Essay about An Opera Performance

5. Smart, Mary Ann. Mimomania : music and gesture in nineteenth-century opera. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2004.

“On Broadway, although some female roles are narrow, demeaning, passive, or long-suffering and convey weakness, the performer sings with incredible strength. Listening to the female singing voice is a more complicated phenomenon. Visually, the character singing is the passive object of our gaze. But aurally, she is resonant; her musical speech drowns out everything in range. A singer, more than any other musical performer, stands before us having wrested the composing voice away from the lyricist and composer who wrote the score.” Said Musicologist Carolyn Abbate (Wolf, p.31)

Anne also needs to convince the musicians of her commitment to the arts and her ability to lead such a prestigious organization and to do so, she will need to highlight her past accomplishments. Anne has had enormous success in directing operas, including serving as stage director for over 60 opera productions world wide, including the adored San Francisco Opera. In addition, she had stints as assistant director at the San Francisco Opera and the Canadian Opera. She also sought to increase the amount of productions during her time at the Boston Lyrics Opera instead of decreasing them to help retire the debt there. This should convince the musicians not only of Anne’s ability to lead them but also of her desire to build an elite arts

Fortunato had a rather… troubled adulthood. With his booming personality, he always made new friends. He got with the wrong group of friends that would feed him drinks again and again, which he became addicted to. Montresor on the other hand wasn’t as social as Fortunato so he was more of a loner and focused on his career into adult hood. He became extremely successful in his career endeavors and he also found the love of his life, Sara, while doing so! His life was perfect, him and Fortunato remained friends but they were not as close as they had once been because of their different life paths. Fortunato longed to spend more

The opera was a very fascinating and awestrucking show as they brought the biblical story of Samson and

Listening to a recording of an opera is an altogether different beast, than seeing one in person. While you can get a sense of the music and the style behind a piece from a recording, there is something special about hearing it performed in person. Feeling the vibrations of the voices and orchestra, observing the characters moving on stage, the variable highs and lows of every different performance; all combine to form an experience vastly more complex and nuanced than simply listening to a recording.The opera I saw was Verdi’s Falstaff, as performed by the UW Madison University Opera, on Sunday, November 13th. Falstaff is the last opera Verdi wrote and his interpretation of a Shakespearean comedy. Originally set in the 1400s, this production of Falstaff was reimagined by director David Ronis and dramaturg Steffen Silvis in 1930s Hollywood. It is the goal of this recreation to make the opera more relatable and interesting for a more modern audience. This review will cover how the performance did and did not meet my expectations, along with how resetting of the opera in the 1930s worked in my eyes.

in cultivating her classical operatic voice. I also love opera as it is part of my heritage.”

I think that the performer’s ability was appropriate for their location and for their audience because the tone quality of the musicians sounded very rich and clean. When I listened to the performance, I was able to hear all of the different parts of the piece clearly, which has made me much more conscious of the balance and dynamics of each phrase when I play. The texture of the pieces played was very rich and full because an orchestral piece is designed to have a good balance of instruments and good range of frequencies of sound that has lots of different things happening at the same time.

These issues have been faced head on by the current general manager of the Met, and publically addressed more than ever before, with in-depth interviews by the New Yorker, and the bankruptcy of opera companies around it, like New York City Opera. Peter Gelb took over leadership of the Met in 2006, and quickly detailed a plan to “expand the opera’s showings, attract new viewers (without losing any of the current attendees) and reduce staging costs” , addressing the three main concerns of the board of directors as well as the public. One of the main issues plaguing opera companies around the world as has been how to engage younger audiences, who may view opera as a medium out of their reach, financially as well as socially. It’s seen as a medium

The arias 'Al desio di chi t'adora' from Mozart's revised “le Nozze di Figaro” sung by the character Susanna, and 'Come scoglio' from Mozart's “cosi fan tutte” sung by the character Fiordiligi were both sung by Adriana Ferrarese Del Bene at their premieres. Mozart wanted all arias he wrote for singers to “fit them like a well made garment”(?) so wrote them to fit their vocal abilities and strengths. In this essay I will be looking at the vocal abilities of Adriana and how Mozart used them in these arias to identify similar characteristics between the two arias, proving what her strengths were by being highlighted in more than one aria. First I will discuss Adriana's background, where she came from and what her musical career was like before Mozart wrote these arias for her. Next we will look at Mozart's involvement with her and what his opinion of her was. Next I will look at each aria individually and identify characteristics that are similar in each aria to show that these certain features were written to show off specifically Adriana's strengths as a singer. And last I will compare the two arias to show that there are similarities in the two which highlight Adriana's

During the second half of the 17th century opera spread throughout Italy and other European countries. Venice, Italy was the center of opera, but as other countries imported the Italian operas, each country’s own unique styles were mixed with the Italian opera. This happened quickly in Germany, while France resisted and ending up creating their own idiom - one that was heavily based on the dance aspect of the performance. The Italian opera, still the most popular of the relatively new art form, continued to develop. Specifically for the singers, the aria developed into the vehicle they would use to attract to public into the opera house. By the end of the 17th century the most common form was the de capo aria which allowed for both repetition

Opera is just as popular as it was years ago. In the past groups of individuals used to meet up in opera houses to watch the host perform a play or a musical. As of now most opera is played through music cd's and DVD's, which is far less cheaper than purchasing a ticket to see a live show. Opera today still takes place on stage and in theaters. The high cost of production can sometimes make it not possible to have a live show which is very common in today's time. Majority of the opera songs that are played today come from jazz, folk , and rock musicals.

Before the opera started, I can hear the tuning sound of the orchestra, especially the sounds of the string instruments. After tuning, there was a short silent drama on the stage.

The importance of music was present from the first time that Fortunato met Florio. As their adventure together developed throughout the story many instances of music occurred. Florio was drawn towards Fortunato due to his famous voice. When Florio stated, “there is the singer Fortunato”(4), it proved his knowledge of Fortunato being a famous singer. He was famous solely for the sound of his voice. His appearance was not recognizable but his voice drew everyone to him. Every woman, man and child was intrigued and drawn to Fortunato due to his unbelievable talent. They wanted to be around him, as his celebrity was unquestionable. During the story, a large party was thrown in a park for Fortunato. Many of his admirers gathered close to him, just to hear his voice. Florio was comfortable watching from

case of opera as drama, it seems there is no right or wrong answer. It