149 Myocardial performance in opera singers

Aims Opera singers are subjected to continuous exercise in the cardiopulmonary district, however the impact on cardiac performance has not been studied in depth. In addition to the standard echo parameters, the deformation one offer the possibility to evaluate more clearly the myocardial performance. Objective was to verify the impact of singing in heart’s performance by the evaluation of traditional and particularly deformation parameters as strain, rotation, and twist. Methods and results A population of 17 OS (opera singers, aged 50 ± 5 years) (M/F: 7/9; 5 sopranos; 2 tenors; 2 contraltos; 2 basses) have been submitted to an echocardiographic evaluation (MLX8exp Release F100001) by standard 2D and deformation parameters (Figure 1). The data expressed as mean as SD were compared to an high level athletes (A) group (M 16) regularly trained. T-Student test for paired data was used and P < 0.05 was considered significant. All the 2D standard systo-diastolic parameters were within the normal range and the pulmonary pressure (PP) as well in both. In SO group were: LVDd: 47.31 ± 3.77 mm; LVSd: 30.48 ± 4.42 mm; E/A: 1.07 ± 0.32; RV: 27.63 ± 4.50 mm; in A group: LVDd: 50.81 ± 2.97 mm; LVSd: 31.44 ± 4.26 mm; E/A: 2.68 ± 1.67; RV: 27.63 ± 4.50 mm. As expected Cardiac mass index (CMI) was significantly greater in athletes, while the ejection fraction (EF) resulted to be higher in OS. Despite the deformation parameters were not different among the two groups, with the exclusion of GLS expressing a major value in athletes, on the contrary the rotational parameters resulted, in OS group similar to the athletes and in agreement with an high performance status. Conclusions OS show an high myocardial performance as athletes. The data obtained are suggestive for a positive impact of regular training as an opera singers. Deformation parameters highlight the fitness status in this particular group. Classic music singing seems to have a training effect on the heart. Further studies will be necessary to confirm this hypothesis

Embodying Voice: Singing Verdi, singing Wagner

<p>Writers from diverse disciplines have rhapsodised over the impact of the operatic voice on the listener, while musicologists such as Abbate, Duncan, and Risi have explored the effect that concepts of voice and bodily engagement have had on our critical readings of opera. Yet although perspectives on performance have become an increasingly vital aspect of operatic criticism, no one has laid out how opera singers experience performance in relation to the ideas of embodiment that scholars write about. The discourse on embodiment and voice is theoretical; most discussions of female voice can be mapped on to any historical period and on to any voice, so that all voices end up being treated the same; paradoxically, in addition it is a discourse that largely omits the body. Indeed, the complexity of connecting many different layers of mind and bodily engagement, that is, the embodiment, is a task that requires detailed and specialised training. Without attempting to speak for all singers at all times, I propose that by acknowledging that different singers achieve and think about particular elements of embodiment in different ways, we can start to come to terms with an individual singer’s creative agency, as a co-creator of the composer’s music. In this dissertation I outline key characteristics of the type of embodied voice that has become the basis of operatic singing today, how that operatic voice is produced in performance, and the importance of the singer’s own bodily engagement in making that sound and constituting the performance itself. By juxtaposing operatic criticism and readings of voice and vocality with an interrogation of my own physical engagement in singing a few particular roles (as a singer specialising in nineteenth and twentieth-century operatic repertoire), I demonstrate how a singer “creates” roles. My detailed analyses illustrate how a singer’s fully conscious bodily engagement, in and through the breath, is inextricably linked with musical and dramatic interpretation, and sets up the vocal spectacle and embodied agency so central to our modern experience of opera. Moreover, in the context of specific readings of particular operatic roles, I argue that particular composers set up specific ways in which singers manipulate elements of body and mind – so that the score can influence and even control how a singer can or cannot breathe. As I will demonstrate in detailed studies of four roles by Verdi and Wagner (all of which I have sung in performance), some scores set up an almost physical collaboration between the singer herself and the way in which text, breath and music are shaped and moulded in performance by particular features of the vocal writing. While a large number of roles could be explored in those terms, the demands placed upon body and voice are individual and each role of every opera is always distinct; Verdi and Wagner roles provide particularly valuable examples because of the complex intersection between a rich psychological framework for interpretative engagement and a complex vocal and bodily collaboration. In addition, my focus on a particular timeframe in the historical development of vocal practice suggests fascinating correlations with the case studies I discuss from Il trovatore, Die Walküre and Parsifal. The new type of singer developing the skills and voice to sing these roles predicates today’s vocal and stage practices that in turn have influenced my own experience. Offering an in-depth examination of the complex tasks an opera singer undertakes, I also examine differences in the vocality in singing Wagner and Verdi roles, culminating in a detailed exposition of my chosen roles. This dissertation, therefore, sets up a complex picture of the ways in which vocal performance is constructed and controlled by Verdi and Wagner, on the one hand, and how particular scores also set up the conditions that allow singers in these texts to unleash their voice to achieve “wildness” and expression that lies beyond the text. Through these case studies, I establish a discourse of vocality that allows detailed readings of aspects of vocal performance that seemingly bypass rational communication. In the end, I build a case for understanding how singers’ embodiment contributes to the creativity of the performance in ways hitherto intuited but not analysed. Thus I offer a counterbalance and reinterpretation of traditional perspectives on the reality of performance, addressing singers and scholars alike.</p>

Embodying Voice: Singing Verdi, singing Wagner

<p>Writers from diverse disciplines have rhapsodised over the impact of the operatic voice on the listener, while musicologists such as Abbate, Duncan, and Risi have explored the effect that concepts of voice and bodily engagement have had on our critical readings of opera. Yet although perspectives on performance have become an increasingly vital aspect of operatic criticism, no one has laid out how opera singers experience performance in relation to the ideas of embodiment that scholars write about. The discourse on embodiment and voice is theoretical; most discussions of female voice can be mapped on to any historical period and on to any voice, so that all voices end up being treated the same; paradoxically, in addition it is a discourse that largely omits the body. Indeed, the complexity of connecting many different layers of mind and bodily engagement, that is, the embodiment, is a task that requires detailed and specialised training. Without attempting to speak for all singers at all times, I propose that by acknowledging that different singers achieve and think about particular elements of embodiment in different ways, we can start to come to terms with an individual singer’s creative agency, as a co-creator of the composer’s music. In this dissertation I outline key characteristics of the type of embodied voice that has become the basis of operatic singing today, how that operatic voice is produced in performance, and the importance of the singer’s own bodily engagement in making that sound and constituting the performance itself. By juxtaposing operatic criticism and readings of voice and vocality with an interrogation of my own physical engagement in singing a few particular roles (as a singer specialising in nineteenth and twentieth-century operatic repertoire), I demonstrate how a singer “creates” roles. My detailed analyses illustrate how a singer’s fully conscious bodily engagement, in and through the breath, is inextricably linked with musical and dramatic interpretation, and sets up the vocal spectacle and embodied agency so central to our modern experience of opera. Moreover, in the context of specific readings of particular operatic roles, I argue that particular composers set up specific ways in which singers manipulate elements of body and mind – so that the score can influence and even control how a singer can or cannot breathe. As I will demonstrate in detailed studies of four roles by Verdi and Wagner (all of which I have sung in performance), some scores set up an almost physical collaboration between the singer herself and the way in which text, breath and music are shaped and moulded in performance by particular features of the vocal writing. While a large number of roles could be explored in those terms, the demands placed upon body and voice are individual and each role of every opera is always distinct; Verdi and Wagner roles provide particularly valuable examples because of the complex intersection between a rich psychological framework for interpretative engagement and a complex vocal and bodily collaboration. In addition, my focus on a particular timeframe in the historical development of vocal practice suggests fascinating correlations with the case studies I discuss from Il trovatore, Die Walküre and Parsifal. The new type of singer developing the skills and voice to sing these roles predicates today’s vocal and stage practices that in turn have influenced my own experience. Offering an in-depth examination of the complex tasks an opera singer undertakes, I also examine differences in the vocality in singing Wagner and Verdi roles, culminating in a detailed exposition of my chosen roles. This dissertation, therefore, sets up a complex picture of the ways in which vocal performance is constructed and controlled by Verdi and Wagner, on the one hand, and how particular scores also set up the conditions that allow singers in these texts to unleash their voice to achieve “wildness” and expression that lies beyond the text. Through these case studies, I establish a discourse of vocality that allows detailed readings of aspects of vocal performance that seemingly bypass rational communication. In the end, I build a case for understanding how singers’ embodiment contributes to the creativity of the performance in ways hitherto intuited but not analysed. Thus I offer a counterbalance and reinterpretation of traditional perspectives on the reality of performance, addressing singers and scholars alike.</p>

The Precuneus Contributes to Embodied Scene Construction for Singing in an Opera

Performing an opera requires singers on stage to process mental imagery and theory of mind tasks in conjunction with singing and action control. Although it is conceivable that the precuneus, as a posterior hub of the default mode network, plays an important role in opera performance, how the precuneus contributes to opera performance has not been elucidated yet. In this study, we aimed to investigate the contribution of the precuneus to singing in an opera. Since the precuneus processes mental scenes, which are multimodal and integrative, we hypothesized that it is involved in opera performance by integrating multimodal information required for performing a character in an opera. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the functional connectivity of the precuneus during imagined singing and rest. This study included 42 opera singers who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging when performing “imagined operatic singing” with their eyes closed. During imagined singing, the precuneus showed increased functional connectivity with brain regions related to language, mirror neuron, socio-cognitive/emotional, and reward processing. Our findings suggest that, with the aid of its widespread connectivity, the precuneus and its network allow embodiment and multimodal integration of mental scenes. This information processing is necessary for imagined singing as well as performing an opera. We propose a novel role of the precuneus in opera performance.

The influence of the Italian vocal school on the professional formation of Ukrainian singers (the end of the XVIII – the beginning of the XIX century)

The purpose of the article is to study the influences of the Italian vocal school, the traditions of Italian opera performance on the professional development of Ukrainian singers in this period. Methodology. Analysis was carried out on the basis of such methods as historical and chronological to study trends and patterns of Ukrainian music at the end of the 17th – the beginning of the 19th century, analytical – for a comprehensive consideration of the influence of Italian culture on the emergence of opera in East Slavic areas, source – for elaboration and analysis of sources, bio-bibliographic – for studying creative biographies of artists, the method of systematization – for the reduction of all found facts to a logical unity. Scientific novelty. By studying the creative biographies of prominent Ukrainian musicians (M.Berezovsky, D.Bortnyansky, M.Ivanov, S.Gulak-Artemovsky) for the first time the Italian pages of their creative biography were systematized, new facts were introduced into scientific circulation, which allow to clarify the contribution of Italian vocal culture in the development of the Ukrainian opera school at the initial stage of its formation. Conclusions. The interest of the Russian Empire in Western European, especially Italian, opera led to the rapid development of a new era in the history of musical theater in the East Slavic territories. Internships of Ukrainian musicians in Italy, invitations of Italian artists, composers, vocal teachers to the Russian Empire, joint performances on stage with foreign singers give grounds to assert the influence of the Italian vocal school on the skills of Ukrainian opera singers of the end of the 18th – the beginning of the 19th century and laying of the fundamental foundations for the development of the Ukrainian vocal school.

The Image of the Romanian Woman in “Never Mind the Balkans, Here’s Romania” By Mike Ormsby

The paper analyses the image of the contemporary Romanian woman as it appears in the book “Never Mind the Balkans, Here's Romania”, written by Mike Ormsby and published in 2008. The book of the English writer is a collection of 57 stories that present various aspects of the Romanian life from the period between 1994-2008 when Ormsby visited Romania. Even though the gallery of characters he focuses on is created from people from all over Romania and from all the strata of the society, one can discover some common characteristics of the Romanian women. They have the most varied occupations (managers, veterinarians, opera singers, publishers, etc.) and display the most varied character traits, yet the careful reader is able to discern the vivid portrait of the “generic” Romanian woman.

The activity of singer Zoja Ghajdaj as a member of the jury of vocal competitions

The purpose of the article is to study one of the important areas of professional activity of Ukrainian singer Z. Ghajdaj – the work as a member of the jury of vocal competitions in the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s. In the field of this scientific problem, to show the importance of these creative projects in European and world dimensions, the specifics and the conditions of their implementation, the peculiarities of involving famous performers in the work of the jury, the originality of Z. Ghajdaj's creative approaches in promoting the professional development of Soviet opera singers. The methodology consists in the application of the source study method for the analysis of archival documents, which contain reliable information on the involvement and work of Z. Ghajdaj in the jury of vocal competitions, and other scientific materials on the research topic, specifically historical – to study socio-political conditions that influenced the possibilities and motivation for holding vocal competitions and attracting Soviet vocalists to participate in them, bio-bibliographic – to determine the place of this direction of the singer's activity in her creative biography, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization) – in order to thoroughly study the problem and form a reasoned conclusion. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the expansion of information about the specifics of involvement and professional activity of Z. Ghajdaj as a member of the jury of vocal competitions, the holding of which intensified during the Khrushchev «Thaw» of the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s. Together with the opportunity to work in the jury, the singer received more opportunities to apply her many years of performing experience in the process of competitive listening to Soviet singers, evaluating and determining the best of them. Conclusions. The analysis of Z. Ghajdaj's creative activity as a member of the jury of vocal competitions made it possible to identify the level of these competitions in the world music space and the circumstances of their holding in the conditions of the «Cold War» and Khrushchev «Thaw» of the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s, their role in the formation of the creative career of the participants, the degree of involvement of the singer in this artistic work and her contribution to the professional development of Soviet opera singers.

The phantoms of the opera—Stress offstage and stress onstage

During opera performance singers deliver vocally demanding roles, follow a conductor, portray emotions of a musical work, act, dance, and engage with costumes, sets and props before an audience. Hence, opera performance is a stressful experience. This study examined different types of stress experiences by measuring the trajectories of 10 opera trainees’ heart rate variability (HRV) during two performances, covering onstage and offstage periods. We explored connections between HRV, self-reported stress measures, and expert-rated difficulty of the performed roles. We discovered that opera trainees had lower HRV and thus experienced greater physiological stress, while onstage compared to offstage periods. In contrast, when asked about performance specific stress, opera trainees self-reported that they felt more nervous when they were offstage. This disconnect between physiological measurement and psychological self-assessment suggests that there are two relevant types of stress for opera performance: psychological stress, which is felt more keenly offstage, and physiological stress, which is greater onstage. Patterns of association between HRV and self-reported measures suggest that HRV is linked to general (not performance-specific) stress. Patterns between self-reported measures suggest that music performance anxiety relates to trait anxiety. Our results indicate specific targets for possible interventions for stress management in opera singers.

LIFE OF SAADET İKESUS ALTAN AND REVIEW OF "VOCAL EDUCATION" BOOK

Not much research has been done on Saadet Ikesus Altan, a successful artist who created firsts in the art life in opera in addition to being an educator who broke grounds in music education. For this reason, this research was carried out in order to introduce Altan, to pass on her achievements and the firsts she made throughout his life, to transfer them to future generations, and to reveal the results by examining the first book written in the field of vocal education. In the research, Altan's life was investigated using the literature review method and the book “Vocal Education and Conservation” was reviewed. As a result of the review, its strengths and weaknesses were revealed comparing it with today's vocal education books. The information obtained from the sources and the results obtained by the reviews are explained. Altan is one of the first Turkish female opera singers to perform in Europe. She is known as the "doyen of the educators" because she is the educator of many vocal artists and educators who have been trained until today. She is the first Turkish female voice instructor, opera director and author of the first book in the field of vocal education. With Altan's transfer of her knowledge, experience and education to her book in order to develop a technique suitable for the Turkish throat, it has been determined that the book is quite well equipped compared to the period when it was written and is incomparably powerful than the books written in this direction. It is also important to provide a basis for other books written in this field in Turkey. Altan sets a great example to the next generations, both as an artist and as an educator. Key Words: Saadet İkesus Altan, vocal education, book review