Essenzielles Wissen und grundlegende Kompetenzen. Das "Largo concertato" aus Giuseppe Verdis "Macbeth"

Giuseppina La Face

doi:10.6092/issn.2039-9715/8836

Authors

Giuseppina La Face Università di Bologna http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4703-0015
Giuseppina La Face, is the founder and editor-in-chief of this journal, as well as the current editor-in-chief of “Il Saggiatore musicale” (Firenze, Leo S. Olschki, published since 1994). She was Full Professor of Musicology and Music History at Bologna University, where, from 2007 to 2018, she directed the Department for Music and Performing Arts, which later developed into the Arts Department. After carrying out research on late 14th-century Italian polyphony and Schubert’s Lieder production, in the past two decades she has given strong impetus to research in the fields of Music Pedagogy and Music Education, both in Italy (see, among several publications, the anthologies Educazione musicale e Formazione and La musica tra conoscere e fare, Milan, 2008 e 2011) and on an international level, by promoting and coordinating a Study Group on “Transmission of Knowledge as a Primary Aim in Music Education” within the International Musicological Society (since 2012). She coordinates the Rete Universitaria per l'Educazione musicale (University Network for Music Education; 10 Italian universities)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2039-9715/8836

Keywords:

Largo concertato, Shakespeare, Listening didactics

Abstract

Taking a particularly representative page from Verdi’s Macbeth (1847) as an example, this article argues that what is important in school teaching is to select pertinent didactic items - namely those that can convey ‘essential knowledge’ about the subject being taught, and are also relevant from a cultural and educational perspective. The example used here is the so-called ‘Largo concertato’, a musical and theatrical structure which, in 19th-century Italian opera, usually coincides with a dramatic, emotionally charged climax resulting from a plot twist. The concertato from the first finale of Macbeth is described first of all in relation to the overall meaning of the play, including the necessary references to Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name. The analysis subsequently focuses on the morphological level, and is carried out on the basis of both the libretto and the score. Finally, the piece is placed in its historical context with the help of a comparative test: the term for comparison is the no less famous Largo concertato from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835).