Verdi and the French Aesthetic: Verse, Stanza, and Melody in Nineteenth-Century Opera

by Andreas Giger

• ISBN13: 9780521878432
• ISBN10: 0521878438
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-09
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Focusing on Verdi's French operas, Giger shows how the composer acquired an ever better understanding of the various approaches to French versification while gradually bringing his works in line with French melodic aesthetic. In his first French opera, Jèrusalem, Verdi treated the text in an overly cautious manner, trying to avoid prosodic mistakes; in Les Vêpres siciliennes he began to apply more freedom, scanning the verses against some prosodic accents to convey the lightheartedness of a melody; and in Don Carlos he finally drew on the entire palette of prosodic interpretations. Most of Verdi's melodic accomplishments in the French operas carried over into the subsequent Italian ones, setting the stage for what later would be called operatic verismo. Drawing attention to the significance of the libretto for the development of nineteenth-century French and Italian opera, Giger illustrates Verdi's gradual mastery of the challenges he faced, and their historical significance.

Author Biography

Andreas Giger is Associate Professor of Music at Louisiana State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Versification and Melodic Aesthetics
Rhythm and stanza in French and Italian librettos	p. 7
French and Italian melodic aesthetics and practice ca. 1830-1870	p. 43
Episode: Design, middleground rhythm, and phrase	p. 78
French Melódy In Verdi's Operas
Jérusalem and its influence on the subsequent Italian operas	p. 91
Les Vêpres siciliennes and its influence on the subsequent Italian operas	p. 121
Don Carlos and after	p. 182
Appendix: Principal theoretical texts cited (arranged in chronological order by date of publication)	p. 229
Notes	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 271
Index	p. 287
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