MONTEVERDI’S OPERA HEROES The Vocal Writing for Orpheus and Ulysses Gustavo Steiner Neves, M.M. Lecture Recital Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS Karl Dent Chair of Committee Quinn Patrick Ankrum, D.M.A. John S. Hollins, D.M.A. Mark Sheridan, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School May, 2017 © 2017 Gustavo Steiner Neves Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES iv LIST OF TABLES iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 Thesis Statement 3 Methodology 3 CHAPTER II: THE SECOND PRACTICE AND MONTEVERDI’S OPERAS 5 Mantua and La Favola d’Orfeo 7 Venice and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria 13 Connections Between Monteverdi’s Genres 17 CHAPTER III: THE VOICES OF ORPHEUS AND ULYSSES 21 The Singers of the Early Seventeenth Century 21 Pitch Considerations 27 Monteverdi in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 30 Historical Recordings and Performances 32 Voice Casting Considerations 35 CHAPTER IV: THE VOCAL WRITING FOR ORPHEUS AND ULYSSES 37 The Mistress of the Harmony 39 Tempo 45 Recitatives 47 Arias 50 Ornaments and Agility 51 Range and Tessitura 56 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS 60 BIBLIOGRAPHY 63 ii Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 ABSTRACT The operas of Monteverdi and his contemporaries helped shape music history. Of his three surviving operas, two of them have heroes assigned to the tenor voice in the title roles: L’Orfeo and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. The performance practice of the last century, however, has seen both tenors and baritones singing those roles. It is important for singers wishing to explore this repertoire to know what vocal qualities are required to sing the roles, and whether the roles are appropriate for their voices. To provide explanations for the inconsistent casting choices and offer singers the basic information needed to prepare these two roles, I will explore the historical elements of the origins of both operas, study the vocal writing for the roles of Orpheus and Ulysses, and discuss the characteristics and requirements of the singers who have performed the roles in the seventeenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. By examining the aesthetics of Monteverdi’s time and what the composer was likely expecting from his singers, I have concluded that both roles should be sung by singers who are able to deliver the text clearly throughout the entire range while maintaining the dramatic delivery of the words. These singers must also have the facility to sing fast passages and ornaments. A light baritone or a lyric tenor with a good low register would be more suited for Orpheus, and a light or lyric tenor would fit Ulysses more appropriately. iii Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Ex. 1. Excerpt from “Dormo ancora.” Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. 42 Ex. 2. Excerpt from “O Fortunato Ulisse.” Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. 43 Ex. 3. Excerpt from “Tu se morta.” L’Orfeo. 48 Ex. 4. Excerpt from Compendium Musices, by Adrian Petit Coclico. 53 Ex. 5. Excerpt from “Possente spirto.” L’Orfeo. 54 Ex. 6. Excerpt from “Possente spirto.” L’Orfeo. 57 Ex. 7. Excerpt from “O Fortunato Ulisse.” Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria. 58 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Singers and tuning for Orfeo audio and video recordings. 33 Table 2. Singers and tuning for Ulisse audio and video recordings. 34 iv Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Learning and embodying an operatic role requires an understanding of not only contemporary styles and techniques, but also those in favor at the time the opera was written. Today’s singers have numerous helpful resources at their disposal, allowing them to easily find information on the history of opera from its origins through the present. Studying the background of each role gives us insight into past performers; the social, political, and cultural influences of each opera; and the style in which each opera was performed. We also have access to professional audio and video recordings of the best musicians of the past century, which can give us insight into how the performance practice has changed over approximately the last 120 years. When choosing roles to learn, singers must make educated decisions based on the vocal requirements of the roles. Vocal characteristics usually taken into consideration are range, tessitura, timbre, weight, agility, flexibility, and registration.1 A number of other factors also ultimately influence casting decisions, including tradition, overlapping voice categories, and the sizes of opera houses. Singers must be aware of these factors when choosing the appropriate repertoire for their voices. Early operas usually require lighter voices due to the highly ornamented passages and melismatic lines, but as we will discuss in this document, a considerable range of voice types can meet these requirements. The earliest operas from the Baroque period offer another challenge. From its beginnings, the “early music movement” has tried to 1 Boldrey, Richard. 1994. Guide to Operatic Roles & Arias. Dallas: Pst...Inc, 7-10. 1 Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 recreate those early works as faithfully to the music and the performance practices as possible. Although we have learned much about Baroque music, it is impossible to know exactly how Baroque singers sounded and how they applied the vocal technique of the time, as we understand it from theoretical writings, journals and diaries, personnel records, iconographical sources (such as architectural plans for opera theatres and set designs and machines), and surviving instruments. The voice, however, was “perhaps the instrument most neglected by theorists.”2 For those with an interest in the early Baroque operas, especially those by Monteverdi, another interesting problem arises. The casting for some of the roles has not been consistent over the last century, and is still variable. This is particularly true for the roles of Orpheus and Ulysses, which Monteverdi identified as tenor roles, but which have been sung by both tenors and baritones since the revival of the two operas in the early 20th century. This discrepancy has not been adequately addressed. Singers who wish to explore Monteverdi’s music need more information to determine whether their voices are suitable for these roles. This document is an effort to clarify the characteristics of the vocal writings for the two previously mentioned roles and, consequently, to assist with similar casting problems. It is my hope that my findings will help us better understand the demands of both roles, and which voices are better suited for each. 2 Selfridge-Field, Eleanor. "Introduction." In: Brown, Howard Mayer, and Stanley Sadie. 1990. Performance Practice: Music After 1600. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 12. 2 Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 Thesis Statement At the time that Monteverdi wrote L’Orfeo and Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, there was no differentiation between tenor and baritone voice types. As such, the roles of Orpheus and Ulysses were both characterized as tenor roles. However, this is not an indication that both are best suited for contemporary tenors. Instead, it is evidence of the limitations of the vocal classifications available to Monteverdi as he composed the roles. In the past several decades, both baritones and tenors have performed both roles. A close examination of the two operas, however, reveals that Orpheus is more suited for a light baritone or a tenor with an extremely flexible voice and a comfortable low range, while the role of Ulysses is more suitable for a light or lyric tenor voice. Given the characteristics of each role, it is likely not only that that voices of the singers for whom he wrote the roles would be aligned with these two distinct voice types in our contemporary framework, but also that Monteverdi would have categorized the roles this way had the vocal classifications of the time been different. Methodology To reach any conclusions about the casting choices for Monteverdi’s operas, we must have adequate knowledge of the numerous elements that led to the creation of the works, such as the political, cultural and social aspects of northern Italy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The occasions, venues, and intended audiences affected the vocal writing, the choice of singers, and various performance aspects. The expectations that composers, audiences, and political figures had for these performances is addressed 3 Texas Tech University, Gustavo Steiner Neves, May 2017 in writings from the time. Chapter II will give an overview of the circumstances in which Monteverdi’s works, specifically Orfeo and Ulisse, came to be. In Chapter III, I will study the singers themselves, beginning with the singers from the seventeenth century who created the roles or were setting the standards, followed by the those who have been reviving the roles in the last century. Here, I will discuss aspects of technique and vocal production, as well as the appropriate style in which to perform Monteverdi’s operas. A comparison of available recordings by both tenors and baritones will also help us understand the trends and preferences of performance practices during the twentieth century, which help inform our understanding of what types of voices should sing these roles today. Finally, Chapter IV will focus on the characteristics of the vocal parts in Monteverdi’s operas, explaining how they served the dramatic purposes of his stage works. I will examine the importance given to the texts, the peculiarities of his recitatives and arias, the uses of ornaments and embellishments, and other elements of the vocal writing for these two roles, using musical examples such as Orpheus’ aria “Possente spirto.” This chapter’s purpose is to clarify the vocal demands for singers performing Monteverdi’s operas, providing information on what is usually required from them and providing information for today’s singers who wish to better themselves in Monteverdi’s style.