The voice changes throughout life – it becomes deeper, rougher and often brittle. Doctor Bernhard Richter explains why some people are more affected and whether the aging process can be counteracted at all.
Interviewed by
Joshua Beer
In a good mood, Bernhard Richter answers the phone and starts talking straight away. A peculiarity becomes apparent early on in the conversation: he repeatedly demonstrates what he is explaining in his voice, from the breaking of his voice to the so-called old man’s discant. Richter sang as a child with the Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben and later studied singing, parallel to this medicine. Today he is a voice doctor, a professional singer and heads the Institute for Musicians’ Medicine at the University Hospital in Freiburg. He has published books and films on the physiology of the voice.