Revised Excerpt From:

Elizabeth Fleming

Inheritor of the bel Canto Tradition

I met Betty Fleming in 1979 when the opportunity arose to stay in London for a year. Erik Levi, the British pianist and scholar, whom I met in 1978 at the Franz Schubert Institut Lied course in Austria, introduced me to her.

Betty, during the period I was attached to her studio (roughly 1979-1988), stood about 5 feet 5 inches, had a broad face resembling the structure of Birgit Nilsson’s, a large ribcage, and slim legs. She was always exquisitely coifed, groomed, and dressed having often just come from the Harrod’s near her apartment with a new dress or hairdressing. She wore large glasses that toned in with her bouffant ash blond hair and usually sat in a large, carved chair, with a cushioned back and seat, which looked authentically Baroque.

I arrived with a muffled voice held on the soft palate, a technique taught me by disciples of William Vennard in Los Angeles, and emerged nine months later (having three lessons a week) with something resembling an operatic sound.

One of the books consulted in preparation for the writing of this article was Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy by James Stark. What I read there was surprising because the bel canto method of Manuel Garcia and Francesco and Giovanni Battista Lamperti described by Stark was exactly the same as that taught by Betty Fleming.

Obviously, Betty’s ideas were not new ones. In fact, they were taught for several centuries and written about first in scientific, hence quantifiable, terms by Garcia and Lampertis. Stark’s physiological analysis has been extremely helpful in identifying the elements in the teaching of Gillis Bratt and Joseph Hislop as well as Fleming herself that have their shared origins in the Italian method as defined by Garcia and Lamperti.

Although it took several more years to solidify Betty’s concepts, the distance between Chicago and London not being easily traversed, the technical ideas have stood the test of time both in my voice studio and for my own professional singing.

My artistic journey began the day I walked into her studio. It has not yet ended.