Singers and Singing
354.NGDO4, 386–401, “Singing: A Bibliography,” is an unsigned list of about
1,600 entries.- Reid, Cornelius L. A Dictionary of Vocal Terminology: An Analysis.New
York: Joseph Patelson Music House, 1983. 457p. ISBN 0-915282-07-0.
ML102 .V6 R4.
A valuable and apparently unique glossary, defining and discussing some
1,200 terms. Some of the entries run to 10 or 12 pages, with examples from a
wide spectrum of composition. Among the more familiar terms (Breathing,
Head Voice) are found many that could be styled obscure (Abduct, Buccal, Lip
Falsetto, Shouty Tone). The material on Placement is of special interest. Nine-
page bibliography, name index. - Rosselli, John. Singers of Italian Opera: The History of a Profession.New
York: Cambridge U.P., 1992. xvi, 272p. ISBN 0-521-41683-3. ML1460 .R68.
An economic history of the occupation, not a collective biography. The
patronage system, castrati, training, problems of women singers, agents, audi-
ences, and other marketing matters. Erudition and insight are pervasive. A
notable section describes the struggle of women to be accepted on stage with-
out becoming tainted in their personal lives. Although it claims to deal with
“all those singers, members of the chorus as well as stars, who have sung Ital-
ian opera from 1600 to the present,” the book is mostly about the years before - Index of names and topics, backnotes, no bibliography.
- Celletti, Rodolfo.A History of Bel Canto. Trans. Frederick Fuller. New York:
Oxford U.P., 1991. 218p. ISBN 0-19-313209-5. ML1460 .C413.
Originally Storia del belcanto(1983). A narrative account of the style, which is
defined by legato, messa di voce,equalization of registers, expressive use of
ornaments, and “a voice limpid on the breath.” Focus on the Baroque era,
with attention to Rossini—the last bel canto composer—with material on
romantic opera, verismo, and current revivals. Semiramidewas the “last opera
in a great Baroque tradition.” Rossini hated the tenor high C, “screeching of a
slaughtered chicken.” A few footnotes, no bibliography, expansive index. - Dean, Winton. “The Performance of Recitative in Late Baroque Opera.” In his
Essays on Opera(#69), 78–90. Reprinted in GL,v.11.
Calls for recitative to be sung in parlandostyle, with free meter and tempo. The
accompaniment needs to be flexible for this to happen. Dean prefers the so-
called foreshortened cadence in the accompaniment, to the “delayed cadence”
(see next entry). Primary sources and recent scholarship are examined and dis-
cussed. For historical background on the recitative, see Downes (#88). - Hansell, Sven Hostrup. “The Cadence in 18th-Century Recitative.” MQ 54
(1968): 228–248.
Describes the two ways of performing the cadence: truncated (or “foreshort-
ened” in Dean’s terminology; see preceding entry) and delayed. The former
76 Opera