Inside Opera: Why Does It Matter?

Course Glossary

Aria A lyrical section or discrete ‘song’ within an opera, in which a character reflects on their feelings or the situation they find themselves in. Melody usually takes precedence here, with lines of text often repeated. A particularly famous example is ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Puccini’s Turandot.

Baritone A male voice whose range lies between that of a tenor and that of a bass (see separate entries). The baritone became a very popular voice type for composers in the 19th century, portraying a range of characters from fathers (such as Germont in Verdi’s La traviata) and other authority figures to villains (such as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca) and even occasionally heroes, such as Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Bass The lowest male voice. Bass singers might specialise in comic opera (basso buffo) or in particularly low parts (basso profondo) or in more lyrical parts (basso cantante – literally a ‘singing bass’). Like the baritone (see separate entry), basses are often used to portray older or more authoritative characters; but there are also examples of bass heroes, such as Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

Canon The operatic canon is the body of so-called ‘great masterworks’ of opera history. Operas achieve this status on the basis of their perceived artistic value and historical significance. Although the two are often linked, an individual work’s position in the canon does not necessarily reflect its popularity in the repertory (see separate entry).

Castrato A male voice type or singer with a similar range to a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto (see separate entries). This type of voice can only be produced by castration of the singer before puberty – a practice that had its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries, when castrati were often cast as heroes in opera and were also widely used in church music. By the 19th century, the castrato voice was no longer fashionable and the practice of castration gradually came to be seen as unacceptable; the last castrato to sing in the Sistine Chapel, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922.

Coloratura An intricate style of singing very fast notes, most prevalent in Italian opera from the 18th and early 19th centuries. The use of this term in front of a voice type description (eg. coloratura soprano) indicates that the singer specialises in this type of singing.

Contralto (or simply ‘alto’) The lowest female voice, often with a similar vocal range to the countertenor, and a similar dark tone to the mezzo-soprano. Portrays a similar range of characters, and often shares repertoire with the mezzo-soprano.

Countertenor The highest modern male voice type, which has a similar range to a mezzo- soprano or contralto (see separate entries). The countertenor is primarily produced by men singing falsetto – which means that countertenors do also have a lower range (whether tenor, baritone or bass) that they usually do not use. Countertenors now often sing parts originally written for castrati or as trouser roles for women (see separate entries), though there has been a resurgence in interest in the countertenor voice among modern composers such as George Benjamin, who uses it prominently in Written on Skin.

Declamation (or ‘vocal declamation’) The particular type of singing used by a singer at a given point in an opera. Declamation might, for instance, be soft, or forceful, or speech-like, or lyrical (see separate entry) – all for expressive effect.

Diction A singer’s manner of enunciating the words they are singing. To communicate text in a large auditorium without amplification, clear diction is vital.

Edition A particular version of an opera’s published score. Some operas are available in several different editions, which might cut some of the music (sometimes following cuts made by the composer themselves for the circumstances of a particular performance) or might attempt to correct mistakes – musical typos! – which have gradually crept into standard use. Ultimately editions will differ according to which sources they’re based on (the composer’s handwritten manuscript? The first published score? The last published score that the composer officially approved?) and on how the editor has interpreted those sources.

Form The structure of individual sections of an opera, such as arias or recitatives (see separate entries). For example, an aria in three distinct parts could be described as being constructed in ‘ternary form’.

Harmony The combination and organisation of notes – in chords, for example, as if you played particular notes at the same time on a piano – in order to produce a pleasing sound. In opera, harmony will often be provided by the orchestra to accompany the singer’s tune or ‘melody’ (see separate entry).

Impresario The manager of an opera company: for most of opera’s history a self- employed businessman, who made his money by organising performances and coordinating between composers, librettists, singers, musicians, and opera houses.

Libretto The script of an opera. It contains all the spoken and sung dialogue, and often incorporates stage directions indicating what will happen onstage at any given moment.

Lyricism A particular approach to composition or performance which prizes expressivity and depth of feeling. It is especially relevant to the aria (see separate entry), in which exploring emotional responses to a particular situation tends to be the focus.

Melody A sequence of consecutive notes which form what is colloquially referred to as the ‘tune’, or, in more specialised language, as the ‘melodic line’. In opera, the singer often performs the main melody at any given point, but there may also be other melodies heard at the same time – perhaps from a solo woodwind instrument or the violins – to create a sense of musical dialogue.

Mezzo-soprano (or just ‘mezzo’) A lower female voice than the soprano (though still capable of singing high notes), and typically with a richer or darker tone. Portrays a wide variety of characters, including secondary female roles, older characters, and sometimes male roles.

Number An individual section of an opera, usually comprising a single aria, perhaps introduced by a passage of recitative (see separate entries). In some later 19th-century opera and much 20th-century opera, the separation between individual numbers is often blurred or unclear, and sometimes it disappears altogether. In earlier periods of opera’s history, however, ‘number opera’ (opera made up of discrete numbers, like tracks on an album or songs in a musical) was very much the norm.

Orchestration In composition, the musical coordination of the available instruments of the orchestra in such a way as to exploit each individual instrument’s unique sound or ‘timbre’ to create a particular expressive or striking effect.

Prima donna The lead female role in an opera, the literal translation being ‘first lady’.

Recitative A section of an opera in which conveying information is prioritised over beauty of expression: it’s a kind of musical speech. It can be sparsely accompanied (in what is called ‘secco’ – literally ‘dry’ – recitative) or accompanied by an entire orchestra. Recitatives are usually the sections of an opera in which the story actually ‘happens’.

Repertory (or ‘repertoire’) 1) The operas that are regularly performed at any given time. Although the two are often linked, an opera’s popularity in the repertory does not necessarily reflect its esteem in the canon (see separate entry). 2) The list of works that an opera company or an individual singer can currently perform. E.g. ‘The current repertory of the Royal Opera House includes Tosca and Carmen.’

Soprano The highest female voice type, which usually portrays youthful heroines, but also sometimes supernatural characters, such as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Staging The spectacle of a particular production of an opera in its non-musical aspects, such as scenery, costumes and lighting. These and other features of staging are what make a particular director’s interpretation of an opera distinctive.

Tempo The speed of a piece of music – or, more accurately, the speed of its underlying pulse. Composers often use Italian words such as Allegro (fast) or Largo (slow) to indicate tempo.

Tenor The highest ‘standard’ male voice type. The tenor’s upper register (i.e. the highest notes he can sing) overlaps with the lower notes sung by female voice types but sounds much more piercing than women singing the same pitches. Tenors are often the hero or romantic male lead. character, particularly from the operas of Rossini onwards.

Trouser role A male character written to be played by a woman, who sings at her natural pitch, while dressed as and acting as a man. Some of these roles were originally castrato roles (such as Giulio Cesare in Handel’s opera of the same name); others were written with the intention of being played by a woman (such as Cherubino in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro).

Vibrato A regular oscillation of pitch when singing a note. A singer can achieve nuances of colour and expression by varying the speed or width of their vibrato.