Experiencing these 2 operas, I was able to comprehend the incredible talents of the Auburn University’s Department of Music Opera Workshop performers. Each performance allowed the performers to showcase their vocal talents greatly; as well as showing their strict practicing by knowing the vocal queues with the music as well as with each other to never sound off or un-synced with each other.…
Men with Gun and I, Rigoberta Menchu are two stories that tell of the oppression that the Indians of these Latin communities went through. The Indian population throughout Central and South America were being forced by the guerrillas to leave their land, controlled by the rich, and tortured. Most of the Indians joined the guerrillas or landino’s, rather then live in such circumstances. Although both stories have similarities they show two different view points, one of a young women rising up to save her people from political power, and the other a doctor coming to terms with his ignorance of the feudal economic system happening outside the capital.…
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…
Set in a typical mental asylum in the 1970’s during the anti-Vietnam War protests and the feminist movement for women's equal rights, the play 'Cosi' by Louis Nowra deeply explores the themes of love and fidelity, in a society predominantly concerned with war and politics. Throughout the play, Nowra uses the play within a play, 'Cosi Fan Tutte', to convey his key values regarding the importance of love and fidelity in today's world, while questioning the necessity of war and condemning society's perceptions of madness itself. The playwright delivers these messages through a number of subtle implications and symbolic features which are evident in the story, ideas, characters, and actual dialogue which are presented in the play, and mirrored in Mozart’s opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’. His insights and opinions which are offered through Lewis, go largely against the views of Nick and Lucy who represent the general public, because in addition to the main themes of the play, Nowra intends to open the audience’s eyes to some of the less obvious ideas, such as the necessity of self-discovery and transformation, the significance of art and music in life, and the therapeutic nature of theatre.…
Cosi, composed by Louis Nowra, is a minimalist play contextualised by the Vietnam War which emphasises the characters and their growth. Cosi explores the distinctive ideas of illusion verses reality and the concept of “madness” in a comedic and innovative way, through a variety of dramatic techniques. The device of a play-within-a-play of Cosi Fan Tutte, develops an effective dichotomy, while highlighting the dramatic verisimilitude of the values presented in the outside and inside worlds. Lewis, a young, inexperienced radical and director of the production undergoes an extensive transformation during his participation in the opera as it becomes a catalyst for both him and the patients. The problematic nature of what is considered “normal” highlights the “insane” normality of existence, which enriches the principle of drama.…
The 2005 multiple Tony Award winning show, “The Light in the Piazza” brings love, wonder, and happiness just as well as sad. “For the eyes, On a bridge in a pouring rain. Not the eyes, but the part you can't explain. For the arms you could fall into forever.” This Italian Musical has beautiful compositions and lyrics written by Adam Guettel to portray a heartfelt story. In this story, a mother (Margaret) and a daughter (Clara) from Winston, Salem go on a trip to Italy where Clara's mother went on her honeymoon. She shows Clara what her father and her did while in Italy, but while vacationing Clara unintentionally falls in love at first sight with an italian boy, Fabrizio. As their time their goes on, they fall more in love but Margaret trying to pull them apart in fear because of Clara…
Cosi also reveals the sadness within the lives of those who society considers ‘sain’ as the audience is treated to the life of the protagonist Lewis Riley and the struggles and dependence he faces. The truth of Roy’s life is one of the most shocking revelations to the audience as he often puts on a outgoing happy façade. With his vibrantly outgoing personality Roy becomes one of the central figures of the play. He influences Lewis into directing the Italian opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ and captivates Lewis with tales of music and performance from his childhood. This illusion that Roy casts over Lewis, and the audience alike, is seen for what it truly is as we learn that the stories were all lies and what Roy never knew his mother.…
The wide variety of theories concerning the acting techniques, styles and training of these late entertainers, can give us a better understanding of Italian comedy and its influences on acting today. There may be a case for re-creating Commedia Dell' Arte as it was done. Even in the more old-fashioned drama school period, movement is meant to help an actor interpret a historical role. As an actor one has a duty to choose what will work for an audience and to ignore the rest. This holds a lot of the same principles of Commedia Dell' Arte.…
The film is set in 90s of the 20th century in a city called ‘Verona Beach’, which reminds of some Californian resort, which creates a dissonance between the standardized imaginary vision of the place, where the two lovers lived, met and died. Every detail in this version of Shakespeare’s play is stylised in this way. The ‘modernity’ makes itself prominent in every single aspect. And so…
The commedia dell'arte developed in northern Italy in the sixteenth century; it was comprised of traveling theatrical groups whose performers came from the middle and lower classes. These performers entertained audiences with their portrayal of the aristocracy and upper class as “blundering, pompous and ultimately stupid”. “The directness of its stories and music, and the social criticism inherent in its commedia dell'arte archetypes” was adopted by opera. “This ability for an audience, especially a middle class audience, to personally identify with the characters and the dramatic situations of opera buffa, cuts to the heart and soul of what opera buffa is all about” (L28, 24:18).…
One of the most famous plays ever to hit Broadway, “The Phantom of the Opera” written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, is a classic that no one can deny to be amazing. Its brilliant plot of a distorted musical genius that haunts an opera house in Paris and unconsciously helps a beautiful woman with her singing career and falls in love with her can seize anyone who watches it. Also, the dazzling music and setting launch the audience back into the time in which this incredible play takes place. But now a new version of this wonderful play has been created in the form of a movie that gives it a bit more spunk and pulls the audience, even more, into a grueling love triangle between a beautiful young actress and two men who would fight to the death for her affection.…
‘Appropriations are often a reflection of our time’. This can be seen with Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, a play which was written almost 400 years ago. Although modern appropriations have been made; with Franco Zeffirelli’s, Elizabethan version (1968), and Baz Luhrmann’s (1996) more contemporary version, the essence of the play, and why audiences appreciate it remain the same. In order to highlight this, comparisons between the ‘Ballroom’ and ‘Balcony’ scenes of each film can be made. Although the setting, costumes and props are very different, the underlying themes remain true to Shakespeare’s original text.…
Italian opera ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ and captivates Lewis with tales of music and performance from his childhood. This illusion that Roy casts over Lewis, and the audience alike, is seen for what it truely is as we learn that the stories were all lies and what Roy never new his mother. ‘I had a dream, Jerry.’ This quote from Roy reveals Roy’s sadness as audience has an epiphany that Roy’s…
As a whole, this aria is incredibly ironic not only because of the Duke’s blatant hypocrisy, but also because of its placement in the opera. Although he is singing about the inconsistency, fickle nature, and wavering attentions of women, the Duke seems almost completely unaware that he himself fits the description that he is giving. The climax of the piece, which occurs at the end on a prolonged high note, describes women as “never the same,” which may have double meaning: that women’s emotions are never the same, a statement which also describes the Duke, or that the women…
Le Nozze di Figaro or The Marriage of Figaro is known as an opera buffa or comic opera that is broken into four acts. Wolfgang Omodeus Mozart composed this piece in 1786, along side an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo de Ponte. It premiered May 1, 1786 at the Burg Theater in Vienna. It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais's play and brought it to Da Ponte, who was able to turn it into a libretto in just six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original's political references that were opposed by the aristocracy. However, they managed to still get away with creating an opera that went against the social norms by formulating a play that centered arouned the lower social class.…