Singing too has evolved, and soprano singers reach their piercing high notes by precisely controlling the shape of their vocal tract to match its natural, resonant frequency with multiples of the one being produced by their vocal folds.
Standouts among the scholar soloists were soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird, who negotiated the high tessitura fearlessly, and Matt Boehler, whose opulent bass brought particular humanity to Kepler's inner doubts.
During the mad scene, Dessay raved with even more intensity than she had shown Novak Djokovic, although on this occasion she concluded her final aria before collapsing, a high E-flat being tricky for even the most agile soprano to deliver while prone.