WOMEN IN ROMANTICISM

Marta Bauzà Soler, Soprano and cultural manager

Halfway through this mythical festival of summer nights in Pollença and Mallorca’s 62nd edition, we hold a magnificent singing and piano recital featuring a programme full of 19th-century music references. Indeed, at that time, a large amount of music was composed, especially operas, representing a significant shift compared to previous periods.

If, during the Baroque (1600 – 1750), the composed music – as well as the opera, intends to astonish the audience with great fleetness, theatricality and harsh hallmarks, and during the Classicism (1750 – 1810) the main goal is the audience’s delight with better-balanced music, during Romanticism (1810 – 1900) a total shift is produced, adjusting to the new philosophical outlook and creating a new connection between culture and music.

During Romanticism, the opera enjoyed substantial headway, to the extent that it became the bourgeoisie’s favourite entertainment. The bourgeoisie fills the theatres not only in Italy but throughout Europe, where new theatres are being built. There is also a widespread interest in going to the opera, listening to and following their favourite singers, and for the first time in history, an evolution in how the audience perceives musicians is noted. Thus begins a stage in which music is seen as an independent art with excellent expressive competencies, and therefore, the Romanticism musicians are recognized as virtuous keepers of the ability to connect the crowds with a more spiritual world through their pieces.

There are different periods within the romantic opera, two of which should be highlighted, pledging a better understanding of this evening’s programme. On the one hand, the fullness of significant opera figures such as G. Verdi or R. Wagner—composers who knew how to perfectly integrate each aria, recitative and chorus of their operas with no consequent need to separate the different parts, and Wagner introduced the famous leitmotiv, which is nothing more than using the same melody every time a character or topic shows up. On the other hand, there is verismo, a trend that appears at the end of the century under the influence of the realism literary trend. In this type of piece, the truth always prevails with a tragic ending. We find G. Puccini or G. Bizet among the most outstanding composers.

If, during Romanticism, the opera evolves and enjoys a privileged status, the piano obtains a paramount significance, especially in the time’s musical creation. With extensive technical advances and increasingly widespread manufacture, the piano became the hip instrument. It is the perfect instrument sought by Romanticism authors and essential to musical creation development. One cannot fail to mention F. Chopin or F. Liszt as this instrument’s great representatives. From the 19th century to date, almost all composers have composed piano pieces, and adaptations of countless operas and concertos have been made.

This evening, the Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka and the French pianist Mathieu Pordoy give us an overview of Romanticism’s most fascinating and prodigious operas, with Italian, French and Russian Romanticism examples. Among the performed arias, we will be able to indulge ourselves with «L’amour est un oiseau rébelle, » the well-known «Habanera» by Bizet – where Carmen speaks of the unruly nature of love, or «Quando me’n vo» by Puccini – where Musetta sings a waltz to get her lover’s attention. In both cases, they are strong women who call the tune, pun intended. And we will also listen to Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in «In quelle trine morbide, » regretful for having been seduced by Geronte’s money and not following her heart’s dictates. In addition, we will be able to listen to preludes or intermezzos solo piano arrangements from Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut by G. Puccini operas.

Regrets, hopes, misfortunes or prayers – all fit into the romantic repertoire, as do many other emotions. This evening, through this perfect programme, we will be delighted by sublime music belonging to a very flourishing period for vocal music.