I will be taking some time off from “Osborne on Opera” this summer, so with today’s extended article, in two parts, I have tried to leave you with food for thought in what I hope is some leisure time of your own. This might easily, and perhaps more sensibly, have been published as two separate posts, and there may be readers who feel that Part Two does not flow with all natural ease from Part One. I suppose that logically, the matter could be seen the other way around: opera happens, after all, in the context of broader social and artistic developments, and against an ever-deeper historical background, and these are the subjects of the books considered in Part Two. In any case, in my mind these parts are not only closely interrelated, but inextricably so.

First, a correction: two correspondents have told me that in the Lucia di Lammermoor performances I wrote about last time, Javier Camerena did not sing the (written but seldom- sung) high E-flat in the cadential bars of “Verranno a te,” but that he and Nadine Sierra switched lines, she taking her (unwritten) E-flat and he singing the tenor high C. Since it passed quickly, made a peculiar effect, and Camerena has been known to essay the altissimo notes, I’d assumed they were going for the gold. But since my readers both have professional ears, and one of them checked a second time against the broadcast, I’m sure they are right.

Second, some news from Bel Canto Boot Camp, with whom I collaborated on the series of videos based on the opening section of Opera as Opera. The founders of BCBC, Rachelle Jonck and Derrick Goff, have co-written and published The Vaccai Project. This volume pulls together in book form all the instructional materials and working advice developed during the virtual teaching sessions of the same name, which kept many a young vocalist working productively on problems of technique, musicianship, language, and style during the Covid lockdown. It’s grounded in Nicola Vaccai’s famous book of progressive exercises in intervals and ornamentation, but embraces a wide range of classical references, as well as constructive advice from the authors themselves. Beautifully laid out, engagingly written, and handsomely produced, it’s essentially a working manual, and thus of practical use primarily to singers, coaches, and teachers. But anyone with an interest in the principles and practices of bel canto vocalism will find it intriguing. It’s available from www.belcantobootcamp.com. Also: BCBC has entered into a collaboration with Guild Hall, out at East Hampton, L. I., for a series of week-long intensive workshops there. In addition to BCBC’s own expert faculty, each week will offer the guest participation of a noted working professional singer with experience in the bel canto repertory. Full details can be seen at BCBC’s website.  

Finally, let me remind readers that Opera as Opera is still in print, and can be ordered from the eponymous page here on the website, or from the broader sources out there. And so to today’s topics, all variations on the question posed above.