Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Blog 10 - Opera Composer Donizetti
This particular song is started by the singer, Sumi Jo, with a solo and the instruments join in very softly soon after and build their way up. As common in opera, the Sumi Jo uses the vibrato technique, where her voice continues to waver in pitch. To my surprise, there is a supporting choir in the background. Because they are not that loud (as they shouldn’t be because they are not intended to be the main focus of this opera) from what I can tell, they are not using the vibrato technique that Sumi Jo is using. They come in only at certain rare occasions.
I would definitely consider this a type of popular music because there is no possibility that this is a group of amateurs. These musicians are professionals that play for mass audiences. I also find it very interesting how at around 4:52, though the song is not over yet, the audience begins to clap. My initial reaction was that this audience was not educated enough in this type of music to know when to applaud. However, I soon realized that this couldn’t be the case. This is a very formal performance and it is highly unlikely that the entire audience would applaud at the wrong time. I believe their applause was due to their realization of Sumi Jo’s incredible singing talent, which could not help but to be recognized right then and there. It was also funny to see the violinists’ reactions to the unexpected applause in the middle of the performance, as they did not seem too pleased about the sudden interruption.
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This video features Sumi Jo, who is most famous as a South Korean soprano singer who frequently sings from a vast repertoire of bel canto music (www.josumi.com). Bel canto literally means "beautiful singing" (as taken from our reading). Bel canto operas are highly focused on the voice. Through the very music Sumi Jo is singing the focus can be clearly seen to be not just on her as a soloist, but also on her singing. She highly ornaments and most likely adds improvisation to her part, even past the ornamentation that is most likely already written in the part. The advanced ornamentation and improvisation techniques Sumi Jo takes helps her to show off the full talent of her voice and enrich the song she is performing.
ReplyDeleteThe video performance by Sumi Jo is in the traditional opera setting that incorporates the lead sing vocal with orchestral accompaniment. To add on to the comment that Dayna made about the choir in the background not using vibrato, I was never I choir, but I know from band, generally vibrato is not used in groups of players, for it is difficult to match vibratos and the mix and match wavering pitches would sound bad, not that it is impossible. Vibrato is a much more stylistic, lead or solo technique used for expression where the soloist has some room to express. The flute accompaniment gave a dialogue tone to the performance, since the flute was almost if not as important as Sumi Jo.
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