Qing Li - 04/16/2022
Bel Canto Opera (Macbeth and
From my point of view, Verdi’s opera Macbeth illustrates the romantic theme well.
Although it is an Italian opera, the focus of the composer is always on the story instead of certain
singers. This observation of mine presents an interesting contrast with the famous Bel Canto
style of traditional Italian opera. Bel Canto operas always have a strong emphasis on singers,
sometimes composers would slow or even pause the pace of the story in order to write expressive
singing lines for certain characters. However, the story itself always has the priority role in
Verdi’s opera Macbeth. Although the singing parts are full of musical expressiveness, characters
like Lady Macbeth do not have as many chances to show virtuosic singing in repetitive lines as
characters would have in a Bel Canto opera. In fact, all the arias are serving the story thus
presenting the romantic theme. For example, arias like Fatal mia donna! and La luce langue for
Lady Macbeth both have strong emotional expressions. However, the composer did not set too
much attention to specific phrases for the singer to show off but wrote continuous lines for the
character to not only show her beautiful singing but also tell the story. In fact, the only two spots
that reminds me a little about the Bel Canto style are in Si colmi il calice and Una macchia e qui
tuttora. Both of them are under extreme emotions thus are appropriate for more expressive
writing.
On the other hand, Lucia di Lammermoor certainly has a stronger influence from Bel
Canto style. Repetitive phrases are frequently used by the composer in order to write Bel Canto
melodies for Lucia to show off. The pace of the whole story is slower than Macbeth. However, I
do think Lucia di Lammermoor represents the romantic theme well. Firstly, the composer uses
musical elements to match romantic aspects of the story. For example, the use of harp solo at the
beginning of act I certainly suits the supernatural element in the story. Also, despite the fact that
the use of Bel Canto style may slow the pace of storytelling, it also emphasizes the emotion of
character, helps them to reach a certain level of extreme. In my opinion, the Bel Canto style in
Lucia di Lammermoor enriches the original story, raises the level of romanticism to a new level.
In conclusion, I would consider both operas successful for presenting their original
romantic stories. In order to show the romantic aspects of their stories, Macbeth focuses more on
storytelling while Lucia di Lammermoor pays more attention to emphasize extreme emotions.
Their different compositional styles represent composers’ different approaches with various
stories. For Macbeth, the structure would be loosely formed if Verdi inserted more Bel Canto
style; for Lucia di Lammermoor, the expressiveness level would not be as expanded without
those beautiful singing phrases.
