Where opera went wrong

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'Twas the night before Christmas, a time for ghouls, spectres, and phantoms to walk among the living. The ghost of the legendary vocal pedagogue Manuel Garcia jr has come to find out what exactly has happened to opera since he died over a hundred years ago this very night*...

Footnotes:
"Hints on Singing", Manuel Garcia, 1894
“Mémoire sur la voix humaine : présenté à l’Académie des Sciences en 1840”, Manuel Garcia
"Letters from Manuel Patricio García to Pauline Viardot-García", collected by James Radomsky

*OK not actually this night, it was half a year off on 1st July, which is as far as you can get from Christmas Eve before you start coming round again, but that doesn't sound as spooky...
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As a former ballet dancer, I'm seeing so many parallels between the evolution of modern opera technique and the rising trends within ballet of every ballerina being stick-thin and hyperflexible and the performance focused more on showing off skills than expressing the story.

joannaellis
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I am desperate. This style of singing isn't taught anymore. But it is the one I love listening to, the one I would like to adopt myself. I don't know what to do, read? I don't know where to look for the right books. Manuel Garcia is a start of course, thank God.

Little_Duck_
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It does seem that opera has become a caricature of itself. I love opera best when it remembers that it is telling a story and the performers don’t wallow in their vocal acrobatics but instead tell us a good story with beautiful singing with genuine emotion. Thanks for the informative video and its creative delivery.

wilwhimsey
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I know nothing about opera and yet I am here.

SpartanSC
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I would love to see an example of a voice lesson in the old style, or just ways to achieve the sound over time with practice and work.

MartyMusic
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This video was eye, well earned, opening. I’ve always wondered why I couldn’t understand what words most modern opera singers were singing unless I read the lyrics as they sing. Then I listened to older recordings and found that I was able to understand much more, not just the lyrics, but the emotions they were portraying

corneliatjandra
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As somebody deeply immersed in musical theatre, I find it mildly amusing that the point about clarity of words and authenticity of expression is at the very core of (good) musical theatre that many classical singers look down on as "mere entertainment". Shocker: If you don't understand what somebody is "saying", you can't empathise, you aren't moved, you only observe an acrobat performing vocal gymnastics. Which certainly are impressive and moving in their own way at times but a far cry from what (the ghost of) Garcia jr. expresses here.

crimsonsmirk
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My main complaint about modern opera singing styles is that too often the vibrato is so heavy that I can't even tell which note they're singing or whether they're really in tune with the rest of the music.

thegreatreverendx
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I've studied Opera for over 10 years now and this was the most mind-blowing 16 minutes of my life

mjp
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My highschool choir director teaches the Bel Canto style. Literally everything you said I was thinking "wait not everybody does that?" So NO! Not all of them are gone, you can find some gems but it's probably quite hard.

bassmanxan
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As a harpsichordist who started from piano, I've had to unlearn a lot of the 19th century reinterpretations of Baroque and early Classical music. This channel is a breath of fresh air, I'm so glad to have discovered it! Solidarity in the struggle to keep the original musical traditions alive!

nuri
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Your channel makes me smile so much. Even as a younger person, i hated listening to most modern opera but adored older recordings, the older the better, but it was hard to articulate why. You're able to articulate it expertly, and it's thrilling to know i wasn't alone in these opinions.

wren_bean
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Your teacher's voice is absolutely stunning. I always felt odd that all my favourite singers were pre-1960ish and have always abhorred the fake dark sound of modern singers (mezzos being especially guilty of this) and that I was never taught to sing with a lowered larynx. In fact I've never thought of my larynx at all when singing.

evelynnsoria
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"how does a singer transmit emotion to an audience? By feeling strongly himself" YES!!! yes yes yes!! becoming your character is essential! the audience can tell the difference when one is not fully mentally and emotionally committed, this is why some dramas aren't performed by the actors more than 4 runs or so, or once they finish performing they have to make a drastic lifestyle change, because their role is genuinely emotionally taxing.

claireschweizer
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The issue with saying one is good singing and one is bad singing is that people will always prefer one sound to the other. Regardless of if modern operatic style is historically accurate, it is the modern preference for operatic sound. We need not forget that there are audiences for speech-like singing, whisper singing, metal & “screamo”, and all of the above. There is no single way to sing, and I will say that personally my ears preferred the “bad” examples you showed to the “good” ones… both of these styles still deserve to co-exist however, if you prefer one style then there should exist the vocal diversity in opera for whatever sound you like.

RaisedThird
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What I have noticed is that singers are extremely hard to tell apart nowadays, and also the epidemic of shaking jaws among singers. I'm actually shocked when a singer doesn't look like they're chewing as they sing.

Shahrdad
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The fact that I finally realized that the ghost was also her after 5 mins of the conversation is shocking 😱

pidy
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Alessandro Moreschi (the last castrato )was recorded in 1904 (his last recording.) It’s amazing we got an idea of that amazing voice of what a castrato sounded like as they are extinct now.

Rumpelstiltskinsdaughter
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It makes so much sense, opera from today sounds so vague. Listening to the old recordings feels so refreshing and clear. Thanks for making this video

ludicroussealanimations
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Me, too. I was trained in this style is singing but then didn't pursue opera professionally because...well, I had the wrong sound. But the feeling was mutual because I don't care for the modern opera singer's sound. I moved on to other musical genres. But I didn't know I was a dying breed. Goodness! Thanks for starting this great channel!

annaglyph