Session 3 presentation - Wolf Trap Opera
Session 3 presentation - Wolf Trap Opera
Session 3 presentation - Wolf Trap Opera
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Overview <br />
1. Rossini & What Came Before <br />
The Journey to Reims <br />
2. Mid-‐Century Roman:cism <br />
La traviata <br />
3. Toward the End of an Era <br />
Falstaff
SESSION 3<br />
Listening to Voices: Technique<br />
Verdi’s Late Style & Falstaff<br />
Fach<br />
Soprano: soubrette & lyric<br />
Mezzo: High lyric & contralto<br />
Dramatic baritone<br />
Bass-baritone<br />
<strong>Opera</strong> People<br />
Librettists<br />
Director/Designer/Producer
Listening to Voices <br />
Range <br />
Projec:on <br />
Color <br />
How does it handle the required range<br />
Is the passaggio (“break”) technique solid <br />
Can the voice be heard in all registers <br />
Warm Clear Clarion Dark <br />
<br />
Fluidity <br />
Does the voice move How is the coloratura <br />
Expressivity Is there legato An expressive dynamic range <br />
Intona:on <br />
Vibrato <br />
Language <br />
Is it in tune If not, where is the problem <br />
Is the vibrato healthy Speed Amplitude <br />
What is the propor:on of core to ac:vity <br />
Are the vowels clear and the consonants func:onal <br />
Is the language idioma:c and expressive
The Singer’s Technique <br />
Breath <br />
Lungs <br />
Diaphragm <br />
Abdominal muscles <br />
Support (appoggio) <br />
Messa di voce – <br />
the gold standard <br />
Pitch <br />
Larynx <br />
Vocal folds <br />
Thyroid car:lages & <br />
muscles <br />
Placement <br />
Resonators: chest, <br />
pharynx, mouth, <br />
nasal cavity, sinuses <br />
Covering <br />
Projec:on
Singing Lessons on YouTube!<br />
Marilyn Horne<br />
4:55 contralto / passaggio<br />
12:35 messa di voce<br />
Birgit Nilsson on legato, Renata Tebaldi on breathing<br />
0:50 legato<br />
13:40 breath<br />
Pavarotti on covering<br />
0:40 covering
The Singer’s Art: Interpreta:on <br />
Ar:cula:on <br />
Legato / staccato / marcato <br />
Portamento <br />
Coloratura <br />
Dynamics <br />
Language <br />
Vowel clarity <br />
Consonant quality <br />
Inflec:on <br />
Tool: IPA
1839-1849: EARLY<br />
Oberto<br />
Un giorno di regno<br />
Nabucco<br />
I lombardi<br />
Ernani<br />
I due Foscari<br />
Giovanna d'Arco<br />
Alzira<br />
Attila<br />
Macbeth<br />
I masnadieri<br />
Il corsaro<br />
La battaglia di Legnano<br />
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)<br />
Reached maturity in 1840’s:<br />
Rossini in retirement, Bellini & Donizetti gone<br />
Wrote the most consistently popular body<br />
of operas between Mozart and Puccini;<br />
dominated the mid-late 19 th century<br />
1849-1871: MIDDLE<br />
Luisa Miller<br />
Stiffelio<br />
Rigoletto<br />
Il trovatore<br />
La traviata<br />
Les vêpres siciliennes<br />
Simon Boccanegra<br />
Un ballo in maschera<br />
La forza del destino<br />
Don Carlos<br />
Aida<br />
1887&1893: LATE<br />
Otello<br />
Falstaff
Verdi’s Late Career<br />
Lured out of retirement by Boito for Otello<br />
15 year gap: included revisions of earlier<br />
operas (Don Carlos, La forza del destino,<br />
Boccanegra) and composition of Requiem<br />
1887<br />
Otello<br />
1893<br />
Falstaff<br />
Gradual move away from number opera<br />
toward a sustained music drama
Falstaff<br />
Verdi’s second comic opera<br />
Integration of comedy and drama paved the<br />
way for Puccini’s La boheme, Gianni Schicci<br />
and more<br />
Master librettist: Boito synthesized<br />
the title character from the 3<br />
Shakespeare plays
Grand <strong>Opera</strong><br />
Melody<br />
Harmony<br />
Rhythm<br />
Texture<br />
Amplitude<br />
Text<br />
Subject<br />
Form<br />
less filigreed, more expansive, emotional<br />
expanded use of leitmotifs, dev of character thru melody<br />
increasingly adventurous<br />
mixed meters<br />
macro adjustments<br />
Increasing use of exotic orchestral colors<br />
exploiting entire dynamic range<br />
librettist/composer collaboration: new creative force<br />
increasingly contemporary<br />
no secco recitative<br />
some “number” operas; becoming more through-composed
Parameter: Rhythm<br />
La traviata<br />
macro adjustments:<br />
bending of tempi with full forces<br />
Falstaff<br />
mixed meters, complex<br />
polyrhythms
La traviata<br />
Parameter: Text<br />
Falstaff<br />
Librettist becoming increasing important<br />
Collaboration between composer and librettist: a new creative force<br />
Pietro Metastasio <br />
Baroque opera seria <br />
Lorenzo da Ponte <br />
Mozart <br />
Carlo Goldoni <br />
<strong>Opera</strong> buffa <br />
Arrigo Boito <br />
Verdi
Parameter: Form<br />
La traviata<br />
recitatives: accompanied, not secco<br />
“number opera” with long scenes<br />
Falstaff<br />
recitative not separable from aria or ensemble<br />
through-composed, with few stops
Falstaff: Final fugue
FACH: Determining Factors <br />
The Highs and the Lows <br />
Range <br />
singable notes <br />
Tessitura common range <br />
Registra:on strongest area <br />
Passaggio register transi:on (“break”) <br />
Loudness and Projec:on <br />
Timbre <br />
Weight <br />
color <br />
loudness, thickness <br />
Fluidity <br />
Agility <br />
Flexibility <br />
coloratura <br />
variety in dynamic and color
FACH – BARITONE<br />
First male voice type introduced: in early Baroque<br />
Primarily choral designation from Baroque until late 18th C, Mozart<br />
Romantic school: baritone as foil/rival for tenor<br />
Light Lyric<br />
Flexible, with versatile top: Mozart, bel canto repertoire<br />
(Almaviva, Guglielmo, Leporello, Dandini, Malatesta, Silvio)<br />
Lyric<br />
Supple, with a bit more heft & maturity<br />
(Marcello, Mercutio, Valentin, Germont)<br />
Dramatic (Verdi baritone )<br />
Powerful, ringing top to Gb<br />
(Rigoletto, Scarpia, Tonio, Germont, Iago, Falstaff, Onegin)<br />
Heldenbaritone (Helden=hero)<br />
Strong midvoice, heft and metal<br />
(Wotan, Dutchman, Macbeth, Boris)
Dramatic Baritone<br />
Powerful, ringing top to Gb<br />
Examples: Ford, Rigoletto, Scarpia, Iago
FACH – SOPRANO<br />
Into late 18th C, all women were sopranos<br />
Soubrette (French soubrette = shrewd)<br />
Bell-like silvery quality; “ina/etta” maids, servants<br />
Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Adina, Norina, Marzelline, Adele, Nannetta, Sophie<br />
Coloratura (Koloratur: add to an idea using the main thought as point of departure)<br />
Great agility, decorative (Subtypes: lyric coloratura, dramatic coloratura)<br />
Lucia, Queen, Gilda, Zerbinetta, Fiordiligi, Konstanze, Manon, Juliette<br />
Lyric (“of a lyre”)<br />
Communicate beauty, romance , pathos (JB Steane: “the world’s girlfriend”)<br />
Mimi, Violetta , Marguerite, Micaëla, Liù, Countess, Fiordiligi, Marschallin, Lauretta<br />
Spinto (spingere: to push) / Lyric Dramatic<br />
Tonal beauty of the lyric and power of the dramatic<br />
Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Leonoras, Lady Macbeth, La Gioconda, Sieglinde, Ariadne<br />
Dramatic (“horn-and-helmet”)<br />
Cut through large orchestra; warm and metallic; powerful; flexibility compromised<br />
Salome, Elektra, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Marie,Turandot
Soubrette Soprano<br />
Characteristics:<br />
Bell-like, silvery quality<br />
Cleanly focused and strong midvoice<br />
(French: shrewd)<br />
Examples: Susanna, Despina, Zerlina, Adina, Norina
Spinto Soprano<br />
spingere (Italian): to push<br />
Tonal beauty of the lyric and power of the dramatic<br />
Examples: Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Lady Macbeth
Dramatic Soprano<br />
“horn and helmet”<br />
Characteristics:<br />
Able to cut through large orchestra<br />
Warm and metallic; powerful; flexibility compromised<br />
Examples: Salome, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Turandot
FACH – MEZZO-SOPRANO<br />
Distinguished more by quality than range<br />
“The Voice of Common Sense”<br />
Lyric<br />
Trouser roles, ingenues (Cherubino, Octavian, Dorabella, Hansel)<br />
Coloratura<br />
Vocal agility (subcategory) (Rosina, Cenerentola, Isabella)<br />
Dramatic<br />
Vamps and tramps (Carmen, Azucena, Amneris, Eboli, Maddalena)<br />
Contralto<br />
Low tessitura (Ulrica, Erda, Handel castrato roles, Quickly)<br />
Countertenor / Male Soprano<br />
(Oberon, Akhnaten, Baroque castrato roles)
High Lyric Mezzo<br />
Color and tessitura of a mezzo<br />
Range similar to soprano<br />
Examples: Cherubino, Meg, Dorabella
Contralto<br />
Low tessitura, dark vocal quality<br />
Examples: Quickly, Ulrica, Erda
FACH – BASS & BASS-BARITONE<br />
Distinctions between lower voices begin with the second half of the 19 th Century<br />
Bass-baritone<br />
Baritone w/bottom extension, bass w/top extension<br />
Don Giovanni, Figaro<br />
Basso buffo (Spielbass)<br />
Osmin, Leporello, Basilio, Bartolo, Ochs<br />
Lyric bass / Basso cantabile<br />
Dapertutto, Escamillo, Sarastro, Ferrando<br />
Basso cantante<br />
Dramatic bass / Basso profondo<br />
King Philip, Wagner roles
Bass-Baritone<br />
Baritone w/bottom extension or bass with top extension<br />
Both range and tessitura are critical<br />
Examples: Don Giovanni, Figaro, Falstaff
Metropolitan <strong>Opera</strong> House<br />
October 10, 1992 Matinee, Broadcast / Telecast<br />
FALSTAFF<br />
Giuseppe Verdi--Arrigo Boito<br />
Sir John Falstaff.......Paul Plishka<br />
Alice Ford..............Mirella Freni<br />
Ford....................Bruno Pola<br />
Dame Quickly............Marilyn Horne<br />
Nannetta................Barbara Bonney<br />
Fenton..................Frank Lopardo<br />
Meg Page................Susan Graham<br />
Dr. Cajus...............Piero De Palma<br />
Bardolfo................Anthony Laciura<br />
Pistola.................James Courtney<br />
Conductor...............James Levine<br />
Production..............Franco Zeffirelli<br />
Stage Director..........Paul Mills<br />
Designer................Franco Zeffirelli<br />
Lighting designer.......Gil Wechsler<br />
Choreographer...........William Burdick
Victor Maurel: the first Falstaff
The Stage Director<br />
Emergence of the Director<br />
“Park ‘n’ Bark” Meets Stanislawski<br />
Italian theatres engaged a “theatre poet”<br />
Interpretations began with Wagner & Strauss and<br />
ramped up through the postwar period<br />
Responsibilities:<br />
Establishes an approach to the work (time frame,<br />
conventions, production values)<br />
Collaborates with designers (scenic, costume, lighting,<br />
hair/makeup) to create a physical production<br />
Works with singers during rehearsal period on blocking/<br />
staging, character development
History of the <strong>Opera</strong> Designer<br />
18 th century<br />
Same basic set design used for many different works<br />
Principal singers given allowance for new clothes<br />
Some attempts at historical dress<br />
19 th century<br />
Contemporary approach for comedy<br />
Tragedy could not be staged in contemporary dress or<br />
setting<br />
20 th century<br />
Starting in France during first quarter of 20 th C – opera<br />
and ballet aligning with visual arts (Matisse/Rossignol,<br />
Picasso/Pulcinella, Chagall/Firebird, Dali (Salome),<br />
Sendak & Hockney)
Regietheater:<br />
The Interventionist<br />
Approach<br />
<strong>Opera</strong> is a living art.<br />
<strong>Opera</strong> can have<br />
theatrical immediacy<br />
and contemporary relevance.<br />
“Should we express<br />
our shock at a vulgar<br />
profanation<br />
of an Immortal<br />
Masterpiece<br />
Forget it.<br />
The Masterpiece shall,<br />
as masterpieces do,<br />
get up, brush itself off<br />
and feel as good as<br />
new.” (Piotr Kaminski)<br />
<strong>Opera</strong> does not need to be preserved in an unchanging<br />
state in order to maintain its validity.
“Updated” Productions<br />
Purpose<br />
Recast references so today’s<br />
audience recognizes them<br />
Emphasize universality and relevance<br />
Method<br />
Find an exact analog between<br />
the two societies that would make<br />
the action, drama and emotions<br />
plausible in either place<br />
OR<br />
Focus on the music and the<br />
core story through abstraction /<br />
minimalism
Change language