Application Of Bel Canto In Musical Singing

Western vocal music art originates from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and it keeps developing as the time goes by.In this process of development,the scientific and perfect system of voice production,namely bel canto,is established,along with the different forms of vocal music art--Opera,Art songs,Religion songs,Song cycle and so on.All the above mentioned forms of vocal music are sung in bel canto which enable the performers to sing beautifully by using such a scientific way of vocal production and singing skills.With the development of the times,diverse music styles from different regions are integrated.Thus,a newly-emerging form of art--musical gradually took shape in the late 19 th Century.Abundant art materials are included in the musical such as vocal music,dance,opera,choreography,dialogue,etc.The author will only analyze the vocals in the musical.Vocals in the musical inherit some characters from bel canto while evolving its distinctive features.Vocals have the root in bel canto and that’s the reason why the performers have to employ singing skills of bel canto.However,due to the wide expansion of the musical and the influences of different musical styles on it,it’s of prime importance that the performers should be flexible in singing in bel canto by taking the overall style of works into consideration.《The Phantom of the Opera》is a musical which takes vocals as its main way of performing.In addition,the story settings are similar to an opera.Therefore,the author will take 《The Phantom of the Opera》 as a case to analyze the employment of bel canto in musicals.