Speranza
When Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) entered
the European musical scene at the end of the 1830s, there had already been a
great change in the way music for voice was written in Italian opera.
This was
brought about by composers of the previous generation, notably Bellini and
Donizetti.
Rossini’s Semiramide (1823), his last Italian opera, was
perhaps the last baroque grand opera and the last opera to follow the basic
principles of bel canto.–.that is, song based on a clearly instrumental
conception.
Rich ornamentation was an important part of this conception,
requiring the highest standard of virtuosity.
Bellini and Donizetti, Rossini’s immediate successors (whose careers moved
into high gear at the end of the 1820s and early 1930s respectively), brought
Italian opera into the Romantic era.
This new aesthetic approach focused on
dramatic realism and the direct expression of feeling.
Arias became more
realistic, the male coloratura gradually disappeared, and the contralto
who could handle the intricacies of Rossini’s music gave way to the dramatic
soprano.
This cleaner and more declamatory style brought new demands.
The singer
had to have power and range, clear articulation, energetic expression, the
ability to project the voice effectively (singers had to deal with increasingly
larger orchestras), vigorous attack, and so on.
It wasn’t enough merely to sing
well.; a performer had to live his or her role intensely, bringing to the
stage the character’s many passions and moods.
The advent, among tenors, of the
famous “chest-voice high C” that replaced the bel canto technique of
falsettone for the higher notes (above A) was part and parcel of a move
toward the vocal expression of great emotion.
-----------------------------------------------------
When Verdi presented "Nabucco" (hardly his first opera) to the Italian public in 1842, he was
simply taking these new demands a step further.
For this occasion, he created
one of the most fiery soprano roles in the lyric repertoire, that of Abigaille,
typified by large intervals and an unprecedented, full-voiced, vehement
coloratura.
The title role required a new type of baritone voice (the
“Verdi baritone” as it was later called).: rich and full of drive. At the same
time, this voice had to be capable of assuming a sharper pitch and handling a
wider range of nuance, accentuation, and colour, since Verdi retained one of the
basic characteristics of bel canto.: the need for a wide range of vocal
inflexion and nuance.
Verdi singers should always keep in mind the bel canto notion of
analytical phrasing, and it is precisely this notion that most singers today
have forgotten, or at least neglected.
You have only to listen to any modern
recording of a Verdi opera, score in hand, to realize how little respect most of
today’s singers have for what Verdi actually wrote.
Look at the score of Il
Trovatore (1853) or Otello (1887), and you’ll be surprised to find
that these works, which we so often associate with great bursts of song and an
intensely dramatic, agitated rendition, contain instructions for soft and
delicate singing.
------
Carlo Bergonzi, considered
the greatest Verdi tenor
of the
postwar era, stated that if Verdi is so demanding, it’s because he carefully
noted in his scores everything he expected from the singer.
Verdi’s many symbols
and notes for the singers’ guidance reveal some of his preoccupations.
Verdi’s dynamics
T o begin with, Verdi
singers must have a near-perfect breathing technique that allows them to
modulate their voices at will over their entire range.
The variety of dynamics
demanded by Verdi covers everything from pppp to fff.
It is
essential for Verdi singers to have this rich palette of dynamics, which
explains why singers who can’t handle delicate vocal shadings (that is, produce
a true mezza voce) will never be great Verdi artists, since Verdi is
certainly the nineteenth-century composer who most often demands a piano
interpretation.
-------
Another requirement for Verdi singers is the ability to use different modes
of attack.–.to be able to sing a perfect legato (that is, move from note
to note with complete smoothness, a technique that may require dropping a
consonant), and to handle with equal ease staccati, detached notes, notes
that are a little forced, and notes that are strongly accentuated.
Coloration
is important too, requiring subtle variations in time that enhance the
expressiveness of Verdi’s music.
Singers should make the most of the wealth of
instructions such as
rallentando
ritenuto, or
accelerando
to increase the music’s emotional effect, and should colour
their voices in reponse to notations for each passage, such as “agitatedly,”
“sorrowfully,” “passionately,” “lovingly,” and so on.
Verdi’s singers need enormous vocal versatility.
Critics and specialists
write about the need for “different” voices to accommodate a particular Verdi
role.
Take Riccardo (il conte di Warwich) in Il ballo in maschera, for example, which requires
suppleness of delivery and the lightness of a tenore di grazia, as well
as the cantabile and perfect legato of a lyric tenor, while other
passages demand slancio and the power of a spinto tenor.
It is a
rare singer who can be equally at home with all the vocal facets of such a
role.
A watershed
Verdi’s approach to singing is the result of his position at a watershed
between two conflicting vocal styles.
On the one hand is the old bel
canto.
Verdi rejects its concepts of abstract beauty as an end in itself,
but retains the need for a highly flexible delivery and subtle, varied phrasing.
On the other hand, Verdi’s style is distinct from the truly realistic mode of
singing developed by younger composers at the end of the nineteenth century, a
raw, monotone approach aimed at achieving a purely theatrical effect rather than
revealing inner emotion.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment