Opera Buffa
Huanhuan Ma 12/04/2012
Comic Opera in Classical period
The comic opera is a new operatic genre which denotes a dramatic singing of a light natural, and earthy comedy, usually with a happy ending. The form of comic opera first developed in the early of 17th century. It began to distinguished from other operatic form since in the early 18th century in Naples and Venice. It developed by the poets, composers and entrepreneurs that offered social criticism and appealed to a wider audience.
In 18th century, the comic opera included the types of opera buffa (comic opera), dramma giocoso (jesting drama), dramma comico (comic drama), and commedia per musica (comedy in music). In nowadays, opera buffa is as to encompass all these types. So basically this is one of the type called opera buffa. And another important type of comic opera is the intermezzo. An opera buffa was a full-length work with six or more singing characters and was sung throughout. The story of it concentrated on common people in the present day, different from the stories in serious opera, and chose farcical subjects in order to represent the weakness of deceitful husbands and wives, aristocrats and commoners, vain ladies, miserly old men, awkward and clever servants, pedantic layers, bungling physicians, and pompous military commanders.
The comic characters often surrounded by serious characters, making contrast and telling the story happened between them. The recitative (the dialogue) was often set in rapidly. Opera buffa aimed at and won a middle-class audience primarily. The intermezzo was a short piece, usually only two or three segments, which was produced between the acts of a longer, more serious opera. The comic characters were given Their own separate story from a serious opera in the intermezzo. The plots usually presented two or three people and the music proceeded recitatives and arias alternatively. These intermezzi made contrast sharply with
Comic Opera in Classical period
The comic opera is a new operatic genre which denotes a dramatic singing of a light natural, and earthy comedy, usually with a happy ending. The form of comic opera first developed in the early of 17th century. It began to distinguished from other operatic form since in the early 18th century in Naples and Venice. It developed by the poets, composers and entrepreneurs that offered social criticism and appealed to a wider audience.
In 18th century, the comic opera included the types of opera buffa (comic opera), dramma giocoso (jesting drama), dramma comico (comic drama), and commedia per musica (comedy in music). In nowadays, opera buffa is as to encompass all these types. So basically this is one of the type called opera buffa. And another important type of comic opera is the intermezzo. An opera buffa was a full-length work with six or more singing characters and was sung throughout. The story of it concentrated on common people in the present day, different from the stories in serious opera, and chose farcical subjects in order to represent the weakness of deceitful husbands and wives, aristocrats and commoners, vain ladies, miserly old men, awkward and clever servants, pedantic layers, bungling physicians, and pompous military commanders.
The comic characters often surrounded by serious characters, making contrast and telling the story happened between them. The recitative (the dialogue) was often set in rapidly. Opera buffa aimed at and won a middle-class audience primarily. The intermezzo was a short piece, usually only two or three segments, which was produced between the acts of a longer, more serious opera. The comic characters were given Their own separate story from a serious opera in the intermezzo. The plots usually presented two or three people and the music proceeded recitatives and arias alternatively. These intermezzi made contrast sharply with
Bibliography: Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music, Eighth Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010). Orrey, Leslie. ed. A Concise History of Opera (New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 1972). Sadie, Stanley, History of Opera, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990).