Search - Tebaldi, Melis, Puccini :: Pupil & The Teacher

The Melis Tradition preserved in Tebaldi

Impostazione | New York City Area | 08/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It always interests me to find the similarities between teacher and pupil. Certainly, Tebaldi was the ideal protegee of Carmen Melis, whose distinct vowels were always full of air, seemingly dispersed in little puffs on the attack. The most distinctive characteristic of Tebaldi's technique is the very high "breath arch", very obvious in her early days and very much like her teacher, Melis. While this gives both Melis and Tebaldi beauty of tone and exquisite vowels, it makes the top a little difficult and Tebaldi's added chest resonance eventually spelled disaster in that area. The top requires a cautious balance of muscle and breath (myo-elastic/aero-dynamic). This technique is a little heavy on the use of air in the tone. Nevertheless, they are the two best singers of Tosca ever and Melis was also great histrionically.



You may find the Arangi-Lombardi/Gencer method endlessly more dynamic. The DeHidalgo/Callas method produces some dynamite energy--the forward Spanish sound, and the influence of Pertile can be heard in the intense singing style of Zeani. But for sheer tonal beauty the Melis/Tebaldi method wins out!



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