Читать книгу Anna Maria Strada, Prima Donna of G. F. Handel - Judit Zsovár - Страница 23

This special situation, that the main female character (in the drama) was not a soprano but a contralto, occurred, presumably on behalf of Vittoria Tesi, in the majority of the opere serie in which Strada participated in Naples. It follows that, in Leonardo Leo’s Zenobia in Palmira, for example, Strada took the leading soprano role, namely that of Aspasia, while Tesi ‒ whose fame had already spread throughout Europe ‒ was heard as Zenobia.¹⁸¹ The other two stars of this cast-constellation were Diana Vico (as Odenato) and Farinelli (as Decio).¹⁸² To sing such a challenging role as Aspasia, surrounded by top-quality colleagues, gave an exceptional scope for Strada to develop, refine, and deepen her vocal and dramatic abilities.

The two leading female figures, Zenobia and Aspasia, are not only princesses, but strong and passionate warrior women. In addition, both of them have to face moral personal and political conflicts throughout the opera.¹⁸³ Zenobia, the princess of Assiria, is confronted with difficulty in reconciling her Amazon identity with her love for a man who is as strong and as confident as she is. It seems hard for her to make herself dependent on a king and a leader just as herself, and yet also simply on a man who is worthy of her heart, on someone whom she looks up to and honours.

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This noble person is Odenato, the king of Palmyra, who, in spite of the fact that he has never seen Zenobia before, admires her for her heroism and fearlessness according to reports he has been given. For this reason, Odenato refuses the offer coming from Sapore, the Persian King, to take his daughter, Princess Aspasia, in marriage. Sapore, feeling himself affronted, decides to send his general, Farnace, together with Aspasia to take revenge on Odenato. In the battle, Odenato is supported by Decio, the Roman general, who actually loves Aspasia. Odenato gets into a dangerous situation, which would cost him his life, when a mysterious Assirian commander wearing a closed helmet (i.e. Zenobia) saves him and gives him a jewel of gold. Thus, Assiria becomes a federate to Odenato’s empire too. Zenobia, disguising herself as her own captain, then enters Palmyra as victor together with Odenato and Decio, as well as with the defeated and captivated Farnace and Aspasia.

The libretto, by Apostolo Zeno in collaboration with Pietro Pariati, was set to music for the first time by Fortunato Chelleri in Barcelona in 1709 and was also staged in Milan the next year.¹⁸⁴ In 1725, the work then seems to have fallen into two different versions according to plot. L’amore eroico, performed in Venice, represents the version of Pariati and emphasises Zenobia as the warrior queen, which is understandable considering the enthusiasm of the Venetians for that kind of figure.¹⁸⁵

Concurrently in Naples, what appear to have been a local librettist not only reworked the text of Zenobia to suit the vigorous and energetic musical style of Leo, but also adjusted the story toward the conventions of opera seria, at least as far as the hierarchy of the characters was concerned. Zenobia, the real warrior queen in the physical sense, remains a contralto, but the soprano Aspasia had to dominate. Accordingly, the librettist accentuates the immense mental power with which Aspasia fights to attain her goal at the end. In this sense, she becomes another warrior queen of the opera. Zenobia, in the meantime, turns into a more sensitive and fragile figure. A typical example is the end of Act I when in L’amore eroico Zenobia reveals that she was the one who saved Odenato’s life in a battle previously and reminds him to what she has sworn; she presents herself as a warrior only and not as a lover until Odenato proves that he can win the physical fight against her.¹⁸⁶ In the case of Zenobia in Palmira, Zenobia asks Odenato ←74 | 75→to tell her that he loves her. The order of their arias concluding the first act is switched from that of L’amore eroico and their texts completely changed from the warrior to the amorous: Odenato’s aria (‘T’adoro’ instead of ‘Qual inacuto Cacciatore’) comes first, which can be interpreted as the mental paraphrase of the conquest. Instead of ‘Vesta usbergo, cinga Spada’, Zenobia’s aria immediately follows with ‘Benchè lieto il cor già sia combattuta’ (‘Though happy, this heart is already conquered’), which contrasts with the conception of the Venetian piece.

It is important to note that while the biggest name in the Venetian production was Carestini (as Odenato), in Naples Farinelli shaped the role of Decio. In this way, the musical emphasis of the drama was transposed to the Decio–Aspasia couple: he sings the first aria of the opera even though his character does not appear until the fourth scene of Act I in the libretto. The story, meanwhile, focuses on Zenobia. The number of arias per character clearly shows this equality of the four: Aspasia and Decio have five arias each, Odenato and Zenobia six (the latter, five plus an arioso). Considering this, the case of Zenobia in Palmira is especially intense, as the troubles in the plot are compounded by the two couples of almost equal importance. However, Aspasia would have been given five arias in total, while Decio just four, as the libretto shows.¹⁸⁷ That was balanced later by Leo, who reworked and extended Decio’s (Farinelli’s) role. He got the very first aria of the work (‘Qual con l’aura’ I/2) and took another one (‘Lieto parto amato’/‘Tamerò sì ben mio’ II/2) which originally belonged to Aspasia. Moreover, it was not only composed for Farinelli with an altered text, but was also reworked and turned into a more grandiose additional aria.¹⁸⁸ In compensation, Strada was given an additional aria di bravura, ‘Quando irato il Ciel s’oscura’, in place of Zenobia’s ‘Oh Dio perché s’oscura’. This aria is set at a crucial place in a dramatic sense, in Act II, scene 11, right before the greatest conflict of the drama: Zenobia tells Odenato about her vow not to marry without being conquered by her beloved in single combat. Thus, both Strada and Farinelli finally ended up with five arias each.

The opening scene of the drama presents a newly written dialogue between Odenato and Decio. Their conversation is about the ladies they love, highlighting Aspasia in particular. Decio’s first words are that he burns for her. In the second scene, which corresponds to the first scene of L’amore eroico, enriched with Decio and Tullo, his servant, Zenobia appears with Farnace who realises the Roman ←75 | 76→general’s ardent love for his beloved one (the aforementioned first aria of Decio, ‘Qual con l’aura’). Farnace’s revenge aria in the third scene (‘Sento già che nel furore’), with a rewritten text, seems to have a double meaning: he wants to take vengeance not only on Odenato for political reasons but also on Decio for personal ones, which calls the Persian Princess to mind again. In Act I, scenes 4‒5 the first arias of Zenobia and then of Odenato take place. Odenato must answer Aspasia’s call, which arouses Zenobia’s jealousy. We can see therefore a strictly and consciously built-up dramaturgy. By the time she finally enters in scene 6, the audience has already witnessed passionate discussions about her all along; one knows almost everything about Aspasia and how the others relate to her.

As soon as Zenobia learns the king’s love for her, she invites him to open the golden gem. Odenato looks for the first time at the portrait of his beloved and the scales fall from his eyes, realising that the Assirian captain is in fact Zenobia (I/5). The text of his aria has been reworked:¹⁸⁹

Colomba che mira / Dipinto un Ruscello / Non può mai con quello / La sete ammorzar. / Ne un cor che sospira / Mai può dal pensiere / Con finto piacere / Le brame appagar.

The dove, which admires / A painted brook / In this way can never / Extinguish its thirst. / Nor can a heart that sighs / Ever with the thoughts / Of false pleasures / Appease its desires.

The word ‘appagar’ means to appease, to calm. Right after Odenato’s aria another chamber opens to our view (I/6) with the anguished princess herself therein. Aspasia’s entrance aria is in fact a short, one-part number. The first word of the text is ‘placar(ti)’, which is the synonym of ‘appease’ (also ‘placate’), meaning to calm down. This concurrence inevitably generates an association with the previous scene and contrasts the dramatic situations which Odenato and Aspasia are in:

Placarti dovresti / Destino severo; / E sempre più fiero / Tormenti il mio cor.

Calm yourself / Severe fate; / You, who ever more proudly / Torment my heart.

This was a conscious strategic choice of the librettist for the Neapolitan production, because the lyrics of ‘Placarti dovresti’ do not appear in the Venetian libretto.¹⁹⁰ Moreover, originally there is a long scene with recitatives, culminating in the aria ‘Vuoi, ch’io parta’. Leo’s score is full of recitative corrections and aria displacements: in the case of this scene, it is clearly visible that the fogli of ‘Placarti’ were inserted additionally. The composer’s first idea was to turn one ←76 | 77→sentence of the recitative into an aria (‘Lascia, ch’io giusti ancora’; B↑ major, C, Larghetto e amoroso) in the middle of scene 7,¹⁹¹ Aspasia and Decio’s conversation, but it was cut off and the more characteristic ‘Placarti’ replaced it. In this way, the focus fell on the princess alone, whose both sides, the social and the personal, were portrayed simultaneously.

Example 2.11 Leo: Zenobia in Palmira – ‘Placarti dovresti’

The introductory ritornello in C major is a magnificent French-style march. This rich sound, based on vertical movements, and later, when the singer enters, on the variety of harmonies, and the choice of the key together with the dotted ←77 | 78→rhythms create the royal atmosphere, serving as a symbol of Aspasia’s noble rank.¹⁹² The vocal part of ‘Placarti dovresti’ (Ex. 2.11) brings out Aspasia’s royal status, but also her personal emotions, struggles, and doubts. In contrast to the orchestral ritornello, it is based on horizontal legato lines, but leaps play an important role as well. This diversity clearly refers to the conflict between her social and personal situations. Vocally, the aria focuses on the display of messa di voce as well as generous portamento singing.¹⁹³ Without beautifully executed sustained notes the number would lose its meaning. Messa di voce or ‘placement of the voice’ was considered proof of an accomplished vocal technique because it required a high level breath control as well as a perfect positioning of the voice to change the volume of the note without altering intonation or timbre.¹⁹⁴ Mancini discussed it as a gift of nature, one of the most effective tools in singing, a great beauty linked to ‘real true artists’ only. He mentions the most famous example, Farinelli, who was Strada’s stage partner.¹⁹⁵ Messa di voce was also a display of breath control, and through its swelling of crescendo and decrescendo, as Naomi Adele André maintains, ‘a way to make the sound stand out and resonate through the opera house. Additionally it showcased a remarkable technique; to achieve the elasticity needed to increase and decrease the volume, the note had to be ←78 | 79→placed securely on the breath; otherwise the tone would collapse, disappear in the soft sections and become harsh or shrill in the loud sections’.¹⁹⁶ Throughout ‘Placarti dovresti’, Strada’s blended registers, great volume, stamina, breath control, stable support, and most likely her beautiful timbre became evident.

This first closed number of Aspasia carried the great weight for introducing a singer and character. Besides proving Strada’s established technical-musical qualities, it also refers to a voice not of a light soprano. The orchestra does not help the voice with unison – moreover, the first sustained note has to be strong enough to dominate even when the first violins reach c‴; the whole melody structure, starting with a long cʺ lasting more than two-bars (bars 8–10), followed by a gʺ (b. 10), is at once a technical difficulty to solve. Right after that comes a leap of a seventh. Still, the singer is afforded no rest because the next breath has to be taken in such a way that it can provide enough support to reach aʺ, dipping into an fʺ, which, being an altered note, has to be well tuned, especially because at the end of the same bar (b. 15) it changes again into fʺ on the appoggiatura. This chromatic wiggling on words ‘fiero tormenti’, which has to be shown dramatically through the slight accentuation of these two notes, takes away additional support from the singer. Again, there is not much time to breathe at the end of the phrase (b. 17); moreover, the culmination of the first part is still coming: the wildest chromatic writing in b. 18, aggravated with dotted rhythms, is not only very hard to tune but to top it all it is placed on passaggi. It arrives at a full-bar dʺ (b. 19) which has to be intense enough to involve the surprise jump to the sixteenth aʺ as smoothly as possible (b. 20). The second half of the aria deals with sixth- (bars 23‒24 and 26) and seventh leaps (bars 33‒34), as well as with an extended chromatic legato line on ‘tormenti’ again (bars 27‒30).

A new vocal quality, a new colour emerged here which did not appear in Strada’s earlier repertoire. I would suggest that this was a milestone in her vocal development and career. By this time, she has already shown everything of a fine soprano’s qualities: flexibility, agility in coloraturas, leaps, trills, and divisions. From the very beginning, her arias reveal a free voice that can reach high notes like aʺ with ease. In the spring of 1725, at the age of twenty-two, she attained a new level of vocal maturity. In view of her repertory, her voice became stabilised; its volume became extended, thicker, and more sonorous without losing its brightness. ‘Placarti dovresti’ can be considered as a glimpse of the future Alcina. Aspasia’s temper does not fall too far from the enchanted queen’s either.

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This way, both the libretto structure and music describes Aspasia’s situation in very dramatic terms. Farnace is released and free to return to Persia; he asks Aspasia to go with him. He represents the innate wish of the king’s daughter to meet social requirements and thus achieve acceptance by her father. Aspasia, however, has fallen some time ago for Decio, the Roman General in Persia, who devotes his legions to defending Palmyra, and therefore becomes the princess’s enemy. We can thus see a captive noblewoman who is torn between her task and the desire of her heart.

It is very important to see that opera seria ‒ similarly to the spoken theatre of the era, particularly in the tragedies of Pierre Corneille ‒ functioned as a reminder for the nobility. Mirroring society and giving high-quality entertainment is just the first layer. It is all about the high responsibility they had as persons of rank. To face the fact over and over again, namely that every decision they make is never theirs alone, for the future of their nation and the lives of people under them hang on their destiny. For the character’s inner life, duty and love – representing mind and emotion – are constantly in conflict with one another (passim Metastasian libretti).¹⁹⁷ Being torn between the two, the protagonists are in search for the better decision, weighing up which value should have priority and which one has to be sacrificed along with its inherent beauties. Yet deep down lies the overwhelming faith that in an ideal world these two could never oppose each other. On the contrary, duty should intensify true love and vice versa. To strengthen belief in the existence of a solution which can be found to establish or re-establish complete harmony in life, as well as to unite the social and private sides of it, is the very ars poetica of opera seria. Likewise, for a performer to catch the essence of this duality and to find a way to true expression meant the greatest artistic accomplishment. For Strada specifically, the role of Aspasia was probably the first experience of a character of which musical elaboration was deeply rooted in its high dramatism.

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This very first impression of Aspasia has a substantial psychological significance, because she is presented as a donna fragile, so that the audience could gain insight into her weaknesses. Everything authentic in her character is based here, a feature which has to be recalled from time to time because, just in the next moment when the music changes into recitative, she awakes from her dream of being feminine and proves herself to be a regina, a donna forte. The pride of the princess emerges as an additional factor one has to reckon with and her pique guides her to take revenge by any means.

When her two suitors, Decio and later Farnace, appear, Aspasia goes at them furiously. She holds back her love until she gets full vengeance on Odenato and finally rules Palmyra. Since Decio wants her to stay, while Farnace wishes her to return to Persia with him, she offers her affections to the one who fulfils her political desires (I/8).¹⁹⁸ Herewith, Aspasia makes her private life depended upon her social status, just like Zenobia in the Venetian version of the plot:

Vuoi, ch’io parta? Partirò. (a Far.) / Vuoi ch’io resti? Resterò. (a Dec.) / Ma vendetta, io vò da te. / Vuoi amore? Vuoi tu affetto? / So, che ardir tu chiudi in petto. / So, che in sen tu vanti fe.

Do you want me to leave? I will leave. (to Farnace) / Do you want me to stay? I will stay. (to Decio) / But revenge, I will invoke you. / Do you want love? Do you want affection? / I know the daring you embosom. / I know that you boast about fidelity in your heart.

At this point in the work Aspasia is on stage since first entering in Act I, scene 6. After ‘Placarti dovresti’, there were recitative dialogues with Farnace and Decio together but no aria. As the next aria is also sung by Aspasia, she rules the stage during a substantial ten-minute long scene. ‘Vuoi ch’io parta’ (I/8; D major, C, Larghetto e cantabile‒Presto), a bravura number, contrasting with the preceding cantabile,¹⁹⁹ also does not have a simple da capo form: the A section is made up of two contrasting materials alternating with each other. Two completely diverse musical characters can be heard: for the first part of the text ‒ ‘Vuoi, ch’io parta? Partirò. / Vuoi ch’io resti? Resterò’ ([To Farnace:] ‘Do you want me to leave? I will leave. / [To Decio:] Do you want me to stay? I will stay’) ‒ there is a syllabic aria parlante episode in D major, Larghetto e cantabile (bars 1‒5 and 13‒16), as she addresses each suitor individually. Then, it is suddenly interrupted by the Presto section (bars 6‒13 and 17‒27) ‒ ‘Ma vendetta, io vo da te’ ([To both:] ‘But ←81 | 82→vengeance is what I want from you’). Virtuoso violin idioms occur on the word ‘vendetta’, reaching aʺ four times within three bars (Ex. 2.12).

Example 2.12 Section A2 of ‘Vuoi ch’io parta?’, bars 14–25, vocal part

In the first measure of the introductory ritornello (Ex. 2.13), the violins show the different themes by creating interference rhythmically: the dotted semiquavers and ornamental demisemiquavers against the semiquaver-triplets may represent Aspasia’s unbalanced and undecided feelings towards the two men (which one is to leave and which one to stay), versus the only thing she surely wants: to take revenge.

The vocal part and bass are stuck together in a complimentary fashion, while motivically they are mirroring each other. The prevalent dotted octave-leap motif on a‒A in the bass is recurrent in the soprano part on aʺ‒a′ both in the Largo (bars 15‒16) and in the Presto sections (bars 16 and 23), making the artistic ‘patchwork’ coherent. This frequent occurrence of aʺ, many times on metrical accents connected with large leaps, is very informative about Strada’s ←82 | 83→vocal flexibility and agility. It also indicates just how surely and easily her voice could move within the upper register, where she felt comfortable and secure.