I received a message from David Krauss today and he pointed me to the reference that he had used regarding Enrico Caruso and the significance of the “nose breath”. I’m always interested in reading about the reason behind successful practices in top-flight performers. The book is called
The Art of Singing and is surprisingly “on-line” and available for everyone to read.
On Page 54 in Enrico Caruso’s “The Art of Singing” in the section entitled “The Voice and Tone Production” he discusses the points that David Krauss mentioned in his Denver masterclass:
- The tone once launched, one must think how it may be properly sustained, and this is where the art of breathing is most concerned. The lungs, in the first place, should be thoroughly filled. A tone begun with only half filled lungs loses half its authority and is very apt to be false in pitch. To take a full breath properly, the chest must be raised at the same moment the abdomen sinks in. Then with the gradual expulsion of the breath a contrary movement takes place. The diaphragm and elastic tissue surrounding and containing the stomach and vital organs and the muscles surrounding, by practice acquire great strength and assist considerably in this process of respiration and are vital factors in the matter of controlling the supply which supports the tone. The diaphragm is really like a pair of bellows and serves exactly the same purpose. It is this ability to take in an adequate supply of breath and to retain it until required that makes or, by contrary, mars all singing. A singer with a perfect sense of pitch and all the good intentions possible will often sing off the key and bring forth a tone with no vitality to it, distressing to hear, simply for lack of breath control.
This art of respiration once acquired, the student has gone a considerable step on the road to Parnassus.
To practice deep breathing effectively it is an excellent plan to breathe through the nose, which aids in keeping the confined breath from escaping too soon. The nose also warms and filters the air, making it much more agreeable to the lungs than if taken directly through the mouth. In the practice of slow breathing make sure that the lungs are as nearly emptied as possible on the expulsion of the breath before beginning a new inspiration, as this gives extra impetus to the fresh supply of air and strengthens all the breathing muscles.
If this is not done, moreover, the effect is like two people trying to get in and out of the same narrow door at the same time.
The other author of this “on-line” book is Luisa Tetrazzini (also an opera singer). Her book is similarly entitled “The Art of Singing”.
On Page 12 in the section “Breath Control, The Foundation of Singing” she echoes the ideas that Caruso presents:
- In learning to breathe it is well to think of the lungs as empty sacks, into which the air is dropping like a weight, so that you think first of filling the bottom of your lungs, then the middle part, and so on until no more air can be inhaled.
Inhale short breaths through the nose. This, of course, is only an exercise for breath development. Now begin to inhale from the bottom of the lungs first. Exhale slowly and feel as if you were pushing the air against your chest. If you can get this sensation later when singing it will help you very greatly to get control of the breath and to avoid sending too much breath through the vocal chords.
The breath must be sent out in an even, steady flow.
The chest in a prominent position, the nose breath (keeping the confined breath from escaping too soon – i.e. “pressurizing”), developing the beneficial resistance in the chest to bring forth a tone with “vitality”. Exactly what David has experienced while watching all of the great singers at the Met!
Of course my favorite part of the Tetrazzini book was where she mentioned:
- “From the girls to whom I am talking especially I must now ask a sacrifice—the singer cannot wear tight corsets and should not wear corsets of any kind which come up higher than the lowest rib.”
I always get a kick out of the “fashion” that gets in the way of successful performance practices. While we don’t have to worry about corsets today, I remember an email message (I think on the TPIN list) with the high-school girl that was asking about articulation. She said that she was having real trouble with both clarity and velocity. After lots of good suggestions from different posters, she said that she had a “tongue-stud” and that it was something that she didn’t want to get rid of. That one made my day!