I have been listening this week to a CD of Handel arias sung by the remarkable Russell Oberlin [b. 1928] whose vocal sound I adore. He was a true counter tenor (as he explains and demonstrates in a clip on You Tube) not a falsettist. Active mainly in the 50’s and 60’s he sang the part of Oberon in the London premiere of Benjamin’s Britten’s “Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” (it appears that Alfred Deller, having sung the role at the premiere in Aldburgh, was upset at not being asked to sing it when it opened in London). Deller of course WAS a falsettist and a critic said that “Deller was an angel, Oberlin a man”. Oberlin sings with a direct, fearless attack which I love and one can hear some interesting registration events in his singing technique. The way he passes from chest to medium and then to the upper head tones is a singing lesson in itself and on crescendos and diminuendos you can detect the rotation of the registers. When he attacks a note piano his sound is head-dominated and when he attacks forte the sound is chest-dominated regardless of what register he is in. I think many women, especially sopranos, would do well to listen to his sound. The great Rosa Ponselle exhibits all these qualities too if you want to listen to a soprano.
Those of you who have been following my blog will know how besotted I am with the historical bel canto technique from the era of the castrati and one of the things that is fascinating about his sound is the co-ordination of the registers. The strong almost metallic tone he makes is, I think, much more akin to the sound of the castrati than all our current plethora of counter tenors who are using falsetto. One can forgive Oberlin the odd blemish and his rather stilted Italian. Do listen to him if you get an opportunity – as I said there are a couple of interesting clips on You Tube and this year they have reissued rare recordings of him singing Handel arias on the CD which I have just bought – “Russell Oberlin sings Handel arias”. Check out his wonderful dramatic flourish right down into pure chest at the end of “Ombra Cara”. Wow!!!!!
3 Comments
July 14, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I had the incredible good fortune of studying with Mr. Oberlin when he taught at Hunter College in NYC over thirty-seven years ago.
I was in High School when I first heard his voice on a recording of poems by Dame Edith Sitwell set to music. He performed with Hermoine Gingold, a character actress and comedienne whose voice was as low as Oberlin’s was high. After that, I heard performances with the New York Pro Musica.
When I had the option of remaining in New York City or studying music out of state, there *was* no option: I wanted the opportunity of hearing Oberlin up close and so Hunter College, noted at that time for one of the finest music departments for a city college, was the natural choice.
I’ll never forget the first day of his class. I can’t remember the class title, only that he put on one of his recordings with no explanation and asked afterwards what we thought of the performance.
In that entire class of thirty music majors, I was the only one familiar with his voice. One student, in fact, opined that that woman had a wonderful voice. Oberlin’s response? “That was me, dear.”
To hear him in an intimate classroom setting was one of the highlights of my musical life.
July 14, 2008 at 8:55 pm
How fascinating to hear that you studied with and heard the great Russell Oberlin in the flesh!
October 10, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Dear Glenna,
I shot an hour video interview with Russell Oberlin late last year. I had grown up with his voice as a child on my parent’s New York Pro Musica records. I told him of your mentioning him on your site and he was pleased. He is one of a number of extraordinary singers I have interviewed. He is an utterly charming and down to earth person.
To clarify a question that pops up about what label to stick on him – he considers himself a high tenor. He said that though there are admirable singers using the falsetto register that it had never been his way. A falsetto voice will never produce the luscious yet somehow acerbic quality of his voice. Neither will a croony headtone (which I, as a baritone sometimes employ).
My repertoire is troubadour song . Mr. Oberlin agreed with me that the fad of singing early music without vibrato is nonsense. I am not utterly against singing with no vibrato but I have never found any indication that early repertoire was sung that way. I find excessive cultivation and use of it as artistically unsatisfying as wide splashy vibrato. Either extreme limits emotional expression – rather than channelling it as a more balanced technique allows. Having felt a lone voice in the wilderness it was nice to have agreement from so great a singer.
Dear Ms. Tomson – I would love to talk to you about the singers interviews. I get down to London sometimes – do get in touch,
All the best – Erik Schelander