Lesson 4 Objectives

Verdi and the Opera

Identify the components of an Opera Describe the Opera during the Romantic Period Sing excerpts from operas

Opera is a drama set to music. It includes poetry, scenery, costumes, acting, and dancing in addition to vocal and instrument music. Components of Opera Libretto the text of an opera Overture instrumjental composition which serves as an introduction to the opera. Recitative the sung dialogue, a vocal part that is declaimed following the pattern of speech rather than melody. Aria a song which poetically and musically reflects dramatic feeling. Duo, trio and other musical ensembles Chorus - A composition usually in four or more parts written for a large number of singers. Orchestra - is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Ballet dance of a formal and stylized nature. Acts and scenes sections of an opera. The greatest composer of Italian opera was Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) who composed 27 operas. Some of Verdis operas are still performed in opera houses all over the world. Among these are La Traviata II, Trovatore and Rigoletto. As you listen to excerpts from Verdis operas, notice the appeling and esay to remember melodies and the wide range of emotional situations he incorporates in his work. Another popular opera of Verdi is Aida. It is called a grand opera because it is sung. The famous march played during graduation rites is the Grand March from the opera Aida.

Opera in the Romantic Period Romantic period, was a period of social upheavals. It was heightened by Napoleon Bonapartes French Revolution. This together with the bubonic plague, commonly termed as Black Death, caused the society to plunge into dire states. Romantic opera was characterised by its expression of the beauty and terror of Nature, the power of evil and the supernatural, the purity of rural life and the concepts of liberation which every romantic is preoccupied with. However, each composer had his own style and the diversity could not be classified into groups. The music usually reflected the social upheavals and the profound changes due to the revolution. Their themes incorporated the ideals of the post-aristocratic France. Operas focused on patriotism, and the released of the common from aristocratic oppression. By this time, people were quite free to express their desires, questions and amorous feeling. The arts circle was able to explore illicit affairs, forbidden love and other subjects which were previously frowned upon. The composers composed passionate melodies that expressed extreme emotions of a character. Their lilting melodies were known to bring the audiences into a crying frenzy. They started writing operas based on novels by William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott. Both of the authors wrote historical dramas and especially Sir Scott who wrote novels based on the medieval times. The settings of a typical Romantic opera is usually a composers own country but there came a time which the composers focused of writing exotic melodies to depict faraway land and foreign places which they had heard about but never went. Though there were some composers who kept their operas tiny, most of them loved gigantic compositions that could dazzle the audiences. Famous examples were: Wagners the Ring which contains four individual operas linked up by a theme, Puccinis Turandot and etc.