Historically Informed Gesture and Improvisation in Secco Recitative

The secco recitative: those moments of sung speech where virtually all of an opera's dialogue and drama occurs and only occasional bass notes are written as accompaniment. Currently, these recitatives are often sped through or eliminated altogether. This research project will bring back the dramatic and artistic importance of the secco recitative genre in operas from a relatively neglected period in operatic performance practice research: 1740 to1840. It proposes a thorough investigation of the historically appropriate acting, declamatory, and gestural techniques which were specific to the genre and much appreciated by audiences of the period. Furthermore, it includes practice-led experimentation where the singer/actors can adopt these techniques and interact with different historically informed continuo-playing instruments and their harmonic improvisations. Previous researchers have investigated historical acting and gesture in baroque opera (Andrew Laurence King, Sigrid T’Hooft, Vincent Dumestre, Drottningholms Slottstheater) but they did not specifically focus on the recitative genre, nor did they deal with opera from later periods. Other researchers have investigated the role of harmonic improvisation in recitative accompaniment by cellists in earlier times (Walden, Whittaker, Bacciagaluppi, Suckling, Metzger) but they did not explore how these improvisations influenced and were influenced by the gestural and acting techniques employed on stage.We are convinced that such historically informed, artistic experimentation will result in new, compelling recitative practice. Such highly improvised and interactive interpretations would vary significantly from performance to performance and would draw in the public through their dramatic novelty and variety. This will not only change the public’s appreciation of the recitative, but also alter their understanding of the aria that follows, enhancing modern appreciation of late classical and early romantic opera.