Note to opera singers: Upper spine vertabrae are important to the Flower Duet from Delibes Lakmé

A report on vertebra important for singing opera, and Lakme videos as antimatter to Superbowl Sunday.

Opera singing is reportedly highly dependent on being able to tilt the highest vertebra (the atlas and C4) at a large angle to open the airways.  Gillian Johnson, Margot Skinner, “The demands of professional opera singing on cranio-cervical posture,” Eur Spine J. 2009 Jan 23. [Epub ahead of print] 10.1007/s00586-009-0884-1

Videos of the Flower Duet from Delibes Lakmé is below (that’s the aria in the old British Airways ad). I didn’t notice this in the singers:

Tags: Cervical spine, Cranio-cervical posture, Pharyngeal airway space, Professional opera singing, Voice