Italian Opera Singing at the Time of Verismo (Hardcover)

Hardcover. Connects discussions of vocality and operatic culture with broader aesthetic and cultural shifts in society.In the decades that span the turn of the twentieth century, the Italian tradition of operatic singing became 'modern'. This book identifies and explores the formative elements of this multifaceted 'modernity', and the broader cultural context in which it emerged. As modern singers progressively eschewed the bel canto ideal of 'pure' vocal quality, their singing acquired an irreversible gendered connotation and an erotically charged expressive force. Central in this shift was the gradual development of a homogeneous vocal colour through the compass. Star singers such as Enrico Caruso, Titta Ruffo, Emma Carelli and Eugenia Burzio were instrumental in this development. They came of age when the transformation in vocality was intertwined with the emergence of verismo, a realistic trend that affected literature, theatre, fine art, music and every other aspect of creative and intellectual life in fin-de-siecle Italy.The book explores how and why this selected group of singers consciously pursued a new model of vocal expressivity, thus engaging with several aspects of vocal production and illuminating the ways in which changes in technique yielded novel stylistic gestures. Providing for a comparative analysis of early vocal recordings and late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century vocal methods and drawing on archival research in London, Milan, Rome and Buenos Aires, the book connects discussions of vocality and operatic culture with aesthetic and cultural shifts in society. Italian Opera Singing at the Time of Verismo, will be of interest to scholars and students of opera history, performance studies and recording history, as well as voice coaches and professional singers. Connects discussions of vocality and operatic culture with broader aesthetic and cultural shifts in society. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.