Opera

Question 1

List 5 important composers of Italian school of opera, a few of their operas, and their time of output.

Answer 1

1. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): mid 17th c.: L’Orfeo (1640), L’incoranzaine di Poppea (1642)
2. G.F. Handel (1685-1759): early to mid 18th c.: Almira, Guilio Cesare, Alcina, Serse, Rodelinda
3. W.A. Mozart (1756-1791): late 18th c.: Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, La Clemenza di Tito
4. Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835): early 19th c.: Norma, I Capuletti e I Montechi, I Puritani
5. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): late 19th c.: Macbeth, Rigoletto, Otello, La Traviata, Aida
6. Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): late 19th c to early 20th c.: La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot

Question 2

List 5 important composers of German school of opera, a few of their operas, and their time of output.

Answer 2

1. W.A. Mozart: late 18th c.: Die Zauberflote
2. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826): early-mid 19 c.: Der Freischutz, Silvana
3. Richard Wagner (1813-1883): mid 19th c.: Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Tannhauser, Meistersinger
4. Richard Strauss (1864-1949): early to mid 20th c: Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Salome, Ariadne auf Naxos
5. Alban Berg (1885-1935): early 20th c: Lulu, Wozzeck

Question 3

List 5 important composers of French school of opera, a few of their operas, and their time of output.

Answer 3

1. Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687): late 17th c: Atys, Isis Amadis, Armide
2. Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764): mid 18th c.: Hippolyte et Aricie, Castor et Pollux
3. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787): late 18th c.: Orphée et Euridice, Alceste, Armide
4. Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864): early-mid 19th c.: Robert le diable, Les Huguenots, L’Africaine
5. Georges Bizet (1838-1875): late-mid 19th c.: Pearl Fishers, La jolie fille de Perth, Carmen

Question 4

Talk about an Italian opera

Answer 4

Cosi fan tutte

Librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte

Characters: Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Guglielmo, Ferrando, Don Alfonso, Despina

Style characteristics:

Plot: You should be able to do that in your sleep.

Question 5

Talk about a French opera

Answer 5

Carmen

Librettist: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

Characters: Carmen, Don Jose, Michaela, Escamillo, Frasquita, Mercedes, Captain, 2 gypsies

Style Characteristics:

Plot: Again, that’s fine

Question 6

Talk about a German opera

Answer 6

Tristian und Isolde

Librettist: Richard Wagner

Characters: Isolde, Tristan, Brangäne, Kurwenal, King Marc, Melot

Style Characteristics: leitmotivs,

Plot: Again, that’s fine