Student Study Outline Chapter 39: Opera
I. Chapter 39: Romantic Opera a. Romantic Opera i. Showcase of fantastic plots ii. Spectacular stage effects iii. Huge orchestras iv. Singing that stretched the limits of the human voice v. Wide range of subjects 1. Librettos based on ancient legends 2. Composers created their own libretti 3. Romantic novels, plays, poetry for inspiration a. Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter) 1821 b. La Muette de Portici (The Deaf Woman of Portici) 1832 b. Italian Romantic Opera i. Italy– center of opera ii. Bel canto 1. Double aria a. Cavatina i. Scena e cavatina iii. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) 1. Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) 1816 iv. Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) 1. Lucia di Lammermoor 1835 v. Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835) 1. Norma 1831 c. Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) i. Born near Busetto (Northern Italy) 1. Three operas among the most performed today: a. Rigoletto (1851) b. Il trovatore (1853) c. La Traviata (1853) d. Rigoletto (1851) i. Italian libretto adapted from a play by Victor Hugo 1. “La donna è mobile,” Rigoletto, Act III Listening Map 47 a. Canzone e. French Romantic Opera i. Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842) 1. Italian composer who produced operas in Paris- “rescue” operas ii. After Napoleon 1. Grand opera a. Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864) i. Les Hugenots (1836) f. German Romantic Opera g. Richard Wagner (1813–1883) i. Created revolutionary new operas 1. Ran to several hours 2. Employed enormous orchestral and theatrical resources 3. Usually created his own librettos 4. Wrote essays to promote his new ideas about music and art 5. Innovator in use of chromatic harmony a. Pushed traditional tonal system ii. Born in Leipzig iii. 1839– Moved to Paris iv. Essays 1. Music dramas 2. Gesamtkunstwerk v. Other major works 1. Tristan und Isolde (1865) 2. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) (1865) vi. Wagner’s dramas 1. Libretto and music combine in a continuous melodic flow 2. Orchestra– achieves dramatic power 3. Text setting 4. Leitmotif vii. Making Connections: Musical Cues in Wagner and Beyond 1. First to develop motives into a complex, sophisticated network h. Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) i. Ludwig paid Wagner’s debts and funded the construction of the Bayreuth Festival Theatre 1. Performed over four evenings (nearly 20 hours of music) 2. Das Rhinegold a. Wagner, Das Rhinegold, “The God’s Entrance into Valhalla” Listening Map 48 ii. Wagner’s influence on music, drama, and European culture