The performance history of Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia is marked by a lively and often hotly contested debate since its Roman premiere in 1816. Probably the main culprit for causing this confusion as to the best manner of performing Il Barbiere is Rossini himself. Instead of curbing the musical excesses of the reigning operatic stars and musical directors of his day, in many cases Rossini – whether through complacency or innate laziness – allowed questionable liberties to become common performance practice in the opera houses of the world. In the last thirty years a radical movement to purify the operatic literature of all musical excess and return the music to its virginal state has gained a certain momentum and a following among some conductors and singers. This is the other side of the coin: While well meaning in purpose, this philosophy of performance has at times causes a loss of spirit in the purely literal rendering of the music. Therefore the singer of today is faced with the daunting task of trying to determine which, if any, of the surviving performance traditions, or the new movements, to follow.
Where to start? Get the best edition of the vocal score you can lay your hands on. Fortunately, publishing houses such as Barenreter and Recordi have begun to offer new critical editions of operas. In 1969, Ricordi published Alberto Zedda’s edition of Il Barbiere. In the introduction to this vocal score, Maestro Zedda has set down a very comprehensive outline of Il Barbiere’s place in musical history, including remarks on this critical edition, differences between it and other editions, and the traditions of this opera. The last portion of the introduction is a listing of cadenza and ornamental variations and performance traditions. Also, the Zedda-Recordi score examines the changes that are generally accepted as past and current performance traditions:
1. Switching the voice types of the characters, Rosina and Berta.
2. Changing Rossini’s vocal line to include cadenzas, elaborate ornamentations, and word changes for difficult to sing vowels or vowel combinations.
3. Substitution of other composer’s arias for “overly ripe” or less than adequate artists. (A famous soprano of the past always substituted a rendition of “The Last Rose of Summer” for Rosina’s Act Two aria: “Contro un cor che accende amore,” the music lesson scene.)
This Ricordi score is the starting place for the singer’s journey to enlightenment.
Another resource for the singer is Ricci’s two volume collection of traditional variations and cadenzas published by Ricordi. Volume one contains the collection for women’s voices and volume two contains those for men’s voices. Here is a plethora of material to consider.
Another source that cannot stressed too much is a good, experienced coach or voice teacher, especially if he or she has been fortunate enough to have worked with great conductors or coaches. Search your libraries, music and bookstores for memoirs or biographies of great artists, be they conductors, singers, or composers. The young singer just might come across a jewel that illuminates the path. For example, the biography of Rossini written by Herbert Weinstock published by Limelight Editions: New York, 1987, is a wonderful book filled with accurate, detailed information about the cultural and musical climate of Rossini’s world. Another famous biography is Stendhal’s The Life of Rossini, second edition translated by Richard N. Cox and published by John Calder: London and Riverrun Press: New York.
Also, do not overlook the multi-volume epic work called The Story of Civilization by Will Durant, published by Simon & Schuster. These volumes contain illuminating articles on everything from science to art to politics. Of particular interest to Il Barbiere is volume ten, Rousseau and Revolution which includes both very detailed information about the politics of the period and a biographical sketch on Pierre-August Caron de Beaumarchis, the author of the original play. These volumes can be found in your local library.
Attend any and all performances and, if possible, rehearsals of Il Barbiere in your area. If you can establish the right contacts, for example, the Metropolitan Opera will allow visitors to some of their stage rehearsals. Check with the classical department of your local CD stores for recordings.(See page TK for a detailed survey of past and present performances practices as available on recordings) Don’t overlook video taped performances of performances from different periods. For example, it’s possible to find on videotape 90 minutes of highlights from a 1947 performance of Il Barbiere with two great stars of the past: Tito Gobbi and Ferruccio Tagliavini. It would be unwise to mimic these great, and the other not-so-great singers, but their performances can make the young singer aware of what questions these artists of an earlier period and the artists of today have asked concerning their choices about style and taste. It can never hurt your performance to know what other singers have found in a score. What kind of ornaments and cadenzas are they using? Where and how do they use portamento? Where do they choose not to portamento? Answers to these questions may also depend on a variety of things. For instance, the solution of how Rossini’s music is to be interpreted can depend on the attitudes and experience of the conductor, or coach assigned to the production. Also your own background with knowledgeable mentors and your faith, or lack thereof, in the maestro could color your choices.
To further influence your choices, here is an example of Rossini’s strong disapproval of the extreme liberties taken by singers. It comes to us as a story about the famous Adelina Patti. After singing an elaborately ornamented rendition of Rosina’s aria “Una voce poco fa,” at a musicale given by the composer, his reaction was to ask the diva, “By the way, who wrote this aria that you just sang?” The composer Saint-Saens saw Rossini a few days later and asked him about the incident. Saint-Saens reports that Rossini was still fuming about it and said “I know perfectly well that my arias must be embroidered; they were made for that. But not to leave a note I composed, even in the recitatives! Really, that is too much!”* Rossini well understood that his music could be enhanced by the addition of further ornamentation, but effect for effect’s sake subverts the composer’s original intention. Oscar Wilde said that he could resist anything except “temptation”! An artist should not be tempted for the easy way out, the easy way to dazzle the public. The artist must examine whether the performance is calculated to gain a reaction from the audience just for the reaction’s sake. Or is it to steer toward the dramatic, musical truth and let the embellished or unembellished line speak for itself without resorting to low comedy or vocal fireworks to make points with the public for the sake of a needy ego?
*(Pg. 276 Rossini a biography by Herbert Weinstock, Limelight Editions
New York 1987)
See the February 2000 issue of Classical Singer for a detailed analysis of the aria “Una voce poco fa” as demonstrated in recordings spanning nearly a century. Coach the aria with the great singers of history.
