0:00:07 > 0:00:10MUSIC: Habanera from Carmen by Georges Bizet
0:00:14 > 0:00:17There are seven billion people on our planet.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Every one of us has a voice that is unique, an expression of us.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And it's the only musical instrument that comes built-in.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29I'm Antonio Pappano.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32All my life, I've been surrounded by wonderful singing.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35In fact, my father was a voice teacher.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38As a conductor, it's been my good fortune to work with
0:00:38 > 0:00:41some of the best singers there are.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I'm on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48my musical home,
0:00:48 > 0:00:53and home to all the great operatic stars, past and present.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56MUSIC: Nessun Dorma by Luciano Pavarotti
0:00:58 > 0:01:01In this programme, I'm going to meet the Kings of the High C.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06The world's greatest tenors since recording and moving pictures began.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13The tenor is the glamour boy of opera.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16The romantic hero...
0:01:17 > 0:01:18..the leading man.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22What puts a tenor on his pedestal?
0:01:23 > 0:01:25HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:01:25 > 0:01:29What techniques does he use to produce THAT sound?
0:01:30 > 0:01:32HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:01:39 > 0:01:42I'll be talking to some of the great singers of today,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46working with them, in fact, to find out some of the tricks of the trade.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48How do they do it?
0:01:48 > 0:01:51How does the throat work? How does the breathing work?
0:01:51 > 0:01:53The body? The soul?
0:01:59 > 0:02:00APPLAUSE
0:02:07 > 0:02:11In the 1990s, the tenor - or rather, three of them -
0:02:11 > 0:02:13became the toast of the whole planet,
0:02:13 > 0:02:18with a series of gargantuan concerts staged at three World Cup Finals.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:02:34 > 0:02:36HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:02:41 > 0:02:44HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo
0:02:49 > 0:02:52and Luciano Pavarotti brought opera back into
0:02:52 > 0:02:55the fabric of mainstream culture,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58in a way that hadn't been the case since the 1950s.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Why three tenors?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Because the kind of repertoire
0:03:03 > 0:03:04three tenors can sing,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06only three tenors can do.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Composers wrote the most beautiful tunes for the tenor voice.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13ALL SING IN ITALIAN
0:03:15 > 0:03:17RECORDED APPLAUSE
0:03:21 > 0:03:25There is no other voice type that creates such an animal response
0:03:25 > 0:03:28from audiences to the degree that the tenor voice does.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33There's something unnatural about it, high wire, if you like.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Will he make the high note? Will he get through the part?
0:03:37 > 0:03:40HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Will the character he plays even make it to the end of the opera?
0:03:46 > 0:03:48The tenor may get the girl,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51but the two rarely end up living happily ever after.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57The flawed heroes the tenor sings have a high body count in opera.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04Living and dying for love, for revenge, for their dark obsessions.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08From the young romantic lead to the tragic hero,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11the tenor portrays masculinity in all its guises.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:04:32 > 0:04:35The most famous tenor of the last 50 years -
0:04:35 > 0:04:37he is still many people's idea
0:04:37 > 0:04:39of the larger-than-life Italian tenor -
0:04:39 > 0:04:42was, of course, Luciano Pavarotti.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Pavarotti grew up steeped in the Italian tenor tradition.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51He was born in Modena, in the north of Italy, in 1935,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54the son of a baker.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58His father was a gifted amateur tenor, who gave up his own dream
0:04:58 > 0:05:01to become an opera singer because of stage fright.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07Luciano cut his teeth singing in church choirs with his father.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13THEY SING IN ITALIAN
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Pavarotti went on to sing at all the great opera houses,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46but his superstardom came from his voice on record.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50In Britain, his recording of Nessun Dorma was
0:05:50 > 0:05:55used as the theme of the Italian World Cup coverage in 1990.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Then an aria little known outside the opera house,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01sung with an uncompromising operatic technique,
0:06:01 > 0:06:02Nessun Dorma reached
0:06:02 > 0:06:06number two in the UK singles charts -
0:06:06 > 0:06:09such was the pull of the star tenor.
0:06:09 > 0:06:16In our times, Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma has become legendary.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And there are many clips of him singing this aria.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23But I like this one in particular, because he's very, very focused,
0:06:23 > 0:06:28and you can see the mechanics.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33The full-throated, open-throated high register.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36You'll know what I mean when you see it.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39And the clear, clear diction.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:07:11 > 0:07:14The opening of his mouth is quite big, but not SO big.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17There's a famous high note coming at the end,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21and so he's not giving the whole show away.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24And this is very important, very disciplined.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29ANTONIO MOUTHS
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Not known for his acting, Pavarotti, but actually,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I have to say that he doesn't need to do much.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55And he convinces me completely. Now listen to this...
0:08:19 > 0:08:21'Very forwardly projected.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:28'Nice and round.'
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Now watch the mouth opening.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44That's how you achieve that.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47MUSIC: Intermezzo from Cavelleri Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni
0:08:47 > 0:08:50When Pavarotti marked 30 years in the business with a free
0:08:50 > 0:08:56concert at Hyde Park, 100,000 people turned up to see him in the flesh,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58even though it rained all day.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Luciano Pavarotti did so much for opera in his heyday.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11I consider him - and give me a little leeway here -
0:09:11 > 0:09:17but I consider him like a Muhammad Ali of the music world.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18Because...
0:09:18 > 0:09:24somehow opera in the '80s and the '90s needed a figure,
0:09:24 > 0:09:31a symbol that defined opera as something worthwhile,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33as something absolutely fabulous.
0:09:35 > 0:09:36HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:09:51 > 0:09:57But the tenor voice is perhaps the most unforgiving of all the voices.
0:09:57 > 0:10:03You need a rock-solid technique for this kind of extreme singing.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07As I'm about to find out for myself
0:10:07 > 0:10:09with one of Britain's leading singers.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Now, even though I'm the son of a voice teacher,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17I never took a proper voice lesson in my life.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22And for my sins, I'm going to have one this morning.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26And my vocal teacher is none other than Sir Thomas Allen,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28and I feel very, very privileged.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30- You're the boss, Tom. - I'm the boss on this occasion.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31But don't get used to it!
0:10:31 > 0:10:33HE CHUCKLES
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Just think of G major to start with, anyhow.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40# Aah, aah, aah, aah. #
0:10:40 > 0:10:42Now, it looks to me as though when you take the breath,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46if you're having the breath, you're standing rather rigidly like this.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47# Aahh! #
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Relax. Relax the whole thing.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51The best singers I've seen are the ones that look
0:10:51 > 0:10:53most relaxed on stage.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I mean, I used to sit in your house, alongside Pavarotti,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58listening to him singing Boheme.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00I'd forget certain lines I had to sing because I was just
0:11:00 > 0:11:03absolutely astonished at what this man did, and it was so easy.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06It was just taking in the breath, sitting on it,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08and then the mechanism just kicked in.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I mean, the breath, once it's taken in, is just turned round
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and put out again, but now it's got flowers and embroidery on it.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19But it's a simple intake of breath and then relax.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22# Aah, aah, aah, aah. #
0:11:22 > 0:11:24And it comes right down to here.
0:11:24 > 0:11:25# Aah, aah, aah. #
0:11:25 > 0:11:27# Aah... #
0:11:27 > 0:11:28Can we get a really bright "aah"?
0:11:28 > 0:11:29# Aah... #
0:11:29 > 0:11:31If you just shout at me...
0:11:31 > 0:11:32# Aah! #
0:11:32 > 0:11:33# Aah! #
0:11:33 > 0:11:35# Aah, aah... #
0:11:35 > 0:11:38That's better. You see, because, as far as I'm concerned, singing is just
0:11:38 > 0:11:41cultured shouting, it's shouting with music on it,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43with notes attached.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Otherwise, how on earth could we reach the people that we do?
0:11:46 > 0:11:47It just has...
0:11:47 > 0:11:50If I were to shout now, as you did just then,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I could turn the shout into music as I go along.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56AAH!
0:11:56 > 0:11:57# Aahhh... #
0:11:57 > 0:12:00And it becomes a note, rather than just something shouted.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Then all you have to do is put that all
0:12:03 > 0:12:05together in front of 2,000 people.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:12:14 > 0:12:15In Barber, it's difficult music.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Technically, you have to be prepared,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22but if you are, then it's such a wonderful feeling.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30It's about your breathing working at its...utmost.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36And the control of that breathing, the fine-tuning of that breathing,
0:12:36 > 0:12:43in order to make all the nuances, and in order to finish a phrase.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:13:05 > 0:13:09The tenor as we know him today was a 20th-century invention.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13One man revolutionised the way the tenor sang.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17And in so doing, made himself one of the most famous people,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20never mind famous tenors, in the whole world.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28ANTONIO MOUTHS
0:13:28 > 0:13:33So idolised was he, that he was even signed up for a movie.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35A silent movie!
0:13:38 > 0:13:43The poster boy for opera was paid the eye-watering sum
0:13:43 > 0:13:47of 100,000.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49And you couldn't even hear him sing!
0:13:50 > 0:13:53He was Enrico Caruso.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02CARUSO SINGS
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Enrico Caruso.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Perhaps the most important name in all opera.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Just saying that name gives me a chill
0:14:15 > 0:14:17because there's no question,
0:14:17 > 0:14:22that by any measure, this is the greatest singer of the 20th century.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Caruso's life could have been an opera.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The man who went on to top the bill at the Metropolitan Opera was
0:14:31 > 0:14:34born in Neapolitan poverty.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Sent out to work at ten, he began singing for tips in waterfront bars.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Puccini, when he heard Caruso sing La Boheme, told him
0:14:44 > 0:14:47he'd been sent by God.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Caruso was perfect for the
0:14:51 > 0:14:53new operatic movement that Puccini,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and other Italian composers, were fashioning.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Verismo or "realism", called for a tenor hero who was believable,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and, above all, manly and vocally fearless.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06CARUSO SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Caruso introduced a new spirit
0:15:15 > 0:15:19and power that changed the perception of the tenor voice.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Before Caruso was mannerism et cetera...
0:15:25 > 0:15:29After Caruso, it was more the real thing.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34In that sense, he was the very first modern tenor.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37CARUSO SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:16:05 > 0:16:08One can follow the development of his voice.
0:16:08 > 0:16:09As a young man, he had a...
0:16:11 > 0:16:15..light lyric voice, almost a frivolous voice.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19But if you listen to his voice, he developed so it became one of
0:16:19 > 0:16:25richest, virile, I would say, almost menacing voices in opera history.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31CARUSO SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:16:57 > 0:17:01In 1904, Caruso recorded the first ever million-selling record.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Here's his own caricature of the experience.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16The fact that someone of his stature had recorded successfully,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19led the other great singers of the day to follow suit.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23What had been a toy, now became a must-have.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28And Caruso created an aural encyclopaedia of tenor technique -
0:17:28 > 0:17:30over 200 recordings.
0:17:31 > 0:17:37And every tenor since, has listened for secrets to learn from this man,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and if they say they haven't, they're all lying!
0:17:41 > 0:17:45What Caruso bequeathed was, above all, a new darkness
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and richness in the lower and middle registers of the tenor voice.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55One way to assess the unique qualities of the tenor voice
0:17:55 > 0:17:58is to compare it to the baritone voice.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Now, the baritone voice is the next down on the vocal spectrum.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05And in fact, there are only three or four notes
0:18:05 > 0:18:08in range between those two voices.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11But how different they are in colour.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17The tenor voice possesses something which in Italian is called
0:18:17 > 0:18:20squillo or "ring".
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And there's a plangent...
0:18:25 > 0:18:28..well, II think it's a thrilling,
0:18:28 > 0:18:33exciting, high sound, that just wants to climb.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36DOMINGO SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:19:13 > 0:19:14You have to have the high notes,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16you have to have the low part,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20you have to have the metal
0:19:20 > 0:19:21to pass over the orchestra.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24You have to have the velvet.
0:19:24 > 0:19:25Interesting word, "metal".
0:19:25 > 0:19:28The combination of hard and soft, high and low -
0:19:28 > 0:19:30that sets the tenor apart.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It is a combination of adolescent sound,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and the male sound, a mature man sound.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59I think it awakes in people, this emotion of,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02this guy is a very young guy, is a teenager,
0:20:02 > 0:20:07but at the same time he is a mature man in the sound.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11And a baritone is just a mature man in the sound, which is wonderful,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15but I think, in my opinion, I was thinking many times about it,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19that this is what creates such fascination for the tenor voice.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25So beautiful and so affecting. A one-in-a-million voice.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28But let's go higher!
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Hitting the high notes is the tenor's stock in trade.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39As audience members, it's what we want, it's what we crave.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Now, the fabled High C, in particular,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47can make or break a tenor's career.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Now, true, there are several high profile names that have made
0:21:50 > 0:21:53a career without this High C.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55But if you listen to this example from
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00where you'll hear, in this example,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04four High Cs in a string of nine -
0:22:04 > 0:22:06it's better if the tenor has the High C!
0:22:08 > 0:22:10HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:22:21 > 0:22:23"Ah! Mes Amis" is a champagne aria.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28But if you tried before, when you arrive in the dressing room,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31or, you know, when you had some time, and, oh,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33they were not so perfect, then you worry.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Because you know that's not a High C day.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39HE CHUCKLES
0:22:51 > 0:22:56But if they're good, you go, you know, "Easy!"
0:23:11 > 0:23:13CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:23:22 > 0:23:26The High C defines the tenor today.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29But the way it's sung, the technique that produces it
0:23:29 > 0:23:32is actually a relatively recent arrival on the music scene.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38MAN SINGS IN A HIGH VOICE
0:23:40 > 0:23:43In the 17th and 18th centuries,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47most of the heroic male roles would have been sung by the castrati.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Yes, it's what you think.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55Now, the hormonal goings on post-snip, would have created
0:23:55 > 0:23:58a voice that would have seemed bizarre to us today.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00In one way it was masculine -
0:24:00 > 0:24:02tremendous lung power.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05The chests of these singers were enormous.
0:24:05 > 0:24:12But in the high register, the voice was something akin to
0:24:12 > 0:24:14a turbo-charged falsetto,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18or "head voice" - a very bizarre whooping sound, even.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Something needed to happen. And it did, in the 19th-century.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Now, it's rare in the history of music that you can point to
0:24:27 > 0:24:31one defining incident when a revolution occurred.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34But with the tenor voice you can.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40The year was 1831, the composer - Rossini, the opera - William Tell.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45The singer who changed the tenor's fortunes overnight, Gilbert Duprez.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Before Gilbert Duprez came along,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52tenors would sing the High C...
0:24:52 > 0:24:55in this kind of voice.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58# Aah... #
0:24:58 > 0:25:03Not too exciting, perhaps. But Gilbert Duprez had other ideas.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10He was a young, promising tenor, who learned the voix sombree.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13That meant to sing with the real voice.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17And in the dressing room, he was trying these high notes,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19because there's a lot of High Cs.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23HE SINGS A SCALE
0:25:23 > 0:25:27And he tried the High C with the natural chest voice.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32Which is such a landmark, you know! It revolutionised opera.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:25:55 > 0:25:58And Rossini was disgusted. Disgusted.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Rossini said it sounded like a capon having its throat cut.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12The audience loved it. And they cheered Duprez as the Messiah.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15After Duprez,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17the thrilling chest-voice High C was
0:26:17 > 0:26:19eagerly anticipated by the audience.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24The tenor doesn't sing that many of them.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27But get it wrong, and you could be booed off the stage.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37We go on the stage every night with the same feeling.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38We are afraid.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43And if somebody tell you this, tell you he is not afraid,
0:26:43 > 0:26:44this means he's a liar
0:26:52 > 0:26:58It's like the circus - the trapezist without net.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00It is somehow like this.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04I'm telling you, when you are on stage, and you have to sing
0:27:04 > 0:27:09a High C, already two days ago you don't sleep.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Despite Rossini's objections, this unthinkable but wholly
0:27:17 > 0:27:23possible new approach to the top of the voice becomes unstoppable.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25By the time we get to the Verdi operas,
0:27:25 > 0:27:30the tenor voice, as we know it today, becomes recognisable.
0:27:30 > 0:27:36This new masculine, heroic approach to singing took hold.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41From his first opera in 1839, to his last,
0:27:41 > 0:27:4454 years later, Verdi WAS Italian opera.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52He created a whole series of tragic tenor heroes in the romantic mould.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Dynamic, impulsive, and fatally flawed.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04An ideal Verdi hero was Franco Corelli, who emerged
0:28:04 > 0:28:09in the 1950s as one of the most celebrated of all Italian tenors.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Corelli trained as a naval engineer before entering a
0:28:12 > 0:28:14singing competition on a dare.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Good call!
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Corelli cut a dashing figure.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22He even developed a sideline modelling evening wear
0:28:22 > 0:28:24for style magazines.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27And he certainly attracted the female audience.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30He had good old-fashioned sex appeal.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35The most glamorous tenor of the 20th century was
0:28:35 > 0:28:38undoubtedly Franco Corelli.
0:28:39 > 0:28:45The Italian tenor who, I think, created an image of the tenor,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48even before Pavarotti,
0:28:48 > 0:28:51that would influence everything that came after him.
0:28:51 > 0:28:56Tremendously good-looking, he drove audiences into delirium.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Listen to him here singing Puccini, in one of his signature roles -
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Cavaradossi - a prisoner dreaming of happier times.
0:29:18 > 0:29:24The tone was very personal to him. Every inch the romantic hero.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Quite old-fashioned acting style.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50The darkness of that quality in that lower register.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00So musical, he was.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06See that low larynx.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13Watch the larynx.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21And in one breath - fabulous.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Dominating the orchestra.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50That's unusual, for the tenor to turn around!
0:30:50 > 0:30:52HE CHUCKLES
0:31:02 > 0:31:04ANTONIO MOUTHS
0:31:14 > 0:31:16And then the best old-fashioned tradition,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18the sobbing...
0:31:18 > 0:31:19CORELLI SOBS
0:31:19 > 0:31:21..the applause-getters!
0:31:21 > 0:31:23ANTONIO CHUCKLES
0:31:25 > 0:31:30Now that tenors were expected to hit the High C using the chest,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34or natural voice, a problem emerged,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39and this is something that tenors have to deal with on a daily basis.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Now, what do I mean by that?
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Well, the tenor range spans two octaves, normally.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47From C to C.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Some singers can sing lower, some can sing higher,
0:31:52 > 0:31:53but basically that's it.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57Now, if I start to sing from the low C....
0:31:57 > 0:31:59# Aah, aah, aah, aah
0:31:59 > 0:32:02# Aah, aah, aah, aah... #
0:32:02 > 0:32:03As I get towards
0:32:03 > 0:32:05the middle...
0:32:05 > 0:32:07my voice runs out.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Now, what happens here is something,
0:32:11 > 0:32:13it's a natural phenomenon,
0:32:13 > 0:32:18and it creates the need for some kind of manipulation.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24We need to create a bridge from the lower voice,
0:32:24 > 0:32:29through the middle voice, through to the high voice.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31And this is called a passaggio.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35Or a passage, or a bridge - you get the idea.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37And the manipulation that takes place is...
0:32:37 > 0:32:41# Aah, aah, aah, aah... #
0:32:41 > 0:32:44The voice is made slightly smaller,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46so that then you can go up...
0:32:46 > 0:32:48# Aah, aah, aah...! #
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Now, I'm not an expert in this, obviously, but you could hear how
0:32:51 > 0:32:56by going small, around E or F, the upper middle,
0:32:56 > 0:33:01all of a sudden, then there's room to expand into the top register.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Now, without this knowledge, without the mastery of this,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10you cannot have a major operatic career.
0:33:10 > 0:33:16Everyone from Caruso to Mario Lanza, to Pavarotti, to Jonas Kaufmann,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20all were and are, masters of the passaggio.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26So if you want to be a tenor, it's something you simply have to learn.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29When you think of singing a song, it'll have high moments,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32it'll have middle moments, and those lower notes as well.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34And when we get into the upper parts, where the
0:33:34 > 0:33:38money is made, then it goes up into the head,
0:33:38 > 0:33:40and we negotiate through the chest and into the head.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Through the passaggio into...
0:33:42 > 0:33:43# Ha-hey... #
0:33:43 > 0:33:46And then you do really feel the buzz that's in there.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Let's do the scale.
0:33:48 > 0:33:49HE SINGS A SCALE
0:33:49 > 0:33:51HE SINGS A SCALE
0:33:51 > 0:33:52That's where...
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Now we're dealing with passaggio,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57because there are other muscles that then start to kick in.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59The muscles that deal with the voice and the larynx
0:33:59 > 0:34:02and everything else when it's in that lower position, in the
0:34:02 > 0:34:05lower registers, and then we have to deal with this thing that every
0:34:05 > 0:34:09- singer deals with, the passaggio, it's how you get through that bridge. - It's like a bridge.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14It's a bridge, it's like a frontier, in a way, a muscular frontier,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16and you've got to get through it.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18# Aah, aah, aah, aah
0:34:18 > 0:34:20# Aah, aah... #
0:34:20 > 0:34:22That felt OK, actually.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Yes. For me, it's around E flat and E natural.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28# Y-aahh... #
0:34:28 > 0:34:32After that, you go into another field, and it changes again.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36That's how passaggio works in principle.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40The whole art for the tenor is to manage to cross the frontier
0:34:40 > 0:34:43without the audience being aware he's done so.
0:34:43 > 0:34:44Here's Jonas Kaufmann
0:34:44 > 0:34:48negotiating the passaggio in a performance of Andrea Chenier...
0:34:48 > 0:34:49seamlessly.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:35:34 > 0:35:37Right now, we're in the middle of performances of Andrea Chenier.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40- Yeah. - And in your first aria,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43there's, I think, a classic example of going through the passaggio
0:35:43 > 0:35:48when you go "non conoscete amor", which is an F, which is
0:35:48 > 0:35:51right in the passaggio and then you go to a high B flat...
0:35:51 > 0:35:55- where you need lots of room. - Yeah.
0:35:55 > 0:36:03# Non conoscete amor... #
0:36:05 > 0:36:06F is...
0:36:06 > 0:36:10for me, it's actually the note where
0:36:10 > 0:36:12I'm indecisive,
0:36:12 > 0:36:16let's say, whether it belongs to the upper or to the lower region.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20And there's one note in the second act,
0:36:20 > 0:36:21"si...soldato",
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and I'm never sure...
0:36:24 > 0:36:26And every performance I do it differently.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Because also depending on the form of the day,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30it just comes differently.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34But I think the more you think about it, the more difficult it becomes.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:36:54 > 0:37:01One of the Holy Grails of singing is how do you diminuendo?
0:37:01 > 0:37:06How do you get softer on a tone that is loud to begin with?
0:37:06 > 0:37:09- Yeah.- Now, you have an amazing ability to do that.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11- Can you show us...? - CHUCKLES:- I can try!
0:37:11 > 0:37:12You can try!
0:37:14 > 0:37:16ANTONIO SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:37:16 > 0:37:18JONAS SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:37:45 > 0:37:47How do you do that? How do you do that?
0:37:47 > 0:37:49No, seriously, how do you do that?
0:37:49 > 0:37:53The larynx is low, the tongue, the whole mouth, everything is relaxed.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56You did it perfect... It goes through F, again,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58similar to Chenier...
0:37:58 > 0:37:59HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:37:59 > 0:38:01JONAS SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Wow, back and forth!
0:38:10 > 0:38:11It's the same thing!
0:38:11 > 0:38:15The technical aspect of it is absolutely mind-boggling.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17Because usually it's only one or two
0:38:17 > 0:38:22people in the world, you know, at a time, could do that.
0:38:22 > 0:38:23But you can do it.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30The basic techniques are common to all tenors.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35But within the category we call "the tenor" lies a whole spectrum
0:38:35 > 0:38:38of different colours, ranging from the dark dramatic tenor
0:38:38 > 0:38:43at the lower end of the frequency, to the lyric tenor at the higher.
0:38:48 > 0:38:54This lighter voice is ideally suited to the young, naive romantic lead.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Tamino, in Mozart's The Magic Flute, is a famous example.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03One of the role's most admired interpreters is the great
0:39:03 > 0:39:06German lyric tenor Fritz Wunderlich,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09who died at the age of only 35,
0:39:09 > 0:39:14after a fall in a hunting lodge, in 1966.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16The youthful light timbre perfectly captures the hero's
0:39:16 > 0:39:19yearning for a princess he sees in a picture.
0:39:21 > 0:39:28You hear the perfect balance of ardour and...
0:39:29 > 0:39:33..vocal refinement, and good taste.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43HE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Every syllable in place,
0:39:53 > 0:39:57and yet the smoothest of deliveries.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Perfect intonation, just perfect.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31Now we have difficult vowels in German - the "oo"
0:40:31 > 0:40:33and the tight "eh" vowel.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Constantly going in and out of that difficult passaggio,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41but it's nothing for him.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Oh, beautiful. "Liebe sein..."
0:41:00 > 0:41:02And then there's the contrast.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16See how many "ee" vowels there are in this aria.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Which can potentially tighten the voice.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25But sound completely free with him.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36You could say that there's a
0:41:36 > 0:41:38matter-of-factness in the interpretation,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41in the delivery.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45A straightforwardness, is probably a better way of saying it.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50But I think, when you have a voice quality like that,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54and music that is so obvious, somehow,
0:41:54 > 0:42:01so natural, you don't need to play around with it to make the effect.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04And Fritz Wunderlich knew this inherently, and I think
0:42:04 > 0:42:09that this is what makes him a great star, in the pantheon of the greats.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12MUSIC: Trauermarsch from Gotterdammerung by Richard Wagner
0:42:12 > 0:42:14100 years or so after Mozart,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17a completely different type of tenor emerged in Germany.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21He was the heldentenor - the "hero tenor" -
0:42:21 > 0:42:24associated especially with the operas of Richard Wagner.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Not only did the heldentenor play superheroes on stage,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31in roles like Siegfried and Tristan,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34he had to sing for longer stretches than ever before,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37and the musical forces he was now competing against, had been
0:42:37 > 0:42:39increasing in strength.
0:42:40 > 0:42:46In the 19th century, the orchestra grew and grew and grew.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Where Mozart wrote for a 40-piece orchestra, or less,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53by the time we get to Verdi, it's 60.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56And the biggest challenge is yet to come.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05When we perform Wagner's music, we're playing with 110 players.
0:43:05 > 0:43:12Now, you can imagine that this is a huge obstacle,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14if you like, for the singers.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19The amount of lung power and projection is exponentially greater.
0:43:22 > 0:43:28That's where technique comes in. The art of projection, of resonance.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33This cutting through the orchestra with a beam of sound,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37rather than a wall of sound, is essential.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43A heldentenor whose very personal technique allowed him to excel
0:43:43 > 0:43:48in singing these heavy dramatic roles is the Canadian Jon Vickers.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51A committed Christian, he tried only to sing operas
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and characters whose message he believed to be morally uplifting.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57There seems to be something of great
0:43:57 > 0:44:00inner intensity in these characters.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02They're almost obsessive,
0:44:02 > 0:44:03almost driven characters.
0:44:03 > 0:44:09I think that I have a certain ability to portray that intensity.
0:44:09 > 0:44:15I study the role in a very abstract, objective way,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18trying to analyse the facets of personality
0:44:18 > 0:44:22which are the predominant ones that must be brought forward.
0:44:22 > 0:44:27And I analyse the role in terms of finding the facets
0:44:27 > 0:44:31within my own personality that have to be enlarged, or diminished,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34or hardened, or softened,
0:44:34 > 0:44:39so that in a way, I myself sort of die.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42And I suppose that it's probably
0:44:42 > 0:44:47because I build my characters from the inside out, that they have
0:44:47 > 0:44:52this greater sense of commitment and intensity.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56I've had the opportunity to work with Jon Vickers on two occasions,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00and there is simply no-one like him.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03And he does draw you in, let me tell you.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07Listen to Jon Vickers singing the role of Florestan,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10from Beethoven's Fidelio.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14The character is a prisoner, a political prisoner,
0:45:14 > 0:45:19who's been alone in this dungeon for a very, very long time.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22No hope. Despair.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26And these are the types of characters that Jon Vickers
0:45:26 > 0:45:28gravitated towards.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31Lonely, outcast individuals.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37HE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:45:45 > 0:45:48You get an idea of the size of the voice now.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00And how beautiful the voice actually was.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Low register, almost like a baritone.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13It was like listening to a cathedral organ.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16And he would seem to relax back onto the back foot
0:47:16 > 0:47:19and then take a posture, a position.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21It was as though he was ready to swallow a sword.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25But a sword swallower must be able to open up a passage that
0:47:25 > 0:47:27goes straight the way down.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30So consequently, there's this man standing like that,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33on the back foot, and creating this column, this great column,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and the whole body then becomes the voice.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40And the mouth opens up, to a massive extent at times,
0:47:40 > 0:47:44and it becomes rather like a, a, a...
0:47:45 > 0:47:46..an animal.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51HE SINGS IN GERMAN
0:48:03 > 0:48:06How he pulls back his voice there, it's heartbreaking.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42And the light goes out.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49But did you notice the concentration in his eyes, the total focus?
0:48:49 > 0:48:56The absolute convincing thought process that's behind the singing.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58This is as important as the throat,
0:48:58 > 0:49:02this is as important as the God-given talent.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06It's how your mind accompanies your delivery.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13I believe that singing is mainly about emotions.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18I mean, the artist that is able to colour his voice,
0:49:18 > 0:49:23and to give the right intuition, every sound, to the
0:49:23 > 0:49:28role he's playing, I think this is a great artist.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37Throughout musical history,
0:49:37 > 0:49:40composers have written for specific singers.
0:49:42 > 0:49:49Benjamin Britten wrote predominantly for his partner, Peter Pears.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Distinctively English in sound, Pears created some of the most
0:49:53 > 0:49:56significant new tenor roles of the 20th century.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02The vocal pieces were written, so many of them, with my voice
0:50:02 > 0:50:04in mind, that I could just try
0:50:04 > 0:50:05it out on him, then and there.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07If it was a difficult phrase
0:50:07 > 0:50:08I could just see
0:50:08 > 0:50:10whether I could sing it or not.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And if I could, adequately, he probably kept it in.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17But if I couldn't, or thought, oh, it was too difficult...
0:50:17 > 0:50:21I may be said to have vetted, from my own point of view.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Beginning in the 1940s, the English operatic tradition, semi-dormant for
0:50:27 > 0:50:30more than two centuries, was revived
0:50:30 > 0:50:32by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...
0:50:32 > 0:50:35beginning with Peter Grimes -
0:50:35 > 0:50:38a fisherman suspected
0:50:38 > 0:50:43of murdering his apprentice. Here is the tenor as pariah, under threat.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48Peter Grimes is the ultimate outsider, a strange,
0:50:48 > 0:50:55troubled man, despised by the small village mind-set.
0:50:58 > 0:51:04What is fascinating is Peter Pears' best note was E natural.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Other tenors have great difficulty with that note.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08It's just...
0:51:08 > 0:51:13sort of not fish nor fowl, it's kind of upper low register,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15lower middle register and it's a tricky note,
0:51:15 > 0:51:20but it's perfect in Peter Pears' voice, interestingly enough.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22And in Peter Grimes,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25Benjamin Britten writes an aria where E natural
0:51:25 > 0:51:26is the main feature,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29with a very allusive text -
0:51:29 > 0:51:34"Now the Great Bear and Pleiades, where earth moves, are drawing up
0:51:34 > 0:51:37"the clouds of human grief,
0:51:37 > 0:51:42"breathing solemnity for the deep night."
0:51:45 > 0:51:53# Now the Great Bear
0:51:53 > 0:51:56# And Pleiades
0:51:56 > 0:52:01# Where earth moves
0:52:01 > 0:52:04# Are drawing up
0:52:04 > 0:52:12# The clouds of human grief
0:52:12 > 0:52:19# Breathing solemnity
0:52:19 > 0:52:27# In the deep night... #
0:52:27 > 0:52:30"In the deep night", so word-painting.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Britten brings the voice way down low.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36Interesting how he makes music on that single note.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38He does it again here.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42# Who can decipher
0:52:42 > 0:52:46# In storm or starlight... #
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Alliteration there, "storm, starlight".
0:52:49 > 0:52:52# The written character
0:52:52 > 0:52:56# Of friendly fate...? #
0:52:56 > 0:52:59And he opens up.
0:52:59 > 0:53:05# As the sky turns
0:53:05 > 0:53:13# The world for us to change. #
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Pears shows us how to love the words.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25Whether one possesses the most beautiful voice or not,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28communication is paramount.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:53:51 > 0:53:58The personality behind those voices can communicate something -
0:53:58 > 0:54:02the joy of singing, yes - but also something deeper.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06The greater meaning behind an aria, even a note.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13Offering something completely new for us to experience.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16It's that rare ability
0:54:16 > 0:54:20to make everything you sing personal to you, and unforgettable
0:54:20 > 0:54:24once heard, that distinguishes the great singer from the good.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30One tenor who had personality, charisma
0:54:30 > 0:54:33and star quality in spades went on to become one of the most
0:54:33 > 0:54:36influential singers of the 20th century.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42The first ever "crossover" artist hardly set foot on an opera stage.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46But he became one of the biggest movie stars of the 1950s
0:54:46 > 0:54:47by singing opera.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Jose Carreras said that he got into singing because of this guy.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59The "Kid from Philadelphia" influenced Placido Domingo.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03Pavarotti would go see his films and go home
0:55:03 > 0:55:05and try to imitate him in the mirror.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09Who am I talking about? Well, Mario Lanza, of course.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Now, friends, I don't want to waste a second of your time.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23I want to introduce to you a star of many opera stages,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26and a great star of Hollywood -
0:55:26 > 0:55:27Mario Lanza.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Mario Lanza, unlike any classically trained tenor
0:55:33 > 0:55:37before or since, was genuinely successful as a pop star.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42Because You're Mine was a million-seller,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45top ten hit in both Britain and the USA.
0:55:47 > 0:55:52# Because you're mine
0:55:52 > 0:55:56# The brightest star I see
0:55:56 > 0:55:59# Looks down, my love
0:55:59 > 0:56:01# And envies me
0:56:02 > 0:56:06# Because you're mine
0:56:06 > 0:56:11# Because you're mine... #
0:56:13 > 0:56:16CROWD CHANT: WE WANT MARIO!
0:56:16 > 0:56:21Mario Lanza was the most famous tenor there ever was, bar none.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26And together with Enrico Caruso, certainly the most influential.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29He was an inspiration for all of us.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33And also, he did the life of Caruso.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It was the life of the
0:56:35 > 0:56:36greatest tenor ever
0:56:36 > 0:56:38and it was a very interesting
0:56:38 > 0:56:40movie for people, that...
0:56:40 > 0:56:44We were not very, very familiar with opera at that moment.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47HE SINGS IN ITALIAN
0:56:50 > 0:56:53ANTONIO MOUTHS
0:57:10 > 0:57:14When you hear him sing those honeyed tones
0:57:14 > 0:57:17and those very difficult phrases that go high...
0:57:17 > 0:57:22He manages them, technically, absolutely wonderfully.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Going through the passaggio up to the high note,
0:57:25 > 0:57:27back through the passaggio, back up.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34The power of the modern tenor, ignited by Caruso,
0:57:34 > 0:57:41fuelled by Mario Lanza, found new strength with The Three Tenors.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43THEY SING IN ITALIAN
0:57:43 > 0:57:47After I had the possibility to enjoy the movie with Lanza, I didn't
0:57:47 > 0:57:52want to be an instrumentalist, or a conductor, I wanted to be a singer.
0:57:52 > 0:57:57And then I realised that my voice was a tenor voice.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01And I was very happy with that, needless to say!
0:58:02 > 0:58:05MUSIC: Nessun Dorma
0:58:16 > 0:58:19Three Tenors... Three different tenors,
0:58:19 > 0:58:22ranging from lyric to dramatic.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26The thrill of a unique and outstanding tenor voice has provoked
0:58:26 > 0:58:30an animal response from audiences for nearly 200 years.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34And in our century, shows no sign of running out of steam.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41Next time, the voice type that gets to play the characters
0:58:41 > 0:58:45known in opera as "Witches, bitches and britches".
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Between the tenor and the soprano sings the earth goddess,
0:58:48 > 0:58:51the mezzo-soprano.
0:58:51 > 0:58:54# La, la, la, la, la... #
0:58:54 > 0:58:58MUSIC: Overture (Prelude) from Carmen by Georges Bizet