How to Use recitative in a Sentence

recitative

noun
  • The opera made use of recitative.
  • This is done with Taub’s sheer skills with the song styles varying from strong recitatives to insightful arias and battle cries.
    — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
  • The conducting was brisk and buoyant, the recitatives clear and expressive.
    — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 21 Aug. 2017
  • Jokes about tenors or recitatives, for instance, playfully turn the spotlight on the conventions of the genre.
    — Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2016
  • Soprano Golda Schultz was frankly perfect in her recitatives and arias.
    — Special To The Plain Dealer, cleveland.com, 19 Jan. 2018
  • His soliloquy consists of a grim prelude, a spacious recitative and a grand aria in the standard two-part (slow-fast) form.
    — Will Crutchfield, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2020
  • The recitatives that had been thought to be the opera’s longueurs here were shown to be, in fact, as subtly inflected as Gregorian chant.
    — Mark Swed, latimes.com, 14 June 2017
  • The dramatis personae at the empty tomb are represented in recitatives and a long soprano aria.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 1 May 2023
  • Thanks to the conductor Ryan Brown and the four singers, the recitatives between the set pieces stayed suspenseful; the act took us through quite a spectrum.
    — Alastair MacAulay, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2018
  • It’s all performed in a childlike sing-songy yet occasional atonal operatic recitative.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 18 May 2021
  • Monteverdi, though, was careful to avoid long stretches of uninterrupted recitative.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2017
  • This was aided by Nelsons’s crisp conducting and the occasional arpeggio from a harpsichord in the recitatives.
    — Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023
  • The harpsichord, usually heard only in recitatives, joined some of the arias and ensembles in witty, improvisatory fashion.
    — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 1 May 2017
  • The sound of the cello cuts in like a pang of guilt, then tumbles down in wistful figures, becoming the voice of his conscience and delivering a recitative of grizzled remorse and tenderness.
    — Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2021
  • Arias, recitatives and choruses are more like ruminations from the King James Bible, as part of a spiritual journey.
    — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2026
  • Instead of the traditional alternation of sung-text recitative and arias (songs), verismo operas are more seamless in how songs are interwoven with the story.
    — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Hugo Hymas was responsible for both the Evangelist’s zealous recitatives and the first choir’s tenor part, and rose admirably to his Herculean task.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 June 2019
  • These collective manipulations lend a creepy element to the recitatives, which were otherwise performed as Handel wrote them.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 14 July 2017
  • Holding it all together was conductor Harry Bicket, who also played harpsichord for the recitatives.
    — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 7 Feb. 2020
  • Addressing the crowd in Norma’s first lines of dramatic recitative, Monastyrska got off to a rough start, her tone turning harsh at the top of her range and not ideally centered on pitch.
    — Eric Skelly, Houston Chronicle, 1 May 2018
  • This is accomplished in 34 short musical numbers, including arias, ariosos, choruses, recitatives and chorales.
    — Alan Artner, chicagotribune.com, 16 May 2017
  • Here, with help from the pop/rock orchestration of music director Ben Kapilow, brief speech slides gracefully into recitative, then bursts into song as the passion of the speaker rises.
    — Hugh Hunter, Philly.com, 4 Feb. 2018
  • Abreu brings off the suicidal artist’s 30-minute succession of arias and accompanied recitatives most skillfully, while Mortellaro makes a most alluring love-object.
    — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 15 Apr. 2018
  • Her entrance to the short second recitative was particularly noteworthy, powerful without being overbearing.
    — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 22 Feb. 2021
  • Out of five arias and four recitatives, Forsythe and a vivacious orchestra under Jeannette Sorrell crafted so many individual scenes, each with its own character and mood.
    — Zachary Lewis, cleveland.com, 12 Feb. 2018
  • The vocal writing concentrates on recitative, relying on the instrumental accompaniment and static harmony to bind passages together.
    — Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2023
  • The upper limits of baritone range were successfully traveled by Jonathan Nussbaum as the humorously demonic valet, whose one-note recitative slowly, uncomfortably climbs up the chromatic scale with each line.
    — Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'recitative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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