1. appoggiatura (ah-PAD-jah-too-rah) – in baroque music, a “leading” note placed between the last two notes of a phrase to make the phrase end more gracefully.
2. apron – the front part of the stage, between the curtain and the orchestra pit.
3. aria (AH-ree-yah) – a song for solo voice with instrumental accompaniment; from the Italian word for “air,” an aria generally expresses a state of mood rather than propelling the action forward. An aria is the musical equivalent of a soliloquy in a stage play.
4. ballad opera – a form of English operatic entertainment made popular in the early 18 th century, combining spoken dialogue and well-known vocal tunes and dances; the most typical example is John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera.
5. baritone – the male voice which lies between the low bass voice and the higher tenor voice; most baritone parts call for expressive, romantic singing, like Germont (the father) in Verdi’s La traviata, although some heroic baritone parts do exist, such as Rigoletto.
6. baroque --- the period of music that goes roughly from 1600 (when the first operas were composed) to 1759 (the death of Handel); baroque operas were highly stylized presentations, with elaborate vocal requirements and fanciful plots.
7. bass – the lowest male voice; pronounced like the word “base” rather than like the fish, there are several categories of bass singing, generally referred to in Italian terms.
8. basso buffo (BAH-so BOO-foe) – one of the categories of the bass voice; the basso buffo is a singer who specializees in comic characters, especially popular in the comedies of Mozart, Rossini or Handel. Doctor Bartolo in The Barber of Seville is a good example of this category. Come to think of it, Bartolo was a basso buffo in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro as well.
9. basso cantante (BAH-so cahn-TAHN-teh) – another category of the bass voice; the addition of the Italian word “cantante” implies a certain melodic singing quality (from “cantare”: to sing) rather than a funny comic character or an excessively serious one. King Philip in Verdi’s Don Carlos is a basso cantante role; so is Mussorgsky’s Boris Gudonov.
10. basso profundo (BAH-so pro-FOON-do) – the most serious of the bass voices. Sarastro in The Magic Flute would be considered a basso profundo role.
11. bel canto (bell KAHN-toe) – literally, “beautiful song,” the traditional art of Italian singing which emphasizes elegant phrasing, beautiful tone and brilliant technique; the period of bel canto opera flourished in the middle of the 19 th century, in the works of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti.
12. blocking – the moving of people about on stage; in opera rehearsals, the stage director (see below) creates the patterns of movement that occur while the opera progresses – such patterns are called the blocking.
13. bravo – the Italian term shouted by an audience at the end of a particularly exciting aria, scene, act or performance; although the proper Italian pronunciation would suggest “BRAH-voh” it is easier to yell if the second syllable is elongated rather than the first, thus “brah-VOH!”. A female performer is accorded “brava” and many performers, “bravi.” In Don Giovanni, one of the characters actually goes so far as to yell out, “Archibravo” which means “Nothing better than this could be imagined,” although that would probably take too long to yell in a theatre.
14. cabaletta (cah-bah-LET-tah) – a brisk aria in Italian opera, generally following a more solemn, thoughtful one; the cabaletta frequently refers to a contradictory or complementary state of mind, and may even lead towards impassioned action from the character on stage. The term itself comes from the Italian “cavallo” which means horse; the accompaniment of the cabaletta frequently resembles the animal’s galloping gait. Arias with cabaletta are frequently found in Donizetti (Lucia’s act one “Regnava nel silenzio” comes to mind with its complementary cabaletta, “Quando rapito in estasi.”) and Verdi (the soprano’s “Ernani, involami,” from the opera of almost the same name.) Generally these prize selections are awarded to the soprano or the tenor; there are fewer cabalettas for baritone, even fewer for bass.
15. cadenza (cah-DENT-sah) – a musical flourish, frequently made upon the spot by the performer, which occurs when an aria or a section of an aria seems to be coming to its close (its cadence spot); until the time of Verdi, cadenzas were expected to be improvised by the singer and were seldom notated precisely by the composer. The long passage between soprano and flute in the mad scene of Lucia di Lammermoor is an improvised double cadenza for those performers.
16. Camerata (cam-er-AH-tah) – a gathering of writers and musicians who, in the late 16 th century, regularly met to discuss art and experiment with form. In the years prior to 1580, the gathering assembled at the residence of Giovanni de Bardi, and after 1592, at the home of Jacopo Corsi. Vincenzo Galileo, the astronomer’s father, was among this estimable Florentine group. Their deliberations led directly to the rise of opera as a combination of music, drama and stage spectacle. Jacopo Peri, a musician at the Medici court and a member of the Camerata, was the composer of Dafne (1597), considered the first opera.
17. cantabile (cahn-TAH-bee-lay) – an expression (another one taken from “cantare’) which asks the performer to sing or play in a sweetly singing manner.
18. cantata (cahn-TAH-tah) – a musical form, generally for chorus and soloists, based on a primarily narrative text; the most famous cantatas are those written by Bach, all of which take scriptural texts as their starting points – some are even for solo voice and instrument.
19. cantilena (cahn-tee-LAY-nah) – a lyrical melody line, obviously meant to be sung or played “cantabile.”
20. canzone (cahnt-ZONE-eh) – a short, lyrical operatic song; the term itself may have originated in Provence and could have referred to arias which have no narrative quality at all, but simply reflect the singer’s state of mind. Cherubino’s “Voi che sapete” in The Marriage of Figaro is called a “canzone.”
21. canzonetta (cahnt-zone-EH-tah) – literally, a little “canzone;” Mozart used the words “canzone” and “canzonetta” frequently to differentiate between the more serious (and longer) aria and the short (and more conversational) solo work in his operas.
22. cavatina (cah-vah-TEE-nah) – a short, simple solo song, occasionally instrumental rather than vocal, that was popular in 18 th century Italian opera.
23. chromatic – the scale pattern devised by playing all the white notes and the black notes on a piano in a sequence; thus, a chromatic scale which goes from middle C to the C an octave above contains twelve different tones and thirteen notes. In faster sections of arias in the bel canto period, the singer might embellish the melody line of an aria with rapid chromatic scales upward and downwards as proof of his vocal prowess.
24. classical – the period in music which comes after the baroque period and before the romantic; the dates are roughly from 1756 (which is the birth of Mozart) to 1830 (three years after the death of Beethoven). Although the period is not as long as the baroque period, it represents the greatest standardization in orchestral form and sonority. Even composers who lived beyond 1830 continued to use the standard “classical” orchestra of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, strings and timpani.
25. coda (COE-dah) – the last musical thoughts in a composition; in strict formal terms, a piece might contain exposition (which sets forth the principal themes of the work), development (which uses that material in new and varied fashions), recapitulation (where the principal material is restated almost verbatim), cadenza (for a last-minute vocal improvisation, sometimes based on previously heard melodic materials), and coda (where one last little idea is put forward by the composer).
26. coloratura (coe-low-rah-TOOR-ah) – a type of soprano, generally, but also the description of singing which pertains to great feats of agility – fast singing, high singing, trills, embellishments, and so forth. Some coloratura sopranos in recent times have been Lily Pons, Roberta Peters, Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills.
27. comprimario (come-pree-MAH-ree-yoh) – a singer who takes the secondary character roles in an opera, from the Italian which means “next to the first”; confidantes, maids, servants, messengers and medical personnel generally fit under the heading of comprimario roles.
28. commedia dell’arte (coe-MAY-dee-ah Del-ART-eh) – a style of dramatic presentation popular in Italy from the 16 th century on; the commedia characters were highly stylized and the plots frequently revolved around disguises, mistaken identities and misunderstandings. The principal commedia characters are Pierrot, Harlequin and Colombine. Operatic spoofs of the commedia characters can be found in Pagliacci and Ariadne auf Naxos.
29. contralto – the lowest female voice; the term itself comes from two Italian words which signify against (“contra”) the high (“alto”) voice. In baroque operas, the contralto generally represented a certain character type onstage: either comic (a sort of female basso buffo), or spooky and otherworldly, or just plain matronly. Marian Anderson and Maureen Forrester have been legendary contraltos in the concert and operatic world. Interesting, isn’t it, that when we talk about an “alto” we’re using the word for “high” when the voice is actually “low.” Now you see why.
30. continuo (cahn-TIN-you-oh) – the small group of instruments that accompanies the recitatives in baroque music; as a general rule, the continuo group comprises cello and harpsichord or organ, although in some of the larger works of Monteverdi (Orfeo, The Coronation of Poppaea) the continuo group can comprise a dozen or more instruments.
31. counterpoint – the putting together of two or more independent musical lines; when the same musical tune is repeated several times, in different vocal ranges, the result can be a fugue or a round.
32. countertenor – a high male voice, generally singing within the female contralto or mezzo-soprano range; popular in the baroque period, the countertenor frequently portrayed young, virile men or innocent, blushing adolescents – the voices were generally quite powerful, and not considered effeminate. This vocal range is sometimes referred to as “male alto.” The singer who sparked the countertenor revival was an English chap named Alfred Deller; his inheritors include Derik Lee Ragin, Brian Asawa and, most famously, David Daniels.
33. deus ex machina (DAY-us ex MAH-kee-nah) – literally, “god out of a machine,” a literary or staging device which refers to some last minute salvation of a tricky situation by a god or goddess who has been watching the entire plot unfold from afar. In the baroque period, elaborate scenery was devised whereby a particular god (more often than not Amor, the god of love) would descend from above the stage in a little cloud or carriage.
34. director/producer – depending upon the locale of the producing company, the person who creates the staging for a play or an opera; in America the person is called the director, or the stage director, as opposed to the conductor, who leads the orchestra. Throughout Europe, this person is known as the producer while the orchestra conductor is frequently called the director!
35. diva (DEE-vah) – a female opera star of great rank or pretension; the original Italian word means “goddess.”
36. dramma giocoso (joe-KOH-zoh) – an opera which combines serious elements, enacted by aristocratic personages, with comic relief played out and commented upon by earthier peasant stock. The most famous example of dramma giocoso is Mozart’s Don Giovanni, although the composer himself never actually called it such – only Lorenzo da Ponte, the librettist, did.
37. duet – a musical composition for two performers.
38. embellishment – the addition of extra notes to an already established melody line; in the days of Handel, and again in the flourishing of 19 th century Italian bel canto, this process of embellishing a vocal line whenever it is repeated was the standard practice. Some composers, like Bach and Mozart, wrote out their own embellishments – others trusted the instrumentalists and singers to add their own.
39. encore – “Play it again, Sam.” In France, they say, “Bis!”
40. entr’acte -- a musical composition played between acts or between scenes within an act of an opera.
41. entrée – a musical composition, used mainly in the French baroque period by its greatest practitioners Rameau and Lully, which has a martial, aggressive quality; the entrée generally was played to introduce an important character or group of characters. In some French baroque works, such as Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes (The Gallant Savages), each act was called an entrée.
42. falsetto—the technique of singing whereby the tone produced has a light, “head-voice” quality; this use of a “false” voice, which is what the term really means, enables a bass or a baritone to imitate a female voice, for example.
43. fioratura (fee-or-ah-TOOR-ah) – understandably confused with coloratura but meaning almost the same thing; taken from “fior” which means “flower” in Italian, fioratura refers to the actual flowery, embellished vocal line within an aria. All coloratura sopranos have to sing fioratura at some point or another, but there is no such thing as a fioratura soprano.
44. grand opera – opera which is sung from start to finish, as opposed to opera which may have spoken dialogue; grand opera frequently treats serious, dramatic subjects and, in French opera of the 19 th century, was generally epic in scale with a full-scale ballet inserted in the middle of the work.
45. hauptstimme (HOWPT-shtim-mah) – literally, “the high voice,” this refers to the principal musical material of a work, not to a singer. In the operas of Schoenberg or Berg, early 20 th century German composers, the main melodies are marked with an “H” to indicate that the composers considered those the most important tunes.
46. heldentenor – a type of tenor voice which hearkens back to the golden age of Wagnerian singing; the typical heldentenor has an unusually brilliant top register (high notes) combined with a muscular lower voice, almost like a baritone, and is capable of long passages which require great vocal stamina. Tristan and Siegfried are great heldentenor roles. One of the great heldentenors of all time was the Dane, Lauritz Melchior.
47. imbroglio (eem-BRO-lyoh) – an operatic scene in which diversity of rhythm and melody create chaos and confusion; the original meaning of the Italian word was “intrigue.”
48. intermezzo (een-ter-MET-zoh) – a short musical entertainment, which in its earliest manifestation might be played between the acts of a longer, more serious operatic work; the intermezzo was almost always of light-hearted character, and never involved more than three or four singers. One well-known operatic intermezzo is La serva padrona (The Maid Becomes the Mistress) of Giovanni Pergolesi (1733) which was sung between the first and second acts of a much larger, and quite forgotten, work Il prigioner superbo (The Model Prisoner). A short intermezzo without singing might just be called an entr’acte.
49. Köchel catalogue (CUR-shull) – the listing of Mozart’s compositions, in chronological and thematic order; the catalogue was made after Mozart’s death by Ludwig von Köchel, an Austrian botanist who was a passionate admirer of Mozart’s music. Most composers’ output is listed “Opus #” but Mozart’s works are listed with a “K” number. Cosi fan tutte, for example, is K.588 which makes it a very late work (there are 626 altogether in the Köchel catalogue) whereas his comic opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, is quite early, K. 384.
50. legato (leh-GAH-toe) -- a smooth and gliding style of singing or playing; the opposite of legato is marcato (in a marked, punchy style) or even staccato (in an even shorter, more aggressive style).
51. leitmotiv (LIGHT-moe-teef) – a short musical passage, sometimes no more than three or four notes, which instantly calls to mind a character or situation in a musical drama; although Wagner may not have invented the device, he is certainly the best-known user of it.
51. libretto (lib-REH-toe) – the text of an opera; the literal translation is “little book,” which reminds us that in a Broadway show the texts of the songs are called the “lyrics” while the spoken text of the rest of the play is called the “book.”
53. lied – a German song; the pronunciaton is “leed” and the plural is lieder (pronounced “leader”). In some pre-Wagnerian German operas, the songs that the characters sing are called “lieder” as opposed to arias, which would be the Italian determination.
54. maestro (mah-ES-troe) – a title of courtesy, from the Italian, given, and especially in Italy, to conductors, composers and directors; translation, “Master.”
55. marcato (mar-CAH-toe) – the style of playing which is the opposite of legato. Every note is slightly separate and the line is, consequently, more emphatic or more aggressive.
56. marking – the practice used by many singers to save their voices in rehearsals; singers will sing in what seems to be a mere whisper, or transpose the vocal lines so that they don’t have to sing extremely high or low notes. This is done as a vocal protection – singing too strenuously, or without getting the voice properly warmed up can lead to vocal strain and severe throat problems.
57. masque – a staged performance in which music, poetry, song and dance are equally (and allegorically) blended; although the word is French, and pronounced “Mask,” the form is more frequently associated with English works which appeared around the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
58. mezza voce (MED-zah VOE-chay) – literally, “medium-voice,” like a demitasse is half a cup, literally; when singing mezza voce, the singer reduces the volume so as to intensify the emotion. When marking, singers use a kind of mezza voce, but not for dramatic purposes; in performance, it should be intentional.
59. mezzo-soprano, or mezzo (MED-zoe) -- the female voice range which lies between the soprano, which is the highest, and the contralto; the tone of a mezzo-soprano can either be voluptuous (in the case of Delilah or Carmen) or it can be thinner and more agile (which might describe Rosina in The Barber of Seville).
60. obbligato (ah-blee-GAH-toe) -- the proper Italian term for what we would more generally call a “descant”; a melodic line that compliments the general tune, usually sung or played in a higher register.
61. opera buffa – a style of opera which revolves almost entirely around comedy; perhaps an outgrowth of the Italian intermezzo, the opera buffa as a form was popular in the baroque days as well as in Italy of the early 19 th century. Its counterpart is opera seria, which implies opera almost entirely about lofty ideals or with tragic consequences, any of which could be reversed by a deus ex machina! Rossini was such a prolific composer that he is well remembered for opera buffa (The Barber of Seville, The Italian Girl in Algiers) and for opera seria (Semiramide, Willliam Tell).
62. opéra comique (OH-pair-ah Come-EEK) – a misleading term, French in origin, which would seem to describe opera that was funny; in fact, opéra comique describes opera in which there is some spoken dialogue, as opposed to grand opera in which there is none. As a matter of fact, both Gounod’s Faust and Bizet’s Carmen were originally conceived with spoken dialogue and are, thus, opéras-comiques even though their subject matter would seem to make them “grand” operas.
63. operetta – light, frothy musical entertainments which generally do not pertain to terrifically important subject material; spoken dialogue, dancing, practical jokes and mistaken identities seem to be the trademark of the operetta form, most popular in late 19 th century Vienna or France, under the hands of the Strauss family or Offenbach. Die Fledermaus (Strauss), The Merry Widow (Lehar), La Périchole (Offenbach) and Noel Coward’s Bitter Sweet are all operettas. The American broadway musical springs as much from operetta as from the German singspiel (see below).
64. opus (OH-puss) – a single work or composition, from the Latin; the plural form of “opus” is “opera” and it was that term that the Camerata (see above) adopted since their new stage presentations combined the musical work, the dramatic work and the staging work – thus making “works”!
65. orchestra – the group of musicians which accompany a staged presentation; in early operas (from 1600 to about 1750) the orchestra might only consist of a few strings, pairs of oboes, bassoons, flutes and trumpets, and continuo (see above). The orchestra grew from the time of Mozart through Beethoven and Weber, Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and Richard Strauss so that nowadays an opera orchestra can easily consist of 90 to100 players. Incidentally, in America the first floor of a theatre is called the orchestra, whereas in England that area is called the stalls.
66. oratorio – a musical composition (generally not staged) for chorus, orchestra and soloists whose text is generally religious, serious or philosophical in nature; a long version of a cantata, shall we say. It was to oratorio that Handel turned when the English public turned sour on his staged operas, although the story lines and characterization of the oratorios are often totally operatic. Messiah and Israel in Egypt are oratorios; Julius Caesar and Rinaldo are not.
67. ornamentaion – the extra notes, like appoggiaturas, scales, trills, cadenzas that can enhance a melodic line when it is to be repeated. Ornamentation and embellishment are probably interchangeable terms.
68. overture – the instrumental introduciton to a musical drama or oratorio; frequently the overture will incorporate musical themes that will later be heard in the course of the opera. In Don Giovanni the ominous theme of the Stone Guest (from the second act) is heard as a premonition at the beginning of the overture, thus setting an emotional tone as well as providing musical structure to the entire work.
69. parlando (par-LAHN-doe) – literally, “speaking”; this Italian terms directs the singer to imitate speech in singing. The “patter songs” of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas frequently employ a great deal of parlando singing. Rex Harrison did a lot of parlando singing as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, although he might not have been aware of it.
70. pitch – the location of a sound on a scale ranging from high to low.
71. portamento (pour-tah-MEN-toe) – the smooth movement in singing or playing a stringed instrument from one note to the next; a portamento can only be achieved in legato singing or playing, and is frequently compared to “glissando,” which truthfully means sliding from one note to the next.
72. prelude – the instrumental introduction to an individual act within a musical drama, whether opera or operetta; some composers use the words overture, prelude, and entr’acte interchangeably.
73. polyphony (pull-LIFF-fuh-nee) – from the Greek, “many voices”; the mixing together of several melodic lines in a pleasant fashion. Counterpoint is certainly an element which creates polyphony.
74. prima donna – the female star of an opera cast; in Verdi’s time it was considered a matter of course to differentiate the roles in terms of their dramatic and vocal importance, such as “Prima Donna,” “Seconda Donna,” “Terza Donna,” and the like. It did not until recently come to describe the personality of the singer, rather than the importance of her role in the opera.
73. prompter – a member of the musical staff of many large opera houses; the prompter sits in a small box practically invisible to the audience, on the apron of the stage, and gives singers and choristers the vocal cues seconds before they are required to sing them. In many international houses, where singers perform without benefit of long musical rehearsal periods, a prompter can be invaluable as a memory aide for a jet-lagged singer.
74. proscenium (pro-SCENE-ee-yum) – a misunderstood term; most performers, even designers, refer to the proscenium when they actually mean the proscenium arch. The proscenium, to be more technically precise, is that part of the stage between the curtain and the orchestra pit -- and the architectural arch which encloses the curtain is called the proscenium arch. Even so, “proscenium” is used in a larger, more general sense, in the meaning of a stage constructed with a curtain, as opposed to a thrust stage where the stage has no formal enclosure.
77. prova (PROE-vah) – rehearsal, from the Italian word for “test”; often in Italy, one hears of a “prova generale,” which means the final dress rehearsal., In Germany, a rehearsal is called “probe” (PROE-beh); in German houses, one frequently hears of a sitzprobe (a rehearsal with orchestra where the singers sing seated on chairs at the front of the stage instead of moving about) or wandelprobe (where the singers actually go through the motions of their acting while the orchestra plays the music) or generalprobe (which is, in essence, the last dress rehearsal).
78. raked stage – a stage which slants upward away from the view of the audience; in earliest opera houses, the stage was so slanted in order for the audience member sitting in the back of the theatre to have an easy view of someone standing at the back of the stage. Many opera houses in Europe today have stages that are permanently sloped like this.
79. range – the division of the human voice, according to six basic types: soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass.
80. recitative (wretch-ee-tah-TEEF) – a musical form within an opera which, by imitating rapid speech, advances the plot; this is not the same as parlando, which is a style of singing, but rather a formal, narrative device. Whereas arias generally express states of mind, the recitative describes a course of action. “Recitativo secco” (wretch-eh-tah-TEEV-oh SEK-ko) is accompanied by the continuo instruments; “accompagnato” (ah-come-pahn-YAH-to) is accompanied by the full orchestra. Numerous passages abound in the operas of Mozart and Rossini of the “secco” style. The introduction to Donna Anna’s “Or sai chi l’onore” is an example of the “accompagnato” style, capable of varying the mood of the narration more than the simple harpsichord accompaniment could.
81. ritornello – the instrumental prelude to an individual song within a cantata, concerto or aria; in baroque Italian operas, the ritornello (which comes from Italian meaning “a little return trip”) could be heard not only at the beginning and the end of the aria, but as a dividing mark between stanzas. The use of ritornello is very obvious in the great theatrical works of Monteverdi and his great contemporaries Cavalli.
82. romantic – the period of music between 1830 and the turn of the tweniteth century; composers of romantic music frequently found inspiration in other-than-musical ideas, such as nature, painting, birdcalls, rainstorms. Beethoven and Weber were probably the first romantic opera composers, although the most famous of the period of Wagner and Verdi.
83. singpsiel (ZING-shpeel) – early German musical drama, which employed spoken dialogue along with musical numbers; Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglioand The Magic Flute are both examples of this genre, so are Webeer’s Der Freischütz and Beethoven’s Fidelio. The singspiel is very similar to English ballad opera or French opéra comique and is no doubt the precursor of operetta and the American broadway “show.”
84. soprano – the highest range of the female voice; the soprano voice ranges from lyric (a light, graceful quality) to dramatic (obviously fuller and heavier in tone).
85. sotto voce (SEW-toe VOH-chay) – a musical direction which asks the performer to sing, or play “under the voice,” or in a subdued manner. Singing sotto voce can be compared to declaiming in a stage whisper, and can be very effective in a large theatre.
86. soubrette (sue-BRET) – a lightweight soprano voice or type of soprano role, frequently found in comic operas or operettas; the soubrette usually possesses a flirtatious demeanor and street-wise manner, as in the case of Adele in Die Fledermaus; or is a particularly fetching country innocent, like Adina in The Elixir of Love.
87. spinto – a kind of voice which is “pushed” towards another, from the Italian “spingere” (to push); thus a “lirico spinto” soprano is a lyric voice that has some qualities of the heavier dramatic range. Frequently, sopranos who have essentially light voices will take on the role of, say, Mimì in La Bohème (drawn to her youthfulness and frailty) and push their voices to ride over the orchestra, thus developing a “spinto” sound. Licia Albanese and Mirella Freni, two great Italian singers, would be prime examples of this type of soprano.
88. sprechstimme (SHPRECH-shtimm-eh) – literally, “speak-sing”; a kind of vocal instruction, found often in the operas of Schoenberg and Berg, where the singer half-speaks and half-sings a note. The declamation sounds like speaking, but there is a duration of pitch which makes it seem almost like singing. In Schoenberg’s Moses and Aaron, the role of Moses is almost totally conceived for sprechstimme, whereas Aaron’s role is entirely sung.
89. staccato (stah-CAH-toe) – a type of singing or playing that is characterized by short, clipped, rapid articulation; the opposite of staccato is legato.
90. stage right/stage left – the division of the stage from the performer’s point of view; thus, when a singer goes stage right, he moves to his right but to the audience’s left.
91. super/supernumerary – a performer who appears in a non-singing, non-speaking role; a “super” might have a solo walk-on to deliver a message, or might be included as part of a large processional, for example. In the old days, supers were often referred to as “spear carriers.”
92. tempo – the speed of a musical passage or composition; the tempo may range from very slow (“largo” in Italian, “langsam” in German) to extremely fast (“presto” in Italian, “schnell” in German.)
93. tenor – the highest natural male voice.
94. tessitura (tess-ee-TOOR-ah) – the average range of a vocal part in an opera; for example, the tessitura of Lucia di Lammermoor is quite high, that of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana (although it is still a soprano role) is low enough that the role could be sung by a mezzo-soprano.
95. trill – two adjacent notes rapidly and repeatedly alternated.
96. twelve-tone – a system of composition that was put forth in the early part of this century by Arnold Schoenberg, whereby (in very simple terms), each note of the chromatic scale should be used as part of a melody before any other note gets repeated. Many composer have used this system, which is also called “serialism.,” but the best-known operas in this style are Berg’s Wozzeck and Lulu, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Roger Sessions’s Montezuma.
97. upstage/downstage – the position onstage farthest or nearest the audience; because of the raked stage which was so prevalent in early opera houses, the farther “back” a singer went on the stage, the “higher” she seemed to become in stature – thus the distinction of being “up” stage. When a singer is directed to move downstage left, she goes toward the audience and towards her left side; to the audience, she seems to be coming forward and moving to the audience’s right!
98. verismo (vair-EEZ-moh) – literally, “truth”; a style of theatre made popular in the latter part of the 19 th century in which ordinary events and characters participate in melodramatic situations. Bizet’s Carmen and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci were considered early and powerful examples of verismo, and so are most of the operas of Puccini, Mascagni and Menotti.
99. vibrato (vee-BRAH-toe) – the slightly wavering quality that a singer has in his voice while sustaining a tome; if the vibrato becomes terribly pronounced, it is pejoratively called a wobble. Some signers will drain their voice of any vibrato for a particularly haunting effect.
100. zarzuela (zahr-ZWEY-lah, or if you want to be showy, thahr-THWEY-lah) – a popular Spanish musical presentation which blends dialogue and music in skits and dramas ranging from one to three acts that deal satirically with aspects of daily life. The derivation of the name is intriguing: early zarzuelas were performed in the Palacio de la Zarzuela in Madrid, so named because it was surrounded by a field of brambles (“zarza” being Spanish for “bramble”).
101. Zylis-Gara (JILL-iss GAH-ruh) – a Polish soprano, popular in Mozart, Strauss and lighter Verdi roles; not an opera name you absolutely need to remember, but as close to the end of the alphabet as you can get. Hope you’ve enjoyed the glossary!