Prose title: Diversification of singing styles in the musical "Phantom of the Opera"
Keywords: Diversification of singing styles in opera musicals
Prose classification:
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Source of the composition: /sanwen
This is a colorful and individual era.
People especially like to be "strong and colorful" and "unique", and use this as a necessary condition to flaunt the value of things.
The entire world is tending to integrate and communicate, and is becoming a "global village" step by step. As a result, various elements began to be "integrated", "reduced", "mutated", and "summarized"...
Nothing can best reflect material civilization than spiritual civilization.
Therefore, we can easily infer:
In the field of culture and art, integration and transformation among various disciplines are also taking place - between these disciplines and disciplines There are no longer clear boundaries between them, but they merge with each other through "mutual coloring, mutual extraction of essences, and mutual reference", and even create new categories.
This is especially evident in the field of art, an important part of spiritual culture.
The most vital new thing in the field of music is the popular performing art that combines drama, music and dance: the musical, which was born at the end of the 19th century.
As a new thing with great development prospects, musicals are always full of contradictions such as "classical and popular", "tradition and trendy", "rules and rebellion". It has the "artistic" "Comprehensiveness, modernity, diversity, flexibility and commercial operation" and other characteristics make it suitable for the trend of this era, and then it is popular all over the world with its unique performance form and singing style.
This is not only because it captures the pulse of the times keenly and clearly, but more importantly: it covers almost all the fields it can cover - not blindly following the trend, but extracting The parts that can be used by it are transformed into its system.
Whenever people mention musicals, they have to mention an epoch-making figure, that is the talented and unique British composer: Andrew? Lloyd? Weber.
This musical master with a profound background in classical music has created a glorious new era for musicals. His musical theater works such as: "Starlight Express", "Love's Perspective", "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Cats", "Evita", "Phantom of the Opera", etc. have become famous Classic musical theater productions.
Among them, "The Phantom of the Opera" can be regarded as a musical that perfectly combines classical music and modern pop music elements. The play breaks the boundaries between various music types in the traditional sense. With superb artistic skills and performing arts concepts, it organically integrates classical music with various popular music elements. It has a strong classical music charm and is extremely popular. It has a modern feel. Whether it is the majestic symphonic passages or the gentle and beautiful melodies in the play, they all make the audience's hearts tremble.
"The Phantom of the Opera" premiered in 1986 and won seven Tony Awards in 1988. It is one of the most successful musicals in history.
It can be said that this is a play that reflects the charm of post-modernity. First of all, it successfully adapted Gaston? The original novel by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) not only retains the style of the original work but also makes it more suitable for stage performance, which enhances the readability of the work. Secondly, the clever play-within-a-play makes the audience wander between reality and illusion. between.
Especially in the scene of chasing the ghost, the ghost's voice sounded throughout the theater, on and off the stage, and from all directions, making the audience feel like they were there, because the words "I am here" seemed to be right next to them, in the box next door. , and the scene in which the chandelier suddenly fell really made the atmosphere extremely tense and exciting. The screams of the audience in the front row were connected with the shouts of the actors on the stage. In this regard, the stage designer Maria? Bujonson certainly deserves a lot of credit.
The play combines classical opera and popular love songs, and its diverse song interpretation styles make its charm even more dazzling:
"The Ghost of the Opera" is a This is a song that makes you want to stop listening to it just once, and the chorus of the hero and heroine is even more captivating.
"The Music of the Night" sneaks into everyone's heart unconsciously like the breeze at night, making people unconsciously rise and fall with its emotions.
"My Only Request" is a heavyweight classic song. Its melody is subtle, timeless and passionate. It is regarded as a model of love song duets in musicals and is still widely used on different occasions. To sing.
The songs in the play are sung in a blend of classical and pop music. The actors must have traditional Italian bel canto singing skills, but they must also bring a sense of modern pop singing into their singing. This is a test for the singing actor. The heroine Shala who made her debut in the play? Brightman is a representative figure of the fusion of classical and pop singing in today's music world.
Looking at the whole drama again, the melody of "All I Skof You" appears repeatedly. Rolle and Ghost's different interpretations of this song show their different love for the heroine Christine. In the end, this A theme emerges in the orchestral music, showing the ultimate triumph of love over tragedy.
We can see that in the play, the development of the plot and characterization are almost all interpreted through the singing of songs. Not only that, the songs also represent the musical style of the play. Therefore, the "performance of the song" can be regarded as the soul of the musical.
As a classic musical repertoire, the typical significance of the singing style in "The Phantom of the Opera" is self-evident.
The diversity of musical singing styles it reflects is worthy of our discussion and study:
(1) The indelible imprint of classicism - Italian Bel Canto.
Even if the musical is called "rebellious", it cannot escape the influence of "classical opera" - this is determined by its origin.
Tracing back to the origin of musicals, its origins can be "clearly understood": musicals evolved from "operettas" in traditional operas. In fact, operetta is the inheritance of European grand opera and comic opera. It is an art form in which the music adopts contemporary popular tones, catchy melodies, songs integrate opera style, and has comedy plots. Operetta once played a very important role on the Broadway stage. It has a glorious history of several decades and is an important link in the historical development of musicals.
It can be seen that operetta itself is a "variation" of opera and comic opera, and musicals evolved from operetta. After sorting out this series of connections clearly, or we can say this:
Musical theater is another kind of "opera" in which traditional operas appear in front of people with a new look after "integration", "reduction", "variation" and "summarization" and thus attract the audience's attention. ".
Then, it is not difficult to explain why almost all musical actors have a profound foundation in bel canto singing.
The absorption and application of bel canto in musicals gives bel canto, which has increasingly limited development space, a new vitality:
It reduces its own "nobility" and The more friendly gesture appears in front of a broad audience, increasing its popularity and making it easier to be accepted by the general audience.
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a thrilling and suspenseful musical that is a comprehensive and vivid embodiment of Weber's musical style. It successfully portrays the kind and human side of a ghost with a terrifying appearance, and the process of him finally choosing the light in the fierce inner conflict. It can be said that this work enabled Weber to successfully sublimate his art and reach a new height.
This reflects Weber's full understanding of the drama of musicals and his profound skills in music creation.
The place where the story takes place, the opera house, makes the play use the musical language that is only used in serious operas. It not only uses a lot of classical music, but also incorporates opera elements into the musical. aria.
The melody of the song "Miss Me" is ups and downs, smooth and sad, with restrained and deep emotions, and a touch of sadness. It has a wide vocal range, a musical structure with obvious characteristics of pop music, and its harmonic texture also has the aftertaste of the Romantic period. The song is sung by Sarah Brightman, a famous British musical actress with a background in Italian bel canto.
The foreshadowing part of the song is sung in a straightforward and popular way, with sincere and natural emotions, without being pretentious. The climax begins with a brilliant coloratura cadenza, and the emotion suddenly turns intense.
At this time, the singer completely used the Italian bel canto singing method, while the band used pop music expression methods with distinctive dynamics and strong characteristics of the times to achieve the perfect transition from "classical to pop", and finally made the two The two are impeccably combined into one: the affinity of popular music and the beauty of art songs.
In "Phantom of the Opera" we can clearly see some traditions of classical opera, such as:
Music becomes the main line. There is often no dialogue in the whole play, music runs throughout, and the arias are composed of It consists of a large number of arias and necessary recitatives.
This form is actually very similar to opera. The difference is that modern musical language and stage techniques are used in the performance.
Therefore, actors are required to have certain classical background and singing skills.
(2) Subversive and bold innovation - passionate and wild rock singing style.
We have said that any new thing that survives and has strong vitality has an obvious sense of the times, even beyond the popular frontier.
Looking back at the era when "Phantom of the Opera" was created, the mid-20th century was the era when Western rock music became popular. Therefore, the rock music style that appears from time to time in the play seems natural.
The music in the play is beautiful and contagious, with the power to incite emotions. The lyrics also have avant-garde characteristics, breaking the traditional norm that musical theater music must match the plot, and only focus on the expression of a certain emotion. It sounds like poetry, hippie-style hysterical shouting or dream-like moaning.
The singing of this play is performed in a combination of swing music, flickering of light and shadow, audience participation, powerful tweeters, etc., so it can give people a deep impression and shock.
With the addition of rock music elements, the actors had to change into a matching singing style-a rock-and-roll singing style. Rock music is famous for its shocking audio-visual effects, powerful rhythm, and extreme and passionate music emotions, almost crazy.
The theme song "Phantom of the Opera" in the play is a concrete manifestation of its rock style:
The introduction of music is extremely clever: the powerful continuous sixteenth-note drum beat "dong" in the lower part "Dong dong...", creating a "mysterious and creepy" ghostly atmosphere. Then, cut to the actor's low and straightforward singing, with a wide vocal range, and the melody line switching between upper and lower octaves, bringing about a surging change in emotion.
The use of such musical language not only broadens the expression methods and scope of singing interpretation in musicals, but also cleverly allows people to accept the concept that serious-themed musicals can also be interpreted with wild rock music.
In rock style, rhythm is a crucial part of singing. It is one of the means for singers to express strong emotions. The actor's voice is also more individual, breaking the traditional limitations of bel canto and popular music. It combines rock singing techniques similar to "screaming and roaring" in rock singing with bel canto singing, and adds a classical-style chorus to enhance it. The content to be expressed in the song is used to enhance the sense of the times and expressiveness of the work.
(3) Draw nutrients from local music elements - folk-style singing style.
British folk songs are beautiful, elegant and thought-provoking. They are true British traditional music. Its main feature is a folk song that uses local music and pop music to tell stories. Its music exudes this kind of music from beginning to end. The lazy and tranquil connotation injects a touch of freshness and comfort into the tired and cumbersome life.
Folk-style singing is very natural, has unique musical personality, catchy melody, is close to the public, and is deeply loved by people.
In many cases, it can cleanse people's tired and frightened souls better than rigid and dogmatic serious music or "hysterical" rock music.
In "The Phantom of the Opera", the shadow of English folk songs can also be found, especially in the part where the storyline is narrated. The whole melody of "AllIAskofYou" does not have too many big jumps. It is smooth and concise, filled with a touch of sadness, as if it is telling an ancient legend.
With the advancement of the times and the acceleration of the pace of life, more and more people are eager for spiritual satisfaction and sublimation in addition to pursuing high-quality material life.
They pursue elegant art and at the same time hope that art can be easy to understand. In musicals, the fusion of classical and pop meets people's needs for art. His singing style is highly praised and loved by people.
The reason why musicals have conquered audiences around the world is ultimately due to its "reference and innovation".
And this is exactly what we vocal music learners should think deeply about. Like