Nobody’s Perfect: There are a lot of great singers but all of them have things that one could pick out that is less than desirable.

xThere was never a time in my career singing opera that I thought I had everything I needed to reach my best singing. I always knew I had certain shortcomings during my career. I believe most people probably have this to some extent because there is always going to be something you aren't happy with in your singing.

So, in this article I'll confess what I thought were my shortcomings throughout my career before I discuss certain singers who are world famous and I feel have some limitations on them as well...as far as I can tell. I'd have to hear them live to really be able to make a call on it though.

I always had all of the notes from the time I first stepped on a stage. I had practiced for several years by myself in my garage room at home to Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, Kansas, Styx, and Yes, as well as Bread, America, John Denver and Dan Fogelberg. Singing Kansas music was what really trained me though. For all intents and purposes, Steve Walsh was my first voice teacher. Not a great role model for a teenager nor a healthy singer for me to simulate, but he was all heart and soul in his performances and I loved that, plus, his voice was amazing back in the day.

So, even though I had all of the notes I also always knew that there were several elements that I just didn't really understand and its as if my teachers didn't know how to get me there either.

I was a lyric tenor with a natural full light lyric sound. But, even in my early years I knew there was more to it than I knew to bring to it.

1. The question of support/breath/technique was not answered nor hardly approached until I was in my 50s. I finally learned what it is.
   1. You breathe to live, you support to sing.
   2. The act of supporting is actually about holding your breath while singing, or rather suspending the air so the voice can gently ride on top of it. You do this with your intercostal muscles.
      1. You can have decent high notes without a good foundation, but when I was taught what a real foundation was then high notes soared for me. They take off. You can't really have them without it. It is to sing with an open chest and inhaled position while connecting with the "love handle" back muscles. You have to be shown this. It is next to impossible to find it without a teacher.
2. What the hell is "legato"? The beautiful line that Pavarotti could sing as if it was like water flowing, was something I always looked for in singing. I never really knew how to sing this way, but sometimes I could sort of get there somehow. But, legato singing is closely tied to singing with the right support.
   1. Legato singing is when each note is sung completely for itself until you move on to the next note. Every note is supported on the voice vertically and then the next note is attached to it like links on a chain, or bricks end to end. Each note for itself placed side by side until a melodic line is created. The important point about it is that you can have complete control over each note, extending it some, crescendo or decrescendo, and then gently go to the next note. This makes every line of music easy because you aren't singing a line, you are singing a row of independent notes that make up a line.
   2. It is a very subtle thing, but the difference to me is quite remarkable and it gives you full interpretive control. This way you aren't always chasing something, you are in command of each moment. This is done by not letting air get away from you.
3. High notes: Like I said, I always had all of the notes. But, I didn't have them the right way, but I made a couple of advances along the way.
   1. From the time I was in school till I started studying with James McCray I pretty much sang the same way. I had this teacher and that teacher who did a little here and there, but James was really the first teacher to take me to a new level. I though I would get there with Enrico Di Giuseppe but for some reason there was something he wasn't telling me or I wasn't getting, because Enrico was a master of singing, high notes, everything. He was awesome, but he was also scratching his head as to why I couldn't get the upper extension quite right. McCray got me awesome high notes up to B flat, and I also found the upper register with him as well, but it was still not as 'easy' as it should have been. Again, I asked about support all of the time with these great singers and they never really had an answer for me.
   2. The true breakthrough for me came with two teachers I had after I had stopped performing.
      1. Gemma Visser at the southern tip of The Netherlands, in Eijsden, really brought the concepts of "inhalare di voce" and "singing from the resonance". She always said, "Nicht Nasonieren sondern Resonieren" Basically, this was an open Nasal way of singing that incorporates the imaginary resonance that exists in the area of the head above the nose. It doesn't actually exist, but it feels like it does.
      2. Singing from above the voice, or without engaging the feeling or sensation of the voice at all. This was completely opposite of James McCray's technique, but it is now the only way I can even approach singing now.
      3. The result of this technique of resonieren and top down singing is ringing high notes as clear as a bell, with no raspyness on the voice at all. The hard part for me is singing that way in the middle and low ranges, but I must, otherwise everything shuts down.
4. Helmut Kolvenbach in Moenchengladbach was the true master among all of my teachers. I wished I had gone to him in my 20s.
   1. Kolvenbach is an amazing singer and teacher. He doesn't let anything go by and of all the people I know his technique is unquestionably the best I've ever heard or been around. He is almost 80 now and as a helden baritone sings like a God. He had a professional career in Duesseldorf and other places but opted for the family life and stability instead becoming a licensed voice therapist/logopeden.
      1. He was the guy who taught me what support is, He also was on the same page as Gemma with singing from above the voice and with lightness in the voice.
      2. This was grueling work for me not because the new way was difficult, but because changing my singing habits and the muscle memory is so incredibly difficult.
5. I worked all of my career so hard on my singing, probably too hard. The voice is a very small piece of tissue and even though my voice was extremely strong and healthy, there is only so much one should do on any given day.
   1. Three other things created problems for me in singing during my career:
      1. Getting sick. It is the absolute horror for a singer. Not only should you not sing, you really should not sing when your cords are a little infected, or you have a cold. Sometimes you can sing over a cold, but it is dangerous business. I did it way too much singing when I was getting over bronchitis, which I had two or three times a year complete with coughing up pflegm and so on. Coughing, sneezing, and clearing the voice can be very hard on the vocal cords making them swell and become inflamed, infected, and horse.
      2. I didn't have allergies. Sometimes a sensitivity to certain blooms in spring and sometimes if someone wore too much cologne it bothered me. I never could wear it.
      3. Acid reflux became an issue for me.
         1. During my career I developed kidney stones for some reason. In an attempt to reduce them I would drink a lot of water. I think I probably overfilled my stomach with water and this coupled with stage movement and singing probably put a lot of pressure on my paloric valve allowing the stomach acid to creep up the esophagus, which boils over into the vocal cords a bit, irritating them and you can never get your voice clear. It was hell.
      4. Personal problems. I take full responsibility for my relationships during my marriages. The first one never should have happened, and then I should have let go of the second marriage before it became a marriage. But, this added stress as well, as I always felt a lot of pressure from being married for various reasons. No doubt I had many happy times being married, and I wished it would have worked out, but I wasn't very smart with my career during this time either which added to it as well. It is all my fault. I know that. But, it doesn't make it any easier.
6. So, with any singer, as with every person, health, money, relationship, career stress, performance and rehearsal stress, is a lot more than what you think it is when you are young. You are young so you can get away with a lot, but it catches up with you.

My Teachers

First I want to talk a bit about my teachers at this point. I was blessed having some of the best teachers a person could ever wish for in every sense of the word. They were all selfless, generous with their time, enthusiastic and supportive to me throughout my career.

I have to start with Dr. Carl Moman, who was a fine lyric tenor, and was the Minister of Music in my home church in Bowling Green. Basically, he was the person who recognized my ability, what I didn't recognize because I didn't think I was anything special but was just trying to get better. He told me to go up to the music department and take lessons there. Nancy Heldman had me for 3 lessons and took me to Dr. Virgil Hale, the opera director to sing for a part in Carmen, and he cast me as Remendado, and Jose understudy.

My first principle teacher was Dr. Charles Hausman, now Professor Emeritus at The University of Houston and former Chorus Master of the Houston Symphony. He knew his stuff as a singer, and guided me well, and he was a great mentor in every sense of the word. I have no words for it. Just a wonderful experience.

My second principle teacher was Dr. Ohm Pauli, but I was with him for only a semester and he didn't really have much to compel me although I know he knew his stuff. I just couldn't get with it.

Elizabeth Volkman was a new hire at WKU and she had a lot of experience in the real world of opera. She was a magnificent soprano and worked with me in a great way. I sang Tony and she sang Maria in the West Side Story medley with the orchestra...well, she blew the. ceiling off, and I was like .... what the ...? Magnificent singer and very fun and lovely person. She was all business though for sure.

I can't talk about voice teachers and leave out Annika Kräutler in Bregenz, Austria. That is a story unto itself, as these all are. She was the voice teacher during my summer in Bregenz with the KIIS Institute. Kentucky Insitute for International Studies. We worked on "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" by Schubert, Faust, some German lieder and just had fun. She was a dear soul. I loved her so much. She was such a great person. I wished I had gone to visit her more often.

I went to Eastman and to this day I'm not sure what really got me in there. It wasn't my grades, that much is certain, and I just sent in a tape of my singing, I didn't even go audition...so I have to figure that Ms. Volkman, Dr. Hale, and Mr. Hausman probably had a lot to do with me getting accepted, plus the fact that I had successfully sung in both Carmen and did the role of Faust already, so I had some proof to back it all up.

Marsha Baldwin was my principle teacher at Eastman. I think she and Ms Volkman knew each other from the Met earlier in their careers, but I may be wrong about that. Ms. Baldwin told me that when she heard my tape she thought that I would be a good match for Eastman and it turned out to be a great match for me. She was also an excellent singer, and a lot of fun as a teacher.

My opera director at Eastman was Richard Pearlman and he was so good to me the whole time and I was always sort of afraid of Dr. Effron the orchestra conductor, well, because I was scared to death of the orchestra because every one of those players was amazing. I felt so intimidated by them. Geez they were awesome. Singing under Donald Neuen was also a great experience because, say what you will, he knew what he wanted, knew how to get it, and was always full of energy and positivity but also capable of putting down the hammer when necessary. Such a great school...all around. I loved it there.

I have to mention a tenor colleague that I met at the Oswego Opera named Henry Crossfield. He sang Canio, and I did Beppe and also Rinuccio in Gianni Schicci. He was an amazing singer and showed me some things that really made my singing better...I got interested in Mario del Monaco and this gave me a lot of confidence going forward. After this experience is when I went to New York to audition for the Zurich Studio, sang all four audition arias and was asked to come on the spot. That was a great day! He helped me a lot. I also met Franco ...... then and I had also had a lesson with Enrico at Julliard, but didn't have any time to spend with him there.

After my time at Eastman I was doing the odd gig and still studying with Marsha and doing auditions. Did Chautauqua and then went to Zurich. I didn't take any lessons again until 4 years later in Osnabruck.

In Osnabrück I studied with Rafael Ortiz, a Puerto Rican by way of New York who had been in the chorus in Osnabrück but taught privately afterwards. He did a lot of good with me. I progressed quite well and evened some things out.

So, after Osnabruck I went to New York for a bit and studied with Enrico for a couple of lessons. When I moved to New Jersey in 2000 I studied with him quite a bit in South Philly. I made really good progress with him. Enrico could still sing like a God, he could go up to high Ds and Es, and could just do it all. Wonderful singer, great human being, unselfish, and tireless.

So, I was doing Carmens, and got hired in Bonn in 2002, and my bariton colleague brought me to James McCray. James was a great tenor, beautiful sound, awesome presence, could sing all of the notes, he sampled some of Lohengrin for me and it was to die for. Stentorian high notes, which I then was able to do. Basically, I sort of became him. He took me to a totally different level....then I crashed...whole other story.

During the final years at Moenchengladbach I went to Gemma Visser, Hubert Delamboye in Margraten, and took from Helmut Kolvenbach. All too late...all fabulous teachers and wise teachers. So, I've had just about every technique known to mankind. I pretty much understand what singing should be, but that is a completely different thing than being actually able to do it yourself, or do it well enough to actually work in the business.

I am so grateful to all of them for all of their hard work and generosity to me during my career. For them I wished I could have reached my full potential because they deserve to get credit for all of the work they did for me.

Other Singers

When I hear other singers I wonder what they are going through in life. Because I had so many faults as a human, and thus as a singer who has had a lot of really great training, I hear issues in other singers that cause me to wonder.

There isn't a singer that I can think of where I don't have something to say about their singing. Of course, since many I haven't heard live from the stage it isn't really fair for me to say, but I do have a sense of it somehow.

I'll start with some singers that I really admire.

Piotr Beczala is the best tenor in the world right now, in my humble opinion. He sings full, lyrical, and has a complete command of the stage in every way. When I see him sing I hear all of the years he spent onstage in Linz, Austria doing the gruelling work of a house tenor. I really admire him an awful lot. I think he has the best technique and the best even tenor sound in the world today.

Benjamin Bernheim is a very good tenor as well. He is French and he does the French repertoire clearly better than anyone else. He is a lyric voice who sings very forward, focused, and with a nice placement. I think he needs to open up the top a bit more because it sounds narrow to me, but that really is splitting hairs. His Romeo from the Met I heard on the Met Broadcast with Nadine Sierra was such a breath of fresh air to me. So, lyric and beautiful for that music. I'm not sure who has ever sung it better, maybe Alfredo Krause, but Bernheim's voice is prettier than Krause, but Krause's top is sensational and his artistry is without rival.

Of course I love Pavarotti, because he possessed a completely consistent technique over his career. His high notes are open and free, not narrow at all, his legato was sensational, and his diction in Italian was crisp and clear. Enrico and I listened to a Tosca broadcast from the Met and he was telling me about the purity of Pavarotti's vowels, which of course is a trademark of Italian singing. I never heard him live. My impression though was that the voice itself wasn't really 100% beautiful. I thought it was always a bit coarse and brittle, a tad white at times, sort of reedy. But, I mean, from all accounts in the hall it was always as if he was sitting right next to you.

Back in the day I loved Domingo's voice. But, as time went on it started to get on my nerves a bit. He sings very nasal, not that it really sounds nasal, but it sort of is very frontal. However, the golden beauty of his voice, his musicianship, his acting ability and onstage presence was masterful. He loves singing, that much is clear. He was a bit short on top, but still managed it.

Probably the most talented tenor of all time is Jose Carerras. Such a gorgeous voice. Carlos was perfect for him. But, he also tended to be too heavy at times which he didn't need to be because he had enough depth to the voice without having to improve on it. I'm not sure he was a great musician, but he was a great singer no doubt about it.

Of course I'm going to take hits on Jonas Kaufmann, held by many to be the best tenor today. I completely respect him for what he can do with his voice. I need to hear him live to really get a good idea of it. To me, it is just too covered all of the time. To me a tenor should have a brilliant ringing sound, not a muffed up voice covered to sound dark and full. But, he is very musical, does great interpretations, and seems to be a great colleague. I just think if he would let go of the muffle he could have some amazing ringing sounds.

One singer I can't abide is Klaus Florian Vogt, but you can't argue the career he has had. To me he sounds like a buffo tenor singing Helden Tenor roles. But, he stays with it and rakes in the big bucks. I have heard a recording of his David from Meistersinger which is quite good. Narrow on top, like he is, very forward, but he sang it pretty well. I just don't think he qualifies as a lyric tenor, much less jugendlich helden or helden tenor. If he can get away with that, then every buffo tenor has a shot, nothing against buffo tenors, but, not for that rep. I really don't get it. Ironically, Gemma liked his singing, because it wasn't hefty like most singers try to be, enter Kaufmann, and I'll give you that. But, still...come on...

Nicolai Gedda, was a complete singer. Man, he was nails. Jussi Bjorling was also what a tenor should be vocally. Bright, brilliant, warm, open, youthful. Such a great singer.

Franco Corelli is of course an idol of mine and I believe he had a great technique and obviously a prodigious voice. He was a master no doubt. But, he carried a lot of weight up an that just doesn't bode well over time.

Bonisoli was a great tenor. His recording of La Traviata is the best of all time. He was a bit nuts maybe, but he knew his stuff. Not a good singer to simulate because it would make you do things that you shouldn't do to try and sing like you thought he was singing, but probably wasn't.

So, no matter the singer there is always going to be something 'wrong' with their singing at some level. It could be quality of voice for a role, lack of good diction in a certain language, or musical insensitivity that sort of plows through instead of surfing on the wave. Singers shouldn't be like a bull in a China shop, but rather like a Thoroughbred Horse dancing ballet.

But, above all, you've got to be lyrical, masculine, well rounded musically, have great diction, have good bright high notes, legato for days, the ability to sing a simple song simply as well as a difficult song and make it sound simple. It is an art, but it is a skill and a life's work. Not for the faint of heart.