ROSA PONSELLE SULL'ARTE DEL BEL CANTO (maschera, suoni coperti, mezzavoce, voce di petto e di testa, pianissimi ed acuti)

Rosa Ponselle sull'Arte del Bel Canto

Cari lettori di Belcanto Italiano,

raccogliamo in questo articolo alcune citazioni del celebre soprano Rosa Ponselle sull'arte del canto. Buona lettura e buona riflessione a tutti!

1. IL METODO DEL CANTANTE, secondo il grande soprano Rosa Ponselle:

«Ah, there is nothing like the "Bel Canto" method of singing. It is the only safe foundation for a singing career. The "Bel Canto" is not only the esiest way of using the voice, thus saving it for a lifetime, but it is also the most natural way of producing tones. In almost any other method, the beautiful line of the singing is lost, because of the declamatory style of tone production which gives results not at all melodious.
People often ask by what means I preserve the freshness and spontaneity of my voice. In the first place, I have to thank the Creator and a fine musical parentage for a reliable throat and vocal organs. The only secret I have for the preservation of what has been given me is that I have been taught a proper method of singing and then practice a proper method of living. The voice is so sensitive, reflecting every variation of our physical and emotional condition, that not to keep the body, the mind, and the soul or emotional instincts all in a normal, healthful condition, is simply suicidal to the singer's ambitions.
After a singing technique is once thoroughly developed, but little exercise of the voice, other than that necessary at rehearsals and in actual public use, is necessary. Just a few "warming up" exercises occasionally to keep the tones flowing smoothly. (...)
The one thing that the singer must never sacrifice is that velvety edge on the tone which charms the senses of the hearer. No matter how dramatic the situation, the tone must never become strident. No matter what the depth of emotion or how violent the passions of the situation, always the tone must remain spontaneous, pure, and responsive, that it may be a medium for the transmission of the emotions of the soul of the singer. Just as soon as strain enters into the tone, just that soon it loses to a large degree its usefulness as a means of moving the one who hears it. (...) Always one should feel that there is more to give if it were but necessary. There is such inspiration in the feeling that there is still more in reserve.
Strangely enough, this feeling goes right out over the footlights and takes hold of the audience, creating a wonderful confidence in the artist because that there is always a possibility of more to come, that the singer has not reached the limits of her ability to give.»

[Ah, non v'è nulla che sia paragonabile al metodo canoro del "Bel Canto". È l'unico fondamento sicuro per una carriera lirica. Il "Bel Canto" non è solo il modo più semplice di usare la voce, conservandola così per tutta la vita, ma è anche la via più naturale per produrre dei suoni. In quasi tutti gli altri metodi si perde la bella linea del canto, a causa dello stile declamatorio della produzione del suono che dà risultati per nulla melodiosi.
La gente spesso mi chiede in che modo riesca a preservare la freschezza e la spontaneità della mia voce. In primo luogo, devo ringraziare il Creatore ed una buona parentela musicale per una gola e degli organi vocali affidabili. L'unico segreto che ho per preservare ciò che ho ricevuto in dono è che mi è stato insegnato un metodo di canto corretto e poi è quello di praticare un metodo di vita corretto. La voce è così sensibile, da riflettere ogni variazione della nostra condizione fisica ed emotiva, che non mantenere il corpo, la mente e l'anima o gli istinti emotivi in ​​condizioni normali e sane, è semplicemente un suicidio per le ambizioni del cantante.
Dopo essere stata sviluppata a fondo una tecnica di canto, occorre poco esercizio della voce, oltre a quello necessario durante le prove e nelle esecuzioni pubbliche vere e proprie. Solo qualche esercizio di "riscaldamento" di tanto in tanto per mantenere i suoni fluidi. (...)
L'unica cosa che il cantante non deve mai sacrificare è quel contorno vellutato sul suono che incanta i sensi dell'ascoltatore. Non importa quanto drammatica sia la situazione, il suono non deve mai diventare stridente. Non importa quale sia la profondità dell'emozione o quanto violente siano le passioni del momento scenico, il suono deve rimanere sempre spontaneo, puro e reattivo, affinché possa essere un mezzo per la trasmissione delle emozioni dell'anima del cantante. Non appena lo sforzo entra nel suono, subito perde in larga misura la sua utilità come mezzo per commuovere colui che l'ascolta. (...) Si dovrebbe sempre percepire che vi sia di più da dare se solo fosse necessario. Vi è una tale ispirazione nella sensazione che vi sia tanto di riserva da offrire.
Strano a dirsi, questa sensazione va oltre le luci della ribalta e si impadronisce del pubblico, creando una meravigliosa fiducia nell'artista perché c'è sempre la possibilità che non sia finita lì, che il cantante non abbia raggiunto i limiti della sua capacità di dare.]

(da: The American Girl's Chance in Opera, an Interview with the distinguished Soprano and Artist ROSA PONSELLE - THE ETUDE, November 1929)

2. Consigli di Rosa Ponselle ai giovani soprani drammatici:

«When you begin to study singing, let your first thought be to learn how to sing. And then, if later you feel drawn toward opera, make sure that you possess the requisite qualifications for an operatic career. (...) William Thorner was my teacher, and all that I may have gained in the way of voice production and flexibility, singing poise and tone development, I owe to him. There seems little advantage to the student in recommending this, that or the other set of "vocalises" or exercises for study use. After all, if you get down to the gist of the matter, it is altogether a question of the proper use of the exercises selected; "how" to study what you study and not "what" you study.
I spent less than a year preparing for opera, but when you ask me how I managed to accomplish so much in a time so comparatively short, the answer is simple. I was studios—working with my mind as well as with my throat—and I had had correct teaching from the "very beginning", and therefore no faulty teaching to undo. One thing in which I am a great believer is the avoidance of vocal overexertion. During the opera or concert season I use daily vocal exercises to keep my voice flexible; but I practice them only a "few minutes" each day—and during my vacation I give myself a complete rest. Even while I was preparing to sing in opera, I did not practice more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day; unless, of course, I was studying a new role. The pronouncedly coloratura roles, as I see it, do not properly lie within the range of the dramatic soprano voice; but there is no earthly reason why the dramatic soprano cannot sing purely lyric roles, and sing them well.
(...) I would not attempt to draw comparisons, as regards difficulty, between one and another operatic role of the dramatic soprano repertory. (...) I could not say that Leonora, for instance, is a role more difficult to sing than that of Elvira. My own experience is that ALL ROLES REQUIRE THE SAME MENTAL EXERTION IN ORDER TO RENDER THE MOTIF IN ITS BEST LIGHT!
(...) As regards the studying of soprano roles or songs which the singer, for some one reason or other, may be doubtful of carrying to success, there is a very simple and logical rule, one which I follow myself: I HAVE NEVER STUDIED ANY ROLE TO WHICH I DID NOT BELIEVE I COULD DO JUSTICE.»

[Quando s'incomincia a studiare canto, per prima cosa si pensi ad imparare a cantare. E poi, se più tardi si percepisce un'attrazione verso l'opera lirica, ci si accerti di possedere i requisiti necessari per una carriera operistica. (...) William Thorner è stato il mio insegnante, e tutto ciò che posso aver raggiunto dal punto di vista della produzione e flessibilità della voce, della padronanza canora e dello sviluppo del suono, lo devo a lui. Mi sembra vi sia poca convenienza nel raccomandare allo studente questa, quella o quell'altra serie di "vocalizzi" od esercizi ad uso di studio. Dopo tutto, se si va davvero al nocciolo della faccenda, è tutta una questione che ha a che fare con l'uso appropriato degli esercizi selezionati; "come" si studia ciò che si studia e non "cosa" si studia.
Ho impiegato meno di un anno nel prepararmi all'opera lirica, ma se mi chiedete come sia riuscita a realizzare così tanto in un tempo relativamente così breve, la risposta è semplice. Ero diligente nello studio—lavorando tanto con la mente quanto con la gola—ed ho avuto l'insegnamento giusto fin dal "primo momento", e perciò nessun insegnamento scorretto da eliminare. Una cosa della quale sono una grande sostenitrice è quella di evitare l'iperaffaticamento vocale. Durante la stagione operistica o concertistica impiego degli esercizi vocali giornalieri per mantenere flessibile la mia voce; ma mi ci esercito solamente per "pochi minuti" al giorno—e durante le vacanze mi concedo un periodo di completo riposo. Anche quando mi stavo preparando per cantare in un'opera, non mi sono mai esercitata per più di quindici o venti minuti al giorno; a meno che, naturalmente, non stessi studiando un nuovo ruolo. I ruoli marcatamente di coloratura, per come la vedo io, non rientrano propriamente nell'ambito della voce del soprano drammatico; ma non v'è ragione alcuna per cui il soprano drammatico non possa cantare ruoli da lirico puro, e cantarli bene. (...) Non cercherei di fare confronti, quanto alla difficoltà, tra taluno e talaltro ruolo operistico del repertorio del soprano drammatico. (...) Non potrei dire che Leonora, ad esempio, sia un ruolo più difficile da cantare di quello di Elvira. La mia personale esperienza mi dice che TUTTI I RUOLI RICHIEDONO IL MEDESIMO IMPEGNO MENTALE PER POTER RESTITUIRE IL MOTIVO DOMINANTE NELLA SUA LUCE MIGLIORE!
(...) Quanto allo studio dei ruoli o delle arie per soprano che la cantante, per una ragione o per un'altra, possa essere in dubbio di portare al successo, v'è una regola molto semplice e logica, una regola che io stessa seguo: NON HO MAI STUDIATO NESSUN RUOLO AL QUALE NON CREDESSI DI POTER RENDERE GIUSTIZIA.>>]

(Rosa Ponselle da: Frederick Martens - "The Art of the Prima Donna and Concert Singer", 1923)

3. Rosa Ponselle: 'LA GRANDE VOCE NON FA AUTOMATICAMENTE DEL CANTANTE UN ARTISTA'!!!

«My phonograph records, whether good or bad, convey something of my voice and a little of my artistry. I was said to have had a great voice; my recordings, especially the ones taken from radio broadcasts, captured what I had rather faithfully. But voice and artistry are separate matters. Having a great voice in no way guarantees being an artist; it guarantees only that the voice will probably appeal to an audience. Artistry is something beyond that. Caruso had the formula for it. He gave it to anyone who asked him what it took to become an artist.
"Work, work, and again, work", he used to say.
Part of what artistry involves is probably inborn. The rest is an alchemy of self-confidence, willpower, proper guidance, and, as Caruso said, hard work. For nineteen seasons at the Metropolitan, from "Forza del destino" through "Carmen", I tried to achieve that alchemy. Whether I succeeded, only history, not I, can judge.»

[I miei dischi fonografici, buoni o cattivi che siano, trasmettono qualcosa della mia voce e un po' della mia abilità artistica. Si diceva che avessi una grande voce; le mie registrazioni, specialmente quelle tratte dalle trasmissioni radiofoniche, hanno catturato piuttosto fedelmente ciò che avevo. Ma voce e abilità artistica sono due questioni distinte. Avere una grande voce non garantisce in alcun modo di essere un artista; garantisce solo che la voce probabilmente piacerà a un pubblico. L'arte è qualcosa di più. Caruso di questo aveva la formula. La dava a chiunque gli chiedeva cosa ci volesse per diventare un artista.
"Studio, studio e ancora studio", diceva.
Parte di ciò che comporta l'arte è probabilmente innato. Il resto è un'alchimia di fiducia in se stessi, forza di volontà, una guida adeguata e, come ha detto Caruso, duro lavoro. Per diciannove stagioni al Metropolitan, da "Forza del destino" a "Carmen", ho cercato di raggiungere quell'alchimia. Se ci sono riuscita, solo la storia, non io, può giudicarlo.]

(da: Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982)

4. Rosa Ponselle sulla voce proiettata in maschera:

- "How about placement?" I asked.
«You use the MASK... FORWARD,» she said. «You get the feeling your face is going to come off.»
- "From the vibrations?"
«Yes!»
- "Did you use chest voice?"
«Only when necessary, but always IN THE MASK.»

[- "Cosa ne pensa del posizionamento?" domandai.
«Si usa la MASCHERA... AVANTI,» ella rispose. «Si ha la sensazione che la faccia stia per staccarsi.»
- "Per le vibrazioni?"
«Sì!»
- "Lei usava la voce di petto?"
«Solo quando necessario, ma sempre IN MASCHERA.»]

(tratto da una intervista al soprano Rosa Ponselle condotta dal basso Jerome Hines, riportata in: J.Hines - "Great Singers on Great Singing", Doubleday, 1982)

 

5. - PIANISSIMO: la "prova del nove" della proiezione vocale -

ROSA PONSELLE: «Tullio Serafin finally persuaded me, in 1927, to sing Norma in London at Covent Garden. (...)
I had been told that Covent Garden's acoustics ranked with the best in the world. I found out for myself a week or so after I arrived. I tried a verse from "Annie Laurie" as I walked from one part of the stage to another; I sang with only nominal volume, but heard my voice resounding through every part of the auditorium. Even the most delicately spun PIANISSIMO made its way to every row, giving me the range of sensations every singer needs to gauge how well the voice is projecting. I felt perfectly at home at Covent Garden.»

(from: Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982) 

6. THE IMPORTANCE OF SINGING "MEZZA VOCE" & "PIANISSIMO", according to Rosa Ponselle:

 - Watching and listening to him [Caruso] rehearse the magical tenor moments in "Forza del destino", especially the highly dramatic "O tu che in seno agli angeli", made me want to kneel at his feet. Here was a voice that "loved" you. His singing was purely and simply unbelievable, both in its dramatic and soft "legato" moments, as well as the intuitive musicianship behind it. (...)

Caruso was an interesting study at rehearsals. He was always punctual, and only did a few vocalises to warm up his voice. To conserve his resources, unless it was a dress rehearsal, he would sing in "HALF VOICE", occasionally showing off his full volume if he felt disposed to. During most of the rehearsals he would sing high notes in a cantor-like falsetto, an eerie sound compared to what his voice sounded like at full volume. (...)
- Titta Ruffo, who joined the Metropolitan that same season, was also without rivals among baritones. I sang with him frequently, and his singing was as unique as Caruso's. Sadly, the sheer volume of his voice often overshadowed its intrinsic beauty and the exquisite "MEZZA VOCE" possibilities it afforded. One of his long-standing complaints was that the public never accepted his "MEZZA VOCE" singing; they expected him to sing at full volume, especially in the familiar arias. It was an unreasonable expectation, since a singer contours his tones and phrases by these contrasts in volume, and helps take the drama to a proper climax. Although in Titta Ruffo's case the splendor of his voice lay more in his middle and top tones than the lower ones, his basic technique and, of course, the quality and size of his voice, made his singing a once-in-a-lifetime rarity. I was fortunate to have sung with him nineteen times, in "Aida", "Andrea Chénier", "Ernani", and "La Gioconda". (...)
While Titta Ruffo boasted the most singular baritone voice I ever heard (Giuseppe de Luca appropriately called it "a miracle, not a voice"), Stracciari's was an easy candidate for the most beautiful (along with Pasquale Amato's, which many thought Stracciari's superior), and certainly one of the most durable. Long after Ruffo's voice had lost its core, and after the richness of Amato's had left him, Stracciari was still wowing the Italian critics with his Figaros and Rigolettos—roles that he sang, it is estimated, nine hundred and eleven hundred times, respectively. Happily, Columbia saw to it that he and I were recorded together, in the "Mira d'acerbe lagrime" and "Vivrà! contende il giubilo" sections from "Il Trovatore". (...)
- So much has been written about the power of Chaliapin's voice and acting as Boris that I hardly need to say more. Sheer volume, however, has never been a feature I particularly value in a singer. With Chaliapin, in fact, what I loved most was the way he used his "MEZZA VOCE" and "PIANISSIMI" to make some of his most telling effects; they were poignantly colored and were so soft they could barely be heard, though they carried to the back walls of the old Met or Covent Garden. (...)
- I admired Franco Corelli, a protégé of Lauri-Volpi, for the singular quality of his voice, his command of "MEZZA VOCE", and sun-like brightness and warmth of his tone. (...)

- In 1949 a visit from Ida and Louise Cook made me think about getting my voice in shape again. Ida and Louise had renewed our acquaintance just after I was released from the hospital in the winter of 1947. When they visited me again two years later they brought with them a young physician, Dr. Dick Alexander, and his wife, who were fans of mine. At Ida's and Louise's urging, Dr. Alexander brought with him an early model wire recorder.
Ida Cook, though a writer by profession, was, like her sister Louise, a great devotee of the opera. At Villa Pace she got me to sing one of my favorite songs, "Fa la nana bambin", into Dick Alexander's machine. It's a song that requires controlled "MEZZA VOCE" singing, and since the "MEZZA VOCE" is the immediate indicator of whether or not I'm in voice, I chose it instead of something more musically complex.

- Martinelli Gala. Metropolitan Opera House: 20 November 1963. (50th Anniversary of Giovanni Martinelli's debut.)
Raina Kabaivanska came to me through Ida Cook, who had known her in London. As part of a tribute to Giovanni Martinelli, the Metropolitan's management had asked her to sing the "Suicidio" from "Gioconda", and she came to me for guidance. (...)
Initially, we had only a weekend to work together, owing to her busy schedule. From Friday through Sunday we worked into the wee hours of the morning, and I'm pleased that she has since credited much of her vocal transformation to that weekend. Our immediate goal was, as I say, to enable her to sing a laudable "Suicidio" for the Martinelli tribute. I had to admit that I was surprised that she had been given the aria to sing. Zinka Milanov was the reigning Gioconda of the day, but had been asked to sing one of the last-act arias from "Otello", probably to allow her to display her famous "MEZZA VOCE". So Raina was given the "Suicidio"—admittedly a poor choice for her voice, because she didn't have the power and weight for Ponchielli's music. But, being new to the Metropolitan, and thus being a bit insecure about her position, she agreed to do it.
My first task was to analyze her voice and decide what would be technically safe, artistically successful, and dramatically exciting, given the parameters of her basic voice and technique. To my surprise I found that she had never sung a genuine "PIANISSIMO"—and she knew it. She didn't know how to produce one. By Monday morning, when she left, she could execute a seamless "DIMINUENDO" at will, and could sustain a "PIANISSIMO" line wherever the music called for it. 

Working on the "Suicidio", which was a great advantage because I had sung the aria so often, I explained that there were at least three tendencies she would have to overcome:
1. one would be to force the voice because of the demands of volume and range.
2. Being carried away by the emotion of the drama was another potential problem.
3. So was the possibility of being enveloped by the sweep of the music itself.
Raina has great musical intelligence, which made all this so much the easier to work around. We outlined a pattern for her to call upon when singing "Suicidio", a pattern featuring contrasts in colors as well as dynamics. We worked especially hard on precise attacks, sweeping phrasing, diction, and mood changes in the aria. After that weekend, she worked with me on several other roles, whenever she could.
Later I learned that the difference in her singing was immediately noticed in New York. When she was asked what accounted for her improvement, she attributed it to our weekend's work. Later, the Met management phoned to congratulate and thank me for what I had done. Recognition of this kind is a great lift for any teacher.

(Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982)

7. Il saggio uso della voce di petto, secondo il soprano Rosa Ponselle:

«Although there is some disagreement about the number and kinds of registers in the singing voice, I have always found it accurate, as I've said elsewhere here, to dissect the voice into "chest" and "head" compenents. In various segments of a voice's overall range, either the head or chest sound can be emphasized, for any number of reasons. But use of the chest voice should be somewhat cautious, especially as regards how high it is carried into the middle and upper parts of the range. Although it is often used to effect color contrasts and can be employed as a way of resting the voice in low passages that demand power, the chest voice should not be carried too high into the range, as it will eventually cause a break in the vocal "column" that cannot be disguised. (...)
The temptation stems from wanting to enlarge the volume, or else change the coloration, of the lower middle voice. There are certain passages in a number of opera scores where this use of the chest voice can be especially tempting [for instance in "Carmen" and "Andrea Chénier"]. (...)
As I think my recordings tend to show, my singing was free of problems with chest tones. If one isn't careful, these tones can become focused in the throat rather than the head. When that happens the column-like equalization of the voice can be lost. At first the loss can be momentary, but over a period of time real damage can be done. I was able to avoid these problems because I knew how to keep my chest tones focused in the head.»

Sebbene vi sia un certo disaccordo a proposito del numero e delle tipologie dei registri nella voce cantata, ho sempre trovato accurato, come ho detto altrove in questa sede, dividere la voce nelle componenti del "petto" e della "testa". In varie parti dell'estensione complessiva di una voce, è possibile enfatizzare il suono di testa o di petto, per moltissime ragioni. Ma l'utilizzo della voce di petto dovrebbe essere fatto in modo alquanto prudente, specialmente per quanto riguarda la scelta di quanto in alto venga portata la voce di petto nelle parti centrali ed acute dell'estensione. Sebbene sia spesso usata per creare contrasti di colore e possa essere impiegata come un mezzo per far riposare la voce nei passaggi gravi che richiedono robustezza, la voce di petto non dovrebbe essere portata troppo in alto nell'estensione, poiché causerà col tempo una rottura nella "colonna" vocale che non può essere mascherata. (...)
La tentazione nasce dal voler aumentare il volume, oppure cambiare la colorazione, della voce medio-bassa. Ci sono alcuni passaggi in una serie di partiture d'opera in cui quest'uso della voce di petto può essere particolarmente allettante [per esempio in "Carmen" e "Andrea Chénier"]. (...)
Come credo le mie registrazioni tendano a mostrare, il mio modo di cantare era privo di problemi quanto ai suoni di petto. Se non si sta attenti, questi suoni possono andarsi a focalizzare in gola piuttosto che in testa. Quando ciò accade, l'eguagliamento della voce simile a una colonna può venir meno. All'inizio tale danneggiamento può essere momentaneo, ma con il passare del tempo si può creare un danno reale. Io sono stata in grado di evitare questi problemi perché sapevo come mantenere i miei suoni di petto concentrati in testa.  

(Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982)

8. L'IMPORTANZA DI NON "APRIRE" I SUONI CANTANDO LE NOTE ACUTE, NELLA TESTIMONIANZA DI ROSA PONZILLO (PONSELLE):

All I know is that from about age fourteen I had a fully rounded, opera-like dramatic voice. As far back as I can remember, I never had what I would call a "girl's voice"—the light, breathy-sounding, high-pitched voice we normally associate with young children. My singing voice was always big and round, and even as a teenager I could sing almost three octaves. I never recall the slightest trouble swelling or diminishing a tone anywhere in those octaves.
But I wasn't a "perfect" singer—and this is where I learned a great deal from Nino Romani. Even though I was what you might call a "natural", I had a tendency to sing very high notes (say, the B natural, the high C, and the high D flat) incorrectly. Because I was essentially untrained (I had never had an actual voice lesson in my life), I tended to sing high tones a bit too brightly, not knowing how to "cover" them.[*]
Nino, who had worked in Europe with Riccardo Stracciari and Titta Ruffo, and who understood voice thoroughly, devised a simple set of exercises that helped me "cover" my high tones. He would ask me to sing a note in the middle of my voice, and then would have me sing the nonsense-syllables "ma-me-mi-mo-mu" while I held the note. These vowel sounds, he explained, were the ones that helped "focus" the voice. Then he would have me sing phrases like "deh vieni", or maybe single words like "amore", in progressive tonal steps, ultimately taking me all over the scale. Nino, great teacher that he was, never made much of these exercises. Often I did them in the shower, sometimes on the golf course, or even while swimming at the beach. By the end of the summer of 1918, the top of my voice sounded exactly like the middle and bottom, and I was ready for the challenges of my first roles.

[*] The distinction between "covered" and "open tones" is predicated upon the complex physiology of the singing voice, and is one of those distinctions that are more easily heard than explained. One widely circulated reference book defines "covered tone" as follows: "The tone-quality produced when the singer's voice is pitched in the soft palate. It is gentler, more veiled in timbre, than [an] open tone." ("The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 1978 edition, page 88). Voice teachers often substitute the expression "singing in the mask" for the phrase "pitched in the soft palate", referring to the sensation of a tone's emanating from the area between the roof of the mouth and the cheekbones—an area likened to "wearing a mask" by many voice teachers. As to the exercises Ponselle describes as having learned from Romani, these varied slightly over the years, although she adhered to the same basic vocalises. In warming up, she would always proceed from what might be called a "head-tone hum"—a hummed tone because the "m" sound would help "place" the tone "in a point"—and would then proceed to an actual vowel form. Hence, the "ma-me-mi-mo-mu" beginning exercises. - J.A.D.

N.B. - LUCIANO PAVAROTTI REMEMBERS HIS ENCOUNTER WITH ROSA PONSELLE:
As a boy in Italy, growing up in my hometown, Modena, I can hardly remember a time when the name Rosa Ponselle was unfamiliar to me. (...) One can imagine how I felt, having grown up admiring an artist whom I had known only from a series of prized phonograph records, meeting her in person—and not only meeting her, but actually "singing" with her! (...) It was at Villa Pace, her magnificent home in the Greenspring Valley near Baltimore, that I met and sang with her. My visit to her villa was the culmination of a telephone-and-letter friendship that had begun a few years earlier. (...) After much animated conversation and a splendid meal, we made our way into her expansive music room, where, before she sat down at the piano, she said to me apologetically, "Luciano, I'm not in form today. Every day when I get up in the morning I try out my 'pianissimo'. If it's there, I'm in top form, and I can do anything. Today, it isn't there, but we'll sing together anyway, in full voice." And sing we did! From fragments of arias and snippets of duets to the beloved Tosti songs so dear to us both, we let our voices mate in one long shimmering line of harmony. My only wish was that we could have been transported magically into a modern recording studio, so that the whole world could have shared this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

(Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982)

 

9. Consiglio di tecnica vocale, dato dal grande tenore Enrico Caruso al celebre soprano Rosa Ponselle, sulla gola aperta negli acuti !!!

- "Rosa," I began, "where do we start on vocal technique?"
"Keep a square throat (...) Caruso taught me that," Rosa said. "He kept a little stretch in the back of the throat to keep it open...open in the back and relaxed. It feels like a square, but only on the high notes. (...) The palate is high and the back of the tongue flat," Rosa said. "This is the square."

- "Rosa," iniziai, "da dove cominciamo con la tecnica vocale?"
"Bisogna tenere una gola 'quadrata' (...) me lo insegnò Caruso," disse Rosa. "Egli teneva un piccolo spazio ampio nel retro della gola per mantenerla aperta...aperta nel retro e rilassata. È come la sensazione di un quadrato, ma solo negli acuti. (...) Il palato è alto e la parte posteriore della lingua distesa," disse Rosa. "Questo è il quadrato."

(tratto da una intervista al soprano Rosa Ponselle condotta dal basso Jerome Hines, riportata in: J.Hines - "Great Singers on Great Singing", Doubleday, 1982)

10. Il suono vocalico dal registro grave a quello acuto

- "I supposed," I ventured, "that what we're really talking about is what is commonly called an open throat. But you are basically applying this, you said, to high notes. How do you approach the concept of open throat in general?"
"Keep the tone dark," Rosa stated positively.
- "Her favorite vowel was OO," Igor [Chichagov, the accompanist in Rosa's studio for most of the years she had taught] said. "Her Latin voice tended to be too bright, so her only coach, Romano Romani, insisted on this school of Ruffo and Stracciari: use OO to keep a cover on the tone."

"I used MOO, in the lower register...pure MOO...then gradually to MAH," Rosa said, and it was evident that this was the Italian 'awe', not the brither 'ah' used in French, German, or Russian (...)"
(...) "Always round," Rosa added. "And don't let the top get away from you with high 'tessitura'. It's a low, round sensation, the OO, and all vowels are based on it." (...)
"Giving the square throat," she added.
- "Early in her career," Igor said, "she was having a little problem with some high notes and not with others. She realized one of the good ones was on 'Mia mAdre'. That's the darker 'awe' vowel."
"I started with 'm' and a relaxed throat," Rosa said. "When I was not in good voice, and could not get a good 'awe' from OO, I would work on it until I got it."

- "Now," I said, "how about the transition in the throat or jaw as you go up in range from low notes to high notes? Is there any change?"
"In the middle register just talk, don't mouth words...don't make too big a spacing," she said. "But as you go up you need more spacing...mouth more open, jaw dropped, relaxed."

(tratto da una intervista al soprano Rosa Ponselle condotta dal basso Jerome Hines, riportata in: J.Hines - "Great Singers on Great Singing", Doubleday, 1982) 

 

11. L'EMISSIONE DEI PIANISSIMI

"In pianissimo you almost feel as if you're pulling a thread through your nose...and don't let it ever stop."
- I asked Rosa what sort of vocalizing she did during her career. She said she vocalized (...) when she felt like it. At first she tested her pianissimo and did a scale or two to see if the voice was there.

(tratto da una intervista al soprano Rosa Ponselle condotta dal basso Jerome Hines, riportata in: J.Hines - "Great Singers on Great Singing", Doubleday, 1982)

 

12. Rosa Ponselle sullo studio mentale:

"First of all," said Miss Ponselle, "I regard singing purely as a mental operation—that is, the 'art' of singing. For the girl who is a student of opera in the higher sense, mechanical exercises cannot well be advised, because vocal mechanics do not enter into singing as an 'art'. Too many students, I think, definitely fix their ambitions on opera, when they begin to study singing, before they find out whether or no they are fitted for it. When you begin to study singing, let your first thought be to learn how to sing. (...)
There seems little advantage to the student in recommending this, that or the other set of 'vocalises' or exercises for study use. After all, if you get down to the gist of the matter, it is altogether a question of the proper use of the exercises selected; 'how' to study what you study and not 'what' you study.
I spent less than a year preparing for opera, but when you ask me how I managed to accomplish so much in a time so comparatively short, the answer is simple. I was studious—working with my mind as well as with my throat—and I had had correct teaching from the 'very beginning', and therefore no faulty teaching to undo. One thing in which I am a great believer is the avoidance of vocal overexertion. During the opera or concert season I use daily vocal exercises to keep my voice flexible; but I practice them only a 'few minutes' each day (...) Even while I was preparing to sing in opera, I did not practice more than fifteen or twenty minutes a day; unless, of course, I was studying a new rôle. (...)
I would not attempt to draw comparisons, as regards difficulty, between one and another operatic rôle of the dramatic soprano repertory. (...) My own experience is that 'all rôles require the same mental exertion in order to render the motif in its best light'!"

["Prima di tutto ", disse la signorina Ponselle," considero il canto puramente come un'operazione mentale—vale a dire, "l'arte" del canto. Per le ragazze che studiano opera lirica nel senso più alto, gli esercizi meccanici non possono essere consigliati, perché la meccanica vocale non entra nel canto come "arte". Troppi studenti, penso, fissano definitivamente le proprie ambizioni sull'opera lirica, quando iniziano a studiare canto, prima di scoprire se sono o meno adatti a questo compito. Quando iniziate a studiare canto, il vostro primo pensiero sia quello di imparare a cantare. (...)
Non sembra di gran vantaggio allo studente il raccomandare questa, quella o quell'altra serie di 'vocalizzi' o esercizi ad uso di studio. Dopotutto, se si arriva all'essenza della questione, è tutta una questione di corretto uso degli esercizi selezionati; 'come' studiare ciò che si studia e non 'cosa' si studia.
Io ho trascorso meno di un anno a prepararmi per l'opera lirica, ma quando mi chiedete come sono riuscita a realizzare così tanto in un tempo relativamente breve, la risposta è semplice. Ero studiosa, lavorando con la mente e con la gola, ed ho avuto un insegnamento corretto 'fin dall'inizio', e quindi nessun insegnamento difettoso da eliminare. Una cosa della quale sono una grande sostenitrice è quella di evitare l'iperaffaticamento vocale. Durante la stagione operistica o concertistica impiego degli esercizi vocali giornalieri per mantenere flessibile la mia voce; ma mi ci esercito solamente per "pochi minuti" al giorno (...)
Anche quando mi stavo preparando per cantare in un'opera, non mi sono mai esercitata per più di quindici o venti minuti al giorno; a meno che, naturalmente, non stessi studiando un nuovo ruolo. (...)
Non tenterei di fare paragoni, quanto a difficoltà, tra un ruolo operistico e l'altro del repertorio del soprano drammatico. (...) La mia esperienza personale è che "tutti i ruoli richiedono lo stesso sforzo mentale per rendere l'idea predominante nella sua luce migliore"!]

(da: "The Art of the Prima Donna and Concert Singer" by Frederick H. Martens - D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1923)

 

N.B. : ecco la grandissima considerazione che ebbe Giacomo Puccini per l'arte della Ponselle!

L'INCONTRO CON PUCCINI, LUGLIO 1924:
It was in a similar room at the composer's villa at Torre del Lago, Nino reminded me, that a very young Enrico Caruso had been introduced to Puccini three decades before. After hearing this ebullient young Neapolitan sing several measures of "Che gelida manina", from "Bohème", Puccini had exclaimed, "Who sent you? God?"
Once the usual greetings were exchanged, Puccini asked me to sing, offering to accompany me in anything of his I wished to perform. I chose the "Vissi d'arte" from "Tosca". Minutes later, as my voice throbbed with emotion at Floria Tosca's phrase, "Nell'ora del dolor perché, perché Signor, ah... perché me ne rimuneri così?" (In my hour of misery why, why, O Lord, why do you repay me like this?) Puccini let his hands lay still on the keys, saying nothing. In the moments that passed between the last echoes of the piano chords and the words he finally said to me, "CHE PECCATO... CHE PECCATO CHE NON HO SENTITO PRIMA QUESTA VOCE!" (What a pity that I never heard this voice before!) the words of that final phrase from "Vissi d'arte" must have haunted him. He was at the end of his life, dying by inches from cancer of the throat, having "lived for art and love" just as Floria Tosca had.
During the course of the afternoon I sang "Vissi d'arte" several times for him, lingering on certain phrases more than others, trying this or that shading on various notes, all the while asking the great man which way he preferred the aria sung. He paid me a rich compliment when he said, "CARA, I prefer any way YOU interpret my music!" Later in the day, before we were served dinner, we posed with the Maestro for informal photos on his villa's tiled veranda. Edith took them with a Kodak I had bought for the trip. They were among the very last photographs ever taken of Puccini; three months later, a heart attack ended his misery.
Several weeks after his funeral, I received a letter from Signora Puccini asking if she and her family might have prints of some of the snapshots. In return, she enclosed an unfinished manuscript bearing the Maestro's familiar notation. It was an art song, untitled as yet. At the top of the manuscript, in his unmistakable longhand, he had written, "DEDICO ALLA BELLISSIMA VOCE DI ROSA PONSELLE" (Dedicated to the beautiful voice of Rosa Ponselle).

(from: Rosa Ponselle & James A. Drake - "PONSELLE, A SINGER'S LIFE", foreword by Luciano Pavarotti - Doubleday & Company, Inc. - Garden City, New York, 1982)

--> cfr. il breve articolo 'La tecnica vocale spiegata da Rosa Ponselle' apparso sul numero 1 de "Il giornale del belcanto italiano": 

http://www.belcantoitaliano.com/giornale_belcanto/il_giornale_del_belcanto_italiano_numero_1.pdf