Early Half of Opera Flashcards
1st hald of 19th century
golden age of opera, the classics
opera houses run by
impresario (upper middle class)
opera audience
typically high culture, but plots showed common people
singer culture
singers became like celebs, focus on beautiful singing
subjects and settings
overlying political themes with ordinary characters, along with the heroic and aristrocratic
rossini 6
mostly comic/buffa opera
wrote for particular singers
bel canto singing highly embellished, elagent and “effortless”
rossini crescendo - repeating phrase louder each time, often at a higher pitch
barbiere de seviglia
guillaume tell
bellini 4
came to prominence after rossini
action built into arias
lyrical moments in recitatives (more aria-like)
casta diva from Norma
casta diva
praying to the moon goddess
sounds similar to a nocturne
theme first played like a flute
arpeggiated accompinament
donizetti 3
constantly moves drama forward, tension sustained
lucia di lammermor set in scottish highlands
reminiscence motive - hearkening back to earlier theme
arias popularity
performed outside of opera houses, sometimes published to be played at home
france 3
opera most prestigious genre
becoming privatized by theatre being leased to businessman Louis veron
grande opera with special fx just as important as music
eugene scribe and giacomo meyerbeer 3
librettiest and composer leaders of grande opera
les huguenots
meyerbeer’s approach admired and caused grand opera spread
berlioz
les troyens
opera comique 3
spoken dialogue instead of recitative
less pretentious
straight forward comedy of serious drama
ballet 2
romantic ballet introduced by marie taglioni
music composed after choreographed
germany 5
interaction between music and lit fully developed
singspiel (form of light opera) root of german opera
intensified national features
elements of French
more ab orchestra and drama than italisn
carl maria von weber 2
der freischitz established german romantic opera
model for Wagner
russia
nationalism through subject matter, set design, etc
Mikhail Glinka 3
recognized across russia and europe
life of a tsar pro govt drama
Ruslan and Lyudmila established russian trad’n
united states 2
theatre companies and touring troups performed english versions, rarely og languages
no demand for american opera
minstrel shows
minstreisy, white performers in black face
impersonated african ameriains
licensed to behave outside of social norms
giselle 2
ballet by adolphe adam, used leitmotives