Representations of tenor arias from G. Puccini’s operas (“La bohème”, “Tosca” and “Turandot”) by masters of Russian and Chinese vocal schools

Sun' Syun' Assistant, Russian Academy of Music named after The Gnessins 121069, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Povarskaya str., 30-36, p. 1 1653317214@qq.com Other publications by this author

The Opera House is of great importance for the world of art, not only musically, but also, in general, artistically. It unites all kinds of art, is represented by many varieties, and is a reflection of the life of society. For a long time, the European and Oriental theater represented two contrasting types, between which there was nothing in common. But as the opera house developed, various directions arose, eastern and European views became closer to each other and found common ground, despite the absolute dissimilarity.

The Eastern and Western theaters have been interacting with each other for a long time, and the systematic study of such dissimilar cultures will have a significant impact on the development of theatrical art in general and opera in particular, which explains the relevance of the chosen perspective of this article.

Masterpieces of world opera are of equal importance for both Russian and Chinese culture, and they are often addressed by directors and directors. The immortal figure of opera mastery for Russia and China is J. Puccini and, in general, the Italian opera school with its unique bel canto style, embodied also in the works of masters Rossini, Verdi, Donizetti.

Since Chinese are actively interested in Russian and Italian opera and often perform them, this aspect is seen as relevant in our time, to which many research papers are devoted.

When working on the article, the works of the authors reviewing the musical heritage of J. R.R. Tolkien were used. Puccini – articles by A. K. Konigsberg ^{[1; 2]}, O. B. Stepanov ^[3], books by L. V. Danilevich ^[4], I. V. Nestiev ^[5], as well as works translated into Russian – T. G. Keldysh "Letters" ^[6] and A. Fraccarolli "My friend Puccini tells" ^[7]. So, the musical material of the topic he touched on as a whole has been analyzed by musicologists from different countries for more than a century.

Russian Russian and Chinese vocal schools Based on the study of the designated body of literature, the author began to study the selected material of audio recordings of outstanding performers – representatives of the Russian and Chinese vocal schools – which became a unique author's solution that allows, based on a selection of a number of interpretations, to compare and compare the common and special features of the Russian and Chinese vocal schools. It is the perspective chosen by the author and the selected material that constitutes the most important element of the scientific novelty of this article.

In this work, the author aims to identify various techniques of the tenor vocal technique, using as an example arias from the operas of J. Puccini, as well as the task of analyzing arias performed by outstanding Russian and Chinese artists, paying special attention to interpretation and means of performance, in particular the bel canto technique. The subject of the study is a set of features of the interpretation of tenor arias from operas by J. Puccini is a master of the Russian and Chinese vocal schools. The object is the tenor arias from the operas of J. Puccini (“Bohemia", “Tosca“ and ”Turandot") in the interpretation of Russian and Chinese singers. Audio recordings of their performance by individual singers from Russia and China served as empirical material, on the basis of which a comparative analysis of their interpretations was made.

When analyzing interpretations, it is important to take into account the image and character of the main character that the author creates, and assess how accurately and deeply the artist embodies it, what new things he brings to the portrait of his character. It is also necessary to analyze the vocal technique: how singers perform melisms, build phrasing, what techniques are used in difficult places of vocal parts. Regarding the artist's embodiment of the character of the characters, Tito Gobbi wrote in his work "The World of Italian Opera": "Do not try to give your hero great importance contrary to the intention of the composer or librettist: This is not your task. And it consists in fully understanding the character of your hero: so that if you meet him on the street, you will immediately recognize him" ^{[8, p. 3]}. So, in the future, the analysis of arias will be based on the principle of "from the general to the particular": from the interpretation of the character's image to individual elements of the singer's technical skill.

Another problem concerns the language, pronunciation issues, and translation quality. When performing a text translated from Italian, singers may encounter a shift in semantic accents, which may lead to a distortion of meaning. T. Gobbi also wrote about it.: "Don Juan, The Wedding of Figaro, All these are Italian operas, but the indifference of Italian singers (with encouragement and support from conductors, managers and impresarios) has left them at the mercy of foreigners who distort the Italian language, or even worse– prefer to sing in other languages. The question is, why did Mozart, an Austrian, write these operas to Italian librettos if they were destined to be performed in German or even in English?" ^{[8, p. 11]}. Therefore, singing in the original language is ideal, and most importantly, understanding this language, the meaning of words, and the text. This helps the singer to make the performance of his part more profound, meaningful, sincere.

Being a brilliant opera playwright, Puccini mastered the art of extremely accurate musical depiction of characters and situations. His characters are not abstract "lovers" or "villains": they are very lively, real, bright – the poet Rudolf, who is hotly, desperately in love; the artist Cavaradossi, who is passionately in love with Longing and doomed to death; the kind, brave Prince Kalaf, who is in love with a Chinese princess.

The tenor parts in Puccini's operas are incredibly complex (difficult arias, large tessitura, requiring endurance and high technical skill), like his characters.

First, we turn to Rudolph's aria "Che gelida manina" ("Cold Hand") from the opera "La Boheme" by J. Puccini. In it, the young and talented poet Rudolf meets the seamstress Mimi. He is fascinated by her beauty, but hesitant. Rudolph sings to Mimi about his business while holding her hand. This is a beautiful and touching aria about the birth of love and one of the highlights of the opera. The epigraph to the First Act states: "Rudolf fell in love with her (Mimi). He was especially delighted with Mimi's pens. She was able, despite her work, to preserve their charming tenderness and whiteness..." ^[9].

This aria won the heart of more than one listener thanks to the bright upper d 1 – the place is quite difficult for the performer and requires considerable technical training and vocal skills. In accordance with the traditions of the Italian vocal school, it must be performed filigree, without forcing. T. Gobbi says: "... there the creepy upper re seems very high, higher than it really is, and therefore I really want to tighten, force the sound. But then this happens: you open your mouth too wide, the jaw goes down, and the throat is clamped, the sound is cut off" ^{[8, p. 3]}.

To analyze the performance of this aria, the interpretations of S. Lemeshev^[1] (1947) ^[10] and P. Melentyev^[2] (2018) ^[11] were chosen to compare the nuances of the old and modern Russian performing schools.

S. Lemeshev performs an aria in Russian. Despite the fact that the aria has been translated into Russian, Lemeshev emphasizes all the semantic accents that correspond to the musical embodiment of the original text. His Rudolf seems to be a good-natured, sincere and caring person who sweetly and delicately sings that Mimi's "cold little hand" should be warmed. Lemeshev skillfully manages to demonstrate the different sides of Rudolf's character – in the poet's story about himself, his voice becomes strong and free. Talking about himself, Rudolf sings haltingly and excitedly, and when he sings about his feelings, his voice becomes tremulous and tender. Lemeshev perfectly manages to convey every nuance of the party, and in the phrase "So often villains rob me without mercy" we literally feel the state of the poet's suffering but free soul.

The phrase "And again I surrender myself, as before, to my golden hope" can be sung in two ways (simple and complex), and Lemeshev chooses the latter, filling the aria with extraordinary strength, impetuous will and desperate hope. When the poet sings about love, Lemeshev's voice sounds on the piano with a slight vibrato. All the melisms prescribed in the game are executed accurately, accurately, without tension and forcing. Thanks to his wide breathing and refined phrasing, Lemeshev brings every thought embedded in the aria to its logical conclusion.

When analyzing the interpretation of P. Melentiev, who sings in Italian, it is clear that his performance is characterized by some nervousness. If the sounds that are comfortable in the range are sung delicately and softly, then the high notes (apparently difficult for this vocalist) turn out to be screaming, starting with the sound c 1. Since such sounds are common in the aria, their performance turns out to be uneven and stands out strongly from the general concept of the musical part.

This problem could be solved by breathing, gradually increasing the dynamics, but the performer suspends the air supply in places with jumps and interrupts breathing, which causes integrity to be lost.

To analyze the interpretation by Chinese vocalists, we chose the performance of the young Chinese singer Kang Wang^[3] (2015) ^[12], soloist of the Metropolitan Opera. This is indeed an exemplary interpretation, but it is worth noting that the Chinese singer has been working in the United States for a long time.

Kang Wang performs the aria in the original language. His Rudolf is full of sensuality, love of life, passion, he is completely fascinated by Mimi's naivety. The singer performs all the melisms with filigree precision, observing the pauses and remarks noted by Puccini. Before the important note d 1, Kang Wang prepares the breath in advance, and therefore performs it without forcing, in the right position. This makes the highest sound of the aria not "screaming", but filled with meaning, passion and understanding of the character of the hero.

The exact hit of the performer in the image (Rudolf is a creative young man who was conquered by Mimi with his naivety and innocence) allows the listener to feel the love story of the characters.

From the Chinese, we note the interpretation of Yijie Shi^[4] (2010) ^[13]. In his performance, Rudolf is a gentle and sensitive young man in love with a beautiful girl. There is a softness in the singer's voice that is inherent in Soviet performers (for example, Lemeshev). He speaks very tenderly and tenderly to the girl, talking about her pen.

On the note d 1, the strength of the hero's feelings and his intoxication with them are felt, and in the story about himself he appears to be boastful in a youthful way. Yijie Shi accurately conveys all the details of the musical text, however, in his performance, how often and dramatically the different moods of the ardent young man Rudolf change, which is why this interpretation does not turn out to be completely holistic.

Thanks to the above analysis of interpretations, the following thesis becomes clear: "There is hardly a work more suitable for an opera singer than this impeccable masterpiece by Puccini – La Boheme. He is so melodic, conquers listeners so quickly that sometimes they tend to underestimate him, forgetting that only a true genius can convey simplicity, tenderness and genuine feeling in a form accessible to all" ^{[8, p. 104]}.

Next, for analysis, we chose interpretations of the aria "El lucevan le stelle" by Cavaradossi from the opera Tosca performed by V. Atlantov^[5] (1974) ^[14], E. Raikov^{[6] [15]} and Wei Song^{[7] [16]}.

Mario Cavaradossi is a romantic figure, multifaceted, contradictory. Initially, he appears frivolous, and although he talks about his feelings for the singer Tosca, he is indifferent to her creativity and talent – most of all he is concerned about the beauty of the main character. However, after meeting Angelotti, we see another side of the artist – he can be brave, brave, confused in a scene with the cruel Scarpia, and when Anguish appears, he is overcome by anxiety.

It is Cavaradossi's deathbed aria "El lucevan le stelle" ("The stars were Burning") that most vividly reveals the image of the hero. Cavaradossi, while awaiting execution, remembers his love for Tosca and tries to find inner strength in the face of death. In his words – farewell to happiness, to his native home and the city in which he lived. And all these feelings the singer must convey with sincere feeling, performing this aria.

All this is perfectly possible for V. Atlantov. In his performance, you can hear the pain of the main character, a feeling of loss, doom. In the character's speech, you can hear hopelessness, a sense of doom. It is worth saying that Atlantov performs the number in the original language, but does not always pronounce the Italian words accurately. The tension in the vocal part gradually increases, with the words "Oh! Dolci baci languide carezze mentr'io fremente" ("Oh! Sweet kisses, languid caresses") one hears fervent passion and longing for his beloved, and in the phrase "E non ho amato mai tanto vita" ("I have never longed for life so much") Atlantov focuses on each syllable, which allows you to fully experience the emotions of the main character, which are like a mental cry. The artist accurately observes all the melisms, purity of intonation, pauses in the places indicated for this purpose. The dynamics are also verified – gradually Atlantov goes to crescendo, and in the end makes a small diminuendo.

E. Raikov performs the aria in Russian, and his version is slightly different from Atlantov's version. In Raikov's interpretation, the pain of the hero from the realization of impending death comes to the fore. A certain detachment of Cavaradossi, who was flooded with memories, is heard only in the very first phrase "The stars were burning." Then he plunges into a state of complete doom. The singer especially vividly emphasizes the phrase "I have never longed for life so much", in which Raikin's character realizes his unhappy fate. Regarding the observance of textual nuances (melisms, pauses, accents), in Raikin's interpretation everything is done exactly as indicated by Puccini.

It is worth pointing out how much the performances in Russian and Italian differ. First of all, the musicality of the language, its charm, and atmosphere are lost. For example, the original phrase "her steps were caressed by sand" in the Russian version turns into "and here she came in." This affects not only the beauty of the literary material, but also changes the musical accents, because even when the translator tries to register the parts of speech corresponding to the original in the text, it is impossible to perform this task with complete accuracy. That is why it is better to choose the original language for the performance of Italian parts.

In Wei Song's interpretation, Cavaradossi's aria sounds extremely emotional. His character appears to be gentle, lively, and humane. The singer adheres to melismatics with precision, uses beautiful vibrato and sings freely, with a lot of drawbacks and small rubato, due to which the performance becomes close to human speech.

Consider Puccini's last opera Turandot, which the author did not have time to complete on his own, and it was completed by his friend F. Alfano, according to the remaining sketches. The action takes place in China. Prince Kalaf falls in love with the mysterious Princess Turandot, however, in order to win her heart, he must solve three riddles. If he fails, he will be condemned to execution. As a result, he manages to melt the ice in Turandot's heart.

Kalaf is a strong, kind, brave romantic hero. He rushes to the aid of old Timur and is not at all afraid to go through the ordeal of Turandot, and seeing her unwillingness to marry, generously gives her a chance and makes his own riddle — to guess his name. The hero feels an ardent feeling of love for Turandot. Let's analyze one of the most famous and complex tenor arias – "Nessun dorma" ("Let no one sleep") performed by M. Mikhailov ^[17], V. Galuzin ^[18], Shi Chu Jang ^[19] and Deng Chao Hung ^[20].

In Mikhailov's interpretation, Kalaf appears to be a passionately loving young man who is looking forward to marrying his beloved. He is full of confidence that Turandot will not be able to solve his riddle. Kalaf demonstrates the entire palette of emotions of his hero through various gradations of dynamics – from pianissimo to fortissimo. The artist's skillful work can be traced by the phrase "Nessun dorma", which is filled with different emotional shades with each new repetition. At first, it is Kalaf's passionate impulse, he is waiting for Turandot's decision. For the second time, she sounds excited–what does the future hold for Kalaf? Turning to his beloved Turandot in his thoughts, Kalaf Mikhailova becomes agitated by surging feelings or tender, soft. These swings of emotional states are heard even within the framework of one phrase "Ma il mio mistero e chiuso" ("But my secret is hidden in me"), which ends with the words "Cuando la luce splendera" ("My kiss will melt"). The dynamics in Mikhailov's interpretation gradually increases, and the climax occurs on the note d 1. The last sound of the aria is performed with a mordent, which is not specified in the score, but makes the hero's thought complete.

Kalaf V. Galuzina is a passionate and self–confident person who knows for sure that he will gain the sympathy of the princess. He loves her with passionate love, without sentiment. Galuzin does not use pianissimo and dolcissimo, so there is more hardness in his interpretation, he uses a lot of fermata, but otherwise follows the instructions given by the composer exactly.

Shi Chu Jang's interpretation presents us with a young man in love who cannot wait for the morning when his beloved will finally become his wife. At the beginning, the phrase "Nessun dorma" sounds detached, almost without emotion, and its repetition is filled with confidence. The singer follows the composer's instructions, adding only frequent caesures and delays, which give his Calaf more confidence and freedom. This is also facilitated by wide breathing, which helps to combine the text as much as possible into large phrases and sentences – this creates a sense of continuity, fluidity and unity. The performer treats the composer's musical language carefully, without changing almost anything except small tempo shifts within phrases that make his performance lively, emotional, and free.

There is also a lot of confidence in Deng Chao Hong's interpretation, but it is achieved by slightly different means. Firstly, it is also a long breath, which contributes to the maximum unification of the text. And, secondly, it is an active underline of the dotted line. The latter endows the character with a heroic character, which is certainly inherent in him.

This article analyzes performers from different schools and eras, in which the weak and strong sides of interpretations were identified and the features of the part and its performance variants were highlighted by outstanding representatives of the Russian vocal school and young singers from China.

We noted that the most correct way is to perform opera parts in the original language – this avoids many incidents and inconsistencies between the translation language and the musical embodiment of the text. In this regard, the performance of S. Lemeshev and E. Raikov in Russian is an echo of the tradition of the Soviet school, when it was generally not accepted to study languages and sing in a foreign language, especially in concert performance. This is a significant disadvantage of these interpretations, with all the technical skill and accuracy of getting into the image of the singers of the Russian opera school. In this regard, younger generations of singers – V. Atlantov, P. Melentyev, M. Mikhailov, V. Galuzin – performed arias in Italian, in accordance with world opera trends. The same goes for Chinese performers.

As for creating an image, the singers of the Russian school distinguished themselves by their greater artistry and accurate embodiment of images in tenor parts from Puccini operas. This was influenced by the tradition that has been developing for several centuries, and the school of the actor K. Stanislavsky, famous in our country and around the world, and his system of teaching acting. In turn, in the interpretation of Chinese singers, sometimes there is either excessive emotionality (Wei Song) or excessive heroism, which is not inherent in such a vivid manifestation of the character (Deng Chao Hong).

The analysis of the technical side of vocal interpretation showed that all singers have a high level of technical training, which is natural: for the Russian vocal school, based on the long history of vocal pedagogy, represented by the best masters, as well as for the Chinese, whose education was based on technical skills in one of the most important places of study. As a result, we note that from the point of view of acting and the embodiment of the image, the interpretations of Russian singers differ in greater depth and content, philosophical generalization and lyricism.

So, the vocal art in both Russia and China is important and is actively developing, especially in recent decades. The music of Italian composers is highly appreciated by listeners and is often played on the Chinese opera stage, vocalists and performers draw a lot from the singers of the Russian vocal school, referring to the experience of such masters as Atlantov, Lemeshev, Mazurok and not only. The tenor parts of famous Italian composers have become widespread both on the stage of opera houses and in concert halls, they participate in competitions with them, they are used in training programs at higher musical educational institutions.

^[1] Sergey Lemeshev, who came from a poor peasant family, became known throughout the country by the age of 30. For many years, he performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater with his favorite role — the part of Lensky from Eugene Onegin. The tenor has performed it more than 500 times.

^[2] Pyotr Melentyev is a young lyrical tenor, soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic. The artist has repeatedly been the winner of prestigious vocal competitions, and he studied opera performance in Italy with Vito Brunetti.

^[3] Kang Wang is an Australian-Chinese tenor, soloist of the Metropolitan Opera, finalist of the famous BBC International Opera Singers Competition in Cardiff "Singer of the World 2017" (2017 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition) and the Hans Gabor competition "Belvedere 2017".

^[4] Yijie Shi is a lyrical tenor. Born in Shanghai in 1982, he studied in Graz, Austria. Winner of many international competitions: Ferruccio Tagliavini in Graz, Toti dal Monte in Treviso (2007), Maria Canilla in Sulmona, Festspielstadt Passau 2007 in Passau. The best performances are operatic parts by Mozart and Rossini. One of the world's leading opera soloists, a native of Shanghai, has become a guest artist at the Bolshoi Theatre.

^[5] Vladimir Atlantov is a lyrical and dramatic tenor. Soviet and Austrian opera singer. Soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR in 1967-1988. People's Artist of the USSR. Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after M. Glinka. Kammersenger of the Vienna State Opera.

^[6] Evgeny Raikov is a Soviet and Russian opera singer (lyric and dramatic tenor), actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1982). 

^[7] Wei Song is a Chinese operatic tenor who studied at the Shanghai Conservatory with Zhou Xiaoyan. He sang with Dai Yuqiang and Warren Mock (The Three Tenors project). He is called the "Chinese Pavarotti". Currently, Wei Song is the president of the Shanghai Opera House and vice president of the Shanghai Musicians Association, with a voice of impeccable beauty, he has played many memorable roles, including Cavaradossi in Tosca, Turrida in Rural Cavalry, Calafa in Turandot, Alfredo in La Traviata. Wei Song has received numerous awards, including being named Best Film Partner at the Fifth Shanghai Stage Performance Award for his performance of Leinsky in the opera Eugene Onegin in 1994. His opera performances and concerts have taken him to the world, including dancing, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and other countries.