Introduction to Recitative

By early 19th century recitative becomes less fashionable opera composers like Rossini and Donizetti would have their assistants compose recitatives so they could focus their work on the arias and ensembles.
By the middle of the 19th century secco recitative disappears.
Secco Recitativo makes a comeback in 20th century operas by Stravinsky (The Rake’s Progress) and Britten (Rape of Lucretia)

STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW
Secco or Accompagnato
Recitativo secco (“dry” recitative) accompanied by basso continuo
Basso continuo (Bass line played by cello, violone, or bass with chordal accompaniment improvised by any combination of harpsichord, organ, fortepiano, lute, archlute, theorbo, guitar, harp, etc.) Figured bass symbols imply harmonies.
Very little repetition of words, entirely syllabic
Delivery: rhythmically free, closer to speech than arioso singing*
*In a letter of November 1778 Mozart wrote “I think that most operatic recitatives should be treated [as spoken melodrama] and only sung occasionally, when the words can be perfectly expressed by the music.”

Recitativo Accompagnato (accompanied by orchestra)
More dramatic than secco recitative
Often acts as a bridge between secco recitative
Mostly syllabic
Orchestra mirrors the affects felt by the character
dotted rhythms = authority/severity/grandeur/majesty/extroverted
running scales/tirades = fury
Dissonant harmonies = shock
softer dynamics = sadness/loneliness/introverted
Delivery: rhythmically more precise than secco recitative and closer to arioso singing

PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
Notation
One of the biggest difficulties of performing recitative is that the notation does not correspond to the performance.
Appears rhythmically monotonous
measures are place holders which indicate strong syllables and changes of harmony on strong beats (1 and 3). Everything on weak beats should flow and lead to the strong beats according to poetic feet and patterns of normal speech.
Essential notes like appoggiature are missing
Appoggiature should be added at the end of phrases or on an important words whose last two syllables are on the same note. Substitute with step or leap 4th.
Most appoggiature are dissonant notes. To write dissonance on strong beats, although very expressive go against the rules of counterpoint. Singers were trained to add these dissonant notes so add expression and make the composer look good.
Rhythm/Phrasing of language
An overview of accenti
Piano: (soft/feminine) emphasis on penultimate syllable,
‘gran-de, ‘bel-la, a-’mo-re, re-ci-‘ta-re
Tronco: (shortened/masculine) emphasis on last syllable
co-‘sì, sa-‘rà, fa-‘rò, ‘è
also poetically shortened words (a-‘mor, ven-di-‘car, sa-‘per)
most poetically shortened words do not appear in the dictionary. Italian verbs end in e. If you can’t find a word, add a final e and see if it appears.
amor=amore parlar=parlare saper=sapere
Sdrucciolo: (sliding) emphasis on third last syllable
‘sdruc-cio-lo, be-‘nis-si-mo, ‘es-se-re, Ra-pha-el,

Видео Introduction to Recitative канала Raphael Fusco