Arias 'Al Desio Di Chi T' Adora

This very much represents the physical crossing from the ‘normal’ world into a world which is not seen from the outside, and pushed to the edge of society, and further resembles a glimpse of hope for the patients’ recovery. In the later scenes of the play, during the performance of Mozart’s opera, the entire theatre has been transformed into something completely different, with its white walls, the bright, colourful costumes, and Mozart’s “music of the spheres” echoing within the once dark and dismal place. The new theatre in all its splendour metaphorically resembles the transformations of the characters themselves, and from this, the audience is encouraged to realise the significance and therapeutic nature of art, in this case theatre and music: “the music of this opera will keep the world in harmony”, especially in contrast to hopeless treatments such as shock therapy. Through his play, Nowra also encourages the audience to agree with his personal view that war is unnecessary, and in a way is a kind of madness itself, due to its chaotic and uncontrollable nature.

In examining the libretto The Phantom of the Opera, the interactions and attitudes of the characters, and the language used, I will show how the Phantom’s obsession over Christine, although at times destructive, leads to his change from an evil and selfish villain, to a remorseful and compassionate hero. To understand the psyche of the Phantom, one must first have a brief overview of the play.

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

In any musical drama, be it opera, oratorio, or even musical theatre, it is possible for a composer to convey the personality of their characters through compositional and musical techniques. Doing so heightens the audience’s understanding of the characters, their motivations, and the relationships between them. Monteverdi, as a pioneer of opera, was one of the first to capitalize on this opportunity to heighten the audience’s understanding of the characters. This is highly apparent in his last opera, L’Incoronazione di Poppea. The music for two of the characters, Poppea and Nerone, is especially well composed to demonstrate personality, and this is no more apparent than in the dialogue which introduces the audience to them, Signor, deh

John Dowland (1563-1626) was a composer of “ayres,” a simple early version of an art song, where the primary point of auditory interest is in the top voice, and the other voices provide the harmonic foundation. “Come Again Sweet Love” was written in 1597, and is in piece is in strophic form. The sheet music has some suggested ornamentations that will be used for the performance. The fact that this facsimile of this piece shows it in a motet style, the ideal performance of an ayre was for solo voice with basso continuo accompaniment, especially lute. My piece will be performed with solo voice with harpsichord as the bassoon continuo accompaniment as per composer intent.

The choice of the “Three women of Don Giovanni” can give a good understanding of the type of music which was used to create an opera in the 18th century Italy. The opera buffa was a comic opera with a funny story line and light music. Mozart wrote at different levels.

One of the problems clarinetists of the 21st century face when performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, K. 622, is creating a performance that is memorable while keeping the authentic integrity of the work. Many clarinetists who perform this work are often concerned with how they should the approach and execute the concerto. Any musician who tackles any new work will approach it by researching historical information on the composer and work, do a musical analysis, and gathering recordings of other interpretations of the same work. This approach will not only allow the performer to be fully immersed in the piece but allow for the performer to create a memorable interpretation.

Così Fan Tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti, or more familiarly known as Così Fan Tutte, is one of Mozart’s last operas, translated as “Women are all alike, or The School of Lovers.” Being named as such, the principal theme of this opera is the fickleness and infidelity of women. The libretto of this piece was written by Lorenzo da Ponte, who was also the librettist for Don Giovanni and La nozze de Figaro, two other renowned operas of Mozart’s.1 This opera was first performed in Vienna at the Burgtheater, on January 26th, 1790.2 Though the exact origin of the story Ponte based his libretto on is unclear, many people at the time believed that the story was based on a scandal in Emperor Joseph II’s court, where two Viennese officers were

The Renaissance and Baroque era entailed very different characteristics, due to the Renaissance composers writing more freely and being more individual then those of the Baroque era where they followed more ‘rules’ and experimented less. This essay will show the difference in two pieces by different composers, even though they were written less than a century apart.

The voice is considered as the most important element in the Italian Opera. On top of the polyphonic accompaniment for the orchestra, melody

The story of David and Goliath is a well-known story from Old Testament that provides imagery of bravery and intellect overcoming brute force. The story goes that Jerusalem was being threatened by an enemy army led by a giant, Goliath. To settle the war without mass death, Goliath challenges one soldier to a one-on-one combat. Not one person would accept this challenge other than a young shepherd boy named David. Armed only with stones and a sling, David defeated the larger and stronger Goliath, after which he cut off Goliath’s head and delivering it to the King. David’s heroism saved the city from a terrible battle, thereby protecting the people’s civic and religious rights.

Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck, was written in 1762 and The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart was written in 1786. It is interesting to analyse the changes and developments from opera seria to these two examples.

Susan McClary’s scholarly article, A Musical Dialect from the Enlightenment: Mozart’s Piano Concerto in G Major, K. 453, Mvt. 2, starts off with her recalling a time after watching a performance of the concerto with a colleague and the two of them confessing different opinions about the soloist’s performance. McClary, who liked the performance, notes that soloist articulates “unusual compositional strategies indicated in Mozart’s texts”. The argument ends with the two not only about the piece and Mozart, but also about the significance of the eighteenth-century. McClary’s article attempts to critique the perfection of Mozart’s works.

This work was composed during the Classical period, 1750- 1820. One aspect of the classical music style beign applied to this work includes the reoccurance of two or more contrasting themes. Another is the use of short and clearly defined musical phrases. Lastly, this piece, on a purely musical level, was simply more to hum along to. This type of melody took over the complex polyphony of the Baroque period.

The passage to be studied is from Act 3, scene1, from the play, ‘The Duchess of Malfi’. The importance of this passage, and where it fits into the play, is explained in the first paragraph. The following paragraph will highlight some of the distinctive features of its language, starting with the beginning of the passage and comparing it to the end of the passage. The analysis of the text will cover rhythm, sounds, punctuation, repetition, alliteration, enjambment and caesura. Using these techniques Webster helps the reader to extract meaning, characterisation and the themes of the play. Finally, the third paragraph will show how the distinctive features of the language can be translated into performance using lighting, tone of voice, props, costume, sound and space. The language used in the text of the play is the source to its meaning and performance.