"The pronunciation of unstressed e and o is not indicated in the dictionaries. It is assumed that unstressed e and o are always closed in spoken Italian. The modern vocal usage, however, makes variation on this rule. [...] Like English, but unlike French and German, Italian has no 'official' stage diction. [...] Preceding the stress, unstressed o and e are closed. venire seguita delizia felice speranza domani sospira comprare volare Following the stress or final, unstressed e and o are open. venutE seguitE deliziE opEra angElO sE lE finchE vendE ladrO sospirO popOlO purO sanO comOdO nO avrO sO"
From: Diction, by John Moriarty. Note that I have rendered open e "E" and open o "O."
I was told by the San Francisco opera people (the woman who teaches diction to the Merola participants and is the resident diction coach for the house) that Moriarty is the last word in operatic diction.
Is this disputed?
Isabelle
--- Valerio Vanni <valevanni@m...> wrote: > I think the first statement > >"e" and "o" preceding a stressed syllable is closed > is right, the second > >"e" and "o" following a stressed syllable is open > is wrong. > For the following ones it's the same than for the > preceding ones (they are closed). I'm not sure at > 100%, but I don't remember of any word that goes > against this rule. If someone has any, please tell > me.
===== Isabelle Bracamonte San Francisco, CA ibracamonte@y...
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