The Birth of ‘Modern’ Vocalism: The Paradigmatic Case of Enrico Caruso

In the decades spanning the turn of the twentieth century Italian opera singing underwent a profound transformation and became ‘modern’. I explore the formative elements of this modernity and its long-term effects on the way we sing today through the paradigmatic case of the tenor Enrico Caruso. I frame Caruso’s vocal evolution within the rise of verismo opera, comparing selected recordings, reviews and the rules and aesthetic prescriptions contained in vocal treatises to show how his new vocalism differed from that of the old bel canto. To set Caruso’s achievement in context I also analyse recordings of two other tenors of the era: Giovanni Zenatello and Alessandro Bonci.

Performing transformation of the main role in the opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" by G. Donizetti

The purpose of the article is to trail regularities of vocal evolution which has formed the transition of stage operatic development from Rossini to Verdi and which has predetermined the performing tradition of Lucia‘s role in Donizetti’s opera “Lucia Lammermoor “(1835) by light coloratura soprano in the second half of XIX century until the present day. The methodology of the study is based on the intonation approach to interaction of music and spoken word in B. Asafiev”s school in Ukraine and which corresponds to the trend of hermeneutics research of the musicology study, as offered in works of L. Zima, E. Markova, A. Roshchenko. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by originality of historical approach to vocal intonation change which has been given birth by Italian romanticism in its dissociation from the R. Wagner approach and which has been accepted as leading approach in operatic performing tradition. This concept coincides with the author's independent analysis of the main heroine in Donizetti’s opera. Conclusion. The role of Lucia in Donizetti‘s opera with its particular style of libretto and manifestation of both femininity and outstanding power resulting in madness forms the parallel to preceding operatic images of hers as well as contemporary images in the days of Donizetti. The composer’s approach to F. Takkinardi-Persiani’s interpretation of this role, however, points to a presentiment of the replacement of "Rossini" soprano by lyrical coloratura in the operas of Gounod. Still this replacement drove the performing of the dramatic role of Lucia by "light" coloratura sopranos - from A. Patti to A. Galli-Kurci, from A. Nezhdanova to E. Miroshnichenko and last not least author of the essay in reference. It is sincerity and faithfulness to the beloved one rather than power of nature which determine the core values of Lucia, forming an analogy to heroines in psychodramas of V. Rebikov, whose genius as a treasure of the Ukraine South became a discovery at the musical theater nowadays. As a consequence ” Lucia di Lammermoor” continuously occupies a significant place in the repertoire of Ukrainian opera houses.

Bill size, bill shape, and body size constrain bird song evolution on a macroevolutionary scale

Studying macroevolutionary patterns of phenotypic variation and their driving forces in large radiations can shed light on how biodiversity is generated across broad spatiotemporal scales. In this study, we integrated song and morphological variation across more than 300 species representing the largest family of songbirds, the tanagers (Thraupidae), to uncover how morphological variables of the vocal tract combine to shape vocal evolution on a macroevolutionary scale. We found that body size correlated with multiple frequency parameters, concurring with past studies that show how body size constrains vocal evolution. Furthermore, bill size predicted multiple frequency and temporal song characters while bill shape was strongly associated with trill rates, suggesting that bill size and shape both constrain distinct elements of avian song independently of body size covariation. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between morphology and song exhibits modular variation when expanded to a macroevolutionary scale. Furthermore, our study emphasizes the need to consider multiple components of the avian vocal tract when exploring the macroevolutionary interplay of morphological traits and acoustic signals.

Walkie-talkie evolution: Bipedalism and vocal production

A converging pattern of evidence from laughter, tickling, and motherese suggests that bipedal locomotion plays a critical and unanticipated role in vocal evolution. Bipedalism frees the thorax of its support role during quadrupedal locomotion, which permits the uncoupling of breathing and striding necessary for the subsequent selection for vocal virtuosity and speech.

Song and Molecular Data Identify Congruent but Novel Affinities of the Green Oropendola (Psarocolius Viridis)

The accuracy with which avian song features indicate phylogenetic relationships has rarely been investigated. In a previous study of vocal evolution in oropendolas (Price and Lanyon 2002a), we estimated the phylogenetic position of the Green Oropendola (Psarocolius viridis) using characters derived from oropendolas' elaborate courtship songs. Here, we test that estimate using mitochondrial DNA sequence data. The position of the Green Oropendola determined from molecular data is remarkably close to that based solely on song characters; both data sets support a close relationship between P. viridis and members of the genus Gymnostinops. Numerous morphological differences yet low genetic divergence among the species in question suggest that rapid diversification has occurred in the group. The fact that this position has not been proposed previously for P. viridis underscores the effectiveness of song characters for phylogenetic reconstruction.