Franco Corelli's lisp: technique or mental attitude? ...or both?

[@stevenburton7922]

Good observation. Love Franco's power and signature sound. Steven from Ohio US.

[@ZENOBlAmusic2]

These are some good observations your lessons seem to very good, Corelli had a certain vulnerability which makes it more easier to connect with him emotionally. In the Corelli documentary that was produced by La Scalla they also note Corelli had a big cello like voice, with note of sadness and vulnerability. However, I do think a big problem is that people do not understand big or dramatic voices. People listen to studio recordings where the voices of lyric tenors are amplified a lot to sing dramatic roles. Then they expect dramatic singers to sound exactly the same as lyrical voices but simply louder. That is not how dramatic voices works. Dramatic tenors are not always just trying to be macho on purpose, it takes force and effort to move something around that is really big, that is what people will hear, they hear more of the effort and the force when a big voice sings. Anything that is bigger have different challenges. Dramatic voices are less flexible because they are bigger, they are far more prone to singing in a stentorian fashion then with legato. The problem is reversed as well, when lyrical voices sing big roles they struggle to sound stentorian or to sing in forte for long phrases, and if they do this they can easily damage their voices. People need to start thinking more or they need to understand the purpose of these different voices. Why would people have lyrical expectations for a dramatic tenor? In that case someone should just watch a lyrical tenor. Dramatic voices are best for very strong emotions and expressions, they also often have to express some of the darkest emotions. For example like in I Pagliacci, Vesti La Giubba is not suppose to be a beautifully sung aria, with nice legato lines. It is an aria of someone who is desperately losing their mind, and they are about to kill two people. There is a problem of people who do not seem to understand what is needed in some of these heavier roles, it not always suppose to be pretty. And dramatic roles often requires powerful singing, these characters are often warlords, princes and soldiers. The voice of Rodolfo the poet shouldn't be singing the warlord Radames. Corelli was really last in the great traditions of the earlier years. His technique was mixture of bel canto and versimo, as a result he had great legato which is not something you will often find with big dramatic voices. He was the last dramatic tenor who was able to sing some the great bel canto roles, or the tenor assoluto roles. In the times of Caruso we had dramatic tenors singing the roles such as Guillaume Tell, Les Huguenots, Poliuto or Le Prophete. Corelli was really the last of this breed, now we have leggero tenors singing these same roles.

[@scataplaft]

Thank you so much for this comment.

[@user-hz3ff4im6h]

Whats the difference between bel canto and versimo?

[@vladimirvelazquez6452]

Un artista es un artista y ninguno se parecen. Corelli fue como Miguel Ángel en las artes plásticas: "un personaje sublime al que sólo hay que disfrutar su obra y punto".

[@sugarbist]

Tenors rely on their technique to guide them through an opera. Usually, the better the technique, the better the tenor, along with an abundance of breath control. When the voice is sometimes not responding to it's optimum level, good technique saves the singer. A Bjorling review in Manon Lescaut suggested that the tenor was lost in the first 2 acts of the opera, but came alive in the 3rd act. His fine technique came to the rescue. Corelli was extremely nervous on stage and resorted to some mannerisms as a crutch to lean on, like excessive portamento where not written, occasional scooping, running ahead of tempos, to get o his great high notes, and then rewarding his listeners by holding on to high notes forever. His diction was not excellent and his lisp was very noticeable in French, but hardly when singing Italian. Corelli did NOT use these mannerisms in the security of the studio where he was a better singer. However, Corelli was NOT defined by these shortcomings and had a complete vocal arsenal that any tenor could only dream of. Mezza voce, diminuendo, warm quality of voice that created an intimacy with his audiences, great high notes, and upper high notes, creating a visceral sound and a handsome stage presence. Few tenors have had all of these great qualities. So much for being a perfectionist! Remarkably, Corelli received more negative than positive reviews from his performances at the Met. Never for his great voice, but how he used it, siting the items I mentioned above. Critic, Irving Kolodin stated that Corelli seemed to be a force onto himself, ignoring the score, and singing to the rafters, and holding on to high notes forever. In spite of several poor critical reviews, Corelli was known as Mr. Soldout and Prince of Tenors during his 15 year period at the Met. In My Opinion, it's definitely more important how an artist reaches his listeners rather than what critics write. But a critic may give us a point of view we may never have thought of. Corelli was a great tenor and is one of my favorites.

[@massimocassano2545]

Con tutti i suoi difetti , tanti, rimane una leggenda fra i tenori del 900 . Prima dell' ego ,in lui c'e' un "anima" che trasfigura l' aspetto vocale immanente. Il suo suono " aereo" , mai affrontato rimane un unicum. Nei suoi anni migliori 1958/1968 ha trasmesso sensazioni difficilmente ripetibili a mio avviso nell' agone tenorile. Poi, naturalmente esistono i gusti personali. Ma avere inaugurato tante volte il Met e la Scala avrà avuto un suo perché. Nella sua voce virile ma al contempo dolce, dolorosa, triste, nostalgica, malinconica vi e ' la metafora della parabola di ogni esistenza umana. Il suo carattere lunare di uomo probabilmente irrisolto nei suoi dubbi, conflitti ed insicurezze raramente prevedeva la gioia. Del resto ,fatte poche eccezioni , si usa nella fattispecie il termine MELODRAMMA

[@antonellasaccani9540]

😢

[@sugarbist]

@@antonellasaccani9540 No need to be sad, Corelli was a great tenor and one of my favorites

[@ZENOBlAmusic2]

Your favourite singing is Mario Del Monaco, don't you think a big part of the real problem is that people have wrong expectations for dramatic tenors? Del Monaco is most often accused of being brutish and a macho singer who can only scream or sing in forte. We known that is certainly not the case, he wasn't always just trying to be some macho singer. But on the other hand a lot of dramatic tenor roles are warlords and soldier or wife killers. People have wrong expectations for dramatic tenors, they expect dramatic tenors to have the same characteristics as lyric tenors. And people do not know how to listen too bigger voices. You will often see people saying that someone with a big voice is singing in forte while they are actually using legato, they cannot distinguish these differences in bigger voices.

[@ZENOBlAmusic2]

@@massimocassano2545 All singers have their short comings, there really isn't any singer who is perfect. But it is true, most of all Corelli had soul, that is not something you find very often in opera. But he was also the last dramatic type of tenor who sang the real difficult bel canto roles, as they did during the times of Caruso, he was the last of a breed. Now we have have leggero tenors singing Poluito and Les Huguenots.

[@labienus9968]

First, this is strange in that you see one person on the video and the mysterious voice from somewhere. I guess I don't find much at all useful here, but I do agree that Franco's Calaf was the only one. "Technique to quiet nerves" just makes no sense to me. Obviously a singer a performer has to have confidence in his technique-it's what makes it possible, and controllable when things are not going to plan, or the unexpected turns up. Unless I misunderstand the word "phlegmatic"-I don't think Corelli had a phlegmatic bone in his body. Was Pavarotti smart-in some ways yes, and understood his technique and voice-but not so "smart" acording to R. Bonynge. Why would anyone not understand that the essence of a spinto, robusto tenor-especially in Corelli's era was to be macho? What does the lisp (which is largely an urban myth) in the header have to do with anything?

[@absdyna]

He suffered an injury in his youth, one which required plastic surgery. It was also a contributing factor to the Corelli lisp. (Rene Segher's book)