Technics Of Bel Canto

In this little classic, the great Italian singing master Giovanni Battista Lamperti teaches the skills of the Bel Canto technique that dominated the Italian opera in its heyday.

Expertly arranged Vocal Method by Mathilde Castrone Marchesi from the Kalmus Edition series. This is from the 20th Century and Romantic eras.

In this well documented and highly readable book, James Stark provides a history of vocal pedagogy from the beginning of the bel canto tradition of solo singing in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries to the present. Using a nineteenth-century treatise by Manuel Garcia as his point of reference, Stark analyses the many sources that discuss singing techniques and selects a number of primary vocal 'problems' for detailed investigation. He also presents data from a series of laboratory experiments carried out to demonstrate the techniques of bel canto. The discussion deals extensively with such topics as the emergence of virtuoso singing, the castrato phenomenon, national differences in singing styles, controversies regarding the perennial decline in the art of singing, and the so-called secrets of bel canto. Stark offers a new definition of bel canto which reconciles historical and scientific descriptions of good singing. His is a refreshing and profound discussion of issues important to all singers and voice teachers.

Renowned teacher presents the "vocal alphabet," or basic instructions and exercises that formed the voices of her own students, who included Melba and Calvé. Topics include breathing, attack, registers, voice management, and projection.

As the last of the great master-teachers of the "old Italian school" of singing, Giovanni Battista Lamperti taught his students virtuosic vocal techniques handed down from the great castrati of the 17th century: exquisitely rich chiaroscuro tone, seamless flowing legato phrasing, undetectable passaggi register transitions and the delicately poised appoggio breath technique that allowed the astonishingly rapid coloratura typical of baroque music. In the only treatise he ever wrote, Lamperti the younger shares with all students, teachers and enthusiasts of singing, the techniques and skills that made his students that greatest singers of their time: the arcane secrets of bel canto. Original title: "Die Technik des Bel Canto" (1905)

"Die Technik des Bel Canto" (1905) -- Extended Edition.As the last of the great master-teachers of the "old Italian school" of singing, Giovanni Battista Lamperti taught his students virtuosic vocal techniques handed down from the great castrati of the 17th century: exquisitely rich chiaroscuro tone, seamless flowing legato phrasing, undetectable passaggi register transitions and the delicately poised appoggio breath technique that allowed the astonishingly rapid coloratura typical of baroque music. In the only treatise he ever wrote, Lamperti the younger shares with all students, teachers and enthusiasts of singing, the techniques and skills that made his students that greatest singers of their time: the arcane secrets of bel canto.

Excerpt from The Technics of Bel Canto It appears superfluous and aimless to add a new singing-method to those already before the public. However, during many years devoted to lesson-giving, I have observed far too often how little attention is paid nowadays to individualizing. No two persons are exactly alike, much less any two pupils. In vocal teaching, especially, it does great mischief to try to make one shoe fit every foot. I feel that those of my colleagues will agree with me, who, still possessing a thorough knowledge of the Bel Canto, have often undergone similar experiences. Yet the power of true vocal art, even in this decadent period, has lost but little of its effect on enthusiastic auditors. This is proved by the ever-renewed successes of Marcella Sembrich and others as contrasted with the great multitude of "natural" singers and dubious specialists with more or less voice. It is this fact, in particular, which encourages me to gather together the fruits of my experience in this little volume, for the benefit of my own pupils and other earnest vocal students. Let it be added, that this method has been tested by time, and that I can trace it back to the Italian singing-masters Gasparo Pacchierotti (d. 1821), Giovanni Battista Velluti (d. 1861), and others. Should the technical information contained in these pages be found useful in wider circles, and do its part toward attracting and preserving many a talent to the service of the divine art of song, it would give the author the liveliest satisfaction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

In Bel Canto, the first ever guide to the bel canto style, author Robert Toft provides singers with the tools they need to bring scores to life in an historically informed manner.