Topic: Art Song
Antonín Dvorák may have been responsible for converting spirituals into motifs for classical composers, but Enrico Caruso was the one who created the image of the classical artist as man of the people able to sing both arias and popular songs. He had a voice that could be captured by early reproduction technology and was willing to make the necessary effort to learn how to make decent recordings. [1] Two of his most popular releases were "Santa Lucia" and "’O Sole Mio." [2]
He was unusual in his ability to sing both. Art song and folk song are different genres, and, as different forms, they have different internal rules for composition and make different demands on singers. While individuals can be trained to sing opera, their ability to sing folk or popular music often depends of they’re having been exposed to it when they were very young. Caruso grew up in working class Naples where he sometimes performed in cafés and resorts. [3] "’O Sole Mio" was written by a local café singer. [4]
The usual problem when individuals with highly trained voices sing folk material is they oversing it with their melliferous tones and precise enunciations. That was the less the problem with a 1994 Vienna concert that featured three soloists from different backgrounds than the fact the varying qualities of their voices threatened to overwhelm one another.
Each was accomplished in his or her field: Sissel Kyrkjebø was Norwegian popular singer, Charles Aznavour came from French clubs, and Plácido Domingo from opera. However, their voices were very different. Domingo’s was powerful because he had to project in large theaters, while Aznavour’s was softer for the more intimate milieus he first played. They could not be brought together without a great deal of expensive rehearsal by a conductor willing to balance them.
Instead, it sounded like they or the managers negotiating their contracts had agreed each would sing a verse in his or her own style, and only come together one time on the final repetition. When they repeated the last line of each verse, instead of all three singing, only two could be heard on the recording.
The use of duets rather than trios reflected another problem with expecting three soloists to sing together: they all had voices that traditionally sang melody. She was a soprano, and the men were tenors. The operatic repertoire had a number of arias written for a soprano and tenor, but not many for two tenors. [5] When more than two were brought together, the other parts tended to have lower registers like altos for women or baritones and bassos for men. There were no clear precedents in any popular or classical genre for how these three parts could be joined.
Performers
Instrumental Accompaniment: Vienna State Opera orchestra conducted by Vjekoslav Šutej
Rhythm Accompaniment: plucked strings
Credits
Traditional West Indies
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation:
Norwegian: coom-bye-ya with accent on second syllable. She did not sing the final d’s in Lord.
Spanish: kum-ba-ya with accent on last syllable. He emphasized the final d’s in Lord.
French: kum-bye-ya with emphasis on second syllable. He did not sing the final g’s in laughing.
Pronoun: someone
Format: four-verse song
Line Repetition Pattern: AAABB
Line Format: statement-refrain
Verses: kumbaya, crying, laughing, singing
Theme: the song was used in a Christmas concert and on a Christmas collection.
Notes on Music
Tempo: slow
Vocal Parts: two tenors and a soprano (STT)
Basic Structure: each part was heard alone, then they were combined. Thus, she went high on the last line, and Domingo were low in ways that only made aesthetic sense when they were brought together.
Solo-Solo Dynamics: each sang the complete verse with minimal accompaniment, then repeated the last line with another singer. On Kyrkjebø’s first iteration Aznavour sang the last line with her. On Domingo’s second verse, Aznavour joined on the closing line. Aznavour sang the third solo while Kyrkjebø joined him on the final line.
Style:
Solo: each was free to embellish words of his or her choice. "By" was the syllable more often ornamented, and Lord the one that was likely to be sung on several tones.
Group: chordal harmony
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: a harp with an occasion piano embellishment were used with Kyrkjebø. The plucked strings began with Domingo; sometimes a choral group or a flute could be heard. Only the plucked strings played during Aznavour. Full strings were deployed on the final repetition.
Notes on Performance
The video of the performance no longer is available on YouTube. My recollection was that it was very formal with the two mean wearing white ties and black tuxedos. The three stood next to each other with a music stand in front of each, and each looked straight ahead. Everyone seemed very careful when they were singing.
Notes on Performers
All three had childhood singing experiences that would have made them comfortable singing a wide range of material: Kyrkjebø was in a children’s choir, [6] Domingo’s parents ran a small troupe that staged musical dramas, [7] and Aznavour’s parents operated a restaurant where he was discovered by Édith Piaf. [8] In addition, two were children of immigrants who had to accommodate themselves in new cultures: Aznavour’s family were Armenians who moved to Paris, [9] Domingo’s family migrated from Madrid to México when he was eight-years-old. [10]
Availability
Amazon MP3: Various artists. I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Sony Classical. 1 November 1998. You cannot buy just the one track; you have to buy the whole album.
YouTube: Vienna Noël 94 concert, Vienna State Opera, 22 December 1994. Uploaded 26 November 2012. It since has been removed.
End Notes
1. Neil Kurtzman. "The Recordings of Enrico Caruso 1902 – 1904." His Medicine and Opera blog, 14 January 2009.
2. Wikipedia. "Enrico Caruso."
3. Wikipedia, Caruso.
4. Serena. "‘O Sole Mio." Her Transparent Language blog, 18 June 2009. The melody for "’O Sole Mio" was by Eduardo di Capua, a professional posteggiatore. A journalist, Giovanni Capurro, wrote the lyrics.
5. The Opera-Arias online database found only twelve in the repertoire for a listing of "Opera Duets for Two Tenors." No doubt there are more, but, even if that database only included the most popular, twelve was still a small number.
6. Wikipedia. "Sissel Kyrkjebø."
7. Wikipedia. "Plácido Domingo." They had a zarzuela troupe.
8. Wikipedia. "Charles Aznavour." He worked with Piaf for years.
9. Wikipedia, Aznavour. His father moved from Georgia, his mother from Turkey.
10. Wikipedia, Domingo.
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