Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.classica
Titolo: Fleming’ s Donizetti and the Shenker method

 Subject: Re:
Scala Lucrezia To: 
OPE...@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
] technical knowledge of
the history of vocality and features of singing Donizetti since I
never studied neither Music nor singing and all my listening
impressions are based on my instinctive reactions.
I quite recognize his sincerity but even must acknowledge that at the
premiere Ms Fleming was disturbed since the beginning and it was not a
polite behaviour from some "loggionists" specially after the severe
incident happened to Maestro Gelmetti.
Of course the cultural basis for disapproving Ms Fleming’ s
performance in Lucrezia at La Scala is relevant to her supposed
technical inadequacy to Donizetti belcanto style.
To my mind, since I presume by now to know enough of the loggionists’
s ambient taking into account that on Monday 6 I stayed on a queue
practically all day long and could listen to most of the comments,
their vicinity and sometimes coincidence with the scalpers’ leaders
make me persuaded that the tried bad reception to Ms Fleming’ s
performance was more due to the rage for having many tickets unsold,
due to the reasons that it was July, that the opera was not a
favourite and that the "American lady" was not famous enough in Italy
to attract so much audience. Were it be the 3 tenors (alias "los tres
miliardarios"...) show you could be sure that despite the very poor
artistic contents they would have been very happy and clapped
entusiastically... 
With that said, no doubt that there were many pondered comments from
normal listeners calling for the same kind of reservations as Marco’ s
considerations as well as many in favour of Fleming’s interpretation
considered at least the best possible nowadays: I can say on grounds
of the many exchanges of ideas had during the intervals and after the
curtain closing that the "normal" public was quite divided into two
distinct parts in front of Fleming’s performances (I couldn’ t resist
and even assisted to the performance of Thursday 9...) and it was long
time that something similar didn’ t happen. I must even say that many
listeners, particularly those who have been listening to Caballč or
Gencer historical recordings till some minutes before the performance,
considered Fleming’ s voice and technique miles away from the
performances of this opera of those great sopranos, while many others
were conquered by her elegiac and moving singing and some were very
happy to have done hundreds of km for this performance.
This to tell all the truth (and it’s even true that I reported only
the "good" part of Paolo Isotta’ s review...). So what are the
arguments in favour instead?
Apart from the fact that as far as I know nobody, including the
Bergamo’ s composer, ever wrote an handbook on how to sing Donizetti’
s operas [Lablache’ s famous tractat of singing quoted by Marco dates
back to 1842 and only releases some general notes about the
differences in introducing ornaments between serious and lofty
operas...], I don’ t share the position that certain readings must
become a biblic tradition not to be refuted, nor that Ms Fleming’s
vocality is so inadequate that she cannot dare run into this
repertoire. Sincerely I don’ t know only one soprano who exhibited a
perfect voice in all the operas they sang, neither Caballč nor Gencer,
neither Tebaldi nor Callas. Maybe only my beloved Cerquetti, limited
to the few operas she could sing in her very short career... 
Another time in the past the loggione made a blunder, it was Chris
Merrit if I remember well, culprit to sing Verdi like Rossini: apart
from the fact that in my deep ignorance I don’ t see so huge a
difference in style and vocality between a XIX century opera composer
and another, many of whom were living in the same historical period,
this concept brought to the extreme should sentence that a singer must
sing only one composer’ s Music and frankly everybody should be
horrified for that aberration! I don’ t accept these stereotypes: one,
including Daverio and myself, can prefer a singer to another in a
certain composer or opera or maybe even an aria but cannot state that
an artist must be prevented to sing certain composers...
This story reminds me of a certain method of teaching English which
was quite popular in my country some years ago in order to enable our
poor Italians so in difficulty abroad to hyphen some English words
when travelling or at business meetings: the so- called Shenker method
consisted (and maybe still consists...) in listening and re-listening
continuously a text from an audio cassette and then to repeat the
lesson parrot fashion to the professor (usally a young jobless
expatriate from UK or Ireland). If you don’ t repeat exactly the same
accent and the same sounds sequence you don’ t pass to the next
level... Well, during my entire life I didn’ t travel a lot, but I
think enough and never never could meet only one person, American or
British or Australian or whatever talking in the Shenker way! I could
add that the sentences learnt by heart during the exercises were so
silly to be completely useless in every day life.
If the comparison is allowed I’ d like to say that I can’ t imagine
that there is only one way to sing Donizetti and I’ d be horrified to
learn that, because it should be a very flat mood to live opera. I
risk to say that depending on the personal voice characteristics there
are many possible ways to tune Donizetti’s like Rossini’ s or Verdi’ s
arias and whole operas or characters otherwise opera should be boring
and pop music or jazz should be much better. 
Ms Fleming’ s vocal means are certainly quite exceptional; I should
add that a certain intrinsic pathos in her timbre renders her more
suitable to dramatic characters rather than to comedy ones: it’ s an
impression I already came to by listening to her 1996 London record
"Renée Fleming sings Mozart" where to my mind the dramatic arias from
La finta giardiniera are better than Susanna’ s ones from Le nozze di
Figaro. She is equipped with wondrous natural instrument, is a serious
professional with a great motivation towards this genre of Music: she
already faced up to a difficult and rare Donizetti by the studio
recording of Rosmonda d’ Inghilterra for Opera Rara. Maybe it’s early
to talk about a Donizetti-renaissance started and led by the couple
Gelmetti / Fleming, but it’s not too late to state that any trial of a
today’s singer not exactly on the same wavelenght of Caballč or Gencer
is wrong and blameworthy. You can only say that you prefer the
previous ones: no tragedy, it means that Fleming will be the third or
the fourth of a good bunch..., but not state she’ s so wrong  that can
only go on with Rossini (or maybe Mozart...)...
Somebody else, maybe very unqualified like me, go beyond and venture a
judgement: this was the best hommage of the season for Donizetti’ s
double anniversary.
All the above IMHO.
LUX

 kukkate pure Voi senza traduzione...
Caro Lucio, protesto vibratamente e formalmente.
Possibile che le tue K dobbiamo sorbircele solo noi??
Dico, e gli americani chi sono per poterle evitare??
Non e' giusto, ecco. Dai anche a loro una buona dose di K......
--
==========================================
Marco Marcelli - Genova
E-Mail1: 
marc...@money.it
 [casa]
E-Mail2: 
marco.m...@elsag.it
 [ufficio]
==========================================

Dico, e gli americani chi sono per poterle evitare??
Bugia: ho verificato e ce ne sono ben 25!!..	8;-))
Comunque senza K dirò che ieri abbiamo assistito alla terza replica
con la Fleming della Lucrezia Borgia insieme ad un folto gruppo di
IAMC comprendente Lomi, DeMerulis, Matt e Canaletti. Cantava anche
Sabbatini. L' opera e l' interpretazione della Fleming sono piaciute a
tutti.
All' uscita degli artisti quasi in un ideale passaggio di consegne ho
avuto occasione prima di stringere la mano a Leyla Gencer e poi di
baciare quella della Fleming! Mai il Paradiso fu così vicino....
LUX