Music - Romantic Opera Flashcards
became increasingly popular during the Romantic period. It is a musical composition having all or most of its text set to music with arias, recitative, choruses, duets, trios, etc. sung to orchestral accompaniment.
Opera
Characteristics of Opera:
elaborate costumes, scenery and
choreography
Components of an Opera:
- Libretto
- Score
- Recitative
- Aria
the text of an opera. Librettist and the composer work closely together to tell the story.
Libretto
Declamatory singing, used in the prose parts and
dialogue of opera. Different roles in operas are created taking into account different types of voices. Each role requires a different type of singer, not only able to sing a given vocal range but also with certain voice characteristics, color and power.
Recitative
The book that the composer and librettist put together. has all the musical notes, words and ideas to help the performers tell the story. Often, there are operas with overtures, preludes, prologues, several acts, finales and
postludes.
Score
Components for Male Voice: Singing Voices
- Tenor
- Baritone
- Bass
an air or solo singing part sung by a principal character. This song is what the public will remember best when leaving the opera house. Properly and well sung, a beautiful aria can bring an audience to its feet and decide the fate of an
entire opera.
Aria
lowest male voice; plays the priests, kings, fathers, and devil
Bass
highest male voice; plays the hero, lover, and doomed hunk
Tenor
Middle male voice, lies between Bass and Tenor voices. It is the common male voice. plays the villain, evil prison wardens, etc
Baritone
Components of Female Voice: Singing Voices
- Soprano
- Coloratura
- Mezzo-Soprano
- Contralto
Highest soprano voice
- Lyric; bright and full sound
- Dramatic; darker full sound
Coloratura
highest female voice; plays heroines, sweet things, and get paid the most
Soprano
lowest female voice and most unique among female. Plays the maids, mothers, grandmothers and witches.
Contralto
most common female voice; strong middle
voice, tone is darker or deeper than the soprano.
Slightly lower woman’s voice; plays evil characters, seductress, and teenage boys
Mezzo-Soprano
______ and _____ embellishments were used to further affect the way singers sing
Dynamics and vocal
Dynamics and vocal embellishments
- Acapella
- Cantabile
- Capo
- Coda
- Dolce
- Falsetto
- Glissando
- Passagio
- Rubato
- Tessitura
- Vibrato
one or more singers performing without
instrumental accompaniment. (a)
Acapella
Head, the beginning (c)
Capo
sweetly
Dolce
In a singing style (c)
Cantabile
closing section appended to a movement or song. (c)
Coda
a weaker and more airy voice usually in the higher pitch ranges
Falsetto
- sliding quickly between 2 notes/
Glissando
parts of a singing voice where register transitions
occur.
Passagio
- slight speeding up or slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist. (r)
Rubato
Music by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Madame Butterfly
the most comfortable singing range of a singer
Tessitura
rapidly repeated slight pitch variation during a
sustained note, to give a richer & more varied sound.
Vibrato
Two Famous Operas of the Romantic Period:
La Traviata and Madame Butterfly
- Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Ilica.From the short story by John Luther Lung, derived from Pierre Loti‟s tale Madame Chrysantheme.
- Romantic tragedy. Set numbers; recitative. Setting: Nagasaki, Japan, at the beginning of the 20th century. Two acts; Act 2 with two parts
Madame Butterfly
- Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
- Libretto in Italian by Francesco Maria Piave, based on “La Dame aux
Camélias,” play by Alexandre Dumas after his novel by the same name. The play is known in English as “Camille.” Premiere: Venice,
March 6, 1853
LA TRAVIATA
- Categorized as a Romantic tragedy.
- Set in Paris, France during 1850.
- Originally in three acts, but present-day productions are usually in four acts dividing the original Act II
LA TRAVIATA
ACT I: Violetta‟s Paris salon, luxuriously furnished
ACT II: A villa near Paris
ACT III: Ballroom in Flora‟s mansion
ACT IV: Violetta‟s bedroom
LA TRAVIATA
- An instrumental composition intended especially as an introduction to an extended work, such as an opera
Overtures
a short piece generally played as an introduction to another larger musical piece
Preludes
a closing piece of music
Postlude
An introduction or preface
Prologues
Other parts of the Opera
- Duets, trios, small ensemble, and chorus
a specialized performer who trains extensively in music and theatre in order to perform opera, a celebrated and demanding form of performance
that combines musical score and text.
Opera Singer
an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (libretto) and musical score
Opera
The English word, OPERA is an abbreviation of the Italian phrase “____ __ ____” or “work in music”.
Opera in musica
is used to communicate people’s feelings and emotions rather than
plain words or pictures.
Music in Opera
music is the act of creating and playing new music without much preparation. Requires the performer to instantly reproduce what
your mind suggests. Can be done
with or without prior preparations.
Improvisation
