CC BY, Elliot Jones Santa Ana College

1. Romantic Opera

2. The Golden Age of Opera
n Many of the biggest titles and composers in
opera are from the Romantic era
– 20 of the 25 most performed operas in the
world were Romantic era pieces (2012/13
season) according to operabase.com
n Early Romantic Italian opera emphasized a
beautiful melody for the soloist
n Bel canto refers to this vocal emphasis

3. Bel Canto
n Literally means “beautiful singing”
n Orchestra provides simple harmonic support
n Vocal lines are soaring and virtuosic
n This vocal emphasis created stars
– The prima donna or diva
– Diva means “goddess”

4. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
n Studied in Milan, not accepted into Conservatory
n Family tragedy almost stopped his career
n Huge success at age 29 – Nabucco
n Wrote masterworks & served in Parliament
n Long lived and prolific composer
– Aida at age 57
– Otello at age 73
– Falstaff at age 79
n Dies at age 87 a national hero

5. Verdi’s Style
n Similar to bel canto with added intensity
n Master of the memorable tune
n “La donne è mobile” was rehearsed in
secret because he knew it would be a hit
n Use of recitativo accompagnato to smooth
transition between recit and aria

6. Rigoletto
n Story centers on a cruel court jester,
Rigoletto, and his tragically unsuccessful
effort to protect his daughter Gilda from the
womanizing duke he serves
n “La donna è mobile,” the most famous aria
from the opera, is sung by a tenor

7. Listening Example
n Title: La donna è mobile
n Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
n Genre: Opera

8. Notes on La donna è mobile
n Tenor aria
n Extremely memorable melody
n Simple, vamp style orchestral
accompaniment
n Simple, binary form

9. German Opera
n Prior to 19th century primarily Singspiel
n Singspiel were German comic operas
– Light themes
– Spoken dialogue
n Many earlier composers, including Mozart,
strove to elevate Singspiel genre
n Wagner’s innovations create a new style of
German opera

10. Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)
n Controversial figure to this day
n Inspired in youth by Beethoven and Mozart
n Opera director in small German towns
n Had success in Dresden with Rienzi
n Fled to Switzerland after failed revolution
n Deep in debt, he wrote music philosophy
and began composing epic scale operas

11. Richard Wagner
n King Ludwig II of Bavaria rescued Wagner
financially and artistically
– Paid debts and staged his operas
– Eventually built theater for Wagner’s works
n A yearly festival of Wagner’s operas is still
performed at the Bayreuth Festival Theater
n 8 of his operas ranked in the 50 most-
performed operas in the world (2012/13)

12. Wagner’s Operatic Style
n Called his works music dramas
n Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work) refers to
the bringing together all operatic elements
to produce a powerful dramatic experience
n He did away with separate numbers in favor
of an endless melody
n In absence of bel canto approach the
orchestra becomes more important

13. Leitmotifs
n Short melodic ideas that represent a dramatic
element in the story
– Characters
– Objects
– Ideas
n Leitmotifs help advance the drama musically
n Orchestra plays major role using leitmotifs

14. Tristan und Isolde
n Story based on a medieval German epic
poem set in England
n A love potion causes Tristan and Isolde to
fall in love despite her betrothal to the king
n Tristan’s sorrow over obstacles to their love
causes him to allow himself to be wounded
n Isolde arrives at his side as he dies, she
sings of their eternal love and then dies

15. Listening Example
n Title: Liebestod
n Composer: Richard Wagner
n Genre: Opera

16. Notes on Liebestod
n Liebestod is combination of two words
– Liebe = love, Tod = death
n Use of leitmotifs to represent feelings
– Love/death, ecstasy, desire, transcendent bliss
– Leitmotifs are in vocal and instrumental parts
n Wagner uses rising chromatic lines to build
to an incredibly powerful climax
n Sung by a soprano soloist

17. Realistic Opera
n An attempt to portray real life, especially
life of the lower classes, on the opera stage
n An outgrowth of the social realities, often
unpleasant, of the industrial revolution
n Realistic opera seeks to find beauty in the
mundane, even gritty, aspects of life

18. Verismo
n “Verismo” means realism
n The later Italian version of realistic opera
n Similar treatment of gritty, seedy,
sometimes violent subject matter
n Puccini generally considered the most
prominent verist composer

19. Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924)
n Born to a musical family in N. Italy (Lucca)
n Struggled after graduation from Milan conservatory
n First major success at age 35 – Manon Lescault
n La Boheme is deemed his most popular opera
n A chain smoker, Puccini died of throat cancer
n At news of his death, a performance of La Boheme
was stopped and Chopin’s Funeral March played

20. La Boheme
n Verismo in the sense that the characters are
impoverished artists, not due to violence
n Features romance between Rodolfo, a poet,
and Mimi, a seamstress with tuberculosis
n Rodolfo’s jealousy ends the relationship
n They reunite just before Mimi’s death

21. Puccini’s Style
n Influenced by Wagner
– Much less division into separate recits and arias
– More expansive use of orchestra than Verdi
– Use of leitmotifs
n Puccini’s music more lyrical than Wagner
n He is expert in using different orchestral
colors to fit the mood of the scene

22. Listening Example
n Title: Che gelida manina
n Composer: Giacomo Puccini
n Genre: Opera

23. Notes on Che gelida manina
n Shift from recit to aria goes almost unnoticed
– Begins with syllabic text setting
– Grows in warmth, range, and intensity
n Rich orchestral color as vocal intensity grows
n No showy virtuosity, just soaring melody
n Sung by a tenor soloist

24. Listening Example
n Title: Si, mi chiamano Mimi
n Composer: Giacomo Puccini
n Genre: Opera

25. Notes on Si, mi chiamano Mimi
n Similar in general style to Che gelida manina
n Very little distinction between recit and aria
n Rich orchestral color as vocal intensity grows
n Note the independence of the orchestra –
Wagnerian influence
n Sung by a soprano soloist