Il dolce suono, which roughly translates as "the sweet sound", is the beginning of the syllabic portion of what is known as a scena ed aria in Act III scene 2 of Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. It is also commonly known as the most famous mad scene in opera, which is sung by the leading soprano in the role of Lucia. During the scene, Lucia descends into madness, and on her wedding night, while the festivities are still being held in the Great Hall, she stabs her new husband, Arturo, in the bridal chamber. Disheveled, unaware of what she has done, she wanders in the Great Hall, recalling her meetings with Edgardo and imagining herself married to him. Donizetti intended the aria to be accompanied by the sound of the glass harmonica for an eerie effect, though this instrument is often replaced by the more common flute. While Lucia's mad scene is perhaps the most famous, it was not the first or only one.
A mad scene is generally designed as a vocally intense showcase of insanity in an opera or play. A popular convention of the bel canto era; it figured prominently in Italian and French opera in the early nineteenth century, though examples may also be found in earlier works, such as in Handel's Orlando or Mozart's Idomeneo. Almost all mad scenes were composed for either opere serie or opere semiserie; with Donizetti eventually becoming known as the master of the form. Often created as a way to offer star vocalists a chance to show off their abilities, the arias are typically exciting and highly demanding, requiring immense skill. Most mad scenes were composed for the soprano voice, though there are some exceptional pieces written for tenors and baritones.
The mad scene had a long and rich history in the arts, starting with Greek tragedy and continuing on to influence classic English literature. Eventually, mad scenes gained great popularity on the operatic stage, reflecting a new audience appeal for melancholy, mental illness, and the workings of the inner self. Other mad scenes to that point famously focused on tenors, such as in Semiramide
or Peter Grimes.
While the Lucia di Lammermoor story has gone through a number of evolutions over the years, one of the constants has remained that Lucia goes mad at the end and commits murder. Thus, when the story was transposed into arias, the trope reached new heights, so much so that after Lucia Donizetti would go on to write Linda di Chamounix, an opera that offered its star an equally spectacular aria which becomes a much more ‘sane’ love duet under the guise that love can and does cure all. (The equal and opposite reaction to Lucia!) Shortly thereafter, Donizetti himself spiraled into madness, and by 1846 he was unable to speak or communicate. He died in his hometown of Bergamo, on April 8, 1848.
The convention of writing mad scenes largely died out after the bel canto era, as composers sought to inject more realism into their operas. More recently, some composers have returned to the form for dramatic effect, and the mad scene has seen resurgence in other areas of the performing arts: similar mad scene techniques have also appeared in ballets, such as Giselle. The modern musical theatre has also been influenced by the operatic mad scene, as seen in Sweeney Todd and Sunset Boulevard.
Come see our take on a classic of the genre at AVA this winter-get your tickets now by calling 215-735-1685 or going to www.avaopera.org.
Gabriella Rose Balsam is a senior advertising major at Temple University, and an intern in AVA's Marketing Department.
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