2) Q: “That is: a light chest engagement at the bottom (Yoncheva’s clearer and more defined, Netrebko’s more blended—Netrebko often avoids the defined chest, even at expectable places like the descents to D and C on open vowels in the “Regnava“); a shaded, ‘covered‘ treatment of vowels just above that, and then, in the upper-middle range, an attempt to let go of (rather than gathering and solidifying) built-up weight, and to release into a freer, lighter action.”

A: This could be an extended and complex discussion, but to attempt a distillation: I note, dear Reader One, that you have bold-faced “engagement,” but not “chest.” In this example, they must stay together. “Chest” doesn’t describe just any low note; it identifies a tonal quality, and the tonal quality depends on the activation of a particular set of neuromuscular co-ordinations–adjustments of the vocal cords combined with the encouragement of certain resonantal factors. Many of today’s female singers, unlike those of 100 years ago, are reluctant to engage these co-ordinations. They’re often taught not to, out of fear that they will be unable to navigate the resulting “break,” will “drive chest too high,” etc. In Yoncheva’s case, she does engage these co-ordinations—we can clearly hear the “chest” quality on some of her low notes, particularly on open vowels, which tend to be chest-friendly.  But it sounds like the “chest” that belongs to a lyric-coloratura soprano, one who undertakes Gilda or Amina, not Tosca or Desdemona. So when one hears her tackling these heavier roles, and aspiring to big climaxes at the top of the range, one hears an imbalance in the tensions that are supposed to bond the registers into a working unit.

I think it won’t be hard to hear what I’m talking about in Netrebko’s singing, provided one is paying attention to the relationships among vowels, pitches, and timbre—our guidelines in listening for clues to vocal behavior. ^(I)Netrebko certainly does sometimes access the voce di petto—in roles like Lady Macbeth or Tosca, wherein the combination of low pitch, open vowels, and strong volume are frequent necessities, she can hardly fail to do so. But again, hers isn’t the gutsy chest voice of the spinto or dramatic soprano who by rights should be singing such roles. And while this is crystal clear in the opera house, it may not be so to many listeners on recordings. Therefore, I selected Lucia’s “Regnava nel silenzio” as illustration: even on a recording, it is obvious whether or not the chest quality, powerful or not, emerges at all. In addition, Lucia is a part to which Netrebko’s “original” voice (see May 25 for my usage of this term) was well suited.