Preview

Maddalena In La Mama Morta

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1937 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Maddalena In La Mama Morta
The Power and Influence of “La mamma morta” in Philadelphia
Music has the power to portray the intense emotions a person experiences. It has the ability to bring different people together, causing them to feel empathy and sympathy. Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier is a beautiful opera because of the fact that many who watch and listen to it can relate to its story in some way. In one scene of the film, Philadelphia, the protagonist, Andy Beckett, listens to the opera’s aria, “La mamma morta,” with his lawyer, Joe Miller. Andy identifies greatly with Maddalena, the character who sings this aria. His passion for the piece is obvious as he talks throughout the piece about what he hears. As a non-musician, he does not use the correct terminology to describe the song, but he establishes a foundation on which to build a more complete study. In this scene, as Andy listens to
…show more content…
In this scene, in Act 4, she tries to save Andrea from execution. In this part of the opera, the country of France is going through the Reign of Terror, a period of extreme violence after the start of the revolution. Maddalena tells the story of how mob that set her house on fire and how her mother died protecting her. Distraught and filled with grief, Maddalena was close to dying. Her maid, Bersi, had to sell herself as a prostitute in an attempt to save Maddalena. What saved Maddalena from dying was a voice from above, presumably Andrea’s, that told her to be strong and to live, because he loved her. The aria is about survival, love and the courage to live after experiencing something terrible. Andy finds refuge and relief in the “La mamma mia” scene, which is extremely significant in the movie. Mass hysteria in the 1980s and 1990s about AIDS and homophobia, with many viewing AIDS patients as outcasts with a dangerous and mysterious disease. This chaos is not unlike the chaos experienced by the characters in Andrea

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the theater version of Cyrano de Bergerac, Director Robert Kelley faced several problems in thoughtfully expressing the theme of the play. Because the play involves a love triangle around three characters with different quality of appearance, one theme can be that appearance prevents one from realizing the true identity of a person. In a small theater, the director had to devise an efficient plan that successfully conveyed the theme with limited space and a few actors. The director also had to modify some scenes in order to fit the whole play in a short amount of time. Despite some miscasts in the actors, the director managed to emanate the meaning of the play through appropriate stage props and script.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shoe-Horn Sonata

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Through the use of techniques and themes, a composer is able to create distinctively visual images when describing the setting and characters in detail which help us to understand and form meaning of what the composer is trying to convey in their texts. The use of techniques such as body language, symbolism, lighting, music and photographic background slides create distinctively visual images same with themes that are being used within the texts such as truth which is evident in the dramatic text ‘The Shoe-Horn Sonata’ by John Misto, the song ‘Lose Yourself’ sang by Eminem, and the film ‘The Eye’ directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud featuring Jessica Alba. These three texts demonstrate how the responders are impacted and what is interrupted within the text and there similarities that help shape meaning.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    (R) Antonio’s thoughts reflect the responsibility which he feels to live up to his mother’s expectations, even amidst the struggles of a desensitizing experience as he witnesses Lupito’s death. He displays a high level of maturity and experience as he thinks not just of the horror of the event, but also of the consequences and repercussions of this death.…

    • 3587 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Walk The Line Analysis

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In addition to Jack’s death and dramatizing it, there is the moment right before he dies when the camera zooms into the faces of Jack and John. This close-up shot highlights anguish on Jack’s features and the guilt-ridden and sorrow marred on John’s. It accurately conveys to the audience the tension in the moment and what the characters felt. An accurate depiction of feelings is not only displayed by close-up shots, but by a cut scene that emphasizes the juxtaposition of a dark room and a near dejected, dark atmosphere to a lively room with bright colours and upbeat sounds. Before John reveals that he made the record, the gloomy feeling in the living room he stumbles into in his drunken state makes you believe he didn’t make the record, however he ecstatically tells his wife that he did and it immediately cuts to the next seen where he goes on to perform. It shows that in that moment of darkness, his life takes a turn for the best and becomes brighter and livelier. Different film techniques help to put Johnny Cash under different lights and to increase the authenticity of Joaquins acting and the overall representation to the…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Maestro

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Distinctively visual images evoke profound ideas and notions about society, culture and values which enables responders to perceive reality in a new light, challenging or reinforcing their own ideas and attitudes. Through the use of distinctively visual images, composers are able to add depths and complexity to the characters within their respective texts in a way that shapes and deepen their responder’s perceptions of these characters. In the postmodern novel “Maestro” by Peter Goldsworthy, distinctively visual images is used to convey Edward Keller’s traumatic and shady past, allowing the audience to perceive his distressing past experiences with greater depth and clarity. Additionally, Goldsworthy uses distinctively visual images to illustrate Keller’s isolation and displacement in Darwin while also highlighting the complex and nebulous relationship between him and his student, Paul. Similarly, I have used distinctively visual images to represent how Goldsworthy’s characterization of Keller has shaped perceptions of him, allowing the audience to see both his past as a musician in Vienna and his life as an exile attempting to escape his traumatic past.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In order to have full understanding of the women's roles, it is necessary to understand the social context of women in the 18 century. In Kristi Brown's Mozart's Women she compared Donna Anna to a misfortunate Spanish maiden. It was very common for composers to take the style of where they were living at the time and write in that genre of music. Donna Anna was daughter who was to be married. The role was sung by a soprano who could find herself in mourning due to the death of her father. The stone statue invited for dinner in the last scene was part of folk mythology of Don Juan (Donington 446) To return to Mozart's Woman, Brown never once considered the social context whereas Mozart was writing an Italian opera only using the setting and subject matter of "Don Juan" with the 18th century interpretation. It is the purpose of this paper to show how Mozart communicated his values and judgments. For some it still remained an opera buffa which was the style of the period (Grout 517). It was a light hearted opera which made the audience laugh and also sell tickets. Mozart used his music and symbolism on stage to go beyond the opera buffa.…

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Lucia di Lammermoor, written in 1835, is an opera by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) based on the novel The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott. The opera is often called a masterpiece and has, thus far, stood the test of time. It was not only popular in its day, but remains popular repertory today and performed by companies around the world every year. The “Mad Scene” has been remarked as a reason to go to the opera. The scene uses motives from earlier in the opera that show a mind going insane, in addition to utilizing elaborate coloratura and vocal flourishes. This opera is said to touch the heart the way few others can do, as a masterpiece and “heralding swan song of Romantic sensibility”.1 The role of Lucia is very demanding and requires refined acting skills, vocal technique, and the ability to let one’s mind go deeply into the insanity and heartbreak of the character. One should be aware of the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor because of its complexity and popularity, but particularly because of the way that Donizetti is able to use music to portray madness and incorporate Sir Walter Scott’s text to make a piece for both audiences and sopranos to delight in.…

    • 2192 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his time at a local nightclub, Marcello bumps into his old friend Maddalena, a beautiful, radiant, and extremely affluent woman devoted to amusement and pleasure. Maddalena claims that because she is so wealthy, Rome is boring to her because she has done everything and anything possible. Marcello disagrees, stating Rome is a “jungle” where one can play various roles for amusement. The two later go on to use a prostitute in order to use her home to engage in their own physical relations. When they arrive at the prostitute’s house, the two wordlessly sleep together. This act is one that is carried out without emotion or passion; rather it is done due to Maddalena’s boredom of life. To Marcello, Maddalena provides him with only momentary…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “La Dolce Vita”

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, “La Dolce Vita”, is a comedy-drama film produced in 1960, which comments on how new, modern society has been built upon and replaced the tradition and culture of Rome. The distractions and superficialities of this newly constructed reality are exemplified by the love life of the protagonist, Marcello. All of the women with whom Marcello has affairs (Maddelena, Sylvia, etc.) represent the young, unstable reality created in the Italian postwar period. These women are contrasted by Marcello’s fiancée, Emma, who provides our protagonist with a source of stable, unconditional love, and represents the safe, old-fashioned prewar world in Rome. “La Dolce Vita” is a commentary on artificial, dazzling world reconstructed in the wake of the destruction of the war.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the first act, Rodolfo, Marcello, and Colline were living together in an attic during the winter where they were struggling to keep warm. They reach a point where they become desperate enough to burn Rodolfo’s work which was a drama he had written since they weren’t able to afford firewood. That’s when the musician, Schaunard interrupts them with news of his new job and that he has brought wood, cigars, and food to celebrate with. Schaunard then insists they go to the café Momus instead and Rodolfo stays behind where he meets Mimi was living in the flat below. She asked Rodolfo for a match to light her candle where their interest in each other began to grow as they…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrea Sachs Role Model

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This movie depicts how Andrea takes up the challenge and strives to please Miranda as her assistant. Andrea works hard towards completing difficult, unimaginable and challenging tasks that are ordered by Miranda. Throughout the process of Andrea working at the Runway fashion magazine, she changes her appearance, her behavior and attitude according to the Runway organization. This then affects her personal life which causes a distance in her relationship with her boyfriend, Nate, and her friendship with Lily. Andrea then decides to leave the field because she does not want to change herself for a job which is not her passion or potential career. Throughout the year, her career slowly took over her life and made decisions for her that she would have never done as a person. For example, missing her boyfriend’s birthday or taking Emily’s place to go to Paris for Fashion Week. After trying to help Miranda save her job as the editor(Miranda already knew of the plan to get rid of her) and chief of the magazine by Miranda putting Nigel and others in a bad position, Andrea finally realizes that indeed she does have a…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Opera for a Small Room

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Opera for a Small Room” is a time-based mixed-media installation by Canadian artists, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. The mixed media includes sound, record players, records and synchronized lighting. It is exhibited in “a small room”, 2.6 x 3 x 4.5m, and plays in a 20-minute loop. This piece constructs a hyper realistic narrative centered on the character R. Dennehy. Dennehy is believed to have lived almost his entire life, in British Columbia, Canada. He was a collector of opera records. Cardiff and Miller purchased all of these records, from a second-hand store in Salmon Arm. Cardiff and Miller have used their creative license to interpolate the details of Dennehy’s life and create this theatrical installation. In their book, “The Secret Hotel”, they describe their intentionality, “We are interested in the extreme cultural juxtaposition between opera and the small western town in which R. Dennehy lived” (Cardiff, Miller 77). They created a fictional narrative to justify his existence. This included his love for music as well as the tragic loss of a wife or lover, and his efforts to find consolation in opera music. My goal is to discuss the various time-based aspects of this mixed-media installation, critique the creative decisions made by the artists and evaluate the strength of the performance.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, let us analyze the musical elements as well as costumes that help portray Christine’s character. Christine’s story is quite sad, orphaned and brought to live at the Opera, she is a shy, sweet girl that has remained in the background for most…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Amadeus

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The film puts its focus on Antonio Salieri’s relationship/obsession with Mozart. Salieri, the narrator of the film, is a composer who becomes jealous and infatuated with Mozart and his works. Mozart does not show much of an appreciation for Salieri’s work, but Salieri still attends all of Mozart’s performances and believes that Mozart has been blessed with a gift from God. Salieri’s obsession with Mozart increases throughout the movie. When Salieri gets a chance to see some of Mozart’s original scores he seems to have an unhealthy fixation on them.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play, The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco is based on the dialogues between and among two couples, the Smiths a traditional couple from London and the Martins who come for a visit. There is an unusual and troubled relation between both The Smiths and the Martins. In The Bald Soprano, both couples treat each other as a stranger. The Smiths are a traditional couple from London and the Martins who come for a visit. The play develops on meaningless banter, telling stories and absurd poems. The end is like the cycle. It can begin all over again and again with two characters. The Smiths and the Martins cannot speak anymore because they have no capability of thinking logically, they do not desire to live and they cannot activate their self being. So, they can metamorphose into anyone; when they lose their self or identity, they can undertake anyone’s identity and they can take each other’s place.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics