Premium Essay

Let’s Go to the Opera!

In: Film and Music

Submitted By myorgan
Words 3760
Pages 16
Let’s go to the Opera!
What was the first Opera? “The standard textbook answer is easy. The first opera was Daphne, first performed in 1598 during Carnival at the home of Jacopo Corsi (d.1604) in Florence, music by Corsi and Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini (1562-1621). It is recognized as the first because it was the first of a series of similar pieces which established the form of early 17th century Italian opera, and all subsequent developments were based on that tradition. The score does not survive.
There were many precursors of opera, and you can define it to include or exclude any of them. Corsi, Peri, and Rinuccini were members of a group who believed that the dramas of Classical Greek Antiquity were sung rather than spoken. Medieval liturgical dramas started in about the 10th century. Hildegard von Bingen's 12th century Ordo virtutum can be staged, although we don't know whether it was. The same is true of the anonymous Play of Daniel, Play of Herod, and other liturgical plays from the early 13th century. Adam de la Halle's later 13th century Play of Robin & Marion has been called "suitable for staging," but whether it was intended for staging or ever actually staged we don't know. The early 14th century Roman de Fauvel is also considered by some to be suitable for staging, and a performance of the entire thing would be approximately as long as Wagner's entire Ring cycle! More immediate precursors were the 16th century Italian Intermedio, a madrigal entertainment given between the acts of a dramatic play, and the madrigal-comedy.
But if pride of place goes to a work that is first in a series that establishes an enduring tradition, then Daphne of 1598 is that work and leads in a straight line (well, actually pretty crooked) to Aida, La Boheme and Nixon in China.”
Let’s start first in France with the grand opera. The Grand Opera

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Character Analysis: When Calls The Heart

...Full disclosure--I was never a soap opera fan, but my grandmother and mother watched them when I was quite young (actually before Jack Wagner even graced the screen of General Hospital). In spite of this fissure in my television viewing, for some reason, I remember being familiar with the name Jack Wagner and even recognizing him when he appeared as Bill Avery in season one of When Calls the Heart. I was a tremendous fan of his character. In fact, I was known to banter back and forth with other younger Hearties about why Bill was a better and more handsome Mountie than Jack. In spite of the unpredictable nature of Bill as played so effortlessly by Jack, I still revel in the sense of humor and intensity of passion he skillfully brings to this character every time we witness his prowess on screen. Just this week, I was finally able to chat with Jack, and this is one interview you do NOT want to disregard. We discussed a wide variety of topics including his early acting roles, his ever-expanding work for the Hallmark Channel, and even a bit about his charity endeavors. RH: Jack, I appreciate you...

Words: 972 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Essay - No Angel

...------------------------------------------------- No angel Bernie McGill’s short story “No Angel” is about a young girl named Annie who has lost bot her parents and her younger brother Robbie. The story takes place in Northern Ireland. In the story we meet Annie and her experiences trough seeing her deathly family members, mostly her father. Annie sees and talks to her father several times after his death. His first appearance is when she is in the shower. He shows up and talks to her. The second time is when she is on the train. She sees him on the train, and he starts talking about once he was taking the train with his wife, Annie’s mother. The third time she sees him is when she is having dinner with her boyfriend Thomas and his parents. The father tells Annie that Thomas isn’t the right person for her. He doesn’t think that Thomas is a good boy. When she meets him outside the restaurant they also talks about her three years younger brother Robbie. He did a lot of stupid things when he was alive. He drank, stole money from his father and used them all at poker machines. One day when she has to get something for her mother, she finds a gun under her parents’ bed. Her father tries to protect the family, because an unfamiliar car has been driving around their ground at night without any light on. Her mother says that they are wrong people, who are in a wrong place, and therefore this is happening. She wishes she could be more like her brother. Then she wouldn’t...

Words: 975 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Jrft 3

...The Symphony and the Opera fit into one of the categories as individual organizations. More will be discussed on which category each belongs in, plus a comparison with each of the other three cultures. Included in the Competing Values map is two other cultural dimensions. The Horizontal dimension is located on the left of the model and maps out the inward or internal focus and integration. The primary attention focuses inward within the company or organization. When environments are less competitive and focused on the customer, internal focus is the most important dimension element. The outward or external focus and differentiation is located to the right of the model. The focus is primarily outwards, to the external environment, customers and suppliers. The Vertical dimension is located at the top and bottom of the model. This lower axis has more to do with who makes the decisions. At the bottom of the model, is Stability and Control which is geared more to management control. While at the top is Flexibility and Discretion which empowers employees to make decisions for themselves. There is Stability when there is a stable business with efficiency leading the way. However, when the environment creates a need for change, the Flexibility and Discretion become more important. Slide A: CVF Cultures Adhocracy describe and discuss the adhocracy culture and discuss commonalities (if any) that it shares with the symphony or the opera. Market...

Words: 2430 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Organizatinal Management Task 1

...Task 1 Utah Symphony and Utah Opera Merger Meera Abraham Western Governors University Organizational Management May 12, 2014 Following the tragic event of Sept 11, 2001 the American economy has struggled to return to its former glory. The weakened economy has negatively impacted giving as a whole and brought about a steady decline of public interest such as government subsidies, and private such as individual and corporate pledges, ticket sale; to support Arts organization in America. Approximately 6% of the funding for the performing arts is from federal, state, and municipal governments; 46% of the income is generated from tickets sales and individual contribution, remaining 36% from business and foundation giving; and 12% is from investment income. Scott Parker, chairman of the board of Utah Symphony, clearly stated that the Orchestra is extremely close to being in financial deficit. Their contractual obligation to pay salaries to their 83 employees in a weakened economic climate has impacted them adversely. Utah Opera will be in a similar situation as most of their financial support is from local and national foundations, corporations and individuals. In order to rescue the arts organizations, Anne Ewers was asked to contemplate the position of CEO of the combined Opera and Symphony organization of Utah. Given that these two have very divergent cultures, there will be great deal of challenges to unite these organizations. One of the main challenges...

Words: 2650 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Yom Kippur

...The well-dressed, gray-haired woman was crying her eyes out. She had just been fined $100 by the judge because a month ago her dog made a mess on the front lawn of the courthouse. “I just got out of the cab and I leashed Poopsie to the light pole. After I paid the fare and gave the driver a dollar tip, I turned around and saw that Poopsie had made a mess. I didn’t have any plastic bags, so I said, ‘Well, Poopsie, let’s go home. There’s nothing I can do about this now.’ “We were just starting home when I heard this voice out of nowhere: ‘Excuse me, ma’am. Is that your dog?’ I turned around. It was an officer of the law. Well, of course, it was my dog. ‘That dog just made an illegal deposit on the courthouse lawn. As its owner, it’s your responsibility to dispose of that deposit. See the sign over there? I’m going to have to write you a citation.’ “I asked him what sign he was talking about. He pointed all the way down to the end of the block. One little sign, a block away! How could anyone see that? I couldn’t see that sign with my best opera glasses. The officer said that I could fight the ticket. He said the judge was a nice old man who owned four dogs. So I said, ‘OK, thank you, I’ll fight the ticket.’ “So when I went to court, I dressed Poopsie up in his prettiest ribbons and made extra sure he did his business first. We were both so excited. I just knew the judge and Poopsie would hit it off. “But do you know what happened when we got inside? They had a different judge...

Words: 630 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Anime vs Being Childish

...women. Sometimes the hero is a woman, but these cases are few and far between- women are usually just romantic interests for the hero. You don't get swordsmen, space-age heroes (since Buck Rogers, anyway) or children in our movies-until you go to movies based on history, 80's kids shows, and kid's movies. In anime, the heroes tend to be younger and less capable. Their shows focus on the growth of characters instead of how many explosions movie makers can stuff in. (though there are still lots of explosions). Anime is Eastern-style cartoons, not Western.. Most American adults see cartoons as kid stuff. They 'grew out of it' by the time they were eleven, or so they'll claim. Why do so many people love anime, despite their 'cartoon' roots? The simple, wrong answer is that they don't have the mental capacity to deal with seventy-three seasons of "Friends" or "Everybody Loves Raymond." The more complex answer is that they like stories in a different medium, and that they look past the artwork to see a tale being told - often with scantily-clad, impossibly-endowed cartoon women. But then there are the Otaku costume parties. For the uninitiated, these are parties where the fanatical fans dress like their favorite characters - regardless of sex. Let's face it-a four-hundred...

Words: 681 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

...hypnotizes one so he places television above reality. This means that TV has obsessed people so much that they do not pay attention to their surroundings. An example is the scene from the novel where Ms Phelps is talking about what would happen if her husband passes away.” He said if I get killed off, you just go right ahead and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me.’ ‘That reminds me’, said Mildred. ’Did you see the 5-minute romance last night in your wall? Well it was about this woman who…” (103).This clearly shows what Mildred’s looks of life are. While her friend is talking for a possibility for her man to die, Mildred is “hypnotized” by TV and is thinking only about a soap opera she’d watched the previous night. The show is more important for her than the life of other lady. Thus, leisure in this world has greater importance than real life. Watching TV prevents one from talking. People are watching so much TV that they have forgotten the pleasure from speaking or even just pondering peacefully. A situation where Montag has turned off the TV for the friends of Mildred shows what people think about the possibility of just talking. “Montag moved his lips. ‘Let’s talk.’ The women jerked and stared” (104). The women’s reaction, to what we may seem as a normal suggestion, is indicative to what has happened to the world. The girls consider talking as odd. Also they are so obsessed with TV that the temporary...

Words: 568 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Will Marion Cook’s Underappreciated Musical Legacy

...Will Marion Cook is a name to reckon with in the history of black American music. “His great genius will always be a guiding star to those of us who remain,” black violinist Clarence Cameron White wrote on hearing of Cook’s death. Trumpeter Arthur Briggs called Cook “the greatest real musician ever.” Duke Ellington and Eubie Blake praised him as a mentor. Yet while Ellington’s and Blake’s careers are well documented, only academics can describe Cook’s. Even diehard fans of the American popular songbook are hard-pressed to name one of his songs. The first recording devoted to his work appeared only a few years ago, and Marva Griffin Carter’s 2008 biography, Swing Along, is the first since his death in 1944. In the end, the fact of Cook’s importance is better known than its reason. A significant composer, but of what? Didn’t he write something like the first black Broadway musical? Yes, but what else? The tale most often told about Cook has him returning from conservatory training at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1889 and performing a concert at Carnegie Hall. When a reviewer praised him as “the world’s greatest Negro violinist,” Cook stormed into his office, smashed his violin to bits on the man’s desk, and yelled, “I am not the world’s greatest Negro violinist. I am the greatest violinist in the world!” He never played the violin again. Cook’s words might suggest that racism explains his obscurity. Yet a few years later, Cook gave the world a song with these lyrics: Such...

Words: 2656 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

English

...Past to Present CHINA KEVIN SUPPLES INTRODUCTION I magine living in the oldest civilization in the world. You could have been the first person to walk along the Great Wall or to use paper money. You wouldn’t get lost if you had the latest invention, a compass. And for good luck, you would be wearing red. These are just some of the things that you could have done in ancient China. The Chinese created many wonderful works of art. They invented many things that we still use. Today, people have found art and writings that tell us about ancient China. They have even found a huge army that the Chinese made from clay. This clay army was buried underground for thousands of years! Let’s take a look at the Chinese people and their history. There is a lot to learn about them. CHINA: THEN AND NOW C hina is in East Asia. The Chinese word for China is Zhongguo. This name means “middle country.” In English, the country’s official name is the People’s Republic of China. China’s capital is Beijing. The official language of the country is Mandarin. People in different part of China speak different languages and dialects. Putonghua, the common speech of Chinese language, is the standard Chinese pronunciation. China has many kinds of landforms. In the west there are tall, snow-covered mountains. Among them is the tallest mountain in the world, Qomolangma Feng. It is over 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) tall. In the north there...

Words: 2842 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Macbeth

...of the theatre troupe known as 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men'. The company proved very popular and later, when King James I granted them the right to perform at his court, the troupe became known as 'The King's Men'. Shakespeare wrote over 30 plays for 'The King's Men', making it the most important theatre company in the country, and he often wrote parts for particular actors. He was very successful and wealthy in his time, and his work has remained very popular ever since. The popularity of Macbeth Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's best known plays. There are all sorts of reasons for this but perhaps the main one is that the basic story still strikes a chord with modern audiences. It is a bloodthirsty tale of ambition, and the evils we will go to in order to get what we want. We follow the central character, Macbeth, as he plots and kills in order to become king. And as soon as he is crowned, we watch as his world falls apart around him. The play is considered very unlucky - actors shouldn't even say the word 'Macbeth' if they aren't on the stage performing it. So that's why people talk about 'The Scottish play', or 'The Comedy of Glamis', or even just 'The Play'. In fact, anything but...

Words: 890 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Groningen Arts Centre

...(controller): ‘But we had set aside that weekend in March for a big overhaul of the theatre. The theatre is pretty booked up for that period and the technical staff wants to carry out various small repairs’. Karin: ‘Come on Jan, surely you would not leave the theatre empty for a weekend during the high season?’. Jan: ‘Karin, there is something else to consider. We probably would not sell much more than 450 tickets per performance, although I believe we must make a sizeable sum out of that sort of performance’. Harm van Tol (director): ‘I think Jan has a valid point there. Operettas must bring in a good deal of money to cover deficits caused by less marketable performances. But leaving that aside, we have already planned about 15 operas and operettas for next season. I have nothing against that Latvian company, but we must bear in mind that we are supposed to offer a wide range of...

Words: 3274 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Mission Control

...3-minute radio drama written by Woody Allen and Ray Bradbury (Introduction for “Mission Control” radio dramas) Announcer over gallimaufry of theremins: From the far horizons of the unknown come tales of new dimensions in time and space, all postage paid. These are stories of a future – stories that you may live in a million could-be years on a thousand maybe-worlds, that’ll have a definite lack of affordable dry-cleaning. The National Broadcast Company, in cooperation with Pimple-Faced Magazines, presents “Mission Control” . . . Our story tonight brings you into times of desperation and war. The growing conflict between the Andromeda galaxy and our own has propelled more out of control than my great-nephew’s goiter, and Earth men are being conscripted to fight for their planet. The wives and mothers wave their husbands and sons goodbye as they board the space craft for the long journey ahead, dreading the idea that there mightn’t be any in-flight entertainment. Each craft has a crew of six men: a captain, a navigator, a cook, a mechanic, a robot helper/prestidigitator, and a Groucho Marx impersonator, who is also trained to incorporate passages from Finnegan’s Wake into his stand-up routine. Of the five-thousand nobel ships that left planet Earth, all but one returned. That one was the craft Dyssebeia X, with Captain R. J. Strickland, navigator Peter Venkman, mechanic Abraham S. Christ, chef Emily “Beelzebub” Dickinson, a robot helper known as Ebert the Magnificent...

Words: 920 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Music Appreciation - Classical Period

...Classical Period (1750-1825) Listening Bridge Both of these excerpts are from CONCERTOS. Listen and compare, using the following questions as guides: • What is the solo instrument in each piece? • How would you describe the orchestra that accompanies the soloist in each example? • In which piece does the orchestra and soloist play the same “theme”? • In which piece does the accompaniment part include many repeated tones? • In which piece are there more sudden and extreme changes in dynamics? • Which one has a basso continuo? • Which one features a more “singable” melody? • What purpose do you think each piece was intended to serve? |[pic]Four Seasons: Winter |[pic]Piano Concerto No. 21 C major | |[pic] |[pic] | |Antonio Vivaldi |Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | | | | |Born: 1678 |Born: 1756 | |Died: 1741 |Died: 1791 | |Period: Baroque |Period:...

Words: 8889 - Pages: 36

Premium Essay

Alusaf Project Paper

...Aluminum  Industry  in  1994:   Long  Run  Supply  and  Equilibrium Managerial  Economics Alp  Atakan This  material  is  for  the  exclusive  use  in  MGEC  classes  at  Koc  University.  No  other  use  is  allowed  without  my    permission.   1 Road Map • • Why is the price of Aluminum so Volatile? • Demand analysis Long-Run Supply Curve – – – – – Difference between short-run and long-run supply curves ATC and the exit price FR-ATC and the entry price Building the long-run supply curve What drives the long-run price path in a commodity market? 2 Demand Curve Answers the Question: What Quantity Will be Demanded at Different Possible Market Prices? Movements  along a  given  demand  curve tell  us  how  quan4ty demanded  changes with  respect  to changes  in  the   good’s  price Price  ($  per  unit) P0 Shi7s  in  the  demand   curve  tell  us  how   quan4ty  demanded   changes  with  respect  to   changes  in  demand  drivers other  than  the  good’s  price (e.g,  income) P0 P1 D0 D X0 X1 Quan?ty (units  per  period) Measure  of  sensi4vity: price  elas:city  of  demand % QD = % P QD /QD dQD P = ⇥ D P/P dP Q X0 X2 D1 Quan?ty (units...

Words: 2206 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Alusaf

...Aluminum  Industry  in  1994:   Long  Run  Supply  and  Equilibrium Managerial  Economics Alp  Atakan This  material  is  for  the  exclusive  use  in  MGEC  classes  at  Koc  University.  No  other  use  is  allowed  without  my    permission.   1 Road Map • • Why is the price of Aluminum so Volatile? • Demand analysis Long-Run Supply Curve – – – – – Difference between short-run and long-run supply curves ATC and the exit price FR-ATC and the entry price Building the long-run supply curve What drives the long-run price path in a commodity market? 2 Demand Curve Answers the Question: What Quantity Will be Demanded at Different Possible Market Prices? Movements  along a  given  demand  curve tell  us  how  quan4ty demanded  changes with  respect  to changes  in  the   good’s  price P0 Price  ($  per  unit) P0 Shi7s  in  the  demand   curve  tell  us  how   quan4ty  demanded   changes  with  respect  to   changes  in  demand  drivers other  than  the  good’s  price (e.g,  income) P1 D X0 X1 Quan?ty (units  per  period) X0 X2 D0 D1 Measure  of  sensi4vity: price  elas:city  of  demand % QD = % P QD /QD dQD P = ⇥ D P/P dP Q % QD = % Y Measure  of  sensi4vity: other  elas:ci:es ...

Words: 2206 - Pages: 9