Peking Opera Analysis

Chinese Opera is one of the “three oldest dramatic art forms in the world” , along with “Greece tragic-comedy and Indian Sanskrit” (China). From Chinese Opera comes many forms of opera, over 300 types , but the most well known is the Peking Opera (China). The Peking Opera is known by many names, like “Eastern Opera” (history), and “jingqiang” (Xu), but the most common name in the Western world is the “Beijing Opera” (Wertz). Peking Opera is over 200 years old (Wertz).It started in approximately “1790, when four opera troupes from the province of Anhui came to Beijing to perform on the occasion of the 80th birthday of the emperor, Qianlong” (HISTORY; Xu). It was originally performed in “open air, teahouses or temple courtyards” (Wertz).

It was originally performed in “open air, teahouses or temple courtyards” (Wertz). Peking Opera is a blend of “singing, reading, acting, fighting, and dancing” (ebeijing).”Today as in the past century, performers are first trained in acrobatics, followed by singing and acting” (Wertz). Peking Opera is said to be a live “encyclopedia of Chinese Culture” (Wertz). Because of this, and many other highly regarded qualities, China has made the Peking opera it’s “national opera” (Wertz). The Beijing Opera is such an important part of Chinese culture that “Beijing Opera Month” has been declared (Wertz).

On September 28th, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his second to last piece with the support of Emanuel Schikaneder, a well known theatrical figure. The premiere took place two days after Mozart completed this work (Kennedy Center). The Magic Flute, one of Mozart’s most praised works, is an enduring allegory about the dichotomy of good versus evil. This well-known opera tells the story of a young prince who searches for true love, while another character, Papageno, acquires pleasures such as food and wine to gain happiness (Sherrane). Mozart found it difficult to live successfully.

His first choreographic success was in 1754 at the performance of his Les Fetes Chinoises. This performance was a Chinese themed ballet. By the invitation of David Garrick, an English actor, Jean-George’s Les Fetes Chinoises was presented in London at Drury Lane in 1755 (Anderson, 1986). This showing caused Noverre to not be well received due to his French heritage because England and France were on the verge of war. Noverre produced Medee et Jason and Psyche et l’ Amour at Stuttgart from 1760-1767.

Still in doubt over the situation, Lucy helps Macheath escape from prison. Lockit ... ... middle of paper ... ...uge hit having it’s first run last sixty two nights. The play was later performed in Dublin, Glasgow, Jamaica, and is one of the first musical comedies to be performed in America, more specifically New York. The audiences found it easy to connect with the realism, fall into the catchiness of the tunes, and laugh at the satire. The Beggars’ Opera was so popular it performed every year after it opened in the 18th century.

In February 1653 he danced in “Ballet de la nuit” with the King and less than a month later was appointed the King’s “composituer de la musique instrumentale de Roi.” Over the next ten years Lully gained control over all the royal family’s court music. This is when he began experimenting with performance practices and changing the basic stylistic features of orchestral music. Lully’s “petits violons” brought him international fame. At this point Lully focused his career on ballets. They brought together Lully’s two favorite expressions of art: dance and music.

Based on the novel by Edna Ferber Showboat was written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II (Smith 627). Showboat was premiered in the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 27, 1927 (Smith 627). The 1926 novel chronicled the lives of a musical and racially integrated cast upon the Cotton Blossom. The production of Showboat marked the rebirth of musical theater because it set the standards for any American Musical by shattering theatrical traditions. For the first time Showboat would introduce a well written production with incorporated and advanced music and lyrics that furthered the plot.

Italian opera was made to be sung by the singer as was the focused of the opera at this time. Many works by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini, are amongst the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. In the early 19th century composer Gioacchino Rossini modified the dramatic excesses which typified the theater of his era to initiate opera's Romantic period. His career started when he wrote six operas. His first success was an opera buffa, La Cambiale di Matrimonio, followed by The Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, and Italian Women in Algiers.

Between 1762 and 1766, the Mozarts appeared at almost every major court in Europe. Wolfgang dazzled audiences with his ability to read difficult music at sight and to improvise Four of his operas—The Abduction from the Seraglio(1782), The Marriage of Figaro(1786), Don Giovanni(1787), and Così fan tutte(1790) —were premiered or performed in the prestigious Burgtheater. Then Mozart met Haydn; we do not know the occasion on which Mozart first encountered Joseph Haydn. In Haydn, he not only found a composer whose achievements were on a level with his own, but a warm and sympathetic friend in whom he could confide. In the autumn of 1791, Mozart’s health became progressively worse.

After the success of the premiere of The Firebirds Igor become one of the most popular composers, and in 1910 him and his wife had th... ... middle of paper ... ...insky found recordings an easy and useful tool in keeping his thoughts on the interpretation of his music. As a conductor of his own music he recorded primarily for Columbia Records, beginning in 1928 with a performance of the original suite from The Firebird and concluding in 1967 with the 1945 suite from the same ballet. During his lifetime, Stravinsky appeared on several telecasts, including the 1962 world premiere of The Flood on CBS television. Although he made an appearance the actual performance was conducted by Robert Craft. Numerous films and videos of the composer have been preserved.