Anna Netrebko
Her jaw unhinges like a snake to make room for those high notes! Holy cow. In the high range you can hardly see any difference in mouth shape between these vowels, but you can hear the difference. The [i] has slightly less height than the other vowels. I have never seen so much height in any vowels. Holy cow. Her lips pull in a little for [u] and [o], and less for [a]. Other than that her mouth looks like a crazy black hole from whence there is no escaping.
Why does she do it? It take a lot more space in the mouth for high pitches.
Simon Keenlyside
[o] and [u] have the lip corners pulled in really close. [a] and "eh" have a lot of height and release in the jaw. His lips jut out for all vowels. I think. Unless it's just the way the light is falling on his face. [i], [u], and [o] have release in the jaw, but not as much the [a]. He has incredibly molar space throughout his range. He makes so much space in his mouth for every vowel. And what an incredible amount of sound he is getting!
Jonas Kaufmann
For [o] and [u] the corners of his lips pull in really far
[a] and "eh" have a lot of height generally.
[i] is really spread in the low range.
In his higher range his jaw is more released and his lips push forward a lot. It's clear he's making tons of space and height for those higher notes.
He is a man, and has all the overtones he could possibly want, so finding the vowel formants is not as hard for him. Punk. Vowel modification is not as big of an issue for him as it will be for a soprano.
Cecilia Bartoli
Her mouth hardly opens. her lips push forward on [u] and [o], but her mouth still doesn't open very side. Her lips are spread for [i] and [e]. [a] is also very wide and spread.
Her cheeks are very high and she has a smiley thing going on. Her jaw moves a lot, but seams not to be related as much to vowel as to pitch. Although... I feel like some of her high notes are sung with a very closed jaw and some are sung with a very open jaw... It's really quite incredible that she can sing so high and with such resonance when her mouth isn't very open. I feel like more than anything, the opening of her mouth is determined by the meaning of the words she's staying. When she is emphatic or ecstatic her jaw is more released. I honestly have no idea what she's doing, but it sounds good.
I can't begin guess why her vowels are so spread or why her jaw release is so inconsistent. I guess one thing she has going for her is that she is obviously singing in a way that feels natural and expressive to her and is not thinking about how she is forming her vowels. It sounds clear to me what she is saying, so I know she knows what she's doing! Still... what is she doing?
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