Comparing The Approach To Gender In Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and Saariaho’s ‘Adriana Mater’ PDF

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Comparing The Approach To Gender In Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and Saariaho’s ‘Adriana Mater’ Dan Peeke Word Count: 3048 The approach to gender in both opera and music as a whole has shifted dramatically over time. This includes the gender divide in composition as a profession and the portrayal of gender within music. Composition has always been, and remains to this day, an inherently male field. This, of course, isn’t to say there aren’t millions of talented female composers active today and millions more who have been active across history. However, due to the patriarchal structure of the music industry, very few female composers have truly achieved fame akin to that of their male counterparts; even Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn remain overshadowed by their husbands. As time has gone on, female composers have become far less of a rarity. Ethel Smyth, Amy Beach, Florence Price, Lili Boulanger and Elizabeth Maconchy are just a few of those born in the latter 19th century who established impressive careers that existed parallel to the Suffragette Movement. Following these came Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. She composed three operas between 2000 and 2010, each contrasting the expected depiction of gender in operas. I’ll be comparing her 2005 piece ‘Adriana Mater’ (act 11 and act 22) with ‘La Traviata’3, a 1853 piece by Giuseppe Verdi. It is the third of three Verdi pieces from within a threeyear period ( 1851-1853) in which a female character dies at the end of the story. The first and most obvious way in which gender representation has developed in the years between ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Adriana Mater’ is that the latter is composed by a woman; finding a well-known opera composed by a woman in the mid-19th century would relatively challenging. While Saariaho and Verdi both came up with the story and composed every note of their pieces themselves, each had a librettist write the words. Verdi chose Salvadore Cammarano, while Saariaho chose Amin Maalouf. Both of these librettists are men. On the surface, handing this role to a man seems to negate slightly from the poignancy of Saariaho’s success as a female composer who is writing pieces that paint the female characters with positivity. However, the very fact that such a feminist libretto comes from a man shows the attitude progression which has slowly taken place in opera. Having said that, Maalouf has made a couple of slightly questionable comments on his role in ‘Adriana Mater’. Firstly, when asked who conceived the initial idea, he explains that he ‘think[s] the idea of ‘Adriana Mater’ came mainly from [him],”4 providing a suggestion that he assumes the idea was his, even though he isn’t totally sure. Later in the same interview, he explains how the aspect of “complicated motherhood came of course from [Saariaho],” implying that he feels it obvious that the woman involved is “of course” the one who came up with the more feminine aspect of the story. It is certainly true that she is likely to have more experience than him, but the idea of this “of course” coming from a woman seems slightly outdated. These two quotes give an indication of a (perhaps unintentional and certainly not malicious) man retaining the position of power and dominance in the creative process, and thus a ‘traditional’ expectation of gender roles. Matthew Timmermans claims that “it is undeniable that almost all opera plots are degrading to women.”5 His claim seems accurate when looking at ‘La Traviata’ on a large scale: It is focused on a rich, successful courtesan, Violetta, who has recently recovered from tuberculosis. The story shows her avoiding the advances of Alfredo, before succumbing to his charm and giving up her former life to be with him. Eventually her illness returns and she dies in his arms. Her story creates a character who often seems judgemental, Saariaho, K (2006). Adriana Mater Act 1 Vocal Score. ISSUU. [Online] Available at: https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/adriana_mater_acti_vs_14461/4 2 Saariaho, K (2006). Adriana Mater Act 2 Vocal Score. ISSUU. [Online] Available at: https://issuu.com/scoresondemand/docs/adriana_mater_actii_vs_14461 3 Verdi, G (1853). La Traviata Full Score. IMSLP. [Online] Available at: https://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/6/6c/IMSLP514870-PMLP16223Verdi_-_La_traviata.pdf 4 Maalouf, A in Geyer C (2006). Amin Maalouf: Up-Close With The Man From ‘Afar’. Myscena.org. [Online] Available at: https://myscena.org/charles-geyer/amin-maalouf-close-man-afar/ 5 Timmermans, M (2018). Is Opera A Misogynistic Art Form, Or A Chance At Redemption? Ludwig-Van.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2018/03/08/editorial-is-opera-a-misogynistic-art-form-or-a-chance-at-redemption/

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impressionable and weak, living in a world where she is mostly dominated by, and subservient to, men until she eventually succumbs to her illness and dies . ‘Adriana Mater’ gives the man the responsibility for the tragic element from the start- its opening quite literally depicts a rape (the ‘fault’ of Violetta’s death is , in a way, presented as a result of her own weakness). It follows the titular main character as she navigates a modern civil war, raising her son who was the product of said rape years earlier. Adriana is a victim of male violence, surrounded by male violence and entrenched in a patriarchal society, but ends up being shown to be powerful and successful, remaining caring and gentle throughout. The depiction of men in the two operas is arguably even more contrasting. ‘La Traviata’ follows a cast mostly made up of men, the most prominent of which, Alfredo, is (mostly) seen as gentle, irresistible and dominant, with his influence causing Violetta to fall in love with him and leave her successful former life behind. ‘Adriana Mater’ has just two male characters. Tsargo is a violent, evil rapist (and Yonas’ father), while Yonas is shown to have the potential to turn into someone as cruel and violent as his father. The depiction of Yonas’ male traits is arguably most distinct at the end of the opera, even without his presence in the scene. Adriana says, “if he is meant to kill him, then he will kill him”. By surrounding the two uses of the violent word “kill” with four male pronouns ( “he”, “him”, “he”, “him”), she is creating a very strong association between ‘maleness’ and violence. After Yonas decided not to killed Tsargo, she says “we are not avenged, but we are saved”. Here, she changes the pronoun to include herself (“we”), disassociating ‘maleness’ from the positivity of the word “saved”. In a way, ‘Adriana Mater’ is concluded with Yonas losing the traits the opera deems as ‘male’ (violence, anger, revenge), and replaces them with the traits it has suggested to be ‘female’ (compassion, forgiveness, kindness). With Yonas’ redemption from his ‘male’ traits at the end of ‘Adriana Mater’ comes the suggestion that men can be as good as women. When Violetta dies in ‘La Traviata’, there is no suggestion that she, as a woman, can regain her health. The violence of men is actually a trait ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Adriana Mater’ seem to share. The male characters are shown to take up the more argumentative, loud stances, while Alfredo himself is involved in a duel and is shown to jump to angry conclusions quickly. The male response to these angry conclusions, however, again shows the contrast between the two operas. In his libretto, Salvadore Cammarano chooses the line, “ignoble insulter of women go away from here, you fill us with horror,” to be one of the first things said to Alfredo after he publicly humiliates Violetta. Even his father reprimands him for his actions: “A man who, even in anger, offends a woman, renders himself deserving of contempt.” This paints the men in a much more chivalrous light than ‘Adriana Mater’, showing them to be supportive and respectful toward the female characters in a way that almost mirrors the way Amin Maalouf’s paints the redemption of Yonas. It’s as though the male characters in ‘La Traviata’ already possess the chivalry and respectfulness that it takes Yonas many years to learn, demonstrating more positivity towards male traits in Verdi’s work than Saariaho’s. Moving away from the libretto, both Verdi and Saariaho make a lot of musical decisions that emphasise the approach to gender in their respective operas. Being a very modern piece, ‘Adriana Mater’ is limited by very little. Extremes of dissonance, complexity, dynamic, texture and chromaticism are rife throughout. When comparing the piece to Debussy’s ‘Pelleas Et Melisande’, Andrew Clements suggests that Saariaho’s ‘orchestral climaxes are far more violent than anything in Debussy's score.’6 In ‘La Traviata’, the performance instructions are less detailed and the chromaticism, dissonance and dynamics are far less extreme. This is an innate difference simply caused by the time periods within which the two works are composed. While Verdi does experiment with some borderline modernist techniques (such as placing a band off-stage to play a waltz), the opera is relatively typical in its romanticism. These baseline differences in style make the actual musical content rather challenging to compare. However, it is clear that Verdi makes sure to evolve his compositional style alongside the character of Violetta. For example, he surrounds her in hectic drama during the first act, hinting towards a carefree and relatively unpleasant personality. By act 3, the music that follows her seems to suggest weakness and impending death. Interestingly, this compositional decision paints a feeling of weakness and hopelessness, suggesting that Violetta has very little chance of survival, rather than providing her with music of any sort of hopeful Clements, A (2008). Adriana Mater Review. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/apr/28/classicalmusicandopera

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tone. There are various other compositional details littered throughout both works that support their gender representation.

[Figure 1]

The passage that most clearly demonstrates contrast between the male and female characters in ‘Adriana Mater’ comes between bar 65-81 of scene two At bar 71-72 [figure 1], Tsargo is shown aggressively demanding that Adriana “open up, quickly!”, with the performance instruction suggesting that he sings

‘Agitato’. Musically, the interval between bar 71-72 is that of a disjunct tritone, and the accompaniment below is particularly dissonant. The three fff chords of bar 72 combine a seven-note chord (C#, D#, E, F#, G, Ab, B) with an E in the melody line above. Tsargo’s demanding words delivered in an aggressive way against such a violent accompaniment speak volumes of his character. In contrast, Adriana’s reply enters alongside a tempo change and the ‘Più Calmo’ (‘calmer’) instruction. While still dissonant (as one would expect from the modernist style of the opera), there is a distinct change in musical material. Adriana’s words are sung over gentler, held chords. Despite the presence of Bb and G# do create the feeling that the 5th is both flattened and sharpened simultaneously creating a strong dissonance, the consonance of a D major chord is particularly prominent. Her melody is far more lyrical and her words are almost caring (“are you wounded?”). This is stark contrast to Tsargo’s previous lines, or the immediate return to crushing atonality when he speaks again: an ‘Agitato’, ‘Impazientemente’ singing style, and confrontational, demanding words from bar 77. This portrayal of maleness is furthered later on when Yonas’ discovers that Adriana lied to him about his father (act 2, scene 1, bar 99-102) [figure 2]. This scene is particularly dramatic and loud, with a tritone interval opening his melody line. When we return to Adriana a

[Figure 2]

couple of bars later, she gently asks “who told you?”, at a pp dynamic with a ‘Subito Sotto Voce’ performance instruction, thus returning to the calming tones around which the female characters are surrounded.

[Figure 3]

A further difference in portrayal can be seen when Violetta is dying. The male characters are provided with very sympathetic, emotional sides that contrast the anger of those in ‘Adriana Mater’. As [figure 3] shows, Giorgio and Alfredo’s final words are “oh, my pain!”. This line is presented without melody, instead remaining on an unmoving, monotonous ‘D’ note to further represent their anguish. This expression of sadness and sympathy, in particular towards a female character, is something avoided in the portrayal of men in ‘Adriana Mater’ until the redemption (in which he demonstrates the traits given to the ‘female’ character) of Yonas at the very end.

Certain other elements require a little more hypothetical analysis. There are instances when Verdi seems to associate his heroine with negative, unpleasant music. The first theme associated directly to Violetta is the ‘Frailty’ theme, a theme “in which her dying gasps are so vividly represented.”7 This theme is in B minor, played at a ppp dynamic and uses many descending (often chromatic) melodies to suggest her sickliness and weakness. While the theme has a practical element in its storyline exposition, the fact that this is the first we hear of Violetta makes the listener’s first experience with the character a negative one. After hearing the rest of the opera, it becomes clear that there are many traits of her that aren’t weak or sickly at all, yet this is the idea we are first presented with. This becomes even more interesting when we learn that this ‘Frailty’ theme is primarily designed to depict her death at the end; in essence, the first thing we learn about the main female character is her impending death, which instantly associates Violetta to weakness and 7

Parker, R in Khan, G (1981). La Traviata: Giuseppe Verdi. ‘Verdi And La Traviata: Two Routes To Realism’. Overture Publishing, London. p29.

hopelessness. This is directly comparable to the way Minnie (from Puccini’s ‘La Fancullia Del West’) has her “virginal, innocent side depicted in a few, boldly drawn moments,” 8 painting the weaker aspects of the female character as the first thing we learn about them. Furthermore, one of the many operas Verdi created that ended with the death of the female heroine, ‘Aida’, uses the titular character’s final notes to “depict the weakness of the body, the physical disintegration that comes with the emotional extremity of Aida's position.”9 This is yet another example of female weakness being painted musically in opera. Having said that, Violetta’s ‘Love’ theme is in E major and built on a luscious melody, played much faster and louder with regularity and poise. This shows Verdi painting the character in a much more positive light. At first, this seems like Verdi reviving the positive traits in his female lead : It “depicts the vigorous life that still resides in Violetta... characterised by a somewhat faster tempo, warmer tone, and consistent four-bar phrase lengths.”10 However, an undertone of negativity and weakness remains implied beneath its brightness. While specifically designed to demonstrate her love for Alfredo, this more positive, vigorous theme only exists thanks to the character latching on to, and being driven forward by, the involvement of a man. She is about to abandon her former life and self-created success to follow a man. This is an implication that her fate is being decided by someone else, thus further suggesting personal weakness.

[Figure 4]

Musically, ‘Adriana Mater’ also uses tonality, dissonance and dynamics to portray the general traits of the characters, though as with its libretto, mostly in the opposite way to ‘La Traviata’. When Tsargo is introduced in bar 121 of the first act [figure 4], the performance direction simply states, ‘Con Violenza’. This isn’t a standard musical instruction, and so its presence immediately gives the performer a sense of the type of character they are playing, while providing the audience an unpleasant, aggressive first encounter with a male in the piece. This links directly to how Violetta is first introduced to the audience as weak.

On top of that, the first four intervals Tsargo sings are a semitone, an augmented 2nd, a semitone and a tritone. These are arguably the most jarring musical intervals available, adding a twisting sense of ugliness to the character. Even much later on in the piece, the idea of the male performers singing ‘with violence’ is still very much prominent; bar 285 of the third scene of act 1, for example, reiterates the instruction alongside a hauntingly chromatic melody . If one were to compare this to Adriana’s introduction just a few bars earlier (bar 58) [figure 5], the instruction to sing with ‘feeling’ and ‘passion’ is present, seeming far more delicate than the ‘violence’ of the male part. Furthermore, aside from the opening semitone descent, Adriana’s first intervals are a perfect 5th and a minor 3rd, which are far more amicable to the ear of the listener. The consistency of Adriana’s calm, kind nature is confirmed even at the opposite end of the piece. Bar 491 of the third scene of act 1 reprises this theme, with the consonant perfect 5th and minor 3rd intervals

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Senici, E (2005). Landscape And Gender In Italian Opera. Cambridge University Press. p233. Smart, M A (2000). Siren Songs. ‘Ulterior Motives: Verdi’s Recurring Themes Revisited. Princeton University Press. p158. 10 Easley, D (2005). Tonality And Drama In Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’. Louisiana State University. [Online] Available at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1951&context=gradschool_theses. p27. 9

[Figure 5]

remaining in place. These portrayals suggest a consistent approach to gender across ‘Adriana Mater’: Male aggression and tension; female calm and composure.

[Figure 6]

There are certain elements within the melodic content of ‘La Traviata’ that align with ‘Adriana Mater’, including when Violetta “weaves a shower of feminine ornaments around” 11 her vocal lines. There is also some overlap in male portrayal. When Giorgio and Violetta first meet in act 2, Giorgio is shown to deliver his first words ‘strongly’, while Violetta invites him to sit down. This shows the male figure in the scenario acting with aggression, while the female maintains a suggestion of politeness and a welcoming nature [figure 6]. This furthers the link between maleness and aggression as suggested above, and is one of the few ideologies the two operas share at times.

Interestingly, this is the one thing that remains consistent between the wider operatic work of Verdi and Saariaho. As mentioned towards the start of this essay, Verdi wrote three operas in three years in which the female heroine dies at the end, maintaining a strong sense of female weakness. Similarly, all three of Saariaho’s operas use strong female protagonists, and put the responsibility for negative elements at the fault of the man. However, all of these examples share the idea of men being louder, more forceful and more aggressive, no matter how much they differ in just about every other way. To an extent, Saariaho’s ‘Adriana Matter’ demonstrates a step in the right direction for the portrayal of gender in opera. The patriarchal, misogyny is gone, but perhaps a little too far gone. It reads more like a retaliation to the historical misogyny in opera rather than a response to it, almost reversing the gender

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Parker, R in Khan, G (1981). La Traviata: Giuseppe Verdi. ‘Verdi And La Traviata: Two Routes To Realism’. Overture Publishing, London. p29.

depiction rather than balancing it. Having said that, from analysis of both operas, it doesn’t seem that Verdi was a misogynist, or that Saariaho is vehemently anti-male. Though the two pieces detailed above show a clear contrast between the depiction of gender in opera over the years, there are various modern works that show how far the genre has come. For example, Angelica Negrón’s ‘Chimera’ is currently in production. It tackles a subject that wouldn’t have been dreamt of even fifty years ago: a “drag opera exploring the int...