A Review

Innes was in even better voice than before = I couldn't believe how his voice had firmed and deepened out - what colour and nuance ! And then the most exquisite gentle pianissimo. And he is 58. That wasn't just my impression but that of a friend who isn't a Lieder regular.

More on Covering

I found that there are, so to say, two (at least) types of covering. I>call them horizontal and vertical. The horizontal type is when one uses smile and tension of the facial skin to put the sound into the mask. This way the ring in the sound becomes very strong. Sometimes people raise upper lip to achieve greater tension of the skin. This way of covering is suitable for>tenors, and I saw many of them to do this way. The other type of covering is vertical - when mouse is opened vertically in O form. Usually one tries to keep his chest sound when doing such a covering. This type of covering is suitable for baritones and basses. What you say about mouth positions is correct but I would not call them different kinds of covering.

I think that there is basically only one kind of covering but various ways of doing it. Covering is a matter of adjustment or tuning to achieve proper resonance without stressing the voice. Many male singers cover with a narrow, vertical mouth position. Corelli opened his mouth very wide up and down but also side to side, not nearly as narrow as Bergonzi, for example. Gedda and Kraus achieved excellent results with a smiling position. Perhaps this mouth position is good for notes above B flat. Tucker used a very small mouth position even for his highest notes. The crucial thing, I believe, is strong breath support and relaxation in the mouth and throat. Beyond this, different singers may find various mouth positions which work for them. I am a tenor and cannot sing high notes with the narrow mouth of Bergonzi or the small mouth of Tucker. Trying this makes my throat tighten. I sing high notes best with a position similar to Corelli's: vertical, yes, but with some widening side to side. This works best with my jaw, muscles, etc. I am an older singer but I have a good high B flat and can sing high C. I have just been pounding out high B flats in chorus rehearsals for our Aida performances in October. Use the best means to achieve the result.

More on Covering

A passaggio is where two registers overlap. Chest voice only goes so high, and head voice only goes so low. The passaggio does not encompass the whole voice. The two registers can only be mixed in this overlap. Chest resonance and head resonance is not the same as chest voice and head voice. Chest resonance is the vibration felt in the chest on low notes. and head resonance is felt in the mask. This can be cultivated throughout most of the vocal range. One can go from pure chest to pure head without a break. Broadway belting is using chest voice without breath support and pushing the voice instead. Pure chest properly sung in an operatic manner is fully supported, and sounds very different. There are three schools of operatic singing in this regard. One avoids chest altogether, one mixes all the notes in the passaggio, and one utilizes pure chest and pure head in the passaggio, and mixes only on certain pivotal notes, and some singers pick and choose according to the style and text. I do agree that it should sound seamless, and these are the three methods to achieve it.