Overview    1.  Rossini  &  What  Came  Before  

The  Journey  to  Reims    2.  Mid-­‐Century  Roman:cism  

La  traviata    3.  Toward  the  End  of  an  Era  

Falstaff    

SESSION 2 Fach

Lyric soprano Lyric tenor Verdi baritone

Romanticism & Verdi’s Traviata Opera People

Conductor Coaches Orchestra

The Opera Business

Music Publishing Season Building & Repertoire Audience Culture

The Business of Opera ca. 1825 (or Why Viaggio Disappeared)

Unauthorized versions Re-packaged editions: piano reductions, song arrangements, instrumental fantasies

Music Publishing

Repertory: New vs. “Old”

1700-1850: ~ 50 new operas a year in Italian houses Revivals not anticipated: composers recycled material

Opera House Resources

Viaggio – 18 singers (3X the typical complement)

Producing Bel Canto Operas

Versions & Critical Editions Public domain materials: free but messy Critical editions: result of extensive scholarly research

Performance Traditions Case-by-case decisions

Cuts

19th Century Operagoing: A Social Experience!

Performances were long; dinner was eaten in the boxes. Lights stayed up in the house. Gossip, business deals, fashion… High noise level: the recitative-ending coups d’archet were an important signal.

FACH:  Determining  Factors  The  Highs  and  the  Lows  

Timbre      color  Weight      loudness,  thickness  

Agility        coloratura  Flexibility      variety  in  dynamic  and  color  

Range      singable  notes  Tessitura    common  range  Registra:on    strongest  area  Passaggio    register  transi:on  (“break”)  

Loudness  and  Projec:on  

Fluidity  

Fach Overview – Soprano Until the late 18th century, all female singers were sopranos.)

Soubrette (French soubrette = shre wd) Bell-like silvery quality; “ina/etta” maids, servants Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Adina, Norina, Marzelline, Adele, Nannetta, Sophie

Coloratura (Koloratur: add to an idea using main thought as point of departure) Great agility, decorative (Subtypes: lyric coloratura, dramatic coloratura) Lucia, Queen, Gilda, Zerbinetta, Fiordiligi, Konstanze, Manon, Juliette

Lyric (“of a lyre”) Communicate beauty, romance , pathos (JB Steane: “the world’s girlfriend”) Mimi, Violetta , Marguerite, Micaëla, Liù, Countess, Marschallin, Lauretta

Spinto (spingere: to push) / Lyric Dramatic Tonal beauty of the lyric and power of the dramatic Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Leonoras, Lady Macbeth, Sieglinde, Ariadne

Dramatic (“horn-and-helmet”) Cut thru large orchestra; warm and metallic; powerful; flexibility compromised Salome, Elektra, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Marie,Turandot

Koloratur (German): adding to an idea using the main thought as point of departure

Coloratura Soprano

Characteristics: Great agility Decorative potential

Subtypes Lyric coloratura Dramatic coloratura

Examples: Lucia, Queen, Gilda, Zerbinetta, Manon

Rossini Il viaggio a Reims

“of a lyre” Lyric Soprano

Primarily capable of communicating beauty and pathos Some lyric sopranos are also coloraturas

J.B. Steane: “the world’s girlfriend”

COLORATURA LYRIC COLORATURA

LYRIC

Mimi (Puccini) Countess (Mozart)

Marschallin (Strauss) Micaëla (Bizet)

Violetta (Verdi) Juliette (Gounod) Lucia (Donizetti)

All Handel sopranos All Rossini sopranos

Norina (Donizetti) Adele (J. Strauss)

Gilda (Verdi)

La traviata Violetta: Addio del passato

FACH Overview – Tenor (From tenere (to hold): the important line in polyphonic music)

Tenore di grazia / Leggiero Flexible, tessitura high (Ottavio, Nemorino, Des Grieux)

Coloratura Agility, extremely high range; bel canto specialist (Almaviva, Ernesto, Arturo)

Comic (Spieltenor) Character type (Beppe, Goro, Pedrillo, Tanzmeister, Monostatos)

Lyric Beauty of tone; “squillo” to project over large orchestra (Lensky, Faust, Rodolfo) (Before1830’s, no full voice above passaggio)

Lirico-Spinto to Tenore Robusto Heroic; stamina and volume (Cavaradossi, José, Otello, Radames, Calaf)

Heldentenor / Tenore di forza Baritonal hue; powerful midvoice (Florestan, Lohengrin, Siegmund, Tannhäuser)

Rossini Tenor: Coloratura

Characteristics: Great agility Decorative potential Very high range

Examples: Almaviva, Ernesto, Arturo

Journey to Reims Il Conte di Libenskof

Lyric Tenor

Characteristics: Beauty of tone Squillo to project over large orchestra

Examples: Lensky, Faust, Rodolfo, Alfredo

La traviata Alfredo: De miei bollenti spiriti

Die Walküre Lauritz Melchior

FACH – BARITONE First male voice type introduced: in early Baroque Primarily choral designation from Baroque until late 18th C, Mozart Romantic school: baritone as foil/rival for tenor

Light Lyric Flexible, with versatile top: Mozart, bel canto repertoire (Almaviva, Guglielmo, Leporello, Dandini, Malatesta, Silvio)

Lyric Supple, with a bit more heft & maturity (Marcello, Mercutio, Valentin, Germont)

Dramatic (Verdi baritone ) Powerful, ringing top to Gb (Rigoletto, Scarpia, Tonio, Germont, Iago, Falstaff, Onegin)

Heldenbaritone (Helden=hero) Strong midvoice, heft and metal (Wotan, Dutchman, Macbeth, Boris)

Lyric Baritone Supple and with great lyricism More heft & maturity than earlier baritones Examples: Marcello, Valentin, Germont

Dramatic Baritone Still more vocal power and richness Powerful, ringing top to Gb

Examples: Rigoletto, Scarpia, Germont, Iago, Onegin

La traviata Germont: Di Provenza

The  Pendulum  Swings…  

Reform/Classicism  ~1750-­‐1800    

High  Baroque  ~1650-­‐1750  

Floren:ne  Camerata  1590’s  

From    Simplicity  Clarity  Balance  

To  Complexity  Passion  Vocal  Fireworks  

Bel  Canto  &  Roman:cism  19th  century    

19th-century Romanticism

Reaction against cool formality of classical tradition

Instincts and feelings instead of reason

Art for art’s sake… with an eye toward eternity

Emergence of nationalism in musical composition

Music more closely associated with art and literature Goethe (Faust, Mignon, Werther) Schiller (Luisa Miller, Don Carlos, William Tell) Hugo (Ernani, Rigoletto, La Gioconda) Shakespeare (Macbeth, Otello, Falstaff)

1839-1849: EARLY Oberto Un giorno di regno Nabucco I lombardi Ernani I due Foscari Giovanna d'Arco Alzira Attila Macbeth I masnadieri Il corsaro La battaglia di Legnano

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

1887&1893: LATE Otello Falstaff

1849-1871: MIDDLE Luisa Miller Stiffelio Rigoletto Il trovatore La traviata Les vêpres siciliennes Simon Boccanegra Un ballo in maschera La forza del destino Don Carlos Aida

Reached maturity in 1840’s: Rossini in retirement, Bellini & Donizetti gone Wrote the most consistently popular body of operas between Mozart and Puccini; dominated the mid-late 19th century

Early Period: Verdi’s “Galley Years” 1839-1849

Oberto Un giorno di regno

Nabucco I lombardi

Ernani I due Foscari

Giovanna d'Arco Alzira Attila

Macbeth I masnadieri

Il corsaro La battaglia di Legnano

Un giorno di regno Failure at premiere Coincided with personal tragedy

Nabucco Beginning of success/fame

Macbeth No love story; break with convention

Captive of the bel canto style Heir to Donizetti & Rossini

Verdi’s Middle Period

1849-1871

Luisa Miller Stiffelio

Rigoletto Il trovatore La traviata

Les vêpres siciliennes Simon Boccanegra

Un ballo in maschera La forza del destino

Don Carlos Aida

Lavish emotionalism Distinctive mixture of comedy and tragedy

Identifiable musical essence of character

Vocally technically demanding, but requiring purity and elegance Integrated stagecraft

Experimented to produce his own operatic genre

Melody

Harmony

Rhythm

Texture Amplitude

Text

Form Subject

Bel Canto

straightforward, diatonic

secondary to vocal display

completely inconsequential

secco recitatives aria / tempo di mezza / cabaletta

proscribed ornamentation coloratura

increased use of rubato

still modest

little new ground

increasingly adventurous

orchestral color more exotic

returning to prominence

no secco recits hybrid: “numbers” and

through-composed

less filigreed, more expansive expanded use of leitmotifs

mixed meters, macro adjustments

exploiting entire range

increasingly contemporary

19th C Grand Opera

Melody less filigreed more expansive and emotional expanded use of leitmotifs development of character through melody

Mid-19th Century Grand Opera

Harmony

Rhythm

increasingly adventurous (within Italian idiom) mixed meters, macro adjustments

Texture Amplitude

orchestral color more exotic exploiting larger range

The Orchestra Baroque Classical

(double winds) Bel Canto Grand Opera

Woodwinds 2 flutes

2 flutes 2 oboes 2 clarinets 2 bassoons

2 flutes 2 oboes 2 clarinets 2 bassoons

3 flutes + picc 2 oboes + EH 2 clarinets + Bs 2 bsns + contra

Brass 1 trumpet 2 horns 2 trumpets

4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones

4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones 1 tuba

Percussion / Keyboard

Harpsichord Harpsichord Timpani Bass Drum

Harp Timpani Bass Drum

Harp Timpani Full array

Strings Viols 20-30 40 40-60

Strauss: Elektra – Orchestra Size Strings 62 players in 3 parts: Vl 1, 2, 3; Vla 1, 2, 3 ; Vc 1 & 2, Cb Woodwinds piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, heckelphone,

E-flat clarinet, 4 B-flat clarinets, A clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 basset horns, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon

Brass 8 horns (Nos. 5-8 dbl Wagner tubas), 6 trumpets,

3 trombones, contrabass trombone, contrabass tuba, 3 extra trumpets for the end

Percussion glockenspiel, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, cymbals,

bass drum, tam-tam, celesta , 6-8 timpani, 2 harps

Emergence of the Opera Conductor

17th & 18th Centuries Orchestra led by harpsichordist or concertmaster Time beating reserved mostly for choruses Conductor stood at edge of stage closest to singers

19th Century Concertmaster frequently stopped playing to beat time Separate conductor emerged by mid-century Position moved to downstage area of pit Wagner created the image of conductor we know today

The Conductor’s Job

Establish and communicate tempo, balance, articulation, other interpretive details

Collaborate with director on overall approach, details of timing/blocking

Collaborate with coaches and chorusmaster on preparation of singers

Determine cuts, transpositions, etc.

Melody

Harmony

Rhythm Texture Amplitude

Text

increasingly adventurous

orchestral color more exotic

librettist/composer collaboration: new creative force

less filigreed, more expansive, emotional expanded use of leitmotifs, dev of character thru melody

mixed meters, macro adjustments

exploiting entire range

Mid-19th Century Grand Opera

Subject increasingly contemporary

Rigoletto human deformity, rape

La traviata

the bourgeoisie and the demi-monde

Stiffelio religion and adultery

Un ballo in maschera

political intrigue

Verdi’s Controversial Subject Material

Melody

Harmony

Rhythm

Texture Amplitude

Text

Form Subject

increasingly adventurous

orchestral color more exotic

librettist/composer collaboration: new creative force

no secco recitative hybrid: “number” / through-composed

less filigreed, more expansive, emotional expanded use of leitmotifs, dev of character thru melody

mixed meters, macro adjustments

exploiting entire range

increasingly contemporary

Mid-19th Century Grand Opera

La traviata Accompanied recitative

La traviata Violetta: Ah, forse lui (Aria)

La traviata Violetta: Sempre libera (Cabaletta)

Listening  to  Voices  Range  

Can  the  voice  be  heard  in  all  registers?  

Does  the  voice  move?  How  is  the  coloratura?  

How  does  it  handle  the  required  range?    Is  the  passaggio  (“break”)  technique  solid?  

Projec:on  

Fluidity  

Warm?    Clear?    Clarion?    Dark?  Color  

Is  it  in  tune?  If  not,  where  is  the  problem?  Intona:on  

Are  the  vowels  clear  and  the  consonants  func:onal?  Is  the  language  idioma:c  and  expressive?  

Language  

Is  the  vibrato  healthy?  Speed?  Amplitude?  What  is  the  propor:on  of  core  to  ac:vity?  

Vibrato  

Is  there  legato?  An  expressive  dynamic  range?  Expressivity  

La traviata Violetta: “Follie!”

Licia Albanese (1946)

Maria Callas (1958)

Renee Fleming (2003)

Joan Sutherland (1979)

La traviata Germont: “Di Provenza!”

Tito Gobbi (1955)

Sherill Milnes (1977)