Bel Canto Book Club welcomes CLO and facilitator Will Crutchfied on December 12.
“CLO proposes here a gradual shift in modern opera performance towards lighter, more loosely engaged, headier voices, and describes this progression in terms of the problems it poses for the core repertory of the ‘extended 19th century.’ I would sum up those problems as diminishment of physical impact and reduction of timbral brilliance. But there is a lot more to it than that, and it is fascinating to follow CLO through his detailed descriptions as he traces this progression through different voice categories and important individual singers.” (Will Crutchfield)
Reading Suggestion: The part most immediately setting forth what CLO calls “the new vocality” is a short passage on pp. 369-377. It will be understood better if you can read starting from “The Duprez Moment” on 318, continuing at least to 377. But best of all would be to read the full chapter, pp. 303-404!
If you missed our first discussion with Will and Conrad, check it out here.