Opera buffa

left a large footprint in the history of classical music. Mozart is famous for writing his first acknowledged works when he still was a child. At the age of eight he wrote his first symphony and when he was 12 years old he already created his first opera. Mozart has got musical training in piano and violin from his father. His father recognized the talent the boy had and created tours for the child to show his skills. They traveled a lot while being on tours, which later influenced health…

John Cage was an incredibly impactful and controversial American composer of the 20th century. He was the forerunner for the avant-garde, significantly developing nonstandard styles of music such as electroacoustic music and aleatoric music (chance-controlled). His musical developments were largely influenced by Indian philosophies like Buddhism, and his internal anarchy was influenced by Henry David Thoreau. This and his works with modern dance, helped to distinguish him as a very pivotal…

Berlin is a city located in the east of Germany. To the east, Germany borders Poland and the Czech Republic, to the west, it borders France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and to the south it borders Austria and Switzerland. Germany’s northern border accesses the North and Baltic Sea and Denmark. Germany is located in the College Board region of Western Europe. The first place I would visit would be the Philharmonie to see the Berlin Philharmonic perform there. The Philharmonie is home to some…

The Belasco Theater is located in the heart of mid-town Manhattan, and it is formerly known as the Stuyvesant Theater. The Belasco is the brainchild of American Architect George Keister. Keister designed the Belasco Theater for Impresario (Financier) David Belasco. Belasco was an American Director and Playwright whose works include the first adaptation of the short story Madame Butterfly. David, was not only a talented writer but also skilled at stage lighting and special effects. The…

It is worth mentioning that most of the quotations are from large Symphonic works of composers who were living and writing concomitantly with Mahler. Berio himself in an interview assumes the emphasis placed on 20th century music, most specifically in the last one hundred years. Although the preference for modern works points towards a post-tonal harmonic structure, the majority of quotations are of a more moderate nature, such as Stravinsky, Ravel and Debussy rather than the full-blown…

From the moment I was born on June 28th, 2004, my mother told me I was unique. I was named Sarah Beverly after my great grandmother on my mothers side. My last name, Nicol, is a Dutch name. I think we are all unique, and some of us a little more than others. Something that makes me a little more unique, and to some, possibly unusual would be I like to draw. I would not consider drawing my best skill but I would like to think I'm good at it. Another skill I have would be singing. My music choice…

Montserrat Caballe As a legendary Spanish opera singer, Montserrat Caballe is considered one of the greatest opera singers of her generation. In terms of production and performance, she made more than 80 recordings and preformed almost 4,000 performances. Well trained as a young singer in her life, Caballe, certainly, had a special talent, which was sheer powerful voice. Her performance was not restricted in Italian style exemplified by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. She went further and…

able to convey great emotion and love in his music. Wagner composed 13 operas with his most famous works like Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg(The Mastersingers of Nuremberg.) He transformed the way opera was written and performed by actually doing the libretto himself. The longest opera he performed spawned over four days with about 15 hours in length. But his most memorable operas are still used daily like the Bridal Chorus in Lohengrin for weddings…

Jerome Robbins' suggested the idea of developing a musical based off of the story of Romeo and Juliet to Leonard Bernstein in January of 1949 (originally proposed title: East Side Story, set in the less privileged areas of New York at the concurrence of Easter-Passover celebrations). In August of 1955, a gathering with Arthur Laurents took place where another idea emerged -- two teen-age mobs as the conflicting groups, one of them newly-arrived Puerto Ricans, the other self-styled…

Orfeo, officially L’Orfeo, was a momentous opera piece that was composed by Claudio Monteverdi. Written in five acts, the storyline that follows the underlying music delves into many aspects of humanity. Happiness, love, religion, death, and loss, concomitant with heartbreak, are the main themes expressed and explored which yield foresight into the time period Monteverdi himself lived in, as well as the influence of the Venice, the floating city. The opera was revolutionary for its time…