Verdi and the French Aesthetic: Verse, Stanza, and Melody in Nineteenth-Century Opera

306 Pages·2008·3.38 MB·English

by  Andreas Giger

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VerdiandtheFrenchAesthetic
Verse,stanza,andmelodyinnineteenth-centuryopera
FocusingonVerdi’sFrenchoperas,AndreasGigershowshowthecom-
poseracquiredaneverbetterunderstandingofthevariousapproaches
toFrenchversificationwhilegraduallybringinghisworksinlinewith
French melodic aesthetic. In his first French opera, J´erusalem, Verdi
treatedthetextinanoverlycautiousmanner,tryingtoavoidprosodic
mistakes; in Les Vˆepres siciliennes, he began to apply more freedom,
scanningtheversesagainstsomeprosodicaccentstoconveythelight-
heartednessofamelody;andinDonCarlos,hefinallydrewontheentire
palette of prosodic interpretations. Most of Verdi’s melodic accom-
plishmentsintheFrenchoperascarriedoverintothesubsequentItalian
onesandsetthestageforwhatlaterwouldbecalledoperaticverismo.
Drawing attention to the significance of the operatic libretto for the
stylisticanddramaticdevelopmentofnineteenth-centuryFrenchand
Italianopera,thisbookillustratesVerdi’sgradualmasteryofthechal-
lengeshefacedandtheirhistoricalsignificance.
andreasgigerisAssociateProfessorofMusicatLouisianaStateUni-
versity.Hisresearchinterestshaveconcentratedonnineteenth-century
ItalianoperaandtheworkofLeonardBernstein.Heistheauthorof
Verismo(2004)intheHandwo¨rterbuchdermusikalischenTerminolo-
gieandarticlesinmanybooksandjournals,includingTheCambridge
CompaniontoVerdi,theJournaloftheAmericanMusicologicalSociety,
andthesecondeditionofTheNewGroveDictionaryofMusicandMusi-
cians.HeisalsocoeditorofMusicintheMirror(2002)andfounderof
theInternetdatabasesaggimusicaliitaliani.
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Verdi and the French Aesthetic
Verse, stanza, and melody in nineteenth-century opera
andreas giger
LouisianaStateUniversity
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CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521878432
© Andreas Giger 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-41390-2 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-87843-2 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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InmemoryofHaroldS.Powers
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Contents
Acknowledgments [page ix]
Introduction [1]
parti: versificationandmelodicaesthetics
1 RhythmandstanzainFrenchandItalianlibrettos [7]
2 FrenchandItalianmelodicaestheticsandpracticeca.1830–1870 [43]
Episode:Design,middlegroundrhythm,andphrase [78]
partii: frenchmelodyinverdi’soperas
3 J´erusalemanditsinfluenceonthesubsequentItalianoperas [91]
4 LesVˆepressiciliennesanditsinfluenceonthesubsequentItalianoperas [121]
5 DonCarlosandafter [182]
Appendix:Principaltheoreticaltextscited(arrangedinchronological
orderbydateofpublication) [229]
Notes [233]
Bibliography [271]
Index [287]
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