What is opera in music: the emergence of a genre. Opera

Before considering the genre of opera and how to work with it in a music lesson, I would like to define what opera is.

"Opera and it is only opera that brings you closer to people, makes your music related to the real audience, makes you the property of not only individual circles, but under favorable conditions - of the whole people." These words belong to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer.

This is a musical-dramatic work (often with the inclusion of ballet scenes), intended for stage performance, the text of which is fully or partially sung, usually accompanied by an orchestra. An opera is written for a specific literary text. The impact of the dramatic work and the performance of the actors in the opera is infinitely increased by the expressive power of music. And vice versa: music acquires extraordinary concreteness and figurativeness in the opera.

The desire to enhance the impact of a theatrical work with the help of music arose already in very distant times, at the dawn of the existence of dramatic art. In the open air, at the foot of the mountain, the slopes of which, processed in the form of steps, served as places for spectators, festive performances took place in ancient Greece. Actors in masks, in special shoes that increased their height, reciting in a singsong voice, performed tragedies that glorified the strength of the human spirit. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, created in these distant times, have not lost their artistic significance even today. Theatrical works with music were also known in the Middle Ages. But all these "ancestors" of modern opera differed from it in that in them singing alternated with ordinary colloquial speech, while the hallmark of the opera is that the text in it is sung from beginning to end.

Opera in our modern sense of the word originated at the turn of the 16th and 18th centuries in Italy. The creators of this new genre were poets and musicians who worshiped ancient art and sought to revive ancient Greek tragedy. But although they used plots from ancient Greek mythology in their musical and stage experiments, they did not revive tragedy, but created a completely new kind of art - opera.

The opera quickly gained popularity and spread to all countries. In each country, it acquired a special national character - this was also reflected in the choice of plots (often from the history of a particular country, from its legends and legends), and in the nature of the music. The opera rapidly conquered the major cities of Italy (Rome, Paris, Venice, Florence).

Opera and its components

What means does music have in opera to enhance the artistic impact of drama? In order to answer this question, let's get acquainted with the main elements that make up the opera.

One of the main parts of the opera is the aria. The meanings of the word are close to "song", "chant". Indeed, the arias from the first operas in their form (mostly couplet), in the nature of the melody were close to the songs, and in the classical opera we will find many arias-songs (Vanya's song in Ivan Susanin, Martha's song in Khovanshchina ).

But usually the aria is more complex in form than the song, and this is determined by its very purpose in the opera. An aria, like a monologue in a drama, serves as a characteristic of one or another hero. This characteristic can be generalizing - a kind of "musical portrait" of the hero - or associated with certain, specific circumstances of the action of the work.

But the action of an opera cannot be conveyed only by the alternation of completed arias, just as the action of a drama cannot consist of monologues alone. In those moments of the opera where the characters actually act - in live communication with each other, in conversation, dispute, collision - such completeness of form is not needed, which is quite appropriate in an aria. It would hinder the development of actions. Such moments usually do not have a complete musical composition, individual phrases of the characters alternate with exclamations of the choir with orchestral episodes.

Recitative, that is, declamatory singing, is widely used.

Much attention was paid to recitative by many Russian composers, especially A.S. Dargomyzhsky and M.P. Mussorgsky. Striving for realism in music, for the greatest truthfulness of musical characteristics, they saw the main means to achieve this goal in the musical implementation of speech intonations that are most characteristic of a given character.

Opera ensembles are also an integral part. Ensembles can be very different in quantitative composition: from two voices to ten. In this case, the voices of the range and timbre are usually combined in the ensemble. It conveys one feeling through the ensemble, embracing several heroes, in which case the individual parts of the ensemble are not opposed, but, as it were, complementing each other, and often have a similar melodic pattern. But often the ensemble combines the musical characteristics of the characters, whose feelings are different and opposite.

The symphony orchestra is an integral part of the opera performance. He not only accompanies vocal and choral parts, not only “draws” musical portraits or landscapes. Using his own means of expression, he participates in the construction of the elements of the staging "in the beginning" of actions, the waves of its development, climax and denouement. It also denotes the sides of a dramatic conflict. The possibilities of the orchestra are realized in the opera performance exclusively through the figure of the conductor. In addition to coordinating the musical ensemble and participating, together with the singer-actors, in creating characters, the conductor controls the entire stage action, since the tempo-rhythm of the performance is in his hands.

Thus, all the constituent parts of the opera are combined into one. The conductor is working on it, the soloists of the choir are learning their parts, the director is staging, the artists are painting the scenery. Only as a result of the common work of all these people does an opera performance arise.

History of the genre

Jacopo Peri

The origins of the opera can be considered ancient tragedy. As an independent genre, opera originated in Italy at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in a circle of musicians, philosophers, and poets in the city of Florence. The circle of art lovers was called "kamerata". The participants of the "kamerata" dreamed of reviving the ancient Greek tragedy, combining drama, music and dance in one performance. The first such performance was given in Florence in 1600 and told about Orpheus and Eurydice. There is a version that the first musical performance with singing was staged in 1594 on the plot of the ancient Greek myth about the struggle of the god Apollo with the serpent Python. Gradually, opera schools began to appear in Italy in Rome, Venice, and Naples. Then the opera rapidly spread throughout Europe. At the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, the main varieties of opera were formed: opera - seria (large serious opera) and opera - buffa (comic opera).

At the end of the 18th century, the Russian theater was opened in St. Petersburg. At first there were only foreign operas. The first Russian operas were comic. Fomin is considered one of the creators. In 1836, the premiere of Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar took place in St. Petersburg. Opera in Russia has acquired a perfect form, its features have been determined: the bright musical characteristics of the main characters, the absence of colloquial dialogues. In the 19th century, all the best Russian composers turned to opera.

Varieties of opera

Historically, certain forms of operatic music have developed. In the presence of some general patterns of operatic dramaturgy, all its components are interpreted differently depending on the types of opera.

• grand opera ( opera seria- ital., tragedy lyrique, later grand opera- French)
• semi-comic ( semiseria),
• comic opera ( opera buffa- ital., opera-comique- French, Spieloper- German.),
• romantic opera, on a romantic plot.
• semi-opera, semi-opera, quarter opera ( semi- lat. half) - a form of English baroque opera, which combines oral Drama (genre) drama, vocal mise-en-scenes, howek and symphonic works. One of the adherents of the semi-opera is the English composer Henry Purcell /

In comic opera, German and French, dialogue is allowed between musical numbers. There are also serious operas in which dialogue is inserted, for example. "Fidelio" by Beethoven, "Medea" by Cherubini, "Magic Shooter" by Weber.

• From the comic opera came the operetta , which gained particular popularity in the second half of the 19th century .
• Operas for children's performance (for example, Benjamin Britten's operas - The Little Chimney Sweep, Noah's Ark, Lev Konov's operas - King Matt the First, Asgard, The Ugly Duckling, Kokinvakashu).

Elements of opera

This is a synthetic genre that combines various types of arts in a single theatrical action: dramaturgy, music, fine arts (decorations, costumes), choreography (ballet).

The composition of the opera group includes: soloist, choir, orchestra, military band, organ. Opera voices: (female: soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto; male: countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass).

An opera work is divided into acts, pictures, scenes, numbers. There is a prologue before the acts, and an epilogue at the end of the opera.

Parts of an operatic work - recitatives, arioso, songs, arias, duets, trios, quartets, ensembles, etc. From symphonic forms - overture, introduction, intermissions, pantomime, melodrama, processions, ballet music.

Characters of the characters are most fully revealed in solo numbers(aria, arioso, arietta, cavatina, monologue, ballad, song). Various functions in opera has recitative- musical-intonation and rhythmic reproduction of human speech. Often he connects (in plot and musical terms) separate completed numbers; is often an effective factor in musical dramaturgy. In some genres of opera, mostly comedy, instead of recitative, Speaking, usually in dialogues.

Stage dialogue, the scene of a dramatic performance in an opera corresponds to musical ensemble(duet, trio, quartet, quintet, etc.), the specificity of which makes it possible to create conflict situations, show not only the development of the action, but also the clash of characters and ideas. Therefore, ensembles often appear at the climax or final moments of an opera action.

choir Opera is interpreted in different ways. It may be a background unrelated to the main storyline; sometimes a kind of commentator of what is happening; its artistic possibilities make it possible to show monumental pictures of folk life, to reveal the relationship between the hero and the masses (for example, the role of the choir in MP Mussorgsky's folk musical dramas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina").

In the musical dramaturgy of the opera, a large role is assigned to orchestra, symphonic means of expression serve to more fully reveal the images. The opera also includes independent orchestral episodes - overture, intermission (introduction to individual acts). Another component of the opera performance - ballet, choreographic scenes, where plastic images are combined with musical ones.

Opera theatre

Opera houses are buildings of musical theaters specially designed for showing opera productions. Unlike open-air theaters, the opera house is equipped with a large stage with expensive technical equipment, including an orchestra pit and an auditorium in one or more tiers, located one above the other or designed in the form of boxes. This architectural model of the opera house is the main one. The largest opera houses in the world in terms of the number of seats for spectators are the Metropolitan Opera in New York (3,800 seats), the San Francisco Opera (3,146 seats) and La Scala in Italy (2,800 seats).

In most countries, the maintenance of opera houses is unprofitable and requires government subsidies or donations from patrons. For example, the annual budget of the La Scala Theater (Milan, Italy) as of 2010 amounted to 115 million euros (40% - state subsidies and 60% - donations from individuals and ticket sales), and in 2005, the La Scala Theater received 25 % of 464 million euros - the amount provided for by the Italian budget for the development of fine arts. And the Estonian National Opera in 2001 received 7 million euros (112 million kroons), which amounted to 5.4% of the funds of the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

opera voices

At the time of the birth of opera, when electronic sound amplification had not yet been invented, the technique of operatic singing developed in the direction of extracting a sound loud enough to cover the sound of an accompanying symphony orchestra. The power of the opera voice due to the coordinated work of the three components (breathing, the work of the larynx and the regulation of resonant cavities) reached 120 dB at a distance of one meter.

Singers, in accordance with opera parts, are classified according to the type of voice (texture, timbre and character). Among the male operatic voices, there are:

• counter tenor,

and among women:

• The most popular opera composers during the same period were Verdi, Mozart and Puccini - 3020, 2410 and 2294 performances respectively.

Literature

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see also

Notes

Links

• The most complete Russian-language site dedicated to opera and opera events
• Reference book "100 operas" edited by M. S. Druskin. Brief contents (synopses) of operas

musical forms
Vocal forms	Couplet form Chorus-chorus form
simple shapes	Period Simple two-part form Simple three-part form
complex shapes	Compound song forms Rondo Variation form Sonata form Rondo sonata
Cyclic forms	Suite Sonata-Symphonic Cycle Cantata Oratorio
Polyphonic forms	Canon Fugue
Specific forms of European Medieval and Renaissance	Bar Virelet ́ Ballata ́ Estampi ́ La Madrigal
Specific forms of the Baroque era	Simple forms of the Baroque period Ancient sonata form Composite forms of the Baroque period Ancient concert form Choral arrangement
Specific forms of the era of romanticism	Free forms Mixed forms Single-part cyclic form
Forms of musical theater	Operetta Ballet
Music Music theory

Opera terms

Theater directions
Theater

The content of the article

OPERA, drama or comedy set to music. Dramatic texts in opera are sung; singing and stage action are almost always accompanied by instrumental (usually orchestral) accompaniment. Many operas are also characterized by the presence of orchestral interludes (introductions, conclusions, intervals, etc.) and plot breaks filled with ballet scenes.

Opera was born as an aristocratic pastime, but soon became an entertainment for the general public. The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637, only four decades after the genre itself was born. Then the opera rapidly spread throughout Europe. As a public entertainment, it reached its highest development in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Throughout its history, opera has had a powerful influence on other musical genres. The symphony grew out of an instrumental introduction to Italian operas of the 18th century. The virtuoso passages and cadenzas of the piano concerto are largely the result of an attempt to reflect operatic-vocal virtuosity in the texture of the keyboard instrument. In the 19th century the harmonic and orchestral writing of R. Wagner, created by him for the grandiose "musical drama", determined the further development of a number of musical forms, and even in the 20th century. many musicians considered the release from the influence of Wagner as the mainstream of the movement towards new music.

opera form.

In the so-called. in grand opera, the most widespread form of the opera genre today, the entire text is sung. In comic opera, singing usually alternates with conversational scenes. The name "comic opera" (opéra comique in France, opera buffa in Italy, Singspiel in Germany) is largely conditional, because not all works of this type have a comic content (a characteristic feature of "comic opera" is the presence of spoken dialogues). A kind of light, sentimental comic opera, which became widespread in Paris and Vienna, began to be called an operetta; in America it is called a musical comedy. Plays with music (musicals) that have gained fame on Broadway are usually more serious in content than European operettas.

All these varieties of opera are based on the belief that music, and especially singing, enhance the dramatic expressiveness of the text. True, at times other elements played an equally important role in the opera. Thus, in the French opera of certain periods (and in Russian opera in the 19th century), dance and the spectacular side acquired very significant significance; German authors often considered the orchestral part not as an accompaniment, but as an equivalent vocal part. But throughout the history of opera, singing still played a dominant role.

If the singers are leading in an operatic performance, then the orchestral part forms the frame, the foundation of the action, moves it forward and prepares the audience for future events. The orchestra supports the singers, emphasizes the climaxes, fills in the gaps in the libretto or moments of scene change with its sound, and finally performs at the conclusion of the opera when the curtain falls.

Most operas have instrumental introductions to help set the listener's perception. In the 17th–19th centuries such an introduction was called an overture. Overtures were laconic and independent concert pieces, thematically unrelated to the opera and therefore easily replaced. For example, the overture to the tragedy Aurelian in Palmyra Rossini later turned into a comedy overture barber of seville. But in the second half of the 19th century. composers began to exert a much greater influence on the unity of mood and the thematic connection between the overture and the opera. A form of introduction (Vorspiel) arose, which, for example, in Wagner's later musical dramas, includes the main themes (leitmotifs) of the opera and directly puts into action. The form of the "autonomous" opera overture was in decline, and by the time Longing Puccini (1900) the overture could be replaced by just a few opening chords. In a number of operas of the 20th century. in general, there are no musical preparations for the stage action.

So, the operatic action develops inside the orchestral frame. But since the essence of opera is singing, the highest moments of drama are reflected in the completed forms of the aria, duet and other conventional forms where music comes to the fore. An aria is like a monologue, a duet is like a dialogue; in a trio, the conflicting feelings of one of the characters towards the other two participants are usually embodied. With further complication, various ensemble forms arise - such as a quartet in Rigoletto Verdi or sextet in Lucia de Lammermoor Donizetti. The introduction of such forms usually stops the action in order to make room for the development of one (or several) emotions. Only a group of singers, united in an ensemble, can express several points of view on ongoing events at once. Sometimes the choir acts as a commentator on the actions of opera heroes. In general, the text in opera choirs is pronounced relatively slowly, phrases are often repeated to make the content understandable to the listener.

The arias themselves do not constitute an opera. In the classical type of opera, the main means of conveying the plot to the public and developing the action is recitative: fast melodic recitation in free meter, supported by simple chords and based on natural speech intonations. In comic operas, recitative is often replaced by dialogue. The recitative may seem boring to listeners who do not understand the meaning of the spoken text, but it is often indispensable in the content structure of the opera.

Not in all operas it is possible to draw a clear line between recitative and aria. Wagner, for example, abandoned complete vocal forms, aiming at the continuous development of musical action. This innovation was picked up, with various modifications, by a number of composers. On Russian soil, the idea of ​​a continuous "musical drama" was, independently of Wagner, first tested by A.S. Dargomyzhsky in stone guest and M.P. Mussorgsky in getting married- they called this form "conversational opera", opera dialogue.

Opera as drama.

The dramatic content of the opera is embodied not only in the libretto, but also in the music itself. The creators of the opera genre called their works dramma per musica - "drama expressed in music." Opera is more than a play with interpolated songs and dances. The dramatic play is self-sufficient; opera without music is only part of the dramatic unity. This applies even to operas with spoken scenes. In works of this type, for example, in Manon Lesko J. Massenet - musical numbers still retain a key role.

It is extremely rare for an opera libretto to be staged as a dramatic piece. Although the content of the drama is expressed in words and there are characteristic stage devices, nevertheless, without music, something important is lost - something that can only be expressed by music. For the same reason, only rarely can dramatic plays be used as a libretto, without first reducing the number of characters, simplifying the plot and main characters. It is necessary to leave room for the music to breathe, it must be repeated, form orchestral episodes, change mood and color depending on dramatic situations. And since singing still makes it difficult to understand the meaning of words, the text of the libretto must be so clear that it can be perceived when singing.

In this way, the opera subordinates to itself the lexical richness and polished form of a good dramatic play, but compensates for this damage with the possibilities of its own language, which appeals directly to the feelings of the listeners. Yes, literary source Madama Butterfly Puccini - D. Belasco's play about a geisha and an American naval officer is hopelessly outdated, and the tragedy of love and betrayal expressed in Puccini's music has not faded with time.

When composing operatic music, most composers observed certain conventions. For example, the use of high registers of voices or instruments meant "passion", dissonant harmonies expressed "fear". Such conventions were not arbitrary: people generally raise their voices when they are excited, and the physical sensation of fear is disharmonious. But experienced opera composers used more subtle means to express dramatic content in music. The melodic line had to organically correspond to the words on which it fell; harmonic writing had to reflect the ebb and flow of emotion. It was necessary to create different rhythmic models for impetuous declamatory scenes, solemn ensembles, love duets and arias. The expressive possibilities of the orchestra, including timbres and other characteristics associated with various instruments, were also placed at the service of dramatic goals.

However, dramatic expressiveness is not the only function of music in opera. The opera composer solves two contradictory tasks: to express the content of the drama and to give pleasure to the listeners. According to the first task, music serves the drama; according to the second, music is self-sufficient. Many great opera composers - Gluck, Wagner, Mussorgsky, R. Strauss, Puccini, Debussy, Berg - emphasized the expressive, dramatic beginning in the opera. From other authors, the opera acquired a more poetic, restrained, chamber look. Their art is marked by the subtlety of halftones and is less dependent on changes in public tastes. Lyric composers are loved by singers, because, although an opera singer must be an actor to a certain extent, his main task is purely musical: he must accurately reproduce the musical text, give the sound the necessary coloring, and phrasing beautifully. Lyric authors include the Neapolitans of the 18th century, Handel, Haydn, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Weber, Gounod, Masnet, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Few authors have achieved an almost absolute balance of dramatic and lyrical elements, among them Monteverdi, Mozart, Bizet, Verdi, Janacek and Britten.

operatic repertoire.

The traditional operatic repertoire consists mainly of works from the 19th century. and a number of operas of the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Romanticism, with its attraction to lofty deeds and distant lands, contributed to the development of operatic creativity throughout Europe; the growth of the middle class led to the penetration of folk elements into the operatic language and provided the opera with a large and grateful audience.

The traditional repertoire tends to reduce the entire genre diversity of opera to two very capacious categories - "tragedy" and "comedy". The first is usually presented wider than the second. The basis of the repertoire today is Italian and German operas, especially "tragedies". In the field of "comedy", Italian opera, or at least in Italian (for example, Mozart's operas), predominates. There are few French operas in the traditional repertoire, and they are usually performed in the manner of the Italians. Several Russian and Czech operas occupy their place in the repertoire, almost always performed in translation. In general, major opera troupes adhere to the tradition of performing works in the original language.

The main regulator of the repertoire is popularity and fashion. A certain role is played by the prevalence and cultivation of certain types of voices, although some operas (like Aide Verdi) are often performed without regard to whether the necessary voices are available or not (the latter is more common). In an era when operas with virtuoso coloratura parts and allegorical plots went out of fashion, few people cared about the appropriate style of their production. Handel's operas, for example, were neglected until the famous singer Joan Sutherland and others began to perform them. And the point here is not only in the "new" audience, which discovered the beauty of these operas, but also in the appearance of a large number of singers with a high vocal culture who can cope with sophisticated opera parts. In the same way, the revival of the work of Cherubini and Bellini was inspired by the brilliant performances of their operas and the discovery of the "novelty" of old works. Composers of the early baroque, especially Monteverdi, but also Peri and Scarlatti, were likewise brought out of oblivion.

All such revivals require commentary editions, especially the works of 17th-century authors, on whose instrumentation and dynamic principles we do not have exact information. Endless repetitions in the so-called. da capo arias in the operas of the Neapolitan school and in Handel are quite tedious in our time - the time of digests. The modern listener is hardly able to share the passion of the listeners even of the French Grand Opera of the 19th century. (Rossini, Spontini, Meyerbeer, Halevi) to an entertainment that occupied the whole evening (thus, the full score of the opera Fernando Cortes Spontini sounds for 5 hours, excluding intermissions). It is not uncommon for dark places in the score and its dimensions to tempt the conductor or stage director to cut, rearrange numbers, insert and even insert new pieces, often so clumsily that only a distant relative of the work that appears in the program appears before the public.

Singers.

According to the range of voices, opera singers are usually divided into six types. Three female types of voices, from high to low - soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto (the latter is rare these days); three men's - tenor, baritone, bass. Within each type, there may be several subspecies, depending on the quality of the voice and the style of singing. The lyric-coloratura soprano has a light and extremely mobile voice; such singers can perform virtuoso passages, fast scales, trills and other ornaments. Lyric-dramatic (lirico spinto) soprano - a voice of great brightness and beauty. The timbre of the dramatic soprano is rich and strong. The distinction between lyrical and dramatic voices also applies to tenors. There are two main types of basses: "singing bass" (basso cantante) for "serious" parties and comic (basso buffo).

Gradually, the rules for choosing a singing timbre for a certain role were formed. The parts of the main characters and heroines were usually entrusted to tenors and sopranos. In general, the older and more experienced the character, the lower his voice should be. An innocent young girl - for example, Gilda in Rigoletto Verdi is a lyric soprano, and the treacherous seductress Delilah in the opera Saint-Saens Samson and Delilah- mezzo-soprano. Part of Figaro, the energetic and witty hero of the Mozart Weddings of Figaro and Rossini Barber of Seville written by both composers for the baritone, although as the part of the protagonist, the part of Figaro should have been intended for the first tenor. Parts of peasants, wizards, people of mature age, rulers and old people were usually created for bass-baritones (for example, Don Giovanni in Mozart's opera) or basses (Boris Godunov for Mussorgsky).

Changes in public tastes played a certain role in shaping operatic vocal styles. The technique of sound production, the technique of vibrato (“sobbing”) has changed over the centuries. J. Peri (1561–1633), singer and author of the earliest partially preserved opera ( Daphne) supposedly sang in what is known as a white voice—in a comparatively flat, unchanging style, with little or no vibrato—in keeping with the interpretation of the voice as an instrument that was in vogue until the end of the Renaissance.

During the 18th century the cult of the virtuoso singer developed - first in Naples, then throughout Europe. At that time, the part of the protagonist in the opera was performed by a male soprano - castrato, that is, a timbre, the natural change of which was stopped by castration. Singers-castrati brought the range and mobility of their voices to the limits of what was possible. Opera stars such as the castrato Farinelli (C. Broschi, 1705–1782), whose soprano, according to stories, surpassed the sound of a trumpet in strength, or the mezzo-soprano F. Bordoni, about whom it was said that she could pull the sound longer than all the singers in the world, completely subordinated to their skill those composers whose music they performed. Some of them themselves composed operas and directed opera companies (Farinelli). It was taken for granted that the singers decorate the melodies composed by the composer with their own improvised ornaments, regardless of whether such decorations fit the opera's plot situation or not. The owner of any type of voice must be trained in the performance of fast passages and trills. In Rossini's operas, for example, the tenor must master the coloratura technique as well as the soprano. The revival of such art in the 20th century. allowed to give new life to the diverse operatic work of Rossini.

Only one singing style of the 18th century. almost unchanged to this day - the style of the comic bass, because simple effects and fast chatter leave little room for individual interpretations, musical or stage; perhaps, the areal comedies of D. Pergolesi (1749–1801) are performed today no less than 200 years ago. The talkative, quick-tempered old man is a highly revered figure in the operatic tradition, a favorite role for basses prone to vocal clowning.

The pure, iridescent singing style of bel canto (bel canto), so beloved by Mozart, Rossini and other opera composers of the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, in the second half of the 19th century. gradually gave way to a more powerful and dramatic style of singing. The development of modern harmonic and orchestral writing gradually changed the function of the orchestra in opera, from being an accompanist to being a protagonist, and consequently the singers needed to sing louder so that their voices were not drowned out by the instruments. This trend originated in Germany, but has influenced all of European opera, including Italian. The German "heroic tenor" (Heldentenor) is clearly generated by the need for a voice capable of engaging in a duel with the Wagner orchestra. Verdi's later compositions and the operas of his followers require "strong" (di forza) tenors and energetic dramatic (spinto) sopranos. The demands of romantic opera sometimes even lead to interpretations that seem to run counter to the intentions expressed by the composer himself. So, R. Strauss thought of Salome in his opera of the same name as "a 16-year-old girl with the voice of Isolde." However, the instrumentation of the opera is so dense that mature matron singers are needed to perform the main part.

Among the legendary opera stars of the past are E. Caruso (1873–1921, perhaps the most popular singer in history), J. Farrar (1882–1967, who was always followed by a retinue of admirers in New York), F. I. Chaliapin (1873 –1938, powerful bass, master of Russian realism), K. Flagstad (1895–1962, heroic soprano from Norway) and many others. In the next generation, they were replaced by M. Callas (1923–1977), B. Nilson (b. 1918), R. Tebaldi (1922–2004), J. Sutherland (b. 1926), L. Price (b. 1927) ), B. Sills (b. 1929), C. Bartoli (1966), R. Tucker (1913–1975), T. Gobbi (1913–1984), F. Corelli (b. 1921), C. Siepi (b. . 1923), J. Vickers (b. 1926), L. Pavarotti (b. 1935), S. Milnes (b. 1935), P. Domingo (b. 1941), J. Carreras (b. 1946).

Opera theatres.

Some buildings of opera houses are associated with a certain type of opera, and in some cases, indeed, the architecture of the theater was due to one or another type of opera performance. Thus, the Paris Opera (the name Grand Opera was fixed in Russia) was intended for a bright spectacle long before its current building was built in 1862–1874 (architect Ch. Garnier): the staircase and foyer of the palace were designed as would compete with the scenery of ballets and magnificent processions that took place on the stage. The "House of Solemn Performances" (Festspielhaus) in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth was created by Wagner in 1876 to stage his epic "musical dramas". Its stage, modeled on the scenes of ancient Greek amphitheaters, has great depth, and the orchestra is located in the orchestra pit and hidden from the audience, so that the sound dissipates and the singer does not need to overexert his voice. The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York (1883) was designed as a showcase for the world's finest singers and respectable lodge subscribers. The hall is so deep that its "diamond horseshoe" boxes provide visitors with more opportunities to see each other than a relatively shallow stage.

The appearance of opera houses, like a mirror, reflects the history of opera as a phenomenon of public life. Its origins are in the revival of the ancient Greek theater in aristocratic circles: this period corresponds to the oldest surviving opera house - the Olimpico (1583), built by A. Palladio in Vicenza. Its architecture, a reflection of the microcosm of Baroque society, is based on a characteristic horseshoe-shaped plan, where tiers of boxes fan out from the center - the royal box. A similar plan is preserved in the buildings of the theaters La Scala (1788, Milan), La Fenice (1792, burned down in 1992, Venice), San Carlo (1737, Naples), Covent Garden (1858, London). ). With fewer boxes, but with deeper tiers thanks to steel supports, this plan was used in such American opera houses as the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1908), opera houses in San Francisco (1932) and Chicago (1920). More modern solutions demonstrate the new building of the Metropolitan Opera in New York's Lincoln Center (1966) and the Sydney Opera House (1973, Australia).

The democratic approach is characteristic of Wagner. He demanded maximum concentration from the audience and built a theater where there are no boxes at all, and the seats are arranged in monotonous continuous rows. The austere Bayreuth interior was repeated only in the Munich Principal Theater (1909); even German theaters built after World War II date back to earlier examples. However, the Wagnerian idea seems to have contributed to the movement towards the concept of the arena, i.e. theater without a proscenium, which is proposed by some modern architects (the prototype is the ancient Roman circus): the opera is left to adapt itself to these new conditions. The Roman amphitheater in Verona is well suited for staging such monumental opera performances as Aida Verdi and William Tell Rossini.

opera festivals.

An important element of the Wagnerian concept of opera is the summer pilgrimage to Bayreuth. The idea was picked up: in the 1920s, the Austrian city of Salzburg organized a festival dedicated mainly to Mozart's operas and invited such talented people as director M. Reinhardt and conductor A. Toscanini to implement the project. Since the mid-1930s, Mozart's operatic work has shaped the English Glyndebourne Festival. After the Second World War, a festival appeared in Munich, dedicated mainly to the work of R. Strauss. Florence hosts the "Florence Musical May", where a very wide repertoire is performed, covering both early and modern operas.

STORY

The origins of opera.

The first example of the opera genre that has come down to us is Eurydice J. Peri (1600) is a modest work created in Florence on the occasion of the wedding of the French King Henry IV and Maria Medici. As expected, the young singer and madrigalist, who was close to the court, was ordered music for this solemn event. But Peri presented not the usual madrigal cycle on a pastoral theme, but something completely different. The musician was a member of the Florentine Camerata - a circle of scientists, poets and music lovers. For twenty years the members of the Camerata have been investigating the question of how ancient Greek tragedies were performed. They came to the conclusion that the Greek actors recited the text in a special declamatory manner, which is something between speech and real singing. But the real result of these experiments in the revival of a forgotten art was a new type of solo singing, called "monody": monody was performed in free rhythm with the simplest accompaniment. Therefore, Peri and his librettist O. Rinuccini set out the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in recitative, which was supported by the chords of a small orchestra, rather an ensemble of seven instruments, and presented the play in the Florentine Palazzo Pitti. This was Camerata's second opera; first score, Daphne Peri (1598), not preserved.

Early opera had predecessors. For seven centuries the church has cultivated liturgical dramas such as Game about Daniel where solo singing was accompanied by the accompaniment of various instruments. In the 16th century other composers, in particular A. Gabrieli and O. Vecchi, combined secular choirs or madrigals into story cycles. But still, before Peri and Rinuccini, there was no monodic secular musical-dramatic form. Their work did not become a revival of ancient Greek tragedy. It brought something more - a new viable theatrical genre was born.

However, the full disclosure of the possibilities of the dramma per musica genre, put forward by the Florentine camerata, occurred in the work of another musician. Like Peri, C. Monteverdi (1567-1643) was an educated man from a noble family, but unlike Peri, he was a professional musician. A native of Cremona, Monteverdi became famous at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua and directed the choir of the Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice. Seven years after Eurydice Peri, he composed his own version of the legend of Orpheus - The legend of Orpheus. These works differ from each other in the same way that an interesting experiment differs from a masterpiece. Monteverdi increased the composition of the orchestra five times, giving each character his own group of instruments, and prefaced the opera with an overture. His recitative not only sounded the text of A. Strigio, but lived its own artistic life. Monteverdi's harmonic language is full of dramatic contrasts and even today impresses with its boldness and picturesqueness.

Monteverdi's subsequent surviving operas include Duel of Tancred and Clorinda(1624), based on a scene from Liberated Jerusalem Torquato Tasso - an epic poem about the crusaders; Return of Ulysses(1641) on a plot dating back to the ancient Greek legend of Odysseus; Coronation of Poppea(1642), from the time of the Roman Emperor Nero. The last work was created by the composer just a year before his death. This opera was the pinnacle of his work - partly due to the virtuosity of the vocal parts, partly due to the splendor of instrumental writing.

distribution of the opera.

In the era of Monteverdi, the opera rapidly conquered the major cities of Italy. Rome gave the operatic author L. Rossi (1598–1653), who staged his opera in Paris in 1647 Orpheus and Eurydice conquering the French world. F. Cavalli (1602–1676), who sang at Monteverdi's in Venice, created about 30 operas; Together with M.A. Chesti (1623–1669), Cavalli became the founder of the Venetian school, which played a major role in Italian opera in the second half of the 17th century. In the Venetian school, the monodic style, which came from Florence, opened the way for the development of recitative and aria. The arias gradually became longer and more complex, and virtuoso singers, usually castrati, began to dominate the opera stage. The plots of Venetian operas were still based on mythology or romanticized historical episodes, but now embellished with burlesque interludes that had nothing to do with the main action and spectacular episodes in which the singers demonstrated their virtuosity. At the Opera of Honor Golden Apple(1668), one of the most complex of that era, there are 50 actors, as well as 67 scenes and 23 scene changes.

Italian influence even reached England. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, composers and librettists began to create the so-called. masks - court performances that combined recitatives, singing, dance and were based on fantastic stories. This new genre occupied a large place in the work of G. Lowes, who in 1643 set to music Comus Milton, and in 1656 created the first real English opera - Siege of Rhodes. After the restoration of the Stuarts, the opera gradually began to gain a foothold on English soil. J. Blow (1649–1708), organist at Westminster Cathedral, composed an opera in 1684 Venus and Adonis, but the composition was still called a mask. The only truly great opera created by an Englishman was Dido and Aeneas G. Purcell (1659–1695), Blow's disciple and successor. First performed at a women's college around 1689, this little opera is noted for its amazing beauty. Purcell owned both French and Italian techniques, but his opera is a typically English work. Libretto Dido, owned by N. Tate, but the composer revived with his music, marked by the mastery of dramatic characteristics, the extraordinary grace and richness of arias and choirs.

Early French opera.

Like early Italian opera, French opera of the mid-16th century proceeded from the desire to revive the ancient Greek theatrical aesthetics. The difference was that the Italian opera emphasized singing, while the French one grew out of ballet, a favorite theatrical genre at the French court of that time. A capable and ambitious dancer who came from Italy, J. B. Lully (1632-1687) became the founder of French opera. He received a musical education, including studying the basics of composing technique, at the court of Louis XIV and then was appointed court composer. He had an excellent understanding of the stage, which was evident in his music for a number of Molière's comedies, especially for Tradesman in the nobility(1670). Impressed by the success of the opera companies that came to France, Lully decided to create his own troupe. Lully's operas, which he called "lyrical tragedies" (tragédies lyriques) , demonstrate a specifically French musical and theatrical style. The plots are taken from ancient mythology or from Italian poems, and the libretto, with their solemn verses in strictly defined sizes, is guided by the style of the great contemporary of Lully, the playwright J. Racine. Lully intersperses the development of the plot with long discussions about love and fame, and he inserts divertissements into the prologues and other points of the plot - scenes with dances, choirs and magnificent scenery. The true scale of the composer's work becomes clear today, when the productions of his operas are resumed - Alceste (1674), Atisa(1676) and Armides (1686).

"Czech Opera" is a conventional term that refers to two contrasting artistic trends: pro-Russian in Slovakia and pro-German in the Czech Republic. A recognized figure in Czech music is Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), although only one of his operas is imbued with deep pathos. Mermaid- established itself in the world repertoire. In Prague, the capital of Czech culture, the main figure in the operatic world was Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), whose The Bartered Bride(1866) quickly entered the repertoire, usually translated into German. The comic and uncomplicated plot made this work the most accessible in the legacy of Smetana, although he is the author of two more fiery patriotic operas - a dynamic "opera of salvation" Dalibor(1868) and picture-epic Libusha(1872, staged in 1881), which depicts the unification of the Czech people under the rule of a wise queen.

The unofficial center of the Slovak school was the city of Brno, where Leos Janacek (1854–1928), another ardent supporter of the reproduction of natural recitative intonations in music, in the spirit of Mussorgsky and Debussy, lived and worked. Janacek's diaries contain many notes of speech and natural sound rhythms. After several early and unsuccessful experiences in the operatic genre, Janáček first turned to a stunning tragedy from the life of the Moravian peasants in opera. Enufa(1904, the composer's most popular opera). In subsequent operas, he developed different plots: the drama of a young woman who, out of protest against family oppression, enters into an illegal love affair ( Katya Kabanova, 1921), life of nature ( Cunning Chanterelle, 1924), a supernatural incident ( Makropulos remedy, 1926) and Dostoevsky's account of the years he spent in hard labor ( Notes from the House of the Dead, 1930).

Janacek dreamed of success in Prague, but his "enlightened" colleagues treated his operas with disdain - both during the composer's lifetime and after his death. Like Rimsky-Korsakov, who edited Mussorgsky, Janáček's colleagues thought they knew better than the author how his scores should sound. Janáček's international recognition came later as a result of the restoration efforts of John Tyrrell and the Australian conductor Charles Mackeras.

Operas of the 20th century

The First World War put an end to the romantic era: the sublimity of feelings inherent in romanticism could not survive the upheavals of the war years. The established opera forms were also in decline, it was a time of uncertainty and experimentation. The craving for the Middle Ages, expressed with particular force in parsifal And Pelléas, gave the last flashes in such works as Three kings love(1913) Italo Montemezzi (1875–1952), Knights of Ekebu(1925) Riccardo Zandonai (1883–1944), Semirama(1910) and Flame(1934) Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936). Austrian post-romanticism in the person of Franz Schrekker (1878–1933; distant sound, 1912; stigmatized, 1918), Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942; Florentine tragedy;Dwarf– 1922) and Erik Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957; Dead city, 1920; Miracle of Heliana, 1927) used medieval motifs for artistic exploration of spiritualistic ideas or pathological psychic phenomena.

The Wagner heritage, picked up by Richard Strauss, then passed to the so-called. new Viennese school, in particular to A. Schoenberg (1874–1951) and A. Berg (1885–1935), whose operas are a kind of anti-romantic reaction: this is expressed both in a conscious departure from the traditional musical language, especially harmonic, and in the choice "violent" scenes. Berg's first opera Wozzeck(1925) - the story of an unfortunate, oppressed soldier - is a grippingly powerful drama, despite its extraordinarily complex, highly intellectual form; composer's second opera, Lulu(1937, completed after the death of the author F. Tserhoy), is a no less expressive musical drama about a dissolute woman. After a series of small acutely psychological operas, among which the most famous is Expectation(1909), Schoenberg spent his whole life working on the plot Moses and Aaron(1954, the opera remained unfinished) - based on the biblical story about the conflict between the tongue-tied prophet Moses and the eloquent Aaron, who tempted the Israelis to bow to the golden calf. Scenes of orgy, destruction and human sacrifice, which are able to outrage any theatrical censorship, as well as the extreme complexity of the composition, hinder its popularity in the opera house.

Composers from different national schools began to emerge from the influence of Wagner. Thus, the symbolism of Debussy served as an impetus for the Hungarian composer B. Bartok (1881–1945) to create his psychological parable Duke Bluebeard's castle(1918); another Hungarian author, Z. Kodály, in the opera Hari Janos(1926) turned to folklore sources. In Berlin, F. Busoni rethought the old plots in operas Harlequin(1917) and Doctor Faust(1928, remained unfinished). In all the works mentioned, the all-pervading symphonism of Wagner and his followers gives way to a much more concise style, to the point of monody predominating. However, the operatic heritage of this generation of composers is relatively small, and this circumstance, together with the list of unfinished works, testifies to the difficulties that the opera genre experienced in the era of expressionism and impending fascism.

At the same time, new currents began to emerge in war-ravaged Europe. The Italian comic opera gave its last escape in a small masterpiece by G. Puccini Gianni Schicchi(1918). But in Paris, M. Ravel raised the fading torch and created his own wonderful Spanish hour(1911) and then child and magic(1925, to libretto by Collet). Opera appeared in Spain - short life(1913) and Maestro Pedro booth(1923) Manuel de Falla.

In England, the opera experienced a real revival - for the first time in several centuries. The earliest specimens immortal hour(1914) Rutland Baughton (1878–1960) on a subject from Celtic mythology, Traitors(1906) and boatswain's wife(1916) Ethel Smith (1858–1944). The first is a bucolic love story, while the second is about pirates who make their home in a poor English coastal village. Smith's operas enjoyed some popularity in Europe as well, as did the operas of Frederic Delius (1862–1934), especially Romeo and Juliet Village(1907). Delius, however, was by nature incapable of embodying conflict dramaturgy (both in text and in music), and therefore his static musical dramas rarely appear on stage.

The burning problem for English composers was the search for a competitive plot. Savitri Gustav Holst was written based on one of the episodes of the Indian epic Mahabharata(1916) and Hugh the Drover R. Vaughan-Williams (1924) is a pastoral richly equipped with folk songs; the same is true in Vaughan Williams' opera Sir John in love according to Shakespeare Falstaff.

B. Britten (1913–1976) succeeded in raising English opera to new heights; his first opera turned out to be a success Peter Grimes(1945) - a drama that takes place on the seashore, where the central character is a fisherman rejected by people, who is in the grip of mystical experiences. Source of comedy-satire Albert Herring(1947) became a short story by Maupassant, and in Billy Budde Melville's allegorical story is used, which treats of good and evil (the historical background is the era of the Napoleonic wars). This opera is usually recognized as Britten's masterpiece, although he later successfully worked in the genre of "grand opera" - examples are Gloriana(1951), which tells about the turbulent events of the reign of Elizabeth I, and A dream in a summer night(1960; Shakespeare's libretto was created by the composer's closest friend and collaborator, singer P. Pierce). In the 1960s, Britten paid much attention to parable operas ( woodcock river – 1964, Cave action – 1966, prodigal son- 1968); he also created a television opera Owen Wingrave(1971) and chamber operas screw turn And Desecration of Lucretia. The absolute pinnacle of the composer's operatic work was his last work in this genre - Death in Venice(1973), where extraordinary ingenuity is combined with great sincerity.

Britten's operatic heritage is so significant that few of the English authors of the next generation were able to emerge from its shadow, although the famous success of Peter Maxwell Davies' opera (b. 1934) is worth mentioning. taverner(1972) and operas by Harrison Birtwhistle (b. 1934) gavan(1991). As for the composers of other countries, we can note such works as Aniara(1951) by Swede Karl-Birger Blomdahl (1916–1968), where the action takes place on an interplanetary ship and uses electronic sounds, or an operatic cycle Let there be light(1978–1979) by the German Karlheinz Stockhausen (the cycle is subtitled Seven Days of Creation and is expected to be completed within a week). But, of course, such innovations are fleeting. The operas of the German composer Carl Orff (1895-1982) are more significant - for example, Antigone(1949), which is built on the model of an ancient Greek tragedy using rhythmic recitation against the background of ascetic accompaniment (mainly percussion instruments). The brilliant French composer F. Poulenc (1899–1963) began with a humorous opera Tiresia's breasts(1947), and then turned to aesthetics, which puts natural speech intonation and rhythm at the forefront. Two of his best operas were written in this vein: the mono-opera human voice after Jean Cocteau (1959; libretto built like a telephone conversation of the heroine) and an opera Dialogues of the Carmelites, which describes the suffering of the nuns of a Catholic order during the French Revolution. Poulenc's harmonies are deceptively simple and at the same time emotionally expressive. The international popularity of Poulenc's works was also facilitated by the composer's demand that his operas be performed whenever possible in local languages.

Juggling like a magician with different styles, I.F. Stravinsky (1882-1971) created an impressive number of operas; among them - written for Diaghilev's entreprise romantic Nightingale based on the fairy tale by H.H. Andersen (1914), Mozartian The Rake's Adventures based on engravings by Hogarth (1951), as well as a static, reminiscent of antique friezes Oedipus Rex(1927), which is intended equally for the theater and for the concert stage. During the German Weimar Republic, K. Weil (1900–1950) and B. Brecht (1898–1950), who remade Beggar's opera John Gay into an even more popular Threepenny Opera(1928), composed a now forgotten opera on a sharply satirical plot The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny(1930). The rise of the Nazis put an end to this fruitful cooperation, and Vail, who emigrated to America, began working in the American musical genre.

The Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983) was in great vogue in the 1960s and 1970s when his expressionistic and overtly erotic operas appeared. Don Rodrigo (1964), Bomarzo(1967) and Beatrice Cenci(1971). The German Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926) rose to prominence in 1951 when his opera Boulevard Loneliness to a libretto by Greta Weill based on the story of Manon Lescaut; the musical language of the work combines jazz, blues and 12-tone technique. Henze's subsequent operas include: Elegy for young lovers(1961; the action takes place in the snowy Alps; the score is dominated by the sounds of xylophone, vibraphone, harp and celesta), young lord, shot through with black humor (1965), bassaridae(1966; after bacchae Euripides, English libretto by C. Cullman and W. H. Auden), anti-militarist We will come to the river(1976), children's fairy tale opera pollicino And Betrayed Sea(1990). In the UK, Michael Tippett (1905–1998) worked in the operatic genre. ) : Wedding on Midsummer Night(1955), garden labyrinth (1970), The ice has broken(1977) and science fiction opera New Year(1989) - all to the composer's libretto. The avant-garde English composer Peter Maxwell Davies is the author of the aforementioned opera. taverner(1972; plot from the life of the 16th century composer John Taverner) and Resurrection (1987).

Notable opera singers

Björling, Jussi (Johan Jonathan)(Björling, Jussi) (1911–1960), Swedish singer (tenor). He studied at the Stockholm Royal Opera School and made his debut there in 1930 in a small role in Manon Lesko. A month later, Ottavio sang in Don Juan. From 1938 to 1960, with the exception of the war years, he sang at the Metropolitan Opera and enjoyed particular success in the Italian and French repertoire.
Galli-Curci Amelita .
Gobbi, Tito(Gobbi, Tito) (1915-1984), Italian singer (baritone). He studied in Rome and made his debut there as Germont in La Traviate. He performed a lot in London and after 1950 in New York, Chicago and San Francisco - especially in Verdi's operas; continued to sing in major theaters in Italy. Gobbi is considered the best performer of the part of Scarpia, which he sang about 500 times. He has acted in opera films many times.
Domingo, Placido .
Callas, Mary .
Caruso, Enrico .
Corelli, Franco- (Corelli, Franco) (b. 1921–2003), Italian singer (tenor). At the age of 23 he studied for some time at the Pesaro Conservatory. In 1952, he took part in the vocal competition of the Florentine Musical May festival, where the director of the Rome Opera invited him to pass a test at the Spoletto Experimental Theatre. Soon he performed in this theater in the role of Don José in Carmen. At the opening of the La Scala season in 1954, he sang with Maria Callas in Vestal Spontini. In 1961 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Manrico in Troubadour. Among his most famous parties is Cavaradossi in Tosca.
London, George(London, George) (1920-1985), Canadian singer (bass-baritone), real name George Bernstein. He studied in Los Angeles and made his Hollywood debut in 1942. In 1949 he was invited to the Vienna Opera, where he made his debut as Amonasro in Aide. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera (1951-1966), and also performed in Bayreuth from 1951 to 1959 as Amfortas and the Flying Dutchman. He superbly performed the parts of Don Giovanni, Scarpia and Boris Godunov.
Milnes, Cheryl .
Nilson, Birgit(Nilsson, Birgit) (1918–2005), Swedish singer (soprano). She studied in Stockholm and made her debut there as Agatha in freestyle shooter Weber. Her international fame dates back to 1951 when she sang Elektra in Idomeneo Mozart at the Glyndebourne Festival. In the 1954/1955 season she sang Brunnhilde and Salome at the Munich Opera. She made her debut as Brunnhilde at London's Covent Garden (1957) and as Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera (1959). She also succeeded in other roles, especially Turandot, Tosca and Aida. Died December 25, 2005 in Stockholm.
Pavarotti, Luciano .
Patti, Adeline(Patti, Adelina) (1843-1919), Italian singer (coloratura soprano). She made her debut in New York in 1859 as Lucia di Lammermoor, in London in 1861 (as Amina in Sleepwalker). She sang at Covent Garden for 23 years. With a great voice and brilliant technique, Patti was one of the last representatives of the true bel canto style, but as a musician and as an actress she was much weaker.
Price, Leontina .
Sutherland, Joan .
Skipa, Tito(Schipa, Tito) (1888-1965), Italian singer (tenor). He studied in Milan and made his debut in Vercelli in 1911 as Alfred ( La Traviata). Constantly performed in Milan and Rome. In 1920–1932 he had an engagement at the Chicago Opera, and sang constantly in San Francisco from 1925 and at the Metropolitan Opera (1932–1935 and 1940–1941). He superbly performed the parts of Don Ottavio, Almaviva, Nemorino, Werther and Wilhelm Meister in Mignone.
Scotto, Renata(Scotto, Renata) (b. 1935), Italian singer (soprano). She made her debut in 1954 at the New Theater of Naples as Violetta ( La Traviata), in the same year she sang for the first time at La Scala. She specialized in bel canto repertoire: Gilda, Amina, Norina, Linda de Chamouni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda and Violetta. Her American debut as Mimi from bohemia took place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1960, first performed at the Metropolitan Opera as Cio-Cio-San in 1965. Her repertoire also includes the roles of Norma, Gioconda, Tosca, Manon Lescaut and Francesca da Rimini.
Siepi, Cesare(Siepi, Cesare) (b. 1923), Italian singer (bass). He made his debut in 1941 in Venice as Sparafucillo in Rigoletto. After the war, he began performing at La Scala and other Italian opera houses. From 1950 to 1973 he was the lead bass player at the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang, among others, Don Giovanni, Figaro, Boris, Gurnemanz and Philipp in Don Carlos.
Tebaldi, Renata(Tebaldi, Renata) (b. 1922), Italian singer (soprano). She studied in Parma and made her debut in 1944 in Rovigo as Elena ( Mephistopheles). Toscanini chose Tebaldi to perform at the post-war opening of La Scala (1946). In 1950 and 1955 she performed in London, in 1955 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Desdemona and sang in this theater until her retirement in 1975. Among her best roles are Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Violetta, Leonora, Aida and other dramatic roles from operas by Verdi.
Farrar, Geraldine .
Chaliapin, Fedor Ivanovich .
Schwarzkopf, Elizabeth(Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth) (b. 1915), German singer (soprano). She studied with in Berlin and made her debut at the Berlin Opera in 1938 as one of the Flower Maidens in parsifal Wagner. After several performances at the Vienna Opera, she was invited to play leading roles. Later she also sang at Covent Garden and La Scala. In 1951 in Venice at the premiere of Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Adventures sang the part of Anna, in 1953 at La Scala she participated in the premiere of Orff's stage cantata Triumph of Aphrodite. In 1964 she performed for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera. She left the opera stage in 1973.

Literature:

Makhrova E.V. The Opera House in German Culture in the Second Half of the 20th Century. St. Petersburg, 1998
Simon G.W. One hundred great operas and their plots. M., 1998



The content of the article

OPERA COMIC, in the original meaning of the term: a set of national varieties of the opera genre that arose in the 1730s and lasted until the beginning of the 19th century. In the future, the term lost its unambiguity; today it is often used in relation to various types of musical and entertainment performances of comedic content (farce, buffoonery, vaudeville, operetta, musical, etc.).

The origin and features of the genre.

Comic opera developed in countries with a developed opera culture as an alternative to the court opera seria (it. opera seria - serious opera), the principles of which were developed in the 17th century. Italian composers of the Neapolitan school (in particular, A. Scarlatti). By the 18th century The Italian court opera entered a period of crisis in its development, turning into "costume concerts" - a brilliant, saturated with virtuoso vocal effects, but a static spectacle. In contrast, the comic opera had more flexibility, which is characteristic of new, young art forms, and therefore had greater dynamics and development potential. The new theatrical genre became widespread throughout Europe, with each country developing its own variety of comic opera.

However, despite all the national peculiarities, the general development paths of the comic opera were similar. Its formation was determined by the democratic principles of the Enlightenment. Thanks to them, new trends in music and operatic drama arose in the comic opera: proximity to everyday life, folk melody (both in vocal and dance episodes), parody, original, “masked”, characterization of characters. In the plot constructions of the comic opera, the solemn antique and historical-legendary lines, which remained a genre feature of the opera seria, were not consistently developed. Democratic tendencies are also seen in the formal features of the comic opera: colloquial dialogues, recitatives, dynamism of the action.

National varieties of comic opera.

Italy is considered the birthplace of comic opera, where this genre was called opera buffa (Italian opera buffa - comic opera). Its sources were the comedy operas of the Roman school of the 17th century. and commedia dell'arte. At first, these were funny interludes inserted for emotional release between the acts of the opera seria. The first buffa opera was Mistress Maid G. B. Pergolesi, written by the composer as an interlude to his own opera seria Proud prisoner(1733). In the future, buffa operas began to be performed independently. They were distinguished by their small scale, a small number of characters, buffoon-type arias, patter in vocal parts, strengthening and development of ensembles (as opposed to the opera seria, where solo parts were the basis, and ensembles and choirs were almost never used). Song and dance folk genres served as the basis for musical dramaturgy. Later, lyrical and sentimental features penetrated the buffa opera, shifting it from the rough commedia dell'arte to the whimsical problems and plot principles of C. Gozzi. The development of opera buffa is associated with the names of composers N. Picchini, G. Paisiello, D. Cimarosa.

Spanish version of comic opera tonadilla(Spanish tonadilla - song, reduce from tonada - song). Like opera buffa, tonadilla was born from a song and dance number that opened a theatrical performance or was performed between acts. Later formed into a separate genre. The first tonadilla Innkeeper and driver(composer L. Mison, 1757). Other representatives of the genre are M. Pla, A. Guerrero, A. Esteve i Grimau, B. de Lacerna, J. Valledor. In most cases, the composers themselves wrote the libretto for the tonadilla.

In France, the genre developed under the name opera comique(fr. - comic opera). It originated as a satirical parody of the "grand opera". In contrast to the Italian line of development, in France the genre was initially formed by playwrights, which led to the combination of musical numbers with colloquial dialogues. Thus, J.J. Rousseau is considered the author of the first French opéra comique ( village sorcerer, 1752). The musical dramaturgy of opéra comique developed in the work of composers E. Duny, F. Philidor. In the pre-revolutionary era, opéra comique acquired a romantic orientation, saturation with serious feelings and topical content (composers P. Monsigny, A. Gretry).

In England, the national variety of comic opera was called the ballad opera and developed mainly in the genre of social satire. Classic pattern - Opera of the Beggars(1728) by composer J. Pepush and playwright J. Gay, which became a witty parody of the mores of the English aristocracy. Among other English composers who worked in the genre of ballad opera, the most famous is Ch. Coffey, whose work had a serious influence on the development of the genre in Germany .

The German and Austrian varieties of comic opera had the same name singspiel(German Singspiel, from singen - to sing and Spiel - game). However, the German and Austrian Singspiel had their own characteristics. If in Germany the genre was formed under the influence of the English ballad opera, in Austria it was under the influence of the Italian commedia dell'arte and the French opéra comique. This is due to the culturological originality of the capital of Austria, Vienna, which by the 18th century had become the capital of Austria. an international center where the musical art of different peoples was synthesized. The Austrian Singspiel, unlike the German one, along with couplet and ballad numbers, includes large operatic forms: arias, ensembles, well-developed finals. The orchestral part also receives more development in the Austrian singspiel. The most famous composers of the Singspiel are J. Shtandfuss, J. A. Giller, V. Müller, K. Dietersdorf and others.

Genre transformation.

By the end of the 18th century the development of national genres of comic opera in their "pure" form began to decline. However, on their basis, new principles of several types of musical and entertainment arts were formed at once. And here the leading role again belongs to the Viennese musical school.

On the one hand, the comic opera in general and the singspiel in particular contributed to the reformation of classical opera art, in which W. A. ​​Mozart plays a huge role. Following the path of internal renewal and synthesis of previous musical forms, Mozart created his own concept of the opera, enriching the rather simple scheme of the singspiel and opera buffa, introducing psychological persuasiveness, realistic motives into them, and also supplementing them with the musical forms of serious opera. So, Wedding of Figaro(1786) organically combines the form of opera buffa with realistic content; Don Juan(1787) combines comedy with a real tragic sound; magical flute(1791) includes a variety of musical genres in the classical singspiel: extravaganza, chorale, fugue, etc.

In parallel with Mozart and on the same principles in Austria, an innovative revision of the opera was carried out by J. Haydn ( True constancy, 1776; Lunar world, 1977; The soul of a philosopher, 1791). Echoes of the singspiel are clearly audible in the only opera by L. van Beethoven Fidelio (1805).

The traditions of Mozart and Haydn were comprehended and continued in the work of the Italian composer G.A. Rossini (from Promissory notes for marriage, 1810, before Barber of Seville, 1816, and Cinderella, 1817).

Another branch of the development of comic opera is associated with the emergence and formation of the Viennese classical operetta school. If in the 18th century varieties of comic opera were often called operetta (Italian operetta, French opérette, lit. - small opera), then in the 19th century. it has become a separate independent genre. Its principles were formed in France, by the composer J. Offenbach, and got their formation in his Bouffe-Parisien theater.

The Viennese classical operetta is associated primarily with the name of I. Strauss (son), who came to this genre late, in the fifth decade of his life, when he was already a world-famous author of numerous classical waltzes. Strauss's operettas are characterized by melodic richness and variety of musical forms, exquisite orchestration, detailed symphonic motifs of dance episodes, and a steady reliance on Austro-Hungarian folk music. In all this, undoubtedly, the traditions of the comic opera are read. However, in the development of the operetta as a genre, the main emphasis was placed on musical and performing (both orchestral and vocal-choreographic) skills. The text line of dramaturgy, which successfully developed in the English ballad opera and the French opéra comique, came to naught and degenerated into primitive dramatic crafts - the libretto. In this regard, of the 16 operettas written by Strauss, only three have survived in the repertoire of theaters of subsequent times: Bat, Night in Venice And Gypsy baron. It is with the schematic libretto that the traditional attribution of the operetta to the light entertainment genre is also connected.

The desire to return depth and volume to the synthetic musical and spectacular theater caused the further formation and development of the musical genre, in which textual, plastic and musical dramaturgy exist in an inseparable unity, without the prevailing pressure of any one of them.

Comic opera in Russia.

The development of musical theater in Russia until the last third of the 18th century. was based on Western European art. In particular, this was facilitated by the special inclination of Catherine II to "foreign" artists. If in the Russian drama theater by this time the names of domestic playwrights A. Sumarokov, M. Kheraskov, Y. Knyaznin, D. Fonvizin and others were already well known, then the performances of ballet and opera troupes were based only on the works of foreign authors. Along with Russian amateur and professional groups, the French opéra comique and the Italian opera buffa were invited to tour in the court theater by the Cabinet Secretary of Catherine II, Ivan Elagin, who was in charge of the theatrical “states”. This was largely due to the extra-theatrical interests of the influential courtiers of Catherine II (Prince Potemkin, Count Bezborodko, etc.): at that time it was considered good form to have affairs with foreign actresses.

Against this background, the formation of the Russian opera school and the secular school of composers began with the formation of the national comic opera. This path is quite natural: it is the comic opera, due to its fundamentally democratic nature, that provides the maximum opportunities for the manifestation of national self-consciousness.

The creation of a comic opera in Russia is associated with the names of composers V. Pashkevich ( Trouble from the carriage, 1779; Stingy, 1782), E. Fomina ( Coachmen on a setup, or a game by chance, 1787; Americans, 1788), M. Matinsky ( Saint Petersburg Gostiny Dvor, 1782). The music was based on the melody of Russian songs; the stage interpretation is characterized by a free alternation of recitative and melodic singing, a lively realistic development of folk characters and everyday life, elements of social satire. The most popular comic opera Melnik - a sorcerer, a deceiver and a matchmaker to the libretto by the playwright A. Ablesimov (composer - M. Sokolovsky, 1779; from 1792 it was performed to the music of E. Fomin). Later, the Russian comic opera (as well as its European varieties) was supplemented with lyrical and romantic motifs (composers K. Kavos - Ivan Susanin,Nikitich,Firebird and etc.; A. Verstovsky - Pan Tvardovsky,Askold's grave and etc.).

The Russian comic opera marked the beginning of the formation in the 19th century. two directions of the national musical and entertainment theatre. The first is the classical Russian opera, the rapid surge in the development of which was caused by the talents of M. Glinka, A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky and others. However, only a few reduced ones remained in this branch of musical art. features of the original genre: reliance on folk melodies and individual comedic episodes. On the whole, Russian opera organically entered the general world tradition of opera classics.

The second direction more clearly preserved the specific features of the comedy. This is Russian vaudeville, in which dialogue and entertaining action, built on amusing intrigue, were combined with music, verses and dances. In a certain sense, Russian vaudeville can be considered a kind of "light genre" of European operetta, but it has its own distinctive features. The dramatic basis of vaudeville is not a libretto, but a well-crafted play. Say, one of the first Russian authors of vaudeville was A. Griboyedov ( Own family, or married bride, in collaboration with A. Shakhovsky and N. Khmelnitsky, 1817; Who is a brother, who is a sister, or Deception after deception, in collaboration with P. Vyazemsky, 1923). A. Pisarev worked in the genre of vaudeville, later - F. Koni, D. Lensky (his vaudeville Lev Gurych Sinichkin is staged to this day), V. Sollogub, P. Karatygin and others. Thus, the basis of Russian vaudeville is not musical, but literary dramaturgy, while music is given an auxiliary role in inserted couplets. In the second half of the 19th century A. Chekhov made his contribution to the development of vaudeville ( Bear,Offer,Anniversary,Wedding etc.), taking it out of the static framework of the genre and enriching the characters of the characters.

At the beginning of the 20th century, attempts to develop the comic opera genre based on a combination of the traditions of the operetta with a detailed psychological development of characters were made in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, including by the Moscow Art Theater. So, V. Nemirovich-Danchenko in 1919 created the Musical Studio (Comic Opera) and staged the Moscow Art Theater with its actors Ango's daughter Lecoq and perichole Offenbach, decided as "melodrama buff". In the early 20s, Nemirovich-Danchenko staged comic operas here Lysistrata Aristophanes, 1923; Carmencita and the soldier, 1924.

In Soviet times, which proclaimed socialist realism as the main principle of art, the frivolous genre definition of “operetta” was increasingly masked by the neutral “musical comedy”. In fact, within the framework of this general term, there were many varieties - from classical operetta to no less classical vaudeville; from jazz approaches to the musical to Brechtian zong operas; even "pathetic comedy", etc.

The interest of Russian drama artists in musical theater has always been very great: they were attracted by the opportunity to try themselves in a new genre, to reveal their vocal and plastic abilities. At the same time, the synthetic musical genre was undoubtedly especially attractive: the traditional Russian acting school consistently cultivates psychologism, which is not too obligatory for an operetta or vaudeville. The destruction of the "Iron Curtain" and familiarization with the global flow of culture gave Russia new opportunities for the development of the synthetic genre of the musical, which had conquered the whole world by that time. And today, few people remember that the history of the most popular musical genre in the world began in the first half of the 18th century. from the comic opera.

Tatyana Shabalina

Opera is a vocal theatrical genre of classical music. It differs from the classical drama theater in that the actors, who also perform surrounded by scenery and in costume, do not talk, but sing along the way. The action is built on a text called a libretto, created on the basis of a literary work or especially for an opera.

Italy was the birthplace of the opera genre. The first performance was organized in 1600 by the ruler of Florence, the Medici, at the wedding of his daughter with the king of France.

There are a number of varieties of this genre. Serious opera appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its peculiarity was the appeal to plots from history and mythology. The plots of such works were emphatically saturated with emotions and pathos, the arias were long, and the scenery was magnificent.

In the 18th century, audiences began to tire of excessive pomposity, and an alternative genre emerged, the lighter comic opera. It is characterized by a smaller number of actors involved and "frivolous" techniques used in arias.

At the end of the same century, a semi-serious opera was born, which has a mixed character between serious and comic genres. Works written in this vein always have a happy ending, but their plot itself is tragic and serious.

Unlike previous varieties that appeared in Italy, the so-called grand opera was born in France in the 30s of the 19th century. The works of this genre were mainly devoted to historical themes. In addition, the structure of 5 acts was characteristic, one of which was dance and many scenery.

Opera-ballet appeared in the same country at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries at the French royal court. Performances in this genre are distinguished by incoherent plots and colorful productions.

France is also the birthplace of the operetta. Simple in meaning, entertaining in content, works with light music and a small cast of actors began to be staged in the 19th century.

Romantic opera originated in Germany in the same century. The main characteristic feature of the genre is romantic plots.

The most popular operas in our time include La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Carmen by Georges Bizet and, from domestic ones, Eugene Onegin by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

Option 2

Opera is an art form that includes a combination of music, singing, performance, skillful acting. In addition, scenery is used in the opera, decorating the stage in order to convey to the viewer the atmosphere in which this action takes place.

Also, for the viewer's spiritual understanding of the scene played, the main character in it is the singing actress, she is assisted by a brass band led by a conductor. This type of creativity is very deep and multifaceted, first appeared in Italy.

The opera went through many changes before it came to us in this image, in some works there were moments that he sang, wrote poetry, could not do anything without a singer who dictated his conditions to him.

Then the moment came when no one listened to the text at all, all the audience looked only at the singing actor and at the beautiful outfits. And at the third stage, we got the kind of opera that we are used to seeing and hearing in the modern world.

And only now we have singled out the main priorities in this action, yet music comes first, then the actor's aria, and only then the text. After all, with the help of an aria, the story of the heroes of the play is told. Accordingly, the main aria of the actors is the same as the monologue in dramaturgy.

But during the aria, we also hear music that corresponds to this monologue, allowing us to more vividly feel the whole action played out on stage. In addition to such actions, there are also operas that are completely built on loud and sincere statements, combined with music. Such a monologue is called recitative.

In addition to the aria and recitative, there is a choir in the opera, with the help of which many active lines are transmitted. There is also an orchestra in the opera; without it, the opera would not be what it is now.

Indeed, thanks to the orchestra, the corresponding music sounds, which creates an additional atmosphere and helps to reveal the whole meaning of the play. This type of art originated at the end of the 16th century. Opera originated in Italy, in the city of Florence, where an ancient Greek myth was staged for the first time.

From the moment of its formation, mythological plots were mainly used in the opera, now the repertoire is very wide and varied. In the 19th century, this art began to be taught in special schools. Thanks to this training, the world has seen many famous people.

The opera is written on the basis of various dramas, novels, short stories and plays taken from the literature of all countries of the world. After the musical script is written, it is studied by the conductor, orchestra, choir. And the actors teach the text, then prepare the scenery, conduct rehearsals.

And now, after the work of all these people, an opera performance is born for viewing, which many people come to see.

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