Giovanni Sbriglia (1832-1916), allievo al Conservatorio di Napoli di Emanuele de Roxas ed Alessandro Busti, fu un tenore napoletano che debuttò al San Carlo nel 1853 ed a New York nel 1860 all'Academy of Music con Adelina Patti ne "La Sonnambula". Girò gli Stati Uniti con altri artisti, cantò in Messico ed a Cuba. Dopo una carriera in Europa, si stabilì a Parigi nel 1875, dove divenne uno storico docente di canto dell'età d'oro del canto lirico: tra i suoi allievi più noti, il tenore lirico-drammatico Jean de Reszke, il soprano drammatico Lillian Nordica ed il basso Pol Plançon.
Non scrisse alcun libro, ma possiamo conoscere il suo metodo attraverso alcuni articoli apparsi sulla celebre rivista "The Etude". Impostava le voci sul suono vocalico U e faceva vocalizzare gli studenti di canto impiegando il suono raccolto [O] specialmente per una vocale in pericolo di emissione aperta-scoperta come la A.
Non scrisse alcun libro, ma possiamo conoscere il suo metodo attraverso alcuni articoli apparsi sulla celebre rivista "The Etude". Impostava le voci sul suono vocalico U e faceva vocalizzare gli studenti di canto impiegando il suono raccolto [O] specialmente per una vocale in pericolo di emissione aperta-scoperta come la A.
Ecco, di seguito, i risultati delle nostre ricerche che provano ancora una volta che questo sistema d'emissione è quello della vecchia Scuola italiana di canto, anzi di 'bel canto'!
In "An Interview with M. Sbriglia" (ETUDE, January 1904) l'intervistatore Mr. Perley Dunn Aldrich*, che fu editore del 'Voice Department' per la rivista The Etude (*egli aveva studiato inizialmente al New England Conservatory, poi a Londra ed infine a Parigi, divenendo allievo di Sbriglia, ma anche suo assistente e pianista accompagnatore; ebbe una voce di baritono raffinata, ricca ed acuta, apparve in esecuzioni concertistiche ed oratoriali per dedicarsi poi definitivamente all'insegnamento del canto nel suo studio a Philadelphia), riporta quanto segue :
One day M. Sbriglia granted me a special hour to answer a few questions for the benefit of the readers of THE ETUDE, and Madame Sbriglia, who speaks French, Italian, Spanish, German, and English, translated for me.
One day M. Sbriglia granted me a special hour to answer a few questions for the benefit of the readers of THE ETUDE, and Madame Sbriglia, who speaks French, Italian, Spanish, German, and English, translated for me.
I began by asking:
- What is the old Italian school of singing?
"The school of Patti, Nordica, Sembrich, De Reszke, Albani, Plançon, and a few others."
- Why are there so few singers of the old school?
"Because there are so few teachers of the old school of singing. The younger teachers have never studied the old school long enough to understand its principles.
The old school began by months of careful work in placing the voice, and then followed three years of solfeggios for perfect enunciation. It was only after all this that they attempted the study of the recitatives and airs from the operas. Furthermore, in past years, it was a lesson to go to the theaters in Italy and hear the singers, trained as they were in the finest school of singing and singing only the music which best displayed the "bel canto". But now the teachers find a fine, fresh voice and in six months they have taught him roles by role, and he makes his appearance on the stage. At first he attracts attention by the natural beauty of his voice and meets with success. After a short career he disappears entirely, for he knows nothing of either music or the real art of singing. These singers never become fine artists and depend only on their natural gifts, forgetting entirely that it is only by education of these gifts that they can hope for a long and honorable career. With the best voice in the world one cannot hope to become an artist or to preserve the voice unless it has been properly trained. It is like a house without a foundation."
- Do you think the old school of singing can be preserved when there are so few who understand it?
"Certainly, if the great artists will consent to teach it. If Plançon, De Reszke, Nordica, and others will teach, they will pass on the art of singing to the next generation as it has been given to them." (...)
- Did not some of the masters of the old school write treatises on teaching the art of singing?
"(...) Garcia and Delle Sedie have written splendid treatises on the voice, but the young professors who use them go wrong because they cannot understand them. They have not learned to sing themselves as their masters did before them. (...) He who has not trained his own voice is not competent to teach. The organs of the voice are extremely delicate, and it is only those who are exceptionally competent who are able to distinguish the right action of the voice."
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| A Conversation with Signor Sbriglia |
In un successivo articolo "Reminiscences of Celebrated Singers (A Conversation with Signor Sbriglia)" (ETUDE, August 1906) vengono riportate alcune considerazioni di Sbriglia:
“I was trained in Naples at the conservatory, under Emanuel Roxas and Busti—the latter of whom died only three years ago—in the strict old Italian school. When we went to the opera, we heard the most perfect models, such as Malibran, Alboni, Fressolini, Tardolini, Lablache, Cortesi, Mario, Rubini, etc."
“Many people have the idea that their voices were beautiful but rather small.”
“On the contrary, many of them gained great power, as for example, Tamberlik, Mirate and Giuglini. Of course, there were light lyric tenors and the dramatic tenors also. But all the great masters trained the voices as a whole. (...)”
“In those days there were more good singers, and it was a lesson to students to attend the theatre and hear the artists sing, for they sang the legato style, which was the glory of the "bel canto". This was true partly because the music they sang was of a kind that had to be sung and not declaimed, the music of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Cimarosa and Bellini.”
“The delicate action of the voice is just as necessary for its beauty as for its preservation. Whoever cannot sing piano is not an artist. I remember very well the great tenor Fraschini, one of the greatest artists of his time. He had a glorious natural voice, which he constantly forced. One night he went to the opera and heard the tenor Basodonna sing ‘Spirto Gentil’ in ‘La Favorita.’ He was so captivated by the singer’s beautiful quality of voice that he retired from the stage for six months and practiced daily on this one air, singing each phrase pianissimo on the lips over and over again, the "fior di labbri" (the flower of the lips). He then returned to the stage and became one of the leading tenors in the world.”
“Ah! I sometimes think the days of the bel canto are over. People no longer have time to study long enough to master this great and beautiful art.”
“I was trained in Naples at the conservatory, under Emanuel Roxas and Busti—the latter of whom died only three years ago—in the strict old Italian school. When we went to the opera, we heard the most perfect models, such as Malibran, Alboni, Fressolini, Tardolini, Lablache, Cortesi, Mario, Rubini, etc."
“Many people have the idea that their voices were beautiful but rather small.”
“On the contrary, many of them gained great power, as for example, Tamberlik, Mirate and Giuglini. Of course, there were light lyric tenors and the dramatic tenors also. But all the great masters trained the voices as a whole. (...)”
“In those days there were more good singers, and it was a lesson to students to attend the theatre and hear the artists sing, for they sang the legato style, which was the glory of the "bel canto". This was true partly because the music they sang was of a kind that had to be sung and not declaimed, the music of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Cimarosa and Bellini.”
“The delicate action of the voice is just as necessary for its beauty as for its preservation. Whoever cannot sing piano is not an artist. I remember very well the great tenor Fraschini, one of the greatest artists of his time. He had a glorious natural voice, which he constantly forced. One night he went to the opera and heard the tenor Basodonna sing ‘Spirto Gentil’ in ‘La Favorita.’ He was so captivated by the singer’s beautiful quality of voice that he retired from the stage for six months and practiced daily on this one air, singing each phrase pianissimo on the lips over and over again, the "fior di labbri" (the flower of the lips). He then returned to the stage and became one of the leading tenors in the world.”
“Ah! I sometimes think the days of the bel canto are over. People no longer have time to study long enough to master this great and beautiful art.”
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| "What Sbrigla taught and How he taught it" |
Dopo la sua scomparsa, in un articolo del suo allievo Perley Dunn Aldrich, intitolato "What Sbriglia taught and How he taught it" (ETUDE, February 1917), si legge che:
He was trained by Italian teachers in Naples and, naturally, followed the principles of the Italian school.
He was eminently a "practical" teacher. He had very little theory and talked very little. (...)
I once asked him why he did not write down his method. His reply was that this was impossible (...)
“I have no method. I teach people to sing. If the voice is too open, I shut; if it is too shut, I open.”
He taught in the old-fashioned way by using the Concone exercises on the vowel sound adapted to the need of the pupil (the 'AH' the last of all, usually). (...) He would go over and over the same aria, day after day, and even week after week, using it as a vocal exercise, caring very little for the interpretation, but spending all the time and thought upon the freedom of tone.
For certain voices he insisted very much upon the use of the lips, especially on the closed vowels 'O' and 'OO' [U]. He often remarked, in his broken English. “Like you whis” (whistle). “Singing on the lips” was another favorite phrase that he used over and over. (...) I remember very well a certain solfeggio by Guercia that he made me sing with the syllables 'softly and very rapidly' to keep the voice on the lips. Il "fior di labbri" (the flower of the lips).
He would say, over and over, "Ne pousse pas" (don't push) when the pupil would force the voice.
He was trained by Italian teachers in Naples and, naturally, followed the principles of the Italian school.
He was eminently a "practical" teacher. He had very little theory and talked very little. (...)
I once asked him why he did not write down his method. His reply was that this was impossible (...)
“I have no method. I teach people to sing. If the voice is too open, I shut; if it is too shut, I open.”
He taught in the old-fashioned way by using the Concone exercises on the vowel sound adapted to the need of the pupil (the 'AH' the last of all, usually). (...) He would go over and over the same aria, day after day, and even week after week, using it as a vocal exercise, caring very little for the interpretation, but spending all the time and thought upon the freedom of tone.
For certain voices he insisted very much upon the use of the lips, especially on the closed vowels 'O' and 'OO' [U]. He often remarked, in his broken English. “Like you whis” (whistle). “Singing on the lips” was another favorite phrase that he used over and over. (...) I remember very well a certain solfeggio by Guercia that he made me sing with the syllables 'softly and very rapidly' to keep the voice on the lips. Il "fior di labbri" (the flower of the lips).
He would say, over and over, "Ne pousse pas" (don't push) when the pupil would force the voice.
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| Sbriglia's Method |
Alcuni anni dopo, nell'articolo "Sbriglia's Method: an Analysis of a New Vocal Discovery derived from a Great Master of the Past", a cura di Homer Henley (ETUDE, January 1933) il discorso viene approfondito in questo modo:
Sbriglia's students were told that the only way to bring about the results he desired, was to use the lips as a funnel to bring the tone forward (...) They were told to sing OOnOO as in the word "shoe"; the OON sound to bring the lips forward into a whistling position, and the OO sound to round and point the tone on the lips.
By "LIPS", Sbriglia meant not only the red lines of the lips, but also their whole structure from the lower edge of the nose to the middle of the chin. And he bade his pupils (...) “Do I feel all my lips vibrate with the tone?”
That is (...) it would be full of a "foundation" resonance (...) a form of resonance which carries farther than the "forte" high notes of a cornet; a "professional" tone; the sound we associate with those who have had their voices rightly cultivated; in brief, the tone which only the great singers employ. (...)
The sound of OO, as in the word "shoe", is most favorable for the location of the fulcrum point, and Sbriglia always used that sound first. Gradually he allowed the employment of other vowel sounds, always, however, insisting on the use of the lips to confirm the placements of all vowels in that circumscribed area of the little indentation above the roots of the upper front teeth.
(...) one of the chiefest advantages of the method is to make every note, eventually, a perfectly round sound, quite regardless of vowel or word, but equally a sound in no wise interfering with perfect enunciation and diction.
Sbriglia's students were told that the only way to bring about the results he desired, was to use the lips as a funnel to bring the tone forward (...) They were told to sing OOnOO as in the word "shoe"; the OON sound to bring the lips forward into a whistling position, and the OO sound to round and point the tone on the lips.
By "LIPS", Sbriglia meant not only the red lines of the lips, but also their whole structure from the lower edge of the nose to the middle of the chin. And he bade his pupils (...) “Do I feel all my lips vibrate with the tone?”
That is (...) it would be full of a "foundation" resonance (...) a form of resonance which carries farther than the "forte" high notes of a cornet; a "professional" tone; the sound we associate with those who have had their voices rightly cultivated; in brief, the tone which only the great singers employ. (...)
The sound of OO, as in the word "shoe", is most favorable for the location of the fulcrum point, and Sbriglia always used that sound first. Gradually he allowed the employment of other vowel sounds, always, however, insisting on the use of the lips to confirm the placements of all vowels in that circumscribed area of the little indentation above the roots of the upper front teeth.
(...) one of the chiefest advantages of the method is to make every note, eventually, a perfectly round sound, quite regardless of vowel or word, but equally a sound in no wise interfering with perfect enunciation and diction.
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| Sbriglia's Method of Singing |
Infine, nell'ampio e dettagliato articolo "Sbriglia's Method of Singing" by Margaret Chapman Byers (ETUDE May 1942) viene spiegato così il suo metodo d'emissione:
The most universally accepted characteristic of this method was the loose, rounded, pushed-out lips, which Nordica always used. Sbriglia used the vowels, "Te-ro" (phonetically [ti] and close [o] according to Mrs Chamlee [one of the last students of Sbriglia]), more than any other vowels in vocalizing. (...) the "O", which is held, must be the round Italian "O", which requires perfect breath support, or it will not be round; loose-out lips are always used to make a perfect "O".
“Use the vowels with a loose jaw, remember”, he would say, “only your lower jaw is moveable, so open your mouth by dropping your lower jaw as you go up the scale. Think "oh", and you will have a perfect Italian "AH" in your upper voice, a sound with an overtone, your lips and your jwas always loose.”
“More American voices are ruined by being trained on the English vowel 'Ah', than any other way. It gives an open flat-topped voice. Even great singers get this open voice from fatigue. Use loosely protruding lips with proper breath support to cure this common fault.”
(...) He always required his pupils to sing songs on vowels only, “to get a perfect "legato", the foundation of all good singing.” (...) the consonants were then slipped in their proper places without losing the legato.
Berton Coffin nel suo libro "Historical Vocal Pedagogy Classics" del 1989 sottolinea che:
Ruth Miller Chamlee, one of the last students of Sbriglia, described Sbriglia's teaching and presented his basic exercises to the members of the University of Colorado NATS Workshop in 1964. She also demonstrated his use of "the little oo" [u] in whistle voice. This was used by Sbriglia to find and develop the head voice of female voices.
[Fiberscope observation of the larynx in singing reveals that the whistle voice "looks" like the male falsetto voice and vice versa. We now know that Sbriglia used falsetto in high male voices and in female voices. How unique! This Italian tenor who was one of the greatest singing masters of all time used falsetto in his teaching; it is disdained in Italy today (Miller 1977). Perhaps this is an explanation of why there are currently so few world-class Italian singers.]
Infatti, sempre nell'articolo del '42 della Byers viene riportata quest'affermazione di Sbriglia:
“As for teaching high notes falsetto, that is only for tenore who have trouble with their upper voice. Nobody seems to realize that a tenor's high notes are falsetto with breath under them. Jean de Reszke was a baritone. I made him into the greatest tenor of his time.”
E poi la Byers fa presente ai lettori che:
When Clara Louise Kellogg came to Sbriglia to study, he told her that her voice was perfect; that he could teach her nothing. Madame Kellogg wrote an account of this in her memoirs, published in the "Saturday Evening Post" and later enacted on the radio in the "Cavalcade of America". When this great singer offered to show me how to sing Mozart, I was enchanted. She was a perfect Mozart singer. Her weak old voice was lovely. (...)
It was Madame Kellogg who told me about Nordica and Sbriglia, which differs somewhat from the press version:
"Lillian and I were singing in 'Faust'; I sang Marguerite; she sang Siebel, and with that lovely voice, she could not get the high B in the score. I told her to go to Sbriglia. Six month later, she had her magnificent high C, one of her outstanding claims to fame, which she owes to Sbriglia absolutely."
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Fonti consultate :
GIOVANNI SBRIGLIA (1831-1916)
- "Signor Sbriglia and some of his Pupils", by H.W. Greene (ETUDE, May 1902 page 181)
- "Interview with M. Sbriglia", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, January 1904, page 25)
- "Reminiscences of Celebrated Singers (A Conversation with Signor Sbriglia)", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, August 1906, page 488)
- "What Sbriglia taught and How he taught it", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, February 1917, page 122)
- "Sbriglia's Method: an Analysis of a New Vocal Discovery derived from a Great Master of the Past", by Homer Henley (ETUDE, January 1933, page 50)
- "Sbriglia's Fourth Register" (ETUDE, January 1933, page 51)
- "Sbriglia's Method of Singing" by Margaret Chapman Byers (ETUDE May 1942, page 307)
The most universally accepted characteristic of this method was the loose, rounded, pushed-out lips, which Nordica always used. Sbriglia used the vowels, "Te-ro" (phonetically [ti] and close [o] according to Mrs Chamlee [one of the last students of Sbriglia]), more than any other vowels in vocalizing. (...) the "O", which is held, must be the round Italian "O", which requires perfect breath support, or it will not be round; loose-out lips are always used to make a perfect "O".
“Use the vowels with a loose jaw, remember”, he would say, “only your lower jaw is moveable, so open your mouth by dropping your lower jaw as you go up the scale. Think "oh", and you will have a perfect Italian "AH" in your upper voice, a sound with an overtone, your lips and your jwas always loose.”
“More American voices are ruined by being trained on the English vowel 'Ah', than any other way. It gives an open flat-topped voice. Even great singers get this open voice from fatigue. Use loosely protruding lips with proper breath support to cure this common fault.”
(...) He always required his pupils to sing songs on vowels only, “to get a perfect "legato", the foundation of all good singing.” (...) the consonants were then slipped in their proper places without losing the legato.
Berton Coffin nel suo libro "Historical Vocal Pedagogy Classics" del 1989 sottolinea che:
Ruth Miller Chamlee, one of the last students of Sbriglia, described Sbriglia's teaching and presented his basic exercises to the members of the University of Colorado NATS Workshop in 1964. She also demonstrated his use of "the little oo" [u] in whistle voice. This was used by Sbriglia to find and develop the head voice of female voices.
[Fiberscope observation of the larynx in singing reveals that the whistle voice "looks" like the male falsetto voice and vice versa. We now know that Sbriglia used falsetto in high male voices and in female voices. How unique! This Italian tenor who was one of the greatest singing masters of all time used falsetto in his teaching; it is disdained in Italy today (Miller 1977). Perhaps this is an explanation of why there are currently so few world-class Italian singers.]
Infatti, sempre nell'articolo del '42 della Byers viene riportata quest'affermazione di Sbriglia:
“As for teaching high notes falsetto, that is only for tenore who have trouble with their upper voice. Nobody seems to realize that a tenor's high notes are falsetto with breath under them. Jean de Reszke was a baritone. I made him into the greatest tenor of his time.”
E poi la Byers fa presente ai lettori che:
When Clara Louise Kellogg came to Sbriglia to study, he told her that her voice was perfect; that he could teach her nothing. Madame Kellogg wrote an account of this in her memoirs, published in the "Saturday Evening Post" and later enacted on the radio in the "Cavalcade of America". When this great singer offered to show me how to sing Mozart, I was enchanted. She was a perfect Mozart singer. Her weak old voice was lovely. (...)
It was Madame Kellogg who told me about Nordica and Sbriglia, which differs somewhat from the press version:
"Lillian and I were singing in 'Faust'; I sang Marguerite; she sang Siebel, and with that lovely voice, she could not get the high B in the score. I told her to go to Sbriglia. Six month later, she had her magnificent high C, one of her outstanding claims to fame, which she owes to Sbriglia absolutely."
---------------------------------------
Fonti consultate :
GIOVANNI SBRIGLIA (1831-1916)
- "Signor Sbriglia and some of his Pupils", by H.W. Greene (ETUDE, May 1902 page 181)
- "Interview with M. Sbriglia", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, January 1904, page 25)
- "Reminiscences of Celebrated Singers (A Conversation with Signor Sbriglia)", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, August 1906, page 488)
- "What Sbriglia taught and How he taught it", by Perley Dunn Aldrich (ETUDE, February 1917, page 122)
- "Sbriglia's Method: an Analysis of a New Vocal Discovery derived from a Great Master of the Past", by Homer Henley (ETUDE, January 1933, page 50)
- "Sbriglia's Fourth Register" (ETUDE, January 1933, page 51)
- "Sbriglia's Method of Singing" by Margaret Chapman Byers (ETUDE May 1942, page 307)
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Alcune registrazioni scelte di celebri suoi allievi:
Pol Plançon - "Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni" (La sonnambula) - 1903
Pol Plançon - "Elle ne m'aime pas" (Don Carlos) - 1907
Lillian Nordica - Tacea la notte placida (Il trovatore) - 1906
Lillian Nordica - "Suicidio!" (La Gioconda) - 1906 & 1911
Jean de Reszke - "O Paradis" (L'Africaine) - MET, live 1901
Vladimir Rosing - "E lucevan le stelle" (Tosca) - 1919 ca.
