Soprano sfogato

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In the 19th century, soprano sfogato was the name given to a vocal category of the female voice in the late bel canto repertoire, which is characterized by an unusually large pitch range that extends from a full lower register ( alto or mezzo-soprano ) to the high soprano register . Also typical are great vocal flexibility and strong dramatic expression.

history

The Italian word "sfogato" is easy to misunderstand. It is derived from the verb "sfogare" and was translated in an Italian-English dictionary from 1816 as "exhaled, evaporated, vented, allayed" (German about "exhaled, evaporated, ventilated, appeased"). In instrumental music (for example with Chopin) this means an "airy" or "light" expression. For singers it was occasionally translated as “unlimited”, which, however, did not mean an infinite range of notes, but rather an open, open-air area , analogous to the term senza impedimento . Since these translations are not expedient here, Jeffrey Snider suggested leaving it with the main meaning “vented” or “poured out”.

Until the 1840s, the female singing voices were usually only roughly divided into alto and soprano . The term "mezzo-soprano" was first used by Johann Joachim Quantz to identify the voice of Faustina Bordoni and referred to a voice with an ambitus (expandable on both sides) from a or h to g ", while a typical soprano voice at that time had a range from c 'to g '' (based on the lower concert pitch at the time ). Although Mozart already composed parts for the middle register, this designation did not gain acceptance until the middle of the 19th century when Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi composed increasingly demanding music for middle female voices. Due to the dramatic expressiveness, these parts did not leave out the high register. Verdi's mezzo parts could, for example, extend up to the h '' or c '' '. Although most of these roles are now usually sung by sopranos, lighter voices have difficulty asserting themselves against a large orchestra in the lower register. The historical singers who were able to interpret such parts in an ideal way were called soprani sfogati . Jürgen Kesting called them "extended sopranos who knew how to expand their mezzo voices in the high register".

At the beginning of the 19th century, the term soprano sfogato was applied to the most important singers in leading roles in the operas of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti, who were characterized by an unusually large range and vocal power. The Revue des Deux Mondes of 1841, according to the Ambitus was a soprano sfogato two octaves and had the largest force between c and h '' - compared with the range of g and e '' and the center of gravity between h and a 'an alto. As early as the middle of the century there were misunderstandings and controversial discussions about the term. Some authors equate it with "soprano acuto" ('high soprano'), while others differentiate between the two vocal subjects. Around the same time, the term "mezzo-soprano" began to gain acceptance. Towards the end of the 18th century, the term soprano sfogato was also used disparagingly. In the early 20th century there was the term acuto sfogato for particularly high sopranos. From the middle of the 20th century, various authors described the soprano sfogato as a mezzo-soprano with an extended high register.

According to contemporary sources, the soprani sfogati of the time were considered to be exceptional singers who were distinguished by their beautiful timbre as well as their wide range, dramatic skills and flexibility. A British newspaper described the voices of Adelaide Tosi by Giulia Grisi in 1832 as “a refined, and consequently attenuated, treble” and compared them with that of a “musico” ( castrato ). Its extreme purity and delicacy enables it to wend its way deftly and unringly through the most fluttering passage, and at another to breathe forth meaning tones which sink upon the heart with the gendle burden of that voluptuous, yet spiritual language […] ”). An anonymous author with the pseudonym “Italian in Italy” noted in a letter to the editor of Musical World in 1865 that the voice of Adelina Patti rose to the highest register with extraordinary ease and descended with the same clarity and ease to the alto register (“ It goes up, with extraordinary ease, to the highest compass of the human voice, and descends with equal clearness of sound and facile execution to the fine contralto notes — a precious gift, bestowed only on the favored daughters of Heaven ").

With the advent of the more modern vocal fans, the term gradually went out of fashion and is only occasionally used for female singers who specialize in bel canto heroines. The only female singer of the 20th century who was consistently characterized as soprano sfogato was Maria Callas . Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis compared her to Maria Malibran and Giuditta Pasta , who had started their careers as alto players and had to laboriously train their way through the higher registers.

Lots

Jeffrey Snider names the following roles in his essay In Search of the Soprano Sfogato :

A detailed description of the characteristics of a similar vocal subject can be found in Geoffrey S. Riggs' book The Assoluta Voice in Opera, 1797–1847. Riggs chose the term soprano assoluta instead of soprano sfogato and therefore did not limit himself to the roles historically referred to as the latter. He named a total of 65 works from Christoph Willibald Gluck's Alceste to Alban Berg's Lulu . Besides some of the above ( Anna Bolena and Norma ) he described the following soprano-assoluta parts in detail:

Eminent singers

The following singers were called soprani sfogati in their time .

19th century

20th century

literature

  • Jeffrey Snider: In Search of the Soprano Sfogato. In: Journal of Singing. Vol. 68, No. 3. National Association of Teachers of Singing, January / February 2012, pp. 329–334.
  • Geoffrey S. Riggs: The Assoluta Voice in Opera, 1797-1847. MacFarland, Jefferson 2003, ISBN 0-7864-1401-4 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

Remarks

  1. ↑ Although the role of the semiramide is typical for this vocal subject due to the large range and the required flexibility and dramatic presence, the singer of the premiere, Isabella Colbran, was rarely referred to as soprano sfogato .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jeffrey Snider: In Search of the Soprano Sfogato. In: Journal of Singing. Vol. 68, No. 3. National Association of Teachers of Singing, January / February 2012, pp. 329–334.
  2. ↑ a b Jürgen Kesting : The great singers. Four volumes. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-455-50070-7 , Volume 1, pp. 337-338.
  3. ↑ Mademoiselle Sophie Loewe. In: Revue des deux mondes XXV. 1841, p. 603 ( online at Wikisource ).
  4. ^ On the Opera: Italian Opera. In: Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country. July 1832, p. 729 f. ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ^ Adelina Patti at Florence. In: The Musical World. Volume 43, No. 48. December 2, 1865, p. 749 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. ^ Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis: The Unknown Callas: The Greek Years. Amadeus Press, Portland 2001, p. 167 (referenced by Jeffrey Snider).