Today was a good introduction to what the opera is going to be like Wednesday night. In this class we learned a lot about different types of opera singers by watching different clips of well-known operas. To be honest, I wasn’t very excited about going to see the opera prior to this class because I had never seen them before, and I imagined them to be very boring because there would only be singing. Now that I have more of an idea on what opera is all about from seeing different opera clips, I am excited to see Turandot this Wednesday.

First, we watched Don Giovanni. It was a light-hearted comedy about a noble man named Don Giovanni being very promiscuous and he was not afraid to show it. It says a lot about how society viewed men of higher class who are promiscuous during the time period of the opera. I enjoyed this clip of the opera a lot because of the light-hearted feeling of the music, and the comedy of the scene. The music blended very well with the singer’s voice, and the singer’s acting was good which made it entertaining.

Later on we watched a clip from La Traviata that was sung by Beverly Sills. I didn’t like this scene because although she had a very good voice and the music was nice, it had very bad acting in it. It would have been very difficult to follow this scene without subtitles. The singer is saying how she has very conflicting feeling about falling in love. However, you get the feeling that she is happy instead of conflicted about her love because of her facial expressions and how she has very up beat movements.

Finally, we watched three clips of one of the most famous opera arias of all time, Nessun Dorma, from Turandot, sung by Pavarotti. Unlike the previous two clips, there was no acting involved, and the singer was stationary the entire time. However, I enjoyed the clips. I had no idea that Opera singers were not in their prime until their forties, and I was very impressed by Pavarotti because of his age and the longevity of his career. His last performance was during the 2006 winter Olympics, which is an extraordinary accomplishment.

To be perfectly honest, before this class today, I knew little to nothing about opera and all that it entails. From the beginning of the class until the end, it was an entire learning experience for me. For starters, I quickly grasped the fact that the four most influential opera composers included: Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini. The lowest voice for a man is the bass and through the evolution of opera, which began nearly four hundred years ago, it became a combination of the artistic approach and the concept of “showing off” in the way that the audience wants to hear those high notes. For example, Mozart wrote dozen of operas and particularly, four of them are famous, each of them ridiculing the aristocracy.  I find that rather comical because I think it takes a great deal of skill to use a form of art to make fun of the upper class so eloquently and gracefully. There are two types of sung music. The first one is recitative, which by definition is a music narration because the notes go along with the particular voice. The other is an aria, which is the main part of music, and the singer expresses one emotion, thought, or idea. The main tune of the opera is sung twice and the second time, the singer adds more notes as a way of showing off.  We listened to an aria by Don Giovanni, and it was a funny drama consisting of comedy mostly about the idea of rape and was discussed in a light-hearted manner. After that, we began to listen to Barbiere Di Siviglia by Rossini. This particular piece has a baritone, which is voice above the bass. Also, synonymous to the work performed by Mozart, Rossini was a stand up to the aristocracy to Pre-French Revolution literary movement. In good aria, I learned that the singer says one idea or notion but repeats it in numerous different ways. Another thing, I became accustomed to in this class was, a librettist, which works with the composer, has to understand how voice works, and build a character/plot. In opera, all Shakespearean poetry turns in kinds of arias, and little synopses are given about what Shakespeare wrote.

Soon, we listened to aria from Othello by Verdi that is composed of a dramatic baritone in which the top of the voice is used more and it relates better with the character. Unknown by me, the King of the High Seas is the composer Pavarotti, and women in opera have for some strange reason a high death rate. Finally, there are many more voices for women than men, such as: alto, mezzo-soprano, soprano, dramatic, lyrical, spinto, light lyric soprano, coloratura, and finally soubrette. All of these are used frequently in operas composed by women. Today’s class was quite influential and I am satisfied that it came before our trip to the opera because now I will be able to apply this new knowledge to the opera itself. I have a new liking for this particular art form mainly because of the intricacy behind the various voices as well as the overall persona embodied by the men and women on stage.

10.1.12

Today, we spoke about opera and the different types of voices for men and women. I thought it was pretty interesting to find out that opera was created around the early 1600s by combining drama and music. I was a bit disappointed when Professor Kahan didn’t include my favorite composer, Rossini, in her “Four Greats” but I was particularly happy when we spoke about him for a few minutes. Being a horn player, I’ve unfortunately come to brush off listening to Mozart (his four horn concertos are drilled into any horn player so, it can be a not so nice reminder when Mozart comes on the radio) and I feel terrible for not recognizing that he was a great opera composer.

Learning some of the opera vocabulary is making me more comfortable in talking about operas. I’ve always been afraid to speak about operas because I thought I might come off as unintelligent about the subject and therefore too inferior to speak about it. Now that I know some of the vocabulary, I’m becoming more comfortable and embracing this opera loving side of me. In my high school music program, we had to go to a school broadcasting live performance of the Met once a semester. I remember Carmen, obviously, even though I saw it almost two years ago. At the time I thought I was too young to find enjoyment in the operas but now that I’m older I know that was really silly of me.

I’m so excited to see the opera, and even the dressed up audience members, that I listened to the opening night of Turandot on Saturday on my satellite radio. I didn’t have the time to listen to it all and I didn’t have English subtitles but I had tremendous respect for what goes into the opera.

– Amber G

On my way home from today’s seminar class I had to turn off the radio in the car because nothing on Z100 or Fresh FM could compete to the music which I had just spent that last hour and forty minutes listening to. Today in seminar, we listened to opera.

When I was five years old, my aunt gave me a VHS tape of the movie version of Rigoletto (1993) and it soon became one of my favorite movies to watch. Although this version was not entirely set to music and the libretto was in English, this was my first introduction to opera and ever since that time this particular form of music has reminded me of my childhood. Despite this early introduction to opera, I soon became more interested with the world of musical theater, which I suppose isn’t too far out of the realm of opera.  However, today I was excited to get reacquainted with the opera and listen to Pavarotti perform Nessun Dorma. I had heard Nessun Dorma performed many times before today’s class yet each time I hear it lifts me out of my skin. The notes soar with the music in a way that captivates me like no other form of music does.

In addition to listening to clips from famous operas we also discussed some of the technical aspects of opera.  I found this part of the class particularly interesting, because although I was fond of opera I never thought too much about the technique that went into such things as writing the libretto of an opera.  A librettist must convey the plot, allow the performer to show off their vocal skills, provide the listener a pleasant melody while also making sure that the text is not too difficult for the singer to say while holding high notes.  In addition to the difficult work of a librettist, I also found the various voice parts interesting. I was aware of the three male registers, (tenor, baritone and bass) and I was aware of (contralto, mezzo soprano, and soprano) yet I was unaware of the many different levels of the female vocal range.

After today’s class I am excited to attend my first opera this coming Wednesday.

~Naomi~

Today in Seminar we examined and analyzed various different operas, opera voices, composers, and opera performers.  I was intrigued to see the different opera scenes performed, and without a doubt, the three performances we saw of Luciano Pavarotti were incredible.  Opera is a fascinating and beautiful art form and I’m looking forward to attending my first opera on Wednesday.

We learned about each of the different types of opera voices today, for both men and women. For each type of voice, Professor Kahan showed a scene from an opera, where the performer was singing in that type of voice.  I’m glad she did this, because not only were we able to physically hear what we were being taught, but it allowed us to see different types of arias and recitativos being performed in several operas.  For me, these were the best parts of the class.  For the lowest opera voice a man can perform, the bass, we were shown a clip from Don Giovanni, composed by Mozart.  The bass voice in the scene was the voice of the servant of Don Giovanni, who is showing Giovanni’s current “girlfriend” the book of every woman Giovanni has ever seduced, in the various countries he has visited.  It is a comical sort of scene, and the bass voice fits nicely with this comical tone.

The other male voices are a baritone and a tenor.  For these voices, we were shown a clip from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, composed by Rossini, Othello composed by Verdi, and Nessun Dorma from the opera Turnadot, the play we are going to see as a class.  Nessun Dorma is a famous aria from the opera Turandot, and has been performed various times by the tenor, Luciano Pavarotti.  Professor Kahan showed us three different performances of this piece by Pavarotti, and I was fascinated.  He was able to perform this piece at age 45, age 63, and age 71, and he sounded flawless all three times.  Of course, there were slight differences as he aged and gained musical maturity, but all three times, he was powerful and emotional and was able to nicely present the intensity of this piece of music.  It was very interesting to watch.

Then came my absolute favorite part of today’s class.  We first identified the several types of female opera voices, and then we saw a clip from Carmen in order to hear a female mezzo-soprano.  I have seen the movie Carmen and I love the music, the dancing, and of course, the singing.  The actress playing Carmen has a beautiful voice.  Everybody knows the tune of the opening scene of Carmen and for me, that makes it even more enjoyable to watch.

I learned much more about the opera than I had ever known in today’s class.  For example, I did not know that librettists had such a difficult job creating a libretto for an opera, and how much work goes into it.  They have to think about which words to use, what music to set it to, and still be able to get the plot of the story across to the audience. I also was unaware that women always die in an opera.  It’s true, but just something I had never noticed. Something else I noticed during today’s lesson is that many modern tunes and music used in films, shows, etc. comes from the music of operas.  For example, the music used in Carmen and the music used in Il Barbiere di Siviglia are both tunes that everyone knows because of something else they’ve seen or heard.  It seems that opera music is universal and applicable to many situations, even commercials we see on TV.

I look forward to attending my first real opera and continuing to learn about the different musical styles of the art world.

On Wednesday we began our look at music with a discussion on the different components of music.  Rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and texture were all mentioned, with timbre being the one that I was least familiar with.  Timbre, from what I understood in class, helps determine how many instruments are playing by identifying the characteristic sound that each instrument produces. Although I had heard of the other terms before, I never knew exact what they were, how to identify them, or their importance to music.  Listening to different songs being played, and discussing these different components and the roles they played in each, turned out to be the best way to change that.  Overtone was also something we discussed during Wednesday’s seminar and was a bit harder for me to comprehend.  However, after an example was produced through the use of a piano, it became much clearer.  Later in the class we were given sheet music, which I found to be very confusing considering I never learned to play an instrument and never had any interest in singing.  I was a bit disappointed because I expected to do more with the sheet music and hoped I would finally get to learn how to read it.  Instead, we went over some basic concepts that I feel I would have been able to figure out on my own.  On the other hand, what I really enjoyed about Wednesday’s class was our introduction to opera.  I thought looking at La Traviata after watching a film version of it was very interesting.  The comparison helped me appreciate opera and see how much more emotion there can be in an opera compared to a film or show.

During Monday’s class we listened to different pieces of music and examined how the five main elements of a piece of music were used to evoke different emotions in the listener. These elements were: rhythm, melody/tune, harmony, timbre and texture.  One of the pieces which we listened to was ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Stravinsky. This piece of music intrigued me because it involves multiple different melodies and rhythms simultaneously.  The sounds of the woodwind instruments such as the english horn combined with the harsh brass of the trumpets and the deep sounding timpani made me think of a magical land where peaceful creatures are being attacked by vicious predators.  The story is that of a predator and its prey. When I was listening  to this piece it reminded me of Titans Spirit- by Trevor Rabin. In both pieces there is a conflicting timbre as the woodwind instruments evoke peaceful and innocent emotions and the brass and deeper sounding instruments evoke images of danger and violence.

In addition to ‘The Rite of Spring’ we listened to Praeludium II by J.S. Bach.  When listening to this piece we discussed how the repetition and the fast rhythm of piece was reminiscent of a malevolent machine which was out of control. Even though the piece was written in four four time it is composed entirely of sixteenth and thirthy-sixth notes which made me as the listener feel as though I was trying to keep up with the song as it raced ahead of me. The repetition of the base note also adds a darkness to the piece. The base note acts as an anchor, allowing the melody to float above it and then yanks it down when it starts to stray too far out of bounds. Additionally when I look at the piece I find it interesting that there are no crescendo or diminuendo markings, yet when I listen to the piece performed the pianist uses the base note as a guide for the volume. When the base note is low the piano gets softer in volume, while higher base notes allow the piece to grow in volume.

As a musician I look forward to exploring deeper into the art of composition.

~Naomi