The historic Italian school of voice technique (also known as the natural bel canto technique) has long been universally recognized as the supreme expression of singing in terms of beauty, expressiveness, functionality, free resonance, and naturalness. Still largely unappreciated, however, is that this technique has nothing to do with the “mask,” direct “lowering” of the larynx, or any other mechanistic methods, regardless of their endorsement by phoniatrists. The wisdom of the historic Italian school of singing belongs to an entirely different realm, one founded on an inner sense of balance, ease, sensory awareness, and freedom of mind and body. The art of “mastering the voice by obeying it” is the secret. Modern voice technicians mistake this for vocalism that is merely artless and lacking in technique. On the contrary, it represents technique in its true sense: a higher, “invisible,” mellow yet powerful technique, a subtle strategy through which we manage to tap into nature’s gentle and inexhaustible energy, enabling the voice to balance and sustain tone automatically and effortlessly. In this way, we enter into a sort of state of grace, where things are not “done,” but simply and miraculously allowed to happen, revealing themselves for what they actually are: sublime emanations of universal harmony.
ANTONIO JUVARRA has devoted many years of study to historic Italian voice technique, with the aim of restoring its original structure.
He has performed as a soloist in some of Italy’s most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Arena di Verona, and La Fenice in Venice, under such distinguished conductors as Riccardo Muti and Gianandrea Gavazzeni.
Among his publications are the treatise Singing and Its Techniques (Il canto e le sue tecniche, Ricordi, 1987), the theoretical and practical method The Study of Singing (Lo studio del canto, Ricordi, 1999), and the historical survey The Secrets of Bel Canto: A History of Voice Techniques and Methods from the Eighteenth Century to the Present (I segreti del belcanto. Storia delle tecniche e dei metodi vocali dal Settecento a oggi, Curci, 2006).
He has presented his research on the singing voice at various international scientific conferences, and he has held masterclasses and invited lectures at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Conservatoire Supérieur de Strasbourg, and numerous Italian conservatories and universities, including the conservatories of Naples, Venice, Parma, and Bolzano. He has taught voice at the Conservatorio di Castelfranco Veneto, the Accademia d’arte lirica (Osimo), and the Scuola dell’opera italiana (Bologna).
