'il novello orfeo' farinelli vocal profile, aesthetics, rhetoric

Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ theses@gla.ac.uk Desler, Anne (2014) 'Il novello Orfeo' Farinelli: vocal profile, aesthetics, rhetoric. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5743/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given !Il$novello$Orfeo!$ Farinelli:$$Vocal$Profile,$$ Aesthetics,$Rhetoric$ ! Anne$Desler$ Bachelor!of!Music,!University!of!California!(Irvine)! Master!of!Arts,!University!of!Helsinki! Licentiate!in!Philosophy,!University!of!Helsinki! Doctor!of!Musical!Arts,!University!of!Southern!California! ! Submitted!in!fulfilment!of!the!requirements!for!the! Degree!of!Doctor!of!Philosophy!(Music)! ! School$of$Culture$and$Creative$Arts$ College$of$Arts$ University$of$Glasgow$ ! February!2014 ! 2! ! Abstract$ Although Farinelli has received a great deal of attention in scholarship, the early music performance scene and in popular culture, little has been written about his singing. The current perception of Farinelli’s musical profile is based almost entirely on the research of Franz Haböck from the beginning of the 20 th century and the writings of Charles Burney. As a result of the emphasis of both writers on Farinelli’s bravura singing, the singer’s name has become synonymous with castrato virtuosity. This study takes a more diffentiated approach. It reconstructs the artistic persona of Farinelli from libretti, scores and documentary evidence, evaluates the veracity of anecdotal information pertaining to his singing that has so far been accepted largely at face value and considers the aesthetic implications of Farinelli’s singing. Part I of this study seeks to reconstruct Farinelli’s vocal profile. In chapter 1, contemporary descriptions by earwitnesses are examined and evaluated with regard to important aspects of his singing, i.e., the sound quality, volume and range of his voice, technical elements such as his trill, agility and breath control, ornamentation and improvisation and, finally, his acting. Chapter 2 summarises the main stages of the singer’s operatic career. The purpose of this chapter is not to reiterate biographical information, but to provide an outline that can serve as a framework for the discussion of the development of Farinelli’s vocal technique, personal style and reception. The chapter also identifies important points of professional interaction between Farinelli and other famous singers. Chapter 3 falls into two parts. Firstly, the main elements of vocal technique, as described in the vastly influential vocal treatises of Tosi 1 and Mancini, 2 are outlined in relation to notational practice of 18 th -century manuscript scores and their relevance to the music sung by Farinelli. Secondly, the development of Farinelli’s voice in terms of the singer’s vocal technique, range, volume and details of style is discussed on the basis of the analysis of Farinelli’s operatic roles. Chapter 4 focuses on the analysis and contextualisation of important stylistic changes that occured during Farinelli’s career. Throughout, Farinelli’s stylistic choices are discussed in relation to the aesthetic preferences of the different audiences he encountered. Part 2 explores aspects of Farinelli’s artistic profile from the vantage points of aesthetics and rhetoric. Based on analyses of Farinelli’s arias on nightingale metaphors, chapter 5 discusses the conceptual frameworks and aesthetic issues that have often resulted in a critical reception of his virtuosity, both during his lifetime and in the 20 th century. Chapter 6 examines the manner in which the principles of rhetoric have been applied to 18 th - century music in recent scholarship. It argues for a different, more integrated approach that reflects the performance-centred period understanding of rhetoric, which, unlike the 1 Pier Francesco Tosi, Opinioni de’ cantori antichi e moderni, o sieno osservazioni sopra il canto figurato (Bologna: dalla Volpe, 1723). 2 Giambattista Mancini, Riflessioni pratiche sul canto figurato, 3 rd revised, corrected and enlarged edition, Milan 1777, facsimile print (Bologna: Forni, 1996). 3! ! modern understanding, was not yet inflected by the author and work concepts. Chapter 7 analyses rhetorical strategies in Farinelli’s Venetian bravura arias and their implications with regard to the issues of authorship and the relationship between performer and audience. In chapter 8, the text-music relationship and communicative strategies in Farinelli’s slow expressive arias are scrutinised. The conclusion briefly assesses the impact of Farinelli on Italian opera, theatrical performance practice and musical aesthetics. 4! ! Contents$ Abstract 2! Contents 4! List of Tables 7! List of Figures 8! List of Musical Examples 9! Acknowledgements 11! Author’s Declaration 12! General Remarks 14! Introduction 17! PART I: FARINELLI’S VOCAL PROFILE 22! 1 Three Ear Witness Accounts of Farinelli’s Voice 23! Quantz, Mancini and Burney 25! Sound quality and volume 27! Range 28! Trill and agility 29! Breath control 30! Ornamentation and improvisation 31! Acting 32! 2 Farinelli’s Stage Career 34! 1720-1724: Early Career 36! 1724-1728: Naples and Beyond 39! 1728-1734: Venice and Beyond 44! 1734-1737: London 48! 3 Technique, Range, Volume and Ornamentation 54! Aspects of vocal technique in the treatises of Tosi and Mancini 54! The messa di voce 55! The Trill 56! Agility and passaggi 59! The Appoggiatura 62! 5! ! The Cadenza 63! Farinelli’s vocal technique 64! 1722-23: Early technical mastery 66! 1725-30: Increasing refinement and specialisation 75! Range, pitch levels and keys 82! Volume 87! Ornamentation 94! 4 Style 101! The New Neapolitan (Galant) Style 101! The ‘Lombard Manner’ 103! ‘A more plain and simple road’ 111! Favourite Songs 116! PART II: AESTHETICS AND RHETORIC 120! 5 ‘Der Farinell der Vögel’: Farinelli and the Aesthetics of Virtuosity 121! Words and Music: Aesthetics and Science 122! The Nightingale’s Song: Music, Reason and Worldview 128! Farinelli’s Nightingale Arias 134! Farinelli’s Virtuosity: Reception in modern scholarship 144! A Singer’s Vanity? 148! 6 ‘Le mie arie’: Ownership and Authorship, Composition and Performance 153! The Singer-composer relationship 159! Rhetoric 165! Inventio and dispositio: Choosing and structuring the subject matter 175! Elaboratio: Creating individual scenes 183! Memoria: Rehearsing 187! Actio/Pronuntiatio: Performing 191! 7 ‘C’étoit un ange ou un diable qui chantoit’: Rhetoric in Farinelli’s Venetian Bravura Arias 196! Farinelli’s Arrival in Venice: An Operatic Backdrop 198! 6! ! Farinelli’s Venetian Debut: Catone in Utica 204! Rhetorical Strategies 210! Farinelli’s 1730 Season in Venice: Pushing the Boundaries of Singing Conventions . 217! Farinelli’s 1733 and 1734 Seasons in Venice: Infusing the familiar with the novel 225! ‘Loaded’ Virtuosity 235! The Question of Authorship 236! 8 ‘Il cantare al cuore’: Text and Music in Farinelli’s Slow Expressive Arias 240! Text setting 242! The patetico-cantabile hybrid 244! Communicating the passions: Actor-singer versus vocal virtuoso 248! Text alterations 252! Dramatic Placement 259! ‘Una nuova lingua’ 262! ‘Il novello Orfeo’ 266! Conclusion: Farinelli’s Impact 270! Appendices 277! Appendix A: Farinelli’s Career 1720-1737: Chronology, Casts, Sources consulted 277! Appendix B: Vocal Lines 290! B1: Arias sung by Farinelli 290! B 2: Arias sung by Bernacchi 339! Appendix C: Full Scores 342! C 1: Arias sung by Farinelli 342! C 2: Aria sung by Nicolini 368! C3: Trio sung by Farinelli, Merighi and Bernacchi 372! Appendix D: Farinelli-Giacomelli: ‘Quel usignolo’ (1753) 382! Selected Bibliography 396! $ 7! ! List$of$Tables$ Table 2-1: Farinelli’s Career: Overview 35! Table 3-1: Use of keys in a sample of 183 arias sung by Farinelli 84! Table 3-2: Farinelli's notated range by year 85! Table 6-1: Macro-level of rhetorical model of the dramma per musica 173! Table 6-2: Micro-level of rhetorical model of dramma per musica 174! Table 6-3: Substitute arias in Farinelli's Venetian roles 186! Table 7-1: Arias in fast tempi sung by Farinelli in Venice 203! Table 7-2: Elements of Vocal Technique in the bravura arias in Mitridate and Idaspe 221! $ $ 8! ! List$of$Figures$ Figure 5-1: In favore del musico Bernacchi, e contro il Farinello (I-Bu Ms 3710) 141! Figure 6-1: Bartolomeo Nazari, Portrait of Farinelli, Venice c. 1734 157! Figure 8-1: Excerpt from Siroe (I, 13), Venice 1726 (Metastasio-Vinci) 248! Figure 8-2: Excerpt from Siroe (I, 13), Bologna 1733 (Metastasio-Hasse) 248! Figure 8-3: Excerpt from Artaserse (II, 11), Rome 1730 (Metastasio-Vinci) 254! Figure 8-4: Excerpt from Artaserse (II, 11), Venice 1730 (Metastasio-Hasse) 254! Figure 8-5: Excerpt from Merope (I, 13), Turin 1732 (Zeno-Broschi) 258! Figure 8-6: Excerpt from Merope (III, 6), Turin 1732: Original aria text 261! Figure 8-7: Excerpt from Merope (III, 6), Turin 1732: Altered aria text 261! Figure 8-8: Jacopo Amigoni, Portrait of Farinelli, London 1735 268! $ $ 9! ! List$of$Musical$Examples$ Mus. Ex. 3-1: messa di voce 55! Mus. Ex. 3-2: trillo cresciuto 56! Mus. Ex. 3-3: trillo calante 56! Mus. Ex. 3-4: trillo raddoppiato (1) 56! Mus. Ex. 3-5: trillo raddoppiato (2) 57! Mus. Ex. 3-6: Exercise for the mordente 58! Mus. Ex. 3-7: volatina semplice (ascending) 59! Mus. Ex. 3-8: volatina semplice (descending) 60! Mus. Ex. 3-9: volatina raddoppiata 60! Mus. Ex. 3-10: martellato 60! Mus. Ex. 3-11: arpeggiato 61! Mus. Ex. 3-12: cantar di sbalzo 61! Mus. Ex. 3-13: gruppetto 62! Mus. Ex. 3-14: ‘La colomba imprigionata’ (II, 16), Flavio Anicio Olibrio, 15-18 66! Mus. Ex. 3-15: 'Quanto bello agl'occhi miei' (II, 7), Adelaide, 15-20 70! Mus. Ex. 3-16: 'Quanto bello agl'occhi miei' (II, 7), Adelaide, 6-10 71! Mus. Ex. 3-17: 'Varchi un mar di scogli pieno’ (II, 14), Cosroe, 13-15 71! Mus. Ex. 3-18: 'Varchi un mar di scogli pieno' (II, 14), Cosroe, 52-56 71! Mus. Ex. 3-19: 'Qual candido armellino', Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 17-20 77! Mus. Ex. 3-20: 'Qual candido armellino', Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 47-50 77! Mus. Ex. 3-21: 'Morte col fiero aspetto', Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 36-40 77! Mus. Ex. 3-22: '"A Dio trono, impero a Dio"', Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 15-17 78! Mus. Ex. 3-23: '"A Dio trono, impero a Dio"', Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 78-80 78! Mus. Ex. 3-24: 'Mi volete troppo misero' (II, 14), Tito Sempronio Graccho, 24-25 78! Mus. Ex. 3-25: 'Qual con l'aura' (I, 2), Zenobia in Palmira, 44-46 79! Mus. Ex. 3-26: ‘Scenda dal cielo irato’ (I, 16), Nitocri, 27-31 92! Mus. Ex. 3-27: 'Scenda dal cielo irato' (I, 16), Nitocri, 68-72 92! Mus. Ex. 3-28: 'Scenda dal cielo irato' (I, 16), Nitocri, 93-96 93! Mus. Ex. 3-29: 'Scenda dal cielo irato' (I, 16), Nitocri, 81-84 93! Mus. Ex. 3-30: 'Quel usignolo': Cadenza at the end of a2, 77-79 99! Mus. Ex. 4-1: 'Taci, o di morte' (I, 8), Medo, 12-23 108! Mus. Ex. 4-2: 'Dissi all'ora' (I, 4), Antigona, 42-58 108! [...]... Musikgeschichte (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2013), 218 2 Patrick Barbier, Farinelli Le castrat des Lumières (Paris: Grasset, 1994) and Sandro Cappelletto, La voce perduta Vita di Farinelli evirato cantore (Turin: EDT, 1995) 3 Il fantasma del Farinelli Centro Studi Farinelli (1998-2003) Saggi e conferenze (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2005) and Il Farinelli e gli evirati cantori, Atti del Convegno Internazionale... as a framework for the discussion of the development of Farinelli s vocal technique, personal style and reception The chapter also identifies important points of professional interaction between Farinelli and other famous singers Chapter 3 falls into two parts Firstly, the main elements of vocal technique, as described in the vastly influential vocal treatises of Tosi14 and Mancini,15 are outlined in... scores and their relevance to the music sung by Farinelli Secondly, the development of Farinelli s voice in terms of the singer’s vocal technique, range, volume and details of style is discussed on the basis of the analysis of Farinelli s operatic roles Chapter 4 focuses on the analysis and contextualisation of important stylistic changes that occured during Farinelli s career In particular, I evaluate... individual chapters 22         PART  I:   FARINELLI S VOCAL  PROFILE   23     1 Three  Ear  Witness  Accounts  of Farinelli s  Voice   The most famous of all castrati since his own lifetime, Farinelli, has become the default example for castrato singing in modern scholarship In his General History of Music,1 published in 1789, Burney gives extensive musical examples of Farinelli s singing, reproducing the... the vocal lines of another six arias Altogether, these amount to eight pages of ‘Divisions in the Songs which Farinelli performed during his Residence in England.’2 To no other singer does Burney dedicate so much space for musical examples.3 An extensive collection of musical examples from Farinelli s roles, prefaced by a prose account of the singer’s vocal development, entitled Carlo Broschi Farinelli. .. Carlo Broschi Farinelli, XXIX 10 Clapton, who reproduces an excerpt from Medo as printed by Haböck, thus believes that Farinelli s range extended to c (middle of the system in bass clef) at the bottom, thus overestimating the singer’s low range by a fourth (Clapton, ‘Carlo Broschi Farinelli, ’ 327) Herr refers to Haböck’s musical examples in Carlo Broschi Farinelli in a footnote, giving Farinelli s range... can, for the most part, be deduced from the vocal lines as it conforms to the da capo aria’s standard pattern of modulating to the dominant key during the first vocal episode and back to the tonic during the second vocal episode, with some harmonic instability and use of related keys in the B section Secondly, all the necessary information is contained in the vocal lines as it is on their properties that... by Farinelli are in da capo form, based on bipartite aria texts whose first and second stanzas are set in the A and B sections, respectively Nearly all of these da capo arias conform to the form outlined below, which had become the standard aria form by the 1720s: A opening ritornello a1 first vocal statement of stanza 1 ritornello B a2 second vocal statement of stanza 1 closing ritornello A’ b vocal. .. followed by an analysis of Farinelli s Venetian bravura arias which seeks to pinpoint musical details that yield information about 1) rhetorical devices that act upon the listener’s expectations in the live performance of individual pieces, and 2) overarching strategies that serve to make Farinelli s artistic profile cohesive, unique and memorable The final chapter deals with Farinelli s slow expressive... these pieces, Farinelli introduced an aesthetic that was novel to the dramma per musica; in it, the words cede the role of primary communicative agent to music The conclusion of this study seeks to assess (though briefly) Farinelli s impact on the dramma per musica Due to the well-known comments on Farinelli s acting, which was perceived as poor by his contemporaries, this aspect of Farinelli as a . http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ theses@gla.ac.uk Desler, Anne (2014) 'Il novello Orfeo' Farinelli: vocal profile, aesthetics, rhetoric. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5743/ Copyright. institution and date of the thesis must be given !Il $novello$ Orfeo!$ Farinelli: $ $Vocal$ Profile,$ $ Aesthetics,$ Rhetoric$ ! Anne$Desler$ Bachelor!of!Music,!University!of!California!(Irvine)! Master!of!Arts,!University!of!Helsinki! Licentiate!in!Philosophy,!University!of!Helsinki! Doctor!of!Musical!Arts,!University!of!Southern!California! ! Submitted!in!fulfilment!of!the!requirements!for!the! Degree!of!Doctor!of!Philosophy!(Music)! ! School$of$Culture$and$Creative$Arts$ College$of$Arts$ University$of$Glasgow$ ! February!2014. Rhetoric in Farinelli s Venetian Bravura Arias 196! Farinelli s Arrival in Venice: An Operatic Backdrop 198! 6! ! Farinelli s Venetian Debut: Catone in Utica 204! Rhetorical Strategies 210! Farinelli s