Giulietta Simionato: Il mio metodo di canto -- My singing technique

Bel Canto Technique by gwirgalon “The bel canto technique was verrry different, the sound placed much higher, not in the mouth as such (though of course it happens in part there)... but nowadays they concentrate the sound there, or at best in a kind of nasality that feels securely in place but has no place for real feeling or blooming of sound to happen. Remember also that Wagner singers also often sang Norma, Mozart, as the voice was not held and frozen into a forced sound. “Bel canto technique was placed out of the face, the ’masque’, the mouth ... and centered much higher, where all becomes easy... why they could sing Wagner AND Bellini, and why Wagner wanted what was then the general placement for ’bel canto’ (often bandied about as a term, but generally, I would say, has to do with this issue of high placement). There the voice is free to give all colours, and move easily as well, not the held quality--and often eventual wobble--that comes from the lower ’p