>Basically, the goal I have made for myself for this new project is to find
>and understand "period" sources for the Bel Canto technique which was used
>by the singers of Donizetti's arias (and of course, of his contemporaries'
>arias). I'm interested in gaining an understanding of the roots of Bel
>Canto, however, I don't think a lot of historical study is necessary because
>there's a lot of change between the baroque sound and the mid-19c sound.
>I also want to understand the embellishments that would have been used in
>these mid-19c Italian operas...cadenzas and appogiaturas, etc.... my goal
>would be to assimilate all this information into my head. :)
Even "late Baroque" sources add something. I still think that one good
thing is
to go back to the vocalises that were published by some of the best-known
teachers
of the time, like Bordogni or Vaccai, and see what people studied.
As far as embellishments go: many singers complained about Rossini
because he wrote most
of them out, especially in his later operas. The handling of cadential
material can
be found in most texts of the period, especially those for keyboard, as
keyboardists
and organists were expected to know how to improvise. Even Tosi's book,
which
conspicuously looks backward, has a detailed discussion of how to treat
different
embellishments.
There are at least a few recordings of people who were active as singers
in the 1860s. I am thinking of the half-dozen or so recordings that Patti
made and the 3 or 4 that Cotogni (often considered the first "baritone")
made. Yes, they were in their late 60s when they
were made, but they show an incredible sense of how a vocal line is put
together, and
how it can be embroidered with different embellishments. Another one of
my favorites in
this regard is Pol Plancon, who was from a generation later. I don't like
Lilli Lehmann's recorded singing very much, even allowing for her age;
she may not have had a voice that recorded well with the acoustic process.
I did a lot of early performance practice study (and performing) in my
keyboard days. I finally decided that the best way to do it, especially
as far as singing is concerned, is to use what we know about how people
thought about methods of performance then and meld it with modern
understanding of acoustics, etc.
Bless Your Heart(s),
Jeffrey Joel
JSJoel@c...
Circulation
Crone Chronicles: A Journal of Conscious Aging
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