# Vibrato minimization?



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Are there any singers, or compositions, that minimize the use of vibrato? I don't know much about singing so please forgive me if I'm mistaken on the technicalities, but I do notice that many, if not most, classical/opera singers have pretty extreme vibrato when they sing. I have heard a few singers who don't seem to use it quite as much (sometimes where you can't even hear it when they hold a note), and I find it a bit more pleasant to listen to than an overload of vibrato. I would just like to see if there are any specific singers or compositions out there that aim for that sound.


----------



## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

This is a contentious topic!

Music from the renaissance period is almost never sung with vibrato, in accordance with the conventions prescribed by the few extant manuals and textbooks from that time.

Baroque music is trickier. Baroque specialists such as Nancy Argenta (



), Emma Kirkby (



) and Elin Manahan Thomas (



) sing with very little vibrato, due to the fact that baroque sources, like those from the renaissance, advocate no or minimal vibrato. In the sacred music of Bach, for example, vibrato is a big no-no! Listen to soprano Lisa Larsson in Wachet auf: 



 - her voice is so devoid of vibrato that she sounds almost like a boy soprano!

Other baroque singers do use/have vibrato in their voices. Prominent examples are Joan Sutherland and, more recently, Joyce DiDonato, two singers for whom Baroque music is not the principal repertoire. They are (or, sadly in Joan's case, were) bel canto specialists. In bel canto (and in Mozart and other classical-era music), vibrato is generally desirable, but must be controlled. The breathy, weak vibrato of Katherine Jenkins is probably the best example of what must be avoided when singing Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. In this repertoire, weak vibrato must be eschewed at all costs! Here is an example of a wonderful singer with a vibrato absolutely perfect for what she is singing: 



 - watch it and be amazed!

Generally, in most repertoires, a slow, pervasive pitch oscillation is rejected and shunned, whereas a strong and controlled vibrato can be very beautiful. Furthermore, many sources from the Baroque and classical eras specifically criticise vibrato on shorter notes; it seems that it was/is permissible on longer and held notes. I don't know a huge amount about the physiology of the voice (a bad thing seeing as I am a singer!), but I would suggest that when a singer holds and supports a note, vibrato naturally 'enters' the voice and becomes more noticeable.

In the words of the great Joan Sutherland... "them's my sentiments!".


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

^ ^ That probably covers the knowledgeable side of the issue. 

From the _other_ side - you can get used to hearing vibrato, so it doesn't sound like 'hunting' anymore. Well, when it approaches a yodel it ain't in my comfort zone...


----------



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

BaronScarpia said:


> This is a contentious topic!
> 
> Music from the renaissance period is almost never sung with vibrato, in accordance with the conventions prescribed by the few extant manuals and textbooks from that time.
> 
> ...


That post was GREAT! I had never heard that Handel piece before, I think I'm in love, must have more!!


----------



## BaronScarpia (Apr 2, 2014)

Stargazer said:


> That post was GREAT! I had never heard that Handel piece before, I think I'm in love, must have more!!


You're welcome! 

It's a wonderful piece of music - the first movement of an ode Handel composed for the birthday of Queen Anne in 1713. It's quite new to me too. I heard it on an episode of a wonderful series presented by David Starkey called Music and Monarchy. What I didn't realise is that this aria was actually composed for contralto or countertenor. I couldn't imagine anyone but Elin singing it really.

Here's something else: 



 - also a birthday ode, also composed in 1713, but by Bach and for his employer the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Its mood is somewhat different to that of Eternal source but it shows off Ms Thomas's angelic, almost vibrato-free tones just as well!


----------

