I can't stop laughing at Gencer's remarks! Proprio loro! hahaha this is priceless!!

I think the confusion stems from the terms used because they say no chest voice and then go on to sing in chest voice in the same breath.

Giulietta is a Goddess

3:10 They didn't avoid the chest voice while singing bits of arias. They used chest voice, but weren't aware of it as they have a different understanding of what it actually means. Barbieri revealed her understanding of a chest voice by emitting a deep, ugly and cracking noise back in the throat. I think she wanted to produce something of una voce ingolato. Obviously, her (false) understanding of chest voice........

Marcella had her own way and temperament, but she was right in being fully upset and pissed off with those silly questions - and unprofessional. But let's appreciate Stefan's hard work though. Thank you to him.

Good God, just listen how Barbieri's voice reverberate in the room! REVERENZA!!! So much power and darkness in her voice. Brava, brava! I defy you to show me a current singer who can sound remotely close to Barbieri in this clip. And pay attention to the fact that Barbieri was a retired opera singer by that time.

Barbieri must had a huge voice on the stage...

Thank you for these historical interviews caught just before we lost all these legends Stefan!

My favourite personality is Gavazzi. She is so passionate when she talks about opera. The saddest, based on my memory of the whole film, is Simionato. The joy of singing left her completely.

There seems to be at present, and indeed for several years now, a great many misunderstandings, about how to train the human voice. One of these is attempting to train it by way of the effect, rather than the cause. Quite clearly stated, we sing with our vocal chords, and the result is resonance in the pharynx, and of course the bones of the head. When the vowel is sung properly with the right amount of energy, the consonant is then carried by this energy and the diction is practically perfect. The key to this is the sung vowel and a rather dark-ish vowel at that, pronounced with the muscles at the back of the throat, not the lips. Brightening the vowel and putting it forward only inhibits the resonance and of course, diminishes the sound of the voice, making it practically impossible to sing with an orchestra. The other effect of the forward approach is the issue of finding the pitch: the problem is technical. If the voice functions as it should, pitch is never an issue. Singing in the mask: One great misunderstanding is the use of the phrase, “sing in the mask”. One of the first people to utilize this phrase was the great polish tenor Jean de Reszke (1851-1925) in his teaching, but he also said at the same time, that “the larynx must be low to achieve the resonance of the whole mask”, and not just sing in the nose, which causes many problems. Another issue that I feel I should address is controlling of the voice, in order to keep it “equal”, as the voice goes higher on the scale. I have spoken about developing the lower and middle parts of the voice and then the higher part. When this is achieved and the voice obviously starts to be freer, hence more intensity of sound, it must be left alone to make this climax. All vocal climaxes are made on higher pitches. This is quite simply how music is written, and to deny it, with some sort of manipulation of the sound, goes totally against the true nature of a voice, and why the composer wrote it that way in the first place. Position of the larynx! Contrary to different opinions today, the larynx should be relatively low in order to achieve the best vocal sound. Of course some languages and how people speak have an influence on the larynx. It cannot be pushed down but it definitely can be trained down. I do this with my students every day. The reason for the lower larynx position is to open the pharynx, thus increasing the resonance and producing the freest sound possible. The vocal chords and the pharynx resonate almost simultaneously, and then “with a little luck”, the voice blossoms, or explodes into the head, depending on the nature of the instrument. Chest voice: All of these various sensations that singers say they feel, are more or less simultaneous with the emission of the sound: this is assuming the voice functions freely and naturally. Perhaps the most singular destructive misunderstanding of our time concerns the chest voice (voce di petto). I prefer to call it the chest register, and it is as essential to both male and female voices, as is the head register. No voice will reach its full potential unless both of these registers are properly trained. As far as the female chest register is concerned, the current theory about it being dangerous, could not be farther from the truth; it is truly dangerous not to develop it, and of course it should be used when singing. Without it no voice is complete.

Long story short, it’s neither mask nor chest. It’s about appoggio sul fiato. If you are supporting the sound well, the sound projects properly ie: placed forward. If you don’t, it will be “ingolato” ie: downward. So it’s all about breath support. Either you sing with appoggio or you don’t. It’s not two different voices. Then there is the third case which is singers who do that to darken the voice and try to make it seem bigger which is twice as bad.

these amazing ladies... glad to remember em from now

Hmm, a lot of interesting and lesser known female opera voices that I need to learn. Thanks for the upload.

Mi chiedo se sono o ci fanno... grandissime e fanno finta di non sapere o non capire? La Gencer è un mito... ahahah.

Bravo, Stefan!! This is an interesting and wonderful interview!

Great video! ❤🙏😂💕

it is very clear that there is a shift on the terminology and different understanding of the term between those truly amazing vocal artists; all of them used the heavy modal register (chest voice), in different proportions; but while simionato, pobbe and barbieri understand it as a literal "chest resonance" or "chest position" (and therefore are right on saying there is no "chest resonance" as a means per se, because you cannot put your voice anywhere else from where it is actually produced) gencer and gavazzi do mean the physiological "heavy modal register", the "chest registration", which is indeed very often used and has to be trained, as garcia taught; all of them had the registers very well developed, but none of them wanted to depress the larynx artificially, thus creating the "chest feeling" which simionato and barbieri rightfully point out as wrong. these different ways of understanding (and misunderstanding the matter) had though, in fact, led to a series of singers of newer generations (including mine) who really do not develop the chest register enough and this causes a big problem, especially affronting dramatic repertoire... unfortunately.

"There is no chest voice" ... I challenge anyone to prove to me that there is a chest voice " The truth is that they confused the chest voice with the swallowed voice. Being a great singer does not mean being competent to teach. How much confusion!

3:25 Listen to the interviewers natural voice for about 3 seconds. He argues with singers about "natural" sounds and has the most unnatural speaking voice I have ever heard. He needs to take some "voice rehabilitation lessons" so his listeners won't need to cringe so much when listening to him.

Imagine that because of this misunderstandings in technical terminology we have lost a big part of quality singing. Kind of sad irony.

Stefan, i only can say thank you! Do you realize this video will live forever? And Lol, Gencer is the only right!

Fedora Barbieri is truly charming in her wrath! 😂 2:14

The majority of these comments let me know that you all know very little about opera in general

Blues singers use chest voice all the time

Is it just me or the translation seems to omits half of the conent?

Mr. Zucker , if I remember correctly, You made an interview with Cerquetti and Modl Years ago. It was very interesting for me because Cerquetti explained for the first time the reasons of her early retirement: could You kindly post it ? Thanks in advance

Why is the singer so vehement against olivero at the end ? Saying she overused it to have success. Can someone explain this to me ?

WHY did they lie, all of them ???? I really don't understand...

Leyla Gencer was right, Simionato and Barbieri were wrong.

Leyla Gencer really don't understand what these italian maestras are talking about.

Why do you need to discuss things you know nothing about?