what if [Jussi] Bjørling was fat, [Enrico] Caruso plain, [Beniamino] Gigli a lump on stage. Their performances make one dream of something not of this earth—and that is the essence of opera, friends. It is all metaphor. It is poetry.”
On establishing tone and style
Recordings can be vital and useful tools in many respects, but singers should use them judiciously and for specific reasons.
Recordings can be particularly beneficial for establishing a sense of healthful singing. Nathan Gunn, one of America’s most active and distinguished baritones, relates how recordings were valuable for him in this respect.
“As I started to study voice . . . one of the first recordings I listened to in order to simply hear healthy singing was of my teacher, William Miller. I began studying with him when he was 83 years of age, and even though the sound he made was healthy it was the sound of a healthy 83-year-old. By listening to recordings of his younger years on the radio I was able to change ‘how’ I listened. Healthy singing sounds like healthy singing whether or not the voice is beautiful or common, young or old.”
Most of those interviewed agree that singers should use recordings only after they have done their own legwork.
“I do not recommend listening to recordings in order to facilitate learning the music. I prefer students learn music on their own, not by listening,” says soprano Costanza Cuccaro, chancellor’s professor of music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. “Musical skills only improve by doing the work yourself. I do recommend listening to various recordings of all eras to hear beautiful singing, to learn styles, traditions, musical interpretation, and vocal technique. You should seek many ideas, but create your own interpretation.”
Similarly, internationally acclaimed opera and theater director Francesca Zambello adds, “I think people should learn a role for themselves before listening to people, so they can put their own spin on it. After you know something and have thought it through, I think listening to as many recordings as possible can be helpful to contrast and compare.”
When asked if she had any reservations about listening to historical recordings, Greenawald replies, “None! Except perhaps on listening to Mozart from the ’50s and early ’60s, when things were certainly more romanticized but even then, it’s important to know that performance practices evolve as well. Music needs to be a living art form, so it has its evolution, not only in composition, but in performance as well, and recordings are our touchstones to the past.
On copying and imitating
Copying what you hear is an inherent danger in listening to recordings of any era, especially historical recordings, whether intentionally or inadvertently.
From a technical point-of-view, singers should avoid imitating a particular vocal sound, especially when listening to recordings of their one repertoire. “Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the repertoire that makes or breaks a singer, it’s how you sing it,” warns W. Stephen Smith, member of the voice faculty at the Juilliard School. “You can’t make your voice sound like other voices. Imitation of sound is damaging.”
Cuccaro agrees, “The only caution I give about listening to any recording is: Do not imitate or copy. Especially with old recordings, imitating can be dangerous because those recordings do not capture the full sound of the artist.”
Kuznetsova’s reverence for singers of the past is balanced by her practical approach toward the implementation of their recordings, “There was a lot of individuality in those voices, in those recordings. Sometimes what we consider ‘improper technique’ was perfectly acceptable then. What comes to mind, for example, is the fast vibrato of Conchita Supervia, or a very obvious break between the chest and head voices of Luisa Tetrazzini. And here lies the danger of ‘historical listening’: One should not try to imitate what one hears, especially without a trusted teacher’s supervision.”
Lord expressed similar sentiments. “Copying the style, mannerisms, etc. on historic recordings, just because they are historic, is a slippery slope and oftentimes passes for scholarship and ‘authentic,’” he says. “Nothing could be further from the truth. The note is the only authority, and the experience to know how to read and interpret that note is what makes an artist and not a cheap imitation.”
“Always make it your own first. Never copy,” says Zambello. “The audience only wants something original, personal, and truthful.”
On toys in the toy box
Chas Rader-Shieber, a director known for bold and imaginative productions, maintains a wonderfully philosophical view on the role of historical recordings. “The past keeps getting more recent,” he says, pointing out what should be obvious, but somehow isn’t. “The term ‘of the past’ is arbitrary, malleable.”
When developing a new project, Rader-Shieber listens to as many recordings as possible, always listening for new and different singers. For him, the singer is at the center of it all. “Operas mostly sound different because of the singers. Different singers create completely different characters.”
Rader-Shieber doesn’t go out of his way to listen to the past, however. Instead, he thinks singers should find a balance and celebrate what is alive right now. “We don’t have to choose. We can have the past, middle, and now. Don’t praise the singers of the past at the expense of excluding the singers of today,” he urges. “It’s about inclusion, not exclusion.”
Along these lines, Rader-Shieber resists the notion of any interpretation being considered definitive.
“‘Definitive’ doesn’t serve anybody,” he says. “It’s about being in the moment and the decisions that were made at the time, who made them, and what consensus they did or didn’t come to.
“Accumulated knowledge isn’t about a definitive interpretation. It’s about more interpretive toys in the toy box,” he declares. “Singers of the past add it. It’s the one time when more cooks make a better broth!”
