Bel Canto: A Theoretical and Practical Vocal Method (Dover Books On Music: Voice)

US: Dover Publications, 1970. Paperback. Very Good. Mathilde Marchesi (1821-1913) was probably the most renowned singing teache r of the late nineteenth century. Herself the pupil of the great Manuel Gar cia the Second and the associate of the unsurpassable divas of the middle n ineteenth century, she also linked the traditional bel canto teaching metho d to the beginning of the twentieth century. Early in her career her work w as praised enthusiastically by Rossini, who was for a time officially in ch arge of voice training in France; and toward the end of her career she prep ared such superstars as Melba, Calvé, Eames, Aida, and others. This volume embodies Madame Marchesi's "vocal alphabet," or basic instructi ons and exercises that formed the voices of her great pupils. An introducto ry text discusses breathing, attack, registers, and similar matters, while the remainder of the book contains many exercises that teach voice manageme nt and projections. Marchesi's book is today even more important than when it first appeared, for it offers the basis for a construction of the bel canto training system. At the time the book appeared, the bel canto system had gone out of fashion in favor of more modern schools that seemed to offer more rapid maturation, voice volume, and dramatics. Today, a more realistic reevaluation has revealed that the bel canto system gave the singer much longer performing life, a more pleasing voice, and far greater musical ability. As Philip Miller states in his introduction, "a solidity, a sure technical mastery, an even scale with no register break . . . strong, even and secure trills, their coloratura masterly." In addition, the resurgence of interest in ear.