Its not over til the fat lady sings Have been introduced Opera Be able to identify different voice types Understand the structure and process of writing an Opera By the end of this lesson you will ID: 530440
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Slide1Slide2
OPERA
It’s not over ‘til the fat lady singsSlide3
Have been introduced Opera
Be able to identify different voice types
Understand the structure and process of writing an Opera
By the end of this lesson you will:Slide4
A drama set to music which is performed on a stage in a theatre with solo singers, chorus, scenery with an orchestra in a pit. Usually there is no spoken dialogue and all the singers have trained voices.
OperaSlide5
Soprano – highest female range
Mezzo Soprano – middle female range
Alto – lowest female range, quite rare
Counter tenor – highest male voice, normally sung in falsettoTenor – highest males voice in the “normal,” modal rangeBaritone – most common male voice, middle male rangeBass – lowest male range
Voice TypesSlide6
“If you’re looking for someone to blame for this whole opera business, look no further than Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643).” (Barber, 1990)
1607 - Monteverdi created a new form of musical work, a “story in music”
Orfeo
– based on Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice
If it
ain’t
Baroque, don’t fix it!
A Brief OvertureSlide7
Orpheus travels to the underworld to rescue his beloved, Eurydice, from death
The god of the Underworld tells him that Eurydice will follow him back to the land of the living, but he can’t look back
In the real story, he does look back and she dies again – for good!
Monteverdi didn’t like that ending so asked the librettist to make the ending happy
He obliged and Apollo descends from the clouds and reunites the happy lovers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4bLPMiKfHo
Orpheus and EurydiceSlide8
Monteverdi’s last opera – 1642
Nero (a castrato role) is a Roman playboy
Ottavia
, Nero’s wife is to be disposed
Poppea
, Nero’s mistress, is soon to be Empress
Seneca is a sage and advisor to Nero
The Coronation of
PoppeaSlide9
Listening Examples:
TERMS
Ground bass – a short phrase repeated over and over in the lower voice while upper parts pursue an independent course
http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E9c8wEpdfM
The Coronation of PoppeaSlide10
G.F. Handel - Born in 1685 (the same year as Bach !) and died 1759
Arrived in Britain in 1710 (Can you figure out how old he was?) and began composing in the Italian style like Purcell. Most arias in ternary form (A-B-A) with the second A section freely ornamented
TERMS: melismatic, sequencing
Getting a Handel on operaSlide11
Opera was becoming very formulaic by the end of the Baroque period and needed a boost!
The overture became a preview of the music to follow
The music was for reflecting the words being sung rather than to put singers on show
The music should flow better between recit and aria
Classical OperaSlide12
Gluck (1747 – 1787) decided that opera should be more about the story and less about the singers – he became known as the father of modern opera
Wrote a new version of the Orpheus legend (Orpheo et Euridice) – Lead was a castrato, but the music was much less ornamental
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUAM0ER-Dw&feature=related
The “new” operaSlide13
A child prodigy, wrote his first opera when he was 12 years old
Died at 36 – was extremely prolific
Eventually began composing for the court of Emperor Joseph II in Vienna
Some famous opera were The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figarohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTWZ4WHzIE4&feature=related
MozartSlide14
Italy – Bel Canto
Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini
Beautiful melodies, vamp style accompaniments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWlFMvPCVUMGermany – Story and drama took priorityBeethoven, Weber (Mozart married his cousin!)
Early RomanticSlide15
France – Exoticism becoming popular
Bizet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djsuP0uta7s
Italy – Plots become more sophisticated, catchy chorusesVerdiGermany – The Leitmotif is developed, big dramaWagner
Late Romantic