LASCIATEMI MORIRE o FARO LA FINTA PAZZA

Embodying vocal NOTHINGNESS on stage in Italian and French 17th century operatic LAMENTS and MADSCENES

A Music Research Drama in a Prologue and 3 acts by Elisabeth Belgrano

PhD candidate School of Music and Drama Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts University of Gothenburg, Sweden

75% presentation 7 September, 2010 kl. 9:30-12:00, Valand, Aulan

Opponent: Efva Lilja, Professor of Choreography, University of Dance and Circus, Stockholm

LIBRETTO

LASCIATEMI MORIRE o FARO LA FINTA PAZZA

Embodying vocal NOTHINGNESS on stage in Italian and French 17th century operatic LAMENTS and MADSCENES

A Music Research Drama in a Prologue and 3 Acts by Elisabeth Belgrano

Only at the cost of losing the basis of all my certainties can I question what is conveyed to me by my presence to myself 1

1 Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge, 2006, p.504 7

ARGOMENTO

To my most illustrious and excellent reader... Let me present to you a music research drama in a prologue and three acts. My quest throughout the drama is to understand the meaning of PURE VOICE with reference to NOTHINGNESS, from the practice-based perspective of a singer. The aim is also to inspire to a wider dialogue across various research fields, or to anyone dedicated to the study of 17th century opera and vocal music. Through sounds, words and images I will draw attention to and make visible what normally is hidden for the larger audience: the process between the singers first meeting with the vocal manuscript until the first steps onto the stage. I have no intention to say that my way is the only true way, but rather to say that this is the way I choose to go - one among many possible ways to proceed. My hope is that other singers, or perhaps any other curious researchers, will join me along my walk and then continue their own walks out in the world of researching the Art of Vocal Communication. Your most affectionate and passionate servant La Curiosissima Cantante Elisabeth Belgrano

SCENARIO

After the PROLOGUE, which introduces the topic of the study in detail as well as provides background information and a research context,

ACT I
scene 1
presents the singers battle of EMBODYING the TRANSFORMATION of the SELF in PRESENCE. Nature and Arts enters the stage, preparing for the arrival of the singer. Their words propose various Renaissance perspectives of whether Nature and Art are female or male, or perhaps both at the same time, through the embodiment of the female singer. When she enters stage, she comes dressed as Deidamia, who at first appears as a soldier, calling out to all warriors, to all women, to her self, or to anyone ready to listen to her voice. She changes her being again and again, becoming Helen of Troy, the most the beautiful being on earth; then the abandoned lover, drowning in her own tears. She sings in Italian, and what matter most of all is her PRESENCE in the moment of the PRESENT. She is her own sound - a sound that transforms along with her passions. She is the singer herself, dressed in her stage-clothes, dressed as another being rather than herself, but nevertheless always embodying presence. Her acts are sometimes nave and they pull the rules out of shape, sometimes bordering to madness. But who is mad? The singer? The character she interprets? Is she in control or totally lost, or both at the same time, or neither at all? Does she pretend or does she speak the truth?

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scene 2
introduces a woman embraced by words expressing despair, hate, love, jealousy, sorrow, fear etc. She taste the colors of every syllable, transforming them into thoughts, passions and sounds. She is carefully filtering every vowel and every consonant through her memories and lived experiences. Being a queen - lost and rejected her voice makes the fear and sorrow vibrate sometimes loud, sometimes burried in silence. Ottavia is never mad, but destined to lament and mourn her loss. But isnt her voice sometimes lost in madness? The affliction freezes her soul and she speaks about her prison: her own prison - her female body; dressed in another prison - her costume almost inhibiting her from breathing. Or the prison of rules lingering all over any act she makes. She calls for help, she calls for revenge, she asks for freedom. Her voice becomes the voice of a rebel. In Rome she is trapped, scorned and finally banned to leave her land for a life in exile. Just like the roman singer herself, who had to leave because of powerful rules. The singer on stage searches among her memories of loss, having to leave and taking farewell. Saying good-bye to love and friendship. She hears the crowds screaming around her. She leaves Rome, escorted by men in uniform. She remembers and she sings as if she was Ottavia; as if she was the singer who had to leave; as the one she is herself, missing and longing her life she left behind. Taking farewell. Let me die is what we hear on stage in

ACT II
Scene 1
Arianna is alone on the shore. On a Rocky shore. Her words seduces the singer, who walks obsessed out on her own rocks, following the red thread of Arianna. She tries to understand the wish to die, something so far away from what she would ever imagine. She has learned along her walk with Deidamia, and Ottavia, that words are strong, but signs of vanity. They disappear fast. Into the wind and waves of the sea. Arianna provides her with the opportunity of meeting another woman, a dancer. Together they embody the movements and sounds of Arianna. They go far away from what is expected of the music today. They stretch the rhetorical lines, being aware of new and dangerous grounds. But they dont allow

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the laws to stop their acts. They are one in the voice of a lamenting woman, and this makes them strong, even in Venice; even in the first Venetian operahouse now a romantic garden next to a fabulous palazzo. The place itself amazes them. The asked themselves where are we? dove siamo? Dove? Dove? In the garden they find their way and move together with the strings of a theorbo, all accompanied by the water of the canal, the slammering of morningdishes, the transportation of some carpenting tools, and singing of birds. In the garden one can even imagine the ornamented singing sound of the Nightingale, so often compared to the sound of the female singer in 17th century texts. The singer and the dancer explores the movements through improvisation, and slowly they find their patterns. The process makes them grow and they learn that Arianna lives in the moment she sings. Loudly or softly. Arianna is not only herself. She was in fact two. She had an alter ego in French, and she appears in

scene 2
also standing alone on a seashore. But she is different. She balances on something different. On je-ne-sais-quoi2. Strong and bold, yet doubting in her own rights to cry or to love. Her voice is embellishing the simple line. Sometimes she stand there with both feet firmly on the ground. Sometimes she seems puzzled about where to direct her toes. She holds herself back, finding pleasure in the suspension. Perhaps this particular moment signifying Nothingness, though that would would not be used. The singer and the dancer continue to follow her line. They need to be even more careful in French than in Italian. Careful not to appear to much, or to little. Bever will they seem less passionate than the Italian Arianna. The passion has only a different place within the voice of Ariane.

ACT III
Scene 1

2 Janklvitch, Vladimir Le Je-ne-sais-quoi et le Presque-rien. 1. La manire et loccasion, ditions du Seuil, 1980 12

Scene 2

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Characters
In all acts the SINGER is embodied by her MIND, her VOICE, and her BODY. The DANCER represents the movement in the dialogue in ACT II. The Chorus of Other is the mixed choir of all references: theoretical, artistic and practice-based, yes, all references proving to be of interest and importance for the singers reflections, acts and decisions.

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PROLOGUE
Towards a deeper understanding and knowledge of vocal expression.

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The philosopher remains confined to schools, the poet to academies; and for the people what is left in the theaters is only pure voice, stripped of any poetic eloquence and of any philosophical feeling.3

3 1 Gian Vincenzo Gravina, member of Accademina dellArcadia, lamenting the separation between the philosophy, poetry and music in the culture of his time (1715). Cited in: Calcagno, Mauro Signifying Nothing: On the Aesthetics of Pure Voice in Early Venetian Opera, Journal of Musicology 20/4, 2003: 461-497, p. 461 17

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A PURE VOICE EXPERIENCE

Music is gone and left is silence. Yet a vibrating motion is stronger than ever in the silent room. The harpsichord player hurries out with his face covered by his hands. My whole body and soul is one and I am alive. My voice is silent, but the movement in me is bursting with an overwhelming force. Silence, sound, quite, movement all is present in this room. I am at the center of now, in the middle of being. It is a moment capturing the absolute conviction that everything has been expressed. Sound is now embodied in a most profound sensation of existence. The woman I interpret has lost her love. Her disability of transforming her destiny forces her through a swirl of extreme emotion. Then suddenly she gives in. She let go of her breath. We are one. My voice is part of hers. Everyone in the room is part of the vibration in this almost spiritual sensation. Perhaps I exaggerate? But no... it was true to me. The frame of my reality is invisible. I ask myself if this isnt the sensation or ambition all (performing) artists strive towards in their attempt to present their art? To me it means to reach all the way into the borderland of fulfillment, and being eternally alive. A voice inside me tells me to sing again and again and again...

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Searching for the pure voice in performance

This is where it all started. It was my curiosity for understanding the pure voice experience that made me want research the abstract sources of the voice. The moment when nothing matters other than a voice streaming out of me, reaching out into infinity. In 2005 I found an article by Mauro Calcagno addressing pure voice in early Venetian opera.4 This article has since then been my guiding star throughout my PhD-project. Calcagno argues for the relevance of the emerging protagonist of opera production the female singer. According to him, she becomes a symbol for two important tropes associated with an intellectual discourse on the concept of aesthetics, referring to the pure voice and overvocalization: the concept of nothing and the singing of the nightingale.

NOTHINGNESS
What does it mean nothing? I get this question over and over, and I never know how to answer in a simple way. So simple and yet so complicated. A sign of Nothingness? When everything can be said, even in silence. A paradox, could that be the answer to the question. Nothing means paradox? I hope to be able tobetter descibe my visions of Nothingness and the pure voice in this thesis. I turn to my own vocal practice, to other voices and practices as well as to theories addressing the wonders of Nothing, hoping to find more answers enhancing my own vocal skills and expression.

Defining the voice as a symbol of Nothing.

With the text a pure voice experience I try to describe an experience of a moment when absolute meaning is found in a performance. This far into my research project I would claim that it represents a moment of Nothingness. It is a moment almost impossible to describe. It exists and it doesnt at the same time.
4 Calcagno, 2003 20

When described in written or spoken form, it comes out nave and plump. But this moment is the driving force into this project. Through my research on 17th century laments and mad-scenes, I hope to find new ways of defining vocally and in words a meaning present in this moment of Nothingness. My way of describing this state-of-being is totally subjective and might appear irrelevant for any further academic research. Yet this moment signifies all what I need in order to be a singer. These glowing moments fire my desire. Their appearance seduces my mind with amazement, wonder and curiosity. What I learn in my practical research on the powerful qualities of the voice gives me courage and energy to be open to expression and communication with my surrounding. The voice inside me encourages me to be bold and not afraid of what I might find. It is this openness that draws me towards fascinating encounters on all levels: like when the voice meets the word, and together accompanied by images and thoughts, find a variety of sounding and spoken melodies; like the meeting between the vocal instrument and the costume: the sensations of a close physical tension and restriction of a 17th century corset used in an experiment 12 hours a day for 2 weeks, creates totally new perspective of air and space; or the meeting between my voice and a 17th century theater, now transformed into a romantic garden, but yet confined to the limited space (700m2) that the theater once occupied. All these experiences and many more to be described in this libretto allows me as a 21st century singer, to explore the transformations of sound and of my instrument as a whole, and to imagine and intuitively follow the most fantastic scenarios in the Art of a PURE VOICE a flowing voice a voice of Nothing that includes in itself all that is possible and that is impossible5.

An academy observer of Nothingess and supporter of the Venetion 17th century opera
Throughout my project I battle daily with the fear of how to make my singing research valid and respected in the midst of traditional academia. It appears to be an uneasy relationship between artistic research and the academic world.6
5 Citation from discorse by Luigi Manizini in his Il Niente : E pure il Niente include in s tutto che ci ch possibile e tutto che ci ch impossibile, published in Italian in: Le Antiche Memorie del Nulla, ed. Carlo Ossola, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma 2007, translated to English by Mauro Calcagno, 2003, p. 468 6 Borgdorff, Henk Artistic research and academia: an uneasy relationship, Art Monitor, Gothenburg, 2008 21

What makes the research of an artist so different from academic, scientific and scholarly research? Is it the artists fear to become too theoretical or perhaps for loosing touch with the art-practice itself? Or is it the academy that fears a transformation of its status usually defined by truth, objectivity and realism. Perhaps we ought to examine closer a definition an academy. In this research project I have encountered a specific academy- an academy striving towards total freedom and openness of mind. This academy has been described to have created an intellectual style that depended on conversation. Its most important activity was the oral presentation followed by debate. The members created an academic style that placed and enormous emphasis on the virtuosity of word selection and the power of language, not just for selfexpression, but as an instrument for perception and deeper cognition.7 To them everything could be turned inside out forever and ever no matter the topic. In their word play one could observe a sense of indeterminacy of meaning and a dynamic process of understanding. They walked through the words and transitioned into unknown meanings, without any intention of finding a final explanation. The academy observed the essence of Nothing (il Niente) and in 1635 their theories of Nothing were published. For the members, celebrating the nobility of nothingness opened a door onto aesthetic and semiotic theory. Examining nothingness was a device for exploring the impossibility of representation in language, which led to a distrust of verbal language and to a cultivation of stylistic extremes for their chock value or, to put it in 17th century terms, for the capacity of poetry to achieve novelty and produce the marvelous.8 They searched for a space, were thoughts could be thrown into the air and played with by the academy members. The themes they explored ranged from the most trivial to the most serious. The members all shared the vision of a search for the unknown. In fact they called themselves Accademia degli Incogniti (Academy of the Unknown). Their motto was Ex Ignoto Notus known from the unknown. Their emblem pictured the river Nile, referring to the bizarre associations of the words Nilo (the Nile), Nihil, (in latin: nothing), Nulla9. (From a singers perspective it is also intriguing to notice that the emblem is shaped like an open mouth. Perhaps referring to the singing voice?) In my research into the vocal paradoxes of Nothing, I turn to descriptions and reflections by philosophers such as Aristotele, Luigi Manzini10, Jean-Paul Sartre11, Maurice Merleau-Ponty12,
7 Muir, Edward The Cultural Wars of the Late Renaissance, Harvard Univ. Press, 2007, p. 70 8 Ibid. p. 79 9 The Accademia degli Incogniti can be explored further in the following papers: Calcagno, 2003; Miato, Monica LAccademia degli Incogniti di Giovan Francesco Loredan, Venezia (16301661), Firenze, Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1998 10 Il Niente. Discorso di D. Luigi Manzini. AllIllustrissimo ed eccelentissimo signore Il sig. Domenico da Molino, recitato nellacademia deglIncogniti di Venezia, a CaContarini. Gli VIII Maggio MDCXXXIV, sotto l principato dellillustrissimo signore Angelo Michiele, nobile viniziano, 1634, Venice: Andrea 22

The Kyoto school13 and more recent texts by Marcia S Cavalcante Schuback14. For a contemporary analysis on the phenomenon of pure voice in regard to other historical periods, Calcagno refers to some of these theories by citing Lawrence Kramer15, who calls the moments when the voice surpasses the textual meaning overvocalizations. Another formulation is provided by Nietsche, describing the melismatic act, a musical excitement that comes from all together different regions than does poetic excitement. In his paper Calcagno examines the pure voice in regard to the power of ornamentation. Accademia degli Incogniti took an important role in productions of the first public operatic events in the republic of Venice around the 1640s. The connection between vocal practice and interpretation of music from the 17th century operas, with the philosophical discourse around the concept of Nothing is an issue I intend to address further in my research. As a singer I employ Incognitis device for exploring the impossibility of representation in language aiming to create stylistic extremes for their chock value sampling the natural vocal sound or to achieve novelty and produce the marvelous by applying various ornaments and vocal decorations. In a dialogue with other singers and researchers, who all share the common interest for 17th century culture, I hope to investigate vocal sounds representing a mysterious Nothing.

Barba, reprinted in: Le antiche memorie del nulla, ed. Carlo Ossola, Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1997, 95-107 11 Sartre, Jean-Paul Being and Nothingness, Routledge, 1943 (2008) 12 Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge, 2006 13 Heisig, James, W. Philosophers of Nothingness, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2001 14 Cavalcante Schuback, Marcia s Lovtal till intet (Glories to Nothing), Glnta Produktion, 2006 15 Calcagno, 2003, p. 462 23

Figure 1. Emblem of Accademia degli Incogniti, engraving by Francesco Ruschi appearing in Le Glorie de gli Incogniti overo gli Huomini Illustri dellAccademia de Signori Incogniti di Venetia (Venice: F. Valvasense, 1647)16.

16 Ibid, p. 484. 24

The Art of Singing Observed through INTUITION, SENSATION and THE SELF
I started to write A PURE VOICE EXPERIENCE with only one intention: to deliver and express my thoughts straight into words without any rewriting. I tried to describe, as simple as possible, the sensation of an experience that proves something significantly valuable to my profession as a singer and a performer. It is a description of my driving force, which provides my being with the desire to communicate. Then, as a second step my aim was to explore this first text and research the meaning behind the words, its images and its sounds. It became obvious to me that I needed to keep my senses open and try to understand what the affects, passions and emotions behind the words could tell me. Today there is an increasing interest in the history and science of emotions, and scholars and scientists try to understand what impact sensations and passions have on our state of being. The singers paradox consists of allowing the voice its intuition, to be expressive and passionate on stage, yet attempting to remain within in conscious physical and emotional control. There is a need for the singer to become aware of the self in this balancing act. Where is I on stage? What does I mean when I interpret the voice of another being? In my work I relate the experience of my vocal practice to theories of embodied cognition and the embodied mind pronounced by neuroscientists like Francisco Varela17 and Antonio Damasio18. Both Varela and Damasio explore a non-western philosophical tradition that derives from a Buddhist method of examining experience called mindfulness, meaning that the mind is present in embodied everyday experiences19. Through a dialogue between this non-dualistic method and cognitive science Varela address factors that can be directly juxtaposed with phenomenological arguments by for example Merleau-Ponty. In my practice I also apply the Alexander Technique, which is another method used by many performing artists, allowing the mind to acknowledge habits in everyday
17 Varela, Francisco J., Evan Tompson & Eleanor Rosch The Embodied Mind. Cognitive Science and Human Experience ,1991, MIT Press 18 Damsio, Antnio The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, 1999 19 Varela et al. p. 22. For more information about the science-buddist dialogues visit: http://www.mindandlife.org/index.html 25

experience, and in this way obtaining through practice an awareness of the self as a whole.

THE FEMALE VOICE - a voice of laments and madness

In my work I have chosen to focus my attention on two of the most important forms in early opera from the 17th century: the lament (il lamento) and the madscene (la scena di pazzia). Both these forms have had an enormous impact the opera genre since than. The lament can be traced back to funerals and the wailing songs of traditional women mourners from for example Greece and Saudi Arabia, as well as many other cultures. The lament has been closely related to the female voice and to her dialogue with the dead20. The mad scene can be found in Italian and French drama from around mid 16th century21 and was many times performed by Commedia dellarte actresses22. In spoken drama, the mere fact of singing was almost sufficient for a diagnosis of insanity.23 The first known evidence of madness in the opera genre is mentioned in reference to Giulio Strozzis and Claudio Monteverdis La Finta Pazza Licori (The Feigned Madwoman Licori), a piece most likely only imagined and never composed24. After the first performances of madness in Italian opera in the early 17th century, the sung madness spread across Europe and a fine sample can be found in Henry Purcells Bess of Bedlam, as part of the English mad song genre. At the beginning both the lament and the mad scene were performed mostly by women, and I have been following one of the first interpreters praised by her contemporaries for her passionate interpretation of these highly estimated acts. Her name was Anna Renzi Romana. The following words were dedicated to Renzi by librettist Giulio Strozzi in 1644:

20 Holst-Warhaft, Gail Dangerous voices. Womens laments and Greek Literature. Routledge, 1992, p. 3 21 Fabbri, Paolo Alle origini di un topos operistico: la scena di follia, in: Secolo Cantante: Per Una Storia Del Libretto D'opera Nel Seicento, Bologna, Molino,1990, p. 57 22 One of the most famous interpretations was Isabella Andreinis performance of La Pazzia dIsabella. See MacNeil, Anne Music and Women of the Commedia dellArte in the Late Sixteenth Century, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003 23 Rosand, Ellen Operatic madness: a challenge to convention in: Music and Text: critical inquiries, ed. Steven Paul Scher, 2006, p. 241 24 Mentioned in a letter from Monteverdi to Strozzi, 15 June, 1627, in: ibid, p. 245 26

The action that gives soul, spirit, and existence to things must be governed by the movements of the body, by gestures, by the face and by the voice, now raising it, now lowering it, becoming enraged and immediately becoming calm again; at times speaking hurriedly, at others slowly, moving the body now in one, now in another direction, drawing in the arms, and extending them, laughing and crying, now with little, now with much agitation of the hands. Our Signora Anna is endowed with such lifelike expression that her responses and speeches seem not memorized but born at the very moment. In sum, she transforms herself completely into the person she represents, and seems now a Thalia full of comic gaiety, now a Melpomene rich in tragic majesty.25

It is my belief that the female singer from the 17th century can teach us all a great deal more about singing, acting and opera, than what we already know. It can of course be said that nothing can be true, and that nobody will ever know for sure who these women really where, how they sounded or what stipulated their act on stage, but I know that I need my illusions and imaginations. It is very much about creating an image based on no other evidence than what has been left behind in documents. Still, this can be compared to the creative process of preparing a performance. I have the score, I have the context, I have the experience of communicating emotions, but I need to let my wonder and my curiosity for the amazing and unrealistic visions come alive, otherwise my performance will have no meaning. Anna Renzi romana and along with the French 17th century singer Anne Chabanceau de La Barre26 will accompany me throughout my research27. They are
25 Le glorie della Signora Anna Renzi romana (Venice, 1644). Translated here by Ellen Rosand and presented in her book Opera in the Seventeenth-Century Venice, 1990, p. 232. Also available on-line: http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft3199n7sm&chunk.id=d0e11463&t oc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e11463&brand=eschol 26 Between 1996-2004 I researched the life and career of Anne Chabanceau de La Barre. The result was the CD Eclatante Amarante. A portrait of The French 17th century Singer Anne Chabanceau de La Barre (1628-1688). For more information: www.elibelgrano.org 27 These women can be considered as two of the first prima donnas in the history of opera. Texts were published during the seventeenth century dedicated to our guides Anna Renzi (Le Glories della Signora Anna Renzi romana, 1644, Venice: Surian, Biblioteca Marciana di Venezia) and Anne Chabaceau de La Barre (selected references from Jean Lorets La Muze Historique) highlightning their important roles in the development of the new operatic genre. These texts celebrate Renzis and La Barres passionate interpretations and glorious performances. On a 27

the singers I turn to when I emerge in the words, in the music, in the phrasing and in the gestures. Together with them, my mind creates images that then are represented and embodied by my voice and my performing acts. They, representing to me a female sound in 17th century opera, created new tools to achieve what was so much desired, namely to touch, enchant and move the souls of the audience. Renzis portrait has also served to recreate a costume for this PhD-project. During research and discussion with experts on 17th century fashion in Venice, an observation of her costume confirmed important matters related to her appearance on stage. It was a costume realizing both male and female aspects. This fact proves to fit perfectly well with her interpretation of the mad-scene, which demanded her ability for fast transformation between male and female characters.

Creating an artistic PhD: a MUSIC RESEARCH DRAMA

The text about the pure voice introduces the Prologue in the Libretto of my research-project. The model of making my thesis in to a libretto is of course taken from the opera genre itself. The libretto was published as a tool for the audience to follow the lyrics performed on stage. If a production was successful, the libretto was printed in many editions, and they circulated all over Europe. When considering the best form of presenting this specific project I was inspired by the opera La Finta Pazza, from 1641. The reason was that a second volume was published along with the libretto, having the title IL CANNOCCHIALE della Finta Pazza. The aim of this text was to explain, highlight and describe in more detail, also to the people who never had the chance to see the actual performance, all the wonders of this opera28. For me the form of a Cannocchiale seemed perfect, since I could use such a text as an operaglass or a pair of theater binoculars, in order to further explain the mad ways, thoughts and acts of a singers process from the first sight of the musical manuscript towards a performance.
more general level, these historical texts also provides us with highly significant and direct information about female 17th century singers performing qualities and their manners of expressing the passions. Another interesting information is that throughout the text, both women embody some of the attributes closely related to a philosophical discourse concerning the paradoxes of Nothing (Calcgano, 2003) 28 The word Cannocchiale means a Telescope. 28

My curiosity about the power of the voice and all the possible colors and shades available in the art of communicating vocally, draws my attention back in history to a period that has been especially interesting for me during at lease the last 15 years. I dont strive to enter my research as a musicologist, nor anything else than a curious, researching singer. What I hope to achieve with my research is to put together different facts and stories presented by scholars and artist specialized in the 17th century, adding my own practical experience of baroque singing . By exploring the vocal sound of today with my new interpretations of historical voices, I hope to inspire other singers to follow along researching their own vocal promenade. I come with my voice to a musical score. As a performer I have the choice to initially make my road easy or more difficult. I can turn directly to a modern contemporary printed edition, and just sing. Or, I have the choice to look for more. In my case I chose the second option. I search for original sources along with the modern editions. I also search for the unspoken truths not apparent on the page in front of me, printed in black on white. I go to the archive searching for other manuscript and 17th century related prints. I ask myself who held this paper in his/her hand before me. I notice my thoughts, and imagine the thoughts of the singer who interpreted the same music for the first time ever. Who was she? How did she live? How did she sound? What did she see, hear, feel, smell and taste? But why do I need to know all this? What is the purpose? Obviously, one might argue that all this information will not make any difference to the sound of my voice? Well, maybe not, but I am not sure. In fact I suggest that the new knowledge I gain throughout my research, does affect the sound of my voice. A singer learns her way to sing through images and sensations. Her sound grows with time and along with her perception of life. Books are available, but the master can never be substitute by a written textbook. The search for a meaning in a song is based on experiences, both technically and emotionally. For a singer this is an essential truth in the aim to achieve new ways to touch the soul of the observer and listener. It is my belief that these experiences can be stimulated and supported by theories of all kinds, if one allows the singing mind to be free and open to any possible truth or imagination.

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30

ACT I

31

32

scene 1

DEIDAMIA

33

34

Embodying transformation of the SELF in presence

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NATURE & ART are waiting for the entrance of the Singer. They trust in her power of embodying the paradoxes of Every Thing and No Thing. Words celebrating their existence are rolled out as a red carpet, preparing for the singerss appearance Chorus of Other
Artusi [] invite an interpretation of consonance as both natural and masculine and dissonance as unnatural and feminine29

Chorus of Other
Nature is feminine and art is masculine30

Chorus of Other
Puteanus associates creativity and aesthetic value with man by way of Latin etymologies, and so Andreini, by virtue of her art, is a man.31

Mind
By bringing together humanistic ideas and aesthetic values, her madness on stage made space for it all

29 MacNeil, Anne Music and women of the Commedia dellArte in the late sixteenth century, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003, p. 125 30 Ibid, 125 31 Ibid, 125 36

Chorus of Other
Playing at the boundary of decorum and excess32

Chorus of Other
You speak extemporaneously [] with such richness and fullness that, when nothing can be added, nothing remains unaddressed with such gestures that I could imagine your fingers themselves were speaking with such a voice that I could suppose that the harmony of the Sirens sang within you - with such propriety and, finally, success, that by your nod and authority, you can hold the reins of a full theater.33

The singer appears as

a soldier
embodied by MIND, VOICE & BODY

VOICE
Guerrieri, allarmi, allarmi; Allarmi, dico, allarmi, Ove stolti fuggite?34

MIND
I am dressed. Ready for war. In consonance, I sound like a trumpet of war.

32 Ibid, 125 33 Ibid, 311 34 Warriors, to arms, to arms; / To arms, I say, to arms. / Where are you fleeing fools? (Deidamias madscene has been translated from italian by Ellen Rosand, unless otherwise mentioned. See, Rosand, Ellen Operatic Madness: A Challenge to Convention, in: Music and Text: Interactions, ed. Steven Scher, Cambridge, 1991, 246-247

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VOICE
Guerrieri, allarmi, allarmi;

MIND
Ready to use my weapons. And I call for all of you. Women. Follow my voice. Come on. Where are you going? Dont go away. Come along. O God, you are so girly and so foolish Look at me. As a man, I am ready. Dressed in a male costume. As a real soldier I am dressed for the battle. Ready for a battle of words and gestures. A rhetorical battle. I know this game. A game of male authority, But I have my secret weapon that none of them can use. Only my strength can move my sword. Come on. Listen. It is time for us all to move on. Scream, shout and make noise.

VOICE
Armi, allarmi, ALLARMI, ALLARMI, all, armi!!!

MIND
Noise! To arms! Fight for something better. For something real and important. Fight now and for the moment of action. In action.

(Laughing to herself)
Am I not clear? Perhaps not.

38

But I do understand myself. That is a key. And I am convinced my words are the right ones. You may choose for yourself. Choose the ones you find the best, the most touching, or why not, the ones that makes you more upset, because they dont make any sense at all. That is in fact the whole point. I know every word I utter, every one of them carefully selected. Selected, yes, that is the word I like to use. And I repeat them again and again RepeatandREPEATANDREPEATANDREPEATEVENLOUDERAND

LOUDERANDLOUDERANDLOUDER
That makes sense

CHORUS OF OTHER
Io di te canto pi forte perche amo piu di t, perche amo piu di t, Chi risente un mal di morte Pi chi pu Pi chi pu grida merc Pi chi pu grida merc.35

VOICE
La fiera dErimanto, LErinne Acherontea, 35 In a dialogue between the Italian and French Music, Gentil Musica Francese(composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully for his Ballet de La Raillerie in 1665), the Italian music proclaims these words: I sing louder than you, since I love more than you. The one who feels the pain of death, cries loudest for mercy. (translation my own) 39

Il Pitone di Tessaglia, La vipera lernea, Ci sfidono battaglia36

MIND
Ha ha, They are all there. Senseless phrases. One looking worse than the other. Monsters of men - powerful men. Words. Controlled, stiff and correct. Should we play their game? Yes, lets go to war and pretend we believe in every word they say.

VOICE
Mugge il Toro di Pindo, Rugge il Nemeo Leone, Udite, udite Cerbero che latra.37

MIND
Where is the truth in this? The truth is in my sound. What about if I continue in Swedish? Would that make more sense? Ja, varfr inte. Ni frstr att jag lskar pesto. Ha ha Det r fulkomligt sant! Den intensive kombinationen av basilika, vitlk, parmesan och. Nej. Jag vet. Detta hr inte hit. Men vansinnigt rlig fr jag vara. 36 The wild beast of Erymanthus, / The Ancherontean fury / the python of Thessaly / the Lernean hydra / challenge us to a fight. 37 The bull of Pindus bellows, / The Nemean Lion howls; / Listen, listen to Cerberus who barks. 40

Och jag talar om ngot som jag fullkommligt LSKAR! Och om jag pratar svenska s r det inte alla som frstr, utan lyssnar till mitt tonfall. Ja, ordet pesto frsts skert. Det ordet knner vl vrlden till vid det hr laget. Men i ett slag, in a battle, skulle man mycket vl kunna gra pesto av varandra. Att sl varandra i bitar. Hugga varandra i bitar. Jag frst mat, men inte krig. Helt enkelt. Krig, en manlig vansinnesakt. No No? Je vais continuer en franaise. Vous comprenez pas? The language doesnt make any difference. The sound is what counts. Yes. The accent and the mad way in which I claim I am right. Only if I know what I say. And mean every word of it. I tell a truth. I tell a lie Never be sure. Or be sure, you know the truth yourself. The truth is NOW!

CHORUS of OTHER
madness must take into account only the present and not the past or the future, therefore it must be based on the single word and not on the sense of the phrase; when, therefore, war is mentioned, it will be necessary to imitate war, when peace, peace, when death, death, and so on. And because the transformations and their imitations happen in the shortest time, the person who takes the principal part, which should

41

arouse both laughter and compassion, must be a woman who can lay aside every sort of imitation except that which is dictated by the word that she is saying.38

CHORUS of OTHER (explaining the word Pazzia)

Pazzia, folly, fondness, madness, dotage39

CHORUS OF OTHER Ciaconna (sounding reference)40

MIND
Madness PAZZIA FOLLYFEMALE FOLLY,

CHORUS of OTHER (explaining the word Fondness)

1. 2. 3. Warm affection or liking. See synonyms at love A strong inclination or preference; a taste: a fondness for sweets; a fondness for travel. Archaic. Naive trustfulness; credulity.41

MIND
I say a word, and believe in what I say. Could it be so simple, and still, in this I will be considered mad? If I say a word and PRETEND to mean what I way, how can that be sane? Being naturally truthful would be my preference. By imitating something which I dont believe in at all, And yet to be truthful, would it mean that I need to trust in my dishonesty?

38 The words are by Claudio Monteverdi himself, translated by Ellen Rosand in: Rosand, 1991, p.244 39 Searching for the word Pazzia in Florio's 1611 Italian/English Dictionary: Queen Anna's New World of Words: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/florio, June 2010 40 Lislevand, Rolf Nuove Musiche, ECM Record GmbH, 2006, track 16, Ciaconna 41 Searching for the word fondness http://www.answers.com/topic/fondness (June, 2010) 42

CHORUS OF OTHER Ciaconna (sounding reference)42 MIND

It sounds mad. The melody comes again and again. Repeated, but slightly changed every time. Decorated. Ornamented. Illustarted in more and stonger colours. Overdone perhaps. But real in every new sound.

CHORUS OF OTHER
Ciaconna (sounding reference)43

MIND
La finta Pazza, The false mad. What would be the opposite? The honestly Clear and Sane. Immediately I see both male and female images. Both in one. Just like in my dress. Male and female. Sane and Mad in the same person. The key is to know where the boundaries are between the two extremes. Or to know 42 Lislevand, 2006 43 ibid 43

that there are no boundaries to remember. Just to be.

CHORUS of OTHER
What melodies are these? Tell me. New Theaters, So many scenes Appearing in Sciro? Also I would like to work beside, since I dont lack the art that of a single whistle changing in hundred different variations of stage settings of feigned seas, of erected mountains, beautiful shows of the skies and of the stars: openings for hell, and on the graveled strand, shaping hell and roasting.44

CHORUS of OTHER
An easy step it is from feigned follies to true madness45

CHORUS of OTHER
Today, the stars, After much work, are set up bright and new, The architecture rains, and also I would like to explain, 44 Deidamias words in the middle of the third act, seconde scene, libretto La Finta Pazza, p. 75: Che melodie son queste? / Ditemi? Che Novissimi Teatri, / che numerose scene, / Sapparechiano in Sciro? / Voglio esser anchio / Del faticare parte; / Cha me non manca larte ad un sol fischio / Di cento variar scenici aspetti, / Finger mari, erger monti e mostre belle, / Far di cieli, e di Stelle: / Daprir lInferno, e nel tartareo lito / Formar stige, e Cocito. (Translations to English my own in notes 1620. My aim is not to be poetic, but to find the correct meaning of every word) 45 Nodrice replies to Deidamias words just presented here above, and their dialogue continues in note 14-15: Un facile passagio / Eda finte follie / a veraci pazzie. 44

excellent and beautiful machinery, risking to break the necks of hundreds of Orfei.46

CHORUS of OTHER
Rimes, machinery and singing Are acts that makes The wisest Profetess mad: and if you add Amorous affect, There is no wonder If this woman Has lost her reason.47

CHORUS of OTHER
Lets try, lets try: Help me on with the wings, Tie them tight, tight, I want With eager courage To fly along the roads of the wind.48

MIND
There she goes, Deidamia. Bye bye, and see you soon! She came out of nowhere, straight on to the stage. Like she left, just right now. With the winds. 46 Deidamia: Hoggi, che da le stelle, / per tante opere ornar illustri, e nove, / Larchitettura piove, / anchio spiegar vorrei / Macchine eccelse, e belle / Da far romper il collo cento Orfei. 47 Nodrice: Versi, machine, e canto / Son atti render pazze / Le pi saggie Sibille: e se vaggiungi / Un amorosa affetto, / Meraviglia non , se da costei / Partito lintelletto. 48 Deidamia: Alla Prova, alla prova: applicatemi lali, / Strette, strette, annodatele, chio voglio / Con feroce ardimento / Varcar le vie del vento. 45

What do I know about winds? That they can be strong, That they make waves. That they make me dizzy. That they come out of nowhere, followed by clouds. Isnt THAT amazing? The warrior became HERSELF. Herself - the singer in her own shoes. Shoes made for her feet. Shoes fitted and formed in the softest leather. Look at my feet are they not amazing. High up in the air I raise my head. On golden heals. Isnt it amazing? Imitated and made like in the old times, but made new, for now. I embody history in golden shoes.

VOICE
Volete che vinsegni; Ingeniosi discepoli di Marte, A brandir lasta, maneggiar lo scudo? A ferir, a vibrar, di punta, in giro, Di dritto e di rovescio Questa fulminea spada A farsi piazza e strada sovra i corpi nemici? Ecco fendente come in testa si dona.49 49 Should I teach you, resourceful disciples of Mars, / to brandish your lances, to handle your shields? / To wound, to wield head on, in motion / frontwards, backwards, / this flashing sword? / To clear a place and path / over enemy bodies? Heres a downward stroke to be given in the head. 46

MIND
Ha, ha ha Dont you follow me? Here, look here. Yes, up here. No, I mean down here. Look at that. Follow my hand. Puff! All gone! Where did it go? Oh, right in your chest. I am so sorry, I didnt mean to hit so hard. My tongue is fast and I know how to twists it around in my mouth. Like a snake, I am ready to hit. Or like a scorpion. Stinging. My words hit you as hard as a stone. You trained me to speak and to sing, and now you found your new master. I stand here in front of you. Follow me! Stand straight in a line! Noses up and feet on the ground. Dont forget to let the neck to be free, And to let the back be long and wide!

VOICE
S, s stringete le file, formate lo squadrone, abbassate le picche, soldato dormiglione camerata dAchille, destati, destati chil nemico di qui poco lontano. Armi, armi, armi, armi alla mano, 47

Armi alla mano, Armi, armi, armi, armi alla mano Armi, armi, armi alla mano.50

in this moment the soldier becomes a beautiful woman. Her hand gestures as if she is holding a sword.

Helen of Troy
VOICE
Fermate, o l, fermate. Oh Dio, silenzio, oh Dio Tacete omai, tacete, Chetatevi, chetatevi, Che chiede il traditor perdono, Della schernita fede. Schernita, della schernita fede!51

MIND
Look up, see your master. A woman makes your tongues silent. Like a God I reign. Silence at last. Listen to the wind. And look, there flies Deidamia, High above. She waves to us and laughs. In silence. 50 Come, tighten the lines, / form a squadron, / lower the swords; sleepy soldier / Achilles comrade / wake up, for the enemy / is little distant from here. Arms, arms, arms in hand. 51 Stop, hey, stop / Oh god, silence, oh god, / be still now, be still. / Hush, hush, for / the traitor asks pardon / for his betrayal. 48

The soldier speaks to you through me. He asks you kindly to forgive him for becoming a woman. Though proud he stand here inside me. Proud to be me, to be myself. I tell a lie when I ask forgiveness. But I tell it well and you will think I am honest. Think whatever you want. Listen to her voice. (And to your own.) She tells her true name.

VOICE
Elena bella son io52, Tu Paride Troiano S, rapiscimi s, Ladro melenso, stendi, stendi, Stendi stedi la mano. Tu picchi? Ti rannicchi? Tincrocicchi?53

MIND
I am here. I am real. 52 Searching for meanings of the name HELEN: Gender: Feminine , Usage: English, Greek Mythology (Anglicized), Pronounced: HEL-n (English) [key] English form of the Greek (Helene), probably from Greek (helene) "torch" or "corposant", or possibly related to (selene) "moon". In Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose kidnapping by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. http://www.behindthename.com/name/helen 53 I am beautiful Helen, / You Trojan Paris, / Come, carry me off, come stupid crook, / Extend, extend your hand. / You hit yourself? you crouch? you crisscross? 49

Look at me. Take my hand. What happens? Are you not feeling well? You fall over? You shrink? Is it the power of my hand that makes you fall? Are YOU afraid? Or do you only want to be left alone? I thought you wanted ME, La Belle Helen!? I wanted you and no one else. Not even a God.

VOICE
Giacer io volea teco, E lasciar il mio Giove, Che ogni notte sta meco. Ma stanco dal lunghissimo camino Chei fad al cielo in terra, Mi riescie sovente il gran tonante Un sonnacchioso amante.54

MIND
Yes, I wanted to be with you. Not to be seen with a God. I wanted human love. And I thought he, the GOD, would be something out of this world. Something amazing. But I was cheated. The love I craved he couldnt give me. Not at all. 54 I wanted to lie with you / and leave my Jove / who stays with me every night / but tired out from the long journey / that he makes from heaven to earth, / the great thunderer often turns out to be / a sluggish lover. 50

He turned weak in private. No power left for anything at all. Couldnt give me pleasure, like you. He fell a sleep, like a log, and turned into NOTHING. So tell me the truth. Do you love me?

With these words Deidamia is transformed into

the abandoned lover

VOICE
Deh, dimmi, dimmi il vero, Se tu dicesti mai: Che fissa pecoragine tassale? Di che ti meravigli? Cutrettola, fringuello, Oca, frusone, barbaggianni, babusso;55

MIND
I dont want to hear, I dont want to hear!!! No no no no dont tell me Oh,well Tell me then, tell me. I cant wait. Dont keep me waiting. Oh, come on. Tell me the truth. 55 Alas, tell me, tell me the truth, / if ever you told it, / what fixed stupidity assails you? / Why are you so surprised? / Yellow wagtail, chaffinch, goose, hawfinch / Barn owl, idiot, 51

God, you are worse, than God himself! Goodness me. I cant believe I am soooooo unlucky?!!!

VOICE
Non s per qual influsso, Nemiei segrete amori, Urto ognhora in soggetti Pi stolidi, e peggiori? Non si pu pi parlare56,

MIND
No point to say a word. I am surprised though. At first there were words. That was the truth then. I had to learn how to declaim. You gave me compliments on my performances. I made it your way. But then when I knew how to speak, you were all so taken by wonder. I remained the only one knowing how to talk. You had all lost your tongues! So strange!?

VOICE
ognun, quell chio sento oggi mi vuol glossare, Mi vuol far il comento, A stride quiete dunque, 56 I dont know from what planetary influence / in my secret loves / I collide always with subjects ever duller and worse? / One cant speak anymore. 52

Ad intendersi a cenni, Alla muta, alla muta, pronta man, occhio presto, Quel che dir la lingua, quel che dir la lingua Esprima il gesto.57

MIND
Your spoke with your hands. Made your hands your tongues. Now I speak it with my hands. I talk with my whole body. I remember the touch. The touch of your cheek close to mine. Your back next to mine. Your hand in mine. We were two, but one. Oh Teseo. I drown, in my own sorrow.oh.no, help, help HELP!!!!! HEEEEELP

VOICE
Aita, aita, aita! Ohim questonda, ohim, lultima per me Dunque pietade in voi non ha pi luogo? Non vedete chaffogo, affogo, affogo?58

57 Everyone, from what I hear, wants to gloss me today, / to comment on me. / Lets be quite, then / and communicate with signals, / mutely, mutely, / Ready hand, quick eye, / what the tongue would say / let the gesture explain 58 Help, help, help / Alas, this wave, alas, / is the end for me. / Has pity no place in you then? / Dont you see Im drowning ? 53

MIND
Its the end. Your touch and the gesture took me too far out. The sea is deep Now it will end. I will die. I WILL DIE. HEELP ME SOMEONE!!!

VOICE
Ah s ben io Qual di racchiuso pianto al mesto core Fa lago al mio dolore.59 Verga tiranna ignobile Recide altri papaveri; Per questo resto immobile tra voi sozzi cadaveri. Il foco mesto ardetemi; Il sepolcro apprestatemi, Donne care, Donne care piangetemi, Pace allalma, pace allalma pregatemi!60 v

MIND
I will forever mourn, Standing there, left on my own In the field I will cry until my tears are all gone.

59 Alas, I know too well / while the tears are coming to an end / at my heart / a lake is made out of pain. (my own translation) 60 Tyrannic, ignoble rod / cuts down tall poppies; / For this I remain stationary, / among you loathsome corpses. / The funeral fire, light for me; / Ready my sepulcre: / Dear women, weep for me. / Pray for the peace of my soul. 54

I will burn, be consumed by the flames. In a grave I will be roasted. Turning into ashes. I will call for you before leaving. Asking for your prayer. Asking you to be close to me. To caress me. To look after me. Slowly, slowly, I disappear, into another world. Give me peace. Give my soul peace HELP ME! I dont want to go. You, my closest, Come and help me. HEEEEELP I dont want to loose myself. HELP ME!!! HELP ME!!! HEEEEELP ME MY FRIENDS help me

VOICE
Son forzata, o vicini Il mio onor perduto Aiuto, aiuto, aiuto, amici, aiuto!61

61 I am being violated, o neighbors, / My honor is lost. / Help friends, help. 55

56

Scene 2 Ottavia

57

58

Embodying sounds through words

59

VOICE
Disprezzata Che penso Crudele Nerone siam costrette In braccio di Poppea Tu dimori felice e godi Pianti miei I miei martiri Destin se stai la su Giove ascolta mi tu Punir Ah Il mio tormento Patria Vado Navigando disperata io solinga pianti passi sacrilego duolo lascio lagrima Dio sassi Laria Baciar Cor mio mura Fulmini Dingiustizia tincolpo Il mio lamento Amici Pianti amari Afflitta Che fo? ove son? O, delle Donne miserabil sesso partorir la morte siam fortzate fabricar la morte

Addio Roma

60

DISPREZZATA

VOICE
Disprezzata Regina Regina Regina disprezzata Disprezzata Regina del monarco romano

MIND
despised and rejected . Scorned and rejected??? Something so out of reality. A queen I am, forever. I was given the title REGINA and NOOO ONE SHOULD TAAAAAKE IT AWAAAAAY FROM MEEE No one, Not even my husband, the emperor No,.. No,. NO NO NO NO!

61

CHORUS of OTHER
Despair! I feel as if something is eating me up from inside. The voices in me consumes me alive! I ache, and I bleed. My heart is in RED FLAMES of sorrow and despair. I feel the solitude and emptiness.62

CHORUS of OTHER
Ottavias appearance marks a disconcerting intersection between history, opera and politics. 63

MIND
For some I am despised For others I come with something new. For some I am a scorned queen, For others I am a true victorious Queen. To myself a queen without a land, - a landless queen. A queen of NO-MAN-LAND.

CHORUS of OTHER
And if we turn to politics, you see that its aim is nothing else than increasing or augmenting the magnitude of the wonders of Nothing. If politics teaches us how to add to the greatness of one Prince, youll see in it a great master in annihilating the greatness of another one.64

62 From my diary, June 2009 63 Heller, Wendy Emblems of Eloquence, University of California Press, 2003, p. 152 64 The words are by Marin DallAngelo from the discourse published in 1634, Le Glorie dell Niente, in: Calcagno, 2003, p. 470 62

MIND
So then, I am all, and always a queen. So I will sound like a queen I will move like a queen. In all, I will act like a queen.

CHORUS of OTHER
what makes Ottavia so unusual is not solely a result of her insistence on speaking rather than singing65

MIND
If you despise my acts, then allow me to be different. By applying another mode of speaking, moving and performing trough an opera, I embody the essence of Nothing. You want me not to speak, but to be silent. So I will speak in song. I will sing the flames of my heart; My fear for being alone; My anger for being wrongly treated; My love for the one I ones loved; My hate for the one who stole your heart; My sorrow for having to leave.

VOICE
Disprezzata Regina Regina Regina disprezzata Disprezzata Regina del monarco romano. 65 Heller, 2003, p. 153 63

AFFLITTA

VOICE
Afflitta afflitta moglie

MIND
I was your wife, How did that change? I trusted in you, like I trust in my own words. And now, I lost trust in you, And in every word you speak. Your act has made me fall, As well in the trust of MY SELF.

64

CHORUS of OTHER
The Incogniti aesthtics, [] reveals a profound distrust of verbal language words, in their view, are as unsubstantial as the outside world which they mirror and to which they refer.66

MIND
If I can not trust in you or in myself, What is then left? Speaking singingly Parlar cantando. Cantar parlando Singing speakingly. There are two sides. In that I could trust, if I dare. And in my affliction I have two choices: To lay down on the ground, never rising again. Or to stand up, and walk out of my trouble.

CHORUS of OTHER
In contrast with the humanistic ideology predominant in the Renaissance, the author claims that the disciplines of the Trivium (grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric), far from empowering man in his search for knowledge, teach him nothing else than to embellish those voices that serve only as midwives to the vain product of our imagination, delivering them perfect into the air in order to vanish into Nothing.67

MIND
So then I have nothing to loose. After having learned to control 66 Calcagno, 2003, p. 471 67 Ibid, p. 470 65

(through grammar, dialectic and rhetoric) I will now move towards a free will of expression. And this free will includes total control as well as total freedom.

VOICE
Afflitta.

(exploring controle and freedom) MIND

Ottavia, your voice came to me through the heavy silent reading-room in the old library in Venice. You gave me a performance of consonants, spitted out of your body. They made me close my eyes and only listen. But who did I hear?

Who did I hear? CHORUS of OTHER

Ottavias unique manner of expression is apparent in the nature of that recitative: a terse, angular often colorless recitative, sometimes dissonant, other times forbiddingly consonant, but devoid of sensual chromatism. [] Ottavia lends herself to countless subtle variations. The result is a highly nuanced reading of Busenellos text that easily accommodates Ottavias alteration between outspoken rebellion and stilted depression.68

MIND
If the score made your voice look colorless and devoid of chromatism, 68 Heller, 2003, p. 153-154 66

I didnt hear that in you performance. Chromatism lay between the written notes. They were invisble to the eye, Yet audible to any attentive ear. They were sliding and drawing the contour of affliction, regret and pain.

VOICE
Afflitta moglie

MIND
I am trapped inside the prison of cotton and laces. It pulls tight around my chest and it is impossible to catch breath like I normally do. God, it feels as if someone wants me to stop breathing all together. Stop living freely.

VOICE
Disprezzata Regina, Afflitta, afflitta afflitta moglie.

MIND
Just let me out. I need to be free. Freed from all rules and restrictions of how I should be and what I ought to do. Free to be myself and just to fly with my own wings. High above all of you who think you own all power on this earth.

67

Che f, Ove son, Che penso? che penso?

VOICE
Che f, Ove son, Che penso? che penso?

MIND
What? .Oh no I shouldnt say No, God I fear everything Freedom, Is it worth it? How could I even think about leaving? My senses told me to follow my own voice, thoughts and desires, and my way will be happy. I will find real love one day and forget yes forget, forget something that once was important.

68

There are too many option. Freedom scares me. Were should I go. What direction. Direction. I should allow myself to be tall And to be wide. Space in between my ears and hips. In fact in my prison, in my corset I sense a freedom were I didnt sense it before. My hips can move, How strange, it is as if hips connect to my jaw. Fredom around my jaw, means freedom around my hips. But only if I keep thinking long and wide. And if I think Queen, I grow long and wide. I become the woman who owns the stage and the theater Yes, the entire the world.

69

 delle donne miserabil sesso

VOICE
delle donne miserabil sesso

MIND
I pity you all. As I pitiy myself. Yes, it is true. We are neglected. But just because of the neglection, We should look out for something different. You women on earth.

70

I will pray for you and for all your daughters. I am also a woman, a slave destined to mourn my own life. Sob and cry, SOB and CRY!!! Cry out love, because I loved and now I am forgotten. Like words. Reduced into air . Into nothing.

VOICE
Se la natura el cielo Libere ci produce

MIND
Just like NATURE HERSELF is free do give new life. so will I. I can choose this meaning for my sound. But I am not hear to preach, I am here to cry I think: If life only would be like this freedom, Like the freedom of Nature but no.

VOICE
Il matrimonio, il matrimonio cincatena serve Se concepimo lhuomo delle Donne miserabil sesso Al nostrempio Tiran formiam le membra Allattiamo il Carnefice crudele

71

Che ci scarna, e ci svena

MIND
No, I am born to nurture a monster at my breast. To give birth to A MONSTRUOUS MAN!! Il carnefice crudele THE CRUEL MEAT! He, he will suck milk from my side. That is our destiny. OhI am cold. I cant move. FROZEN..

72

fabricar / partori la morte

VOICE
E siam forzate Per indegna sorte noi medesme fabricar la morte.

MIND
Frozen and freezing, I know that I am forced to create my own death. To make my own death. Make it out of steal or metal. It makes me think about making a car Or a set of knives in stainless steel,

73

No, there is another version:

VOICE
E siam costrette Per indegna sorte noi medesme partorir la morte.

MIND
Our destiny is to give birth to monsters. To give birth to our own death. I say these words with heavy throat, though I know They mean nothing. Its only a play. A game of power, where I have the role of the lamenting woman. The powerless and colorless woman The sorrowful queen. Please will anyone put up the heating. I cant get move, the cold has frozen my heart. Its as if all feeling have left me. I am ignorant of any passion. Cold and frigid. I would need someone to hold me, caress me and warm my heart, to the passions I once knew.

74

Nerone empio Nerone

MIND
Nerone, are you there?

VOICE
Nerone, Nerone empio Nerone

MIND
No sound. But your name makes the blood heat in my body. I will leave, if you just talk to me once more. Where are you? Where are you? Alas, let me see you!

VOICE
Nerone, Nerone empio Nerone Addio addio Dio Dio Marito bestemmiato per sempre Maledetto dei cordolie mie Dove ohime dove sei

75

In braccio di poppea
MIND
Oh so now I see you

VOICE
In braccio di poppea In braccio di Poppea, di Poppea tu dimori Felice godi, felice godi,

MIND
How could you? Leave me for her? A whore? Is she what you want now? Oh god! OH GOD! I feel disgusted I feel dirty

76

pianti miei

martiri miei

VOICE
E in tanto il frequente cader de pianti miei Pur va quasi formandun diluvio di specchi in cui tu miri dentralle tue delizie i miei, i miei, i miei martiri.

MIND
So all my tears will flow and make a lake, where you can watch my pain. But why should you care? I mean Nothing to you. I am alone.

77

Destin punir

fulmini taccuso

tincolpo

VOICE
Destin, destin se stai la s Giovascolta mi t.

MIND
I am calling for help, Help from the Gods. I pray, Giove, please come and help me to punish

VOICE
Se per punir Nerone Fulmini fulmini fulmini fulmini fulmini Tu non hai Limpotenza taccuso dingiustizia tincolpo

78

MIND
If you dont come I will revenge myself. I will scream loud and make a noise. I will accuse you for everything. You will be the one to blame. You, the great God of all men. But incapable of ruling men. They ignore you, like they ignore words, feelings and everything else. If you dont set the world on fire I will myself. I feel the strength coming back through my hate, my disgust and my wish for revenge.

79

mio lamento / mio tormento

VOICE
Ahi trapasso troppoltre e me ne pento Suprimo, e sepelisco In taci turne angosce mio lamento. MIND

Oh, it took me to far, the feeling of revenge. I should not have For my own sake I will say no more. I will be quite. But my reaction came, and will not be forgotten. I know it stirred you all, You came with me into the hall of violence. Lets take a break and close the door. It means nothing in the end. It is already forgotten.

80

Dio

MIND
Leaving. Never really belonging to the normal life. To a life with a home and a kitchen-table. A common way of living. Always leaving friends behind. Always feeling guilty for not being close as before and keeping contact with the passed. Sorrow of living away from family. A feeling so sad that it hurts in me. Painful. A painful longing. Longing and missing the land of birth. The land where I was born Longing and missing. Memories comes to me. Faces and landscapes, 81

I know my pain caused by longing. Her sorrows I will never know. Only mine.

VOICE
A Dio Roma

MIND
A note a pause A note a pause A note a pause I could just sing the letter A, give it strength and intensity, but the pauses inhibits me from forming a normal singing sound. With normal I mean a sound being placed on a specific tessiture. The note is indicated and composed on a speific of course, though in this context I see it more as an indication for me to perform the passion behind, rather than the actual written note in the score. To God I go Farwell, my life, I will take leave, And long forever

VOICE
A Dio Patria A amici, amiiiiiiiIIIIIIiiiici

82

 Dio ammmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccciiiiiiiiiii

MIND
I am leaving you my friends. And I wont come back. No, never. I wont see you faces any more, and I am drowning in my own sorrow. God, help me be strong. I turn to you. FRIEEEEEEEENDS stay with me. hold me and be with me. Oh God,

VOICE & BODY

A Dio Patria A amici, amiiiiiiiIIIIIIiiiici

83

VADO

MIND
On my way, I trust. I learn to trust. In the chromatic movement, I let myself go

VOICE
Vado partir lesiglio in pianti amari

MIND
I am leaving. I have to raise myself up from the ground and be strong and bold. I will be exiled and I will cryyyyyyyy bitter tears. In all this emotion, I see myself in a bubble, all alone. Like being in a emptiness not really understanding what happens. Its quite and I dont dare to stir. My tears comes in silence. They tremble and again, intuitively, I alternate the sound of the tone, like the motion of a wave. Like a really slow tremolo

84

DISPERATA

VOICE
Navigo disperata disperata I sordid mari,

MIND
Hwe.. This cannot be stopped. The wave grow into a storm. And on top of it I sail fast and lost. I have never been a sailor, but I have been in high waves. Out of control inside the strong force of a mighty sea. I cry loud but there is no chance the sea will hear my despair. Even the loudest sound will be ignored. The fury of a stronger force has become mad and my being is again forgotten.

CHORUS of OTHER
Excellent and divine maiden, whose voice and great appearance will make you loved everywhere, I say a thousand times farewell! I believe that on Neptunes waters,

85

You will face no danger, For if the winds and mutinous waves wanted to tease you there, your songs, your charms, your face, would soon calm the storm69

69 Words are by Jean Loret, in a poem dedicated to the young singer Anne Chabanceau de La Barre, Lettre Trente-Huitime, 29 Sept. 1652, published in: La Muze Historique ou Recuil des Lettres en Vers contenent les Nouvelles du Temps, crits a son Altesse Mademoiselle de Longueville, depuis Duchesse de Nemours,1650-1652, vol. 1: Je te dis mille fois adieu! / Je croy quaux climates de Neptunes / Tu ne courras nulle fortune, / Car, si les vents ou flots mutins / vouloient faire ille les badins / Tes chants, tes apas, ton visage, / auroient bien-tt calm lorage. 86

BACIAR
MIND

COR MIO

MURA

If my voice can enchant the sea, I will try to calm the waves. I will ask the winds to bring my name with love and kisses back to the stonewalls of my home.

VOICE
Laria che dora in ora ricever i miei fiati Gli porter il nome del cor mio A veder baciar le patrie mura

MIND
Air. Winds and breath. I can hear them. In fact it is breath from inside me. It comes from inside and it travels

87

out towards my home. Even my whispers are loud now. Stronger than the storm inside me. The sea has no chance any longer. My tears are gone. The sea is calm My voice brings my heart towards anyone with ears. The moment this happens I sense the spine. There is a freedom leading right through me. Every vertebra is floating on air and flexibility allows me to grow out of my body itself. The words transformes to thoughts. If I remain open to these thoughts They have a direct impact on my physical directions. I see: The walls. The house, where I slept; where I ate; where I bathed. The garden where I played. I can dream of this places. And I will kiss everything. There is a physical awareness in my mouth. Of sweetness. My lips tastes the word baciar bbbbbbthe space inside my mouth is round embracing and preparing for the next vowel-aaaaaaaciiiaaaaaaaaaaaar.

88

io solinga pianti passi

VOICE
Et io Star solinga

MIND
Me Io Self Again I battle with who I am. But here in this place it doesnt matter who I am. Myself.

89

Self and alone. Staying with the strong awareness of my spine, creates a secure landscape for the voice to be in one place. Not loud, not week, just there. I will stay there on my own. Aware of my rooted feet and my whole growing being.

VOICE
alternando le mosse ai pianti, ai passi

MIND
Here I start to move from one side to the other. In search of something. Something I cannot see since my eyes are so full of tears. Again, a mist. The feet move anywhere but I dont know where.

VOICE
Insegnando pietade ai freddi sassi

MIND
In this state I can teach you to be vulnerable. Look at me. I am here even if I am weak. You, cold stones, look at me. It hurts, but I dont die of it. I will live and I will feel alive.

90

SACRILEGO DUOLO
VOICE
Remigate, Remigate, Remigate oggi mai perverse genti Allontanarmi, allontanarmi

MIND
Move, move, MOVE, Dont just stay there. ACT now. Get me out of here. Take me away for this cold and unfriendly place!!! Yes, away. I want to leave. Here is no love at all. Just cold stones, ignoring any feeling. Wanting to kill to disrupt life. To disrupt any feelings. To hurt. It hurt me right into my sacred soul.

91

VOICE
D d d glamati lidi

MIND
Yes I said, far away from the shore Out at open sea. Sobbing, I am sobbing out these words. D d d da The d comes as a punch. Gl a soft movement at the back of the gum prepraing for Aaaaammmmaaaaati lidi. I know of so many lovely seashores. Shores where I played as a child. Shore on the other side of America. The sound of waves hitting the rocks in the north; or shaping the stones on a shore in the Mediterranean Sea. The familiar sounds of boats and playing children, people calling for someone.

VOICE
Ahi, ahi, ahi sacrilego duolo, t t t minterdici il pianto quando lascio la Patria

MIND
You steal, my holy soul. I am so full of wounds. The pain, the pain, the PAAIIIIN, It doesnt want to go away. And you wont let me cry. Can you not see my feelings?

92

Can you not feel yourself? Or perhaps your feelings are too strong to face. Are you listening to me at all?

VOICE
interdici il pianto quando lascio la Patria ne stilar una lacrima possio mentre dico ai Parenti Roma

MIND
No, you dont. So what is the point to try to convince you. I see you have decided. So I will cry for myself. Quando lascio la patria I need to say it slowly to understand. It seems like a foreign language. What, how, no, yes, no But yes, it is so. I will leave. And while I take farewell from my parents and family And from Rome Not one tear will fall. And I will say, farewell. A Dieu, with Gods will I go.

VOICE
ne stilar una una lacrima possio mentre dico ai Parenti Roma A Dio.

93

94

ACT II

95

96

Scene 1

Arianna

97

98

finding pure voice through ornamentation, repetition, movement and improvisation

99

VOICE
Lasciatemi morire Lasciatemi morire E che volete voi che mi conforte In cos dura sorte, In cos gran martire Laciatemi morire, Lasciatemi morire.70

VOICE , BODY & DANCER

(First) improvisation, based on the words of Arianna

MIND
Your sound draws me closer and closer towards the rocky shore. I walk on the red line you have prepared from me. I can not think of anything else than your opens sounds, open wounds, of pain and sorrow. I feel close, but also foreign to the feelings you express. I arrive, and I see only the horizont. Sounds are embracing me. I am right inside you languish. 70 Let me die, let me die; and why do you want to comfort me in such a harsh fate, in such a great martyrdom? Let me die. (Translation of Ariannas lament from: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/hill/) 100

VOICE
O Teseo, o Teseo mio Si che mio ti vo dir, Che mio pur sei Benche tinvoli Ahi crudo A gli occhi miei.71

MIND
I call for you Teseo. I remember your kiss. Dont go, dont go, dont leave my sight. I cannot see you. DONT LEAVE ME!!!!!! ... or just go, go away, just leave!!!!

VOICE
Volgiti Teseo mio, Vogiti Teseo Oh Dio Volgiti indietro a rimarar colei, che lasciat ha per te la patria eil regno e in questo arene ancora cibo difere dispietati e crude lasciera lossa ignude.72

MIND
Oh come back to me 71 Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus, although I want to call you mine more than you are really mine, although you have vanished, ah cruel man! from my eyes. 72 Come back, my Theseus, come back, Theseus, oh God! Come back to see again she who gave up her homeland and reign for you, and on these sands, once more, you will leave the bare bones of foods for the wild beasts. 101

I wont live without you. I left everything for you. Everything!!!! EVEREYTHING!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME! EVERYTHING! AND NOW YOU LEAVE ME HERE To be consumed by evil. Alone! Alone to decide for my self. to live for on my own? To stay on my own? Without a guide to comfort me When times are hard, or to laugh with me in joyful moments. Oh, if you could see my thoughts. If you just knew. Here, on the cold rocks, I call for your attention Please listen to me!

VOICE
O Teseo, o Teseo mio Se tu sapessi, oh Dio Se tu sapessi, ohim Come saffanna la povera Arianna Forse forse pentito Rivelgeresti ancor la prora al lito.73

MIND
When I say your name I see your face. 73 Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus, if you but knew, oh God! if you but knew, alas! how poor Ariadne [Arianna] suffers, perhaps, perhaps you would repentant, and turn you ships bow toward the shore. 102

You eyes looking into mine. I see you. I see you. I see you I see my love. I see love and caresses Yet you leave For glories elsewhere. Do you really think You can find a better love elsewhere? A more loving being next to your side, That would be ready to walk beside you as I have done. I gave up my roots. I gave up my roots. I gave up my roots But I found you, and together we travelled. Together we created something new. Something that was ours. Something new and ours. Something new and only ours.

VOICE
Ma con laure serene Tu te ne vai felice Et io qui piango A te prepara Atene liete pompe superbe Et io rimango cibo di fere Insoltarie arene.

103

Te luno e laltro tuo vecchio parente stringer lieto Et io pi non vedrovvi O madre, o padre mio.74

MIND
Dont you care of what we found? No, I suppose not. Instead you search your own roots for happiness. Were you affraid perhaps? I look for excuses. Your friends and family, are they more important to you than me? So important that you cruelly could leave me like this, on a deserted beach, while sleeping. So mean of you. So careless, So careless, So careless, and cruel. Where did trust go? Trust? Trust you so lovingly promised me!?

VOICE
Dove, dove la fede che tanto mi giuravi? cos ne lalta fede tu mi ripon deglavi? 74 But with soft breezes, you sail away happy; and I stay behind. For you Athens prepares a superb celebration, and I stay behind as food for beasts on the deserted sands. One and another old relative will happy embrace you, and I will no longer see you, oh mother, oh my father. 104

son queste le corone onde madorni il crine questi gli scettri sono, queste le gemme e glori lasciarmi in abbandono a fera che mi strazi e mi divori.75

MIND
Did things make you feel better? Things? Objects! I hate objects. They cannot give me the joy of love. I smiled when you gave me the crown. I was happy, but not for the thing in itself, but for your act of love. The bracelet was so beautiful, but now, Now, It chains me to this island. You chained me in the bracelet you gave me. Chained me to these rocks. Chained me to death. Yes, I will die, here, for you.

75 Where, where is the promise that you swore to me? Thus, in heaven, you put me away with your ancestors? Are these the crowns with which you adorn my head? Are these the scepters, are these the jewels and the gold: are you leaving me abandoned to the beasts which tear me apart and devour me? 105

VOICE
Ahi Teseo, ahi Teseo mio Lascierai tu morire In van piangendo, in van gridando aita La misera Arianna Cha te fidossi, E ti dia glorie e vita.76

MIND
I will cry, Teseo. I WILL SCREAM FOR MERCY HEEEELP!!!! HE HAS LEFT ME!!! Poor me Who trusted Who trusted Who trusted in you, And in life

VOICE
Ahi che non pur rispondi Ahi che pi daspe sorda miei lamenti O nembi, o turbi o venti Sommergetelo voi dentro a quell onde correte lorche ballene e de le membra immonde empiete le voragine profonde. 77 76 Ah, Theseues, ah Theseus, you will leave me to die, crying in vain, wailing in vain for help. The miserable Ariadne [Arianna], who trusted you and who gave you glory and life? 106

MIND
You dont answer! Your dont care Not at all, not at all, NOT AT ALL!!! So suffer, Die, drown in the waters of the ocean. All power of the sea will make sure you meet a cruel destiny. Your own ocean, the ocean you trust. Like that, you will perhaps understand THE MEANING OF TRUST!

VOICE
Che parlo, Ahi che vaneggio Misera ohim, che chieggio? O Teseo, o Teseo mio Non son, non son quell io Che i feri detti sciolti Parl laffanno mio, Parl il dolore. Parl la lingua s Ma non gil core.78 77 Alas, he does not even respond! Alas, he is more deaf than a snake to my lamentation. Oh clouds, oh storms, o winds, sink him beneath those waves! Hurry, orcas and whales and with his impure body fill up the deepest abyss. 78 What am I saying, alas! How am I raving? Miserable, alas! What do I ask? Oh Theseus, oh my Theseus, I am not, I am not she; I am not she who releases those beasts: My anger was speaking, my sorrow was speaking, my tongue spoke, yes, but not my heart. 107

MIND
But what do I say? Who am I, commanding the Gods, to act? I am so sorry, I am so sorry, so sorry so, sorry, so sorry, Forgive me, please, forgive me I did not mean I did not want to say those horrible words Or think such awful thoughts. My heart could never be so cruel? What happens to me? Have I lost my senses? Only death can end the fire of love. End my fire of love, fire of love, fore of love. I say it over and over, Without understanding. What does it mean? What is love, Really? I have lost trust in love.

VOICE
Misera ancor da loco A la tradita speme e non si spegne Fra tanto scherno ancor damor il foco? Spegni tu, morte o mai le fiamme indegne O madre, o padre d e lantico regno Superbi albergi, ovebbi dor la cuna O servi, o fidi amici, (ahi fato indegno)79 79 Wretch! I still give in to my betrayed hope, and it is not extinguished. Amidst such scorn still the fire of love? Extinguish, oh Death, those unworthy flames. Oh mother, oh father, oh lofty 108

MIND
Enough, enough, ENOUGH, ENOUGH I still think of love and pain, when I should turn away and leave it all behind. I will end this battle in victory. Die, flames of love, DIE and I will live on. Look at me, Look at me, yes, look here,at me. I was betrayed, in love. That is how life is. Betrayed of my trust. I need to see life anew. To live on, TO LIVE ON, TO GO ON AND LIVE AGAIN This is life! This is how it goes If love and trust takes over. If love and trust wins the battle.

VOICE
Mirate, ove ma scorto empia fortuna Mirate, di che duol mhan fatto erede Lamor mio, la mia fede, e laltrui inganno. Cos va chi troppama e troppo crede.80 palaces of the ancient realm, where I was raised! Oh servants, oh faithful friends (alas, unworthy fate!) 80 See where cruel fate has brought me! See the sorrow I have inherited from my love, my faithfulness, and the betrayal of another. That happens to her who loves too much and believes too much. 109

MIND
I hear you, voice, And I see, I see my fate. I see that my fate will be to follow love.

VOICE
Naqui regina, e ne lantica Creta Fu bel il viver mio mentre al ciel piacque Tempo chio mora al mio voler tacqueta.81

MIND
I queen I was, A queen I will remain, I will stand here and listen to my fate, And my fate is to die. I will die and leave in silence.

VOICE
Vivo moro o vaneggio O pur son larva od ombra Lassa che far debbio, che creder deggio? Ma che sian di Teseo chi massicura Ancor pensi nudrir udrir gli aspri dolori Speranza iniqua ah mori Non cercar, Arianna altra ventura.82 81 I was born a queen, and in Crete of old my life was beautiful while it pleased heaven. It is time that I die. According to my wish I appease you. 82 Do I live, do I die, or am I delirious? Or am I merely a ghost or a shade? Alas! what shall I do, what shall I believe? But what of Theseus? Who will reassure me? Are you still thinking of nurturing youbitter sorrow, youw wretched hope? Ah, die; do not seek another destiny, Ariadne [Arianna]. 110

MIND
Am I dead? or alive? I am thrown between words and passions. What do I trust? Not in words, not in passions. Now, I am here. That aught to be the answer. Here in front of you. Flesh and bones in front of you. Singing on a stage, Standing on a beach. Singing to a rock, Singing to my love. Speaking my feelings, Singing my passions. Repeating to understand. Ornamenting trust and love. Moving with the waves of the sea. Hearing the sounds of Arianna. Now, Here and Now.

VOICE
Io sono, io sono contenta, Scorgimi ova te piace Ma chei mi lasci e spregi Or torni e mi raccolag folle speme Non si leve i pensier cangiano i regi.83

83 I am, I am content; however you may perceive me. But that he leaves me and disdains me and now returns and takes me back, is a mad hope: Ones thoughts are not relieved when one changes rulers. 111

MIND
In this I am content. The facts are placed in front of me. Even if he leaves me and comes back again, I need to trust right now. To be what I am, Here, and now. To follow the path and to live. Here and now.

112

Scene 2 Ariane

113

114

Purified from what?

115

VOICE
Rochers 84

MIND
You, Over there, Yes I point to you, not to myself. I dont want to talk about me Only you. What do have, That could possibly be measure with you greatness. You are firm, solid and forever there. I am weak, moving, and not always here. Always on my way somewhere. Always in the air. Coming and going. Free from stagnation. Never to be trusted. Not like you, A rock, looking down at me from above.

84 Rocks, (Translation of Arianes lament my own. See also: http://www.elibelgrano.org/recordings.html 116

VOICE
Rochers vous etes sourds Vous navez rien de tender85

MIND
You ignore me now. Ignore me. I think of ways to make you listen. Screaming and calling out loud would never help. Too Vulgar, too barabarious. To be ignored. But I know that you listen, inside you So I will find a way. I wont let you escape, Even if that is what you intend to do.

VOICE
Et sans vous ebranler Vous mcoutez icy LIngrat dont je me plains Est un rochers aussi, Mais helas il sen fuit Pour ne me pas entendre.86

MIND

85 Rocks you are deaf you have nothing tender about you 86 And, unmoved you listen to me here. The ungrateful one about whom I complain is also a rock but, alas, he has fled in order not to listen to me. 117

VOICE
Ces voeux que tu faisois Et dont jetois charme Que sont ils devenue Lache et perfide amant?87

MIND
Can you se, Can you remember Long, long ago, when I first met you Your voice made me dream your passion made me into a lake of love You found love in me We burned together, and every kiss. Was like fire Dangerous, strong, painful, soft and close Those charms we shared are still inside me We walked together on that line, so fine and pure We knew we could walk above all troubles Because our love was pure and cared for We gardened the flowers of our love Gave them water and shelter from all commotion around u In our garden we were safe, far away from the fields of wilderness Purified in a heaven of love So why did you leave? Why did you betray the harmony we shared? Was it not enough for you? 87 Those vows that you made and by which I was captivated what has become of them you cowardly and false lover? 118

What teased you to open the gate And walk out of all I could give you Did your desire for the love outside Become too heavy for you to bare? Was my tenderness not enough? Was my fire to weak? I tried to make you feel new in every word I said, in every thought I thought, in every sigh I sighed, in every tone I sang. I held your hand and looked at you. I teased your tongue to sing along with mine. I taught you new words, Was this perfection? Fulfillment? Yet lacking something? I call you betrayer, because you left me. You departure made me wonder Ask for answers. Was it your purpose To leave me with questions unanswered? In eternal wonder? Questioning forever the essence of life?

VOICE
Helas tavoir aim toujours si tendrement etoit une raison pour netre plus aime88

88 Alas, I did love you always so tenderly. Was that a reason for not being loved anymore. 119

MIND
O God, Why? Can I now never expect to live again? Love again? Trust in life? Was you purpose to leave me in lovesickness forever? Do you not trust I could love someone else like I love you? Perhaps you know the answer. I will always fly Searching for the end of the road Knowing I will never find it. But never giving up. Forever wondering Forever loving, forever asking, forever suffering, always in pain, always in love, always in desire boldly searching for truth. Sighing Slowly Sometimes laughing about the memories I care for Sometimes remembering Sometimes wanting to follow you out in the world. Travelling, Leaving my roots Do what you did The words are all I have left And when the words are gone 120

The tones will be remembering ever letter Every consonant, every utterance Every suspension And they will sound on their own. Pure. They will be linger softly in the absence of everything else.

CHORUS of OTHER
My singing shows through languish The my pain if alive and pressing; When something bad attacks the heart The voice has no power to shine.89

89 The dialogue between the French and the Italian Music (see note.. in Act I ), the French Music ends the first phrase with the following: Mon chant fait voir par sa langueur / que ma peine est vive et pressante; / Quand le mal attaque le cur / on na pas la voix clatante. These are the words in the libretto, which is a little different from the musical manuscript, where the following words can be found: La maniere dont je chante / exprime mieux man langueur / Quand ce mal presse ce cur / la voix est moins clatante. 121

ACT III

122

123

Scene 1

Armide
(1664)

124

125

Performing sublime suspension

126

VOICE
Ah

MIND
Hold, Even longer, No I dont dare to go on, Pleaure of holding Fear of loosing

VOICE
RINALDO

MIND
Dizzyness after holding, and finally setting down my feet on the ground. It is not really true, that I am in the air, because I tell BODY to grow from my heels into the soil. And at the same time to grow into the air with all my spine. It is a joy of hanging on to what was, While dying to get on Forward Into what will be the next, But the essence is in the seconds I dare to BE.

127

To be What will come? What did I leave behind?

CHORUS OF OTHER
Detta mitt-emellan beskriver sjlva vergngens skeende, snarare n ngot som vergr frn ett tillstnd till ett annat, eller frn en position till en annan. P s vis r det tomt p innehll och preciseringar. Det r en intighet.90

MIND
It happens in an exclamation. A sensation of piece, fullness, As is BODY strives to move backwards while I, MIND, keep rushing into the future. VOICE sits in between, Stretching itself to its limits. Without hurting.

VOICE
Ah Rinaldo e dove sei; e dove sei, e dove, e dove sei.

MIND
Where are you, my love? Where can I find you? Will I ever find you again? E is suspended forever loosing itself into a sigh, deep down The word sei sets off into the sky imitating the previous feeling of Being. 90 Cavalcante Schuback, Marcia S, Lovtal till Intet, p. 159 128

It makes a turn - a volt comes back to reality back to safe grounds, landing with both feet. Full of grace. Dove sei? where are you? The words are hers but also mine. She searches for him, and I search for myself, my whole self: MIND, BODY and VOICE, The feeling of fullness and NOTHING surprises and makes me ask the question: What? Where? How?

VOICE
Pur da me partir potesti, Partir potesti

MIND
Slowly, I climb Up with one foot at a time, Feet slightly touching one another. Sneakingly moving on. Moving like a cat- ready to surprise.

VOICE
Nel mio duol Nei pianti miei Posson far chil passo aresti Questa e la merc che me tu dei.

129

MIND
When I finally arrive, I still have to wait on Nel; Stepping on to the small stone of mio, Before getting to Duol where I dare to grow and grow and groooowwwwWWWWWWWWinto POSSONFAAAAAAARCHIL PASSO ARRESTI. To make it all extremely clear a final statement brings the piece back to where it started with a Ah!

VOICE
Ah Rinaldo, e dove sei; e dove sei, e dove, e dove sei.

MIND
It comes to an end and the first chapter is closed. Now, a new color is there, In a faster pace, with a more intense character:

VOICE
Ai che sen vola lunghe da me.

MIND
Again, the exclamation is finding NOTHING, though this time much faster. The last word ME is leaving me in wonder again. Strong with a hint of accusation. Indirectly.

130

VOICE
Ed io chi sola, Ed io chi sola Scherno rimango di rotta f.

MIND
Me, alone, ME ALONE! Broken hope, broken hope, BROKEN HOPE, Repeating, and repeating, Even if it is said that it shouldnt happen in French Music. But here, its French, but in Italian, (composed by an Italian)

VOICE
Ferma, ferma Rinaldo o Dio. Se morta e la tua fe, morta son io. Se morta e la tua fe, morta son io. morta, morta son io.

MIND
As if calling for the moment to freeze. Ferma, stop, stay dont go, dont move!!! My trust is in you, moment of NOTHING. If you are gone, I will die. If you are dead, I will go as well. 131

If trust is gone, I will die.

VOICE
Dunque il bel foco che tarse gia Ceduto haloco, ceduto haloco A duro giaccio di ferita Gone is the fire, Even if fire fights to burn on, But it is finished. No way back. The wound is cold as ice

VOICE
Deh torna, deh torna Idolo mio Se morta e la tua fe, morta son io. Se morta e la tua fe, morta son io. morta, morta son io.

MIND
Come back, come back My Idol, My love, my everything. MY EVERYTHING And Nothing. Again I will die, if you are gone.

132

VOICE
Ahi che spargo indarno gridi;

MIND
How do I dare, to dry of so loud? ... May I, or may I not? But it is in vain, my cry, I should me silent Shouldnt I?

VOICE
voi che soste ondio mi moro del mio ben, del mio Tesoro ciechi damore custody Infidi.

MIND
Through chromatics I move down and up again As if not knowing what to do and where to go? Should I cry or should I figth?

VOICE
Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Fuggite da me Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Fuggite fuggite da me Fuggite fuggite da me.

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MIND
Go away, Leave me I am fighting you away. Let me be, Just be, dont disturb me Your fast notes, and your repetions. I dont want you to interrupt my State of being. I want to die on my own. To die forever on my own. And you, invisible powers, spirits of grace and fulfillment

VOICE
E voi mole incantate Qual fuggitivo non arrestase il pie, Qual fuggitivo non arrestase il pie.

MIND
You, who never want to stop, but always want to be, you, spirits of Nothing Leave me, I cannot anymore. Split in two, I cant go on. I am to tired. Of growing

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Just leave, I will try to sing the phrase till its end, but then I am gone. It is over.

VOICE
Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Fuggite da me Sparite, svanite, fuggite da me Fuggite fuggite da me Fuggite fuggite da me.

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Scene 2 Armide (1686)

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VOICE
Le perfide Renaud me fuit, Tout perfide quil est mon lche coeur le suit. Il me laisse mourante, Il veut que je perisse, A regret je revoy la claret qui me luit; Lhorreur de leternelles Nuit cede lhorreur de mon sulpice. Le perfide Renaud me fuit, Tout perfide quil est mon lche coeur le suit.91

MIND
This time I know he has gone. Ah.. He has left me and I know its no point to find him back. But I pity myself. I hate him and I hate myself. Because he leaves me to die. And I am boiling with anger and violence.

Darkness dwells in me, as it dwells all around me. I see a light, but I refuse to live . I want to see only death. Oh, 91 All translations for Armides scene are made by Derek Yeld, from the Harmonia Mundi recording, Armide, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, (1992). 139

Renaud is gone, And my heart goes with him. And for this I curse myself. And pity my whole being Walking out. Walking in Forth, back And forth Always the same patterns, All has become bigger, and more impressive, But all has also a counterbalancing Other Holding on tightly not to loose control. It must be like this

VOICE
Quand le Barbare estoit en ma puissance, Que nay-je cr la Haine & la Vengence? Que nay-je suivy leurs transports. Il meschape, Il sestoigne, Il va quitter ces Bords, Il brave lenfer & ma Rage; Il est dj prs du Rivage, Je faits pour my traisner dinutiles effort.92

MIND
Why did I not listen? No point to ask. Their advice had to be heard, but the self had to go through the pain. That was destined to happen. 92 140

He is gone, yes, I knew he would, But only now I can react. Forth and back and forth again Let him go you may say. And leave it. But no, The form has to be fulfilled. The form of languish. Eternel languish. Real languish. I fear the word: REAL, And still I use it, because I cant find another one. Real is in all. Always in any step I go. In the accusation, As in love. Here on stage I live it all. With the pages of a score.

VOICE
Traitre, atten, Je le tien je le tien son coeur perfide. Ah! Je limmole ma fureur, je limmole ma fureur. Je le tiens je le tiens son coeur perfide. Ah! Je limmole ma fureur,

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je limmole ma fureur.93

MIND
Betrayer, Wait NOW! WAIT! Stop. I do dare to make you stop! To call out and to make you really stop now. Set down you feet at this moment. Not in the air. But in the second I say TRRRR-ai The moment of silence after my first calling out. Is of course affected. You turn your heads towards me to she what happened. What made me change? What made me scream so loud?! I am not always silent. I know how to make noise. I know how to scream and vibrate. But I know the cold control It is so deeply printed in me That I have made it my own form. Forward, backward and forward again For ever the same. But in many different forms. No backward. Come along with me 93 142

VOICE
Que dis-je? O suis-je? helas! Infortune Armide! O temporte une aveugle erreur?94

MIND
Purified from the vulgar? Is that how one may describe my acts? Voice - a tool for purified expression. A colorful show for the critical ornamental massive thinking around me Forward again

VOICE
Lespoir de ma vengeance est le seul qui me reste. Fuyez plaisirs, fuyez, perdez tous vos attraits. Demons dtruissez ce palais Fuyez plaisirs, fuyez, perdez tous vos attraits. Demons, Demons, dstruisez dstruisez ce palais. Lespoir de ma vengeance est le seul qui me reste.95

MIND
Only hope of revenge Anger again, built up through out the whole scene Is now coming to an end. And again, I will die, 94 95 143

Scarifying my life for the pleasure of languish and beauty. It is my duty To die in agony To embody the pleasures of pain. To live on stage the acts of revenge and fury. A madness destined to the actress, Who in the end is mad onstage, But sane in life in general. What is then real? Where does reality find its energy and drive. In the steps back and forth, And back, and forth again!

VOICE
Partons, & sil se peut que mon amour funeste Demeure ensevely dans ces lieux pour jamais.96

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IL CANNOCCHIALE

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Music sources and libretti: Manuscripts, modern prints and transcriptions:
Deidamia Guerrieri allarmi, allarmi (Deidamias madscene) in: La Finta Pazza by Francesco Sacrati, 1641 - Transcription of manuscript from private archive of Principe del Bormeo, Isola Bella, (kindly provided by Prof. Lorenzo Bianconi, Univeristy of Bologna.) - Libretto: Strozzi, Giulio La Finta Pazza, 1641, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana Venezia, DRAMMA 908.8 - Argomento e Scenario per La Finta Pazza, 1641, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana Venezia, DRAMMA 908.7 - Il Cannochiale per La Finta Pazza, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana Venezia, DRAMMA 908.9 Ottavia Disprezzata regina A Dio Roma In: LIncoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi, 1642 - Manuscript from Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venezia, I-Vnm, IV, 439 (9963); - Modern print ed. by Dr. Alan Curtis (Novello & Co. Ltd), 1989 - Libretto: Gio. Francesco Busenello, Lincoronazione di Poppea, Venezia 1642, (Printed 1656), Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venezia, MUS0002739
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- Scenario dell'opera reggia intitolata La coronatione di Poppea, 1643 Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venezia, MUS0002585

Arianna Lasciatemi morire (Lamento dArianna) in: Arianna by Claurio Monteverdi, 1623 - Manuscript from Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze; - Malepiero edition (year of publishing to be confirmed) Transl. to English: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/hill/)

Ariane Rochers vous etes sourds (Plainte dAriane) by Michel Lambert, in: Ballet de La Naissance de Venus by Jean-Baptiste Lully, 1665 http://imslp.org/wiki/Ballet_de_la_Naissance_de_V%C3%A9nus,_LV_ 27_%28Lully,_Jean-Baptiste%29 - Airs de monsieur Lambert non imprimez, 111v-113v (now available: Fuzeau dition)

Armide Ah Rinaldo Dove sei in: Ballet Les Amours Dguiss by Jean-Baptiste Lully, 1664 - 2 manuscripts from Biblioteque Nationale, Paris: Recueil dairs italiens de differents autheur Bibl. Nat. Vm7, 4, pp. 66-73; MS Philidor, 1690 Bibl. Nat. Rs. F.511, pp. 43-52

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Le perfide Renaud me fuit in: Armide, Tragedie Lyrique by Jean Baptist Lully, 1686 http://imslp.org/wiki/Armide,_LWV_71_%28Lully,_JeanBaptiste%29#Full_Scores

Other musical manuscript:

Lully, Jean Baptiste Gentil musica Francese Dialogue entre la Musique Italienne e la Musique Franaise from Ballet de la Raillerie, 1659 http://imslp.org/wiki/Ballet_de_la_Raillerie,_LWV_11_%28Lully,_Jea n-Baptiste%29

Recordings
Lislevand, Rolf Nuove Musiche, ECM Record GmbH, 2006

Literature
Borgdorff, Henk Artistic research and academia: an uneasy relationship, Art Monitor, Gothenburg, 2008 Calcagno, Mauro Signifying Nothing: On the Aesthetics of Pure Voice in Early Venetian Opera, Journal of Musicology 20/4, 2003: 461-497 Cavalcante Schuback, Marcia s Lovtal till intet (Glories to Nothing), Glnta Produktion, 2006 DallAngelo, Marin Le Glorie dell Niente, Venice, 1634, in: Calcagno, 2003 Damsio, Antnio The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, 1999

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Fabbri, Paolo Alle origini di un topos operistico: la scena di follia, in: Secolo Cantante: Per Una Storia Del Libretto d'Opera Nel Seicento, Bologna, Molino,1990 Heisig, James W. Philosophers of Nothingness, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 2001 Heller, Wendy Emblems of Eloquence, University of California Press, 2003 Holst-Warhaft, Gail Dangerous voices. Womens laments and Greek Literature. Routledge, 1992 Janklvitch, Vladimir Le Je-ne-sais-quoi et le Presque-rien. 1. La manire et loccasion, ditions du Seuil, 1980 Loret, Jean Recueil des Lettres en Vers contenent les Nouvelles du Temps, crits a son Altesse Mademoiselle de Longueville, depuis Duchesse de Nemours,1650-1652, vol. 1, Paris, 1857 MacNeil, Anne Music and Women of the Commedia dellArte in the Late Sixteenth Century, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003 Manzini, Luigi Il Niente, 1634 in: Ossola, Carlo Le Antiche Memorie del Nulla, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma, 2007, p. 95-107 Marino, Giovanbattista Adone, 1623, cited in: Calcagno, 2003 Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge, 2006 Miato, Monica LAccademia degli Incogniti di Giovan Francesco Loredan, Venezia (16301661), Firenze, Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1998 Muir, Edward The Cultural Wars of the Late Renaissance, Harvard Univ. Press, 2007 Ossola, Carlo Le Antiche Memorie del Nulla, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma 2007 Rosand, Ellen Opera in the Seventeenth-Century Venice, 1990; also available on- line: http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft3199n7sm&chunk.id=d0e11 463&toc. depth=1&toc.id=d0e11463&brand=eschol ______Operatic madness: a challenge to convention in: Music and Text: critical inquiries, ed. Steven Paul Scher, 2006 Sandgren, Maria Becoming and being an opera singer: Health, personality, and skills, Dept. of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, 2005 Sartre, Jean-Paul Being and Nothingness, Routledge, 1943 (2008) Strozzi, Giulio Le Glorie della Signora Anna Renzi romana, Venice, 1644 Varela, Francisco J., Evan Tompson & Eleanor Rosch The Embodied Mind. Cognitive Science and Human Experience (1991), MIT Press

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Weblinks
http://www.mindandlife.org/index.html Florio's 1611 Italian/English Dictionary:Queen Anna's New World of Words http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/florio http://www.answers.com/ http://www.behindthename.com/

All photographs: Elisabeth Belgrano (except images with Elisabeth in corset, which are shot by Miranda Belgrano) Film: Elisabeth Belgrano & Monica Milocco

This Music Research Drama has been recorded with the most simple techniques and tools. The purpose has been to catch the immediacy of the singers thoughts and inner images - first considering timing rather than sound quality.

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