cimento in 1720 (e.g. ‘Solo quella guancia bella’, ‘Addio caro – Tu ben sai’, and ‘Con cento, e cento baci’).
Example 2.3 Vinci: Eraclea – ‘Da quell’ora che restai’, bars 10–43, vocal part
Example 2.4 Leo/Vinci: Turno Aricino – ‘La speme lusinghiera’, upbeat to b. 11 to b. 25, vocal part
Further opportunities came to Strada for vocal development with the opening event of 1725: Domenico Sarro’s Tito Sempronio Gracco. By good fortune, Quantz witnessed one of the performances and committed a short description to paper:
On January 13 I therefore travelled from Rome to Naples, where I immediately heard an opera composed by Sarri, almost in the style of Vinci. Farinelli, who was then approaching his famous perfection, Strada, who later became more famous in England, and Tesi, were brilliant in this opera. The others were only fair.168
←65 | 66→
The musical material of Erminia’s role in Tito Sempronio Gracco indicates the appearance of new features in Strada’s singing. Her entrance aria, ‘Se veglia, se dorme lʼamante suo core’ (I/2; D minor, 3/4; Ex. 2.5), is an energetic piece with a singular melody in Andante. The violins play colla parte, while the rest of the orchestra moves in quaver notes of drumming bass. The D minor aria alternates rashly between modal and tonal colourations, twisting chromatically through elaborated rhythmic patterns with demisemiquaver notes on one hand, and large syncopated legato lines combined with wider leaps on the other. Specifically, these large legato phrases signify a novelty in Strada’s vocal style, showing a higher technical level and stronger vocal production that cannot be found in her earlier repertoire. The ambivalent meaning of the text predicts the conclusion of the plot: Erminia declares her true love to Mario, but in the B section the seeds of ambiguity are sown, namely the contrast of dreaming and being awake.169 The ←66 | 67→initial melody, which sounds natural on violins, is hardly comfortable for a human voice. Although well built up, ascending gradually over bars 12‒15, the melody is technically complicated: not only because of repeated up-and-down movements, sixth-leaps, dotted rhythms, and coloraturas, which are placed vocally as best possible, but also because the structure, which reaching a b↑ʺ and descending immediately a ninth to conclude (at bars 14‒15), needs conscious planning of support and breath control. The rest of the aria (Ex. 2.6) continues to suggest Strada’s ease in the higher register.
Example 2.5 Sarro: Tito Sempronio Gracco – Introductory ritornello to ‘Se veglia, se dorme’, bars 1–15
Fascinating long coloraturas occur two times at the words ‘languisce d’amore sospira per te’ in both parts of the A section, as a motivic answer to the second half of the opening ritornello. For the first time (upbeat to b. 18 to b. 25), heavily chromatic second-chains appear, while for the second time (upbeat to b. 42 to b. 47) this process is disturbed by fourth- and seventh leaps, adding a vocally unexpected jump up to b↑ʺ again. The latter happens on the rhythmically syncopated word ‘sospiraʼ (‘sigh’).
Giving an answer of equal rank to Rosanno’s (Farinelli) aria dedicated to terzine, ‘Ninfa amante’ (I/9, B↑ major, 3/8, Andante), the vocal line of Strada’s ←67 | 68→‘Vorrei morire’ in scene 10 (G major, C) is centred on descending and ascending violin idioms in Vivace assai (Ex. 2.7).
Example 2.6 Section A of ‘Se veglia, se dorme’, bars 12–49, vocal part
Example 2.7 ‘Vorrei morire’, bars 3–9, vocal part
An interesting case emerges with ‘Straniera Donzella’ (II/5; E major, 2/4, Allegro; Ex. 2.8) ‒ a simile aria which reveals that Erminia does not return to her former lover but keeps the new one. From this, a second version can be found at the end of the second act in the copyist’s manuscript: a substitution of the original aria with the same key (E major) and text, but with a clearly different concept.170 It must have served as musical refreshment during the succession of performances. Nevertheless, it is one of the rare occasions when Strada had a substitute aria in an original role (see Vivaldi’s ‘Con più diletto’ in Ch. 1). The first version has a light, galant, dance-like character in 2/4 ‒ beaten in 4/8 ‒ which gives an easy and graceful frame to the number. Playful dotted semiquavers, ←68 | 69→octave leaps and syncopation-chains interlaced with chromatics, all help to spice up the simple dance-base of the piece. Its range is quite wide, yet high notes do not explicitly occur. Surprisingly, the melody reaches e′ fourteen times in the A section. The generally lower tessitura of this movement speaks of a fortification of Strada’s chest register, even if this aria was substituted in the course of Tito Sempronio’s run.
Example 2.8 Section A1 of ‘Straniera donzella’ (first version), bars 15–34, vocal part
During these early Neapolitan years, lower notes indeed began to occur with more regularity in her repertoire. In addition, we have to take into account the pitch-difference of the Venetian and Neapolitan tuning: the latter was a whole tone lower.171 In light of the above, evidence suggests that Strada’s vocal range expanded. The substitute version of ‘Straniera donzella’ (E major, C; Ex. 2.9) exhibits to a high tessitura and a bravura character, though it retains something of the original leggiero style and keeps some traces of chromaticism as well. Thus, ←69 | 70→this aria is more grandiose, and its virtuosity is exaggerated by the oboes added to the orchestration.
Example 2.9 ‘Straniera donzella’ (substitute version), bars 8–18, vocal part
Example 2.10 Section A of ‘Saetta si bella’, bars 5–27, vocal part
The rhythmic variety of ‘Saetta si bella’ (II/10; B↑ major, C, Andante; Ex. 2.10) reflects another side of Strada’s kaleidoscopic skill set. The vocal part is a dense combination of syncopated arpeggiations with semiquavers, of dotted patterns with trills and demisemiquaver notes, of appoggiaturas, and of sustained notes for messe di voce. During this Neapolitan era, this kind of chiselled, galant Andante aria, in which the vocal line and verse genuinely fit each other by blurring the differentiation between the principal and ornamental notes of the melody, started to multiply in Strada’s repertoire: demisemiquaver grace notes became an essential part of the vocal line, appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas likewise, in the form of syncopation.172 This signals a very important process concerning her vocal profile as well as artistic personality. As for brilliance, therefore, Quantz might well have been right.
In fact, the Avvisi di Napoli asserted that the work met ‘universal satisfaction’, although this warm response was due not only to the dazzling vocal virtuosity transmitted by first-class performers. The spectacular elements, the costumes, and scenery ‒ the costly proposition of the impresari ‒ also played a very important role in carrying the show to success:
On Thursday evening took place for the first time the opera entitled Tito Sempronio Gracco at the San Bartolomeo theatre, which succeeded