The art of song

For years, virtuosity in music was strictly the domain of instrumentalists. In the 16th century, organ players and violinists showed off their incredible dexterity. Singers, on the other hand, were merely expected to enunciate clearly. It was not until the opera emerged that singers, too, really had the chance to strut their stuff.

Masterly improvisation

Bel canto developed in the land of beautiful singing: Italy. The art of sophisticated singing had its heyday from the second part of the 17th century onward. Singers outperformed one another with highly virtuosic coloratura and trills. In the early 18th century, castrato voices were regarded as the ideal for bel canto singers. Castrati referred to boys who had been castrated before puberty to preserve their voices, who were often subjected to intense vocal and musical training.

Castrato singers were celebrated throughout Europe for their technical and vocal finesse - names like Farinelli, Giovanni Carestini or Gaetano Caffarelli remain well-known in certain circles today.

Composers were not as pleased, though. The bel canto singers' knack for turning simple arias into brilliant vocal feats pushed them more and more into the limelight, while the composers themselves were crowded out.

Glamorous operatic era

Near the end of the 18th century, castrato singers were no longer in demand, and that changed bel canto, too. Composers gave singers less and less room to improvise. Instead, the opera arias they wrote became increasingly sophisticated. Bel canto experienced a final peak in works by Gioacchino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti beginning in 1810 - just 40 years later, bel canto would have to make way for a more natural style of singing.

Verdi, Wagner and the Verismo composers wanted dramatic, expressive voices, clear and unembellished. But operas by Rossini and his colleagues were rediscovered again a century later. Today, they are regarded as the epitome of bel canto.

Author: Klaus Gehrke (db)
Editor: Greg Wiser