The Garcia School: Thelma Votipka

Thelma Votipka (1906-1972), who sang 1,422 performances with the Metropolitan Opera, was a student of Anna Schoen-René, the latter carrying the teachings of Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Manuel Garcia into the 20th century.

Known to her friends as Tippy—Votipka famously sang the high B flat for Maria Callas during the offstage choral cantata in Act 2 of Puccini’s Tosca.

What was her voice like?

The YouTube video below will give you an excellent impression.

Now, if you want to go deeper and understand more about the effect of the vocal technique of the Garcias and the teaching of Anna Schoen-Rene in particular, you should compare Votipka’s voice with that of Judith Doniger, who also studied with Schoen-René. You should also listen to the contralto/mezzo-soprano recordings of Margaret Harshaw, a third Schoen-René student—though these tend to appear and disappear on YouTube.

What do you hear in all three voices?

• Opulent, rich, big tone with fullness and depth from top to bottom.

• Ring and focus.

• Distinguished diction.

• A blossoming in the high range.

• Great swaths of legato singing as informed by the study of portamento. It’s a unique sound print. Once heard and inculcated, it reveals a deficit currently on display today.

What approach do we hear in comparison to the Garcia-Schoen-Rene teaching?

Note-singing.

And by note-singing, I mean the joining of notes in a vocal line without that joining being informed by the knowledge and practice of portamento. This, along with a lack of depth of tone and correct voice placement produces a species of hacking, one that is taken to extremes in the music of the Baroque. This approach is now ubiquitous and considered “correct,” while the approach of Garcia-Schoen-René is considered Romantic, excessive, and obsolete.

I disagree.

I believe the Garcia-Schoen-René approach points the listener to an even earlier time—that of Porpora, Caccini, and even Monteverdi.

Schoen-René certainly asserted as much.

I’m with her.