Ok, you open the "faces" topic. I do not want to discuss the aestethical
implications: that is a subjective matter. However I want to write about
the relation with singing technique.
CB "manages" the sound? Of course!
To sing with voice "impostata" means "managing sound" (that is the art
of singing)!
The question is another: does CB sound "too unnatural"? As long as her
repertoire spreads between Caccini and Rossini - definitely not!
Who does not like this kind of singing probably does not like (or does
not understand) her repertoire too... Coloratura is NOT "natural"!
Does CB have a "small" voice? Another yes!
Are "many people (...) pressuring her into making a bigger sound"? Probably!
But that does not mean that she is forcing her voice or modifying her
technique in order to increase her power. It is not possible to fake on
that! The side effects would be noticeable. How? I can give you an
exemple: a young, very gifted german mezzo that also had a "small" voice.
I did not hear her for 6 months, then I heard her as Arsace: the voice now
was powerful, but the extremal range showed flaws in the pitch and the
"coloratura" was less exact than before. After a year the voice was split
in two ranges and the highs were almost gone (today she seems to have
reversed that choice...). All that for stating that CB did never make this
error. The steady progresses of her performances show how she is coscient
of her voice and technique. And more: the voice is small, but I never feeled
that a problem in theater (so long she does not sing Wagner...). I would say
the opposite: the singers with a big, ringing voice all to often can not
sustain the sound that "disappears" even if they try to sing "mezzopiano"
(and CB has no problem reaching all the theater with a "pianissimo").
Your clause about "singing from the throat rather than from diaphragm" is
not clear. Does that relate to breathing? An accentuation of diaphragmatic
breathing vs. the costal one is a way to increase power (but at cost of the
"sostegno"- i.e. the control - of the voice). That can be "more natural", but it
does not mean good technique...
And now: why the "faces"?
My answer is: because of the range AND homogeneity of CB's voice! She uses
at highest degree the "voce in maschera" (that means the resonances in the
head's cavities). In order to achieve the homogeneity of the voice it is
necessary to work on the geometry of these cavities (ergo: make faces).
That is more noticeable if the range of the voice is wide, and can become
extreme if the low range is not bare "chest voice". Singers with a splitted
voice and cavernous low register have less need to make such "faces".
Oh, there is also the "unnatural tension of the throat"!
It is important not to confuse between tension of the muscles and forced
voice. These is NOT the same! Have you ever heard a "forced" tone from CB?
I never did! Here again: in order to master a wide range of the voice it is
necessary to manage (yes! manage!) the building of the sound in the throat.
That can be reached using movements of the jaw in order to modify the
position of the vocal chords or/and by working with the neck muscles.
To smile at a microphone while singing with relaxed neck looks good in TV
shows, but it is another "technique of singing".
Giovanni
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Do not be scared by faces! 
Re: "Do not be scared by faces!"
by AlphaZay, 1998, Jun 12
