A Comparison of German and Italian Opera

Whether it be watching a terrifying scene in a dark forest surrounded by demons, listening to glorious fanfares and stretched harmonies, or simply enjoying the impressive nature of the opera singer themselves, the opera world has something to offer anyone willing to journey into it. World renowned conductor Ben Zander has said “everyone is a fan of classical music, they just don’t know it yet”, and no where is this more true than the opera world. With such a vast amount of appeal, it's hard not to enjoy the art form. But where did it begin?

The journey in our comparison begins with a dive into the operatic heart of the world; Italy. Italy has long been known to be the opera center of the world, being its birthplace and nesting grounds from the beginning. Italy has been producing opera consistently since the beginning, with as many as “forty or more new operas” being produced every year, with “dozens of composers” still writing operas. Still, the journey had to begin somewhere, and the early defining characteristics can still be heard in singers such as Joyce DiDonato, Lucianno Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and many more famous singers popular in todays society. When opera was first conceived, it focuses heavily on the idea of bel canto singing, which translates to “beautiful singing”. This phrase was only used as an after thought by Rossinni and others to contrast the beautiful singing style with the “heavier dramatic style that dominated the midcentury.” The idea behind bel canto singing was remarkably simple to conceptualize, but incredibly difficult to put into practice, as was its nature. The style relied on showcasing the vocalists talents through “clear phrases and snappy rhythms,” as well as “expressivity and perceptive depiction(s)” of the characters through vocal lines.

While this stylistic emergence is attributed to Italian opera, it creates an odd dynamic given that the nationalism in Italy, while prevalent, was not as much a driving force in music as other countries. Italy had become somewhat desensitized to their own style, that the nationalism aspect of it almost became lost on them, as their “identification with Italian opera…was so strong that making the plot or music deliberately Italian was beside the point, and librettists and composers instead relied on analogies to suggest nationalist ideas”. Opera in Italy nevertheless, became and has remained a staple in the repertoire of great singers across the world. Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi’s La Traviata and Rigoletto, Bellini’s Norma, and Donizetti’s La fille du regiment have become staples in the classical world, with almost everyone recognizing the famous Figaro aria, and the famous Ah! Mes amis from La fille du regiment becoming a dominating standard in tenor repertoire with its impressive tenor range also stemming from this time, with the first full voice high C stemming from Rossini’s Guillaume Tell which was met with enormous popularity and garnered the original singer, Gilbert Duprez enormous success. However, elsewhere in the world, Germany also had a commanding presence in the opera scene.

German opera quickly became popular as well, although for different reasons and to different ends. The German culture as a whole is stereotypically known to be darker and heavier than other European cultures, with its language being described by a lay person as a very angry and aggressive. While true that it is a more consonant heavy language than some others (French, for example), this idea could possibly come from their musical background. In contrast with Italian operas focusing on bel canto singing and light, catchy melodies, the German opera displayed “increasingly chromatic harmony, the use of orchestral color for dramatic expression, and a more equal role for the orchestra, in contrast to the Italian emphasis on beautiful singing”. These styles certainly line up with what has previous been established in Germany by composers such as Schubert, with many of his songs using “the simple, seemingly artless quality of folk songs to suggest a rural setting or uncomplicated feelings”, the German opera seems to take it to the next level. While story-telling and folk songs are certainly at the center of the German opera, the execution of these elements has vastly different from Schubert’s.

While prior German art songs and the emerging German opera both focused on the national aspect of it for their stories, with plots being drawn from “medieval history, legends and fairy tale(s)”, the harmonies and scenes depicted are both similar and different to Schubert’s, with the main differences being the extended use of chromaticism as well as the actual sets themselves becoming new additions to the style. In Weber’s Wolf Glen scene from Der Freischütz, Weber paints a scene of a demon, Samiel helping a ranger, Casper cast seven bullets, with Casper intending the last bullet to kill another character. During this scene, we see a dark forest, intended to be terrifying with different creatures coming out of the darkness. While this concept, is not entirely original given that Schubert also dealt heavily with supernatural ideas (Der Erlkönig as a popular example), this is possibly an example of the first time we’ve seen this kind of idea stage, which gives a new depth to the terrifying nature of what we are trying to depict.The casting of the bullets is the perfect example of a melodrama, where spoken dialogue and background music are used to tell the story, rather than a traditional all-music we’ve seen in the past. Through these scenes, we’re also seeing extended chromaticism that used to be taboo, such as an increased use of diminished 7th chords, with this entire scene centering on a diminished 7th chord in the form of Eb-F#-A-C, which is used to signal Samiel throughout the opera.

The questions to be answered are this; what made the emerging operatic styles so popular and what has caused them to remain popular through the years? The first thing to consider are the main points of what we have talked about; nationalism, story-telling, and beautiful, impressive singing. Most everyone enjoys being proud of something. The feeling of looking back on the accomplishments that make you unique are something that people have enjoyed for decades. Nationalism plays into this; the idea that I want to hear music written for and about my country, which I’m proud to be a part of. This appears to be a feeling that persists through the ages, as it has been a recurring theme throughout history for as long as we can recall. Story-telling is another example of why opera became and remained popular. We still enjoy it today. Whether it's going to the movies, reading a book, watching your favorite TV show, everyone enjoys stories of some fashion, and opera tells some of the most compelling stories that have lived on for centuries. Finally, we all enjoy being impressed. There is just something about seeing someone do something that is so far beyond your own ability that it’s mesmerizing, and this is what gave rise to the idea of bel canto singing.

These ideas come together to form an art form that has lasted many years, and one that we’re hoping lasts many more. As we continue to be proud of where we came from, we can hopefully see the patterns of greatness emerge in our own musical journeys and continue the, as these operas have already done.

Burkholder, James Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. 2019. A History of Western Music. 10th ed. W.W. Norton & Company.