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From
Divo: Great Tenors, Baritones and Basses Discuss Their Roles
by Helena Matheopoulos (1986):
On Verdi baritones and breath control:
"Piero Cappuccilli belongs to that rare, nearly extinct, breed of baritones capable of excelling in virtually all the major Verdi roles, ranging from those in his early operas – like Ezio in Attila, Don Carlos in Ernani and the title roles in Nabucco and Macbeth – to the great warhorses of his middle and late periods like Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Amonasro and Iago. ‘I adore Verdi,’ he confirms. ‘He just suits my voice and I never encounter any difficulties when singing his roles which, although extremely demanding, are nevertheless well written for the voice.’ Cappuccilli’s robust, sonorous, resonant baritone has a compass of two and a half octaves, is produced seemingly without the least exertion and sustained by a breathing technique legendary in the operatic world. (It has aroused the outspoken admiration of many colleagues, including Domingo and Pavarotti, who acknowledge they learnt a great deal from observing Cappuccilli at work.)
The most essential attribute of a good Verdi baritone, according to Cappuccilli, is a voice that stretches to at least two octaves… ‘But the trouble is that nowadays voices tend to be “short” at either end and this immediately puts certain roles like the Conte di Luna in Il trovatore beyond them. They also lack some the substance, intensity and resilience that one associates with the true Verdi baritone sound, which I always liken to that of a piano, the most complete of musical instruments, because it contains not only notes, but harmonics as well. Think of an “arpeggio” for instance: it contains a cluster of notes and harmonics. Great voices should be like that, too, and sing not just on the note but also on the harmonic. This was certainly true of Tagliabue, Galeffi and Stracciari. But alas, Italy doesn’t seem to produce voices like that anymore.’
…Like Bergonzi, whose breathing technique is also masterly enough to arouse the stupefaction of younger singers, Cappuccilli professes himself ‘mystified’ that this should be considered something to be marveled at. ‘I do nothing more than breathe normally,’ he says, echoing Bergonizi’s similar remark, ‘but what I have learnt to do perhaps better than many, is to meter and release my breath and tailor it to the nature and requirements of each musical phrase: certain phrases I would sing on one long breath, while in others I might takes as many as four short breaths.’ His capacity to sustain long phrases on one breath is such that Placido Domingo confided to the Observer that ‘you can tell when a conductor like Abbado has been rehearsing with Cappuccilli: he’ll take the tenor/baritone duet from Don Carlos very slowly!’"
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