Opera/Size and Opera Singers
Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Pamela Thomas
PR wrote at 2008-12-10 16:36:53
IMO its to do with strength and bones not fat.
You need a good strong voice box, then you are given by God a certain amount of bone space for the voice to resonate within. Large heavily built people with large bone structures in the head may well have large heavily boned bodies. But not by implication, they can be tall and thin, and look a bit like a Martian with a large chest! A large chest helps, as this can aid resonation. Fat is in my opinion nothing to do with the equation. But you have to be strong. I've known huge fat sopranos with tiny voices, and small thin sopranos with huge voices.
As to the fat singer thing, well large heavily bones bodies may house large muscles that may in later years give in to aging somewhat. Check out Pavarotti as a young man, he was strong, fit and powerful. Not in anyway at all fat!