Analyzes The Impact Of Italian Romantic Opera On The Bel Canto During The First Half Of 19^th Century

Influenced by the humanism trends of Renaissance, modern opera first arose in Italy, the center of new music renovation, and then spread over Northern Italy and Europe. Through the development of Florence, Naples, and Venice Opera during Baroque period, the renovation by Gluck during Classicism period, and the rise of new comedy, with its enlightened thoughts, solid national tradition, and the genuine vocal traits, Italian opera has always been the treasure of the world music and culture, and the history of opera eventually became the music history of Italy.The development of Bel Canto was tied up with the naissance of opera. It is regarded that Castratos laid the foundation Bel Canto, yet the naissance and evolution of opera promoted Bel Canto in regard of the cultural aspect which was more accorded with the vocal art development. During and through the Bel Canto school period, it had become not only a scientific vocalization, but also an important historic era, music and singing style, and a vocal training method with normative singing techniques. Therefore, it has artistic research value and realistic significance to analyze and discuss the influence of Italian opera towards Bel Canto, starting with the analysis of the produce and performance characteristics of Italian Romantic Opera during first half of 19^th century, taking Rossini, Bellini, and Tonizetii as representatives. The analysis will deepen the understanding of the works of Rossini, Bellini and Tonizetti, as well as bringing new vitality towards western opera research and the dissemination of the art of Bel Canto.This paper will integrate the history of the origin and early development of the traditional Italian opera, the historical background of the Italian romantic opera during the first half of 19^th century, and the life experiences of Rossini, Bellini, and Tonizetii, analyze their styles and the singing characteristics of their major works, and discuss the great influence of Italian romantic opera towards Bel Canto. This paper includes four chapters. In the first chapter, the author briefly introduces the naissance and early development of traditional Italian opera. In the second chapter, the author introduces the three leading composers of Italian romantic opera (Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini), and their respective composing styles. In the third chapter, the author analyzes the singing characteristics of 19^th century Italian romantic opera, staring with the three composers' classic works. In the fourth chapter, the author discusses the naissance and evolution of Bel Canto, emphasizes particularly the phenomenon of "Bel Canto School Era", and the contribution and influence of the Italian romantic opera during the first half of 19^th century towards the aspects of breathing, starting, extend and resonance, consistency and agility of voice, and the utilizing of roulade.