Bridging Audiology and Psychology

%5,'*,1* $8',2/2*<$1' 36<&+2/2*< sound of constantly playing discs had to be applied directly to the patient's brain. Doctor Tomatis, in view of the tenor's characteristics, chose Caruso's voice, and now—prodigiously—Nicole Courcel sings exactly the same as the famous Italian who astonished the world with the power of his art. Sounds—says Doctor Adrian Selam, an Erkman-Chatrian character—work on the molecules of a liquid to produce infinite combinations, with the difference this time that, since such molecules are movable, the figures that result from them are animated beings. It is what physicists call "equivocal creation." Indeed, the voice of Caruso has been installed in the vocal cords of Nicole Courcel. And no sooner was this scientific prodigy made known, than two clients approached Tomatis who are symbolic of the present day. One is old—the bass singer Humberto Tomatis, the doctor's father—who only aspires to recover his lost voice. The other is young, very young, and this lad, who has not lost anything, nor suffers from any illness, wanted the doctor to "imprint" on him the voice of Anselmi or Tito Schipa, because he has a fondness for opera and—this is where the haste comes in—wishes to enter the opera world as a fully-fledged virtuoso. It was not enough that the doctor very wisely told this petitioner that neither Caruso, nor Anselmi, nor Tito Schipa had their voices—and much less the indispensable art of projecting them— at his young age, but that to their natural gifts they had added study, practice and arduously gained experience. Never has the truth been so implausible. The boy left the consultation disappointed and almost indignant because the doctor did not want— according to him—to create a star of song and stage in the space of a few minutes >«@´ 7+( 086,&$/ &859( “I have been able to observe innumerable larynges which were well constructed, well-muscled and yet incapable of singing. Conversely, many singers remain active, singing well, with a damaged larynx. The problem, therefore, lies elsewhere and all sorts of experiences have led me to think that it is in hearing. In order to be able to sing, the person needs to perceive his own voice in a unique way, at the moment of emitting it”. $ 7RPDWLV Caruso est devenu Caruso par hasard. *HUEHU $ DQG 7RPDWLV $ 0DUFK 6RQ 0DJD]LQH 9RO