Stephen Hough

They both changed the way we hear the sound of the piano, both of them inventors of sonority: Chopin took bel canto singing lines and reproduced them on the keyboard above richly upholstered counterpoint; Debussy somehow preserved vibrations in the air, blending their ephemeral magic into music that reaches far back into deep memory.

British Composer

Juan Diego Florez

When I'm doing sports, I always think of how it's related to singing, and when I watch tennis, I learn a lot for my singing: how the players are focused, how they use their technique, and, in the case of Roger Federer, how effortless it is and how beautiful it is to watch - like bel canto, in a way. That's how singing should be.

Peruvian Musician

Anna Netrebko

I prefer it when the conductor follows me. It is more difficult to work with a conductor who does not listen - even if I understand that sometimes it makes sense when one person is ruling everything. But for bel canto, I have to have a conductor who listens and supports me.

Russian Musician

Sondra Radvanovsky

When you do a 'messa di voce,' that means you start soft, you crescendo into loud - and then you go back to soft again. Some people call it circus tricks, but in bel canto, it's really written into the music.

American Musician

Sebastian Bach

My vocal style is called bel canto, which is an old Italian vocal style going back hundreds of years.

Canadian Musician

Singing bel canto is like walking on a tightrope - especially with a larger voice like mine.

I wouldn't be me if my repertoire wasn't bel canto.

For me, bel canto is medicine for the voice.

A canto is used to organize long poems into sections, much like chapters in a book.

Literary Structure

'Canto' is larger than a stanza and often contains multiple stanzas within it.

Not a Stanza

Each canto can represent a shift in the narrative or a new stage in the story's development.

Narrative Progression

Cantos often come from oral traditions, where stories were sung or recited rather than written down.

Oral Tradition

Cantos are lyrical and meant to be performed, sometimes with musical accompaniment.

Musical Poetry

Cantos often preserve cultural stories, myths, and history.

Cultural Stories

 in our popular traditions. In each place, they've given it a different name, and set it to different music. It has a lot of different names -- more than 20 in total on the continent. In Mexico, for example, it's called the "Son Jarocho," "Canto de mejorana" in Panama;

Jorge Drexler: Poetry,...

 While bel canto singers require versatile vocal folds to vault through acrobatic arias. Biology also sets some limits— not every technique is feasible for every set of muscles, and voices change as singers age.

What’s a squillo, and...

 my name is Isabella canto Laney and I'm 12 years old sixth grade at red rocks elementary and my family I have my mom