I think that the feeling I have of the extension of my throat comes from the very powerful yet very elastic contraction of my muscles, which, though feeling always in a state of relaxability, appear to me like flexible steel, of which I can demand everything,—because never too much,—and which I exercise daily. Even in the entr'actes of grand operas I go through with such exercises; for they refresh instead of exhausting me.
The unconstrained coöperation of all the organs, as well as their individual functions, must go on elastically without any pressure or cramped action. Their interplay must be powerful yet supple, that the breath which produces the tone may be diffused as it flows from one to another of the manifold and complicated organs (such as the ventricles of Morgagni), supporting itself on others, being caught in still others, and finding all in such a state of readiness as is required in each range for each tone. Everything must be combined in the right way as a matter of habit.
The voice is equalized by the proper ramification of the breath and the proper connection of the different resonances.
The tone is colored by the proper mixture of vowels; oo, o, and ah demanding more palatal resonance and a lower position of the larynx, a and e more resonance of the head cavities and a higher position of the larynx. With oo, o, ü, and ah the palate is arched higher (the tongue forming a furrow) than with ā, ē, and ü, where the tongue lies high and flat.
There are singers who place the larynx too low, and, arching the palate too high, sing too much toward oo. Such voices sound very dark, perhaps even hollow; they lack the interposition of the ā,—that is, the larynx is placed too low.
On the other hand, there are others who press it upward too high; their a position is a permanent one. Such voices are marked by a very bright, sharp quality of tone, often like a goat's bleating.
Both are alike wrong and disagreeable. The proper medium between them must be gained by sensitive training of the ear, and a taste formed by the teacher through examples drawn from his own singing and that of others.
If we wish to give a noble expression to the tone and the word, we must mingle its vocal sound, if it is not so, with o or oo. If we wish to give the word merely an agreeable expression, we mingle it with ah, ā, and ē. That is, we must use all the qualities of tonal resonance, and thus produce colors which shall benefit the tone and thereby the word and its expression.
Thus a single tone may be taken or sung in many different ways. In every varying connection, consequently, the singer must be able to change it according to the expression desired. But as soon as it is a question of a musical phrase, in which several tones or words, or tones alone, are connected, the law of progression must remain in force; expression must be sacrificed, partly at least, to the beauty of the musical passage.
If he is skilful enough, the singer can impart a certain expression of feeling to even the most superficial phrases and coloratura passages. Thus, in the coloratura passages of Mozart's arias, I have always sought to gain expressiveness by crescendi, choice of significant points for breathing, and breaking off of phrases. I have been especially successful with this in the Entführung, introducing a tone of lament into the first aria, a heroic dignity into the second, through the coloratura passages. Without exaggerating petty details, the artist must exploit all the means of expression that he is justified in using.