“Too fine for our ears and a tremendous number of notes, my dear Mozart.”
To which he replied “Exactly as many, your majesty, as are necessary” (Turner 258)
The event I attended for MUS111 was Mozart’s Opera Buffa, Abduction from the Seraglio, first presented in Vienna July 16, 1782. The opera was presented by Opera Atelier with musical accompaniment by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre. The Abduction from the Seraglio is an opera Singspiel in three acts. It is an irreverent comic opera based in the commedia dell’arte tradition. The Abduction from the Seraglio, or in the original German, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, was written in German for Vienna’s new national Burgtheatre, established by Emperor Joseph II as a venue for German language operas (Osborne 181). Opera Atelier’s production was sung in German with English surtitles and recitatives. Opera Atelier specializes in opera, ballet and drama from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Opera Atelier’s productions draw from the aesthetics and ideals of the period represented, and feature period ballet, costumes and original instruments (OA Program 39).
Mozart collaborated with Gottlieb Stephanie on the libretto for Abduction from the Seraglio, which was adapted from an earlier work (Dent 71). The opera’s libretto is based on a stock commedia dell’arte scenario, an Italian tradition which comprises plays in which a beautiful young person is held captive by a controlling authority figure. Their rescue becomes the impetus of the play and is usually executed by a lover closer to the captive in status (OA Program 16). The production at the Elgin theatre did not stray from this template.
Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart’s Singspiel or “play w...
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...d movement of the story and that Mozart concentrates too much on Osmin at the beginning and gets too bogged down with Konstanze in the middle of the second act (258 Turner).
For Mozart operatic composition brought him the most money and Abduction from the Seraglio became Mozart’s most popular opera during his lifetime (Zaslaw 55). Personally, I enjoyed the performance very much.
Opera Atelier does not meticulously mimic the past; their creations can stand independently. However, Opera Atelier strives to create productions that would have been recognizable in their own time. I remember creative director Marshall Pynkoski and choreographer Jeannette Zingg from their early days in the mid-1980s when the two of them would perform period dance Sunday afternoons at the Royal Ontario Museum. It is thrilling for me to see how successful they have become.
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On Friday, November 15, 2013, I attended a concert that I found very interesting. It took place at 7:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. The group performing was the Erie Chamber Orchestra, but as a special the Slippery Rock University Concert Choir was also there. During the performance I attended, two pieces were performed. The first was a Mozart piece by the name of Symphony No. 41.
In his day, Johann Adolph Hasse was at the forefront of Italian opera. Although he composed a fair amount of sacred works, he is best known for his operatic output. He was widely popular throughout Italy and Germany, and was commissioned by courts and opera houses throughout Europe. His performances were attended by cultural figures at the time, as well as some of the biggest names in common-era music today. In his later life, styles changed and so Hasse’s acclaim diminished after his death. But generations later, he was re-established as a figurehead and icon of classic ancient Italian opera, a designation he possesses even today.
The above thoughts are about a very complex piece of music. The fact that it appears to be simple , is a result of the genius of Mozart and his incredibly ability to write music. This opera works so well because Mozart made it so accessible to regular people. He achieved this simplicity through his meticulous detail to each characters personality. He made sure that Don Giovanni sounded like he should sound; bold , cocky ,and charming. Mozart truly wrote an opera that almost performs itself. I feel that if a person can sing the notes , then most of the point has gotten across. If the singer is boring , the listener can still understand the character through his or her melodic line or the rhythmic patterns of the part. Overall , Mozart composed the perfect music for each character.
Also in the movie it shows that Mozart was more experienced at music than Salieri and proved that he could have a spot to work for Salieri’s boss Emperor Joseph 11. Once Salieri heard that the Emperor
Eastern Washington University Department of Music presented a program of Opera works by Giacomo Puccini, Aron Copland, W.A. Mozart, John Dowland, Franz Shubert, Maurice Ravel, and Robert Schumann on Friday, March 7, 6:30 p.m., in the Music Building, Recital Hall. These Opera works were sung by Senior Recitalist, Alexandra Rannow.
Christmas and Opera did not merely seem to correlate, but understanding where the two events derived from can help one to understand the similarities and differences between them. The development of Christmas was different from the creation of opera because the working class was controlling the other social classes for profit. Whereas for opera, the different social classes unified to keep opera as entertainment and not a social event. Another difference came within the writing and context throughout the article and the presentation of information conveyed by the author. Yet the events share the similarity of both being refined and reinvented.
"The Mozart Project- Biography." The Mozart Project. mozartproject.org, 25, Apr 1998. Web. 22 Jun 2010. .
The play opens as Salieri, old and senile, sits hunched over and raving in his wheelchair as his servants scurry about, gossiping. He claims to have poisoned Mozart decades earlier, not with a potion, but with cunning and deceit. He then rises and transforms into his youthful self to tell the tale.
At the age of the Enlightenment, Antonio Salieri becomes the most triumphant musician in the city of Vienna, however, without any warning his harmonious universe comes to an utter halt. Salieri’s absolute faith in the world, in himself, and in God is all at once diminished by this spontaneous child composer. When the two opposite ends meet, there emerges a fury, a rage, and a passion in Salieri to sabotage the boy that has secured Salieri’s deserved God given talent; to destroy the one pubescent child that has made him so mute and naked now in a world of discordance. Salieri’s entire reputation and boyhood prayer to attain fame thus rests on his ability to annihilate that child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.In analyzing the two composers, Salieri and Mozart, there is a distinct line that clearly divides them. Salieri’s operas receive astounding receptions, making them the “talk of the city,'; shaking the roofs, buzzing the cafes, and even the name Salieri “sounds throughout all of Europe'; (2,3). The reason for Salieri’s success, as well as many musicians of the eighteenth century, is because they have become enslaved by the well-to-do and hence are “no better than servants'; (1,3). This applies especially to the king. For example, in Amadeus, His Majesty forbid any ballet in his operas. Imperial commands such as this are not to be interpreted in any way, in other words, they are to be merely obeyed without any dispute. Since operas tend to the needs of the high society in order to obtain recognition, the operas must communicate through the language of the nobility, that is, Italian. In addition, since the majority of the audience is made up of the upper class, the subject matter of the operas must consist of elevated themes. Such as, mythological heroes, kings, and queens, and so forth. According to the eighteenth century view, operas are supposed to be a sublime and an aggrandizing art. The elevated subject matter is then chosen in order to venerate and honor the nobility. It’s purpose is to “celebrate the eternal in man'; says Van Swieten (2,4). Meaning that there is an element in a noble person that lasts without any end, like God who is immortal. God represents the everlasting and the eternality of existence, thus God gives inspiration to operas that...
Opera is a unique genre of spoken word and song accompanied by music. The music takes one through ascending and descending ranges of emotions. Mozart's Don Giovanni is a perfect example of how this genre emits a wide variety of feelings and attitudes. This "dark comedy seems to convey Mozart's feeling that events have both comical and serious dimensions…" (Kerman, 205). The opera, as a whole, is neither exclusively comedic nor entirely tragic.
Countless dozens of Ph.D theses must be written about Mozart's The Magic Flute and yet it is so lively with elements of fantasy and free-flying imagination that it is often the first opera to which children are taken. It has a plot of such complexity that it takes several viewings for all but the most studious opera buffs to sort out the characters and follow the ins and outs of the multilevel story. At the same time it has so much easily accessible charm and so many glorious Mozart tunes that even the novice will be captivated.
A Short History of Opera: 4th Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Simon, Henry W. 100 Great Operas and Their Stories. New York: Penguin Books, 1994 New York: Anchor Books, 1989. Osborne, Charles.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is often referred to as the greatest musical genius of all time in Western musical tradition. His creative method was extraordinary: his writings show that he almost always wrote a complete composition mentally before finally writing it on paper. Mozart created 600 works in his short life of 35 years. His works included 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, and 5 violin concerti, 25 string quartets, and 19 masses.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was undoubtedly one of the greatest composers of not only the classical era, but of all time. On January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart was born into an already musically talented family. His father Leopold, a composer and musician, and sister Nannerl toured parts of Europe giving many successful performances, including some before royalty. At the young age of 17, Mozart was appointed Konzertmeister at the Salzburg Court. It was there that young Mozart composed two successful operas: “Mitridate” and “Lucio Silla”. In 1981 he was dismissed from his position at the Salzburg Court. He went on to compose over 600 works including 27 piano Concertos, 18 Masses (including his most famous, the Requiem), and 17 piano sonatas. Mozart was not often known for having radical form or harmonic innovation but rather, most of his music had a natural flow, repetition and simple harmonic structure.
In the mid-1763, Mozart’s father, Leopold, decided to leave his position as deputy Kapellmeister (which was quite well paying) , so he and his family could set out on a prolonged tour across Europe. Not surprisingly, soon the Mozarts’ set out on the tour, where Amadeus and his sister played at almost all the main musical centers of Western Europe: Munich, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Mannheim, Brussels, Frankfurt, Mainz, Paris, and London (where the Mozart’s spent 15 months). They returned to Salzburg only in November 1766, being ...