DOCSLIB.ORG

Feminine Madness in Donizetti's ​Lucia Di Lammermoor by Tiffany

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Feminine Madness in Donizetti's ​Lucia Di Lammermoor by Tiffany Lucia’s Liberation: Feminine Madness in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor ​ By Tiffany Gaurika Sharma Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Music May 2020 © 2020 Tiffany Sharma Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....4 Chapter One: Donizetti and Operatic Trends in the Nineteenth Century..………………..7 Johann Simon Mayr’s Influence on Donizetti………………..…………………………...7 ​ Gaetano Donizetti…………………………………………………………………………...9 Operatic Styles and Trends in the Nineteenth Century………………………………..11 Chapter Two: The Genesis of Lucia di Lammermoor ………………..…………………....15 ​ The Opera’s Creation and Production ………………………………………………...15 The Opera’s Reception …………………………………………………………………...18 Chapter Three: The Mad Scene ……………………………………………………………..21 Perceptions of Madness in the Nineteenth Century …………………………………..21 The Mad Scene and Origin of the Cadenza…………………………………………….24 Interpretations of the Mad Scene………………………………………………………...28 Comparing Depictions of Madness in I puritani and Lucia di Lammermoor...……....34 ​ ​ ​ Singers’ Interpretations …………………………………………………………………...39 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...45 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………….47 2 Acknowledgements I have to begin by thanking my incredible thesis and major advisor, Professor Claire Fontijn. Her kind guidance has been invaluable throughout the thesis journey, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to explore such interesting topics with her. Professor Claire’s care, support, expertise, and thoroughness have made this thesis a joy to work on. I am also incredibly thankful for all her guidance as my major advisor, helping me make the most out of the wonderful music department at Wellesley. This whole endeavor would not have been possible without the unrelenting support and guidance given to me by Gale Fuller, who has helped me grow as a singer, performer, musician, and person over the past four years with unwavering positivity and kindness. Gale’s investment in my voice and growth as a musician has been an invaluable gift. Thank you also to David Collins, who has been the most supportive and fun person to share the stage with. Most of what I have learned these past four years would not have been possible without his coachings and accompaniment. I have learned so much from them and every other faculty member of the music department who has shown the same support, care, and investment in my musical journey. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their constant encouragement and love throughout this process. And a very special thank you to my mother, who took me to my first opera four years ago in Barcelona, which just happened to be Lucia di Lammermoor. ​ ​ 3 Introduction Opera is an old and rich art form, brimming with deep and revealing portrayals of almost every emotion, mental state, and situation imaginable. Examining the art, literature, and music of the past allows us to gain a better understanding of ideologies and trends from those times, such as changing views of politics, religion, and gender. Therefore, opera is a perfect window into the social values and beliefs of the past as it combines music, literature, and art. In this thesis, I explore the portrayal and usage of female madness in bel canto opera, or Italian opera of the nineteenth century. There are many operas that depict female madness in various forms; notable ones include Bellini’s I puritani (1835), ​ Strauss’s Elektra (1909), and Thomas’s Hamlet (1868). One of the most iconic and ​ ​ memorable mad scenes however, is in Gaetano Donizetti’s opera, Lucia di ​ Lammermoor (1835). Delving into the title character Lucia’s role and music, allows us to better understand the perception of female madness in the first half of the 1800s. With a new feminist perspective and stronger scientific understanding of madness and mental illness, it is valuable to now re-examine Lucia’s character and the social politics at play in her creation and presentation. My methods for researching and writing this thesis included reading the existing music literature, translating an edited facsimile of the autograph score from the Rare Materials Collection of the Wellesley College Music Library, listening to and watching 4 performances by multiple artists, as well as preparing an excerpt of the opera for my senior recital. In this thesis, I examine two feminist perspectives on Lucia’s character presented by Susan McClary and Mary Ann Smart, one painting her as a liberated woman and the other as a victim, respectively. These theories are based on a close examination of the music, form, libretto, and famous flute cadenza in the mad scene. I then make a case for my interpretation of Lucia’s character, combining the arguments and perspectives presented by McClary and Smart. In Chapter 1, I present the historical background necessary to fully understand the opera and its creation. I first discuss influences on Donizetti’s career and writing style from his teacher, composer Johann Simon Mayr. Then I give a brief biography of Gaetano Donizetti, outlining his early life, musical career, and untimely death. I end this chapter with a discussion of the prevalent operatic styles and trends of the time in Italy. All of this background serves as a foundation for the following exploration of Lucia di ​ Lammermoor, a pivotal opera in Donizetti’s career. ​ Chapter 2 explores the genesis of Lucia. I outline the inception, creation, and ​ ​ production of the opera’s first performance in 1835, as well as present a synopsis of the libretto written by Salvatore Cammarano based on Sir Walter Scott’s book, The Bride of ​ Lammermoor. Lastly, I discuss the initial reception of the opera from Donizetti’s own ​ words and explore how it has lasted the test of time as a favorite of audiences globally. Chapter 3 is where I delve into the topic of madness. I begin with an overview of public sentiment about scientific theories of madness from the early nineteenth century, 5 to better understand what audiences at the time were expecting and thinking about that topic. Then I try to understand the origin of the flute cadenza in Lucia’s mad scene, as it was actually not composed by Donizetti. Once the background and creation of the mad scene are explained, I lay out the two differing interpretations of the mad scene presented by Smart and McClary, and present my own interpretation based on their arguments. Then I analyze the important parallels and divergences between the mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor and Elvira’s mad scene from Bellini’s I puritani. I ​ ​ ​ close off the chapter with an analysis of various singers’ presentations of Lucia, exploring how portrayals shifted over time. My hope is that this thesis helps contribute to the growing focus of re-examining music through a feminist lens. This powerful perspective has already diversified and expanded our understanding of music, composers, characters, and larger trends from the past. Questioning why something is the way it is has always opened new doors of intellectual curiosity and understanding, and it is important we do the same with discussing gender in the world of music. 6 Chapter One: Donizetti and Operatic Trends in the Nineteenth Century Johann Simon Mayr’s Influence on Donizetti Johann Simon Mayr (1763-1845) was Gaetano Donizetti’s most influential teacher, benefactor, and friend.1 Mayr was an accomplished operatic composer of his time and a leader in developing opera seria between the late eighteenth and early ​ ​ nineteenth centuries. Born in Mendorf, Bavaria, he moved to Bergamo, Italy in 1788 to study music. He composed almost seventy operas in a thirty-year career, and was considered the most important Italian operatic composer between 1801 and 1813, after the death of Domenico Cimarosa and before the rise of Gioachino Rossini. Although his music is practically forgotten today, Mayr bridged many of the musical styles of his time. For instance, as a composer of both religious and operatic music, he used his knowledge of those two genres to strengthen his compositions and teachings. Mayr’s operas are also considered important links between the styles of opera seria and melodramma. He was a master at dramatic recitative and skilfully ​ ​ began adding expressive accompaniment to create a style of recitative that is now called canto caratteristico. And lastly, he was a bridge between German and Italian ​ ​ music. He closely studied and performed Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in Bergamo, increasing the popularity of German music for his Italian audiences and students. 1 This biography is credited to Scott L. Balthazar, "Mayr [Mayer], (Johann) Simon." (Grove Music Online) ​ ​ and William Ashbrook, Donizetti (London: Cassell, 1965). ​ ​ 7 After establishing himself, Mayr decided to focus his efforts on teaching. He felt such a strong connection with the community in Bergamo that he decided to turn down many prestigious positions offered from cities across Europe. He happily chose community and comfort over prestige and money, and was therefore instrumental in founding and teaching at multiple cultural institutions in Bergamo. One of these institutions was La Congregazione di Carità, where Donizetti studied. Mayr guided Donizetti through his early studies and encouraged him to pursue his talent for composition. Mayr’s love for opera was quickly adopted by Donizetti, and his musical focus on drama clearly influenced Donizetti’s own work. Mayr taught Donizetti as much as he believed he could and then sent him to study with Rossini’s teacher, Padre Mattei, in Bologna in 1815. Mayr, although an extremely talented teacher and composer, was humble and wise enough to recognize when he needed to let Donizetti leave Bergamo and broaden his horizons. Even though their formal student-teacher relationship ended, the two of them shared a very respectful and fond relationship for the rest of their lives, as is evident in the many letters they wrote to each other. Mayr was clearly a large figure in Donizetti’s life—almost a second father in a way.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’S Opera and Concert Arias Joshua M
    University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 10-3-2014 The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias Joshua M. May University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation May, Joshua M., "The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 580. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/580 ABSTRACT The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias Joshua Michael May University of Connecticut, 2014 W. A. Mozart’s opera and concert arias for tenor are among the first music written specifically for this voice type as it is understood today, and they form an essential pillar of the pedagogy and repertoire for the modern tenor voice. Yet while the opera arias have received a great deal of attention from scholars of the vocal literature, the concert arias have been comparatively overlooked; they are neglected also in relation to their counterparts for soprano, about which a great deal has been written. There has been some pedagogical discussion of the tenor concert arias in relation to the correction of vocal faults, but otherwise they have received little scrutiny. This is surprising, not least because in most cases Mozart’s concert arias were composed for singers with whom he also worked in the opera house, and Mozart always paid close attention to the particular capabilities of the musicians for whom he wrote: these arias offer us unusually intimate insights into how a first-rank composer explored and shaped the potential of the newly-emerging voice type of the modern tenor voice.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the D
    The Politics of Roman Memory in the Age of Justinian DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Marion Woodrow Kruse, III Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Anthony Kaldellis, Advisor; Benjamin Acosta-Hughes; Nathan Rosenstein Copyright by Marion Woodrow Kruse, III 2015 ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the use of Roman historical memory from the late fifth century through the middle of the sixth century AD. The collapse of Roman government in the western Roman empire in the late fifth century inspired a crisis of identity and political messaging in the eastern Roman empire of the same period. I argue that the Romans of the eastern empire, in particular those who lived in Constantinople and worked in or around the imperial administration, responded to the challenge posed by the loss of Rome by rewriting the history of the Roman empire. The new historical narratives that arose during this period were initially concerned with Roman identity and fixated on urban space (in particular the cities of Rome and Constantinople) and Roman mythistory. By the sixth century, however, the debate over Roman history had begun to infuse all levels of Roman political discourse and became a major component of the emperor Justinian’s imperial messaging and propaganda, especially in his Novels. The imperial history proposed by the Novels was aggressivley challenged by other writers of the period, creating a clear historical and political conflict over the role and import of Roman history as a model or justification for Roman politics in the sixth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Biography of Gaetano Donizetti
    Biography of Gaetano Donizetti Born on November 29, 1797 in Bergamo, Italy; wife bore him three children, none of whom survived and Died on April 8, 1848 in Bergamo. after the loss of his parents, his wife died of cholera. These personal tragedies, coupled with his disillusionment Italian composer Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was with the operatic world of Naples, prompted Donizetti to born into a large impoverished family in Bergamo, Italy on move to Paris. November 29, 1797. He revealed his musical talent at a young age, and, at the age of nine, gained free admission In rehearsal for his last opera, Dom Sébastien, Donizetti’s to Simon Mayr’s school for choirboys. behaviour became erratic and obsessive. Always high- strung, his extreme behaviour began to worry his friends. Mayr became a major influence in the composer’s life. His nephew Andrea Donizetti was sent from Italy to In 1814 he provided Donizetti with the financial and persuade his uncle to visit a doctor. The visit revealed moral support he needed to move to Bologna to study that the composer was suffering from cerebro-spinal counterpoint*. Three years later, when Donizetti returned degeneration caused by syphilis, a venereal disease. to Bergamo, having decided he would be a composer of Just three days later he was sent to a sanatorium near opera, Mayr secured a contract for him with a company Paris where he stayed for more than a year. Andrea finally in Venice — for which Donizetti wrote four operas. At the received permission to bring his uncle home to Bergamo young age of 20, the composer had already demonstrated in October of 1847, by which time Donizetti was paralyzed his skill for writing complete instrumental and choral pieces and unable to speak in more than monosyllables.
    [Show full text]
  • La Favorite Opéra De Gaetano Donizetti
    La Favorite opéra de Gaetano Donizetti NOUVELLE PRODUCTION 7, 9, 12, 14, 19 février 2013 19h30 17 février 2013 17h Paolo Arrivabeni direction Valérie Nègre mise en scène Andrea Blum scénographie Guillaume Poix dramaturgie Aurore Popineau costumes Alejandro Leroux lumières Sophie Tellier choréraphie Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Alice Coote, Celso Albelo, Ludovic Tézier, Service de presse Carlo Colombara, Loïc Félix, Judith Gauthier tél. 01 49 52 50 70 [email protected] Orchestre National de France Chœur de Radio France theatrechampselysees.fr Chœur du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Coproduction Théâtre des Champs-Elysées / Radio France La Caisse des Dépôts soutient l’ensemble de la Réservations programmation du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées T. 01 49 52 50 50 theatrechampselysees.fr 5 Depuis quelques saisons, le bel canto La Favorite et tout particulièrement Donizetti ont naturellement trouvé leur place au Gaetano Donizetti Théâtre puisque pas moins de quatre des opéras du compositeur originaire Opéra en quatre actes (1840, version française) de Bergame ont été récemment Livret d’Alphonse Royer et Gustave Vaëz, d’après Les Amours malheureuses présentés : la trilogie qu’il a consacré ou Le Comte de Comminges de François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d’Arnaud aux Reines de la cour Tudor (Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux et Anna Bolena) donnée en version de direction musicale Paolo Arrivabeni concert et, la saison dernière, Don Valérie Nègre mise en scène Pasquale dans une mise en scène de Andrea Blum scénographie Denis Podalydès. Guillaume Poix dramaturgie Aurore Popineau costumes Compositeur prolifique, héritier de Rossini et précurseur de Verdi, Alejandro Le Roux lumières Donizetti appartient à cette lignée de chorégraphie Sophie Tellier musiciens italiens qui triomphèrent dans leur pays avant de conquérir Paris.
    [Show full text]
  • Lucia Di Lammermoor
    LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR An in-depth guide by Stu Lewis INTRODUCTION In Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1857), Western literature’s prototypical “Desperate Housewives” narrative, Charles and Emma Bovary travel to Rouen to attend the opera, and they attend a performance of Lucia di Lammermoor. Perhaps Flaubert chose this opera because it would appeal to Emma’s romantic nature, suggesting parallels between her life and that of the heroine: both women forced into unhappy marriages. But the reason could have been simpler—that given the popularity of this opera, someone who dropped in at the opera house on a given night would be likely to see Lucia. If there is one work that could be said to represent opera with a capital O, it is Lucia di Lammermoor. Lucia is a story of forbidden love, deceit, treachery, violence, family hatred, and suicide, culminating in the mother of all mad scenes. It features a heroic yet tragic tenor, villainous baritones and basses, a soprano with plenty of opportunity to show off her brilliant high notes and trills and every other trick she learned in the conservatory, and, to top it off, a mysterious ghost haunting the Scottish Highlands. This is not to say that Donizetti employed clichés, but rather that what was fresh and original in Donizetti's hands became clichés in the works of lesser composers. As Emma Bovary watched the opera, “She filled her heart with the melodious laments as they slowly floated up to her accompanied by the strains of the double basses, like the cries of a castaway in the tumult of a storm.
    [Show full text]
  • La Sonnambula 3 Content
    Florida Grand Opera gratefully recognizes the following donors who have provided support of its education programs. Study Guide 2012 / 2013 Batchelor MIAMI BEACH Foundation Inc. Dear Friends, Welcome to our exciting 2012-2013 season! Florida Grand Opera is pleased to present the magical world of opera to the diverse audience of © FLORIDA GRAND OPERA © FLORIDA South Florida. We begin our season with a classic Italian production of Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème. We continue with a supernatural singspiel, Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Vincenzo Bellini’s famous opera La sonnam- bula, with music from the bel canto tradition. The main stage season is completed with a timeless opera with Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata. As our RHWIEWSRÁREPI[ILEZIEHHIHERI\XVESTIVEXSSYVWGLIHYPIMRSYV continuing efforts to be able to reach out to a newer and broader range of people in the community; a tango opera María de Buenoa Aires by Ástor Piazzolla. As a part of Florida Grand Opera’s Education Program and Stu- dent Dress Rehearsals, these informative and comprehensive study guides can help students better understand the opera through context and plot. )EGLSJXLIWIWXYH]KYMHIWEVIÁPPIH[MXLLMWXSVMGEPFEGOKVSYRHWWXSV]PMRI structures, a synopsis of the opera as well as a general history of Florida Grand Opera. Through this information, students can assess the plotline of each opera as well as gain an understanding of the why the librettos were written in their fashion. Florida Grand Opera believes that education for the arts is a vital enrich- QIRXXLEXQEOIWWXYHIRXW[IPPVSYRHIHERHLIPTWQEOIXLIMVPMZIWQSVI GYPXYVEPP]JYPÁPPMRK3RFILEPJSJXLI*PSVMHE+VERH3TIVE[ILSTIXLEX A message from these study guides will help students delve further into the opera.
    [Show full text]
  • Roberto Devereux
    GAETANO DONIZETTI roberto devereux conductor Opera in three acts Maurizio Benini Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, production Sir David McVicar after François Ancelot’s tragedy Elisabeth d’Angleterre set designer Sir David McVicar Saturday, April 16, 2016 costume designer 1:00–3:50 PM Moritz Junge lighting designer New Production Paule Constable choreographer Leah Hausman The production of Roberto Devereux was made possible by a generous gift from The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund The presentation of Donizetti’s three Tudor queen operas this season is made possible through a generous grant from Daisy Soros, general manager in memory of Paul Soros and Beverly Sills Peter Gelb music director James Levine Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera principal conductor Fabio Luisi and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées 2015–16 SEASON The seventh Metropolitan Opera performance of GAETANO DONIZETTI’S This performance roberto is being broadcast live over The Toll Brothers– devereux Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, sponsored by Toll Brothers, conductor America’s luxury Maurizio Benini homebuilder®, with generous long-term in order of vocal appearance support from sar ah (sar a), duchess of not tingham The Annenberg Elīna Garanča Foundation, The Neubauer Family queen eliz abeth (elisabet ta) Foundation, the Sondra Radvanovsky* Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for lord cecil Broadcast Media, Brian Downen and contributions from listeners a page worldwide. Yohan Yi There is no sir walter (gualtiero) r aleigh Toll Brothers– Christopher Job Metropolitan Opera Quiz in List Hall robert (roberto) devereux, e arl of esse x today. Matthew Polenzani This performance is duke of not tingham also being broadcast Mariusz Kwiecien* live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on a servant of not tingham SiriusXM channel 74.
    [Show full text]
  • POLIUTO Salvadore Cammarano Adolphe Nourrit Gaetano Donizetti
    POLIUTO Tragedia lirica. testi di Salvadore Cammarano Adolphe Nourrit musiche di Gaetano Donizetti Prima esecuzione: 30 novembre 1848, Napoli. www.librettidopera.it 1 / 32 Informazioni Poliuto Cara lettrice, caro lettore, il sito internet www.librettidopera.it è dedicato ai libretti d©opera in lingua italiana. Non c©è un intento filologico, troppo complesso per essere trattato con le mie risorse: vi è invece un intento divulgativo, la volontà di far conoscere i vari aspetti di una parte della nostra cultura. Motivazioni per scrivere note di ringraziamento non mancano. Contributi e suggerimenti sono giunti da ogni dove, vien da dire «dagli Appennini alle Ande». Tutto questo aiuto mi ha dato e mi sta dando entusiasmo per continuare a migliorare e ampliare gli orizzonti di quest©impresa. Ringrazio quindi: chi mi ha dato consigli su grafica e impostazione del sito, chi ha svolto le operazioni di aggiornamento sul portale, tutti coloro che mettono a disposizione testi e materiali che riguardano la lirica, chi ha donato tempo, chi mi ha prestato hardware, chi mette a disposizione software di qualità a prezzi più che contenuti. Infine ringrazio la mia famiglia, per il tempo rubatole e dedicato a questa attività. I titoli vengono scelti in base a una serie di criteri: disponibilità del materiale, data della prima rappresentazione, autori di testi e musiche, importanza del testo nella storia della lirica, difficoltà di reperimento. A questo punto viene ampliata la varietà del materiale, e la sua affidabilità, tramite acquisti, ricerche in biblioteca, su internet, donazione di materiali da parte di appassionati. Il materiale raccolto viene analizzato e messo a confronto: viene eseguita una trascrizione in formato elettronico.
    [Show full text]
  • Kenneth E. Querns Langley Doctor of Philosophy
    Reconstructing the Tenor ‘Pharyngeal Voice’: a Historical and Practical Investigation Kenneth E. Querns Langley Submitted in partial fulfilment of Doctor of Philosophy in Music 31 October 2019 Page | ii Abstract One of the defining moments of operatic history occurred in April 1837 when upon returning to Paris from study in Italy, Gilbert Duprez (1806–1896) performed the first ‘do di petto’, or high c′′ ‘from the chest’, in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell. However, according to the great pedagogue Manuel Garcia (jr.) (1805–1906) tenors like Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794–1854) and Garcia’s own father, tenor Manuel Garcia (sr.) (1775–1832), had been singing the ‘do di petto’ for some time. A great deal of research has already been done to quantify this great ‘moment’, but I wanted to see if it is possible to define the vocal qualities of the tenor voices other than Duprez’, and to see if perhaps there is a general misunderstanding of their vocal qualities. That investigation led me to the ‘pharyngeal voice’ concept, what the Italians call falsettone. I then wondered if I could not only discover the techniques which allowed them to have such wide ranges, fioritura, pianissimi, superb legato, and what seemed like a ‘do di petto’, but also to reconstruct what amounts to a ‘lost technique’. To accomplish this, I bring my lifelong training as a bel canto tenor and eighteen years of experience as a classical singing teacher to bear in a partially autoethnographic study in which I analyse the most important vocal treatises from Pier Francesco Tosi’s (c.
    [Show full text]
  • Roger Parker: Curriculum Vitae
    1 Roger Parker Publications I Books 1. Giacomo Puccini: La bohème (Cambridge, 1986). With Arthur Groos 2. Studies in Early Verdi (1832-1844) (New York, 1989) 3. Leonora’s Last Act: Essays in Verdian Discourse (Princeton, 1997) 4. “Arpa d’or”: The Verdian Patriotic Chorus (Parma, 1997) 5. Remaking the Song: Operatic Visions and Revisions from Handel to Berio (Berkeley, 2006) 6. New Grove Guide to Verdi and his Operas (Oxford, 2007); revised entries from The New Grove Dictionaries (see VIII/2 and VIII/5 below) 7. Opera’s Last Four Hundred Years (in preparation, to be published by Penguin Books/Norton). With Carolyn Abbate II Books (edited/translated) 1. Gabriele Baldini, The Story of Giuseppe Verdi (Cambridge, 1980); trans. and ed. 2. Reading Opera (Princeton, 1988); ed. with Arthur Groos 3. Analyzing Opera: Verdi and Wagner (Berkeley, 1989); ed. with Carolyn Abbate 4. Pierluigi Petrobelli, Music in the Theater: Essays on Verdi and Other Composers (Princeton, 1994); trans. 5. The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera (Oxford, 1994); translated into German (Stuttgart. 1998), Italian (Milan, 1998), Spanish (Barcelona, 1998), Japanese (Tokyo, 1999); repr. (slightly revised) as The Oxford History of Opera (1996); repr. paperback (2001); ed. 6. Reading Critics Reading: Opera and Ballet Criticism in France from the Revolution to 1848 (Oxford, 2001); ed. with Mary Ann Smart 7. Verdi in Performance (Oxford, 2001); ed. with Alison Latham 8. Pensieri per un maestro: Studi in onore di Pierluigi Petrobelli (Turin, 2002); ed. with Stefano La Via 9. Puccini: Manon Lescaut, special issue of The Opera Quarterly, 24/1-2 (2008); ed.
    [Show full text]
  • What the Critics Say As Primo Tenore/Principal Tenor
    DAVID KELLETT TENOR What the critics say as primo tenore/principal tenor... Return of Ulysses Town Topics “The two meatier tenor roles of the opera were allocated to non-students; University Lecturer David Kellett sang the role of Eumaeus the shepherd with a relentless protectiveness of Penelope. The register and musical style of this role clearly foreshadowed the operatic vocal style of such later composers as Handel, and Mr. Kellett was effective in maintaining the required stamina.” Alice in Wonderland Town Topics “Tenor David Kellett is always solid on an operatic stage, and has participated in a number of Westergaard premieres. He and Ms. Jolicoeur performed well in tandem as two heads of the “Caterpillar,” and as the “Mad Hatter” (with a great purple hat), he helped bring the scene to the appropriate level of confusion.” New York Times “The other singers…David Kellett, tenor… were all in strong voice and met Mr. Westergaard’s demands with flexibility and energy.” The Magic Flute The Star Ledger "Kellett's tenor was ardent and clear." Classical New Jersey “David Kellett's voice has been an instrument that I have found appealing since I first heard him over 20 years ago. He had a refreshing lyric quality then that was sufficient in carrying power up to his higher register where it would take on a slightly driven quality. He always reminded me of having a smoothness like "Tito Schipa" several generations ago. Kellett’s voice is a finely produced instrument, and he has retained that smoothness of line and production throughout the registers even as age has darkened the tone and added weight.
    [Show full text]
  • FIORI DEL PARNASO Ritratti Di Artisti Della Scena Reggiana (Archivio Vivi)
    Testi: dott. Paola Meschini dott. Luciana Bonilauri Ufficio Stampa: dott. Rita Pansa Realizzazione: Liliana Corvo Annunziata Di Somma Silvia Lo Rillo Laura Vacondio Fotografie: Giuliano Ferrari Stampa: Grafitalia Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali ARCHIVIO DI STATO DI REGGIO EMILIA Inventari e cataloghi collana diretta da Paola Meschini FIORI DEL PARNASO Ritratti di artisti della scena reggiana (Archivio Vivi) Reggio Emilia, 2010 I TEATRI Le prime notizie dell’esistenza di un luogo deputa- to alle rappresentazioni teatrali a Reggio Emilia risalgono alla seconda metà del ‘500, quando fu adibita a “luogo teatrale” la sala delle adunanze del Pubblico Consiglio nel vecchio palazzo comunale, ormai non più sede degli uffici del Comune; questo si era trasferito nel nuovo edi- ficio antistante al vecchio, nella parte meridionale della attuale piazza Prampolini. Funzionava, contemporaneamente alla “stanza delle Commedie”, e con analoga destinazione a luogo teatrale, un altro sito della Comunità: la vicina costru- zione delle vecchie beccherie, andata da poco in disuso. Essa ospitava, a differenza della “stanza delle Comme- die” (destinata al teatro serio, “ufficiale”), le recite degli istrioni, ovvero degli attori del teatro dell’Arte. In quel periodo, l’élite dirigente dell’aristocrazia di corte e della borghesia frequentava il colto teatro “ufficiale”, mentre il ceto degli artigiani e dei bottegai preferiva il semplice e popolare teatro dell’Arte. La “sala delle Commedie” fu poi, nel corso del secolo XVII, ampliata e adattata a vero e proprio teatro in sen- so moderno, con palcoscenico e palchi. Nel 1740 un in- cendio la distrusse completamente e, con l’occasione, il locale fu venduto al Santo Monte di Pietà, che già occu- pava il palazzo.
    [Show full text]