(From La Revue Musicale.)
THE base voice, whose powerful accents, combined with such tender and pathetic expression, produce at present such a wonderful effect, was little used in the serious Italian opera at the beginning of this century, and is almost unknown in the dramatic compositions of the early Italian school. Tito, Idomeneo, and Orazio were written for tenor voices, contrary to all reason and to the received rules of good taste[53]. The part of the High Priest in Gli Orazi was the first in which a base voice became conspicuous, sustaining so beautifully the trio in Eflat; but even this was added by Cimarosa long after the first production of his opera, the trio being originally only a duet. It should seem as if the composer had not dared to avail himself of a quality of voice, in the more dignified characters of tragedy, which had hitherto been entirely appropriated to the buffo parts, such as Don Gruffo, &c. It must, however, be considered as the first triumph of the base voice, which has since run so glorious a career supported by such champions as Pellegrini, Galli, Lablache, and Tamburini. Indeed, who could have made Mozart, Paisiello, or Cimarosa, believe that their more fortunate successors would have had at their disposal, a voice deep and sonorous, which would be able to execute the rapid passages of the prima donna two octaves below; to modulate on a subject; or execute an andantino with the same facility as a tenor or a soprano? The appropriation of the higher parts of tragedy, and the more brilliant ones of comedy, by base singers, is scarcely of thirty years’ standing, since in Tancredi, one of the first, as well as one of the best of Rossini’s compositions, but modelled on the old Italian system, Orgirio is written for a high voice; while to the base is given a character of very little importance. Base singing is undoubtedly the triumph of the present age; and it was much wanted to supply, in the Italian Opera, the place of the male soprani, for which the female voice is but a poor substitute, and which it can never fully replace. The French dramatic style has gradually introduced itself into the Italian Opera; and it is to Rossini, wonderfully seconded by the flexible and fine toned base voices he has had to write for, that we owe such works as Otello, La Gazza Ladra, MosÈ, &c., where scenic effect is happily blended with the charms of melody, and that of the orchestra with the rich tones of the human voice. The introduction of base voices into the serious opera, the execution of the bold and brilliant passages, written for them in comic parts, has regenerated the Italian Opera, which was simply a concert dramatized; while the Italian singers, feeling how much the effect of music may be aided by scenic illusion, have, for the most part, become excellent actors. In short, we may say, that to hear such an opera as La Gazza Ladra performed by such singers as Rubini, Tamburini, Lablache, Graziani, Malibran, and Mariano, is the perfection of dramatic music.
