1 The translation is taken from Martin Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words: His Thoughts on Performance, with Special Reference to Don Carlos, Otello, and Falstaff ‘, The Verdi Companion, ed. William Weaver and Martin Chusid (New York, 1979), 144–92 (p. 183). Worthy of note is that Verdi commonly uses the ellipsis in his writing; square brackets will be used to designate editorial ellipses: […].Google Scholar

2 Examples of this approach can most easily be found throughout the work of Richard Miller, one of the most visible vocal pedagogues today, with several books and a regular column in The Journal of Singing: The Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. A real expert on the physiology of singing, Miller also regularly invokes the ‘Italian school’, with frequent quotations of Francesco Lamperti. However, Lamperti's instructions, along with those of even more seminal members of the ‘Italian school’ such as Manuel Garcia, are cited only when they appear to support modern approaches; for example, Miller specifically rejects any movement of the larynx or lack of vibrato. (See below for discussions of these issues as well as bibliographic citations of Lamperti's and Garcia's treatises.) Some of Miller's publications include: The Structure of Singing: System and Art in Vocal Technique (New York and London, 1986); National Schools of Singing: English, French, German, and Italian Techniques of Singing Revisited (Lanham, MD, 1997); and On the Art of Singing (New York, 1996).Google Scholar

3 Crutchfield's primary contributions to the subject come in several articles: ‘Vocal Ornamentation in Verdi: The Phonographic Evidence’, 19th Century Music, 7 (1983–4), 3–54; ‘Verdi Performance: Restoring the Color’, High Fidelity, 33/6 (June 1983), 64–6, 100–1; ‘Authenticity in Verdi: The Recorded Legacy’, Opera, 36 (1985), 858–66. Clive Brown, Classical and Romantic Performing Practice 1750–1900 (Oxford, 1999).Google Scholar

4 See note 3 on Crutchfield's work on vocal style. Regarding his doubts about the possibility of grasping earlier styles, see his ‘Some Thoughts on Reconstructing Singing Styles of the Past’, Journal of the Conductors' Guild, 10 (1989), 111–20: ‘Now [the arrival of recorded sound] marked the great dividing line, because once recordings existed, one could at last study directly … vibrato, messa di voce, registers, dynamics, and so on. For earlier generations we continue to do a lot of guesswork’ (p. 112).Google Scholar

5 A good discussion of the ‘simply and exactly’ problem can be found in Crutchfield, ‘Vocal Ornamentation’, 15–17.Google Scholar

6 Stendhal, Life of Rossini, trans. Richard N. Coe (rev. edn, New York, 1970), 354; originally published as Vie de Rossini (Paris, 1824); as quoted in Rodolfo Celletti, A History of Bel Canto, trans. Frederick Fuller (Oxford, 1991), 181; originally published as Storia del belcanto, Discanto/Contrappunti, 15 (Fiesole, 1983).Google Scholar

7 On the Forza transposition, see Crutchfield, ‘Vocal Ornamentation’, 16. On ‘Celeste Aida’, see Verdi's letter of 26? January 1875 to Emilio Usiglio, cited and translated in Hans Busch, coll. and trans., Verdi's ‘Aida’: The History of an Opera in Letters and Documents (Minneapolis, 1978), 375–7. In the letter, Verdi is responding to Usiglio's request to allow downward transposition of the romanza for Ernest Nicolini; Verdi vetoes the idea and instead communicates the puntature he says he originally wrote for Capponi (intended to be the first Milan Radames, but replaced, on account of illness, by Giuseppe Fancelli).Google Scholar

On Verdi's love of encores, see James A. Hepokoski, Giuseppe Verdi: ‘Falstaff’, Cambridge Opera Handbooks (Cambridge, 1983), 126.Google Scholar

8 From a letter of 18 March 1899 to Giulio Ricordi; as reproduced in Franco Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi (Milan, 1959), iv, 638: ‘Quando ho incominciato io a scandallizzare il mondo musicale coi miei peccati, vi era la calamità dei Rondò delle prime donne, ora vi è la tirannia dei Direttori d'orchestra! Male male! Però meno male il primo!!‘Google Scholar

9 Crutchfield states the point beautifully: ‘It is misleading to suppose that Verdi intended a certain fixed result from each bit of notation: he intended, rather, that his scores should enter the realization-system of the operatic theatre and that a performance should emerge’ (‘Authenticity in Verdi’, 866). The same point is addressed by Marcello Conati in his ‘Italian Romantic Opera and Musicology’, Current Musicology, 27 (1979), 65–72.Google Scholar

10 From a letter of 23 November 1848 to Salvatore Cammarano; as translated in Charles Osborne, comp., trans. and ed., Letters of Giuseppe Verdi (New York, 1971), 59.Google Scholar

11 From a letter of 17 June 1892 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 179.Google Scholar

12 This anecdote was told by Marianna Barbieri Nini, the first Lady Macbeth, and appears in Eugenio Checchi, Giuseppe Verdi: Il genio e le opere (Florence, 1887), 64–8. The version used here is taken from Marcello Conati, ‘Verdi at the Rehearsals for Macbeth from the Memoirs of Marianna Barbieri Nini: 1847‘, Interviews and Encounters with Verdi, ed. Marcello Conati, trans. Richard Stokes (London, 1984), 24–8 (pp. 26–7).Google Scholar

13 Manuel Garcia, École de Garcia: Traité complet de l'art du chant (Paris, 1847; repr. Geneva, 1985). See note 15 for information on the publication history of the work.Google Scholar

14 Paschke, Donald V., introduction to A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part Two, by Manuel Garcia II, ed. and trans. Donald V. Paschke (n.p., 1972; repr. New York, 1975), p. iii.Google Scholar

15 Paschke explains the early publication history of Garcia's treatise in his notes to Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 260: the first volume of the École de Garcia was published in 1840, and this part was then reprinted with the second volume in 1847. While Garcia's musical examples include works by such traditional composers as Handel, Mozart and Rossini, the author also draws on more contemporary operas, such as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) and Linda di Chamounix (1842), Bellini's Norma (1831) and Beatrice di Tenda (1833), and Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable (1831). Paschke mentions Garcia's discussion of covered tone in his introduction to A Complete Treatise, p. ii.Google Scholar

16 Much of the above is based on Paschke, introduction to A Complete Treatise, pp. ii–vii.Google Scholar

17 Michael Scott, The Record of Singing to 1914 (New York, 1977), 24.Google Scholar

18 Francesco Lamperti, L'arte del canto in ordine alle tradizioni classiche ed a particolare esperienza: Norme techniche e consigli agli allievi ed agli artisti (Milan and Paris, [1883]). Here, I have used the translation by one of his pupils: A Treatise on the Art of Singing, trans. J. C. Griffith (New York, n.d.).Google Scholar

19 Charles Santley, The Art of Singing and Vocal Declamation (New York, 1908).Google Scholar

20 Chorley, Henry F., Thirty Years' Musical Recollections (London, 1862; repr. with an introduction by Ernest Newman, New York, 1926).Google Scholar

21 On Verdi as an enemy of bel canto, see Celletti, Rodolfo, ‘L'interpretazione di Verdi nel secolo XIX’, Atti del I⁰ congresso internazionale di studi verdiani, ed. Mario Medici (Parma, 1969), 308–13 (pp. 309–10); also Chorley, Thirty Years' Musical Recollections, passim, but especially 182–6.Google Scholar

22 From a letter of 20 February 1871 to Giuseppe Piroli; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 75.Google Scholar

23 From a letter of 4 January 1871 to Francesco Florimo; as reproduced in Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi, iii, 356: ‘Nell'insegnamento di canto avrei voluto pure gli studj antichi, uniti alla declamazione moderna.‘Google Scholar

24 Anonymous, ‘Verdi in Wien’, Neue freie Presse (Vienna), 9 June 1875; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 180. (For further information on this passage, see note 116.)Google Scholar

25 From a letter of 6 October 1877 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 202.Google Scholar

26 From a letter of December 1877 to Count Opprandino Arrivabene; as reproduced in Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi, iv, 38: ‘[Patti] è natura d'artista così completa che forse non vi è stata mai eguale! Oh! Oh! E la Malibran? Grandissima, ma non sempre uguale! Sublime talvolta e qualche volta barocca! Lo stile del suo canto non era purissimo, non sempre corretta l'azione, la voce stridula negli acuti! Malgrado tutto, artista grandissima, meravigliosa. Ma la Patti è più completa. Voce meravigliosa, stile di canto purissimo; attrice stupenda con uno charme ed un naturale che nissuna ha!‘Google Scholar

27 As translated in Agnes G. Murphy, Melba: A Biography (New York, 1909), 78. Murphy gives no more detailed citation, and I was unable to see the original of this article myself.Google Scholar

28 Nellie Melba, Melodies and Memories (Garden City, NY, 1928), 119–20.Google Scholar

29 K. J. Kutsch and Leo Riemens, Großes Sängerlexikon (Bern, 1987), ii, col. 178.Google Scholar

30 Scott, The Record of Singing, 104.Google Scholar

31 From a letter of 11 November 1886 to Giulio Ricordi; as reproduced in Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi, iv, 229.Google Scholar

32 Manuel Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 4 and 15.Google Scholar

33 Lamperti, A Treatise, 11.Google Scholar

34 Miller, National Schools, 92: ‘Beyond a slight downward movement in inhalation, the larynx lies relatively quiescent throughout the breath cycle… . Nor must the larynx be allowed to rise and fall with pitch changes or with register transitions.’ This view is reiterated in Miller, The Structure, 59. Also, Richard W. Harpster, Technique in Singing: A Program for Singers and Teachers (New York and London, 1984), 42: ‘if you are singing with the [desirable] large throat, you will discern that: 1. The larynx is low. 2. The pharyngeal cavity is “large.” 3. The tongue is relaxed and slightly furrowed. 4. The velum is arched. 5. The mouth cavity itself is spacious.’ Again, Van A. Christy, Expressive Singing, ii: Theory and Technic, Style and Interpretation, Song Repertoire, Principles of Piano Accompaniment, Solo Voice and Piano Accompaniment Recordings (3rd edn, Dubuque, IA, 1975), 45, citing Hermanus Baer, ‘Establishing a Correct Basic Technique for Singing’, NATS Bulletin, 28/4 (May–June 1972), 12–14 (p. 12): ‘The completely relaxed and fully opened throat is a basic condition for free tone. There are three factors that have a bearing on creating a greater space in the throat: A raised soft palate, a forward position of the tongue, i.e., away from the throat; and a lowered larynx.‘Google Scholar

35 Santley, The Art, 56; Lamperti, A Treatise, 22.Google Scholar

36 Santley, The Art, 51.Google Scholar

37 Readers with access to the internet are referred to sound clip 1 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Adelina Patti singing ‘Pur dicesti’ by Antonio Lotti; Gramophone and Typewriter Company (G&T), Matrix 538f, Cat. 03052 (1905); as reissued on Adelina Patti: 1843–1919, Pearl GEMM CD 9312. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:+(Adelina+Patti+singing+‘Pur+dicesti’+by+Antonio+Lotti;+Gramophone+and+Typewriter+Company+(G&T),+Matrix+538f,+Cat.+03052+(1905);+as+reissued+on+Adelina+Patti:+1843–1919,+Pearl+GEMM+CD+9312.+©+Pavilion+Records+;+reproduced+by+permission).+Text+and+translation+are+as+follows:>Google Scholar

Pur dicesti, o bocca bellaGoogle Scholar

quel soave e caro ‘sì‘Google Scholar

che fa tutto il mio piacer.Google Scholar

At last you said, O lovely mouth,Google Scholar

that sweet and precious ‘yes‘Google Scholar

that creates all my pleasure.Google Scholar

In the sound clips I have used excerpts from Verdi's music whenever possible; unfortunately, Patti never recorded any Verdi, although she certainly performed his operas regularly during her career. But the similarity of her approach to the different kinds of music she did record (e.g. Mozart, Bellini, parlour songs) gives one confidence that she would have treated Verdi's music in much the same way.Google Scholar

38 See sound clip 2 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Nellie Melba singing ‘Caro nome’ from Verdi's Rigoletto; Victor, Matrix C-4283-2, Cat. 88078 (1907); reproduced by permission of the Historical Sound Recordings division of the Music Library at Yale University). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Caro nome che il mio corGoogle Scholar

festi primo palpitar,Google Scholar

le delizie dell'amorGoogle Scholar

mi dêi sempre rammentar!Google Scholar

Col pensier il mio desirGoogle Scholar

a te sempre volerà,Google Scholar

e fin l'ultimo sospir,Google Scholar

caro nome, tuo sarà.Google Scholar

Dear name who firstGoogle Scholar

made my heart beat:Google Scholar

you must always remind meGoogle Scholar

of the delights of love!Google Scholar

With the thought, my desireGoogle Scholar

will always fly to you,Google Scholar

and even my final sighGoogle Scholar

will be yours, dear name.Google Scholar

39 See sound clip 3 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Francesco Tamagno singing ‘Esultate!‘ from Verdi's Otello; G&T, Matrix 3001 FT, Cat. 52673 (1903); as reissued on Francesco Tamagno: The Complete Recordings and Three Unpublished Recordings, Opal CD 9846. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Esultate! L'orgoglio musulmanoGoogle Scholar

sepolto è in mar, nostra e del cielo èGoogle Scholar

[gloria!Google Scholar

Dopo l'armi lo vinse l'uragano.Google Scholar

Rejoice! The Muslim's prideGoogle Scholar

is buried in the sea; the glory is ours andGoogle Scholar

[heaven's!Google Scholar

After our arms, the gale defeated him.Google Scholar

40 See sound clip 4 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Mattia Battistini singing ‘Eri tu’, from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera; G&T Matrix 886c, Cat. 052146 (1906); as reissued on Mattia Battistini (1856–1928), Nimbus NI 7831. © Nimbus Records; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Eri tu che macchiavi quell'anima,Google Scholar

la delizia dell'anima mia …Google Scholar

che m'affidi e d'un tratto esecrabileGoogle Scholar

l'universo avveleni per me!Google Scholar

Traditor! Che compensi in tal guisaGoogle Scholar

dell'amico tuo primo la fè!Google Scholar

It was you who tarnished that soul,Google Scholar

the delight of my soul …Google Scholar

you who trust me and by an abominable actGoogle Scholar

poison the universe for me!Google Scholar

Traitor! That you repay in such a wayGoogle Scholar

the loyalty of your best friend!Google Scholar

41 See sound clip 5 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Sherrill Milnes singing ‘Eri tu’; London OSA 1398 (1971); as reissued on My Favorite Verdi, Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy, London 443 8162). For text and translation see note 40.Google Scholar

42 From letters of 16 and 20 November 1892 to Giulio Ricordi; the first as reproduced in Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi, iv, 466, and the second as translated in Hepokoski, Giuseppe Verdi: ‘Falstaff’, 121. See sound clip 6 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Edoardo Garbin singing ‘Un dì felice’, from Verdi's La traviata; G&T, Matrix 2841-R, Cat. 52428 (1902); reproduced by permission of the Historical Sound Recordings division of the Music Library at Yale University). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Ah sì, da un anno.Google Scholar

Un dì felice, etereaGoogle Scholar

mi balenaste innante,Google Scholar

e da quel dì tremante,Google Scholar

vissi d'ignoto amor.Google Scholar

Di quell'amor ch'è palpitoGoogle Scholar

dell'universo intero,Google Scholar

misterioso, alteroGoogle Scholar

croce e delizia al cor.Google Scholar

Ah yes, [I have loved you] for a year.Google Scholar

One day, happy, ethereal,Google Scholar

you appeared before me,Google Scholar

and since that day, trembling,Google Scholar

I have lived with an unknown love.Google Scholar

With that love which is the pulseGoogle Scholar

of the entire universe,Google Scholar

mysterious, unapproachable,Google Scholar

both cross and delight to the heart.Google Scholar

43 Kutsch and Riemens, Großes Sängerlexikon, i, col. 1038.Google Scholar

44 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 54: ‘l'usage réitéré du tremblement rend la voix chevrotante. L'artiste qui a contracté cet intolérable défaut devient incapable de phraser aucune espèce de chant soutenu. C'est ainsi que de belles voix ont été perdues pour l'art.‘ All translations from Garcia's second volume are either taken directly or adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise (trans. Paschke); this passage occurs on pages 150–1.Google Scholar

45 Lamperti, A Treatise, 19.Google Scholar

46 Chorley, Thirty Years' Musical Recollections, 4.Google Scholar

47 See sound clip 7 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Patti singing ‘Ah! non credea mirarti’, from Bellini's La sonnambula; G&T, Matrix 683c, Cat. 03084 (1906); as reissued on Adelina Patti: 1843–1919, Pearl GEMM CD 9312. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Ah! non credea mirartiGoogle Scholar

sì presto estinto, o fiore,Google Scholar

passasti al par d'amore,Google Scholar

che un giorno solo durò.Google Scholar

Ah! I never believed I would see youGoogle Scholar

dead so soon, O flower;Google Scholar

you died as did our love,Google Scholar

which lasted but one day.Google Scholar

48 See sound clip 8 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Melba singing ‘Ah fors'è lui’, from Verdi's La traviata; Victor, Matrix C-4339-1, Cat. 88064 (1907); reproduced by permission of the Historical Sound Recordings division of the Music Library at Yale University). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Ah fors'è lui che l'animaGoogle Scholar

solinga ne' tumultiGoogle Scholar

godea sovente pingereGoogle Scholar

de' suoi colori occulti …Google Scholar

Lui, che modesto e vigileGoogle Scholar

all'egre soglie ascese,Google Scholar

e nuova febbre acceseGoogle Scholar

destandomi all'amor.Google Scholar

A quell'amor ch'è palpitoGoogle Scholar

dell'universo intero… .Google Scholar

Ah, perhaps it is he whom my spirit,Google Scholar

lonely amid the tumults,Google Scholar

often enjoyed paintingGoogle Scholar

with its secret colours …Google Scholar

He who, modest and wary,Google Scholar

came up to my sickroom doorGoogle Scholar

and ignited a new fever,Google Scholar

awakening me to love.Google Scholar

To that love which is the pulseGoogle Scholar

of the entire universe…..Google Scholar

49 See sound clip 9 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Melba singing ‘Ave Maria’, from Verdi's Otello; Gramophone Company, Matrix CR 419, original not issued (1926); reproduced by permission of the Historical Sound Recordings division of the Music Library at Yale University). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

[Ave Maria, piena di] grazia, elettaGoogle Scholar

fra le spose e le vergini sei tu,Google Scholar

sia benedetto il frutto, o benedetta,Google Scholar

di tue materne viscere, Gesù.Google Scholar

Prega per chi adorando a te si prostra,Google Scholar

prega pel peccator, per l'innocenteGoogle Scholar

e pel debole oppresso e pel possente,Google Scholar

misero anch'esso, tua pietà dimostra.Google Scholar

Prega per chi sotto l'oltraggio piegaGoogle Scholar

la fronte e sotto la malvagia sorte …Google Scholar

[Hail Mary, full of] grace, chosenGoogle Scholar

are you among wives and virgins,Google Scholar

blessed be the fruit, O blessed one,Google Scholar

of your maternal womb, Jesus.Google Scholar

Pray for those who, worshipping you,Google Scholar

[prostrate themselves;Google Scholar

pray for the sinner, for the innocent one,Google Scholar

and for the weak and oppressed, and for theGoogle Scholar

[powerful,Google Scholar

also wretched, show your mercy.Google Scholar

Pray for those who, under abuse andGoogle Scholar

wicked fate, bow their heads …Google Scholar

50 See sound clip 10 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Battistini singing ‘Vieni meco’, from Verdi's Ernani; G&T, Matrix 880c, Cat. 054106 (1906); as reissued on Mattia Battistini (1856–1928), Nimbus NI 7831. © Nimbus Records; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Vieni meco, sol di roseGoogle Scholar

intrecciar ti vo' la vita,Google Scholar

vieni meco, ore penoseGoogle Scholar

per te il tempo non avrà.Google Scholar

Tergi il pianto, o giovinetta,Google Scholar

dalla guancia scolorita,Google Scholar

pensa al gaudio che t'aspetta,Google Scholar

che felice ti farà.Google Scholar

Come with me, for only with rosesGoogle Scholar

do I wish to entwine your life;Google Scholar

come with me, for painful hoursGoogle Scholar

time will not have for you.Google Scholar

Dry your tears, O young lady,Google Scholar

from your wan cheek;Google Scholar

think of the joy that awaits you,Google Scholar

that will make you happy.Google Scholar

51 On Tamagno's ill health and Maurel's ragged state, see Scott, The Record of Singing, 132 and 75–7. See also sound clip 11 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Victor Maurel singing ‘Era la notte’, from Verdi's Otello] Fonotopia Company, Matrix XPh 583, Cat. 39042 (1904); as reissued on The Complete Adelina Patti and Victor Maurel, Marston 52011-2. © Marston Records; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows: (Victor Maurel singing ‘Era la notte’, from Verdi's Otello] Fonotopia Company, Matrix XPh 583, Cat. 39042 (1904); as reissued on The Complete Adelina Patti and Victor Maurel, Marston 52011-2. © Marston Records; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=On+Tamagno's+ill+health+and+Maurel's+ragged+state,+see+Scott,+The+Record+of+Singing,+132+and+75–7.+See+also+sound+clip+11+at++(Victor+Maurel+singing+‘Era+la+notte’,+from+Verdi's+Otello]+Fonotopia+Company,+Matrix+XPh+583,+Cat.+39042+(1904);+as+reissued+on+The+Complete+Adelina+Patti+and+Victor+Maurel,+Marston+52011-2.+©+Marston+Records;+reproduced+by+permission).+Text+and+translation+are+as+follows:>Google Scholar

Era la notte, Cassio dormìa, gli stavoGoogle Scholar

[accanto.Google Scholar

Con interrotte voci tradìa l'intimo incanto.Google Scholar

Le labbra lente, lente, moveaGoogle Scholar

[nell'abbandonoGoogle Scholar

del sogno ardente; e allor dicea, con flebilGoogle Scholar

[suono:Google Scholar

It was night; Cassio was sleeping; I wasGoogle Scholar

[standing beside him.Google Scholar

With interrupted words he betrayed hisGoogle Scholar

[inner enchantment.Google Scholar

His lips moved very slowly in the abandonGoogle Scholar

of his ardent dream; and then he said, in aGoogle Scholar

[faint tone:Google Scholar

52 On the necessity of vibrato to ‘healthy’ singing, see Miller, The Structure, 186–9: he includes sections entitled ‘Eliminating Straight-Tone Intrusion’ and ‘Correcting the Vibratoless Voice’. See also Van Ambrose Christy, Foundations in Singing: A Basic Textbook in Vocal Technique and Song Interpretation (6th edn, Madison, WI, 1997), 46: ‘A free tone has vibrato.‘Google Scholar

53 Compare sound clip 8 (details in note 48) and sound clip 12 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Joan Sutherland singing ‘Ah fors'è lui'; The Art of the Prima Donna: Joan Sutherland, Decca 289 467 115–2 (1961). © Universal Classics <www.universalclassics.com>; reproduced by permission). For text and translation see note 48. One sometimes hears the objection that it is merely the poor acoustical recording methods that account for the reduced vibrato heard in early recordings. That argument would seem to be refuted by the vibrato that is audible on those recordings and also by the performances of singers such as Fernando De Lucia – recorded using the same technology – whose continuous vibrato is perfectly obvious and represents a sign of change in vocal fashions.Google Scholar

54 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 70: ‘Le trille n'est qu'une oscillation régulière de bas en haut, et vice versâ, que reçoit le larynx… . Les vieillards dont la voix est vacillante nous offrent l'exemple d'un trille involontaire. Chez eux le trille est irrégulier par faiblesse; chez les sujets plus jeunes, il doit devenir régulier par flexibilité… . La voix ainsi ébranlée dans un intervalle de seconde passe par tous les sons intermédiaires; mais comme elle renferme régulièrement ses excursions entre deux limites invariables, ces deux points extrêmes appellent seuls l'attention.‘ All translations here of Garcia's first volume are taken directly or adapted from Manuel Garcia, Garcia's Complete School of Singing [trans. anonymous] (Boston, n.d. [18??]); this passage occurs on page 67.Google Scholar

55 See sound clip 13 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Melba singing the cadenza from ‘Ah fors'è lui'; for full details and translation see note 48).Google Scholar

56 Clive Brown has conducted a detailed investigation of vibrato in performance practice from 1750 to 1900 (Classical and Romantic, 517–57), and Robert Philip has considered the implications of early recordings for vibrato in instrumental playing (Early Recordings and Musical Style: Changing Tastes in Instrumental Performance, 1900–1950 (Cambridge, 1992), 97–139). In general, both authors agree with my conclusions in this study, which focuses more specifically than do they on vocal practices.Google Scholar

57 From a letter of 11 November 1886 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 159.Google Scholar

58 Santley, The Art, 53–6; Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 1–14.Google Scholar

59 On the opening of some vowels, see Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 2–3. The quotation of Pacchiarotti comes from Lamperti, A Treatise, 5.Google Scholar

60 See sound clip 11 (details in note 51).Google Scholar

61 See above, and also sound clip 6 (details in note 42).Google Scholar

62 See sound clip 3 (details in note 39).Google Scholar

63 Garcia, Garcia's Complete School, 28. This passage does not appear in the 1847 French edition; presumably, it was inserted in the revised version of 1872. Not having access to that edition, I could not include the original French of this quotation here.Google Scholar

64 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 68: ‘Beaucoup de chanteurs, je le sais, prétendent que l'étude de la vocalisation est complétement [sic] inutile pour qui ne vise qu'au chant large. Cette assertion … est contraire à l'expérience. Le chant large devient d'autant plus facile, que l'on a plus complétement [sic] formé l'organe aux difficultés de la vocalisation; disons même que cette souplesse est indispensable à qui veut exceller dans le largo. Les voix lourdes ne peuvent arriver à la perfection dans aucun genre.’ (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 192.) See note 67 below for Garcia's definition of vocalisation.Google Scholar

65 Santley, The Art, p. xi.Google Scholar

66 Lamperti, A Treatise, 5–8, 26–8.Google Scholar

67 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 29: ‘Vocaliser signifie chanter sur des voyelles. Nous restreindrons la signification vague du mot vocalisation pour le remplacer par le mot précis d'agilité de la voix, et nous envisagerons cette faculté sous tous ses rapports. Ainsi, vocaliser signifiera pour nous la faculté d'enchaîner librement les sons entre eux… . Sur toutes les voyelles tour à tour; Dans les trois registres; Dans les deux timbres; Dans tout l'étendue de la voix; Dans tous les degrés de force; Dans tous les degrés de vitesse.’Google Scholar

(Vocalization signifies singing on the vowels. We will restrict the vague meaning of the word vocalization to replace it with the precise phrase ‘agility of the voice’, and we will consider this faculty in all its respects. Thus, vocalization will signify for us the ability to link fully [librement] the notes to each other … through all the vowels in turn; in the three registers; in the two timbres; through the entire extent of the voice; with all the degrees of force; in all the degrees of speed.)Google Scholar

68 From a letter of 13 June 1892 to Giulio Ricordi; as reproduced in Abbiati, Giuseppe Verdi, iv, 444: ‘I nostri cantanti non sanno fare in generale che la voce grossa; non hanno elasticità di voce, né sillabazione chiara e facile, e mancano d'accento e di fiato.‘Google Scholar

69 From a letter of 2 September 1886 to Franco Faccio; as reproduced in G[iuseppe] Morazzoni, Verdi: Lettere inedite (Milan, 1929), 44: ‘La voce della Sig. Pantaleoni avvezza a parti violente, ha molte volte gli acuti un po’ troppo mordenti, vi mette dirò così troppo metallo. Se potesse abituarsi a cantare un po' più di testa le riescirebbe più facilmente lo smorzato, e la voce sarebbe anche più sicura e più giusta.’Google Scholar

70 Regarding ‘Caro nome’, from an undated letter (from some time in 1852) to Carlo Borsi; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 177–8. Regarding Violetta, from a letter of 11 November 1856 to Vincenzo Torelli; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 113.Google Scholar

71 From a letter of 6 October 1877 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 201–2.Google Scholar

72 Rodolfo Celletti, ‘L'interpretazione di Verdi’, 311.Google Scholar

73 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 49–50.Google Scholar

74 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 50; ii, 34.Google Scholar

75 Lamperti, A Treatise, 13.Google Scholar

76 From a letter of 4 November 1886 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 159.Google Scholar

77 The violinist Albert Spalding writes of a performance by Maurel around 1906: ‘His voice … had gone threadbare, but the majesty of an undying art was still there. He couldn't possibly have sung a real forte. He had to suggest it, but how he suggested it!‘ (From Rise to Follow: An Autobiography (London, 1946), 67; as quoted in Scott, The Record of Singing, 77.)Google Scholar

78 On ‘Celeste Aida’, see the above-cited letter of 26? January 1875 (note 7). On Tamagno, see Verdi's letter of 22 January 1886 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in James Hepokoski, Giuseppe Verdi: ‘Otello’, Cambridge Opera Handbooks (Cambridge, 1987), 98.Google Scholar

79 Crutchfield, ‘Authenticity in Verdi’, 859.Google Scholar

80 See sound clip 7 (details in note 47).Google Scholar

81 See sound clip 14 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Mattia Battistini singing ‘Eri tu’; for details see sound clip 4, note 40). Text and translation are as follows:+(Mattia+Battistini+singing+‘Eri+tu’;+for+details+see+sound+clip+4,+note+40).+Text+and+translation+are+as+follows:>Google Scholar

O dolcezze perdute! o memorieGoogle Scholar

d'un amplesso che l'essere india!Google Scholar

Quando Amelia sì bella, sì candidaGoogle Scholar

sul mio seno brillava d'amor!Google Scholar

O lost pleasures! O memoriesGoogle Scholar

of an embrace that composed my being!Google Scholar

When Amelia, so beautiful, so pure,Google Scholar

sparkled on my breast with love!Google Scholar

82 See sound clip 15 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Victor Maurel singing ‘Era la notte’; for details see sound clip 11, note 51). Text and translation are as follows:+(Victor+Maurel+singing+‘Era+la+notte’;+for+details+see+sound+clip+11,+note+51).+Text+and+translation+are+as+follows:>Google Scholar

… ei disse poscia:Google Scholar

Il rio destino impreco che al Moro ti donò.Google Scholar

E allora il sogno in cieco letargo si mutò.Google Scholar

… he said then:Google Scholar

I curse the wicked destiny that gave you toGoogle Scholar

[the Moor.Google Scholar

And then the dream turned into blindGoogle Scholar

[lethargy.Google Scholar

83 To the argument that Verdi's own orchestral textures do not allow much soft singing are opposed the composer's requests for quiet playing from the instruments, an ability he felt required extensive rehearsal: to Alberto Mazzucato, the conductor of the Milanese première of Don Carlos, he writes, ‘In general, I urge you to take great care with the delicate things and to perform them so that the piani should truly be piani […]. The lack of delicacy and [excessive] violence are the capital sins of our orchestras because our poor players always have tired arms, and they don't rehearse enough to perform well the delicate things and the things with few notes.’ (From a letter of 20 March 1868; as translated in Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 155–6.)Google Scholar

84 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 25.Google Scholar

85 Ibid., ii, 7–8, 29. Lamperti, A Treatise, 15–17. Santley, The Art, 49–50.Google Scholar

86 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 30–1; ii, 29–30.Google Scholar

87 Ibid., i, 50–1.Google Scholar

88 See also sound clip 2 (details in note 38).Google Scholar

89 Celletti quotes an article in the Gazzetta musicale, written by Alberto Mazzucato in 1842 (he gives no more specific citation), that claims the practice of portamento had by then almost died out (‘L'interpretazione di Verdi’, 312). Discussions of portamento (or, in Garcia's term, the port de voix) appear in Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 29–30, and ii, 27–9. See also Lamperti, A Treatise, 16–17.Google Scholar

90 Garcia, École de Garcia, i, 29; ii, 8.Google Scholar

91 Clive Brown devotes an entire chapter to the portamento and distinguishes between the ‘anticipating grace’ and ‘leaping grace’ (Garcia's true port de voix and traînée). Again, Brown addresses the larger part of his discussion to instrumental music (Classical and Romantic, 558–87).Google Scholar

92 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 28. Lamperti, A Treatise, 16.Google Scholar

93 See sound clip 16 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Patti singing ‘Voi che sapete’, from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro; G&W, Matrix 537f, Cat. 03051 (1905); as reissued on Adelina Patti: 1843–1919, Pearl GEMM CD 9312. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Voi che sapeteGoogle Scholar

che cosa è amor,Google Scholar

donne vedeteGoogle Scholar

s'io l'ho nel cor.Google Scholar

Quello ch'io provoGoogle Scholar

vi ridirò,Google Scholar

è per me nuovoGoogle Scholar

capir nol so.Google Scholar

Sento un affettoGoogle Scholar

pien di desir,Google Scholar

ch'ora è diletto,Google Scholar

ch'ora è martir.Google Scholar

Gelo e poi sentoGoogle Scholar

l'alma avvampar,Google Scholar

e in un momentoGoogle Scholar

torno a gelar.Google Scholar

You who knowGoogle Scholar

what love is:Google Scholar

ladies, seeGoogle Scholar

whether I have it in my heart.Google Scholar

What I feel,Google Scholar

I will repeat to you,Google Scholar

is new for me:Google Scholar

I cannot understand it.Google Scholar

I feel a sentimentGoogle Scholar

full of desire,Google Scholar

which now is delightGoogle Scholar

and now is torment.Google Scholar

I freeze and then feelGoogle Scholar

my soul ablaze,Google Scholar

and in a momentGoogle Scholar

I go back to freezing.Google Scholar

94 See sound clip 4 (details in note 40). Interestingly, one of the most striking cases of portamento in Patti's performance – the falling and then rising thirds for the words ‘donne vedete’ – appears as an example in Garcia's discussion of the effect, marked almost exactly as Patti renders it (École de Garcia, ii, 27).Google Scholar

95 See sound clip 17 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Melba singing ‘Voi che sapete’; Victor, Matrix C-4353-2, Cat. 80067 (1910); as reissued on Dame Nellie Melba: Arias & Songs 1907–1926, Pearl, GEMM CD 9353 (now deleted). © Pavilion Records; reproduced by permission). For text and translation see note 93. The other important difference between these performances, of course, is Patti's strikingly greater freedom with tempo.Google Scholar

96 See Chusid, ‘Verdi's Own Words’, 174–8, where the author cites abundant evidence regarding Verdi's quick tempos.Google Scholar

97 From a letter of 13 December 1883 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 221.Google Scholar

98 As translated in James Hepokoski, ‘Under the Eye of the Verdian Bear: Notes on the Rehearsals and Première of Falstaff’, Musical Quarterly, 71 (1985), 135–56 (p. 146). According to Hepokoski, the essay appeared in a special issue of L'illustrazione italiana in February 1893, probably as part of the publicity effort for Falstaff.Google Scholar

99 Neither Santley nor Lamperti deals with tempo inflections: their treatises are directed more towards technical than interpretative matters.Google Scholar

100 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 22: ‘La mesure, par la régularité de sa marche, donne à la musique la fermeté et l'ensemble: ses irrégularités prêtent à l'exécution de la variété et de l'intérêt.‘ (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 69.) The following discussion is based on this section of Garcia (ii, 22–5).Google Scholar

101 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 24: ‘On appelle temps dérobé la prolongation momentanée de valeur que l'on accorde à un ou à plusieurs sons au détriment des autres.‘ (Translation taken from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 75.)Google Scholar

102 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 25: ‘Tandis que l'orchestre soutenait régulièrement la mesure, eux, de leur côté, s'abandonnaient à leur inspiration pour ne se rencontrer avec la basse qu'à l'instant où l'accord changeait, ou bien à la fin même de la phrase.’ (Translation taken from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 77.)Google Scholar

103 See sound clip 18 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Patti singing ‘Ah! je ris de me voir si belle’ (Jewel Song), from Gounod's Faust; G&T Matrix 542f, original not issued (1905); as reissued on The Complete Adelina Patti and Victor Maurel, Marston 52011-2. © Marston Records; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Ah! je ris de me voirGoogle Scholar

si belle en ce miroir!Google Scholar

Est-ce toi, Marguerite?Google Scholar

Réponds moi, réponds vite!Google Scholar

Non, non ce n'est plus toi,Google Scholar

ce n'est plus ton visage!Google Scholar

C'est la fille d'un roiGoogle Scholar

qu'on salue au passage!Google Scholar

Ah! s'il était ici!Google Scholar

S'il me voyait ainsi!Google Scholar

Comme une demoiselle,Google Scholar

il me trouverait belle!Google Scholar

Ah, I laugh at my appearance,Google Scholar

so beautiful in the mirror!Google Scholar

Is it you, Marguerite?Google Scholar

Answer me, answer quickly!Google Scholar

No, no, it's no longer you;Google Scholar

it's no longer your face!Google Scholar

It's the daughter of a kingGoogle Scholar

to whom all bow as she passes!Google Scholar

Oh! If only he were here!Google Scholar

If he could see me like this!Google Scholar

Dressed like a lady,Google Scholar

he would find me beautiful!Google Scholar

104 See sound clip 19 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Patti singing ‘Voi che sapete’, from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro; G&W, Matrix 537f, Cat. 03051 (1905); as reissued on Adelina Patti: 1843–1919, Pearl GEMM CD 9312. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

Ricerco un beneGoogle Scholar

fuori di me,Google Scholar

non so ch'il tiene,Google Scholar

non so cos' è.Google Scholar

Sospiro e gemoGoogle Scholar

senza voler,Google Scholar

palpito e tremoGoogle Scholar

senza saper.Google Scholar

Non trovo paceGoogle Scholar

notte ne dì,Google Scholar

ma pur mi piaceGoogle Scholar

languir così.Google Scholar

I search for an affectionGoogle Scholar

outside myself;Google Scholar

I don't know what it holds;Google Scholar

I don't know what it is.Google Scholar

I sigh and moanGoogle Scholar

without wishing to;Google Scholar

I pant and trembleGoogle Scholar

without knowing why.Google Scholar

I find no peaceGoogle Scholar

night or day,Google Scholar

but still I enjoyGoogle Scholar

languishing like this.Google Scholar

105 See sound clip 20 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Tamagno singing ‘Niun mi tema’, from Verdi's Otello; G&T, Matrix 14 FT, original not issued (1903 or 1904); as reissued on Francesco Tamagno: The Complete Recordings and Three Unpublished Recordings, Opal CD 9846. © Pavilion Records <www.pavilionrecords.com>; reproduced by permission). Text and translation are as follows:Google Scholar

E tu … come sei pallida! e stanca, e muta,Google Scholar

[e bella,Google Scholar

pia creatura nata sotto maligna stella.Google Scholar

Fredda come la casta tua vita, e in cieloGoogle Scholar

[assorta.Google Scholar

Desdemona! Desdemona! … Ah! …Google Scholar

[morta! … morta! … morta!Google Scholar

Ho un'arma ancor!Google Scholar

Pria d'ucciderti … sposa … ti baciai.Google Scholar

Or morendo … nell'ombra in cui mi giacioGoogle Scholar

Un bacio … un bacio ancora … un altroGoogle Scholar

[bacio …Google Scholar

And you … how pale you are, and weary,Google Scholar

[and silent, and beautiful,Google Scholar

pious creature born under a malevolent star.Google Scholar

Cold as your chaste life, and absorbed inGoogle Scholar

[heaven.Google Scholar

Desdemona! Desdemona! … Ah! … dead!Google Scholar

[… dead! … dead!Google Scholar

I still have a weapon!Google Scholar

Before killing you … wife … I kissed you.Google Scholar

Now, dying … in the shadows where I lie,Google Scholar

a kiss … a kiss again … another kiss …Google Scholar

106 See sound clip 4 (details in note 40).Google Scholar

107 See sound clip 16 (details in note 93).Google Scholar

108 From the memoirs of Marianna Barbieri Nini (the first Lady Macbeth), as reported in Checchi, Giuseppe Verdi, 64–8, and translated in Conati, Interviews and Encounters, 25.Google Scholar

109 See sound clip 18 (details in note 103) and sound clip 21 at <www.jrma.oupjournals.org> (Sutherland singing ‘Ah! je ris de me voir si belle’; The Art of the Prima Donna: Joan Sutherland, Decca 289 467 115-2 (1961). © Universal Classics <www.universalclassics.com>; reproduced by permission). For text and translation see note 103.+(Sutherland+singing+‘Ah!+je+ris+de+me+voir+si+belle’;+The+Art+of+the+Prima+Donna:+Joan+Sutherland,+Decca+289+467+115-2+(1961).+©+Universal+Classics+;+reproduced+by+permission).+For+text+and+translation+see+note+103.>Google Scholar

110 From a letter of 20 February 1871 to Giuseppe Prioli; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 175–6.Google Scholar

111 Celletti (‘L'interpretazione di Verdi’, 312) has already noted that a more ‘word-to-word’ application of vocal nuances seems typical of the nineteenth century, although he finds little in that approach to benefit Verdi's music.Google Scholar

112 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 50: ‘1^o Les mouvements de la physionomie. 2^o Les altérations diverses de la respiration. 3^o L'émotion de la voix. 4^o Les différents timbres. 5^o L'altération de l'articulation. 6^o Le mouvement du débit. 7^o L'élévation ou l'abaissement des sons. 8^o Les divers degrés d'intensité de la voix.’ (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 143.) The explanations presented in brackets here summarize Garcia's later explanation of this list (ii, 51–9).Google Scholar

113 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 34: ‘C'est en préparant un effet par l'effet contraire que l'on obtient les résultats les plus brillants: par exemple, un forte ne ressortira complétement [sic] qu'à la condition d'être précédé d'un piano.’ (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 99.) In the same passage, Garcia makes the following – still pertinent – observation: ‘C'est une erreur commune à plusieurs artistes de croire que l'habileté consiste à donner une extrême vigueur à toutes les parties de l'exécution indistinctement. Lorsque tout est énergique, l'énergie ne se trouve en réalité nulle part.’Google Scholar

114 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 49: ‘On comprend donc que l'artiste ne produise sur nous que des expressions analogues à celles qu'il ressent lui-même’. (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 138.)Google Scholar

115 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 50.Google Scholar

116 This interview, entitled ‘Verdi in Wien’, was originally published in German in Neue freie Presse (Vienna), no. 3874 (9 June 1875; as cited above) and was quickly reprinted in the source to which I had access, Signale für die musikalische Welt (Leipzig), 33 (1875), 465–7. The key first sentence appears as ‘Sie geben sich keine Mühe, eine schöne Schattirung in den Gesang zu bringen, ihr ganzes Bestreben ist dahin gerichtet, diese oder jene Note mit großer Kraft hervorzustoßen.’ The German is naturally the basis of later translations, such as that by Conati (Interviews and Encounters, 109), who contracts ‘eine schöne Schattirung in den Gesang zu bringen’ to just ‘to render nuance’. Chusid gives the passage more faithfully (‘Verdi's Own Words’, 180) as ‘to get fine light and shade into their singing’. Chusid's translation suggests that he too may have thought Verdi's original word was in fact ‘chiaroscuro’.Google Scholar

117 Lamperti, A Treatise, 8.Google Scholar

118 From a letter of 20 February 1871 to Giuseppe Piroli; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 175–6.Google Scholar

119 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 54: ‘Essayons de changer dans ces exemples les caractères de la voix, le clair, le sombre, l'éclatant, le mat, et l'effet deviendra détestable. Cet emploi fait à contre-sens explique pourquoi les sons qui plaisent dans certains mouvements, déplaisent ailleurs; pourquoi le chanteur uniforme ne dit bien que certains passages. Le timbre clair et éclatant, mis hors de sa place, semble criard; le timbre clair et mat, niais; le timbre sombre et éclatant semble grondeur; le timbre sombre et sourd produit l'effet de l'enrouement.’ (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 154.)Google Scholar

120 Letter of 10 July 1871 to Giulio Ricordi; as translated in Osborne, Letters, 178.Google Scholar

121 Garcia, École de Garcia, ii, 70: ‘il faut une âme de feu, une puissance gigantesque; l'acteur doit constamment dominer le chanteur’. (Translation adapted from Garcia, A Complete Treatise, 201.)Google Scholar

122 Crutchfield, ‘Vocal Ornamentation’, 4, where he is citing the opinion of Howard Mayer Brown, ‘Performing Practice’, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London, 1980), xiv, 370–93 (p. 390).Google Scholar