|
The Elixir of Love, an utterly
charming celebration of innocent love, was composed in only
six weeks. Donizetti composed this opera in the 1830s, one
of the most fertile periods in the history of opera, particularly
in Italy where opera houses held the place where movies theaters
do today. There were scores of new operas every year, and
the larger cities had three or four theaters running full-time.
Rossini, Bellini, Mercadante, and Donizetti went from opera
project to opera project almost as fast as the creators of Seinfeld go
from episode to episode. Donizetti, for example, had written
forty operas by the time he was thirty-five.
This period has been named the bel canto era. Bel
canto means beautiful singing and refers to the Italian
vocal style of the 18th and early 19th century. Beauty
and expressivity of the voice reigned supreme. The overall
concept of bel canto started with a consensus
among opera enthusiasts that there was nothing more ravishing
than a beautiful voice singing a beautiful melodic line
beautifully, especially a melodic line driven by a sensitive
musical setting of a poetic and singable text. Also prized
was the ability to execute effortlessly all manner of embellishments — rapid-fire
runs, trills and such — the better to decorate vocal
lines. So the use of a lighter yet penetrating sound in
the upper register was crucial to the style. As the Romantic
Movement took hold in the 19th century, the public taste
for operatic drama evolved. Composers started writing works
that demanded more intense and powerful singing which precipitated
a shift in what people expected. Voices grew weightier,
and this new, bigger sound drove the audience wild!
Donizetti's comedy does serve up a couple of solid insights.
It demonstrates that, when it comes to love, the genuine
article beats any potion-induced passion. And it suggests
that, when searching for a magic formula to stimulate the
libido, human foibles can make placebos safer and more effective
than any mysterious elixir.
Renay Conlin
|
