Cosi Fan Tutte Analysis

The Italian composer Chiara Margarita Cozzolani was one of the few women who could compose well known music during the Baroque Era. Religious wars were raging on across Europe, and many of Cozzolani’s musical pieces focus on religion and musical dialogues, which portrayed notable religious scenes from the bible (Forney, Dell'Antonio, & Machlis 111). One of Cozzolani’s pieces, Magnificat, was focused on in our textbook. After listening to the piece and reading some history about Cozzolani and her music, I felt like I could really understand what was happening during that time in history and how she wanted to make people feel with her music. Chiara Margarita Cozzolani’s music relates to the Baroque Era of music for several reasons. First of all,

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.

Contextually, there are themes of love, betrayal, and patriotism represented. We see love through Kind Nabucco's love for his daughter Fenena, and his constant want to help and protect her. It is almost through this love that he is redeemed, and made whole again. We also see the love between Ismaele and Fenena as pure and genuine. Although this opera is not

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

Within the play Cosi by Louis Nowra, the character Lewis grows and deepens his sense of identity by the connections he develops with the patients in the mental asylum. His character experiences transformation where he grows in confidence as a director. The text portrays the idea that by Lewis working with the mental patients, it has changed his sense of identity and his own understanding of his values. Lewis is shaped as a director, personally renews his attitudes and beliefs about people in the mental asylum. Working with the patients on “Cosi Fan Tutte” has changed his view on love, fidelity and also learns the value of love and commitment.

Darkness is manifested through the reality within Cosi and the fantasy aspect contained in the play, Cosi Fan Tutte. The darkness behind the truth in regards to the nature of humanity is vastly explored. Louis Nowra has integrated such concepts within the comical play. Set during the 1970’s, the seemingly contemporary situations reveal much of the dismal reality most had experienced during that time. Throughout the play, the Cold war is also acknowledged, therefore elucidating the idea whereby, much of the ‘dark’ aspect of the play was a result from this conflict. Furthermore, the character’s perspective upon certain concepts such as infidelity, becomes a portal to the reality during those times. The inclusion of Cosi Fan Tutte represents

"Nowadays the plays' meaning is usually blurred by the fact that the actor plays to the audiences hearts. The figures portrayed are foisted on the audience and are falsified in the process. Contrary to present custom they ought to be presented quite coldly, classically and objectively. For they are not matter for empathy; they are there to be understood and politely added

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.

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.

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.

Otello asks everyone to let him alone in order to stay with Desdemona, she moves closer to him. Her eyes are full of love, and to demonstrate her ecstasy, Verdi uses a solo, muted cello that swells with Otello’s and Desdemona’s emotions. Then, Otello starts to embrace her and starts singing his immense love: Gia nella note densa”, and she calls him, “Mio Superbo Guerrier”. Then, singing a beautiful lyric, she asks him to remember how speaking both intimately was the foundation of their love: “Do you remember”, she says accompanied by the halo of an angelic harp arpeggio. The string instruments remove their mutes, and a grand, measured largo unfurls, the principal movement of the love duet (Hepokoski, 1987). Desdemona starts describing how she got in love with the tales of his adventures. Otello also remembers and both start exchanging wonderful lyrical memories about their relationship.

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.

Turandot is a dramatic opera that was performed in the Metropolitan Opera in 2009. Turandot was written by Giacomo Puccini. This rendition of Turandot was produced by Franco Zeffirelli, and directed by Andris Nelsons. In this beautiful performance of Turandot, we see Maria Guleghina as Princess Turandot, Mariana Poplavskaya as Lui and Calaf as play by Marcello Giodani. With all of these talented actors and show personnel, this production remains one of the best-known film adaptations of Turandot.

Music is a very powerful tool. It has the power to bring happiness or sorrow. It can stir up old memories that someone has forgotten. In Berlioz’s case he uses one of his most famous pieces, Symphonie Fantastique to tell a story. Berlioz combines the use of instrumentation, rhythm and dynamics in a stunningly effective way that conveys to the listener a tragic tale of an artist, whose true love didn’t reciprocate his feelings leading him down a path of self destruction.