Tempo Data from Broadcast Performances of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera, 1961 – 2009

The works of well-known composers active as recording technology developed and as the recording industry emerged thus make ideal case studies. Giacomo Puccini is uniquely suited to a study of tradition through technological means: he has perhaps the best-documented relationship to advances in technology and the resulting shift in entertainment aesthetics of any composer of this era. Of his twelve operas, Turandot is the only major work whose premiere post-dates the advent of electronically captured and controlled sound recording, and thus position at the crossroads of technical practices and social aesthetics stemming from technological conditions in multimedia entertainment in the 1920s. Of the major opera houses in the world, New York’s Metropolitan Opera has perhaps the most comprehensively documented performance history. The launch of “The Metropolitan Opera Archives” online with open access in 2005 made it the most accessible source of information for operatic performing history in any opera house in the world. By making this information publicly and readily available, the Met made significant strides in democratizing opera in a way similar to what recordings had done nearly a century earlier. With this new tool, fans now had the ability to deepen their learning and, because of this, their enjoyment of opera at the Met. Thus, by extending the social activity of learning about opera audiences to the digital (and therefore widely accessible) realm, the Met sought to thrust itself into the forefront of the operatic social sphere in addition to its broadcast offerings. Many recordings of these transmissions are available online through The Metropolitan Opera On Demand, while the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound at the New York Public Library serves as the official repository for hard and digital copy recordings of the broadcasts. Within this opera, six moments are most appropriate for examination for both practical and dramaturgical reasons. Arias in Puccini’s operas offer dramatic pauses for characters; they are moments of emotional exposition, or the result of reflecting on surrounding events. Both of these types of arias occur in Turandot. Liù’s first aria, “Signore, ascolta!”, exhibits both functions, as she reacts emotionally to Calaf’s stated intent to answer Turandot’s riddles. Calaf’s response, “Non piangere, Liù,” gives him the opportunity to respond tenderly to Liù, and show concern for his father, Timur, by requesting she remain if the prince surrenders his life. Turandot’s entrance aria (in Act II), “In questa reggia,” recounts the reasons for her riddles and brutality – her desire for vengeance on behalf of her ancestress Lou-o-Ling. “Nessun dorma!” is Calaf’s reflection on Turandot’s commandment that no one in the realm shall sleep until she knows his name and shows his resolve in conquering the princess. Liù’s suicide aria, “Tu che di gel sei cinta,” reveals both her crumbling determination under the duress of torture and her desire for Calaf to win the hand of Turandot. In addition to these arias, one other moment of musical practicality and dramaturgical significance merit consideration for its performance traditions: the dramatic climax of acts II. In Act II’s "Riddle scene," where Turandot poses each of her three riddles and Calaf successfully answers them, fermatas precede the statement of each riddle and Calaf’s response to the first and third. The time performers devote to observing these fermatas in relationship to the surrounding musical fabric can indicate varying degrees of gravity, levity, or expediency as the opera’s second dramatic conflict emerges from the resolution of its first.

随着录音技术发展与录音产业兴起，活跃于此时期的知名作曲家的作品，成为了理想的研究案例。贾科莫·普契尼（Giacomo Puccini）是借助技术手段研究传统的绝佳对象：他或许是20世纪所有作曲家中，与技术进步及由此催生的娱乐美学变革关联记录最为完备的一位。在他的十二部歌剧作品中，《图兰朵》（Turandot）是唯一一部首演晚于电子录音技术问世的重要作品，因此它处于20世纪20年代多媒体娱乐技术条件所催生的技术实践与社会美学的交汇点。在全球顶级歌剧院中，纽约大都会歌剧院（Metropolitan Opera）或许拥有最为完备的演出历史记录。2005年，“大都会歌剧院档案馆（The Metropolitan Opera Archives）”上线并开放访问，使其成为全球所有歌剧院中，歌剧演出历史信息最易于获取的来源。通过将这些信息公开并便于获取，大都会歌剧院在歌剧民主化进程中迈出了重要一步，这与近一个世纪前录音技术所带来的变革如出一辙。借助这一全新工具，歌剧爱好者如今能够深化自身的歌剧学习，并由此提升在大都会歌剧院观赏歌剧的体验。因此，大都会歌剧院将歌剧受众的学习社交活动拓展至数字（即广泛可及）领域，除了其广播播出服务外，还旨在跻身歌剧社交领域的前沿阵营。这些转播的诸多录音可通过“大都会歌剧院点播（The Metropolitan Opera On Demand）”在线获取；而纽约公共图书馆（New York Public Library）内的“罗德格斯与哈默斯坦录音档案库（Rodgers and Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound）”，则是这些广播录音实体与数字副本的官方馆藏机构。在这部歌剧当中，出于实践与戏剧结构两方面的考量，有六个段落最适合作为研究对象。普契尼歌剧中的咏叹调为角色提供了戏剧停顿的契机：它们或是情感抒发的节点，或是对周遭事件进行反思的产物。这两类咏叹调在《图兰朵》中均有体现。柳儿（Liù）的第一首咏叹调《Signore, ascolta!》（《主人，请听我说》）兼具上述两种功能：她因卡拉夫（Calaf）宣称要解答图兰朵的谜语而情绪激动。卡拉夫的回应曲《Non piangere, Liù》（《不要哭泣，柳儿》）让他得以温柔安抚柳儿，并通过请求柳儿在自己若牺牲性命时留下，来表达对父亲提穆尔（Timur）的关切。图兰朵的入场咏叹调（第二幕）《In questa reggia》（《在这宫殿里》），讲述了她设置谜语与行事残暴的缘由——她为祖先娄奥玲（Lou-o-Ling）复仇的执念。《Nessun dorma!》（《今夜无人入睡》）是卡拉夫对图兰朵禁令的回应：在他的身份被揭晓前，全城所有人都不得入眠，这首咏叹调展现了他征服公主的决心。柳儿的自杀咏叹调《Tu che di gel sei cinta》（《你那颗冰冷的心》），既展现了她在酷刑威逼下逐渐崩溃的意志，也流露了她希望卡拉夫能够赢得图兰朵芳心的心愿。除了上述咏叹调之外，还有一处兼具实践意义与戏剧结构价值的段落值得结合演出传统进行研究，即第二幕的戏剧高潮。在第二幕的“猜谜场景”中，图兰朵依次提出三道谜语，而卡拉夫全部成功解答。每道谜语的宣读以及卡拉夫对第一、第三道谜语的回应之前，均有延长记号（fermatas）。演奏者在演奏中，相对于周边音乐织体，对这些延长记号的处理时长，会体现出不同程度的庄重感、轻松感或随性处理——此时歌剧的第二重戏剧冲突，正由第一重冲突的解决中逐渐浮现。