AQA Music A Level Area of Study 1: Western Classical Music Strand 2: The Operas of Mozart NAME: TEACHER: Context: Introducing opera • By the time Mozart was writing his operas in the 1770s and 1780s, opera had been part lof European culture for the best part of two hundred years. Originating in Italy with a group of composers, the most famous of whom is Monteverdi (1567-1643), opera had already had immense success in France with Lully (1632-1687) and Ramaeu (1684-1764), and in England with Purcell and Handel (1685-1759) • Opera is an art form in which drama is told primarily through music, while performed on a theatre stage with acting, costume and lighting to enhance the effect. If you think that sounds like music theatre, the two are clearly similar, and the differences are not easy to define. In musical theatre, the constituent elements of the lyrics, acting, dancing and music are usually in a clear balance, whereas in opera, the music is given predominance over the others. This is why operas are very much credited to their composer rather than their librettist. • In the 18th century Vienna was the capital of the powerful Habsburg Monarchy. It was a city where musicians and artists from much of Europe prospered, among them the opera composer Gluck (1714-1787). He reformed many of the traditions of opera, to make it less governed by conventions (such as recitative and arias), and more built on continuous, melody-focused music that conveyed emotion. Types of pieces within an opera • What is an overture? This happens at the very beginning of the opera, or sometimes at the beginning of a later act and is played by the orchestra, without singers. It sets the scene in terms of musical style and atmosphere. Sometimes the overture takes melodic ideas from the rest of the opera and introduces them to the audience, but Mozart chooses not to do that here. • What is an aria? This is a piece of music in which a character dwells on an emotional state or situation. These pieces showcase the singers, accompanied by the orchestra, and are not necessarily concerned with moving the plot along. • What is recitative? Shortened to recit. These are filler sections which serve to move the plot on. Often sung rubato with minimum orchestral accompaniment. • What is a duettino and terzetto? Duets and trios are the same in opera as elsewhere. Two or three characters dwell on a situation which are arisen in the plot. Accompanied by orchestra. Again not often used to move the plot along, but to showcase the singers. Opera Buffa Opera buffa is an Italian term meaning comic opera. It is mainly used for 18th century Italian comic operas, such as this one. Opera buffa contrasts with opera seria (serious opera) in which the story was a tragedy. Instrumentation • Mozart’s orchestra comprises two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings; a fortepiano (sometimes the harpsichord and cello) accompanies the recitative sections. • This is typical of the classical era: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart • Mozart is one of the most celebrated composers in Western culture. He was a remarkable child prodigy, and his father – a court musician – promoted him and his talented sister around the palaces and high society of Europe during a three-and-a-half-year journey that began when he was seven and his sister ten. This included performing to King Louis XV of France and several concerts in London. • As an adult, Mozart was drawn to the splendour of Vienna. He first travelled there as a musician in the employ of Archbishop of Salzburg (his birthplace) and he soon wished to make the capital his home. This led to a break in relations with both his employer and his father, but from 1781 until his death ten years later at the age of 35, Vienna was his home. Here was known as the city’s finest keyboard player, and he composed a continuous stream of wonderful music: concertos, symphonies, chamber music and, of course, opera. • Mozart started writing operas when he was 11. In all he worked on over 20 opera projects, most in Italian, some in German; a few were not completed or performed in his own lifetime. The most significant are: Date Title Librettist Language 1780- Idomeneo Giambattista Varesco Italian 81 1782 Die Entführung aus Gottlieb Stephanie German dem Serail 1786 Le Nozze di Figaro Lorenzo da Ponte Italian 1787 Don Giovanni Lorenzo da Ponte Italian 1790 Cosi Fan Tutte Lorenzo da Ponte Italian 1791 Le Clemenza di Tito Metastasio Italian 1791 Die Zauberflöte Emanuel Schikaneder German Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) Background • Le Nozze di Figaro – The Marriage of Figaro- was Mozart’s first collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. The story is based on a play by French writer Beaumarchais and is something of a domestic comedy centred on the intended marriage of Figaro and Susanna who are respectively servants to the Count Almaviva and his wife Countess Rosina. Inevitably, since this is an opera, there are misunderstandings and contrary motives from some characters along the way, but it is a piece with a happy ending. • Figaro premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. Mozart himself directed the first two performances, conducting seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day. Although the opening season for ‘Marriage of Figaro’ was nothing like the frequency of performance of Mozart's later success, ‘The Magic Flute’, which for months was performed roughly every other day, the premiere is generally judged to have been a success. The applause of the audience on the first night resulted in five numbers being encored. It has increased in popularity ever since. The opera is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. • The opera is in four acts and lasts around three hours. It is one of the most frequently performed of operas; it is highly recommended that you try to get a live performance of it. If this is not possible there are several full performances of ‘Figaro’ available on youtube. We could schedule an after school cinema club to watch it as a class if you like? • There are many opera fans for whom this is their all-time favourite. It is not just that Mozart’s music is full of gorgeous tunes that you will soon find yourself humming as you get to know the score; Mozart took delight in human beings and their emotions. In this story of love, confusion and resolution, his delight is never far from the surface. The cast of the opera is as follows: Count Almaviva Bass Countess Rosina (wife of the count) Soprano Figaro (personal valet to the count) Baritone Susanna (countess’ maid) Soprano Cherubino (count’s page) Mezzo-soprano (trouser role) Dr Bartolo (Countess’ former guardian) Bass Marcellina (Bartolo’s housekeeper) Soprano Don Bassilio (music master) Tenor Don Curzio (a notary – lawyer) Tenor Antonio (gardener/ Susanna’s uncle) Bass Barbarina (Antonio’s daughter) Soprano • There is also a chorus of villagers and servants. • It is a good idea to get to know the whole opera: you will only really have a complete understanding of each of the characters whom you meet in Act I by following the opera through to the end. Both the finales at the ends of Act 2 and 4 are especially brilliant. Synopsis: The Marriage of Figaro continues the plot of The Barber of Seville several years later, and recounts a single "day of madness" (la folle journée) in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess; Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself; and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of Barber into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to obtain the favors of Figaro's bride-to-be, Susanna. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna, and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He retaliates by trying to compel Figaro legally to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through Figaro's and Susanna's clever manipulations, the Count's love for his Countess is finally restored. Overture The overture is in the key of D major; the tempo marking is presto; i.e. very fast. The work is well known and often played independently as a concert piece. Act 1 A partly furnished room, with a chair in the centre. Figaro happily measures the space where the bridal bed will fit while Susanna tries on her wedding bonnet in front of a mirror (in the present day, a more traditional French floral wreath or a modern veil are often substituted, often in combination with a bonnet, so as to accommodate what Susanna happily describes as her wedding cappellino). (Duet: Cinque, dieci, venti – "Five, ten, twenty"). Figaro is quite pleased with their new room; Susanna far less so (Duettino: Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama – "If the Countess should call you during the night"). She is bothered by its proximity to the Count's chambers: it seems he has been making advances toward her and plans on exercising his "droit du seigneur", the purported feudal right of a lord to bed a servant girl on her wedding night before her husband can sleep with her.