For informal writing, please see Benjamin's blog, The Bel Canto Chronicle. What follows is a research paper from Benjamin's graduate voice pedagogy studies, with citations:
Movin’ On Up: The Baritone-Tenor
Transition
Much
has been made of Plácido Domingo’s inclusion in recent years of baritone roles
into his repertoire, and understandably so; Domingo the tenor has been a force
of internationally acclaimed artistry for decades. But before Mr. Domingo was the Plácido Domingo, he began as a young
baritone, and eventually “moved up” into the tenor fach in which he has so
excelled. Not as much attention is given to this earlier transformation—and why
should it be? For indeed, it is no rare occurrence for a male voice of eighteen
or nineteen years of age to resist exact type definition. Neither was Plácido
the young baritone a singer of international status. Nevertheless it is exactly
this sort of voice change or transition that consumes the minds of aspiring
young baritenors. Plácido moved up. Can I as well?
Of
course it is well known that male voices do not fall simply into two or three
categories; there are fachs and fachs, so to speak. Neither does the fach
system denote range or tessitura alone; it also concerns itself with stature,
psychology, perceived size, and myriad other factors of both the singer and his
instrument. But for the purpose of this discussion, allow that voice type, a
broad sense divided into bass, baritone, and tenor, is thus different from
fach, the finer shades of Basso profondo, Verdi baritone, Lyric baritone,
French baryton, Tenorino, Lyric Tenor, Dramatic tenor, Heldentenor, and so on.
This becomes increasingly important to understand in the discussion of fachs that seem to blur the lines between voice types. In Training Tenor Voices, Miller points out that differentiating
between a baritone and a tenor cannot rely alone on a dry empirical analysis of
range, tessitura, or even register events, as all of these facets of the voice
overlap in various fachs (Miller 1993)[1]. Some large tenor voices have more weight
in the bottom and even reach a lower range than some lighter baritone voices,
for instance. Likewise some higher baritone voices make register shifts
slightly higher than some dramatic and heroic tenor voices. A combination of
all of these attributes, under close scrutiny of a trusted teacher, are likely
necessary to determine precise fach. For any voice that has been classified
inappropriately, this becomes an even more complicated procedure. So it is for
the tenor trained as a baritone.
For
only in this circumstance is the move from baritone to tenor warranted, if W.
J. Henderson is to be understood. In The Art of Singing he included anecdotal evidence on the move
of nineteenth century singer Jean de Reszke from baritone to tenor, in which he
asserted that Reske was never a true baritone, and therefore did not “force the
voice” into tenor; he simply retrained to use his instrument optimally
(Henderson 1968)[2]. Miller likewise embraced the notion that
on occasion a young tenor may be misidentified as a baritone:
“Many young tenors do not know how to
achieve entry into upper voice,
and if the voice is sizeable they may well
be falsely classified as baritones” (Miller 1993);
and:
“There are singers who have tried to fit
themselves into a baritone mold
for a number of years but have never felt
comfortable doing so”
(Miller 1993)[3].
No serious sources have been located, however, in which a pedagogue
posits that a true baritone should make any attempt to “change” into a true
tenor, or that success in such an endeavor is possible. Even in the
aforementioned case of Domingo, who continues to learn baritone roles, the
truth of his tenor identity is affirmed. Biographer Cornelius Schnauber, in Plácido
Domingo, discussed a 1992
Deutsche Grammophon recording of Il barbiere di Siviglia in which Domingo sang the baritone role of
Figaro, noting that:
“In the upper ranges the sound of the tenor
breaks through; the listener
is very aware that the “baritone” Domingo,
even when he tries to suppress
these tenor qualities, is a tenor”
(Schnauber 1994)[4].
Regarding how a singer should determine whether they are in fact a tenor
although they have trained as a baritone, Miller gives a list of eight factors
to consider. Among them: “When more vocal freedom prevails, the baritone timbre
takes on a tenorial character” (Miller 1993)[5]. This indicator serves also as a basis for
understanding how to go about opening the tenor voice locked within the
misidentified baritone. Indeed, this line of imagery is not misleading, for
Miller insinuates that in nearly every such case, the problem is a lack of
vocal freedom and instead a presence of undue tension, laryngeal depression,
and generally manufactured sound. Ergo the place of beginning for the tenor
encumbered by a baritone approach must generally be to seek free tone
production.
Supplementing this assumption, Henderson asserts that the legendary bel canto
teachers of the seventeenth and eighteenth century began a training regimen
with a student only in the middle voice, then adding a pitch or two above and
below this middle gradually, giving the teacher time to hear the direction in
which the voice seemed inclined to grow (Henderson 1968)[6]. In this manner a student might have
secured use of the natural range of their voice without manufacturing a false
sound in any register. Vennard echoes the wisdom of this method in Singing:
the mechanism and the technic:
“It is best to begin in the middle part of
the voice and work upward
and downward gradually until the voice
classifies itself. Students of better
than average talent will probably have a
certain amount of coordination
of light and heavy [head and chest, or CT
and TA] in this area, and it is
merely a matter of extending it” (Vennard
1967)[7].
The
potential tenor in search of their vocal identity should not attack the tenor
top with gusto; he should rather begin by finding a free, easy production in
the middle voice. For some voices this might include a “lightening” or “thinning”
of middle-voice production, but Miller warns against assuming that the tenor
voice in question must by necessity be “high and light” (Miller 1993)[8].
Another of Miller’s criteria for the hopeful tenor is that “The timbre of
pitches near the secondo passaggio does not match other areas of the voice” (Miller 1993)[9]. This brings the issue of registration
events to a head. Miller’s second passaggio consists of the event also commonly
known as the upper passaggio—located by James Stark in Bel Canto: A History
of Vocal Pedagogy:
“For tenors, it usually occurs around F#4 (370 Hz); for baritones it is
closer to Eb4 (311 Hz), and for basses it is somewhat
lower again”
(Stark 1999)[10].
The turn of the voice at this event provides a significant shift in the
thyroarytenoid-cricothyroid relationship—one that must be carefully
coordinated. It follows that if this turn is imposed on the voice above or
below its optimal location, overall coordination of the instrument will suffer
and the voice may be wrongly classified.
In
the August 2003 edition of Opera News (68, no. 2, pp. 16-17), Steven Blier
interviewed famed Manhattan voice teacher Daniel Ferro, and the discussion
largely concerned the fach switch in question. One interchange about a
hypothetical baritone turning tenor named Carlo is telling:
“Opera News: What if Carlo’s been taught to
turn the voice in the
baritone spot—E-flat, E-natural—but can
comfortably turn the register
a little higher, like a tenor? Would that be
a tip-off?
DF: That might work things out very well!
You just have to play with
the physical capacity and the courage. It
takes a lot of faith to experiment”
(Blier, Opera News 2003)[11].
Remember also, however, that not all tenor voices are alike. Some heavier tenor
voices, as has been pointed out, seem to have more in common with baritone
fachs than with lighter tenor fachs. This can include the location of
registration events. In a discussion of the passaggi as keys to unlocking the
tenor voice from a baritone, then, not only is pitch location important; but
also, the muscular balance in coordinating the events. Understanding that the
exact nature of male registration events is not without contest, assume Miller’s
insistence on a primo passaggio to be the passage into a middle or mixed voice (the “zona di
passaggio” [Miller 1993[12]], perhaps the same register as Vennard’s “head”
[Vennard 1967[13]]). Beneath this point in the male voice,
the thyroarytenoid dominates over use of the cricothyroid. At this point,
however, use of the cricothyroid substantially increases. It continues to
increase throughout the “zone,” until at the upper passaggio a second critical
event occurs when use of the cricothyroid gains dominance. The degree to which
either laryngeal muscle group is dominating the other at any point in the voice
is key to correct coordination of the voice, and will differ between one voice
trained as a baritone and the same voice trained as a tenor. Resolving this
problem might prove to be even more complicated than seeking a free and easy
production, however, and requires the practiced ears of a competent teacher for
guidance.
A
third of Miller’s signifiers of the hidden tenor:
“Coaches and contest judges who regularly
deal with professional male
voices always ask, ‘Are you sure you are not
a tenor?’” (Miller 1993)[14].
The young male singer who hears this often enough will inevitably
respond one of two ways, depending on temperament: either they will be
annoyed that their baritone is misleading; or they will desire to “turn tenor.”
Unfortunately not all who favor the second reaction are indeed tenors—or so
would suggest the fact that not all such attempts are successful. The singer’s
desire, however, merits some discussion—especially in the case of a true
zwischenfach singer. Miller notes that some male voices can become either
baritone or tenor (he specifies the dramatic baritone who could sing
Heldentenor and the light lyric baritone who could sing lower lying tenor
roles), indicating that for a select few, there is even the possibility of a
choice (Miller 1993)[15]. The will and intent of the singer, along
with his intelligence, work ethic, patience, and preference, might play just as
important a role in such a debate as the physical attributes of the instrument.
Seemingly all sources advise caution and patience for the young singer before
committing one way or the other, especially until the voice is operating freely
and is well-coordinated. Vennard states:
“I never feel any urgency about classifying
a beginning student. So many
premature diagnoses have been proved wrong,
and it can be harmful to
the student and embarrassing to the teacher
to keep striving for an ill-chosen
goal” (Vennard 1967)[16].
Nevertheless there have been and will continue to be swaths of young
baritones with dreams of singing tenor. Why? To be sure, some are more
predisposed to the romantic meanderings of Rudolpho than the shameless
philanderings of Giovanni, but surely the baritone literature has its own
unique charm. Returning to Henderson, we find a time-honored reason, along with
a very prudent warning:
“If a man is an opera singer there can be
but one object in changing
one’s voice from baritone to tenor, and that
is to obtain the larger salary
which a great tenor commands. But suppose
that having been a fairly
good baritone one becomes a fairly bad
tenor, what then? A great baritone undoubtedly gets more salary than a bad
tenor, for in the end the latter
finds himself singing minor roles and pocketing
a very small pay check” (Henderson 1968)[17].
What, then, is an ambitious or at least curious young baritenor to do?
Miller gives his most succinct guideline:
“If reexamination of the basic premises of
free vocal production (breath management, agility, resonation, vowel
modification, the unified vocal scale,
and vocal endurance) shows clearly that problems
have resulted from the superimposition of baritone “color” on a tenor
instrument, the change is appropriate” (Miller 1993)[18].
In summation: learn to sing, and let the voice find its fach, rather
than attempting to find the voice through a fach. Only in a free,
easily-produced and well-coordinated tone will one find the truth of the
instrument. Tone production must be liberated from any undue tension. The “direction”
of the voice (whether there is more body, presence or ring in one area than
another) must be found and followed. Passaggi navigation must be adjusted
accordingly. Once all of this has been accomplished, the voice will reveal
itself for its fach.
Sources Cited:
Blier, Steven. "Trading Up." Opera News 68, no. 2 (August 2003): 16-17. Humanities
International Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed
November 11, 2012).
Henderson, W. J. The Art of Singing. Freeport, NY: The Dial Press, Inc., 1968.
Miller, Richard. Training Tenor Voices. New York: Schirmer Books, 1993.
Schnauber, Cornelius. Plácido Domingo. Boston: Northeastern University Press,
1994.
Stark, James. Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1999.
Vennard, William. Singing: the mechanism and the technic. New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1967.
[1] Richard Miller, Training Tenor Voices, (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 133-8.
[2] W. J. Henderson, The Art of Singing, (Freeport, NY: The Dial Press, Inc.,
1968), 354.
[3] Richard Miller, Training Tenor Voices, (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 134.
[4] Cornelius Schnauber, Plácido Domingo, (Boston: Northeastern University Press,
1994), 33.
[5] Richard Miller, Training Tenor Voices, (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 134.
[6] W. J. Henderson, The Art of Singing, (Freeport, NY: The Dial Press, Inc.,
1968), 355-6.
[7] William Vennard, Singing: the mechanism
and the technic, (New York:
Carl Fischer, Inc., 1967), 78.
[8] Richard Miller, Training Tenor Voices, (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 134.
[9] Richard Miller, Training Tenor Voices, (New York: Schirmer Books, 1993), 134.
[10] James Stark, Bel Canto: A History of
Vocal Pedagogy, (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1999), 84.
[11] Blier,
Steven. "Trading Up." Opera News 68, no. 2 (August 2003):
16-17. Humanities International Complete, EBSCOhost
(accessed November 11, 2012).
[13] William
Vennard, Singing: the mechanism and the technic, (New
York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1967), 73.
[16] William
Vennard, Singing: the mechanism and the technic, (New
York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1967), 78.
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