Italian Opera Singing at the Time of Verismo

The Invention of the Modern Voice

Inbunden, Engelska, 2024

1 409 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar. Fri frakt för medlemmar vid köp för minst 249 kr.

Connects discussions of vocality and operatic culture with broader aesthetic and cultural shifts in society.In the decades that span the turn of the twentieth century, the Italian tradition of operatic singing became 'modern'. This book identifies and explores the formative elements of this multifaceted 'modernity', and its connections with the emergence of verismo, a realistic trend that affected every aspect of creative and intellectual life in fin-de-siècle Italy. Thisnovel approach to artistic representation meant that singers had to redefine the operatic voice, exchanging the bel canto ideal of 'pure' vocal quality with an irreversible gendered connotation and an erotically charged expressive force. Pivotal to this shift was the gradual development of a homogeneous vocal colour through the compass, an aesthetic principle that was alien to the voice culture of the previous centuries. Star singers such as Enrico Caruso, Titta Ruffo, Emma Carelli and Eugenia Burzio were instrumental in this radical transition. The book explores how and why modern singers consciously pursued a new vocal expressivity, illuminating the ways in which the changes they introduced in their vocal techniques yielded novel stylistic gestures, and ultimately shaped operatic culture.Through a comparative analysis of early vocal recordings and late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century vocal methods and drawing on archival research in London, Milan, Rome and Buenos Aires, the book connects discussions of vocality and operatic culture with broader aesthetic and cultural shifts in society. Italian Opera Singing at the Time of Verismo, will be of interest to scholars and students of opera history, performance studies and recording history, as well as voice coaches and professional singers.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2024-09-24
Mått156 x 234 x 17 mm
Vikt446 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor194
FörlagBoydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN9781837650781

Tillhör följande kategorier

Musiker, sångare och grupper inom Kultur
Opera inom Kultur
Musikhistoria inom Kultur

Introduction 1 Changing Italian Opera: Verismo, Singers and the ForeignersFraming VerismoThe Features of Verismo Singing: New Demands on Modern SingersThe French, Changes in Dramaturgy and LibrettosWinds of Change from the NorthThe Anti-Modern Crusade of Vocal Pedagogues 2 Vocal Registers: Defining Key TermsThe Concept of Vocal RegisterRegister Division TheoriesSurvey of Key Historical Vocal TreatisesAesthetics of Vocal Registration in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century 3 The Components of Modern SingingA Few Essentials of Modern SingingBel Canto Encounters Verismo: Nellie Melba versus Emma CarelliMore on the Passaggio: Mattia Battistini versus Titta Ruffo and the Veristizzazione of Bel CantoThe Granitic Diction of the Modern Singer 4 The Pathway to Modern Singing: The Tenor at the Time of CarusoIn Search of ModernityCaruso's 'Naturalness' and 'Spontaneity': Between Production and ReceptionThe Top C 'from the Chest': Between the Myth and the Recorded EvidenceSome Preliminary Conclusions on the Natural Singing of Caruso 5 Italian Sopranos and the Disruption of TraditionThe Verismo Sopranos Eugenia Burzio and Emma CarelliThe Chest Voice on RecordThe Medium Register: Vocal Modulations and the Spoken TheatreThe Upper Register Conclusions BibliographyDiscographyIndex