Robson+-+Classical+Opera

Cl as si cal  Op er a

The Classical Era The Classical Era or period is generally accepted as having taken place between the years 1780 and 1820. This period was between that of the Baroque period and the Romantic period. It included many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, and Carl Phillipe Emmanuel Bach. These composers wrote many great arts, including many operas.

Opera  Opera is an art form that combines musical score and text. This combination is called libretto. In an opera, libretto will take the play of text where we would usually see it in a musical or a play. Many parts of Western theatre are included in opera; scenery and sets, orchestra, costume, acting, and sometimes dance. Opera has typically been performed in an opera house. The most famous, or well-known opera house today is still //La Paris Opera//, that has the //Palais Garnier// within its architectural wonder. Operas are most often accompanied by an orchestra, thoguh accompaniment by smaller musical ensembles has been known to occur within smaller touring opera groups. Opera emerged as a prominent form of theatre in the beginning of the 16th century, around 1567, and this style of theatre quickly stretched through Europe throughout the 17th century. Soon France, Germany, and England were developing their own forms of Opera and its popularity was swelling. In the 18th century, however, Italian Opera still dominated Europe, attracting audiences that included foreign composers such as Handel himself. One of the best known composers of 18th century, or “Classical” Opera is Mozart, who began his works with Opera seria, the most common form, but his style over time was mainly changed to comedic pieces. For an example of Classical Opera, we will look to the works of Mozart.

**Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart **

Mozart composed many operas in his time, including T//he Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute,// and //Don Giovanni//. Don Giovanni was first performed in 1787 and is still performed around the world today. This opera was composed of many pieces, including many beautiful arias. “His own taste for brilliances, rhythmically complex melodies and figures, long cantilena melodies, and virtuoso flourishes was merged with an appreciation for formal coherence and internal connectedness.”

 media type="youtube" key="Ue72gvJvpi8" height="385" width="480"  The above sheet music is the opening page of the overture to //Don Giovanni//. In an opera, the overture is a segment of music played before the opening scene in which many themes that will later become present in the opera are demonstrated or introduced. After listening to // La Commandatore //, listen to the overture. Try to listen for themes within the overture that are also embedded in // La Commandatore //. This use of themes from the final scene in the opening of an opera became more and more common after it’s use in opera’s such as // Don Giovanni //.  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The Final Scene (La Commandatore) - Don Giovanni **
 * The Overture - Don Giovanni**

media type="youtube" key="RnbxpvfISkc" height="385" width="480"

<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Italian Opera <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Italian Opera originated in 1597 with Jacopo Peri’s //Dafne// and from the first work of Opera it has grown to become one of the oldest and time honoured forms of theatre put on on stages across the world. It was within Italian opera that Opera seria, the most common form of Opera, and the concept of liberetto were formed. Italian Opera was and remains the most famous, prominent, and lasting form of Opera to this day.

Bibliography //Classical Opera Company.// (2008). Retrieved April 23, 2010, from http://www.classicalopera.co.uk/coc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=43 //Opera.// (May, 1 2010). Retrieved May 1, 2010, from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera Cooke, Mervyn (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Accessed 28 April 2010.