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 3 Listening to Voices: Technique Verdi’s Late Style & Falstaff Fach

Soprano: soubrette & lyric Mezzo: High lyric & contralto Dramatic baritone Bass-baritone

Opera People

Librettists Director/Designer/Producer

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  

The  Singer’s  Technique  

Pitch  Larynx  Vocal  folds  Thyroid  car:lages  &                  muscles  

Placement  Resonators:  chest,  pharynx,  mouth,  nasal  cavity,  sinuses    Covering  Projec:on    

Breath  Lungs  Diaphragm  Abdominal  muscles  Support  (appoggio)  

Messa  di  voce  –    the  gold  standard  

Singing Lessons on YouTube! Marilyn Horne 4:55 contralto / passaggio 12:35 messa di voce Birgit Nilsson on legato, Renata Tebaldi on breathing 0:50 legato 13:40 breath Pavarotti on covering 0:40 covering

The  Singer’s  Art:  Interpreta:on  

Language  Vowel  clarity  Consonant  quality  Inflec:on  Tool:  IPA  

Ar:cula:on  Legato  /  staccato  /  marcato  Portamento  Coloratura  

Dynamics  

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

Verdi’s Late Career 1887 Otello

1893 Falstaff

Lured out of retirement by Boito for Otello

15 year gap: included revisions of earlier operas (Don Carlos, La forza del destino, Boccanegra) and composition of Requiem

Gradual move away from number opera toward a sustained music drama

Falstaff

Verdi’s second comic opera

Integration of comedy and drama paved the way for Puccini’s La boheme, Gianni Schicci and more

Master librettist: Boito synthesized the title character from the 3 Shakespeare plays

Melody

Harmony Rhythm

Texture Amplitude

Text

Form Subject

increasingly adventurous

Increasing use of exotic orchestral colors

librettist/composer collaboration: new creative force

no secco recitative some “number” operas; becoming more through-composed

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

mixed meters macro adjustments

exploiting entire dynamic range

increasingly contemporary

Grand Opera

Parameter: Rhythm

mixed meters, complex polyrhythms

La traviata Falstaff macro adjustments: bending of tempi with full forces

Librettist becoming increasing important Collaboration between composer and librettist: a new creative force

Parameter: Text La traviata Falstaff

Lorenzo  da  Ponte  Mozart  

Arrigo  Boito  Verdi  Carlo  Goldoni  Opera  buffa  

Pietro  Metastasio  Baroque  opera  seria  

Parameter: Form

recitative not separable from aria or ensemble through-composed, with few stops

La traviata

Falstaff

recitatives: accompanied, not secco “number opera” with long scenes

Falstaff:  Final  fugue  

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 – 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)

Dramatic Baritone Powerful, ringing top to Gb

Examples: Ford, Rigoletto, Scarpia, Iago

FACH – SOPRANO Into late 18th C, all women were sopranos Soubrette (French soubrette = shrewd) Bell-like silvery quality; “ina/etta” maids, servants Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Adina, Norina, Marzelline, Adele, Nannetta, Sophie

Coloratura (Koloratur: add to an idea using the 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, Fiordiligi, Marschallin, Lauretta

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

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

(French: shrewd) Soubrette Soprano Characteristics:

Bell-like, silvery quality Cleanly focused and strong midvoice

Examples: Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Adina, Norina

spingere (Italian): to push Spinto Soprano Tonal beauty of the lyric and power of the dramatic

Examples: Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Lady Macbeth

“horn and helmet” Dramatic Soprano

Characteristics: Able to cut through large orchestra Warm and metallic; powerful; flexibility compromised

Examples: Salome, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Turandot

FACH – MEZZO-SOPRANO “The Voice of Common Sense” Distinguished more by quality than range

Lyric Trouser roles, ingenues (Cherubino, Octavian, Dorabella, Hansel)

Coloratura Vocal agility (subcategory) (Rosina, Cenerentola, Isabella)

Dramatic Vamps and tramps (Carmen, Azucena, Amneris, Eboli, Maddalena)

Contralto Low tessitura (Ulrica, Erda, Handel castrato roles, Quickly)

Countertenor / Male Soprano (Oberon, Akhnaten, Baroque castrato roles)

High Lyric Mezzo Color and tessitura of a mezzo Range similar to soprano Examples: Cherubino, Meg, Dorabella

Contralto Low tessitura, dark vocal quality

Examples: Quickly, Ulrica, Erda

FACH – BASS & BASS-BARITONE Distinctions between lower voices begin with the second half of the 19th Century

Bass-baritone Baritone w/bottom extension, bass w/top extension Don Giovanni, Figaro

Basso buffo (Spielbass) Osmin, Leporello, Basilio, Bartolo, Ochs

Lyric bass / Basso cantabile Dapertutto, Escamillo, Sarastro, Ferrando

Basso cantante

Dramatic bass / Basso profondo King Philip, Wagner roles

Bass-Baritone Baritone w/bottom extension or bass with top extension Both range and tessitura are critical

Examples: Don Giovanni, Figaro, Falstaff

Metropolitan Opera House October 10, 1992 Matinee, Broadcast / Telecast FALSTAFF Giuseppe Verdi--Arrigo Boito Sir John Falstaff.......Paul Plishka Alice Ford..............Mirella Freni Ford....................Bruno Pola Dame Quickly............Marilyn Horne Nannetta................Barbara Bonney Fenton..................Frank Lopardo Meg Page................Susan Graham Dr. Cajus...............Piero De Palma Bardolfo................Anthony Laciura Pistola.................James Courtney Conductor...............James Levine Production..............Franco Zeffirelli Stage Director..........Paul Mills Designer................Franco Zeffirelli Lighting designer.......Gil Wechsler Choreographer...........William Burdick

Victor  Maurel:  the  first  Falstaff  

The Stage Director

Establishes an approach to the work (time frame, conventions, production values)

Emergence of the Director “Park ‘n’ Bark” Meets Stanislawski

Collaborates with designers (scenic, costume, lighting, hair/makeup) to create a physical production

Works with singers during rehearsal period on blocking/staging, character development

Responsibilities:

Italian theatres engaged a “theatre poet” Interpretations began with Wagner & Strauss and ramped up through the postwar period

History of the Opera Designer 18th century

Same basic set design used for many different works Principal singers given allowance for new clothes Some attempts at historical dress

19th century Contemporary approach for comedy Tragedy could not be staged in contemporary dress or setting

20th century Starting in France during first quarter of 20th C – opera and ballet aligning with visual arts (Matisse/Rossignol, Picasso/Pulcinella, Chagall/Firebird, Dali (Salome), Sendak & Hockney)

Regietheater: The Interventionist Approach Opera is a living art. Opera can have theatrical immediacy and contemporary relevance. Opera does not need to be preserved in an unchanging state in order to maintain its validity.

“Should we express our shock at a vulgar profanation of an Immortal Masterpiece? Forget it. The Masterpiece shall, as masterpieces do, get up, brush itself off and feel as good as new.” (Piotr Kaminski)

“Updated” Productions

Purpose Recast references so today’s audience recognizes them Emphasize universality and relevance

Method Find an exact analog between the two societies that would make the action, drama and emotions plausible in either place OR Focus on the music and the core story through abstraction / minimalism