I didn't know until now that T.H. was a great teacher. His pupil Leela has a great voice and nice tootsies too!

I agree! He really made a difference in her performance.

Fortunate Amira nor Jackie didn't enrol this type of stultifying training. All singers, within their voice type, sings and sounds all the same. It's training for the mediocre.

Absolutely!

This reminds me of my miserable past.Solo singing exam in the middle school's music class where I couldn't sing at all. The elementary and middle school I went to was very famous in students choir.They were traditionaly within 3bests in Japan's students choir competition. I got so nervous in front of the good singers that I lost my voice.

Furthermore, all of us had to exercise violin. I made only sawing sound. It was so lucky that Sayak Shoji was not my classmate.

+wildefire Many thanks for your kind comment.

+wildefire I love music so much. But, I am not talented to play an instrument. I used to sing German Lieder in my room. It's not good enough for the audience.

+MGH cnsGABA haha I do the same thing..my wife is very tolerant thank god

Kay Warren I disagree. It's just word horseshit salad to justify his extravagant salary.

I agree Kay. Thompson is a genius. She opened up so much more at the end and her tone was so amazing, so rich. I also appreciated his comment at the end; that the gift is not ours but to give back. As a former opera major, understanding forward placement and sitting in on many master classes, you cannot get more spot on than Hampson. Glad I can still learn from these videos, treasures really =)

as opposed to your "wise" comments all over this thread, eh? He made a lot of sense.

Bernie Zuniga if

Shawn Davie

No, he's a bad teacher.

Me too!

It's not a question of age, it's bad technique and voice type. E.g. Gruberova sang lightly, even after 40years of career. So don't discriminate all older women, please.

What i meant was the teaching, you know, not the singing, and yes i don't speak italian either, haha

Pavarotti was far from a great teacher, but a stupendous voice. Some artist just have beautiful voices and aren't informative and/or profitable teachers. Thomas is simply divine as both a singer and a teacher.

Hampson had singed with Pavarotti

@@SeikoMeetsWorld I think the problem was that Pavarotti was trying to teach in a language he didn't really speak that well

Actually, she sounds a bit like Callas, or maybe she articulates like Callas.

@@skzion2 Very flattering, thank you! I listened mainly to her version when I did this so many years ago, and she is my favorite soprano - so probably you can hear the admiration.

@@lmsubramaniam Yes, I can hear it.

I agree. She has extreme potential. I swear I messed heard Callas in her (but with a much prettier voice).

Yes, and he's typically American in his approach - a breath of fresh air for us in various parts of Europe, particularly Britain!! :)

Troppo tardi

V.Bellini, Elvira’s aria from “Puritane”

Absolutely what I thought. She is impertinent.

Macho Voce Can’t wait for your Masterclass to be posted. Please send me a link when you’ve sung for James Levine and sung with Pavarotti.

And yet ... she sang better under his instruction. How can you explain this?

Peter Jeon She doesn't sound ugly at all, that's the point of bel canto. Lyrical, flowing -bell to bell like movement on phrases, with a chameleonic quality (and to certain roles). Great Belcantistos/as are Maria Callas, Sherrill Milnes, Tito Gibbi, Leonard Warren, Leyla Gencer, Ettore Bastianini.

She needs to breath more. She is running out of breath of you listen carefully.. Love how Hampson is grilling her on the character and the plot of the Opera..

Iris Prcic Perhaps, breathing is the thing she needs to work on more but other than that, she is fine.

tonshaad1230 These classes are very informative..

Iris Prcic Yes they are informative, however sometimes the information seems to farfetched and at times contradicts the basic training of these student-singers. Nothing wrong with the classes though, as they provide an alternative to the student.

Show some respect boeser wolf. He knows a lot and has a lot of experiences to share. We are fortunate to learn from such people when given the opportunity.

What's the point of a masterclass is the master isn't going to talk...?

I understand! by the way he is a Tenor not a Baritone.

@@aramsargsyan2189 He IS a Baritone...a fine Lyric Lyric Baritone. Did you ever hear him actually sing onstage?

WHY ???

+PrimalRedemption Hey, trying to combine beautiful, consistent sounds, technique and emotion is something that is super tricky. For classical musicians, the technique bar is much higher than it is for those who work in other genres such as pop or musical theatre. It is easy to be your true emotional self when you don't have to sound that great. Give the girl a break! She's fabulous. I don't think she looks that bad at 4:40 anyway. Just a little surprised. lol

+LPK78 Nonsense what you just said! Being ones true emotional self is the CAUSE of what makes one sound great in singing. The secret to ACTING is to expand the repertoire of the Self, like Caruso. Her weirdness begins at 4:40 but is mainly 4:43 to 4:47 I thought it was self evident

+PrimalRedemption You are right that being one's true emotional self is ONE of the causes of being great at singing, but it is the process of making everything gel together that makes a singer truly great. I am not someone who thinks good technique should be the goal of singing, but its a tool you have to have at least a decent grip on, or you can't sing opera. A toddler is one's true emotional self; doesn't make her sound great at singing. And weird faces don't necessarily render an artist mediocre. Look at Cecilia Bartoli. She is one of the greatest singers and artists we have today but also the queen of weird faces. Anyway, I suggest looking for the good in artists and cutting them some slack when they are still STUDENTS working on a craft that takes years of training for most people.

+LPK78 I'm curious how your suggestion of 'looking for the good in artists' do to benefit me or the human race? When I hear complete rubbish on the radio, I do not look for the good in the artist. Lol. Never never never. I openly acknowledge the Truth. Only truth will bring anything of real substance into this world or my life. Likewise, when I see so many singers and classically trained (programmed) musicians with bizarre things going on in their face and body I shake my head. To expand on your example, a toddler may not be able to sing well but their _vocalization_ is top par, unmatched in authenticity. It is true expression. Unless of course the toddler was raised in a Disney-world and brainwashed fantasy like most American children today. Then you will see some weirdness going on. I never criticized the students singing but the fact that she looks completely unconscious and taken over by mind programming and other weird mechanization of the psyche. It looks fake and weird and it doesn't take a psychic to see these things.

+PrimalRedemption Looking for the good in an artist is a way to practice looking for the good in people. Focusing on other people's flaws and pointing them out benefits neither you nor the human race, and it certainly does not present the whole Truth, as you call it, but a mere fraction of it, which is not much better than a lie. Besides, if people see you doing it they will be quick to look for the bad in you. That's just human nature. If you focus on ugly all the time, you absorb it. Not that you should stop and listen for the good when something is obviously so awful it's killing you, but just ignore it. I realize I may be a bit of a hypocrite as I take great pleasure in looking at catalogs with ridiculously ugly clothes and laughing at them, and I have said crap about trash performances and stupid songs too, but when 95% of something is good, why focus on the crappy 5% when there is nothing you can do to change it and you are not using the information in any helpful way? I think it is silly to make fun of some singer who is starting out and then present it as though you are somehow benefiting the human race. I believe that girl's face more than I believe you! ;-)