Speaking role

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A speaking role in operas describes a role that consists only of spoken text and has nothing to sing. Most of the time, these people only speak in the dialogues between the musical numbers; when music and spoken text sound at the same time, it is a melodrama .

Up until the beginning of the 19th century, there was no sharp distinction between actors, singers and dancers. The actors and dancers were also used in the opera, depending on their vocal and singing skills. There are small speaking roles in many Singspiele , there are messengers, servants, hosts or similar characters that are only of interest for the course of the plot.

Larger speaking roles in operas could be intended for well-known actors, just as the pantomimic roles, for example in the mute of Portici , could be intended for dancers. They are often figures that stand outside or are particularly sublime, such as the ruler Bassa Selim in Mozart's Abduction or Puck in Benjamin Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream . The so-called 3rd act comedians in the Viennese operetta were extended speaking roles with the possibility of improvisation.

A spoken title role in an opera is Ferruccio Busoni's Arlecchino from Arlecchino or the Windows . In George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess , all white people have speaking roles, which clearly separates them from the African American world.