Our series on Opera Styles visits Italy in the early 19th century.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
Bel canto (the term simply means "beautiful song") refers to an Italian opera style that placed a heavy emphasis on the voice over the music, allowing sopranos and tenors plenty of room for florid display and vocal fireworks. Bel canto operas are usually tragedies--the term for Italian comic opera is opera buffa.
(The opposite of "bel canto" is when singers yell over an orchestra, an approach known to opera wonks as "can belto.")
The bel canto style evolved from the baroque opera seria, and dominated the stages of Italy's opera houses until about 1840. In those years, Italian opera was ruled by three men: Giaochino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Rossini and Donizetti wrote both comedies and tragic operas. Bellini wrote only tragedies. It should be noted that there were other important composers in the bel canto style (Cherubini, Spontini, Mercadente, but these are the three whose music remains popular today.)
by Paul J. Pelkonen
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Anna Netrebko's appearance in I puritani at the Met touched off a surge of interest in bel canto style.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2006 The Metropolitan Opera.
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Bel canto (the term simply means "beautiful song") refers to an Italian opera style that placed a heavy emphasis on the voice over the music, allowing sopranos and tenors plenty of room for florid display and vocal fireworks. Bel canto operas are usually tragedies--the term for Italian comic opera is opera buffa.
(The opposite of "bel canto" is when singers yell over an orchestra, an approach known to opera wonks as "can belto.")
The bel canto style evolved from the baroque opera seria, and dominated the stages of Italy's opera houses until about 1840. In those years, Italian opera was ruled by three men: Giaochino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Rossini and Donizetti wrote both comedies and tragic operas. Bellini wrote only tragedies. It should be noted that there were other important composers in the bel canto style (Cherubini, Spontini, Mercadente, but these are the three whose music remains popular today.)
Arguably the most famous bel canto aria: "Il dolce sono." This is the "Mad Scene" from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.
Performance by Natalie Dessay © 2010 The Metropolitan Opera.
