- Cabaletta
A Cabaletta is form of
aria within 19th centuryItalian opera . It usually refers specifically to the second half of a double aria: a faster or more rhythmic movement following acantabile section, nowadays often referred to as the "cavatina ".The cabaletta formed as part of an evolution from early 19th century arias containing two contrasting sections at different tempi within a single structure into more elaborate arias with musically distinct movements. The term itself was first defined in 1826. It has a repetitive structure consisting of two
stanza s followed by embellished variations. The cabaletta typically ends with a coda, often a very virtuosic one.Classic examples include "Vien diletto, è in ciel la luna" from "
I Puritani " by Bellini (1835) and "Non più mesta" from "La Cenerentola " by Rossini (1817).In later parlance, cabaletta came to refer to the fast final part of any operatic vocal ensemble, usually a duet, rather than just a solo aria: the duet between Gilda and Rigoletto in "Rigoletto" ends with a relatively slow cabaletta.
The Cabaletta is often used to convey strong emotions: overwhelming happiness (Linda's famous cabaletta "O luce di quest anima" from Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix"), great sorrow (Lucia's "Spargi d'amaro pianto" from "Lucia di Lammermoor"), timeless love (Lindoro's short cabaletta from Rossini's "
L'italiana in Algeri "). Cabaletta is one of the most important elements in opera, particularly inbelcanto opera: Rossini, for example, wrote at least one or even more cabalettas for all major characters in his operas (for example, "L'italiana in Algeri" contains two cabalettas for Lindoro, three cabalettas for Isabella, one cabaletta for Mustafa, and one for Taddeo; and if we add the final parts of the ensembles: we get almost sixteen cabalettas).Giuseppe Verdi continued to adapt the aria-cabaletta formula to great emotional and dramatic effect, as in Violetta's pensive "È strano! è strano..." ("La traviata ", I, v) which leads by degrees to her resolve, "Sempre libera", with its rapid and defiant pyrotechnics.References
*Budden, Julian. "Cabaletta." "Grove Music Online," http://www.grovemusic.com.
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018423/cabaletta Encyclopaedia Britannica, Cabaletta]
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