Parlando
Speech-like, lightly scanned singing.
What it means
Parlando means “speaking” and calls for a performance that comes close to the speaking voice: light, clearly articulated, with little tonal volume and without a fully formed cantilena. The pitches, however, remain fixed — unlike Sprechstimme, which indicates only directions. What is meant, then, is sung text with a speech-like gesture. The instruction applies equally to instrumentalists, for whom it demands a speech-like, articulated performance.
In the notation
The word stands in italics above the staff and applies to the following section. It is often found with fast syllable sequences with many note repetitions and short note values. Additions such as parlando e leggero refine the desired lightness.
Musical use
Speech-like performance belongs to comic opera, where verbal wit and tempo are decisive and a full-toned vocal line would disturb. It is also at home in recitative and in narrative sections. In twentieth-century music it appears in manifold gradations between singing and speaking; there the exact instruction must be watched, because the terms are not used uniformly. Compared with full singing, the parlando gains in clarity and mobility and loses in sustaining power — it therefore demands consideration in the accompaniment.
Performance practice
Practise the text first spoken in rhythm and increase the tempo step by step; clarity comes from the consonants, not from volume. Keep the tone supported despite the lightness, otherwise intonation becomes uncertain and the voice tires. Avoid pressing into the throat when the passage becomes fast. Discuss the balance with the conductor or accompaniment, because such passages are easily covered. Plan breathing places deliberately, even though the performance seems speech-like.
Bear in mind that speech-like performance easily lets the voice slip into the throat when a passage becomes fast: keep the tone supported and maintain breath control, even when the gesture is speech-like. Plan breathing places deliberately. With twentieth-century works, check the preface, since the terms are used inconsistently.