Coaching Opera Secco Recitatives by Using Singers’ Native Dialects: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study investigated whether individual coaching can improve role portrayal and emotional expression in opera secco recitatives. An experimental comparative study. Eighteen students (mean age 24 years) from Norway and Sweden majoring in opera singing volunteered as test persons. As singing tasks each test person studied a short opera secco recitative in their Voice Fach during 14 days. All recitatives were picked up from renowned Italian operas from the Classical period. The texts were translated in the singers' mother tongue but performed in Italian, a foreign language to all test persons Thirteen test persons were enrolled in a Test group, and they were coached individually for 1h in interpretation of their singing tasks. During the intervention the test persons combined speaking the translated text in their native dialects with singing the recitative in Italian. The test persons were asked to distinguish various emotions and motivation in the singing task, and rehearsed how to express the singing task equally distinctly in Italian as in their native dialects. The singing task was recorded a capella immediately before and after the intervention. The test persons in the Control group recorded their singing tasks pre and post 1 h self-directed rehearsing on their singing tasks, without any coaching.. The recordings of all test persons were presented in randomized order for ten expert listeners to rate the expression of emotions and role portrayal. The samples were also analysed acoustically. Post coaching samples were rated significantly better in expression of various emotions and motivation compared to pre coaching samples. The Control group singers showed no significant changes in perceptual variables. Pausing increased in both groups after rehearsing. A short individual coaching in performance of an opera recitative seemed to stimulate young opera singers` emotional and motivational expression.