Jake Spjute Listening assignment #3

Anna Netrebko:
So Anna basically had her mouth as big as possible throughout the whole song, as much as she could anyway. I thought this was interesting because she normally doesn't do that, (at least in the videos that I have listened to..) With that huge space, she tried to make each vowel as close to [a] as possible. So she sounded very uniform throughout the whole aria, even on her [i] vowel it was very big and open. Essentially she was like a megaphone. I loved her sound

Simon Keenlyside:
Simon has a great space in his throat and mouth which creates a beautiful sound. Unlike Anna, he chose to pucker his lips a little bit to help create that space throughout the aria. He tried to keep that same shape in all parts of his voice, especially on the higher notes. But in this last two big high notes at the end, he released his jaw back a little bit towards his ears to let the sound come out smoothly and without stress or constriction. I noticed the spaces in his cheeks that indicate a released, open jaw as well.

Jonas Kaufmann:
He's the man.
So Jonas always has a very open, very relaxed, released jaw. He never seems to close down, strain, or push for anything. He will sometimes pucker his lips a little bit for big high [a] notes, but pretty much all of the time he is simply released and relaxed. He always has an enormous space in his throat and mouth that barely change from vowel to vowel, only on the [i] vowel does he close a little bit, but only when they are notes lower in his chest voice. On the higher [i] vowels he will be much more open and his jaw will be hanging freely.

Cecilia Bartoli:
Wow.
Cecilia definitely stands out to me as the most unique of the 4 singers in this assignment. She keeps her mouth in a neutral kind of spread position the entire time. This does not mean that she is no creating a huge space in her throat however. The sound is rich and deep, which tells me that she maintains that same space no matter which vowel she is singing. Her jaw and mouth seemed very relaxed and free throughout the whole aria, which is interesting considering she doesn't really change the shape of her mouth at all.