Libretto

Giuseppe Verdi was born in a small village Roncole, Italy in 1813, and passed away in Milan in early 1901. Considered a leading figure in Italian music, he composed twenty-six operas and hundreds of choral works which were, as Julian Budden wrote, “the epitome of Romantic drama and passion.” Unlike German leading Richard Wagner with his highly chromatic melodies and harmonic settings, Verdi liked to portray characters, emotions, and scenarios with relatively simple musical language, such as…

much controversy within the ruling Nazi party; so much so that it led to Kurtwangler having to step down as music director of the orchestra and Hindemith to leave Germany before the outbreak of World War II. Hindemith wrote both the music and the libretto for his opera, which follows a fictional account of the life and artistic dilemma of Mathis Grunewald (born Mathis Gothart Niethart 14601528). Mathis lived in Germany during the Peasants’ War of 152425, where serfs inspired by the Reformation…

After Idomeneo, Mozart composed a few more operas, but in 1786, the premiere of Le Nozze di Figaro set Mozart’s opera career on a new path. Le Nozze di Figaro is one of, if not the most famous opera buffa composed by Mozart. The Libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, and is the was first of the infamous Da Ponte operas, the others being Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte. The opera is set in 18th century Spain. This story takes place on the wedding day of Figaro and Susanna, Count Almaviva’s…

four instruments. Two instruments for the high parts and two for the basso continuo, a keyboard, and a low instrument. 8. What is Solo concerto? A solo concerto is a musical piece for a single soloist accompanied with an orchestra. 9. What is Libretto? Libretto is the text of an opera that is set to music. It is written by librettist or…

She claims “although the first reviews said some extremely negative things about the horrible libretto and the frigid music, there were no complaints about a pro-terrorist slant.” John Rockwell’s description of the first performance of Klinghoffer is relatively tame and contains little inflammatory language in regards to the opera’s content: The subject…

Known as the “father of Italian opera,” Claudio Monteverdi found a way to bridge the gap between the renaissance and the baroque era. As a composer of the renaissance period, Monteverdi was most popular for his colorful madrigals and motets. Marc Antonio Ingegneri was his teacher growing up in Cremona, Italy. Monteverdi started working for the court of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga of Mantua in 1591 as a composer and an instrumentalist. He was obligated by his profession to write sacred music but also…

rough places plain.” Handel’s Messiah is by far the most dramatic artistic exhibition in which I have ever taken part. One simply has to read the libretto, some of which is quoted above, to see that Handel was not aiming for lightheartedness when composing his masterpiece. Instead, he sought to use his brilliant mind to rock the world. The libretto of the Messiah covers one of the most intellectually challenging topics known to man: the story of Jesus’ life. It moves from the anticipation of…

description for Doctor Atomic and knew I should critique it. I am a chemistry major and the summary of this opera intrigued my scientific side. I also felt that I would enjoy this English language opera since I would be able to understand the lyrics to the libretto. John Adam is an American composer, born February 15, 1947 to Carl John and Elinore Mary Adams. At a very young age, John’s father taught him how to play the clarinet and by the…

The enlightenment period focused on reasoning and individualism, as happiness and equality became priorities in society. The era was influenced by philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu, along with artists, most notably Amadeus Mozart. The movie Amadeus demonstrates that enlightenment worldviews were slowly being introduced to society, but they were not completely established by the late 18th century. Amadeus expresses the enlightenment worldview F, claiming the purpose of life…

Dragons, released the song “Demons” in 2012. It had sparked major debates and conversations about the story behind the lyrics. Different people had different insights and perspectives to the identical ballad. Many people deliberated the meaning of the librettos; some claimed that the song was a depressing anecdote describing the narrators down fall; others believed that the tale behind the lyrics was a positive note encouraging others to pick themselves up, make better friends and fight the…