Under the influence of the Renaissance, opera came into being, and Bel Canto was gradually improved. Perrigan wrote the earliest Italian operas Daphne and Eurydice in 1600. The composer's creation made opera break through the previous singing method. Opera requires the combination of aria and recitation; Require the combination of chorus and duet; Recitation needs enough breath support, and bright and beautiful sound needs to penetrate the symphony and be sent to the audience's ears. The appearance of opera makes bel canto perfect day by day.
Bel Canto was introduced to China after the May 4th Movement and gradually took root in this ancient land of China. Bel canto has undoubtedly played a great role in promoting the art of vocal music in China. In recent years, young players from China have won prizes in international vocal music competitions, which further shows that the artistic level of using Bel Canto to explain and express foreign vocal music works has reached a considerable level. But how to make China's vocal music go global? How to combine the advantages of Bel Canto with China's vocal art and language characteristics to form the China Vocal School has a lot of hard and meticulous work, which requires the unremitting efforts of professional and amateur vocal lovers.
In Italian, Bel Canto is called Bel Canto. When China began to introduce this singing method, Bel Canto was translated into "Bel Canto", and people who studied this singing method were collectively called "Bel Canto School". In fact, the real meaning of the word bel canto in Italian is "perfect singing" Let's analyze "Bel Canto" and "Perfect Singing" carefully.
"The meaning is inconsistent." Perfect singing "includes not only the voice, but also the content of singing and the singer's demeanor, appearance, temperament and so on." And "Bel Canto" can be easily understood as a kind of singing with "beautiful voice" as its name implies. Understanding "perfect singing" as "beautiful voice", in the words of Teacher Tian Yubin, this incomplete and inaccurate understanding has taken some detours in the development of vocal music in China. Bel canto is largely understood as attaching importance to sound, which is above everything else, while ignoring other aspects of learning. As a result, many people who learn Bel Canto either emphasize words over feelings in their study and actual singing, and even some singers not only emphasize words over feelings, but also put on airs, which makes singing very touching.
For the above reasons, some people in the vocal music circle once advocated changing "Bel Canto" to "Bel Canto". Its purpose is also to accurately understand the meaning of Bel Canto and avoid deviation in understanding and practice. In fact, "song" and "sound" cannot be equated. "Sound" is the "carrier" of "song", but it never embodies the content of "song". In the case that the title of "Bel Canto" has been established, it is of no practical significance to make a fuss about the name. We can continue to use the established title of "Bel Canto", but the key is how to combine Bel Canto with the singing language in China, so that singers can not only sing foreign songs well, but also sing China songs well.
To use Bel Canto well, we should also understand the actual content and principle of Bel Canto. Mr. Keno Becky's series of views and expositions on Bel Canto in the lecture were summarized by Teacher Tian Yubin as follows:
(1) Bel Canto has a voice; (2) Bel Canto requires a unified vocal area; (3) Bel Canto requires consistent vowels and clear articulation; (4) Bel Canto requires coherent voice; (5) Bel Canto requires good musical literacy;
(6) Bel Canto requires both voice and emotion.
The above six points are the important contents of Bel Canto, which can also be said to be six important principles. It is called a principle because people who study bel canto must strictly abide by it, otherwise it is likely to be an incomplete and imperfect bel canto.