The Neglected Bel Canto Composers
By Tom Kaufman
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At the end of the war, a little over 50 years ago, two or three operas by Donizetti, one by Bellini, another by Rossini, and eight to ten by Verdi (depending on which ones you count) were in the regular repertory. A few others, were given occasionally, and excerpts from several more were available on 78 rpm records. That was about it. During the ensuing 50 years, these composers have enjoyed a tremendous comeback, to the extent that virtually all of their works (except for between one and two dozen early operas by Donizetti) have beenrevived somewhere or other, then released on records or CDs, any number have been performed in the U.S. or elsewhere, and numerous books and articles have been published on them.
With few exceptions, if one takes these books and articles seriously, one would be left with the impression that all the progress that occurred between Rossini's Otello (1816), and Verdi's (1887) was due to these composers, with perhaps a little lip service being paid to the influences by Meyerbeer and a little less to those by Mercadante. But that is gross oversimplification. The fact is that quite a few other composers were active during these years, and, since their operas are not familiar to musicologists, they have never been given the credit due them for their contributions.
As Weatherson (1) states: «Who initiated what and when in nineteenth century opera is still a closed book». I would rephrase it slightly, and point out that at least ten innovative composers (2) were active in Italy at various times between 1810 and 1850, all of whom may have strengthened the development of Italian opera In addition to the four who are most familiar, the contributions of Meyerbeer and Mercadante are generally recognized. Pacini has been often falsely called an imitator (even, to my horror, by myself), while the others are usually just ignored.
Rossini left Italy for Paris after Semiramide (1823), leaving the field open to a number of younger composers: Meyerbeer (who left shortly thereafter), Mercadante, Vaccai, Pacini, Donizetti, and later Bellini. Only two of the operas composed in the next five years had been familiar to us until recently. The first of these to have been revived was Bellini's Il pirata (1827) which had been given in 1935 for the Bellini centenary, and was produced again at La Scala for Callas and Corelli in 1958, and subsequently remained on the fringes of the repertory. The second was Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto (1824), which was done first by Opera Rara in 1972, and then had occasional performances and a major recording. Conventional wisdom widely credited Bellini with numerous innovations which resulted in drastic departures from Rossini's style--including:
• Less ornamentation of the vocal line
• An elegiac quality, especially when the tragedy came to head
• A strain of lyrical pathos
• The music now reflects the words--it is sad or happy as appropriate.
• The appearance of the typical romantic tenor hero, as in Il Pirata, and a gradual elimination of the armour bearing contralto.
• The act finales have been simplified, and now consist generaly of three or four movements, instead of as amny as six or more in previous works.
But the truth is a bit different: After Rossini left, all of the composers then active started to take significant steps away from Rossini's style, making the interim period between 1823 and 1827 of particular interest because that is the time when these major changes took place, starting with Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto (1824), then Vaccai's Giulietta e Romeo (1825), Pacini's L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei (1825), Mercadante's Caritea, Regina di Spagna (1826), Pacini's Gli Arabi nelle Gallie (1827), Bellini's Il Pirata (1827), and Donizetti's Anna Bolena (1830).
The earliest of these operas is, of course, Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto. Listening to it for the first time, it sounds pretty much like Rossini--but, on closer examination, some significant innovations become apparent. The first that comes to mind is the even greater complexity of the finale to the first act, especially the use of two contrasting stage bands, which is a precursor of the three bands in L'Etoile du Nord. (Actually, that was to be a direction opposite to what would eventually occur in Bellini and Donizetti.) And, in Adriano's "Suono funereo" we have what may well be the earliest cases of that strain of lyrical pathos which was to be such a dominant factor in later bel canto works. Finally, just listen to how dramatic Palmide's big aria in Act II: "D'una madre sventurata" is. But, of course quite dramatic scenes for sopranos were far from new: Oberon, Fidelio, etc. Still, it is interesting to see how the desperation of the character come through.
The second major interim opera worthy of examination is Vaccai's Giulietta e Romeo. While there still are flashbacks to Rossini, there also are many other innovations. As Weatherson states (3) "Nowhere in Giulietta e Romeo are the melodies inferior to those those of Bellini, if you have been led to believe that full-blooded nineteenth century vocalism made its debut with Il pirata you had better listen to Giulietta's magical invocation (Act I Sc. XV)
"Ah! per Romeo v'invoco,
Cielo, Destino, Amor."
at which point romantic opera is literally born on the Italian stage, and in music worthy of the moment. Unfortunately, the influence of Vaccai has been generally ignored until now, and it will be interesting to see if the success of this revival will produce further interest in this composer.
Pacini fared much worse--not only did he fail to get credit for his accomplishments, but he was actually called an imitator, while the opposite was true. Permit me to explain: The first, and perhaps most thorough analysis of Pacini was by Friedrich Lippmann.(4) He divides Pacini's output into two "epocas", as Pacini himself did in his memoirs (before and after his temporary retirement), and analyzes a few individual numbers from operas in each group, including Ottavia's Act II cabaletta from L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei, but does not discuss the work's significance. He concludes by saying:
«Pacini surpassed Donizetti in his fertility and in his ease of composition. The list of his operas is astonishingly long. Melodies came to him with ease. But as far as inspiration is concerned, he was not inventive, he needed someone to lean on. His model for the "prima epoca", as he himself admitted was Rossini. For his "seconda epoca" his guide was Bellini, he is silent about this in his memoirs.»
To return to L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei, its recent revival has shown us a work which, while some of the vocal writing is reminiscent of Rossini, also has many features which anticipate the Meyerbeer of the grand operas (5) as well as the true "bel canto" works of Bellini and Donizetti. It can be considered as what Lindner (6) describes as another key missing link between Semiramide and Il Pirata. But it must be recognized that Vaccai's Giulietta e Romeo, which had its first 20th century performance in Jesi in early October 1996 may represent even greater changes, having been also cited by Lindner (7) as having many preechoes of Bellini. (8) To return to Pacini, Lippmann's failure to discuss L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei in detail is indicative of a reluctance by many scholars to give Pacini the credit that is due him. While there are probably just as many reminiscences of Rossini as there are anticipations of Donizetti and Bellini in the score, the central number of the work is the three part chorus and aria for Ottavia that takes place when she is about to be entombed alive. The first of these three parts, the elegiac march and chorus "Oh sventurata Ottavia" anticipates both Bellini and Donizetti, especially Anna Bolena, while the aria "Su questa man concedi" is very Bellinian, as is its cabaletta "Del figlio mio dolente". The net impression of this entire scene is that it is totally different from Rossini (9), totally new in concept, and foresees similar scenes in other works where the soprano faces execution, predominantly in Anna Bolena but also in Maria Stuarda and Beatrice di Tenda. It would seem that rather than Pacini emulating Bellini, as conventional wisdom would have it, it may well have been the other way around, with Bellini emulating certain aspects of both Vaccai and Pacini (but, of course, also showing much originality). After hearing this scene, it is difficult to give the old saws about Pacini not having any creativity much credibility. It is also easy to understand why Pacini was silent in his memoirs about leaning on Bellini in his "second epoca"-he didn't consciously lean on Bellini any more than other composers of the period did. But the Pacini opera also has two major central duets; one in Act I between Ottavia and the villainous Appio, and another in Act II between Ottavia and her husband, who must sentence hewr to be buried alive for comitting a serious crime (which she later is proved innocent of). Both of these are unuually dramatic for the period, and also point the way towards the future.
While there are many small departures from Rossini's style in Mercadante's Caritea, Regina di Spagna, these are less prominent than in the Meyerbeer, Pacini or Vaccai operas, and are not enough to dispel the initial impression on hearing it that one is listening to a Rossinian creation, rather than to an opera by the Mercadante we know from his later works, beginning with Il Giuramento. Still, it's most striking piece, the once famous chorus "Chi per la patria muor" is outstanding, and is a wonderful forerunner of many later patriotic choruses, especially in Verdi's operas. Mercadante's Gabriella di Vergy (Lisbon 1828) contains a martial stretta, "Suoni la tromba" which I have yet to hear, and which is supposedly a forerunner of Bellini's.
Still, the only familiar Italian operas from 1827 to 1832 are by Bellini and Donizetti, and if their contemporaries made any innovations, I am not aware of them at this time. But 1833 marked the premiere of another opera of the period that is now familiar--by an almost totally unknown composer: Carlo Coccia, which seems to initiate what was to be was an inexorable march towards increasing the emphasis on the dramatic side--especially in very intense confrontations between two characters. This march was to have it's culmination with Mercadante's Il giuramento (1837). Actually, the earliest case of such a confrontation, of which I am aware, actually took place in a French work--the grand duo between Robert and Isabelle in Act IV of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable (Paris, 1831). I am unable to tell whether or not this duet (or the Act V trio) had any impact on Carlo Coccia. But both can be considered a "warm-ups" for the celebrated duet in his Les Huguenots.
To return to Carlo Coccia, virtually nothing is known of his earlier output, and Maria Stuart (1827) or Eduardo in Iscozia (1831) might be far more important than their measly performance history would indicate. But his Caterina di Guisa (Milan, 1833) was both quite successful and has several highly dramatic and confrontational scenes. It has been revived some years ago, and definitely desreves additional revivals. It should be noted that this opera, rather than Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda was the big new hit of the 1832-33 Carnival season. Certainly Lucrezia Borgia, which had its' prima in the 1833-34 season starts to show more dramatic emphasis in its music, but Gemma di Vergy has an even better example in the penultimate duet between Gemma and Tamas, "Non e ver, non e quel tempio". The same trend is visible in French opera: La juive with its' Act IV confrontation between Brogni and Eléazar, but especially Les huguenots with its famous and justly celebrated Act IV duet between Raoul and Valentine. I would be hard put to think of a more dramatic, more beautiful, and more effective love duet in the entire operatic literature. Donizetti had already left Paris by the time Les huguenots was premiered, so the Meyerbeer opera would have had much more of an influence (10) on Mercadante, who stayed in Paris for the prima of I briganti. Thus, we can see a strong French influence not only in Il giuramento (1837), but even more so in the later Il bravo (1839), while we don't see it in Donizetti's ensuing works (Pia de Tolomei, Belisario, Maria de Rudenz), but do see it in Poliuto (composed 1838-39 for Nourrit, but banned by the censors).
Il giuramento has long been regarded as the composer's best and most successful opera, with a plot derived from the same source as Ponchielli's La gioconda. Instead of ending with the usual solo scene for soprano, as is typical for almost all bel canto operas, its' finale, and dramatic climax is a violent confrontation between Elaisa (La gioconda) and Viscardo (Enzo), which ends with his killing her. The scene employs the greatest degree of dramatic intensity seen in Italian opera so far, and was almost certainly influenced by the composer's familiarity with Meyerbeer's Les huguenots, gained while he was in Paris the previous year. Other possible influences may have included some of the confrontational duets in Coccia's Caterina di Guisa, as well as Donizetti's ending Marino Faliero with a duet. But, perhaps even more importantly, it marks the first successful attempt in an Italian opera premiered in Italy of depriving the prima donna, or some other star singer, of her until then inalienable right of having the stage to herself at the end. By doing this, Mercadante sounded what was to be the death knell of the age of bel canto. Of course, many later works were still to display characteristics of bel canto (as does Il giuramento) or to be throwbacks to this earlier era, but the pendulum had begun to swing and, with some exceptions, the prima donna and her final rondo were to become less and less important.
Another example of the composer's experimentation with form can be seen in the opening scene, where, instead of introducing each, or most, of the principals in separate set pieces, he opens with the usual chorus, gives the tenor and baritone short solos, and concludes with a reprise of a section of the original chorus.
But the most important innovation of all is that every role became of equal importance, and that the characters were no longer pasteboard figures. From now on, operas would stress dramatic interaction between the characters, and provide still fewer opportunities for vocal display.
Mercadante actually discusses his reforms in a famous letter to Florimo, written about a year later at the time of Elena da Feltre:
"I have continued the revolution I began with Il giuramento, forms varie, common (11), cabalettas banished, crescendos out, vocal lines simplified, fewer repeats, more originality in the cadences, proper regard paid to the drama, orchestration rich but not so as to swamp the voices, no long solos in the ensembles--they only force the other parts to stand idle to the detriment of the action-, not much brass drum, and a lot less brass band."
During the next several years, Mercadante continued to have a strong innovative tendency, particularily visible in Le due illustre rivali, Il bravo, and again in La vestale. Thus, Le Due Illustre Rivali is unusually intimate for the period. There are no wars, no batlles, no revolutions, just two important women, one of whom is the Queen of Navarre, who happen to love the same man. And it is the Queen who loses, but not until the two ladies have sung two stunning duets, and the tenor has had an aria of a melancholy which we were not to see again until "Quando le sere al placido" in Luisa Miller.
As mentioned before, Il bravo shows strong evidence of what the composer had absorbed during his stay in Paris, and his exposure to Meyerbeer. All that is lacking to have made it virtually the only French grand opera in Italian is a lenghthy, formal ballet and two extra acts. Everything else is there: a grandiose procession and march, a huge party, an arson scene (foreshadowings of Le prophète), a benediction, a malediction, assassinations and a nightwatchman's chorus. The latter is particularily interesting since it so effectively depicts Venice as a police state. The chorus plays an unusually important role, and, as was customary in French grand opera, it takes part in the action rather than just commenting on it.
La vestale (1840) was another huge success--very surprising since it does not have a single aria for the prima donna. Perhaps the most salient piece of music in this opera is the high priest's invective and prophecy "Versate amare lagrime", which seems to both show an influence of "Vous qui du Dieu vivant" in La juive, and at that time point the way to similar prophecies in Verdi's Nabucco (1842) and Donizetti's Dom Sebastien. (1843)
Verdi had entered the field in 1839. While his first work, Oberto, shows influences of most earlier composers, I almost seem to be hearing Bellini in it. It ends with a big aria for the prima donna. On the other hand, the next work, Un giorno di Regno impresses me almost as being heavily based on Donizetti. As opera succeeded opera, we still find many earlier influences: Donizetti, Bellini, Mercadante and Meyerbeer in Nabucco and I Lombardi, but also more and more of Verdi's own personality especially in Ernani. But, by then, several other composers had entered or reenterd the field, scoring major successes, most notably Giovanni Pacini, who had temporarily retired in the mid 1840s. He scored an enormous success with Saffo (Naples, 1840). This opera, along with Verdi's Ernani, and Donizetti's La favorite, was to be one of the three most frequently given works composed during the 1840s. Unfortunately, this is a period that (with the exception of early Verdi and late Donizetti) has remained a virtual "terra incognita", both with respect to revivals of the operas involved, and their serious discussion and analysis in the literature. The operas by the "others" most worth mentioning include Nicolai's Il templario (Turin, 1840), Federico Ricci's Corrado d'Altamura (Milan, 1841), Pacini's La fidanzata Corsa (Naples 1842), Maria, Regina d'Inghilterra and Medea (both Palermo, 1843), Lorenzino di Medici, (Venice 1845) and Buondelmonte (Florence, 1845). Two of the Pacini operas involved (Maria, Regina d'Inghilterra and Medea) are already familiar to us by means of recordings, but it should be noted that much of what is in the Medea recording was composed for later revisions of the opera. But it will not really be possible to judge the impact of the remainder of these works until they are revived, hopefully that will be soon. Until that happens, it seems safe to assume that they all may have played a role in Verdi's development, just as it seems reasonable that after Nabucco Verdi himself was prominent enough to have had an influence on the works of his contemporaries.
However, in judging the merit of operas, and their suitability for revival, it seems to me that there is something even more important to consider than their impact on the development of opera. That of course, is their intrinsic beauty, and the degree of enjoyment that they can give to the audience. It is wonderful to be able to say that such and such an opera is important, and should be revived, because it influenced Verdi or Wagner. And, I suppose, some people will go, just so they can know what it was all about. But, it is far better to be able to say: "Such and such an opera is very beautiful, has wonderful melodies, splendid dramatic situations, terrific opportunities for the singers, and is sure to delight all who hear it." This was the audience's reaction to Marino Faliero, recently performed by the Opera Camerata of Washington, and has been the reaction to almost all the other forgotten works which were revived in the past decades. There are many more bel canto operas waiting to be revived, some, like Mercadante's I briganti, and Pacini's Arabi nelle Gallie, Buondelmonte, Fidanzata Corsa, Lorenzino de'Medici, were mentioned above, even if only in passing--and others like Persiani's Inez de Castro, and Mercadante's I Normanni a Parigi and Emma d'Antiocchia were not.
In the meantime, enough of the operas of these neglected composers have been revived to give the listener a good sample of what folks who are only interested in the standard repertory may be missing. Almost all of these are either already available on CD, or will be available in due course. We should be particularily grateful to Opera Rara, of London, England, for making so many of these wonderful works obtainable to us on CD. Discographies of Mercadante, Pacini, Vaccai and Apolloni (who came later) have been prepared and can be accessed through the links below. Discographies of Coccia, the Ricci brothers and others are planned, while one of Persiani will have to wait for some of his output to be recorded. A Donizetti discography is also planned, but with over 50 operas represented, this will be a daunting task.
Tom Kaufman
NOTES
1. Alexander Weatherson: "Il Maestro delle cabalette" Libretto for the Arkadia recording of Medea, p. 12.
2. They were Rossini, Carafa, Vaccai, Pacini, Coccia, Mercadante, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, probably the Ricci brothers, and possibly Persiani.
3. Donizetti Society, Newsletter 70, p. 14
4. Friedrich Lippmann: Vincenzo Bellini und die Italienische Opera Seria seiner Zeit, AnMc, No. 6 (1969) pp. 317-328.
5. Alexander Weatherson: A Pacinian Spring; Donizetti Society Newsletter 31, London, 31 January 1983, suggests that if grand opera had been an Italian invention, Pacini would have been its most energetic advocate.
6. Thomas Lindner: Musikalistische Bemerkungen zu Pacini's L'ultimo Giorno di Pompei in Mitteilugsblatt der Wiener Donizetti-Gesellschaft, September 1996, pp. 21-27.
7. Thomas Lindner: Zeit und Personalstil in Vaccai's Oper Giulietta e Romeo in Mitteilugsblatt der Wiener Donizetti-Gesellschaft, December 1996, pp. 17-20.
8. This is not the case with the earlier Zadig ed Astartea.
9. The prima donna also has an aria finale in each of the two major Vaccai operas that premiered in 1825: Zadig ed Astartea and Giulietta e Romeo. The first, which is yet to be revived in modern times, has a happy ending, so the final cabaletta is a joyful one. The second was revived in Jesi (Oct. 1996) and has much less of Rossini and much more of what we associate with Bellini stylistically than any contemporary work. However, it could not have influenced Pacini since it was premiered in Milan only a month before L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei was premiered in Naples. It's closing aria for the soprano is not yet a prototype of Anna Bolena, there being no introductory chorus.
10. It might be misleading to imply that a work's influence on other composers is directly proportional to its success--after all, it was always possible to examine a published score if enough impetus were present. Still, on balance, I would postulate that a composer would be far more likely to hear a rival's score in the house than to go to the trouble of examining it in a library. And more likely to be influenced by ideas that he, and the public, found effective.
11. The original Italian word is trivialle, which has often been translated as trivial. However, the actual meaning comes much closer to the word "common", used above.
Note also that the Wexford performance of Meyerbeer's L'etoile du nord (1996) did not use the three stage bands.
Copyright 1998 Tom Kaufman
Links on this page to Tom Kaufman's bel canto page
Robert le Diable -- Legato-- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Robert.html
Il Crociato in Egitto --Opera rara-- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Crociato.html
Giulietta e Romeo -- Bongiovanni-- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Vaccai.htm
Caritea -- Nuova Era -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Caritea.html
L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei -- Dynamic -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Ultimo.html
L'Etoile du Nord -- Marco Polo -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Etoile.html
Il Giuramento -- Legato (coming soon) -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Giuramento.html
Caterina di Guisa -- Bongiovanni -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Coccia.html (under construction)
Les Huguenots -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Huguenots.html
Il Bravo -- Nuova Era -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Bravo.html
La Vestale -- Buongiovanni -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Vestale.html
Saffo -- Marco Polo -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Saffo.html
Maria, regina d'Inghilterra -- Opera rara (coming soon) -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Tudor.html
Medea -- Arkadia -- http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/Medea.html
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