Opera has been described as an art form whereby singers and musicians indulge in thespian work that brings together both text and musical store in a theatrical setting. Text in opera is also described as libretto. According to scholars, opera was introduced in France from Italy before 1650. It however was unable to take a firm hold in Paris within the royal circles and other audiences because it had to compete unfairly on unequal terms with the spoken drama and the ballet that was the favorite form musical entertainment at courts. Lully an immigrant from Italy, who died in 1687, shaped the history of opera in France down to the mid 19th century (Sadie, 25). His operas endeared a lot of people to opera. His texts were of high quality. They had …show more content…
After the defeat of Napoleon, the Bourbon monarch brought an atmosphere of music back in Paris. However, the period preceding Bourbon’s monarch saw a rise of a strong and powerful middle class that led to the formation grand opera. The grand opera concentrate on the spectacular elements of production. Though the grand opera received widespread attention in Paris, the Opera comique was deemed more popular. The popularity was attributed to opera comique’s use of spoken dialogue as opposed to recitative singing, which made the music and plot simpler than grand opera. Opera comique used pre-existing tunes that were coiled to come up with new words. The Bouffes-Parisien, on the other hand, is credited with popularizing a new opera genre known as the ‘operetta’. Operettas are considered as less serious as compared to other operas. Operetta’s librettos were often spoken as opposed to been sung and singers were given periodic dialogue that was inserted in the musical segments and performed without singing. The lyric opera is a fusion of grand opera and opera comique. Its works relied heavily on the beauty of the plot’s melodies. Naturalism was seen as a dissident of romanticism. It rebelled against romanticism in that it sought to portray life as it is by depicting people from the lower social classes. The early 20th century also experienced a variety of changes in the opera. Opera comique stepped away from comedy only and started getting involved in subjects that were taken to be serious. Opera comique composers started using descriptive titles for works that were deemed to be lacking any trace of comedy. French opera composers also started getting attracted to classical themes in bid of widening their audience to include persons from all classes. The 20th century also saw the use of Romantic Ballet in theaters that was regarded as in important tool in
Carmen is an opera written by famous French composer George Bizet in 1873. The libretto was written in French by Henri Meilhac and Ludohvic Halevy, with its plot being based on a novella also entitled Carmen, which was written in 1845. The story centers around two main characters: Don Jose, a naïve corporal and Carmen, a seductive Gypsy. Throughout the opera these characters experience have an emotional love experience, although it ends with one dying. Bizet portrayed the ideals of both realism and exoticism within this particular work, which is one of the reasons why it became one of the most popular Western operas in history.
In the early 17th century, opera was just beginning to become very popular after Giacopo Peri’s famous opera Dafne. Opera was a new musical form that exploded into an extremely popular event by Italian baroque composers Giulio Caccini, Giacopo Peri, Giovanni De Bardi and Claudio Monteverdi. The word opera itself originated from the Italian word for work. Dafne caused a large growth of interest for the operatic arts throughout Europe spiraling from Italian composers like Monteverdi and Peri, to Purcell in England, all composing different types of operas. Claudio Monteverdi, one of the most influential early baroque composers of his time, marked the transitions between the renaissance period and the baroque. Monteverdi wrote the innovative opera, L’orfeo. This libretto is based of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Orpheus’ venture into the underworld to save the one he loves. L’orfeo’s libretto was written by Alexandro Striggio in Mantua, Italy on February 24, 1607. (whenham) Monteverdi’s L’orfeo had a profound impact on opera today due to his personal accomplishments as an early baroque composer, and the classic Greek story’s success with using deep symbolism throughout the libretto.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s composed the opera Cosi fan Tutte in which is a musical classical masterpiece depicting the, story, strength, struggle and tests on love amongst individuals. A beautiful depiction of this opera took place at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on May 3, 2014. The concept of Cosi fan Tutte has been that a man Don Alfonso is trying to persuade and prove to two young officers Ferrando and Guglielmo that their women are unfaithful. Don Alfonso claims that “a woman’s constancy is like the phoenix in which everyone talks about it but no one has actually seen it” (“Synopsis”). Throughout the progression of the opera sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are blindsided and fooled by Alfonso, Ferrando, Guglielmo, and their maid Despina regarding in their attempt to get the young women to fall for other men (which are actually Ferrando and Guglielmo disguised) to prove that they are indeed unfaithful. The performing media included an orchestra that was conducted by conductor James Levine. The librettist who had written the libretto or text of this opera was Lorenzo Da Ponte. This classical orchestra contained instruments from the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. The instrumentation consisted of 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, and Strings including first violins, second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses. Preceding Act 1 of the opera, Levine conducted an overture that helped to transition into the beginning of the first act. Don Alfonso, Ferrando, and Guglielmo opened up the act otherwise known as trio. In both acts of the production, performers spoke in recitative, or speaking to music, to get their emotion and view across to the other performe...
The book's intend is not to illustrate politics as the major cause or result of opera but that the influence exist and to refute the common downplay and negligence of politics in opera from critics. In all chapters, the author follows a similar pattern in presenting his arguments.
From that point on, he successfully founded modern French opera. “His involvement was not limited to musical composition. He collaborated with his poets in the production of libretti, and even took an interest in the acting and declamation of the performers. His insistence on discipline and high artistic standards in the opera orchestra was legendary” (Straughan (a))
From the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance, there was a movement from vocal music to a combination of vocal and instrumental music (Brown, 1976). There are seven categories of instrumental music: 1) vocal music played by instruments, 2) settings of pre-existing melodies, 3) variation sets, 4) ricercars, fantasias, and canzonas, 5) preludes, preambles, and toccatas for solo instruments, 6) dance music, and 7) songs composed specifically for lute and solo voice (Brown, 1976). Italy dominated the stage for instrumental music at this time, and it was not until the last decades of the sixteenth century that English instrumental music became popular (Brow...
Erika Miklosa has neither the range, nor the vocal skills, nor the temperament of the Queen of the Night. She might make a good Queen of High Tea. In short, a highly uneven musical evening, and one in which the music was never able to soar and beguile as The Magic Flute must. Komische Oper is the third tier company in Berlin, in budget as well as in ticket prices. This has the distinct advantage of making opera accessible to young people and there were plenty in the audience the other night, rarely seen, one would guess, at the other houses here and almost never in the US.
Opera in the Romantic Period was a time when opera changed drastically, especially in the country of Italy. The recognition of singers as being important, almost irreplaceable, in the art of “bel canto” opera changed the idea of a vocalist in opera forever. A singer’s voice was prized and Italian composers, like Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, wrote operas and works to showcase the voice, it’s color, range and agility. These Italian composers were moving away from the normal style of composition of the time, and the composer Rossini, who set the stage for many other followers. Many of the operas written during this time are still performed today and are highly acclaimed.
What is opera? Opera is a theatrical work that was set to music for people to sing. People that sing regular music probably never tried to sing opera because the singers never had a microphone to use and the opera houses that they did the operas in was big so they had to reach the outer portions of the room. Opera houses were built for the extra space they need to put on the shows that they were doing. With extra space and more seats there need to be a change in how opera were done. Operas started to become more romantic and have more passion than ever before. With that came a style of singing using full rich broad tones and smooth phrasing, which is called bel canto style. The style is defined by beautiful singing.
In many respects, and with hindsight, it seems natural that the Romantic composers and writers would take a new direction in their approach to expression, reacting against the classical and neo-classical ideas of reason and order from the previous age. It was a revolt against classicism, and against the pre-prescribed rules that defined it. The main catalyst for this change was the French Revolution in 1789, where the French monarchy and aristocracy was overthrown by a rebellion of the people and France became a republic. This, in a musical sense, had an immediate impact on French opera, with the emphasis of the stories now beginning to be drawn into the present as opposed to the ancient world, and the old hierarchy of the Gods and feudal systems. T...
Buelow, George J., “Music and Society in the Late Baroque Era.” Music and Society in the Late Baroque Era. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. p. 1-38
Opera is a unique genre of spoken word and song accompanied by music. The music takes one through ascending and descending ranges of emotions. Mozart's Don Giovanni is a perfect example of how this genre emits a wide variety of feelings and attitudes. This "dark comedy seems to convey Mozart's feeling that events have both comical and serious dimensions…" (Kerman, 205). The opera, as a whole, is neither exclusively comedic nor entirely tragic.
Other societal practice during romanticism is the Romantic Opera. In comparison to the classical and baroque opera, romantic opera has a continuous flow of music in each scene and soon, people pay less attention to tenors and pays equal attention to choruses. To name a few of many composers for romantic operas, Wagner and Bizet are known for their works for romantic opera during the romantic era. Romantic music is also influenced by folk music, tunes, rhythms and themes as many romantic composers wrote nationalist music, which is inspired from folk dances and songs, during the romantic period (http://absoluteastronomy.com). Another factor that contributed to romantic music in defining its traits is the instrumentation.
...criticism. Thence, the Opera achieves an immense degree of complexity and artistry, which helps to explain why the play was so popular for so long. The Opera is entertaining for the masses, complex enough to engage the critic, and it was (in its own way) peculiarly patriotic during an age of immense English pride for native culture.
Some opera authorities feel Wagner did more than any other composers to change music and drama. Even though his life and music produce passions unlike any other composer’s, his works are both hated and loved by some. However, even those who hate his work have to admit they are great.