The Quintessential Bel Canto Opera
For Il trovatore, Verdi fell back on the tried-and-true forms of bel canto opera, codified by Gioachino Rossini in his serious operas of the 1810s and ?20s. In these, musical numbers are constructed around a fixed formula. First there may be an orchestral introduction, perhaps featuring a solo instrument. The scena proper begins with dialogue sung as recitativo, or developed into arioso, a sort of hybrid. The aria itself starts with a slow and pensive cantabile section, which is usually repeated, likely with some embellishment. A change of pace follows with an interruption ? usually a chorus or a secondary character with some developing news ? known as a tempo di mezzo. Finally, there is a quickly moving cabaletta, showing the character's conviction to the issue at hand, with virtuosic displays of vocal agility and technique. This too may be repeated and embellished for dramatic effect. Duets and trios follow a similar pattern.
Il trovatore abounds with these set pieces ? Leonora's Part One cavatina is a perfect example. The economical Verdi dispenses with a long orchestral introduction, giving us a mere five bars before Ines's recitativo ?Che più t'arresti?? He follows with a little arioso at Leonora's ?Come d'aurato sogno? before getting into the cantabile ?Tacea la notte placida.? The tempo di mezzo begins at the allegro vivo with Ines's warning ?Quando narrasti di turbamento.? Then, Leonora concludes with a lively allegro giusto, ?Di tale amor.? Though employed with less frequency, Rigoletto and La traviata use the same formula for a few of its numbers, such as the Duke of Mantua's Act II aria ?Parmi veder le lagrime?Possente amor mi chiama? in the former, and Violetta's Act I aria ?Ah, fors'è lui?Sempre libera? and Alfredo's Act II aria ?De' miei bollenti spiriti?O mio rimorso? in the latter. Verdi would use a traditional cabaletta as late as 1859 in Un ballo in maschera.
till, there are a few progressive techniques concealed in the score of Il trovatore. Probably the best example is the miserere of Part Four, scene one. Placed inside Leonora's cavatina, ?D'amor sull'ali rosee?Tu vedrai che amore,? is a rather developed tempo di mezzo with the chorus singing a death chant to a dotted funeral march (Verdi would use this dotted theme again at the end of Violetta's final scene in La traviata ). Manrico, singing in troubadour fashion, chimes in occasionally with his own lament. This intermediary section could almost be considered its own set piece and is an especially gripping moment in a tautly written score packed with unrelenting drive and passion.
