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Music 100 Lesson 10b Mid-Late 19C Opera - Verdi Puccini
Music 100 Lesson 10b Mid-Late 19C Opera - Verdi Puccini
WEEK 10
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY II: MID
TO LATE-ROMANTIC MUSIC
Lesson 10b: Opera – Verdi and Puccini
Romantic Opera
▪ Grand opera
– Lofty subject matter, spectacular staging, ballet, choruses, and crowd scenes
– Recitatives, arias, and choruses
– No spoken dialogue
▪ Lyric opera
– Between grand opera and lyric opera
– Melodious
– Subject matter was tragic love
Romantic Opera
– Italian opera
◦ dominated by the achievements of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
◦ Composers of Italian opera: Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti
– German opera
▪ Central figure was Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
• Action is continuous with short orchestra phrases woven together under the
sung dialogue.
– Little distinction between recitative and aria most of the time
– In some operas, however, there are arias that are unforgettable.
Puccini's Music: Madama Butterfly
◦ 1904: La Scala premiere
– Oriental customs and exotic scenery set the stage for the tragic plot of this
opera.
The Story:
– Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, an American lieutenant, has rented a Japanese
house and with it comes "betrothal" to Cio-Cio-San ("Butterfly," a young
Japanese girl).
– Pinkerton treats the marriage as a casual affair, returns to America, and marries
an American woman.
– When he brings his American wife to Japan 3 years later, the grief-stricken Cio-
Cio-San commits suicide.
Puccini's Music: Madama Butterfly
"One Fine Day" ("Un bel di"):
– Act II: "Un bel di" comes at a time when Cio-Cio-San is trying to convince
herself that her husband will return to her.
– It contains soaring melodies and “Asian” sounds.
– Form: Da Capo Aria: A B A.
– It contains doubling and tripling of the vocal line in the orchestra.