Giovanni Carestini - Research Paper Example

Great Singers of Baroque Era: Giovanni Carestini s Music Baroque era has left remarkable traces in the world’s cultural history, and the impact it has produced on evolution of music is extremely difficult to overestimate, in particular. Having come to replace Renaissance epoch, Baroque brought abundance of new tendencies in music composition and performance as well as many extremely talented composers and singers. Baroque era was marked by explosion of new styles, genres and techniques in music. As the church loosened its grip of Europe, secular music has entered its golden age. Similar to all forms of art, music acquired exuberance and orotundity: music of this period is characterized by “a combination of passionate expression, luxuriant design, and abundant decorative elements”1. Searching for new forms of combination and harmony between musical instruments, composers didn’t forget to pay attention to vocal music, creating numerous principally new vocal genres like opera, cantata, oratorio, passion etc. Opera as probably the most magnificent form deploying vocal performance incorporated grandiose costumes, action and extravagant set, whereas oratorio was virtually operatic form excluding the plot, costumes and sets2. In the period of late baroque, newly introduced genres and techniques were enhanced and expanded: the range of musical instruments was expanded, music forms evolved owing to efforts of composers, vocal techniques were developed. Such prominent composers like Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Bach, Telemann, Corelli and many others created the precious music legacy of the epoch. Among them, there was the most famous court composer of German origin, George Friedrich Handel, who granted special attention to vocal genres in his works. Having composed the first oratorio in 17083, Handel became engaged in working with vocal genres for the rest of his life. Vocal techniques and styles, in their turn, became more exquisite and complex in Baroque era, and – as Pleasants wrote, 1720’s – 1740’s signified the first golden age of singing in the 18th century4. Particularly, a variety of male and female singers performing in the period of late Baroque demonstrated magnificent ornamentation and impressing vocal range. Moreover, Baroque traditions introduced homophony – a type of polyphony, emphasizing a leading voice with help of accompanying ones – and unobtrusiveness of accompaniment. As composers became interested in making voice the central figure in certain genres, the new form of musical thinking emerged: the vocal part should be supported and complemented in a subtle way, which would point it out and lay emphasis on the verbal message it conveyed. Thus, the composers attached much importance to composition of vocal parts, creating them in accordance with melopoeia standards, with balanced peaks and troughs, bright character and distinctive rhythmic pattern. Another tendency typical for Baroque era in music (particularly, in singing) is popularity of castrato singing voice. Castratos were male singers possessing high, virtually feminine, voices like soprano or contralto and wide vocal range. Moreover, as the result of castration, their bodies developed in a unique way: due to growth of ribcage and training, these singers had extraordinary power in their lungs and flexibility of voices5. Probably, these qualities helped them cope with exquisite ornaments in vocal parties Baroque composers wrote for them. Among the singers who became stars of the stage in the 18th century, castrati held a remarkable place, participating in vocal performances in major European cities and earning immense amounts of money. In this way, the two castrati singers who worked in cooperation with the famous Handel mentioned above were Senesino and Carestini these singers performed most remarkable parts written by George Friedric Handel. In this paper, the personality and singing style of Giovanni Carestini will be analyzed and discussed. Carestini’s Biographical Background Giovanni Carestini was born in 1704 in Filottrano (Ancona, Italy). As the boy turned 12, he moved to Milan to live under the wing of the Cusani family, who – after castration – raised him as an ambitious and promising singer6. In order to pay tribute to his benefactors, Carestini adopted a pseudonym Cusanino. Having debuted in Milan, Carestini went to Rome, where he was taught by Bernacchi. “He first appeared in Rome in 1721”7, performing the female part with the latter in Scarlatti’s opera “La Griselda”. This part became a starting point in rise of his career, and several years later he performed for politicians, philosophers and high society in major European theatres in Naples, Venice, Rome Munich and London, enjoying great appreciation of his talent. In 1723, he performed in Prague, when Charles VI was crowned as the King of Bohemia. His first performance in Venice took place in 1725, where he sang in Zuccari’s opera “Seleuco”. Later, in 1728 and 1730, the singer visited Rome with performances, singing in Vinci’s operas, and in 1731, he was engaged in Munich. However, the peak of his career was to come with his collaboration with the formidable Handel. Initially, the composer intended to engage him for a considerable sum of 1200 guineas, but, as Carestini was already engaged in Milan at that time, he chose another castrato singer, Senesino. However, three years later the composer managed to get him for his operas in London. The piece chosen for Carestini’s debut in London was a pasticcio called “Caius Fabricious”, and the singer’s splendid vocal talent withstood a competition posed by another castrato singer Farinelli who was performing at another opera house that day. It would be reasonable to mention that the parts in Handel’s works formed the most illustrious and magnificent stage of Carestini’s career. The composer considered him his favorite and was inspired by him, writing the most exuberant parts for him to perform. Thus, during his rather short, yet very vibrant career in London, Carestini sang in such operas and operettas as “Ariodante”, “Esther”, “Arianna in Creta”, “Pastor Fido”, “Terpsichore”, “Athaliah”, “Deborah” and others. Although Carestini had worked with Handel for only a couple of theatrical seasons, the roles he played during this period became landmarks of his career bringing them to the peak of glory. After he left London in 1735, his career approached to a kind of slow decline, yet he performed for another twenty years all over Europe, enjoying admiration and respectable reputation. In 1750, 1754-1755, the singer performed in Berlin, later being engaged in St. Petersburg as a court singer. However, the audiences became more skeptical due to general change in attitude towards music and alteration of expectations, and Carestini’s career faded away. Naturally, he didn’t suffer from unemployment, but there wasn’t so much excitement for him anymore. His last remarkable appearance occurred after he came back from Russia, in 1758, in Gaetano Latilla’s opera “Ezio”, after which he eventually retired. As Giovanni Carestini was one of the most well-paid singers of his time, he could afford a life of ease till 1760, when he passed away in his native town of Filottrano. Carestini’s Voice and Vocal Techniques Concerts featuring Giovanni Carestini almost always gathered full houses and many composers considered his voice to be the most magnificent and powerful. “He was held in the highest esteem by Handel, Hasse, and other composers, in whose works he had sung” (Marshall). Moreover, the singer was gifted with incredible charisma and artistry, helping him to win affection of the most demanding listeners and critics. It shouldn’t be overlooked, that Carestini – like many other contemporary operatic singers – was a castrato. This distinctive feature was believed to be piquant and attractive for admirers of his talent. However, this approach was widely criticized in the society: many boys were castrated annually with very few of them becoming noteworthy singers. Yet, castrato singers continued singing on the major European stages. Thus, due to intensive training under supervision of the Cusani and Bernacchi and his “peculiarity”, the singer had a powerful voice, which was a clear soprano at first and then changed to a deep full contralto, according to the music historian Burney. Moreover, Carestini had rather wide singing range, extending “from D (in the F clef) to G above the treble clef”8. Wide vocal compass allowed him to sing even the most complex parts. According to evidences of his contemporaries, Carestini had extraordinary skills of singing with chest voice and incredible virtuosity in singing the ornate passages. Talking about styles and techniques deployed by the singer in his parties, it comes without any doubt that the singer complied with the fundamental principles of bel canto and the school of his first Rome teacher, Bernacchi. It is known that Bernacchi and Porpora were the most famous bel canto teachers of the 18th century, and George Friederic Handel was one of the most passionate adherents of its principles in creating of his operas. In fact, operas were the brightest reflection of bel canto singing style at Carestini’s time. In accordance with bel canto principles, arias created by Handel for Carestini deployed sophisticated ornaments requiring mastership and use of entire vocal capacity of the latter. Unfortunately, due to the historical period hosting work of these artists, it is impossible to listen to Carestini’s voice with one’s own ears, but – owing to efforts of the composer – his arias have survived until nowadays to be performed by modern vocalists. Of course, one can only imagine the real voice of an original Baroque performer, but – as the modern singers comply with and follow Baroque standards, it is easy to appreciate the techniques used in the pieces. One of the most glorious operas performed in London is “Ariodante”(1735), which features Carestini as the protagonist. Arias written for him included complex vocal ornament with numerous dramatic transitions between tonalities and required full two octaves of vocal range. For instance, one of Ariodante’s arias, “Scherza infina” written fir Carestini’s voice, presupposes soft timbre, use of tonality and registers to mark the mood and emotional content. Listening to this aria sung by the modern operatic singer Philippe Jaroussky, I noticed the lightness in transition between registers and effective use of vibrato in certain fragments, meant to emphasize certain moments. I dare say that this opera illustrates the way in which Handel adjusted the operatic parts for the voice of a castrato singer with a wide compass. Moreover, bel canto techniques are traced clearly. To my thinking, Carestini produced brilliant dramatic effect with the combination of his vocal skills and acting talent. As he was said to be a good actor and a charismatic singer, he could win affection of the audience and great emotional feedback, let alone the fact that, in operas, singing and acting was brilliantly complemented with exquisite and exuberant costumes and sets. In addition, it would be apropos to throw some light onto Carestini’s debut part in Scarlatti’s magnificent opera “La Griselda” in which he performed with his bel canto teacher Bernacchi. Due to peculiarities of his powerful soprano, the singer was given the female part, particularly, the part of Costanza, Griselda’s daughter. The opera consisited of recitative parts combining with arias. Costanza was granted the finishing grandiose aria with an ensemble of the main actors. It is known, that Carestini, a promising castrato voice, was included into the opera’s cast shortly before “Griselda” was premiered in Rome, and the composer made a range of considerable changes in the opera for him. In order to ensure spectacular and impressing debut for Carestini, Scarlatti added extra arias (three of them) to Costanza’s part and altered already existing ones so that they sounded more impressive. Taking Carestini’s vocal range and skills, Scarlatti added coloratura passages to his arias in abundance. Moreover, some arias of other singers were reduced or deleted in order to make Carestini’s part stand out. It is definitely a good example of a composer writing music specially for a certain voice. Costanza’s part – and, for instance, aria “Bel labbro, ancor non sai” – contains many transitions between registers and applies Carestini’s vocal range successfully. Of course, these arias presuppose use of exquisite bel canto techniques with vibratos, trills, powerful and clear notes in highest registers. Again, owing to modern operatic singers, we can have an image of how the part sounded like in the 18th century. For instance, listening to Carestini’s part performed by /Carmen Lavani in 1970, we see dynamics of it and plenty of coloratura fragments. The aria called “Voi sospirate” is written in accordance with Baroque demands: the voice is delicately supported by the instruments, yet not overwhelmed. The text is pronounced with expression and the emotional coloring of words is reflected in tonality fluctuations. Generally, this part gave Carestini room for his talent actualization. Being a gifted actor and emotional performer, Carestini turned his performance into capturing spectacle, impressing the audience with exquisite vocal embellishments of bel canto art. Taking all the give information into account, one could conclude, that the method of so-called customization of vocal music for certain singers and deliberate creating of vocal parts for certain voice (in our case – castrato soprano) enabled the fullest actualization of both singer’s and composer’s talents. Giovanni Carestini in particular, cooperating with many illustrious composers like Hasse, Handel and Scarlatti, practiced the most exquisite techniques of singing, using embellishments that let his vocal abilities unfold. It isn’t surprising at all, that this singer won such grandiose reputation among audience; moreover, his piquant voice (as for a man) was rather inspiring and attractive. And, in addition, one shouldn’t forget that Carestini made a huge contribution to evolution and popularization of bel canto as a style of singing, which perceived a singers voice as a powerful instrument. References: Buelow, George J. A History of Baroque Music, Indiana University Press, 2004. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=aw1TTtpp4FwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=baroque+music&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=zqB0VKfECcL_ygObhYDIAQ&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=baroque%20music&f=false Grove, George (Ed.). Dictionary of music and musicians, Philadelphia: Theodore Presser, 1895. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008705704 Harbold, Michael. A Guide to Baroque Vocal Music, 2005. Last modified October 26, 2005. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://www.elmhurst.edu/~markh/history1/BaroqueVocal.htm Hogarth, George. Memoirs of the Musical Drama, Vol. 1, R. Bentley, 1838, pp. 444-445. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=_jwQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA444&dq=carestini&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=hJh0VOvMM-vgywPevYKQCQ&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=carestini&f=false Jenkins, J.J. The Voice of the Castrato, Lancet 1998; 351: pp. 1877-80. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://www.usrf.org/news/010308-jenkins_lancet.html Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach, Princeton University Press, 1983. Accessed November 26, 2014, http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=7yEUTTyqgJkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=baroque+music&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=zqB0VKfECcL_ygObhYDIAQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=baroque%20music&f=false Pleasants, Henry. The Great Singers, Simon and Schuster, 1981. Read More