The Grand School of Portamento
Violin Technique as Key for Singing Practice in the 19th century
Kai Köpp
The 19th century counts as the era of the expressive portamento. However the varieties of portamento were described with much greater precision in the historical literature regarding string instruments than in singing treatises. As a result it is possible to derive systematic terminological categories that prove to be important tools for the interpretation analysis, as will be shown I nthe example of the celebrated soprano Adelina Patti (1943-1919) and the showpiece of her art of the portamento (Mozart’s “Voi che sapete”).
