INTRODUCTION

This work starts with the titanic – and in some aspects chimeric ─ work of contextualizing and defining the concept bel canto.

According to the New Groove Dictionary of Music, bel canto generally “refers to the Italian vocal style of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the qualities of which include perfect legato production throughout the range, the use of a light tone in the higher registers and agile and flexible delivery. More narrowly, it is sometimes applied exclusively to Italian opera of the time of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti”[1]. However, it is a significant thing that the same concept does not appear on the 1900 version of the aforementioned dictionary. This shows us that the use of the term as we understand it in the present might have a relative recent origin.

Nowadays it is common to find a good number of vocal pedagogues who offer multiple courses and masterclasses about bel canto singing. However, this often occurs without specifying if this refers to the art of singing and performing a definite repertoire or if it encompasses a technical approach towards the voice. Professional singers are very familiar with the word bel canto. In fact it is used by them to indistinctly define a kind of repertoire, a vocal technique, or a way of singing.  But we rarely reflect about the real meaning of the word. Therefore, the question of what bel canto really is remains unanswered. On that sense, the New Groove dictionary ends with the following words its definition of the here discussed concept: “[the word bel canto] has been used without specific meaning and with widely varying subjective interpretations”[2].

It is the scope of this research to propose that the term described here has evolved from two different ideas which were mixed to such an extent that, at some point, it was no longer possible to distinguish them. These two ideas refer first to a determinate repertoire composed under the characteristics presented in the next paragraph, and second to the vocal technique needed to perform this concrete repertoire. It is common to talk indistinctly about the two concepts, without creating a well-defined frame. Similarly, the vocal pedagogue James Stark offers a definition of the term that explores the same two ways I mentioned above:

Bel canto is a concept that takes into account two separate but related matters. First, it is a highly refined method of using the singing voice in which the glottal source, the vocal tract, and the respiratory system interact in such a way as to create the qualities of chiaroscuro, appoggio, register equalization, malleability of pitch and intensity, and a pleasing vibrato. The idiomatic use of this voice includes various forms of vocal onset, legato, portamento, glottal articulation, crescendo, decrescendo, messa di voce, mezza voce, floridity and trills, and tempo rubato. Second, bel canto refers to any style of music that employs this kind of singing in a tasteful and expressive way. Historically, composers and singers have created categories of recitative, song, and aria that took advantage of these techniques, and that lent themselves to various types of vocal expression. Bel canto has demonstrated its power to astonish, to charm, to amuse, and especially to move the listener. As musical epochs and styles changed, the elements of bel canto adapted to meet new musical demands, thereby ensuring the continuation of bel canto into our own time.[3]

Although Stark’s description of the technical aspects of bel canto is brilliant, the definition seems to be incomplete, especially when he talks about the concept as a specific style of composition and its associated repertoire. Furthermore, the insinuation of bel canto as a changing concept through history and, again, the lack of historical framing is somewhat weak. This question prompts the first step of this paper, which is a short historical review of what is considered bel canto repertoire. This will first require discussing the principal composers of the Italian bel canto tradition, and analysing some aspects of the vocal technique between the 17^th and the 19^th centuries. This discussion will then lead to other questions, such as determining whether or not our modern singing technique is a real heritage of the bel canto tradition, and if our interpretation of this repertoire is performed under the technical habits of that time or is informed by more modern concepts. Within this idea, this research tries to find different elements of the bel canto in the music of Georg Friedrich Händel; more specifically in his operatic work for tenor. My research will then respond to whether or not we can apply the modern idea of bel canto singing to the interpretation of Georg Friedrich Händel’s vocal music, at least without questioning some of the principles currently accepted within the historically informed movement.

But before starting with the dissertation, it is important to mention that this text would have been not possible without the precious help of Dr. Graham Flett, who with his enormous patience, his great pedagogical style, and his impressive knowledge of the English language, brought his personality into the ideas found in this discussion. After the resignation of my assigned coordinator, Dr. Bart van Oort, unhappy with my style and methods of working, Mr. Flett assumed the task of coordinating this research in only four months. I can only say positive words to him for his efforts. Thank you too to Dr. Kathryn Cok who solved the aforementioned issue with quickly. And special thanks to Annefleur Langedijk, who gave me strength and support to write these lines.