Yale University Press

Chapter Title: Italian Bel Canto

Book Title: Singing in Style

Book Subtitle: A Guide to Vocal Performance Practices
Book Author(s): Martha Elliott
Published by: Yale University Press. (2006)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32brkx.8

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 Chapter 4 Italian Bel Canto

This chapter discusses the Italian vocal style of the early nineteenth
century, including music by Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. This
repertoire is commonly called bel canto, a term with a tangled web of
meanings and associations. Literally, it means "beautiful singing,"
which is probably how it was used in seventeenth- and eighteenth-
century vocal treatises. In the mid-nineteenth century the term took
on a larger significance. The 1838 publication of a collection of songs
by Nicola Vaccai entitled Dodici ariette per camera per Vinsegnamento
del bel canto italiano may have been the first time the term was seen in
print in this particular usage.1 Later in the nineteenth century, as part
of the wave of nationalism that swept through Europe, "bel canto"
was used to contrast the Italian vocal approach with the German
declamatory style of the Wagnerians. Ferdinand Sieber's collection of
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century songs entitled II bel canto (Berlin,
1887) was offered as an antidote to "offensive shrieking of dramatic
singing" in the German style.2 In dictionaries after 1900 the term of-
ten describes the florid vocal style of the eighteenth-century Italian
Baroque, epitomized in the art of the castrati. German musicologists

126

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 Italian Bel Canto 127

of the early twentieth century extended the definition to include seventeenth-

century Italian vocal repertoire and style as well.
Some writers and voice teachers insist that bel canto is a vocal technique;
others believe it to be a conceptual approach characterized by smooth, flowing
melodies. Still others say it describes a general approach to singing that culmi-
nated in the florid style of Rossini. In a conversation from 1858, Rossini himself
expressed his requirements for a bel canto singer as having a naturally beautiful
voice, blended registers and an even tone from the low to the high range, dili-
gent training resulting in effortless delivery of highly florid music, and a com-
mand of style not taught but rather learned from listening to the best Italian
singers. It is not clear from the context whether he was using the phrase in its
literal or more general meaning, but he did regret that the tradition Was already
dying out by the middle of the nineteenth century.3
The early nineteenth century saw the continued growth of a middle-class au-
dience hungry for diversions and entertainments of all kinds, including music.
Public concerts increasingly required larger halls, which in turn required louder
orchestras and soloists. The greater demand for performers resulted in the ex-
pansion of the conservatory system, which now provided more thorough and
systematic instruction to both instrumentalists and singers. Choral societies
flourished as more people, including women, were invited to sing in choruses
not affiliated with churches or choir schools. The public eagerly followed the
latest new symphonies, concertos, operas, and star performers, and wanted to
be able to play their favorite melodies at home. Private concerts took place in
fashionable households, including music making by amateurs and appearances
by celebrities. Virtuoso musicians such as violinist Niccolo Paganini and pi-
anist Franz Liszt also took to the road, performing across Europe.
As the opera industry grew, practices that had begun in the seventeenth cen-
tury gained momentum and popularity. New Italian operas were Repeated in
different cities as word of their success spread and audiences demanded their
own productions of the latest hits. More operas were thus being regularly per-
formed by singers other than those for whom they were originally written. It
had been common in the eighteenth century for singers and cojnposers to
make changes and substitutions in an opera production, and in the early nine-
teenth century composers continued to help fashion changes and adaptations
for different singers and new productions. Increasingly, however, the composer,
who typically was paid far less than the prima donna, was not involved in pro-
ductions following the premiere or had little control over the whims of star
singers.

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128 Italian Bel Canto

This book focuses primarily on vocal repertoire outside the realm of opera.
In the case of the early nineteenth-century bel canto period, however, the de-
finitive technical and stylistic decisions regarding new works were made by
opera singers, collaborating with composers. While the musical examples for
this chapter are chosen mostly from the nonoperatlc repertoire, we must con-
sider the early nineteenth-century opera tradition to understand the singing
style of the period.

Scores and Editions

Because composers now had less to do with the performances of their works,
they began to mark their scores more carefully, aiming to ensure a reasonable
performance without their presence. Italian composers were a bit more casual
about this need than their more exacting German neighbors. As opera produc-
tions took to the road, publishers became increasingly involved in the preserva-
tion of the composer s wishes by producing carefully printed sets of orchestra
parts that were rented to local opera companies. The wide availability of piano-
vocal scores, however, enabled the more unscrupulous to reorchestrate the mu-
sic and produce operas while avoiding the rental fees for the published parts.
Donizetti complained bitterly to his publisher Giulio Ricordi (founder of the
foremost publishing house of Italian music) about these kinds of abuses. By
1840, copyright laws prevented such piracy, and the publishers kept track of
which operas were being performed where and by what singers.
Publishers also issued much new music for home use by amateurs. Since the
only way for most concertgoers and opera lovers to hear their favorite music
again was to play it themselves on their pianos at home, publishers, with the
help of composers, prepared editions of popular arias, sometimes with the or-
naments of famous singers included. Arrangements of well-known orchestral
pieces for piano, piano duet, or chamber ensemble were also popular. The bel
canto composers also wrote songs and miniature versions of arias for perfor-
mance in the home.
In general, first editions of songs or piano reductions of opera scores from
this period are reasonably reliable expressions of the composers' wishes. Many
modern piano-vocal scores of Bellini and Donizetti operas are essentially
reprints of early- or mid-nineteenth-century publications. Facsimiles of various
opera score manuscripts, with fascinating editorial commentary by Philip Gos-
sett and others, are available in some libraries. Some scholarly work has been
done on Donizetti, and a critical edition of Bellini s works is in preparation but
not yet available. Ricordi s modern editions of Bellini s Composizione da camera

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 Italian Bel Canto 129

(chamber songs) are usually based on their own previous or original editions,
either as exact reprints or lightly edited. A semicritical edition of Bellini songs,
edited by Francesco Cesari, was published in Milan in 2000. Ricordi is in the
process of publishing new critical editions of Rossini's works, edited by Philip
Gossett, Bruno Cagli, and Alberto Zedda, Many of the Rossini operas have
been issued, and some piano-vocal reductions are now available; many include
appendixes with extra variants or cadenzas; the volumes of songs have not yet
been published.
Thus, for early nineteenth-century Italian bel canto repertoire you don't
have to be as careful in choosing a score as for earlier repertoire. However, the
more specific information you can find at the beginning of a score about its
sources, the better.

Articulation and Phrasing

In the early nineteenth century, legato style gained favor over the usual de-
tached articulation of the eighteenth century, particularly in Italian vocal mu-
sic. If composers wanted a detached articulation they now asked for it by mark-
ing the score with various accentuation marks. These could include dots,
strokes, dashes, and accents for differing degrees of stress, separation, or stac-
cato. Composers also used a wide variety of dynamic accents including $fz, sfp,
rfi sfyfy or ffto highlight variations in articulation.4 In vocal music the text
continued to be the main inspiration for articulation, and by including various
accentuation marks in their instrumental works, composers may have been en-
couraging instrumentalists to shape their lines as if they had words. As men-
tioned in previous chapters, many instrumental treatises advised players to
listen to good singing for examples of expressive articulation. The violinist
Charles de Bériot, husband of the famous singer Maria Malibran, discusses the
importance of emulating good singing and expressive pronunciation in his 1858
Methode de violón: \

We cannot repeat too often that the performer will not be perfect until he can repro-
duce the accents of song in their most delicate forms. . . . It is then of the highest im-
portance for the singer to articulate clearly the words which he undertakes to inter-
pret. . . . It is well understood that the degree of intensity of this pronunciation
should be in harmony with the spirit of the piece. . . . These are the varied and di-
verse shades of expression which the violinist should render, giving to his bow a soft
pronunciation for calm and serene music, and employing it with graduated force in
passionate music. This accentuation gives to the instrument the prestige of words:
we say that the violin speaks in the hands of the master.5

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130 Italian Bel Canto

Vocal method books of the time, including, among many others, those of
Gesualdo Lanza (1809), Domenico Corri (1810), Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari
(1818), and Isaac Nathan (1823) stress the importance of communicating the
text by using appropriately placed breaths, phrasing, and expression to comple-
ment the dramatic meaning of the words.6
The most famous discussion of vocal technique and style from the period
(and probably the most widely available in libraries today) is the younger
Manuel García's Traite complet de Van du chant. Written in 1841 and revised in
1847,1854, and 1872, it was translated into English as Hints on Singing in 1894/
The Garcia family had an extraordinary influence on opera and singing in the
nineteenth century. Garcías father was the famous tenor Manuel del Popólo
Vicente Rodríguez García, the first Almaviva in Rossini s The Barber of Seville.
In addition to singing florid tenor roles, Garcia the elder was also famous for his
portrayal of Mozart s Don Giovanni, which he sang in transposition. As a com-
poser, performer, and impresario, he brought his family of singers to New York
in 1825, introducing Italian opera to American audiences by producing operas
of his own as well as works by Rossini and others. The company included his
wife as well as his son Manuel and his daughter Maria. Both of his daughters,
Maria Malibran and Pauline Víardot, later became famous divas.
While Manuel the younger was not as successful onstage as his father or his
sisters, he went on to become one of the most important voice teachers of his
day. His treatise, though written years later, captures the approach and style he
learned from his father in the first decades of the century. It is divided into two
parts: the first deals with proper production of tone and vocalization of vowels,
while the second begins with a detailed discussion of using phrasing and artic-
ulation to communicate the meaning of the text, which Garcia says is of the
greatest importance. He stresses the correct pronunciation of consonants and
the appropriate stress of syllables with regard to grammatical position and spo-
ken inflection. One of Garcías students, the noted English baritone Charles
Santly, remarked that while it may seem easier to sing in Italian than in English,
the proper pronunciation of the Italian language takes much care and atten-
tion. Santly stressed to his own students "the necessity for refinement, delicacy,
and finish in the execution of all detail, whether of music or language; attention
to these distinguishes the artist from the artisan."8 Garcia includes many exam-
ples of passages requiring noble, pathetic, impassioned, and buffo effects from
operas by Rossini, Bellini, Meyerbeer, Mozart, and others, with detailed in-
structions on the rhythmic placement of consonants in order to achieve the de-
sired dramatic results.9

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 Italian Bel Canto 131

Even more interesting is the discussion of phrasing and breathing that fol-
lows. Garcia presents two kinds of breaths: full and half. A full breath would
take enough time for a deep intake of air, while a half breath would be more like
a short catch breath. He recommends changing the written rhythm of |a phrase,
if necessary, to fit in an appropriate place to breathe. A particularly fascinating
example is his recommendation for Zerlinas aria "Batti, batti" from Don Gio-
vanni (ex. 4.1). In the phrase "staro qui come agnellina," he suggests changing
the rhythm of the dotted eighth and sixteenth notes in the measure of "qui
come angnel-" to an eighth note followed by a sixteenth note and a sixteenth
rest for "-lina" in the next measure, in order to catch a quick half breath before
the next phrase. In some scores of this aria, particularly in aria collections, the
rhythm is printed as dotted in the first measure followed by two even eighth
notes in the second measure. In 1789 Mozart wrote two dotted rhythms, but
what we see in some modern editions is Garcías suggested alteration from 1841.
Garcia's influence was so strong that his recommendations became part of the
arias performance tradition and made their way into published scores.
In the early nineteenth century, singers considered the score a flexible start-
ing place, tailoring the music to fit their particular needs and abilities. For ex-
ample, Garcia suggests changing the underlay of syllables, if necessary, to facil-
itate breathing and phrasing or to correct a composer s poor text setting. He
advises against breathing in the middle of a word unless absolutely jnecessary,
and he recommends that any changes made to accommodate breathing be as
unobtrusive as possible. As well as adding rests when the composer did not in-
dicate them, Garcia suggests places to sing through written rests in order to
connect phrases for dramatic effect. He also discusses altering triplets or dotted
figures to fit the character of an aria. For majestic or martial music, oyerdotting
or double dotting may be called for, while for more gentle sentiments, soften-
ing a dotted figure into a triplet can add expression. For passages of coloratura
Garcia suggests emphasizing or accenting the first note in a group in order to
shape the phrase and avoid monotony. He also recommends giving dissonant
notes slightly more emphasis, and he shows how and where to use the breath to
add expressive sighs and sobs (a device most modern singers avoid). Many an-
notated examples from Handel, Mozart, and early nineteenth-century opera
punctuate his discussion. Garcías eighteenth-century musical examples offer a
fascinating glimpse at a nineteenth-century perspective on Classical style, while
his early nineteenth-century examples give a definitive view of singing style at
the time. For singers working on early nineteenth-century Italian opera reper-
toire, I strongly recommend reading and studying the entire treatise.

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132 Italian Bel Canto

Example 4.1. García: rhythmic alterations for Mozart's "Batti, batti" from Don Giovanni m
Λ Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part Two, Da Capo Press, 1975, p. 64.

Tempo, Rhythmic Flexibility, and Rubato

Just as the flow of rhythm became more flexible in the early nineteenth century,
so did the flow of tempo and the use of rubato. Since traditional court dances
now held a much less prominent place in social life, they had less influence on
the shape of music than in the Classical era. The combination of meter and pre-
vailing rhythm, which used to give a strong indication of the appropriate
tempo and character of a work, no longer had as important an impact. In addi-
tion, by the end of the eighteenth century a single work often contained a num-
ber of different thematic elements, each with its own character or mood and
each demanding a slightly different tempo. Nineteenth-century composers
started using more qualified and descriptive tempo terms such as Allegro agi-
tato, Larghetto espressivo, and Andante sostenuto, along with terms such as an-
dantino and cantabile to describe the tempo they wanted.
Unfortunately, these vague terms did not necessarily clarify the distinctions
among subtly different tempos. Clive Brown notes that Rossini, in his Paris op-
eras, used a variety of slow tempo terms without any specific hierarchy of slow-
ness. Brown also notes that in many situations Rossini seems to have indicated
a 4/4 or alia breve meter without any obvious reason. Sometimes a piece
marked 4/4 feels decidedly "in 2," while another piece marked alia breve feels

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 Italian Bel Canto 133

"in 4."10 Without an accompanying metronome marking, it is sometimes

difficult to determine precisely what a composer meant by a certain tempo
marking. Even a surviving metronome marking, while supplying a reference
point or starting place, can be misleading. The character and flow of the music
must provide the clues, unless one is thoroughly familiar with a particular
composer's tempo preferences.
In vocal music of this period, the text often provides answers to questions of
tempo. In the early nineteenth century, the singer had more license to surge
ahead if the text became excited or impassioned, or to hold the tempo back a bit
if the dramatic situation became sad or tender. It was common for a crescendo
to be accompanied by an accelerando, just as a diminuendo would accompany
a rallentando. García remarked that "the works of Donizetti and Bellini contain
a great number of passages which, without bearing the sign of the rallentando
or accelerando, yet require their use."11 Often singers might do exactly the op-
posite of what the notation suggests. Charles Rosen states in The Romantic
Generation that "the sudden increase of speed at the end of the phrase would
have been executed by Rossini singers with a slight expressive slowing down."12
This kind of tempo flexibility required the accompanist or orchestra to adjust
tempo along with the soloist, whether it be for an entire section or just a mea-
sure or two. Such coordination would be even easier to accomplish with a piano
accompaniment in a chamber setting.
Of course the amount of rhythmic flexibility employed depended upon the
context of the music and the choices made by a particular singer. Certainly the
famous singers of the time had different strengths and abilities when it came to
flexibility and agility. The renowned Giuditta Pasta, for whom Bellini and
Donizetti both wrote important roles (including Amina, Norma, and Anna
Bolena), was said to have excelled in unadorned cantabile singing. Contempo-
rary accounts report that her voice was not as flexible or fast as those of some of
her rivals. In contrast, Isabella Colbran, who eventually married Rossini and
most probably influenced his vocal writing, is said to have had more difficulty
sustaining a steady tone or singing in tune in slow, simple passages, yet she ex-
celled at fast, brilliant fioritura.
Just as the amount of flexibility varied from singer to singer, it also varied
from composer to composer. Garcia states that the music of Haydn, Mozart,
Cimarosa, and Rossini demands a complete exactness in the rhythmic move-
ment; any changes one might make in the values of the notes should not inter-
fere with the steady movement of the measure.13 While Rossinis music may

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134 Italian Bel Canto

demand more precision and exactitude than the music of Bellini and Donizetti,
there is no question that the flow of rhythm within measures and phrases was
becoming more flexible for both solo instrumentalists and singers.
The other kind of rhythmic flexibility was tempo rubato. Here the voice or
solo instrument goes out of phase with the accompaniment, which continues
in a steady flow as the soloist steals or borrows time, only to return it later in the
measure or phrase. This practice, introduced as sprezzatura in the seventeenth
century, had been used throughout the eighteenth century.;The agogic accent,
which falls into the realm of rubato, was a particularly important expressive de-
vice throughout the nineteenth century. If a certain note merits special accen-
tuation for textual or general expressive reasons, the soloist may stress and hold
it slightly longer than notated. The stolen time for the agogic accent must be re-
turned, however, and the general flow of the music left undisturbed. Garcia
offers many operatic examples in which the rhythm can be bxpressively altered
using rubato and agogic accents. He encourages the use of rhythmic alteration
and flexibility to suit a wide variety of situations, and he sternly admonishes
against performances that are metronomic and stiff. Many nineteenth-century
tutors encouraged singers to be expressive by varying the rhythm within the
measure, the flow of phrases across several measures, and the tempos of larger
sections within an entire song or aria.
A singer s taste and abilities determined the degree to which he or she em-
ployed these devices. As we will see with portamento, vibrato, and ornamenta-
tion, tutors recommended using caution and moderation whh regard to tempo
modification. The use of rubato by a sensitive musician should result in an al-
most imperceptible flexibility throughout a performance. Contemporary ac-
counts, however, indicate that many singers and instrumentalists used flexible
rhythm and tempo to a great degree, often beyond what sorne now would con-
sider good taste.

Voice Types

A singer in his youth, Rossini considered the castrato voice his ideal, both for its
virtuosic and expressive capabilities. He wrote one role in an early opera, Aure-
liano in Palmira (1813), for the last castrato who appeared on the operatic stage,
Giovanni Battista Velluti. The final operatic role written jfor Velluti was in
Meyerbeer s II ero ciato in Egitto (1824). By then the public had lost interest in
the castrato voice, particularly in London, where Velluti was seen as a curiosity
at best and a disgusting freak at worst.14 Opera composers turned to the heroic

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 Italian Bel Canto 135

contralto voice as the closest replacement for the primo uomo castrato. Some
roles, including several for which Giuditta Pasta was famous, required the fe-
male lead to be in male dress, thus putting a woman in what would have been
the castrato's part. Both Pasta and Malibran were said to sound male in their
lower registers and female in their higher registers, thus appealing to Italian
opera audiences' love of sexual ambiguity. Rossini used this low female voice
type for comic heroines such as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and Angelina m
La Cenerentola. Both Pasta and Malibran sang soprano roles as well.
The tenor voice gained full acceptance in the roles of the young hero or lover
and was also used in character parts. Rossini s Otello includes three demanding
tenor parts. Most tenors still blended into their head register above g' l Adolphe
Nourrit, who premiered numerous roles written for him by Rossini, Meyer-
beer, and others, sang the many high Cs in Rossini's Guillaume Tell in his head
voice. He reigned at the Paris Opera from 1826 to 1837, when his rival, Gilbert-
Louis Duprez, made his debut as Arnold in Guillaume Tell. Duprez caused a
sensation, assuring his success in Paris and his place in tenor history by singing
the famous high Cs in full chest voice. This was too much for pooi: Nourrit,
who withdrew from the stage and later committed suicide. Rossinij however,
much preferred his singing to Duprez's. "That tone," Rossini said, referring to
the chest-voice high C, "rarely falls agreeably upon the ear. Nourrit sang it in
head voice, and that is how it should be sung. [Duprez's note sounds] like the
squawk of a capon whose throat is being cut."* ^
The lowest male voices still largely played buffo characters or wise old teach-
ers and fathers. Their parts tended to have more robust singing and ¡fewer pas-
sages of ornate coloratura. Antonio Tamburini's vocal gifts, however, led Bellini
and Donizetti to compose a new kind of baritone role, making use of a higher
tessitura and longer, more legato lines. The baritone Giorgio Ronconi also in-
spired Donizetti to write roles that took advantage of his superior acting skills.
The collaborative efforts of these singers and composers paved the way for the
dramatic baritone roles later seen in Verdi's operas.
When writing a new opera, Bellini is said to have worried more about the
contracted singers than the libretto. Despite the celebrity of Rossini, Bellini,
Donizetti, and other successful composers, singers continued to transpose and
substitute numbers to suite their taste and comfort. They also used an approach
called puntatura, whereby they would keep the music in its original key but
readjust certain pitches to fit their ranges. This could involve lowering ex-
tremely high notes or, more commonly, moving particularly low notes higher.

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136 Italian Bel Canto

Yet starting in the 18408, the young Verdi began to place ever more importance
on the dramatic and musical flow of the entire opera, insisting on making all
such changes himself rather than leaving them to the discretion of the singers.

Technique

In Bel Canto in Its Golden Age, Philip Duey observes that the principles of good
singing remained remarkably consistent throughout the many treatises from
Caccini to Garcia. Writers and teachers since the seventeenth century have
stressed natural methods and the cultivation of natural abilities, and they have
even reproduced some of the same phrases to describe desirable qualities in a
singer.16 From the early seventeenth century to the time of Rossini, the musical
goals for singers were a sweet, pure tone, blended registers, command of the
messa di voce> a facility for executing florid ornaments, and an ability to convey
the emotions of a text.
Writers in the early nineteenth century tried to explain how to achieve these
goals in more concrete terms. Isaac Nathan discusses the transition from the
middle register to the high voice and distinguishes between the falsetto and
"feigned" voice in the upper range. The falsetto, he reports, is produced by the
aperture of the mouth "in the small cell or cavity above the arch of the mouth,
called the internal nose." The feigned voice is formed "at the back part of
the head and throat just above the glottis where the uvula is situated."17 He
warns against carrying the chest voice up too high. Instead the singer should
strengthen the higher tones using a messa di voce in the feigned voice before
joining it to the chest voice.
By contrast, writers described how Pasta could use different registers of her
voice in different ranges. For example, she could carry her chest voice up to g"
above the staff but also use her head tones for pitches in her middle range.18
Garcia the elder taught Malibran how to develop this abilit^ so that she could
reportedly sing any note except those at the extremes of her vocal range in ei-
ther chest, middle, or head register. She used this capacity to great dramatic
effect.19 Most writers from this period and earlier urged singers not to force
their voices in either volume or compass. While Malibran was famous for her
variety of tone colors and dramatic flair, she rarely chose to make a sound that
was not beautiful.
After experiencing severe vocal trouble and leaving the stage, Garcia the
younger studied the anatomy of the vocal organ while working in an army hos-
pital. He presented his findings to the French Academy of Sciences in 1840 as
Mémoire sur la voix humaine. His continued interest in the physiology of the

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 Italian Bel Canto 137

larynx led to his development of the laryngoscope in 1854. He incorporated his

findings into the various versions of his Traite complet de Vart du chant and. dis-
cussed the position of the larynx in relation to the timbres clairs et sombres (clear
and dark tones), but he continued to place great importance on blending regis-
ters and the development of beautiful tone. He also presented over ioo anno-
tated exercises on various scale patterns for the development of agility. Garcia
instructed that these scales and roulades should be performed legato in most
cases, with each pitch "perfectly connected and distinct/'20 He expected his
students to be able to execute each exercise on all five Italian vowels at the
tempo of quarter note — 120: a daunting challenge indeed.
Another important vocal pedagogue of this time was Nicola Vaccai. Frus-
trated by his lack of fame as an opera composer, Vaccai enjoyed great ¡success as
a voice teacher to members of society. As an alternative to the endless hours of
tedious scales required of professional singers and students, he composed short
exercises with texts by Pietro Antonio Metastasio, the most important Italian li-
brettist of the eighteenth century. Through this Métodopratico di canto italiano
per camera of 1833 (the camera indicating salon singing as opposed to opera
singing), his amateur students learned all the fundamentals of technique and
ornamentation while singing charming little songs.
Rossini, like many composers before him, wrote a series of vocalizzi and
solfeggi for the more professionally minded student. His vocalises are exercises
in agility to be sung on one vowel, usually "ah." The solfeggi are wordless
melodies to be sung on the sol-fa or solfege syllables. Rossini believed that these
exercises were critical for developing and maintaining flexibility and should be
practiced every morning: first softly and slowly, the second time softly and
faster, and finally full voice and very fast.21 He composed a mere eighteen vo-
calises, which would probably take about thirty minutes to complete as he in-
structed. According to Garcia, this kind of exercise should be followed by a pe-
riod of rest; he cautioned his students not to practice for more than a half hour
at a time. If singers today want to develop the vocal suppleness and flexibility
necessary for this repertoire, thirty minutes each morning is a worthwhile in-
vestment.

Vibrato

Vibrato in this period was still much more restrained than what we are used to
today. The terminology used to describe it also remained confusing and diffi-
cult for us to interpret. A pure, steady tone was the ideal, and Nathan suggests
that "any unsteadiness or tremor of voice is to be remedied by taking the note

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138 Italian Bel Canto

softer; a contrary course only serving to increase and confirm the defect."22
This comment probably doesn't mean to sing with a tight, straight tone but
rather with less of the muscular pressure that creates the kind of vibrato com-
monly heard today. In A Complete Dictionary of Music (1806) and the subse-
quent A Musical Manual or Technical Directory (1828) by Thomas Busby, vi-
brato is defined as "A term used in the Italian opera, to signify that at the note,
or passage, to which it refers, the voice is to be thrown out, in a bold, heroic
style."23 This definition suggests that vibrato was used as a special effect only in
certain dramatic circumstances. Garcia calls this expressive device the tremolo
and discusses its use under the large heading of "Passions and Sentiments," in
which he also discusses the use of sobs, sighs, and laughs:
The tremolo should be used only to portray the feelings which, in real life, move us
profoundly; the anguish of seeing someone who is dear to us in imminent danger,
the tears which certain movements of anger or of vengeance draw from us etc. Even
in those circumstances, the use of it should be regulated with taste and moderation
[mesure]; as soon as one exaggerates the expression or the length of it, it becomes tire-
some and awkward. Outside of the special cases which we haie just indicated, it is
necessary to guard against altering in any way the security of the sound, for the re-
peated use of the tremolo makes the voice tremulous [chevrotante]. The artist who
has contracted this intolerable fault becomes incapable of phrasing any kind of sus-
tained song. It is thus that some beautiful voices have been löst to the art.24

This discussion is accompanied by many operatic examples in both declam-

atory passages and in combination with portamento in both recitatives and
concerted numbers. Garcia indicates use of the tremolo by a wavy line; this
marking can occasionally be found in scores. At times Donizetti and others
wrote vibrato as a special instruction. An accent mark could also indicate a
slight vibrato more in keeping with Busby s definition. At an earlier point in his
treatise, Garcia discusses other expressive effects that he calls "echo notes" and
"repeated notes." These involve a controlled regular pulsation of the voice on
one pitch: "One will carefully avoid aspirating the different articulations of the
same tone, or performing them by a trembling or quivering of the voice."25 It
is a delicate, hardly noticeable effect that can be used on long notes and is suit-
able only for high, light female voices. Whether the vibrato ¡used is the natural
trembling of the voice that Mozart described or a special gesture used for emo-
tional and dramatic effect, it should be hardly noticeable and should not alter
the pitch.
To gain an idea of the small, controlled vibrato fashionable in the late nine-
teenth century, we can listen to early twentieth-century recordings. Soprano

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 Italian Bel Canto 139

Adelina Patti, who had an unusually long performing career from the i86os un-
til 1914, must have carried with her some of the style she heard growing up in
the 18505. Her recordings from 1905, and many by other turn-of-the-century
singers, offer invaluable examples of the use of vibrato, tempo flexibility, ru-
bato, portamento, and ornamentation.26

Portamento

Many early nineteenth-century writers distinguish between legato and porta-

mento. Legato is the smooth connection of one note to another without inter-
rupting the sound, while portamento connects two distant notes by gliding
lightly and smoothly from one to the other. Different writers give varying in-
structions on whether the intermediary notes should be clearly heard or hardly
noticeable.27 In his Practical Method of Italian Singing, Vaccai offers clear ad-
vice on two kinds of portamenti:

By carrying the voice from one note to another, it is not meant that you should drag
or drawl the voice through all the intermediate intervals, an abuse that is frequently
committed—but it means, to unite perfectly, the one note with the other. When
once the Pupil understands thoroughly how to unite the Syllables, as pointed out in
the first Lesson, he will more easily learn the manner of carrying the voice as here in-
tended: of this however, as before observed, nothing but the voice of an able Master
can give a perfectly clear notion. There are two ways of carrying the voice. The first
is, by anticipating^ it were almost insensibly, with the vowel of the preceding Sylla-
ble, the note you are about to take as shown in the first example [ex. 4.2a]l In Phrases
requiring much grace and expression, it produces a very good effect; the abuse of it
however, is to be carefully avoided, as it leads to Mannerism and Monotony.
The other method, which is less in use, is by deferring, or postponingas it were al-
most insensibly the note you are going to take, and pronouncing the Syllable that be-
longs to it, with the note you are leaving [ex. 4.zb] .28

Garcia confirms that the first method, the "anticipation grace," had gained
favor in the nineteenth century and that the second method, the "leaping
grace," seen frequently in Corris A Select Collection of the Most Admired Songs,
Duetts, &c. (1782), was more fashionable in the eighteenth century. Garcia
writes about portamento using the French term port de voix, whicn no longer
retained its Baroque meaning of appoggiatura from below. In contrast to Vac-
cai, he recommends a more audible slide between pitches, both distant and
close together. He advises that the character of the words and music should de-
termine the quality of the portamento: full and rapid for vigorous sentiments,
slower and more gentle for tender and gracious movements.29 He also gives ex-

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140 Italian Bel Canto

Example 4.2. Vaccai: Practical Method of Italian Singing, lesson XIII, "Portamento,"
a) anticipating, p. 30, b) postponing, p. 33. The modern Schirmer edition, based on the
London 1834 edition, has remained in print since 1894.

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 Italian Bel Canto 141

ampies where a singer can breathe between the note of the portamento that an-
ticipates the main note, and the main note itself (exs. 4»за and b).
Slurs marked in vocal music could indicate either that a vowel should con-
tinue for more than one pitch or that a legato articulation is required. Occa-
sionally portamento was marked specifically in scores, but a slur mark could
also indicate portamento, especially if the slur connects notes with two differ-
ent syllables. In the Donizetti song excerpted in example фзс, the portando is
indicated in the score (either by Donizetti or an editor). (In a similar passage
from La regata veneziana, shown in example 4.3d, Rossini also marks portando
in the score but has written the gesture out in regular-sized notes.) If you want
to breathe before "Ti giuro amore," carry the С up to the F with a crescendo,
sing the F on the "o" syllable of "desio," then breathe and reattack the F on "Ti"
as a subito piano. The portamento here can also be performed the same way
without a breath between "desio" and "Ti." The change in dynamic level and
accompaniment texture at "Ti giuro amore" implies a new dramatic feeling for
that section of text; perhaps some tempo flexibility or rubato could also be used
here to good effect.
Contemporary accounts reveal terrible abuses of portamento, sometimes de-
scribing Italian singers sounding like meowing cats. These sorts of complaints
only got worse as the nineteenth century progressed. Singing treatises had of
course been discussing portamento in its various guises since the seventeenth
century: Caccini s strascino and cercar della nota (see chapter i) developed into
Corn's portamento and Garcías port de voix. Early twentieth-century record-
ings clearly show the use of this technique, which took on the derogatory con-
notations of crooning and swooping later in the twentieth century. Both Ellen
Harris and Will Crutchfield, in their "Portamento" articles in The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980) and The New Grove Dictionary of
Opera, point out that singers specializing in early music have not incorporated
this element of voice production into their style. Just as we may be reluctant to
use Garcías sobs and sighs, singers today may feel uncomfortable adding porta-
mento to the "pure" style of singing that became fashionable by the late twenti-
eth century. Certainly combining portamento with todays fuller and more
muscular vocal sound and continuous vibrato would produce a very different
effect from that of most of the singers we hear in early twentieth-century
recordings. Clive Brown has tried to nótate the use of portamento heard in
Pattis recordings.30 Once the gesture is notated, however, it seems to indicate
something less subtle than what we hear on the recordings. Vaccai s advice re-

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142 Italian Bel Canto

Example 4.3. Examples of portamento, a) and b) Garcia: A Complete Treatise on the Art of
Singing: Part Two, Da Capo Press, 1975, p. 20, passages from Rossini's Lagazza ladra and
Sigismondo'y c) Donizetti: "Eterno amore e fe" from Collezionedi canzonette (undated),
mm. 37—41, reprinted in Composiziont da camera, Ricordi, 1961; d) Rossini: "Anzoleta
avanti la regata," mm. 16—18, from La regata veneziana (1835), Ricordi, 1967.

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 Italian Bel Canto 143

mains true: this is an art "which nothing but the voice of a skillful Master can
communicate perfectly to the learner."31

Ornamentation

Continuing the trend of the late eighteenth century, composers in the early
nineteenth century wrote more ornamentation into their scores. Treatises of
the time continued to advise the use of good taste and moderation, yet con-
temporary accounts describe performances so highly ornamented that they
rendered the music unrecognizable. According to a famous anecdote, the great
castrato Velluti was said to have added so much embellishment to Aureliano in
Palmira that Rossini couldn't recognize his own melodies. Rossini supposedly
vowed from that moment on to write all ornamentation into his scores to avoid
having his music disfigured and upstaged by the vain display of singers.32 In
another tale involving a much older Rossini, the young Patti sang a particularly
florid rendition of "Una voce poco fa" at one of his Saturday soirees. The com-
poser then remarked, "Very nice, my dear, and who wrote the piecei you have
just performed?"33 Despite these stories, scholars believe that Rossini and other
early nineteenth-century Italian composers expected and encouraged singers to
add their own ornamentation. As in earlier repertoire, singers were obliged to
choose ornaments suited to an aria's text and dramatic context. The more ex-
ceptional artists were masterful at this, while less experienced or talented
singers were criticized for using generic formulas that showcased theif technical
strengths at the expense of both words and music.
Composers were generally becoming more careful about notating the
rhythms of small graces, yet these could also be added where not indicated.
More elaborate embellishment could be used in cadenzas, or substituted for
coloratura supplied by the composer. Some singers truly improvised on the
spot. In 1829 Rossini contrived for the competing divas Henriette Sontag and
Maria Malibran to appear at a private salon concert in Paris. After each sang
some solo songs and arias, the composer and the guests persuaded the rivals, af-
ter much protesting, to sing a duet from his Semiramide. What followed was an
impromptu battle of ornaments, but one that began a new friendship and a leg-
endary collaboration.34 Some singers kept notebooks in which they worked
out possible variations and cadenzas in advance. Rossini composed several lead-
ing roles for the French singer Laure Cinti-Damoreau, who excelled in the Ital-
ian style. Her detailed notebooks, housed in the Lilly Library at Indiana Uni-
versity, are now available from Dover Publications.35 During the period of
Italian bel canto opera, singers and composers worked closely together on mat-

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144 Italian Bel Canto

ters of ornamentation. In the end, however, whether the composers approved

or not, it was the singers—particularly the famous stars—who controlled what
happened in performance.

APPOGGIATURAS AND GRACE NOTES

Composers in the early nineteenth century also wrote more appoggiaturas than
their predecessors, with the precise values they wanted shown by regular-sized
notes. This practice helped to clarify the often difficult decision about how long
or short to make an ornamental note. Sometimes composers still wrote appog-
giaturas as small notes, perhaps to communicate a desire for a slightly different
type of stress or emphasis, or perhaps merely as an inconsistency. Many pas-
sages in songs and arias, and particularly in recitatives, of this period still need
additional appoggiaturas for words with unstressed final syllables or to add
heightened expression to a dissonant note. Some composers, notably Rossini
and Donizetti, rarely indicated appoggiaturas, assuming that the singers would
know where to put them. Bellini and Verdi were more conscientious about no-
tating appoggiaturas where they wanted them.
Eighteenth-century rules governing the length of appoggiaturas still applied
to music of this period. An appoggiatura (either printed or added) preceding
same pitched notes would often take the entire value of its main note. For ex-
ample, in the recitative shown in example 4-4a, the first A of "valle" should be
sung as an added B-flat appoggiatura. The small notes in the following mea-
sures should take the entire value of the note they precede. In example 44b, the
small note can be either a quarter to make the rhythm match the quarter/
eighth rhythm of the previous half cadence, or it can be an eighth if you don't
like the clash that occurs between the G in the vocal line and the A in the right
hand of the piano part. A little rubato would easily solve that problem, how-
ever.
If a small ornamental note adds expressive dissonance to its main note it is
probably intended as an appoggiatura. In example 4-4C, for instance, the small
note should receive more length and emphasis—an eighth note in this case—
than its shorter cousin, the grace note.
By 1830 most small ornamental notes written with a slash across their tails
were understood to be grace notes. (As we have seen in Bellini s "Quando in-
cise" from 1824 [ex. 4-4a], in earlier music that was not always the case.) In con-
trast to the appoggiatura, the grace note (acciaccatura) is performed so lightly
and quickly that it is almost impossible to tell whether it happens on or before
the beat. This grace was introduced in the Classical era as a short appoggiatura

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 Italian Bel Canto 145

Example 4.4. Bellini: a) "Quando incise su quel marmo," mm. 8-12; b) "Vanne, o rosa
Fortunata," mm. 11-12; с) "Quando incise," mm. 37-39, from Composizioni da camera
(1829,1835), Ricordi, 1948.

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146 Italian Bel Canto

Example 4.5. a) García: Traite complet de l'art du chant: Part /(1847, facs. Geneva, 1985),
p. 67; b) Rossini: "L'orgia" (1835), mm· I 7~ 2I > reprinted in Serate musicali, Ricordi, 1997;
c) Bellini: "La farfalletta," mm. 8-12, from Composizioni da camera (1829,1835), Ricordi,
1948.

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 Italian Bel Canto 147

(see chapter 3) and became more popular in the nineteenth century. In lesson
VIII of his Practical Method, Vaccai notates grace notes as small sixteenth notes
and instructs that "the Acciaccatura differs from the Appoggiatura in as much
as it does not interfere with the value or the accent of the note to which it is pre-
fixed."36 Garcia notates the acciaccatura as a small eighth note and warns that
it must not relax into triplets lest it lose its lively and resolute character (see ex.
4-5a). In the passage from a Rossini song in example 4.50, the principal note G
on the downbeat of m. 19 is already a dissonant passing tone between the A and
the F, and so the small ornamental A must be performed as quickly and lightly
as possible. In example 4.5c the ornamental note should also be performed
rapidly on the syllables "ci" in m. 9 and "pre" in m. n.

TRILLS AND TURNS

Just as the shorter, faster version of the appoggiatura gained favor in the early
nineteenth century, so did the main-note start for trills. Garcia repeats familiar
advice: the trill should be clear and distinct, and students should practice it
slowly at first, using a dotted rhythm and gradually increasing speed and even-
ness as the voice becomes more flexible. For an isolated trill he shows a special
preparation from below, but for most situations he says no preparation or ter-
mination is needed.
Turns and mordents were becoming more popular, written into music by
composers and added freely by singers. Composers continued to use different
kinds of signs for accented and unaccented four- and five-note turns, which
were easily confused. To help clarify which pattern they wanted, composers in-
creasingly wrote out more turns using both small and regular-sized notes.
Singers probably substituted the patterns they preferred, adding and inter-
changing the ornaments at their pleasure.
As with the trill, a main-note start for turns was becoming more popular, but
other turn patterns were acceptable as well. In example 4.6a one can see that
Bellini has written a turn sign in m. 26 and then a slightly different turn pattern
in regular-sized notes in the following measure. Donizetti has written two
different patterns of turns for the cadenza in example 4.6b. The speed of a turn
is determined by the musical context: If the accompaniment stops, as in exam-
ples 4.6b and d, then the singer can take time to shape the turn. If the accom-
paniment continues as in example 4.6c, then the turn should be fast to keep
pace with the flow of the music. In general, turns were performed more slowly
as the nineteenth century progressed.
Other small graces called mordents, gruppetti, or compound appoggiaturas

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148 Italian Bel Canto

Example 4.6. a) Bellini: "Quando incise su quel marmo," mm. 26-27, from Composizioni
da camera (1829,1835), Ricordi, 1948; b) Donizetti: "La ninna nanna" (1839), mm· 12-1-22,
reprinted in Composizioni da cameray Ricordi, 1961; c) and d) Rossini: "Anzoleta avanti la
regata," mm. 40-41, 44-45, from La regata veneziana (1835), Ricordi, 1967.

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 Italian Bel Canto Ί49

added several delicate ornamental notes to a main note. Vaccai explains that
"the mordent is the ornament which offers the greatest variety, as well as the
greatest difficulty in its execution, on account of the lightness and neatness
which it requires. It consists of two, or three notes, and adds much to the grace
of the Phrase, without taking anything away, or interfering at all with the in-
tentions of the Composer."37 In his examples (see ex. 4.ya), the ornamental
notes all come before the beat and thus steal time from the preceding note.
These kinds of ornaments could be written into the music with small or reg-
ular-sized notes (see exs. 4./b and c) or added at the discretion of the singer.
The use of rubato and rhythmic flexibility in combination with these small
graces gave singers some freedom in their execution. The exact pattern of a trill
or turn or the rhythmic placement of a grace note or mordent was less impor-
tant than the charm and expression the figure added to the melody.

Cadenzas and Improvised

Florid Embellishment

Manuel Garcia recounts an incident from 1815 in which his father was asked to
sight-read his part at the first rehearsal for a new opera: "When his first aria had
been reached he sang it off with perfect phrasing and feeling, but exactly note
for note as written. After he had finished, the composer said 'Thank you signor,
very nice, but not at all what I wanted/ . . . The Elder Garcia was skillful at im-
provising . . . he made a number of alterations and additions, introducing runs,
trills, roulades and cadenzas. . . . The old composer shook him by the hand.
'Bravo! magnificent! That was my music as I wished it to be given.'"38
The art of improvising florid embellishments reached its peak with the Ital-
ian singers of the early nineteenth century. The best way to learn stylistically ap-
propriate ornamental additions is to study surviving examples of ornamenta-
tion from the period. According to Will Crutchfield s article "Voices" in Brown
and Sadies Performance Practice: Music after 1600, hundreds of examples of
added embellishment exist in manuscript form and in published scores from
the period. These contain ornaments by famous singers, composers including
Rossini and Donizetti, and various unattributable sources. Some of these
sources are in European libraries or private collections. The easiest place to see
some of these examples is in the New Grove (2001) articles on "Rossini" and
"Improvisation: Nineteenth Century," and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera
"Ornamentation" article. Crutchfield s article includes many examples of
added cadenzas and flourishes, mostly from well-known opera arias. Robert
Toft's Heart to Heart: Expressive Singing in England, 1780—1830 includes orna-

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Example 4.7. a) Vaccai: Practical Method of Italian Singing, lesson IX, pp. 20-21, mm. 21-
27; b) Rossini: "La promessa" (1835), mm· 18-19, reprinted in Serate musicali, Ricordi, 1997;
c) Bellini: "Sogno d'infanzia," mm. 46—47, from Composizioni da camera (1829,1835),
Ricordi, 1948.

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 Italian Bel Canto 151

mented examples of arias by lesser-known Italian composers, songs by English

composers, and some examples from Handel and Mozart. These sources can
provide a starting place for the more adventurous reader. Another invaluable
source for ornamentation of this period is Austin Caswell s collection "Em-
bellished Opera Arias," published by A-R Editions. It presents over twenty
complete arias by Bellini, Rossini, and others, often including several alterna-
tively ornamented versions of particular sections of the aria. Caswell s initial
commentary presents detailed information on sources and specific ornaments.
He also includes general information on the period, the music, and ¡the sing-
ers. (See "Chapter 4: Performance Practice-Ornamentation" in "For Further
Reading.")
Several basic trends can be discerned in the embellishments of this period.
The first was embellishments which did not disturb the basic flow of the
melody. Garcia recommends varying a simple melody when it is repeated. In a
letter to Rossini, the English soprano Clara Novello asked whether it was nec-
essary or permissible to make variations in the da capo section of an aria. Rossini
replied that "the repeat is made expressly that each singer may vary it^ so as best
to display his or her peculiar capacities."39 This kind of embellishment could
also be used in strophic songs. The variations could be slight, such a¿ changing
the rhythm or adding some of the small graces discussed above. Or they could
include a bolder alteration of the melody, perhaps introducing a higher tessi-
tura, a more florid line, or a more technically difficult pattern, all the while
keeping the larger rhythm of the section steady. Caswell comments that in
arias, particularly those by Bellini, singers would often leave a cantabile melody
in the slow cavatina section plain and unadorned, varying only the fioritura to
suit their own abilities. Many times the composer wrote customized coloratura
for a particular singer performing a role or aria. The alternative embellishments
Rossini wrote for Pasta in the aria "Non piu mesta" from La Genérentela take
the vocal line higher than the original and also simplify some of the long
runs.40
The final coda section of a fast cabaletta was a prime place to show off. Gar-
cia includes four pages of suggested variations on standard coda formulas at the
ends of arias. Example 4.8 shows a brief glimpse of the vast possibilities he offers
in his treatise; the lines of text are from the various arias used to make the vari-
ations. According to Crutchfield, the now common final cadential fermata is a
late nineteenth-century invention. In Rossini s time the coda would continue
into the final cadence with a burst of florid activity and no pause or ritar-
dando.41

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Example 4.8.Garcfa: coda variants fro Traite complete de lart du chant: Part II(1847, Facs, Geneva, 1985), p.72
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 This content downloaded from 137.189.170.67 on Wed, 15 Apr 2020 04:39:05 UTC
Example 4.9. García: cadenzas from Traite complet de VanAll
du use subject
chant: to https://about.jstor.org/terms
P¿zrí//(1847, facs. Geneva, 1985), p. 76.
156 Italian Bel Canto

The other basic kind of embellishment involved adding cadenzas. Garcia in-
cludes six pages of suggested cadenza formulas to suit a variety of harmonic sit-
uations. Again, example 4.9 shows only a fragment of his offerings. Cadenzas
from this period served the function they did in earlier music, namely to high-
light the end of an aria or section (ex. 4.ioa). They could also now appear at sev-
eral interior moments of pause within an aria, perhaps denoting a change of
thought or musical idea (ex.4.iob). Sometimes they were indicated with a fer-
mata; sometimes the composer wrote out a specific cadenza, which the singer
could change to suit his or her taste and abilities (see also ex. 4.6b). Other times
the score would be marked merely a piacere, col cantoy or colla voce, which al-
lowed the singer the freedom to proceed "at their pleasure" by adding some-
thing simple or more elaborate depending on the dramatic context (ex. 4.na).
In a strophic song such as Rossini's "La partenza," perhaps the instruction con
molta grazia inspired the singer to vary this cadential figure in every verse. In
other situations, when the accompaniment becomes sparse or drops out alto-
gether, the singer does not have to keep pace with a steady rhythmic flow and
has more freedom to adorn or vary the melody (ex. 4.nb; see also ex. 4.6d). A
cadenza need not be as long or elaborate as Garcías suggestions, especially in
the more intimate songs.
Cinti-Damoreau, who taught at the Paris Conservatoire after retiring from
the stage, encouraged her students not to perform her ornaments verbatim, but
rather to use the varied formulas as the basis for their own inventions. This is
still good advice today. As with the improvised embellishments of earlier peri-
ods, you must first become familiar with the particular formulas and patterns
of this period and then use that vocabulary to create your own ornamentation.

The early nineteenth century was the culmination of the Italian bel canto ap-
proach to technique and ornamentation. This period's stylistic principles came
from the opera house but were equally at home in the realm of chamber song.
The gentle, relaxed production favored since the seventeenth century was still
central to this style. Legato was more popular than it was in the eighteenth cen-
tury, but the expressive and dramatic articulation of the text remained crucial.
Vibrato was still small and shimmering, but now it was sometimes specifically
notated as a special effect. Portamento was much more common, but it was not
meant to be overused.
Florid ornamentation had reached its most elaborate state and could be used
to vary the return of a da capo aria or rondo form, as well as to differentiate the
verses of strophic songs. More modest variation could be added to slower sec-

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Eample 4.10. a) Rossine: "La partenza" (1835), mm. 55-57 reprinted in Serate musuicali Ricordi, 1997; b) Donizetti: "Una lacrima" ("preghiera")
(1841), mm.31-32, reprinted in composizioni da camera, Ricordi, 1961.
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Example 4.11. a) Rossini: "La partenza" (1835), mm. 20-22, reprinted in Serate musicali, Ricordi, 1997; b) Bellini: "Per pieta, bell'idol mio," mm. 32-35,
from Composizioni da camera (1829,1835), Ricordi, 1948.

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 Italian Bel Canto 159

tions of arias or songs, and small graces, including appoggiaturas, grace notes,
trills, and turns, were added at the singer's discretion. Cadenzas small or large
were often included at a variety of places throughout arias or songs. Todays
singers wishing to learn how to compose or improvise their own ornamenta-
tion for Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and other bel canto composers should
study as many examples from this repertoire as they can and be careful not to
confuse these embellishments with the patterns from earlier periods.
New issues introduced in this chapter have to do with rhythm and tempo.
The scores of the early nineteenth century started to include more descriptive
tempo terms that don't necessarily help in selecting an appropriate speed.
Tempo is also much more flexible in general for this repertoire, often ¡changing
frequently to accompany shifts in text and dynamics. Rubato should be used as
well to shape the rhythm and enhance expression. Garcia instructs singers to
adjust the rhythm and tempo to suit breathing, phrasing, expression, and orna-
mentation. You can enjoy considerable freedom in your approach to rhythm
and tempo for this repertoire, all in the service of dazzling ornamentation,
beautiful singing, and heightened expressivity.

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