...Repetition...Here's something I had mused on many years ago: Why the heck is that soprano singing the same words and musical motif over and over again in that aria? I thiiiiiink we get the idea after the third time, lady...
But really, have you ever thought about it? Why would someone write that on paper? Why would a composer have someone sing the same lyrics and the same music over and over again? As filler? Just for kicks?
No. The reason why Ariodante sings "Scherza infida" over and over and over and over again as he sings about how he was betrayed by his love is because that's how we humans ARE. Our minds our souls don't EVER say or think something just once or even just twice.
Arias are places where characters bare their souls. The music, the words-- these are not just scribbles or black dots on a couple of lines on paper. It's their soul.
The audience's responsibility is to understand what's happening on stage during those moments and the performer's responsibility is to portray that music and those words with as much honesty and humanity as possible.
"Opera was invented because the spoken word was inadequate." --Graham Vick
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