4

Prologue

In opera the focus is conventionally on the vocal music aspect of

performance. This paper is instead concerned with the dramatic
performances of opera singers. There are many opinions on opera, ranging
from the notion that it is the closest performance gets to holiness1 to others
questioning why it exists at all.2 It is often grandiose in presentation, which
leads to the widely held belief that performance style in opera is deliberately
overblown and “hammy”. Therefore it is evident that opera as an art form is
burdened with cultural, historical and musical baggage. I examine and
interrogate two of these ideas: operatic culture and its early history of
performance, ultimately aiming to locate when what I call ‘emotional truth’
might occur in contemporary opera performance. I do this in three stages.
Firstly, I conduct a historical analysis of instances where emotional truth
occurred and was seen as desirable in the earliest operas. Secondly, I
uncover the ideas and perceptions of truth in performance through a series
of interviews with opera practitioners. I also place this within a historical
context by locating instances where emotional truth has occurred and was
seen as desirable in the earliest operas. Using the results of the first two
stages, in the final part of my research, I present a methodology that
attempts to place the idea of emotional truth in a practical rehearsal and
performance context.

I contend that a truthful, nuanced, more honest performance, where the

performer tries to connect with their character's point of view, enables
greater audience empathy and connection to the material presented.3 It is
clear individuals in an audience will have different intellectual capacities and
cultural knowledge based on their individual capabilities and experience, 4
1
Michel Poizat, The angel's cry: beyond the pleasure principle in opera. Cornell University
Press, 1992.
2
Leo Tolstoy, What is art? Bradda Books, 1963
3
Peter. Eversmann, "The experience of the theatrical event." Theatrical events: Borders,
dynamics, frames 1 (2004): p. 139.
4
For example a 10 year old and a 70 year old both recognise that if an actor cries then
they are likely to be sad. However, the same pair may have different interpretations of a
character speaking directly to the audience about the unfolding story in the third person.
This is not to say that more abstract concepts in art are less relevant; rather, that
 5

which potentially determines their interpretation of events.5 Indeed, vice-

president of the International Federation for Theatre Research, Peter
Eversmann writes bluntly about an individual's performance reception,
“theatre-goers have a multitude of very diverse reactions to any event. What
one designates as good and inspiring theatre, the other dismisses as tedious
and boring.”6 However, I posit that members of an audience are highly likely
to recognise the emotions of performers regardless of audience or
performer's cultural or ethnic background. I take this position based on years
of professional experience, but more specifically on the research of Paul
Ekman and Wallace Friesen as well as my own research. Ekman's research,
which includes the articles, “Constants across cultures in the face and
emotion“ and "Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of emotion”, "shows
that recognition of [facial expressions of] anger, disgust, fear, happiness,
sadness, and surprise is near universal regardless of culture or ethnicity.” 7
The face is conventionally accepted as the most obvious and effective
method to convey specific and nuanced emotion both on the stage and in
real-life situations.8 Facial expressions are most effective and believable
when they are based on genuinely felt emotions.9 Indeed everyday
expressions rely on this.10 Therefore, I posit the most effective way to attain
any strong and widely understood connection between audience and

emotions are universal.

5
Mark Turner, ed. The artful mind: cognitive science and the riddle of human creativity.
Oxford University Press, 2006.
6
Peter. Eversmann, "The experience of the theatrical event." Theatrical events: Borders,
dynamics, frames 1 (2004): p. 139.
7
Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen. "Constants across cultures in the face and emotion."
Journal of personality and social psychology 17, no. 2 (1971): 124. and Paul Ekman, E.
Richard Sorenson, and Wallace V. Friesen. "Pan-cultural elements in facial displays of
emotion." Science 164, no. 3875 (1969): pp. 86-88.
8
However, to consider the face a separate, discreet emotion-showing entity separate from
the rest of the body and internal life is not what I attempt to show in this paper. This
paper is concerned with on-stage emotional reproduction recognised as such by an
audience.
9
Mehu, Marc, Marcello Mortillaro, Tanja Bänziger, and Klaus R. Scherer. "Reliable Facial
Muscle Activation Enhances Recognizability and Credibility of Emotional Expression."
Emotion 12.4 (2012): 701-15. Print.
10
French neurologist and physiologist G.B. Duchenne de Boulogne conducted research into
the muscles that produce facial expressions in 1862. His discovery that the obicularis
oculi muscles surrounding the eyes could not be consciously activated and could denote
a false expression of happiness has relevance to this paper.
 6

performer in opera is through using emotional and psychological

performance methodologies to elicit genuine feelings which are then
conveyed on stage.

This research is important because opera occupies a rarefied status in art

and culture. Opera is a cultural touchstone, occupying an artistic space in
Western society unlike any other art form. Its individual conventions and
component parts—arias, the singing of recitative and even Brunhildes
wearing breastplates—are all highly recognisable. It is often lionised and also
demonised: at once criticised for being too expensive to attend and using a
disproportionate amount of public funding while also being valorised as a
high-cultural art form with serious historical significance. However, like
contemporary dance, theatre and ballet in the early 21st century, it is
struggling to maintain and create the new audiences on which it depends for
funding.11 In order to entice more audiences to attend performances, a more
believable performance style could be instituted.

Opera’s creators, the directors, producers, conductors, singers etc,

unquestionably believe in the cultural importance of their art, justified often
by the complexity and grand scope of productions. There is a bombast in
Opera unlike other art forms. Indeed, when I asked a prominent tenor what
the difference between musicals and opera was, he answered, “Well, opera
is simply harder to sing well.” This elitist view could be attributed to the
often-cited other-worldliness in the singing or the unapologetic,
unquestioning view that it is, as Richard Wagner said, the Complete Art Work
(Gesamtkunstwerk).12 John Storey considers the historical high-culture
construct and how it affects the potential audience, noting that opera is now
considered as something that requires more work from the audience to
unlock its enjoyment potential. He says, “In order to unlock the
entertainment in the art, the new popular audience must do its 'Opera
homework'.”13
11
Either as justification for government funding or directly contributing through tickets to
the cost of staging performances.
12
David Littlejohn, The Ultimate Art. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1992
13
John Storey, "Expecting rain: opera as popular culture." High-Pop: Making Culture into
Popular Entertainment. Oxford: Blackwell (2002): p. 37
 7

This elitist view of opera is echoed not just in high culture but also popular
culture. Opera's conventions and music (for example the arias Nessun
Dorma, O mio Babbino caro and Caro Nome)14 are well known, even if only
by tune rather than name. Opera as an art is constantly referenced in
popular culture and is frequently used in advertising and movies, often as a
dramatic underscore. Australia's most iconic building is the Sydney Opera
House. Opera is never far from reach culturally. A compelling example of
opera's eminent cultural position is the well-known 1957 Bug's Bunny short,
“What's Opera, Doc?,” (which in 1994 was judged by 1000 animators as the
greatest cartoon ever made).15 The cartoon depicts the drama and majesty
of opera whilst lampooning the brutalist sets, problematic costumes, rapid
and unmotivated plot changes, as well as the highly melodramatic approach
to performance. These parodied concepts are not only humorous but also
consistent in representing the ongoing criticism which opera has attracted
throughout its history from both inside and outside the field.

The elevated position of opera in the arts is reflected in its funding.

Currently, opera production is one of, if not the most, expensive of the
performing arts. Opera Australia is the largest single recipient of government
arts funding in Australia. In 2010 and 2011, it received approximately $19
million; and for 2012 to 2014 a total of over $58 million.16 Out of the
Australia Council for the Arts 2010/11 total grant budget of $163.75 million, 17
Opera Australia was allocated roughly 9 per cent. A comparison of this with
other artistic mediums illustrates its dominance in arts funding. For example,
in 2010 the Australia Council's entire competitive funds for literature ($4.2
million), music ($3.6 million), theatre ($2.5 million), dance ($1.8 million)
visual arts ($4.8 million) and inter-arts or cross art form projects ($800
thousand) had a combined total of just $17.6 million.18 This proportionately
14
Giacomo Puccini's Turandot and Gianni Schicchi and Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto.
15
Jerry Beck, ed. The 50 greatest cartoons: As selected by 1,000 animation professionals.
Turner Pub., 1994.
16
Australian Government. "Australia Council Grants List." .
https://online.australiacouncil.gov.au/GrantsList/f?p=113:1:1534175589534508
(accessed July 2, 2013).
17
Portfolio Budget Statements 2011-12 Australia Council - Agency Resources and Planned
Performance. pp. 94 - 96.
18
Westbury, Marcus. "Where Australia Council funding goes - 09/10 version." marcus
 8

high level of government funding is not restricted to Australia. Berlin's state

government spends almost a third of their total arts budget on three major
opera companies (roughly 120 million euro, from a budget of 360 million
euro in 2012).19 If the split between the major companies (Deutsche Oper,
Staatsoper and Komische Oper) was even, their percentage would look
similar as separate entities to Opera Australia's, each receiving around ten
percent of the total arts budget. Therefore, regardless of opinions about
opera's merits or relevance as an art form, as evidenced by its continuing
government patrimony and cultural impact, opera is valued more highly than
the other performing arts. This level of commitment suggests that opera is
not an outdated cultural phenomenon that can be dismissed as an
anachronistic novelty. Opera is here, it is big and it is important.

However, as stated earlier, this positioning is under stress. Since 2008, the
financial backing of opera from wealthy donors and governments has
changed worldwide. The number of opera companies encountering financial
difficulty is rising, especially in Europe and North America where austerity
measures by governments have hit arts funding. The New York City Opera
announced in September 2013 that if they could not raise US$17 million,
they were likely to close down, which points to more reluctant private
donors. In 2013-4, a number of European opera houses were temporarily
shut down to save money. The current economic climate in developed
market economies requires the ever-increasing scrutiny of large publicly-
funded institutions. From a purely financial perspective, all aspects of the
organisation of any large company maybe interrogated, from accounting
systems to the end product. The methodologies of performance production
could also therefore be considered alongside the purely administrative as to
whether they are effective at attracting new audiences.20 This is especially
westbury RSS. http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2010/09/15/where-australia-council-
funding-goes-0910-version/ (accessed July 17, 2013).
19
Rapp, Tobias. "The Price of Cool: Berlin's Struggling Artists Demand Share of the Pie -
SPIEGEL ONLINE." SPIEGEL ONLINE.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/declines-in-funds-and-space-threaten-
berlin-arts-scene-a-824497.html (accessed July 10, 2013).
20
This is an area that has been considered by Charles David Throsby in his article
"Perception of Quality in Demand for the Theatre." Journal of Cultural Economics 14, no.
1 (1990): 65-82. However this is far beyond the scope of this paper to consider.
 9

important as audiences become more and more fragmented. 21

However, these challenges are not new for opera. Although opera has been
in existence for more than 400 years, it is commonly believed that it reached
its peak popularity somewhere in the mid 1800s22 and since then its
audience has become more elite and rarefied, therefore losing audiences
without lowering costs. Despite this, opera still occupies a culturally
dominant place. All of the elements of opera’s uniqueness and importance
identified so far - its status as 'the complete art work', its cultural mind-
share, its comparatively high arts funding and ultimately the way the
companies lose or gain audiences - requires interrogation as do all “too big
to fail” concerns. I suggest that if opera wishes to maintain its current
government and philanthropic funding levels, it needs to develop new
audiences to justify its value to the general public and thus government
expenditure. I examine criticisms of opera, identifying the common thread
which is a lack of believability in opera performances. These are repeatedly
identified as a problem for audiences of opera performances. This could be a
contributor to losing existing and/or not gaining new audiences.

The criticism

For as long as there has been opera, there has been opera criticism. In 1651,
Francesco Sbarra wrote:

I know that the ariette sung by Alexander and Aristotle will be judged
contrary to the decorum of such great personages; but I also know that
musical recitation is improper altogether, since it does not imitate natural
discourse and since it removes the soul from dramatic compositions,
which should be nothing but imitations of human actions. Yet this defect
is not only tolerated by the current century but received with applause.23

Charles de Saint Evremond said of opera in 1677:

21
John Allison. "Meteor Showers" Opera. Nov. 2013: p. 6. Print.
22
John Storey, "Expecting rain: opera as popular culture." High-Pop: Making Culture into
Popular Entertainment. Oxford: Blackwell (2002): 33 - 35
23
Francesco Sbarra, quoted in Ellen Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice: The
Creation of a Genre Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. p. 45
 10

As if the characters on stage had conspired to present musically the most

trivial as well as the most important aspects of their lives... There is
nothing more ridiculous than to make someone sing when he is acting,
whether he is arguing in a council meeting, or giving orders in a battle.24

Tolstoy was vociferous in his condemnation of the art form. In his book What
is Art? he writes specifically about his problems with opera, stating:

Instinctively the question presents itself: For whom is this being done?
Whom can it please? If there are, occasionally, good melodies in the
opera to which it is pleasant to listen, they could have been sung simply,
without these stupid costumes and all the processions and recitatives
and handwavings.25

However, more pertinent to the focus of this research is discussions about

how the singers perform. Bernard Holland sums up problems with opera’s
melodramatic acting style in a 1997 New York Times review of Verdi’s “Un
Ballo in Maschera”:

Opera acting is always a problem but seldom has it so clearly crossed the
line into caricature. Thursday’s procession of off-the-shelf gestures
included violent shudders, frequent staggering, hand-wringing, wife-
flinging, sword-wiggling and heroine-crawling. As drama, it was hard to
take this Ballo seriously. Thank God for the voices.26

In this case, rather than enhancing the performance and the audience’s
enjoyment of it, the acting detracted from the reviewer’s pleasure. This
example is indicative of the need to research this area. It is necessary to
examine what it is in the performances that produces this detraction of
pleasure: identifying falsity in staging of performances; when believability is
present in performances; identifying causes and precedents for falsity and
believability in operatic literature and contemporary opera production.

24
David Littlejohn, The ultimate art: essays around and about opera. Univ of California
Press, 1992. p. 2
25
Leo Tolstoy, What is art? Bradda Books, 1963. p. 14
26
Bernard Holland, New York Times Published: February 01, 1997
 11

Finally it is necessary to investigate a proven technique in creating

believable performance, which in this case was Stanislavski-derived acting
technique. This method was applied to opera performance to assess whether
falsity in performance can be mitigated by believability or truth as an artistic
choice.

The problem

Much (negative) criticism of opera is leveled at the falsity of the form: that
they sing rather than speak, as is exemplified by Sbarra's criticism quoted
above. However, rather than the form itself being at fault, I posit it is the
lack of truth in the acting that is behind most negative criticism of opera. I
contend that just as lying is conventionally seen as problematic and frowned
upon, when manifested on stage it is just as objectionable to an audience as
it would be in real life. This position - that the lack of truth in opera is
objectionable to an audience - is one taken by Leo Tolstoy. In War and Peace,
he describes Natasha's first opera attendance and her reaction:

She knew what it was all meant to represent, but it was so pretentiously
false and unnatural that she first felt ashamed for the actors and then
amused at them.27

This problem is made more evident by comparing opera with modern non-
singing theatre and screen narratives, where the dominant dramatic form
consists of believable performers taking part in a story that has logical
dramatic consequences. Naturalism and the pursuit of honesty or truth in
characterisation have been the dominant motivations of acting since the
emergence of the Moscow Art Theatre-based acting and directing
methodology.

Contemporary conventional Western naturalistic theatre is most often based

in a tradition that utilises an emotional, psychological approach to acting
popularised by Constantin Stanislavski at the end of the 19th century. The
majority of contemporary actors and directors are aware of and/or schooled

27
Leo Tolstoy, War and peace. Digireads.com, 2010. p. 430
 12

in this methodology, particularly as developed in the United States of

America by teachers and directors such as Sanford Meisner or with the
Method, as devised by Lee Strasberg. All of these methodologies share
certain features in that they all approach the work through the actor's
awareness of emotion and psychology in the character in the aim of a so-
called 'truthful' or believable performance.

Opera, on the other hand, relies on the belief widely held by practitioners
and critics in the field that the music itself carries the truth of the emotion,
rather than the singer/actor. The music is seen as akin to a seismograph of
the emotions being played out on stage: the peaks and troughs of the music
representing the emotional state of the characters. This view of music as the
emotional core in opera was espoused by all respondents in the interviews
as well as all informal conversations I had with opera practitioners.

The contention of this thesis is that this reliance on the music to show the
inner world - the emotional truth of the character—is inadequate for modern
stage performance. I propose that a more emotionally truthful performance
by the actor/singer, based in the above-mentioned techniques, allows for a
more engaging and honest opera performance. In opposition to the
melodramatic or overacted types of performance that often typifies drama
on the opera stage, this will achieve greater audience connection and
therefore better communication of stories being told.

This research is placed within the larger operatic context, which includes
dramatic performance, training, musicology, musicianship and the culture of
opera (production and reception). Although considerable awareness was paid
to these areas during the research, this project cannot deal with all these
elements and therefore concentrates on the singer and their process.

The pertinence of my project to the world of opera is supported by the

widespread opinion voiced in informal discussions by opera directors,
practitioners and aficionados, that there is no truth in opera singing
performance. This sentiment was supported by my research, which revealed
persistent statements by both performers and directors about the need for a
 13

more realistic, truthful approach. Given that not only is opera competing with
other art forms and artists for audiences and remuneration, that public
funding is under constant scrutiny, there is reason to pursue this research
with expediency. Opera owes a better experience to its audience and
beneficiaries and deserves a wider public exposure. Implementing the
methodology developed by this research could be a cost-effective and
efficient way to attain that end.

The first phase of the project was aimed at situating the research within the
written historical and critical context of opera practice. This is covered in
Chapter 1. Chapter 2 contains the second phase of my research and
considers the ways in which contemporary opera performances are made
and where my research could be pertinent to the creative process. To do this,
I conducted ethnographic research in three opera productions in Melbourne,
Sydney and Berlin. This was intended to uncover similarities and differences
between geographically distant opera cultures and practices.

I also conducted eleven separate interviews with opera practitioners, the

majority of whom worked at Opera Australia. This was designed to gain more
qualitative detail as to the workings of the artists and their craft. This
information was considered in light of the comments and writing of other
prominent opera stakeholders, both living and dead. During the interview
process, it was discovered that to fully understand opera performance, it was
necessary to examine the role of opera training conservatories. Therefore,
this chapter also considers research on drama and acting training at the
major British opera conservatories28 and conducts a minor survey of
Australian opera schools.

Chapter 3 is a report on a seven-week practical workshop that explored the

application of psychological/emotional acting method to opera performance.
It began and culminated with recitals, demonstrating the “before” and
“after” of the results of the application of the techniques based on the Eric
Morris acting system. Outside assessors were present at both of the recitals.

28
Micheal Eccles, Acting the Music: An enquiry into the training of the Singer-Actor Central
School of Speech and Drama Masters dissertation, 2013
 14

Terms

The title of my research is 'Truth in Opera Performance'. I use the term 'truth'
as shorthand for emotional truth as it is conventionally used by actors and
directors. Emotional truth occurs when an actor employs a technique that
aims at experiencing the emotions of the character in front of an audience
rather than indicating or portraying them.

On stage in both theatre and opera, the intention of the director and actor
usually remains the same: to recreate a believable simulation of a character
to which the audience can relate, to some extent, as a person. This is held to
be the product of the creation of a real emotional experience perceptible and
experience-able by the audience.

This state is often designated from the perspective of the performer as being
“in the moment”. Being in the moment can be described as when the actor
on stage feels subsumed by the character: that the experience they play is
also playing them. The phrase ‘being in the moment’ is not only used to
describe the experience of emotional/psychological actors, it also
predominates as an aim and product of their work.

The acting theorist and teacher Eric Morris, whose work figures significantly
in my project, refers to “super awareness - the 11th level of
consciousness”.29 In this state, above the emotional, moment-to-moment,
subsumed consciousness, there is a conscious layer in which the actor
experiences the character but also recognises that they are an actor on
stage. This “super awareness” is also referred to by Henry Irving who called
this interplay between consciousness and being in the moment, the “true art
(of acting)”.30

Conventionally, truth is relative when it is used as an evaluative description,

for example like “good” or “bad”. However, when using the term in a
29
Eric Morris. Irreverent acting. Perigee Book, 1985. p. 239
30
“It is often said that actors should not shed tears, that real tears are bad art. This is not
so. If tears be produced at the actor's will and under his control, they are true art... The
exaltation of sensibility in art may be difficult to define, but it is none the less real to all
who have felt its power.” - Irving in Denis Diderot, Paradox of Acting, Chatto and Windus,
1883. p. 20
 15

performance context, the term “truth” is often affixed with more specific
values. The core of this definition is that it is somehow different and
discernible from pretense. For example, truth is a criteria used to determine
whether an actor’s performance is believable to an audience.

However, since this application of the term truth to performance is so widely

observed and can be interpreted in many different ways, it is necessary to
interrogate it further.

There are inherent difficulties associated with clarifying and obtaining a so-
called 'truthful performance'. Truth in dramatic performance is fundamentally
vague and presents a major problem when trying to measure truth itself and
its effect on audiences as this research proposes to do.

However, I have observed the benefits of stating 'truth' as fixed in

performance; that is, as something to be strived for performatively. The
reasoning for this is that reaching a state of truth (or 'being in the moment')
is possible and taught in many drama or acting courses. Additionally, it is
easier for a performer to work towards a definable goal rather than a
constantly changing ambiguous set of objectives. However, to constantly
maintain the “state of truth” is often hard, or impossible.31 Despite this, I
have observed that with enough moments of truth on stage the performance
can offer greater emotional connection to an audience. Ultimately, some
truth is better than none at all.

Other more esoteric terms used to describe truth in performance are

“grounded” and “present”. For this paper though, and for an audience, these
terms carry little value and within the rehearsal room they are even more
subjective than “truth” due to their antonymic meanings outside non-
theatrical usage. 'Present' holds two meanings: first, that the performer is
literally here and second, that the performer is aware of their role as a
conduit for story for an audiences' projections, the director's ideas and

31
However, being in the moment is shorthand for a more complex experience structure
and is not always possible to maintain. Marlon Brando famously quit the Broadway
production of Streetcar Named Desire, claiming it was too tiring to maintain that level of
commitment.
 16

themselves as an artist. 'Grounded' carries similarly difficult to quantify

values, at once suggesting that a performer is both ready to work, relaxed
and open to stimuli but also “to be grounded” means to be in touch fully with
the ground. This in turn can lend “weight” to performances, another term
with amorphous theatrical value. However, in the context of this research
the term which best captures the core of this concept is truth. This term
implies a complicity between director or teacher and performer or student
that allows this idea of truth to occupy a fixed conceptual space. A firm value
is affixed when the facilitator (in this research, myself) demonstrates more
truthful and then less truthful performances. Therefore, the participants or
students are able to better gauge their own subjective observations and
performances against the preset benchmark and to ask themselves “Is that
truthful?” This avoids the situation where there is a constantly moving set of
parameters that needs to be reassessed by both student and teacher. Lastly,
I use the terms “drama” and “acting” interchangeably when applied to the
art of the actor. This is a conventional usage, as seen in the description of
both acting schools and drama schools where no distinction is made
between either.

In the following chapter I consider the historical record as well as

contemporary interpretations in opera literature. Specifically I look for
precedents that point to an emotionally truthful approach to opera
performance.