opera mania

Opera in the modern period

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Opera in the Modern Period
1900 – 1944

1900 Tosca - Giacomo Puccini
1902 Pelléas et Mélisande - Claude Debussy

1902 Adriana Lecouvreur - Francesco Cilea

1904 Jenůfa - Leoš Janáček

1904 Madame Butterfly - Giacomo Puccini

1905 Salome - Richard Strauss

1909 Elektra - Richard Strauss

1910 La fanciulla del West - Giacomo Puccini

1911 Der Rosenkavalier
1912 Ariadne auf Naxos - Richard Strauss

1918 Bluebeard's Castle - Béla Bartók

1918 Gianni Schicchi - Giacomo Puccini

1919 Die Frau ohne Schatten - Richard Strauss

1921 Káťa Kabanová - Leoš Janáček

1921 The Love for Three Oranges - Sergei Prokofiev

1925 Wozzeck - Alban Berg

1926 Turandot - Giacomo Puccini

1934 Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District - Dmitri Shostakovich

1935 Porgy and Bess - George Gershwin

1937 Lulu - Alban Berg

1939 The Old Maid and the Thief - Gian Carlo Menotti
1945 War and Peace - Prokofiev

1945 Peter Grimes - Benjamin Britten

opera voices

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There are several different types of voices used in opera. These are catagorised due to their pitch. These are:

Soprano - high female voice

Mezzo-Soprano - low soprano voice - higher than alto

Alto - low femal voice

Tenor - high male voice

Baritone - medium male voice

Bass - low male voice

bibliography

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

looking at the romantic period

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Looking at the times-

Romantic Period
The romantic period was a time of political revolution and a time of new radical thinking and looking at the world in a new way. Music of this period also took on this new adventurous style. Music from the Romantic period was written with emotion and imagination. During the Romantic period, there was a new appreciation of the artist as an individual- someone who had feelings which were expressed through their creations. The romantic period preceded the Classical period and showed a revolution in thinking and composing. Like most evolutions in time the romantic period occured as a result of new composers rejecting the classical style based on rules, order and structure.

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more about the classical period...

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The Classical Period

The period between 1750 - 1800 saw many things, the continuation of the Industrial Revolution, Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment, the continuation of the Qing dynasty and Marie Antoinette's meeting with the guillotine. It was also the time of the 'Classical Period' in music. The classical period saw composers, such as Christoph Willibald Gluck, trying to introduce new things to opera, such as additional forms for arias and more involvement of choral and instrumental music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn were also key composers of the classical period.

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Opera as an art form

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Opera was originally considered a title of a theatrical performance, but at a later date this evolved into a title of singing style. This change began to occur around the end of the classical period, into the Romantic period. Since then there has been a number of soloist opera singers emerge. The Castratis', a group of men who were castrated in order to preserve there boy like quality in their voice, were a very popular breed of Opera singers. One of the most famous castrati's includes Farinelli, who was one the last Castratis'.

Again Opera is evolvong and is now beginning to be marketed as a popularised form of singing, with the newly emerging opera groups that are the equivalent to a pop group although singing opera arias. Groups Il Divo and Amici are examples of this.

In the 21st century, opera is not as popular as the modern day musical. Which is akin to opera however spoken dialogue is used in parts.

TV series such as Operatunity and Operatunity OZ are assiting to bring opera back into fashion. In these series a panel of judges travel the countryside looking for the next opera sensation. The panel then selected 100, out of 2000 applicants to perform in live interviews. Of this 100, 20 were selected to take part in an intense series of classes. Six finalists were selected to undertake a two week course at the end of which a winner was chosen to perform a lead role in Opera Australia's performance of Rigoletto. In a surpise twist this year, two additional singers were chosen to perform in Rigoletto as well. Bass David Parkin, tenor Roy Best and soprano Emily Burke all performed.

Opera in the Romantic Period

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TIMELINE OF FAMOUS OPERAS

"ROMANTIC PERIOD"
1800-1900

1805 Fidelio - Ludwig van Beethoven

1816 The Barber of Seville - Gioacchino Rossini
1817 La Cenerentola - Gioacchino Rossini
1829 William Tell - Gioacchino Rossini

1836 Les Huguenots - Giacomo Meyerbeer
1842 Nabucco - Giuseppe Verdi
1842 Ruslan and Lyudmila - Mikhail Glinka

1843 The Flying Dutchman - Richard Wagner
1843 Don Pasquale - Gaetano Donizetti
1845 Tannhäuser - Richard Wagner

1847 Macbeth - Giuseppe Verdi

1850 Lohengrin - Richard Wagner

1851 Rigoletto - Giuseppe Verdi

1853 Il trovatore - Giuseppe Verdi
1853 La traviata - Giuseppe Verdi
1859 Faust - Charles Gounod
1862 La forza del destino - Giuseppe Verdi
1863 Les Troyens - Hector Berlioz
1865 Tristan und Isolde - Richard Wagner
1866 The Bartered Bride - Bedřich Smetana
1867 Don Carlos - Giuseppe Verdi
1871 Aida - Giuseppe Verdi
1874 Boris Godunov - Modest Mussorgsky
1874 Die Fledermaus - Johann Strauss II
1875 Carmen - Georges Bizet
1876 La Gioconda - Amilcare Ponchielli
1877 Samson et Dalila - Camille Saint-Saëns
1878 HMS Pinafore - Gilbert and Sullivan
1879 Eugene Onegin - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1881 Les contes d'Hoffmann - Jacques Offenbach
1882 Parsifal - Richard Wagner
1884 Manon - Jules Massenet
1887 Otello - Giuseppe Verdi
1890 Cavalleria Rusticana - Pietro Mascagni
1890 Prince Igor - Alexander Borodin
1890 The Queen of Spades - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1892 Werther - Jules Massenet
1892 Pagliacci - Ruggiero Leoncavallo
1893 Manon Lescaut - Giacomo Puccini
1893 Falstaff - Giuseppe Verdi
1893 Hänsel und Gretel - Engelbert Humperdinck
1896 La bohème - Giacomo Puccini

more about the romantic period...

Our top 3

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We are going to look at three operas in a little more depth, one from each period. These are:

1.'The Magic Flute' -Mozart, 1791 (classical period)

2.'Carmen' - Bizet, 1875 (romantic period)

3.'Turandot' - Puccini , 1926 (modern period)

Opera in the Classical Period

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TIMELINE OF FAMOUS OPERAS
"CLASSICAL PERIOD"

1750-1800

1762 Orfeo ed Euridice - Christoph Willibald Gluck

1767 Alceste - Christoph Willibald Gluck

1779 Iphigénie en Tauride - Christoph Willibald Gluck

1781 Idomeneo - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1782 Die Entführung aus dem Serail - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1786 The Marriage of Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

1787 Don Giovanni - Mozart (using an Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte)

1790 Così fan tutte - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

1791 La clemenza di Tito - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

1791 The Magic Flute - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

more about the classical period...

Hisory of Opera

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What is an Opera?

Opera (or an Operetta, a shortened opera) refers to a dramactic art form, which originated from Italy. Opera's emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to the audience through the use of music; both theatrical vocals (the lyrics) and the instrumental. From the beginning of this style of theatre, (about 1600AD), there has been alot of debate whether the music is vital, or the words, a theme. Also, dramatic speech in opera is often sung in recitative. By contrast, in musical theatre, dialogue is spoken and an actor's dramatic performance is generally more important than in opera. in Modern day opera, the vocalists acting ability has become just as important as that of their musical capbilities.

Points in history.

The history of opera between 1750 and 1800 was produced in the period which is considered the “Classical period”. Operas produced during this time were. Mozart was one of the most predominant composers of this period, producing over 30 famous operas, including;
.
From 1800-1900 this period is considered the romantic period. Features of this period. Main composers of this time frame. Trends followed through this period. Famous operas produced during this period.
20th century is classed as the “Neo classical” period. This style is made up of a combination of Baroque and classical influences of form and technique.