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Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini: A comparative study of their libretto themes

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 1 - 15, 31.01.2025
https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.1569505

Abstract

This research examines the libretto choices of the pioneer composers of early 19th century Italian opera Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. It focuses on how historical, cultural, and social factors influenced their work and helped shape Italian opera. Employing a comparative approach, the study analyzes various operas by these composers to reveal how themes, adaptations, and characterizations differ across their librettos. Historical and literary analysis alongside stylistic exploration highlights common themes and innovations. The librettos were largely inspired by classical literature from French and English authors as Belloy, Voltaire and Scott and the German poet Schiller. They were often adapted or dramatized to fit the operatic format. The recurring themes centered on love and hatred, frequently set against historical backdrops or infused into religious contexts. Rossini’s operas range from the Trojan War to the Crusades, Donizetti’s cover nearly all of European history, whereas Bellini’s are primarily set in the Medieval period. Presentation factors like location and audience expectations influenced both the genre and style of operas. Rossini and Donizetti often adapting their works for different theaters and regions. In contrast, Bellini did not adapt his works, focusing only on subjects that inspired him personally. Censorship also impacted storylines and endings. All three composers occasionally engaged with mythological themes reinterpreted with Romantic or supernatural elements. In terms of character development, each composer approached heroines differently. Rossini’s early heroines are gentle, evolving into more complex femme fatale figures. Donizetti presents complex women, such as queens with contrasting roles. Bellini’s female characters often suffer due to the violent or unstable behavior of men. A common feature among all is the “mad scene” reflecting intense emotional strain. Nationalism is subtly addressed, with direct references usually avoided. Regarding opera buffa, Rossini and Donizetti revitalized the genre with contemporary settings and humor. On the contrary Bellini did not engage with it.

References

  • Adetu, E. G., & Coroiu, P. M. (2022). The character “Lucrezia Borgia” of Donizetti’s homonymous opera: An analysis of character and vocal features. Studia UBB Musica, 67(1), 263-276.
  • Ashbrook, W. (1982). Donizetti and his operas. Cambridge University Press.
  • Ashbrook, W. (2000). A Donizetti update. The Opera Quarterly, 16(3), 499-502.
  • Ashbrook, W. (2002). La romanziera e l’uomo nero (Review). The Opera Quarterly, 18(2), 273-274.
  • Baxter, R. (2006). Belisario. The Opera Quarterly, 22(1), 182-184.
  • Black, J. 1982. Donizetti’s operas in Naples, 1822 to 1848. Donizetti Society.
  • Boromé, J. A. (1961). Bellini and Beatrice di Tenda. Music & Letters, 42(4), 319-335.
  • Brent Smith, A. E. (1935). Vincenzo Bellini. Music & Letters, 16(4), 325-332. https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/XVI.4.325
  • Cametti, A. (1907). Donizetti a Roma: Con lettere e documenti inediti. Fratelli Bocca.
  • Chong-Gossard, J. H. K. (2015). Andromache. In R. Lauriola & K. N. Demetriou (Eds.), Brill’s companion to the reception of Euripides (pp. 143-173). Brill.
  • Dahlhaus, C. (1989). Nineteenth-century music. University of California Press.
  • David, E. (2021). Dialectic Norma: A multidisciplinary approach to Bellini’s opera. The Opera Journal, 54(1), 1-26.
  • Deasy, M. (2008). Local color: Donizetti’s Il furioso in Naples. 19th-Century Music, 32(1), 3-25.
  • Donizetti, G. (1986). Anna Bolena: Vocal score. G. Ricordi.
  • Fralick, L. (1988). Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux: A study of Gaetano Donizetti’s dramatic style [Master’s thesis, Friends University]. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/23854
  • Freeman, J. (1972). Donizetti in Palermo and Alahor in Granata. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 25(2), 240-250.
  • Frei, J. (2007). When ladies meet: The media myth of the two queens in one isle. Discoveries, 24(1), 13-19.
  • Goldstein, R. (1989). Political censorship of the arts and the press in nineteenth-century Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Greenspan, C. J. (1977). The operas of Vincenzo Bellini [Doctoral dissertation, University of California].
  • Greenwald, H. M. (2014). The Oxford handbook of opera. Oxford University Press.
  • Izzo, F. (2004). Comedy between two revolutions: Opera buffa and the Risorgimento, 1831-1848. The Journal of Musicology, 21(1), 127-174.
  • Jellinek, G. (2001). La Straniera (1829). The Opera Quarterly, 17(3), 487-489.
  • Ketterer, R. C. (2022). Under cover in Babylon: Rossini’s Cyrus the Great for the Lenten season. Nineteenth-Century Music Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479409822000295
  • Kimbell, D. (1991). Italian opera. Cambridge University Press.
  • Kimbell, D. (1998). Norma. Cambridge University Press.
  • Lindner, T. (1998). An integral catalog of Donizetti’s operatic works. The Opera Quarterly, 14(3), 17-23.
  • Londonio, C. G. (1817). Cenni critici sulla poesia romantica. Pirotta.
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002a). Beatrice di Tenda. Retrieved September 20, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004854
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002b). Bianca and Fernando. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O900821
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002c). Puritani. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006929
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002d). Zaira. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005371
  • Mordey, D. (2018). Gaetano Donizetti, La Favorite. Kate Aldrich mezzo, Yijie Shi ten, Ludovic Tézier bar, Giovani Furlanetto bass, Marie-Bénédicte Souquet sop, Alain Gabriel ten Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Antonello Allemandi, cond Vincent Boussard, stage director Opus Arte (1 DVD: 184 Minutes). Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 15(2), 301-303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479409817000830
  • Osborne, R. (1996). The bel canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Amadeus Press.
  • Osborne, R. (2002). Adina. In Grove Music Online. Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O009039
  • Osborne, R. (2007). Rossini: His life and works. Oxford University Press.
  • Peschel, E. (1992). Donizetti and the music of mental derangement: Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the composer’s neurobiological illness. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 65(3), 189-200.
  • Plantinga, L. (1984). Romantic music. W. W. Norton.
  • Protano-Biggs, L. (2016). Bellini’s Gothic Voices Bellini, ‘Un grido io sento’ (Alaide), La straniera, Act I [Special issue]. Cambridge Opera Journal, 28(2), 149-154.
  • Senici, E. (2004). The Cambridge companion to Rossini. Cambridge University Press.
  • Senici, E. (2012). An atrocious indifference: Rossini’s operas and the politics of musical representation in early nineteenth-century Italy. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 17(4), 414-426.
  • Simionescu, C. (2016). Vincenzo Bellini’s opera creation: A means of cultural communication. International Journal of Communication Research, 6(1), 84-91.
  • Smart, M. A., & Budden, J. (2001). Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria). Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51832
  • Smith, J. (1970). Tenth Muse: A historical study of the opera libretto. Knopf.
  • Sorabella, J. (2004). The opera. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/opra/hd_opra.htm
  • Sorba, C. (2006). To please the public: Composers and audiences in nineteenth-century Italy. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 36(4), 595-614.
  • Sorba, C. (2014). Between cosmopolitanism and nationhood: Italian opera in early nineteenth-century modern Italy. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 19(1), 53-67.
  • Tartak, M. (1969). The two Barbieri. Music & Letters, 50(4), 453-469.
  • Tomlinson, G. (1986). Italian romanticism and Italian opera: An essay in their affinities. 19th Century Music, 10(1), 43-60.
  • Willier, S. (1998). Maria Padilla (1841). The Opera Quarterly, 14(3), 182-184.
  • Zamir, S. (2011). The principle of the eternal-feminine in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri: Isabella as the Italian superwoman. Anuario Musical, 66, 165-180.

Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti ve Vincezo Bellini: Libretto temalarının karşılaştırmalı bir çalışması

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 1 - 15, 31.01.2025
https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.1569505

Abstract

Bu araştırma, 19. yüzyılın başlarındaki İtalyan operası Rossini, Donizetti ve Bellini’nin öncü bestecilerinin libretto seçimlerini incelemektedir. Tarihsel, kültürel ve sosyal faktörlerin çalışmalarını nasıl etkilediğine ve İtalyan operasını nasıl şekillendirdiğine odaklanmaktadır. Karşılaştırmalı bir yaklaşım kullanan çalışma, bu bestecilerin çeşitli operalarını analiz ederek temaların, uyarlamaların ve karakterizasyonların librettoları arasında nasıl farklılık gösterdiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Tarihsel ve edebi analiz, üslup incelemesinin yanı sıra ortak temaları ve yenilikleri vurgulamaktadır. Librettolar büyük ölçüde Belloy, Voltaire ve Scott gibi Fransız ve İngiliz yazarların ve Alman şair Schiller’in klasik edebiyatından esinlenmiştir. Genellikle operatik formata uyacak şekilde uyarlanmış veya dramatize edilmişlerdir. Tekrar eden temalar, sıklıkla tarihsel arka planlara yerleştirilmiş veya dini bağlamlara aşılanmış aşk ve nefrete odaklanmıştır. Rossini’nin operaları Truva Savaşı’ndan Haçlı Seferleri’ne kadar uzanır, Donizetti’nin operaları Avrupa tarihinin neredeyse tamamını kapsarken, Bellini’nin operaları öncelikle Orta Çağ döneminde geçmektedir. Konum ve izleyici beklentileri gibi sunum faktörleri hem operaların türünü hem de stilini etkiledi. Rossini ve Donizetti sıklıkla eserlerini farklı tiyatrolar ve bölgeler için uyarladılar. Buna karşılık Bellini eserlerini uyarlamadı ve yalnızca kendisini kişisel olarak etkileyen konulara odaklandı. Sansür ayrıca hikaye örgülerini ve sonları da etkiledi. Üç besteci de zaman zaman mitolojik temaları Romantik veya doğaüstü unsurlarla yeniden yorumladı. Karakter gelişimi açısından, her besteci kadın kahramanlara farklı şekilde yaklaştı. Rossini’nin ilk kadın kahramanları naziktir ve daha karmaşık femme fatale figürlerine dönüşürler. Donizetti, kraliçeler gibi karmaşık kadınları zıt rollerle sunar. Bellini’nin kadın karakterleri genellikle erkeklerin şiddet içeren veya dengesiz davranışlarından dolayı acı çekerler. Hepsinin ortak özelliği, yoğun duygusal gerginliği yansıtan “çılgın sahne”dir. Milliyetçilik, genellikle doğrudan referanslardan kaçınılarak incelikle ele alınır. Opera buffa ile ilgili olarak, Rossini ve Donizetti türü çağdaş ortamlar ve mizahla yeniden canlandırdı. Aksine, Bellini bununla ilgilenmedi.

References

  • Adetu, E. G., & Coroiu, P. M. (2022). The character “Lucrezia Borgia” of Donizetti’s homonymous opera: An analysis of character and vocal features. Studia UBB Musica, 67(1), 263-276.
  • Ashbrook, W. (1982). Donizetti and his operas. Cambridge University Press.
  • Ashbrook, W. (2000). A Donizetti update. The Opera Quarterly, 16(3), 499-502.
  • Ashbrook, W. (2002). La romanziera e l’uomo nero (Review). The Opera Quarterly, 18(2), 273-274.
  • Baxter, R. (2006). Belisario. The Opera Quarterly, 22(1), 182-184.
  • Black, J. 1982. Donizetti’s operas in Naples, 1822 to 1848. Donizetti Society.
  • Boromé, J. A. (1961). Bellini and Beatrice di Tenda. Music & Letters, 42(4), 319-335.
  • Brent Smith, A. E. (1935). Vincenzo Bellini. Music & Letters, 16(4), 325-332. https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/XVI.4.325
  • Cametti, A. (1907). Donizetti a Roma: Con lettere e documenti inediti. Fratelli Bocca.
  • Chong-Gossard, J. H. K. (2015). Andromache. In R. Lauriola & K. N. Demetriou (Eds.), Brill’s companion to the reception of Euripides (pp. 143-173). Brill.
  • Dahlhaus, C. (1989). Nineteenth-century music. University of California Press.
  • David, E. (2021). Dialectic Norma: A multidisciplinary approach to Bellini’s opera. The Opera Journal, 54(1), 1-26.
  • Deasy, M. (2008). Local color: Donizetti’s Il furioso in Naples. 19th-Century Music, 32(1), 3-25.
  • Donizetti, G. (1986). Anna Bolena: Vocal score. G. Ricordi.
  • Fralick, L. (1988). Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux: A study of Gaetano Donizetti’s dramatic style [Master’s thesis, Friends University]. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/23854
  • Freeman, J. (1972). Donizetti in Palermo and Alahor in Granata. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 25(2), 240-250.
  • Frei, J. (2007). When ladies meet: The media myth of the two queens in one isle. Discoveries, 24(1), 13-19.
  • Goldstein, R. (1989). Political censorship of the arts and the press in nineteenth-century Europe. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Greenspan, C. J. (1977). The operas of Vincenzo Bellini [Doctoral dissertation, University of California].
  • Greenwald, H. M. (2014). The Oxford handbook of opera. Oxford University Press.
  • Izzo, F. (2004). Comedy between two revolutions: Opera buffa and the Risorgimento, 1831-1848. The Journal of Musicology, 21(1), 127-174.
  • Jellinek, G. (2001). La Straniera (1829). The Opera Quarterly, 17(3), 487-489.
  • Ketterer, R. C. (2022). Under cover in Babylon: Rossini’s Cyrus the Great for the Lenten season. Nineteenth-Century Music Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479409822000295
  • Kimbell, D. (1991). Italian opera. Cambridge University Press.
  • Kimbell, D. (1998). Norma. Cambridge University Press.
  • Lindner, T. (1998). An integral catalog of Donizetti’s operatic works. The Opera Quarterly, 14(3), 17-23.
  • Londonio, C. G. (1817). Cenni critici sulla poesia romantica. Pirotta.
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002a). Beatrice di Tenda. Retrieved September 20, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O004854
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002b). Bianca and Fernando. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O900821
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002c). Puritani. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006929
  • Maguire, S., & Forbes, E. (2002d). Zaira. Retrieved September 20, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O005371
  • Mordey, D. (2018). Gaetano Donizetti, La Favorite. Kate Aldrich mezzo, Yijie Shi ten, Ludovic Tézier bar, Giovani Furlanetto bass, Marie-Bénédicte Souquet sop, Alain Gabriel ten Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Antonello Allemandi, cond Vincent Boussard, stage director Opus Arte (1 DVD: 184 Minutes). Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 15(2), 301-303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479409817000830
  • Osborne, R. (1996). The bel canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Amadeus Press.
  • Osborne, R. (2002). Adina. In Grove Music Online. Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O009039
  • Osborne, R. (2007). Rossini: His life and works. Oxford University Press.
  • Peschel, E. (1992). Donizetti and the music of mental derangement: Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor, and the composer’s neurobiological illness. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 65(3), 189-200.
  • Plantinga, L. (1984). Romantic music. W. W. Norton.
  • Protano-Biggs, L. (2016). Bellini’s Gothic Voices Bellini, ‘Un grido io sento’ (Alaide), La straniera, Act I [Special issue]. Cambridge Opera Journal, 28(2), 149-154.
  • Senici, E. (2004). The Cambridge companion to Rossini. Cambridge University Press.
  • Senici, E. (2012). An atrocious indifference: Rossini’s operas and the politics of musical representation in early nineteenth-century Italy. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 17(4), 414-426.
  • Simionescu, C. (2016). Vincenzo Bellini’s opera creation: A means of cultural communication. International Journal of Communication Research, 6(1), 84-91.
  • Smart, M. A., & Budden, J. (2001). Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria). Retrieved July 13, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.51832
  • Smith, J. (1970). Tenth Muse: A historical study of the opera libretto. Knopf.
  • Sorabella, J. (2004). The opera. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/opra/hd_opra.htm
  • Sorba, C. (2006). To please the public: Composers and audiences in nineteenth-century Italy. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 36(4), 595-614.
  • Sorba, C. (2014). Between cosmopolitanism and nationhood: Italian opera in early nineteenth-century modern Italy. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 19(1), 53-67.
  • Tartak, M. (1969). The two Barbieri. Music & Letters, 50(4), 453-469.
  • Tomlinson, G. (1986). Italian romanticism and Italian opera: An essay in their affinities. 19th Century Music, 10(1), 43-60.
  • Willier, S. (1998). Maria Padilla (1841). The Opera Quarterly, 14(3), 182-184.
  • Zamir, S. (2011). The principle of the eternal-feminine in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri: Isabella as the Italian superwoman. Anuario Musical, 66, 165-180.
There are 50 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Musicology and Ethnomusicology
Journal Section Research article
Authors

Areti Tziboula 0000-0002-6504-9919

Anna-maria Rentzeperi-tsonou This is me 0009-0003-1795-8549

Publication Date January 31, 2025
Submission Date October 18, 2024
Acceptance Date January 2, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 10 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Tziboula, A., & Rentzeperi-tsonou, A.-m. (2025). Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini: A comparative study of their libretto themes. Online Journal of Music Sciences, 10(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.31811/ojomus.1569505