"It's like when you want to make a house... the technique is very important"
About this Quote
The image of building a house captures Cecilia Bartoli's conviction that lasting artistry rests on solid craft. A home stands because its foundation, frame, and joints are sound; a voice endures for the same reason. Bartoli built her career on roles that demand extreme agility and control, from Rossini's Rosina and Cenerentola to Mozart's Sesto, and later on the ornate worlds of Vivaldi, Porpora, and Steffani. Those styles are unforgiving. Without disciplined breath, precise diction, a stable passaggio, and clean coloratura, the musical architecture buckles. With them, the voice can carry expressive weight without strain.
For Bartoli, technique is not decoration. It is the blueprint and the load-bearing walls that allow everything else - spontaneity, emotion, character - to live safely inside. A flawless trill, an even messa di voce, the ability to spin a long line at a whisper, these are not feats for their own sake. They are tools that let the singer shape meaning at any dynamic, any tempo, on any vowel, without compromising health. The result is freedom. When the craft is secure, choices multiply: a phrase can bloom longer, an ornament can be daring yet stylistically grounded, a dramatic turn can land without wobble.
Her approach also reflects an architect's respect for materials and context. Bartoli's deep research into Baroque and bel canto practice informs how she ornaments, articulates, and colors text. Historically informed choices are like using the right mortar and timber; they bind the structure to its time and purpose, so beauty does not become pastiche. Over decades, this foundation has sustained her voice and curiosity, enabling ambitious repertoire revivals rather than narrowing them.
The maxim answers a familiar anxiety that technique might stifle feeling. Bartoli flips it: technique liberates feeling by making it durable. A house built on whim collapses at the first storm; a well-made one can welcome storms, seasons, and guests, and still feel alive.
For Bartoli, technique is not decoration. It is the blueprint and the load-bearing walls that allow everything else - spontaneity, emotion, character - to live safely inside. A flawless trill, an even messa di voce, the ability to spin a long line at a whisper, these are not feats for their own sake. They are tools that let the singer shape meaning at any dynamic, any tempo, on any vowel, without compromising health. The result is freedom. When the craft is secure, choices multiply: a phrase can bloom longer, an ornament can be daring yet stylistically grounded, a dramatic turn can land without wobble.
Her approach also reflects an architect's respect for materials and context. Bartoli's deep research into Baroque and bel canto practice informs how she ornaments, articulates, and colors text. Historically informed choices are like using the right mortar and timber; they bind the structure to its time and purpose, so beauty does not become pastiche. Over decades, this foundation has sustained her voice and curiosity, enabling ambitious repertoire revivals rather than narrowing them.
The maxim answers a familiar anxiety that technique might stifle feeling. Bartoli flips it: technique liberates feeling by making it durable. A house built on whim collapses at the first storm; a well-made one can welcome storms, seasons, and guests, and still feel alive.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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