Performance Practice Review

Volume 6 Article 7
Number 2 Fall

1993

The Role of Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque opera

Olga Termini

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Termini, Olga (1993) "The Role of Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque opera," Performance Practice
Review: Vol. 6: No. 2, Article 7. DOI: 10.5642/perfpr.199306.02.07
Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/ppr/vol6/iss2/7

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Baroque Operatic Acting

The Role of Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque

Opera
Olga Termini

Among the more formidable challenges for any opera singer is that of comb-
ining singing with acting in the portrayal of a character. To act a part
without sacrificing vocal finesse, or to sing a role while at the same time
interpreting it dramatically has always been demanding. Moreover, an ideal
of balance has rarely been achieved.

In Italian baroque opera the emphasis appears to have shifted. Opera from
its origins had been drama-oriented. The concerns of the camerata and the
emergence of the stile recitativo attest primarily to the goal of "moving the
affections" through the words. Later, however, attention was directed more
fully to the music, so much so mat opera was sometimes characterized
simply as a "concert on stage." Nonetheless, theorists and commentators,
both early and late, had much to say in common regarding acting (or the
lack of it). They quite universally emphasized the importance of diction as
well as of expressivity and naturalness in the use of gesture. Thus, while
acting may have declined in quality in the later baroque, it was still a major
concern for commentators.

146
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 147

Although until now the performance of baroque opera has been looked upon
largely in terms of the music, in terms of the singing styles or orna-
mentation, etc., relatively little attention has been directed toward aspects of
the drama itself, toward the manner of acting, or how word and movement
were used as part of a total spectacle. Such aspects were a matter of
considerable concern, however, not only for observers and critics, but for
composers as well. The present essay will examine Italian baroque opera
from the vantage point of acting, focusing on the attitudes of contemp-
oraries, particularly in regard to diction and gesture.

Early Italian Opera Composers

The earliest opera composers were preoccupied with word and drama. Peri
sought a singing style that would "imitate speech in song,"1 while
Monteverdi's avowed aim was to make "the words the mistress of the har-
mony."2 Gagliano, in his Preface to Dafhe (1608), exhorted the singer to
"try to pronounce every syllable distinctly so that the words [would be]
understandable," and further that this should be "the principal aim of every
singer . . . especially when performing on the stage."3 Gagliano also offers
detailed instructions concerning how in one scene, the singer should
synchronize his gestures with the music. As he described it, Apollo's
combat with the python required great physical agility in "shaking his bow,
brandishing his arrows in his hand, regulating every step, every gesture to
the singing of the chorus." He also indicated that a fine singer might not
always have the skills of a fencer or dancer and may grow fatigued after the
combat scene; and that therefore two Apollos (each dressed alike) could be
employed, the first executing the combat, the second (i.e. the singer)
entering only after the death of the python.4 Alessandro Guidotti, in his
Preface to Cavalieri's Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo (1600),
expressed a similar concern: that the words be clearly pronounced, and that
the "gestures and movements not only of the hands, but other gestures [be]
efficacious in moving the affections."5

'Cited by Oliver Strunk, Source Readings in Music History (New Yoik: W. W. Norton
& Co., 1950), 374.
2
Strunk, Source Readings, 407.

^See Carol MacClintock, ed. Readings in the History of Music in Performance

(Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1982), 188.
4
MacClintock, Readings, 191.

^MacClintock, Readings, 182.

148 Olga Termini

Here is how the practitioners of early opera spelled out their requirements
for an opera singer, one must to begin with have a beautiful voice, good
intonation, and good vocal support (as Guidotti emphasized). But excellent
diction, expressiveness in singing, and skill in acting followed closely be-
hind. Not surprisingly, Monteverdi stressed these prerequisites whenever he
was engaged in the casting of a singer. For instance, in his directives to one
Signorina Margherita (letter of 1627) he showed a minute attentiveness to
the movements that were to take place on stage. She needed "to become a
brave soldier" and "to master the appropriate gestures completely, now bold,
now timid, without fear or restraint." And he added further, "For I am
inclined to have her be bold in the imitation of the music, the actions, and
the changes of time . . ."6 Monteverdi also demanded that ample rehearsal
time be allowed for a dramatic production. As he himself indicated, "Ar-
anna required five months of strenuous rehearsal after the cast had learned
their parts by heart," presumably to perfectly coordinate matters of action
with the music.7 Still another concern was the physical appearance of the
singer. Monteverdi's first Orfeo, Francesco Rasi, cautioned that "ugly
actions, such as mouth and shoulder movements, and others" should be
avoided, attributing these to the French; Rasi begged his patron, the Duke of
Mantua, not to let this (French) style spoil "the full sweep of Italian
gracefulness" (tutto il garbo italiano)? in the instruction of a pupil.

In Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1643) the role of Ottavia was

played by Anna Renzi, whose dramatic rendition of the lament was
described by her patron Giulio Strozzi.9 Strozzi points especially to her
superior acting powers : "she transforms herself into the personage which
she represents" her responses did not seem memorized, but seemed "born at
the moment" (nati att'hora). And in Lafinta pazza (Venice, 1641) she was

"Letter to Alessandro Striggio (July 10, 1627), as translated in The Monteverdi

Companion, Denis Arnold and Nigel Fortune, eds., 71.

'Letter to Striggio (January 9, 1620), in which Monteverdi discusses preparations for

his now lost opera Apollo.
Q

"Arnold and Fortune, Monteverdi Companion, 49-50. A century later Le Cerf de la

Vi6ville, a Frenchman highly critical of Italian singing, attributes this same undesirable trait
to the Italians; see Strunk, Source Readings, 502.
"in an essay in her honor entitled Le glorie della Signora Anna Renzi romana (Venice,
1644) quoted by Ellen Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth Century Venice; the Creation of a
Genre (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 429.
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 149

"just as valiant in acting as she was excellent in music," and was thereby
able to pretend as well as imitate madness to perfection.10

Critical and Literary Sources

Theoretical writings of the time also give considerable attention to the

acting of opera. Probably the most fruitful source of information in the
earlier 17th century is the anonymous treatise // corago (c. 1630),
where we read:

Above all, to be a good singing actor, one must also be a good

speaking actor.. . l l

Highly practical in his approach, the author recommended that inferior

actors be given inconspicuous parts and that they be positioned on stage
surrounded by lots of props, such as by being "in clouds and other machines
in the air."12 He noted that audiences normally preferred an excellent actor
with a mediocre voice over a superior singer who had little acting ability,
and who pleased only those few who were connoisseurs of music.

The specific acting instructions in this treatise are highly detailed. A singer
impersonating a noble character must move in a slow and dignified manner,
accompanied by deliberate gestures. Moreover, he must have an opport-
unity to act, to stop, and to heave a long sigh between vocal phrases, "as
nature dictates" {come la natura gli detta).1^ During recitatives one was to
avoid rapid movement, and this even more so during arias, unless the qffetto
demanded it, as in scenes of flights or attacks. It was deemed important to
walk or act in accordance with die character during ritornelli, and not
always to stand in the same spot, center stage, when singing.

Gestures were to be appropriate to the character, and (in accord with the
ajfetto) synchronized with the words. Changes of affetto were to come at
the beginning of a speech and not in the middle.14 The singer could gesture

10
Rosand, Opera, 415.
1
*Fabbri, Paolo, and Angelo Pompilio, eds., // corago o vero alcune osservazioni per
metier bene in scena le composizioni drammatiche, c. 1630 (Florence: Olschki Editore,
1983), 91. Translation is my own.
12
// corago, 92. See also Rosand, Opera, 244.
13
// corago, 89-90.
l4
ll corago, 97.
150 Olm Termini

freely during a narrative recitative, but was to be more restrained during a

soliloquy.15 Gestures of anger were to be directed con furia to the person
addressed, while gestures of despair were to be "discretely variegated"
(regolatamente sregolata).16

Two main criteria run through most of the Italian commentaries on acting in
the early 17th century: acting was to be expressive of the affetto, and it was
to be natural. Leone di Somi's Dialoghi (late 16th century) contains a
chapter on acting in which the actor is admonished

to keep his head in a certain natural way so that it will not appear that
it is attached to his neck with nails. And he must let his arms and his
hands (when it is not necessary to gesticulate with them) go where nature
directs t h e m . . . '

A parallel may be seen in Elizabethan writings on acting. For instance,

Heywood's Apology for Actors (1614) speaks of

a gratious and bewitching kind of action a naturall and familiar

motion of the head, the hand, die body, and a moderate and fit
in

countenance suitable to all die r e s t . . .

Such qualities were noted by foreigners witnessing Italian performances.

For example, Andr6 Maugars, a viol player in Rome in 1639, judged the
Italian singers enthusiastically, because they

are almost all actors by nature... [and] they are incomparable in music for the
stage, not only for dieir singing but also for die expression of the words, the
postures, and die gestures of die characters they play naturally and very well.

i5
llcorago, 25.
16
llcorago, 95.
17
Cited by A. M. Nagler, A Source Book in Theatrical History (1952, repr.. New York:
Dover Publications, 1959), 103.

'"Nagler, Source Book, 124. And a parallel may be seen in Shakespeare's Hamlet,
wherein Hamlet advises die players that die purpose "both at the first and now, was and is, to
hold as 'twere, die mirror up to nature."
19
Cited in MacClintock, Readings, 122, as a translation of Response faite a un curieuz
sur U Sentiment de la Musique d'ltalie, icrite a Rome le premier Octobre 1639 (Paris, 1640).
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 151

Later-Baroque Italian Operatic Acting: Negative Appraisals

What was the nature of Italian operatic acting in the late baroque? Much
scathing criticism was directed toward the lack of acting due to an excessive
attention to vocal dexterity. Many of the negative judgments, to be sure,
were colored by prejudice against the castrati; and then too a great number
of disparagements came from the French quarter as part of a general anti-
Italian bias.

St. Didier, attending the opera in Venice in 1685, judged the "action most
commonly disagreeable" (disagriable). Like a true Frenchman, his
criticism is even more scathingregardingthe dancers, whom he imagined as
wearing lead in their shoes. But he is positive in regard to the singing: "The
Charms of their Voices do make amends for all imperfections."20

But many Italian authors as well, especially after the turn of the 18th
century, were highly critical of the neglect of acting skills among their own
countrymen. Many of these writers drew attention to the emphasis on sheer
vocal technique and to the detrimental effects this had on dramatic integrity.
Mid-18th century authors such as Algarotti reach an extreme verdict, putting
the blame for what he perceives to be the operatic mediocrity of his time
squarely on the singers:

and with their passaggi, their trills... they embellish, overload, and disfigure
everything 2 '

Bianchi lashes out at the "continuous screaming of high voices of persons

who come and go without one's knowing what they want."22 And Riccoboni
claimed that Italian opera, which he feels had come to a point of perfection
in the works of A. Scarlatti and Bononcini, had witnessed a decline (during
the 1740s and 50s) due to the regrettable loss of balance between acting and
singing.23

t r a n s l a t i o n by Nagler, Source Book, 263.

21
Francesco Algarotti, Saggio sopra I'opera in musica (1755), 19. Translation of
excerpts in Stmnk, Source Readings, 668ff.

Giovanni Antonio Bianchi, De i vizi e de' difetti del modemo teatro (Rome, 1753),
93.

Louis Riccoboni, Reflexions historiques ex critiques sur les diffirens thiatres de

I'Europe (Amsterdam, 1740; rcpr., Bologna: Fomi Editore, n. d.), 39.
152 Olga Termini

But undoubtedly the most vitriolic comments of all came from Marcello,
who in // teatro alia moda (Venice, c. 1720) ridiculed singers for, among
other things, keeping their identities separate from those of the characters
they were portraying:

never listening to any other actor; saluting the people in the boxes, joking
with the orchestra, etc. that people may clearly understand that he or she
is not the Prince Zoroaster but Signor Forconi; not the Empress Filastroca
but Signora Giandussa Pelatutti.

This kind of criticism is still echoed a half-century later by Mancini, who

continued to fault singers for falling out of their roles.25 And Marcello's
criticism regarding the irrelevant things singers did during the ritornelli was
reiterated by Durazzo thirty years later.26 (Ritornelli had grown longer and
the average singer was, perhaps understandably, at a loss as to what
meaningful action could be performed while waiting for an entrance.)

Many of the unfavorable judgments concerning Italian singers were strongly

colored by prejudice against the castrati, a tendency that only grew during
the 18th century. While St. Didier and Raguenet expressed admiration for
the castrato voice, its power, flexibility, and timbre, many writers focused
on the outward appearance of the castrato, and particularly on the contra-
diction between the voice and the body, as does Grosley,27 or between the
voice and the character being portrayed, as does Addison:

for who can hear without pain one of these ancient and proud Romans
utter his cries through the mouth of a eunuch . . . ?

by Henry Pleasants in The Great Singers (New York: Simon and Schuster,
1970), 27.

"Giambattista Mancini, Practical Reflections on Figured Singing, the editions of

1774 and 1777 compared, translated, and edited by Edward Foreman (Champaign: Pro
Musica Press, 1967), 75.

"•Giacomo Durazzo, Lettre sur le michanisme de I'opera italien (Naples, 1756),

quoted (incorrectly as by Josse de Villeneuve) by Michael F. Robinson, Naples and
Neapolitan Opera (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972; repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1984),
61.

Jean Grosley, Nouveaux mfmoires sur Vltalie et les Italiens (1764). trans, as
Neue Nachrichten oder Anmerkungen iiber Italien und tiber die Italiener (Leipzig: 1766),
552.
28
Cited by Misson, vol. 4,64.
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 153

An anonymous treatise (London, 1755) satirizes the great Farinelli for his
stage appearance:

What a pipe! What modulation! What ecstasy to the ear! But heavens!
What clumsiness! What stupidity! What offense to the e y e ! "

Perhaps our modern impressions are overly colored by such satires and the
visual record of caricatures—after all, we haven't actually seen castrati, or
heard them sing! But serious theorists also disapproved; Bianchi, for one,
held the castrati responsible for the excessive vocal acrobatics practiced in
opera,30 and later in the century Planelli advocated the exclusion of castrati
in favor of tenors, who would impersonate heroic figures more
convincingly31—this, of course, proved to be prophetic for the 19th century.

Later-Baroque Operatic Acting: Some Positive Suggestions and

Commentaries

Pier Francesco Tosi, in his widely circulated and translated Observations on

Florid Song, saw expression (from the heart) to be the essential ingredient
of both singing and acting:

O how great a master is the Heart!... own that from it you learned
the most beautiful expression, the most refined taste, the most noble
Action.. , 3 2

And Mancini, writing in the latter half of the 18th century, set forth some
very specific and exacting requisites for the preparation of aspiring singers:
they should study languages (chiefly Latin and Italian, i.e. Tuscan), learn
grammar, listen to orators, read poetry aloud, and study history in order to
understand the background of the historical figures they will portray on the
stage—and they should study acting.33

^Reflections upon Theatrical Expression in Tragedy (London, 1755), quoted in

Pleasants, Great Singers, 44.
30
Bianchi, De i vizi, 93.
31
Antonio Planelli, Dell'opera in musica (Naples, 1772), 171.
3
^Pier FrancescoTosi, Observations, 157-8.
3
Mancini, Practical Reflections, 65-69.
154 Olga Termini

Both Tosi and Mancini lamented the neglect of the art of acting in their
respective times. Tosi blamed teachers, especially for neglecting the recit-
ative, because they disdained expression or considered it old-fashioned. But
the study of recitative, according to Tosi, could even teach acting.34
Mancini re-enforced this idea, claiming that singers needed to study
recitative and strive for the simplicity of spoken declamation by observing
the sentence structure with its periods and commas. He echoed, even quoted
Tosi, on the common faults of recitative performance, its "departure from
naturalness."35

Mancini made it clear that no precise rules could exist concerning acting or
concerning any specific gestures or attitudes the singer might strike in
particular situations. Only general principles could be taught, such as en-
tering and moving on stage gracefully, or expressing emotions through par-
ticular facial expressions. Singers must learn to move naturally, they should
learn from dancers and fencers, and they should study the comic element,
especially by observing the acting of the buffi, excellent models for opera
singers in this art. However, Mancini places the responsibility for the per-
fecting of acting skills primarily on the young singer himself, recommending
practice, observation, and consultation with a master.36 Above all, the actor
should know the words of his part perfectly and understand them and the
character he is representing, in order to have the freedom to act.37 Agricola
(whose German translation of Tosi, with additions, appeared in 1757) also
recommended the imitation of tragic actors and the study of French authors
on acting—he even remarked that Senesino (the castrato) showed improve-
ment after seeing a French acting troupe in Dresden.38

Whereas the Italian sources are not overly specific regarding gestures and
attitudes, they do agree in general with many of the French treatises
concerning the essential role of facial expression, of feeling whatever
emotion was being portrayed, and of maintaining naturalness. The French
and French-influenced treatises, however, tended to be more specific and
systematic regarding such elements of acting as eye expression, hand
movement, and the coordination and timing of eyes, hands, and voice, as

3
*Tosi, Observations, 70.
3
"Mancini, Practical Reflections, 70.

'"Mancini, Practical Reflections, 76.

3
'Mancini, Practical Reflections, 75-76.
3f
*Johann Friedrich Agricola, Anleitung zur Singkunst (Berlin, 1757), ed. Erwin R.
Jacobi, with facsimile repr. of Tosi's original (Celle: Hermann Moeck Veriag, 1966), 217.
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 155

well as of specific poses and gestures.39 Certain French writers, such as Le

Cerf (1706), Rousseau (1768, and Garcin (1772), actually stress acting over
singing:
la qualite* la plus essentielle au chanteur de ropera, c'est d'etre
bon acteur.. . 4 0

It is probably not surprising that certain singers of the time were indeed
esteemed not only for their superior vocal technique and expression of the
words but also for their skill in carrying out the action. Faustina Bordoni
was one such case; she was vividly characterized by Quantz, for instance,
who witnessed her performances in London in 1726-27. Quantz praised
both the agility of her vocal execution, including ornaments, as well as the
passion and expression of her adagios. And he added:

[She had] a clear and quick judgment in giving to words their

full power and expression. In her action she was very happy;
and as she perfectly possessed that flexibility of muscles and
features, which constitutes face-playing, she succeeded equally
well in furious, amorous, and lender parts: in short she was bom
for singing and acting.**'

And among the castrati, Nicola Grimaldi, the famous "Nicolino," was
praised for his excellent acting by the most diverse of critics. Even Addison
and Steele, to say nothing of Galliard and later writers like Algarotti and
Burney, revered his acting almost as much as his singing, or else they
pointed to the happy combination of the two. In the words of Steele, he
was:

an actor who, by the grace and propriety of his action and gestures,
does honor to the human figure. Everyone will imagine I mean
Signor Nicolini, who sets off the character he bears in an opera by

™Some of the authors are Gildon, Grimarest, Lang, Jelgeihuis, Pickering, Cibber, and
Le Brun. For an overview see Dene Barnett, "Die Schauspielkunst in der Oper des 18.
Jahrhunderts," trans. Magda Marx-Weber in Hamburger Jahrbuch fiir Musikwissenschaft 3
(1978), 289-304.

Etienne Fraroery, De Vorganization des spectacles de Paris (1790), quoted

in Bamett, 291.
4
'"Herrn Johann Joachim Quantzens Lebenslauf von ihm selbst entworfen," in
Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, Historisch-kritische Beytrdge zur Aufhahme der Musik, i, 214,
trans. Charles Burney, quoted in Winton Dean, "Bordoni, Faustina," New Grove Dictionary of
Opera, 1,547.
156 Olga Termini

his action as much as he does the words by his voice .. . 4 2

Certain singers who excelled in acting specialized in a particular character

type. Francesco Ballarino, a contralto castrate, was known for his dramatic
recitative in the fiero style, i.e. in villainous roles,43 Domenico Cecchi (II
Cortona) for die tender style of a lover, and Vittoria Tesi, contralto, for her
male impersonations.44 The latter was singled out for her acting ability by
the French critic Goudar:

She gives expression to the music, and acts out the passions by
letting what she feels herself pass into the soul of the spectator."

Thus, we have seen no dearth of comments on operatic acting both in the

earlier and later baroque periods. And what is particularly striking is the
extent of agreement as to desirable criteria. Action was to be synchronized
with the music, both in the details of gesture and in the general affect.
Facial expression and other bodily movements were to be above all natural.
In acting, as in music, the ideal of the Italian baroque was to achieve a high
degree of communication through expressivity.

42
77i€ Taller, no. 115, cited by Angus Heriot, The Castrati in Opera (London, 1956;
repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1975), 125.

si, Observations, 70.

^Heriot, Castrati, 34.

5
Ange Goudar, De Venise, remarques sur la musique et sur la danse (Venice, 1773),
41.
 Diction and Gesture in Italian Baroque Opera 157

Caricature of the Italian contralto Vittoria Tesi (1700-1775)

by Anton Maria Zanetti.
(Original in the Istituto di Storia d'Arte, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice.)

I.«£*?'••-,;.

It-