Opera Essay -- essays research papers fc

Imagine you atomic number 18 in a darkened theater and on stage are the actors. Behind the actors you can see the scenery. Down in front of the stage, in what is called the pit, is an orchestra and a conductor. As the orchestra plays, the actors on stage do non speak their lines they sing themOpera is the combination of drama and medical specialty. Like drama, opera embraces the entire spectrum of theatrical elements dialogue, acting, costumes, scenery and action, but it is the sum of all these elements, combined with music, which defines the contrivance form called opera. Operatic dramas are usually serious, but there are several comic operas and funny scenes in tragic operas. The music is usually composite and difficult to sing well. Only the most skillful singers can handle it. The cast is usually made up of main characters (the soloists) and a choir (a theme of singers who act as a crowd of people involved in the action of the plot). Some operas hurt scenes in which danc ing is performed by a weakened ballet group.Operas usually begin with an overture - an introduction played by the orchestra alone. Once the curtain goes up, the soloists and chorus sing throughout most of the drama. Arias (songs sung by soloists) are the important points in an opera. In an aria, a character sings about his or her feelings and thoughts, or about what he or she is going to do.Between arias, the soloists may sing back and fourth to each other in a kind of musical discussion called recitatives. Besides singing arias, soloists often join together to sing duets, trios, qu nontextual matterets, quintets, or sextets at various points in the opera. The chorus usually has several songs to sing, either alone or with the soloists. The music follows the action and mood of the plot.Operas are usually performed in special buildings called opera houses. A choreographer creates the dances, and the chorus master rehearses the singers. The conductor leads the entire opera performan ce from his or her place in the pit. The soloists, chorus members and the dancers follow the directions of the conductor.The ancient Greeks blended drama and music, but opera as we know it today developed in Italy in the late 1500s. At first, the music was used mainly for background. However, by the end of the century, the drama and the music were equally important. The opera innovation inspired some of the biggest composers known today. In France, Je... ...) and Puccinis Madame coquet (1904) to list just a few. Famous recording opera stars include Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Plcido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and Jos Carreras. During the 400-year history of modern opera, there have been many improvements in the art of music drama. Throughout its history opera has exerted great influence on other forms of music. The symphony, for example, began as an instrumental introduction to 18th-century Italian opera. The cadenzas of violin and pian o concertos emerged, in large part, from an attempt to replicate some of operas vocal intensity. Opera will continue to be a dynamic art form.BibliographyBoynick, Matt. Richard Wagner -List of Works by Genre and Title.Richard Wagner. 1996 Feb. 1. http//w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/wagner.htmlBuckman, Jan H. J.S. George Frederic Handel. Handel Homepage. 2005 Jan. http//www.let.rug.nl/Linguistics/diversen/handel/map.html Kamien, Roger. Music An Appreciation. New York, NY 2004Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Greatest Composers. New York Pocket, 1993.Sturgeon, Theodore. "Opera." The Encyclopedia Americana. International ed. 1995.