Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
- Part II The nineteenth century
- Chapter 7 Romanticism and Romantic opera in Germany
- Chapter 8 Opera in nineteenth-century Italy
- Chapter 9 Grand opéra and the visual language of opera
- Chapter 10 The Wagnerian revolution
- Chapter 11 Nationalists: vernacular language and music
- Chapter 12 The role of the singer
- Part III The twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Appendix 1 Motifs from The Ring used in Chapter 10
- Appendix 2 The development of singing voices in opera
- Appendix 3 The development of lyric theatre alternatives to ‘opera’
- Appendix 4 Some major operas and artistic and political events of the twentieth century, 1899--2008
- Glossary of key terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 12 - The role of the singer
from Part II - The nineteenth century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
- Part II The nineteenth century
- Chapter 7 Romanticism and Romantic opera in Germany
- Chapter 8 Opera in nineteenth-century Italy
- Chapter 9 Grand opéra and the visual language of opera
- Chapter 10 The Wagnerian revolution
- Chapter 11 Nationalists: vernacular language and music
- Chapter 12 The role of the singer
- Part III The twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Appendix 1 Motifs from The Ring used in Chapter 10
- Appendix 2 The development of singing voices in opera
- Appendix 3 The development of lyric theatre alternatives to ‘opera’
- Appendix 4 Some major operas and artistic and political events of the twentieth century, 1899--2008
- Glossary of key terms
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The central ‘attraction’ of the operatic performance is the singer. But this is not a simple notion. The many ways in which the singer can be used define the operatic experience and, because of its centrality, has the potential to distort it. Consideration of the role and function of the singer entails four overlapping elements. In addition to the scope of the singer's functions as musician, interpreter and focus of public attention, there are the development of the range of voices used in opera (see appendix 2); the (social) history of the profession and training and technical development (see Potter, 2000: Chapters 17and 19). This chapter is concerned with the ways in which how the singer is handled and perceived affect the nature of opera.
The range of roles and attractions of the singer
Just as the singer can be asked to do different things, so audiences come to an opera with different expectations. Just as it is vital to know what any opera was designed to be, so it is essential to understand what the singer is meant to be doing in it. Without this, the opera and the singer are likely to be judged by wrong criteria. In Table 12.1, these roles are divided between those which belong to the singer per se and those which are part of an opera.
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- Information
- Opera , pp. 240 - 254Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012