Masterclass at the Royal College of Music

Ahhh! Finally I witnessed a great masterclass, led by the oustanding Roderick Williams. The singers had all great voices and distinct intelligence (even though they all exhibited the absence of proper breathing management which hindered what could have been otherwise exceptional performances) and they made great use of the advice and the tips given about interpretation, audition technique, connecting with the audience and the necessity of not overdoing things when singing and letting the music and the character speak for themselves. The point here was not to get in the way and having the courage and the ability to be blank first, and then replacing mannerism with individuality. Interesting, educative, stimolating masterclass. He never went digging into singing technique, wisely, even though you could see that what stopped some of them from improving straight away was the impossibility to get rid of the feeling of straining and having to worry with the difficulties of the singing. Well done to everyone, anyway, and thanks for such a quality event!

Daily tips on voice matters

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Busy times

It has been quite a while since I wrote for this blog. Partly it is because I find it easier to share quick thoughts regarding the singing on my Facebook page, Yuri Sabatini Singing Teacher; and partly because of the inherent lack of time in this period of my life... I am gradually but steadily seeing an increasing number of students, many beginners for some reason, which led me to a consideration I will share later in the post... I am also spending more time with the children, aware that this is the best time of my life in terms of the enjoyment that we can get from each other. They will grow soon, and life will take a different shape. There hae been also things to fix and change at home, and I had to learn new pieces for concerts I had..

So, as yesterday we went to sleep very early (trying to build the habit for them), this morning at 5 I was already awake and with no sign of the intention to getting back to sleep I decided to come down and reflect on things. Opening the blog and beginning to write has been the consequence.

I am keeping open to my own criticism, I always did, as a way to improve and never be satisfied with what I reach - in terms of my singing. I believe that's what brings about excellence in anything: your constant will to get better at what you do, to master what you can't yet. I had 2 concerts since the summer break, and they were good. The first one has been good. The second in fact was great. But I had to keep working on my voice as I am doing, because I need to arrive to the point of total control, or better, total freedom in using it. I need to, because I realised this is not there yet: last Monday I auditioned for Glyndebourne and tension kicked in, which spoiled my performance. I wanted to understand what happens, physically, that hamper my performance when I tense and worked on my voice to create the habit of singing effortlessly. I still am, but very happy with the results so far. There is a point, no surprise, just in the "area di passaggio" where I am more prone to grip, to "go of fibre" as we say in Italian. I mean to push more, and it happens when I am not fully rested and relaxed, or when the acoustics is bad. BY continuosly and conciously shifting into the head voice by releasing any thick quality, any grip to the modal voice, and compensating (balancing) by gently darkening the sound (copertura), the voice becomes free of any excess weight and moves higher and with extreme easyness.

Ah, yes! I promised I was going to share the consideration I made regarding my beginner students. Here it is: I find I am really the best of my job in bringing up students with good technique, it's my good share in a world in which many potential good voices are held back by defects that have been left undetected. Pointing them out when they are at postgraduate level is so painful, and often you meet resistance and denial.. Yet, it's a pity to watch a masterclass with Kiri Te Kanawa or Roger Vignoles, as I did last week, and to witness the breathing and vocal faults in the singers who performed at the RCM. Maybe, by the law of statistics and numbers, those who I teach won't reach performance status, but they will always enjoy singing and show what a free sung voice sounds like, with no defect in tone. And this for the enjoyment of those who listen too! ...what a delusion to hear at the RCM sopranos with breathy emission, or straight tone, difficult and noisely breathing, or tenors with distorted timbre... and see that they are completely oblivious to the defect.

Hmm, hungry. Morning is coming and is time for breakfast. Keep well everyone!