Everybody knows Luciano Pavarotti, the most famous Italian opera singer of all time. And everybody always thought that his way of singing was unique, not just because he was Pavarotti. But because it’s opera singing. Now, it is certified that opera singing is unique in the world.
UNESCO included Italian opera singing in the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, during the last meeting of the members of the Commission held in Botswana. The recognition came after a process started in 2011 when solo opera singers formed an association to bring together the artists of the category to spread the value of music and opera theater as an excellence of Italian culture. UNESCO has included two other elements concerning Italy in the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity: traditional irrigation and seasonal transhumance of livestock. Unlike opera singing, whose recognition only concerns Italy, in the other two cases the practice is shared with other countries.
Here’s the motivation why UNESCO included Italian opera singing in the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Italian opera singing is a physiologically controlled way of singing that enhances the carrying power of the voice in acoustic spaces such as auditoriums, amphitheaters, arenas and churches. Performed by people of all genders, it is associated with specific facial expressions and body gestures and involves a combination of music, drama, acting and staging. Singers are identified by vocal range and colour and divided into several registers (tenor, baritone, bass, soprano, mezzo-soprano and alto). The knowledge and skills related to Italian opera singing are transmitted orally between a maestro and pupil, through vocal exercises and the gradual introduction of different musical repertoires and styles. Performances in recitals, singing schools and workshops also contribute to the transmission of the practice, as well as formal education in conservatories and academies. Furthermore, the beginning of an opera season often coincides with local festivities and ceremonies. The practice promotes collective cohesion and sociocultural memory, and is closely linked with other cultural elements, such as acoustic places and poetry. It is also dependent on other professions such as stage and light design, costume tailoring, scenography and makeup. A means of free expression and intergenerational dialogue, its cultural value is recognized at national and international levels.
UNESCO
Opera in the modern sense was born in Florence at the end of the 16th century, when the so-called Florentine Camerata, a group of poets, musicians and writers who met in the house of Count Giovanni Bardi, tried to revive the ancient Greek tragedy in new forms in which poetry, music, dance and stage action were united in a varied and at the same time unitary show. The idea was to create music as close as possible to a poetic text (this style was in fact defined as recitar cantando, acting singing) and to highlight the solo voice in a monodic song, opposing the polyphonic style prevalent at that time (polyphony). The first known work is Dafne (around 1598) with verses by Ottavio Rinuccini and music by Jacopo Peri (with pieces by Jacopo Corsi), of which only some of the music has survived.
The intangible cultural heritage of humanity according to UNESCO includes traditions transmitted within a community, such as social practices, traditions, rites, festivals, oral expressions, artistic or practices related to nature and craftsmanship, as well as tools, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces linked to them. With the addition of opera singing, Italy now has 19 elements considered by UNESCO to be the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Here’s the list.
- Canto a tenore, Sardinian pastoral songs
- Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre
- Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona
- Mediterranean diet
- Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures
- Traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the ‘vite ad alberello’ (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria
- Art of Neapolitan ‘Pizzaiuolo’
- Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques
- Alpinism
- Celestinian forgiveness celebration
- The art of glass beads
- Musical art of horn players, an instrumental technique linked to singing, breath control, vibrato, resonance of place and conviviality
- Falconry, a living human heritage
- Truffle hunting and extraction in Italy, traditional knowledge and practice
- Tocatì, a shared programme for the safeguarding of traditional games and sports
- Lipizzan horse breeding traditions
- The practice of opera singing in Italy
- Traditional irrigation: knowledge, technique, and organization
- Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock
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Stay Blessed – Mel
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