Activities per year
Abstract
Solo singing is associated with the expression of passions during the 17th century. Cantatas were sung by women as well as castrati, playing an ambivalent game on gender, eroticism, and passions. Contemporary testimonies of these performances juxtaposed with the medical theory of the humors shows that both are based on the idea of a perfect male body, a and womanish body of the castrato, and an even worse female body. Poems reflect the conventional tropes of the male gaze: the lover oscillates between hot and cold; he is consumed by the fire of passion and frozen by the unwavering cruelty of his beloved. While we rightly read such changes of temperature as standardized extravagances of poetics, they are also deeply rooted in Early Modern scientific theories of the body. Performance was one part of sophisticated entertainments along with improvisation of poetry, discourses on love, and games of eloquence.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | The Emotional Power of Music : Multidisciplinary perspectives on musical arousal, expression, and social control |
| Editors | Tom Cochrane, Bernardino Fantini, Klaus Scherer |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Place of Publication | Oxford |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publication date | 2013 |
| Pages | 85-101, 359-69 |
| Chapter | 7 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978–0–19–965488–8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Gender Ambivalence and The Expression of Passions in the Performances of Early Roman Cantatas by Castrati and Female Singers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Activities
- 1 Lecture and oral contribution
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"Bodies of Eloquence and Eroticism: Female Singers and Castrati in 17th-century Rome" Renaissance Society of America, New York NY (USA)
Jeanneret, C. (Lecturer)
26 Mar 2014 → 29 Mar 2014Activity: Talk or presentation types › Lecture and oral contribution