VOCAL TRAINING IN THE BEL CANTO TRADITION

The performance of the works that constitute the Italian bel canto tradition during the 18th and 19th centuries was based on methodical and rigorous vocal training that extended over several years. Students and singing teachers had to perfect a varied typology of well-defined vocal skills before entering into the study of operas and concert works. Manuel Garcia and Francesco Lamperti initiated two of the most famous singing schools. The treatises they wrote marked the beginning of a series of texts that sought to collect and systematize the knowledge of their predecessors. Knowledge of their pedagogical ideas and the organization of the work of vocal training can be of great use in reviewing the method of study of singing students in order to face their vocal preparation for the interpretation of the works written in this period.