STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
Esther Nelson Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director David Angus Music Director John Conklin Artistic Advisor
February 20, 2020
Dear Educator, Boston Lyric Opera is pleased to invite high school and college students to attend Final Dress Rehearsals throughout our season. We look forward to welcoming you and your students to the Emerson Cutler Majestic Threatre for Vincenzo Bellini’s rarely performed masterpiece, Norma. Opera is an art form that can contain big, difficult emotions and BLO aims to provide a community forum in which to explore and discuss them. The experience of seeing and hearing live, professional opera is second to none, and we encourage you to explore the world of the opera in your classroom as well. We are proud to offer this Study Guide to support your discussions and preparations for Norma. We’ve included special insights into this particular production as well as the opera’s history with connections to Social Studies and English Language Arts. Boston Lyric Opera’s mission is to build curiosity, enthusiasm, and support for opera. This Study Guide is one way in which we support the incredible work of educators like you, who are inspired by this beautiful art form and introduce it to your students. As we continue to develop additional Study Guides, we want your feedback. Please tell us about how you use this guide and how it can best serve your needs by emailing education@blo.org. If you’re interested in engaging with us further and learning about additional opera education opportunities with Boston Lyric Opera, please visit blo.org/education to discover more about our programs and initiatives. We look forward to seeing you at the opera! Sincerely,
Rebecca Ann S. Kirk, M.Ed. Director of Education Programs
TABLE OF CONTENTS NORMA SYNOPSIS
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VINCENZO BELLINI: THE HIGH NOTE OF BEL CANTO
8
FROM MYTH TO OPERA
10
THE MYSTIQUE OF DRUID CULTURE
12
A NATURE-CENTERED PEOPLE
14
FIERCE WOMEN
16
LISTEN UP!
18
NORMA RESOURCES
20
HISTORY OF OPERA: AN OVERVIEW
22
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
32
NOTES TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERA
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STUDENT STUDY GUIDE
Norma SYNOPSIS
Gallic Druid uses a mallet to remove a ring on a globe inscribed “Gaul”; assisted by two Roman soldiers the Olympian gods look on from above; representing the opening of Gaul to the Roman Empire. Etching. Date unknown.
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NORMA SYNOPSIS
CHARACTERS DRUIDS Norma, soprano High-priestess of the Druidical temple of Esus Oroveso, bass Druid chief, Norma’s father Adalgisa, mezzo-soprano a virgin of the temple of Esus Clotilde, soprano Norma’s maid and confidante
ROMANS Pollione, tenor Roman Pro-consul (governor) in Gaul Flavius, tenor Pollione’s centurion (commander)
Norma Act 1, Scene 3. Norma costume renderings by Costume Designer Charles Neumann for Boston Lyric Opera. 2020.
The character of Pollione is based on the real Roman Pro-consul Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 B.C. - 4 A.D.) appointed under Emperor Julius Caesar’s rule.
Pollione. Norma costume renderings by Costume Designer Charles Neumann for Boston Lyric Opera. 2020. NORMA SYNOPSIS
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ACT I
50 B.C. Gaul. The Druids wait with their chief Oroveso for the moon to rise in the sacred forest. Norma, his daughter and high priestess, is sent to gather mistletoe for a special ritual to protect them and lead them to victory against the Romans. Nearby, the Roman proconsul Pollione, and his lieutenant, Flavio, hide among the oak trees watching the Druids. The warriors are not spying on the Druids, rather Pollione is looking for a young Druid priestess Adalgisa, a virgin of Norma’s temple. Confused, Flavio asks about Norma, Pollione’s secret lover who broke her vow of chastity and bore him two sons. Pollione explains that he does not love Norma anymore, rather Adalgisa has stolen his heart. Trumpets signal Norma’s return with the mistletoe, and Flavio urges Pollione to leave as they cannot risk being discovered. Norma leads the ritual praying to the moon for peace. She declares that the moment is not right for war against the Romans. Her people accept her decision as she secretly fears for her lover, Pollione’s safety. Later, as Adalgisa is praying alone in the temple over her transgression with Pollione, he quietly appears seeking her company. Adalgisa is troubled and expresses her doubts over their dangerous love affair, and her betrayal to Norma. Despite her deep hesitation, Pollione tries to persuade her to return with him to Rome. She agrees to meet him the following evening. Upset, Norma asks her maid, Clotilde, to take her children away as she struggles with conflicting feelings about them. Adalgisa arrives to speak with Norma and confesses she has fallen in love with a Roman. As Adalgisa describes her feelings and
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NORMA SYNOPSIS
Image of the god Esus on a Gallo-Roman column found in Paris, 1st A.D.
pleads for forgiveness for breaking her vows of chastity, Norma remembers how she fell in love with Pollione. Norma forgives her and releases her from her commitment as priestess. Just as Norma asks Adalgisa to describe the Roman she has fallen for, Pollione arrives and it suddenly becomes clear that both women are in love with the same man. Furious with the realization that she has been deceived, Norma condemns and banishes love-sick Pollione even as he still tries to convince Adalgisa to return to Rome with him. Meanwhile Adalgisa begs Pollione to return to Norma for the sake of the children they have together.
ACT II
Still fuming, Norma contemplates murdering her children as they sleep, but cannot bring herself to destroy such innocent lives. She asks Clotilde to summon Adalgisa. Norma implores the young woman to marry Pollione and take care of her children in Rome. Adalgisa instead promises to convince Pollione to return to Norma. Meanwhile, the Druids are restless and Norma has not yet given the signal to attack the Romans. Oroveso learns a far more severe commander will be taking Pollione’s place. Clotilde brings news to Norma that Adalgisa’s pleas were not successful and she wishes to return to the temple. She also learns of Pollione’s plans to abduct Adalgisa that evening anyway. Norma’s fury over the betrayal erupts and she calls for war. That night, Pollione sneaks into the cloister of novices to steal Adalgisa. He is captured and sentenced to death as the human sacrifice necessary to complete the war ritual. Norma is handed the sacrificial knife, but she cannot bring herself to kill Pollione. Stating she must question the captive first, the Druids depart. Norma tries to bargain with Pollione, begging him to forget Adalgisa in exchange for his life. When he refuses, she threatens to kill their children and burn Adalgisa alive for breaking her vows. The Druids reassemble for the war sacrifice. Norma proclaims that a priestess has been unfaithful and must be ritually sacrificed upon the pyre instead of Pollione. To everyone’s surprise, she announces not Adalgisa guilt, but her own, Norma begs Oroveso to take care of her children as she mounts the pyre. Pollione, suddenly re-enamored with Norma once again, throws himself into the flames after her.
English mistletoe.
Depiction of scene when Norma confesses her guilt, Norma, from Victrola Book of Opera by S.H Dudley, 1917.
Opera in Brief also gives a great illustrated synopsis of Norma.
NORMA SYNOPSIS
7
VINCENZO BELLINI: THE HIGH NOTE OF BEL CANTO
Bel canto style was a prominent characteristic of opera from the Romantic era. Ushered in by Gioacchino Rossini’s opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) in 1816, opera in the Romantic era focused more on the expression of emotions and storytelling—often complex plots— through vocal prowess. It was a reinvention of the traditional musical structures thus far expected of singers in classical opera.
What IS bel canto? •
It means “beautiful singing” in Italian and showcases the expressive potential of the human voice.
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It is characterized by long, smooth, and melodic vocal lines.
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It requires very precise vocal technique involving control of the intensity of vocal tone, as well as agility, fluidity, and clear articulation of notes, words, and transitions between registers.
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Each singer personalizes their performance of a bel canto aria showing off their unique talent with ornamentation—improvisational vocal fireworks of extra fast-moving notes.
Bellini may have popularized bel canto vocal fireworks, but ornamentation is still very popular today far beyond operatic singing. Listen to this well-known diva show her stuff.
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VINCENZO BELLINI: THE HIGH NOTE OF BEL CANTO
Vincenzo Bellini was born in 1801, in Catania, Sicily. He was highly influenced by his musically talented family, so that he was already an exceptional musician by the young age of five. Bellini was sent to the Conservatory in Naples, Italy. For his graduation in 1825, Bellini debuted his first opera: a semi-serious opera entitled Adelson e Salvini, set in his hometown. Bellini had a particular affinity for the soprano voice. He described the arias he wrote as not just a simple melody within an opera, but rather an illustration of the beauty and ability of the human voice. His aptitude for composing for the voice, makes Bellini one of the premier bel canto composers.
Catania, Sicily as of 2013.
Gioacchino Rossini, along with Gaetano Donizetti, were Bellini’s Italian contemporaries and make great contributions to bel canto opera, however the three had strong artistic differences and often did not get along. Unlike his contemporaries, Bellini did not write comic operas, favoring Opera semiseria instead. He also did not care for Rossini’s excessive added ornamentations. Bellini preferred the cabaletta aria structure, rather than the bravura aria structure that Donizetti and Rossini preferred. A cabaletta was less interruptive to the dramatic action and offered more characterization to the audience unlike a bravura, purely a demonstration of vocal capabilities.
Opera semiseria mixes comedy and pathos. It is characterized by frequent pastoral settings, an innocent female character, as well as a role for a basso buffo. This bass role is traditionally a very comedic one, but takes on a more sinister tone in this genre. Opera semiseria musically described wide range of emotions, and laid the foundation for the verisimo style to come.
Norma’s aria “Casta Diva,” is a beautiful example of one of Bellini’s cabaletta arias. He supposedly wrote eight versions of the piece before being pleased with it. The fluid vocal lines were more akin to piano compositions by non-Italian colleagues (Liszt and Chopin). Bellini gave less attention to the parts for chorus and orchestra and depended on his melodic vocal lines to carry the emotional weight of the opera. At the same time, he drew inspiration from Handel and Mozart’s compositions—clarity in form and a close union of text and music.
Vincenzo Bellini died at the early age of 33, after composing ten operas, and only a few months after his final opera, Il Puritani, premiered at Paris’ Theatre Italien in 1835. Bellini and his contemporaries greatly influenced the next great Italian composer: Giuseppe Verdi. Premiering his first opera only four years after Bellini’s death, Verdi built upon the tradition of bel canto, infused it with Italian Patriotism, and grew the genre bringing opera into a verismo style.
“Bellini is poor, it is true, in harmony and
orchestration, but rich in feeling and in an individual melancholy that was all his own. Even in his less familiar operas, there are long, long, long melodies such as no one ever wrote before his day.” – Giuseppe Verdi
Bellini received many accolades while studying at the conservatory that launched him into an immediate career. Following the premiere of his second opera, Bianca e Gernando (1826), he was commissioned by La Scala in Milan to write a third with Felice Romani—a very established and popular librettist. Their first collaboration, Il Pirata, was extremely well received and the pair went on to work together on all but Bellini’s final opera. Bellini also composed several orchestral and chamber works, but is renowned for his ten operas, namely, La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker), which opened in 1831, and, of course, Norma, that same year.
Royal Delays Bianca e Gernado was originally titled Bianca e Fernando, based on an 1820 play of the same title. However, since Prince Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of the largest kingdom in Southern Italy, no version of his name could be used on stage. The opera finally premiered six years later after all the revisions were made and approved by the king.
Vincenzo Bellini, c. 1830.
DISCUSS: How do you think the style of bel canto influences music today? Can you think of any examples?
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FROM MYTH TO OPERA
It was common practice for composers and librettists to be inspired by myths, plays and poems, both historical and contemporary. Norma’s roots can be traced as far back as the Greek myth of Medea—a story Bellini’s librettist, Felice Romani, had already adapted into opera for another composer. Medea was a moon goddess who bore two sons for the enemy of the Greeks, Jason, and then murdered them after he fell in love with another woman. Romani wrote many libretti based on tragic and melodramatic French plays that were inspired by ancient religious stories. In fact, Romani was an antiquities scholar prior to being a librettist. He published a six volume dictionary on mythologies across the globe, including ancient Celtic lure. In it, he describes Druids and their rituals. For composer Giovanni Pacini, Romani adapted La Sacerdotessa di’Irminsul (The Priestess of Irminsul) in 1821. This version of the “Norma story” was set in 8th century Saxony, Germany, when King Charlemagne destroyed all remaining Druidic structures. In this version, a pagan priestess falls for an enemy soldier in Charlemagne’s army. However, the priestess converts to Christianity and marries the general.
Painting of Medea and her children she murdered, Hernandez Amores, 1887.
The French composer, Chateaubriand, drew upon the possible historical figure Velleda, for his 1809 opera Les Martyrs. The Roman historian, Tacitus, described Velleda as a “hermit prophetess” who supported the opposition against the Romans. Chateaubriand’s opera opens with a chorus of Druid commonfolk cutting mistletoe and waiting for Velleda. Even with these versions in his mind, Felice Romani attributes his inspiration to the French epic poem Norma, ou L’infanticide by Alexandre Soumet. Keeping most of Soumet’s original story and characters, Romani removed any references to
10
FROM MYTH TO OPERA
Depiction of Norma telling Adalgisa to go to Pollione and demand he return to her, Victrola Book of Opera, 1917.
Felice Romani (1788-1865) wrote about 90 libretti in his lifetime. His plots were considered well-structured, and his text exceptionally suited to be set to music, leading him to become one of the most sought after Italian librettists of his time. His status was confirmed in 1830, when collaborations with Donizetti (Anna Bolena) and Bellini (La sonnambula) were performed at the Milan carnival, a large yearly festival. Many of his libretti were so popular, they were set to music by more than one composer. Bellini and Romani parted ways over creative differences in the creation of Beatrice di Tenda (1833), as composer accused librettist of making it too similar to his rival, Donizetti’s opera.
Felice Romani, artist and date unknown.
Christianity and changed the time period to 50 B.C. Original to Romani’s libretto for Bellini is the romantically-charged surprise suicide ending. Norma opened at La Scala in Milan on December 26th, 1831. Bellini, then 30-years old was already a well-known composer. In spite of the epic story and beautiful score, the Milanese public were slow to accept Norma at La Scala. It was received with mixed reviews, in part due to the intense rivalries between contemporary composers, -Pacini had premiered an opera with libretto by Romani and a similar story just a decade before. After charging a very high fee and being a little more unconventional than he had with his previous operas, Bellini wrote “Fiasco, fiasco, a solemn fiasco!...It has consigned my poor Norma to the doom of the Druidess herself.” He noted how the singers sounded tired, possibly as they had rehearsed the show the afternoon before it opened. However, just two days later, Bellini enjoyed full-houses and beloved reception. The opera grew in favor and soon Norma came to be known as the height of bel canto masterfully fusing beautiful singing and dramatic tension.
Poster for the premiere of Norma, 1831.
DISCUSS: How do we borrow from old stories that are retold over and over and update them for contemporary audiences? How would you retell the Medea myth today?
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THE MYSTIQUE OF DRUID CULTURE
As an ancient culture, the Druids conjure mysterious and perhaps even magical images in our minds. The opera, Norma, is set in 50 B.C. Gaul. At that time, Gaul spanned land crossing borders of present day France, Luxembourg, and Belgium, as well as parts of Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. Tribes of Celtic people ruled much of Gaul, and the Druids were a social class within the Celts. Religion was tantamount to ancient societies—think Greek, Egyptian, and African tribal nations—so that ethnicity, religious beliefs, cultural and traditions were closely intertwined. The Druids shared practices that were similar to Celts, and also had some uniquely their own. From the earliest accounts the Romans viewed the Druids as barbarians. Even though the Celts had conquered much of modern-day Western Europe centuries before the Romans arrived, as each Roman ruler expanded his empire, the Celts retreated and were eventually relegated to where we now associate Celtic culture—in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Originally a highly nature-based culture, when Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 58 B.C., he forced the Druids out of forests into temples. In the 2nd century, as Christianity began to emerge as a dominant belief system, Roman Emperor Tiberius banned all Druidic rituals. By 7th Century, the Catholic church had banned all practice of Celtic rights and rituals across Western Europe. It is for these reasons that we have little documented knowledge of the Druid people and their cultural practices. The earliest records date back to 7th century B.C., with the most comprehensive account being Julius Caesar’s, who ruled the Roman empire during the events of Norma, in c. 50 B.C.) It is possible Caesar based some of his understanding of the Druids not only on observation, but from the writings of a much earlier philosopher, Poseidonius (c. 135 B.C. – 51 B.C.). Other Roman sources include Stabo, Siculus, Pliny, and Tacitus. The word “druid” translates, “knowing the oak 12
THE MYSTIQUE OF DRUID CULTURE
The region of Gaul, 1st c. B.C. Courtesy of the U.S. Military History Academy.
tree” in the Celtic language, with the IndoEuropean word dru, meaning truth. Old oak forests played a central role in Druid cultural rites and rituals. The Druids were extremely educated and revered, serving as priests, teachers, and judges in Gaul. It took up to 20 years to complete learning the oral history necessary to be considered a Druid, yet as it remained an oral culture, no written history exists. The Druids were led by a high priest who was in charge of sacrifices and judicial proceedings. They were also exempt from taxes and military services. It is believed that the Druids were held in such high regard, if they intervened in the middle of Gallic battle they would cause it to come to complete standstill. Female Druids were particularly interesting to Roman and Greek writers who were intrigued by the power they held in Celtic society. Druidic women were active in politics, war, and were said to have magical and prophetic abilities. Archeologists have excavated many females buried with
treasure who are believed to be Druidesses. Most of our current understanding of the Druids is embedded in medieval Irish literature as well as the popular revival of Druidic ideals during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Though alluded to in Roman sources, the magical elements of Druidism and especially female Druids appear mainly in these later stories. Medieval Irish literature preserved what was left of Celtic culture after the Roman empire took over. These writings continue to influence Irish authors today. The archetype of a youthful, beautiful, life-giving, but fearsome goddess appears often in this canon, and is referred to by the Celtic word, bandruí (female-druid). Bandrui is identified with rivers, flora, and fauna. Irish folktales paint her as a sorceress or prophetesses with the ability to heal others through incantations and transfigure themselves into an animal. Meanwhile, some medieval Christian writers demonized the Druids as barbarians, while others relegated them to cautionary tales. As Ireland’s movement for independence from England gained momentum in the 19th and 20th centuries, Irish authors and playwrights sought to revive the Celtic language and its ancient myths.
Dungeons and Dragons… and Druids! The popular role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons, includes Druids in their set of character classes. In the game, Druids have nature-themed magic powers, and can change into various animal forms. Other popular media such as comic books, movies (The Hobbit), television (Teen Wolf, Outlander), and various video games such as Diablo, World of Warcraft, and The Elder Scrolls, feature Druids or Druidlike characters. In these iterations, they are almost always ascribed with magical powers.
Animated Druid and fairy from video game.
Neo-Druidic ideals were popular in the Romantic era, when Bellini was alive. British imperialists were fascinated by the study of what they deemed “primitive” and aligned themselves with the Roman mentality of expansionism as they colonized countries in Asia and Africa. Numerous books were published—many of which have since been discredited by contemporary anthropologists—and some scholars attempted to recreate Druidic rituals and rites. The orders that emerged inspired by Druidic practices were often mixed with elements of Christianity, yet the interest in Druidism was more often academic and spiritual as Europe moved away from the Age of Enlightenment and into the Romantic era. Neo-Druidic values included a reverence for nature, belief in reincarnation, and mysticism. Bellini found himself at the center of this movement with playwrights and authors seeking inspiration from Druidic tales, as audiences were eager to hear them. The Druids were an incredibly respected people at their peak. Unlike Greek, Roman, or Egyptian cultures, there is little remaining archaeological evidence. The Roman conquest and the Catholic Church nearly destroyed Celtic culture. However, Druidism (now often referred to as Paganism), is still recognized as an ancient religion, and the culture survives in small sects, literature, and oral tradition.
DISCUSS: In what ways has ancient Druid culture influenced our world today? 13
A NATURE-CENTERED PEOPLE
Large oak tree in New Jersey.
Perhaps since our best historical accounts of Druid culture were documented by the Romans, it follows that their interpretations would take into account common Roman cultural believes. Therefore there are some parallels between attributes of Roman polytheistic structure and what we know of Druid deities. As the Celts were tribal, the names of gods and goddesses vary by location. Most Druidic gods were gods of nature and natural occurrences. For example, the Celtic god Lúgh is believed to bring thunderstorms for crops in the summer. The god the mentioned in Norma, a traditionally Gallic god of great might, Esus, is to whom they make human sacrifices. Celtic sculptures 14
A NATURED-CENTER PEOPLE
“In the earth I shall be with you.” – Norma
from Gaul depict both male and female deities, with the male gods protecting the tribe, and the female goddesses (“mother nature” figures) ensuring fertility. The Druids deeply revered nature and the cycle of life. Religious festivals took place with each of the seasons, and the moon and sun were especially important. The Druids often ascribed sentient and divine characteristics to natural elements such as rivers and mountains.
sacrificing two white bulls, in order to create an elixir to cure infertility. This association of mistletoe and fertility has evolved and survived to modern day with the western tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmastime.
2014 image of Stonehenge. Wiltshire, England.
Stonehenge remains a real archeological mystery. We do not know who, or even from what culture it was created. It does however feature prominently in Arthurian and Irish folktales. In 1905, the British Ancient Order of Druids used the site for a religious gathering, but in 1985, the British Land Trust closed to religious groups. A 2003 European Court of Human Rights ruling reopened the site, and over 30,000 people took part in a festival celebrating the summer solstice that year.
Drawing of trolls with the changeling they raised. John Bauer, 1913
Infanticide is a feature in most versions of the Norma story, but if fertility was so important to the Druids, how are the two congruent? Modern scholarship suggests that although offspring were sacred, those born out of wedlock were often left to die of exposure in the forest. Celtic folktales often speak of “changelings,” babies that were stolen by woodland spirits and replaced by sick or maladjusted duplicates. Lore dictated parents must return the “changeling” to the fairies by abandoning the baby in the woods. This convention was soon banned by the Catholic Church. Over the centuries, Christianity’s relationship to ancient Celtic religious practices has shifted, changed, and become intertwined. Druidic traditions were revived in Britain throughout the 20th century, and since then sects have emerged across Europe and the United States influencing new-er religious practices including Wicca. Practices today promote harmony with and connection to all things in the natural world. Reverence for nature exists as a core value in many religions and cultures across the globe, and continues to be emphasized as we contemplate how to protect it.
They believed in life after death and the transmigration (reincarnation) of souls among all living things. That being said, the Druids made human sacrifices—often criminals—to save those who were sick or in danger. The Druids had many rites and rituals they performed for the Celtic people. The Roman scholar Pliny (AD 24-70) describes in Natural History, the Celtic ritual of cutting mistletoe out of a sacred oak tree, and
Ruins of what are possibly Druidic pillars in Italy.
REFLECT: What values of the Druids do you identify with? Which ones do you not agree with? Why?
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FIERCE WOMEN
The role of Norma is a very demanding one to sing requiring near-Olympic skill, training, and stamina. For this reason, the opera is beloved as essential to the opera cannon, but not performed as often as one might imagine. In fact, there have been only 156 productions of Norma in 125 years, compared to for example, Verdi’s La Traviata, which was produced over 800 times just last year. Critics agree on similar attributes shared by the most accomplished singers in the role—tremendous vocal agility, and a large, dramatic vocal presence, reserved for only the most spectacular singers to do well.
Guiditta Pasta, the original Norma, 1831.
The role of Norma was written specifically for Giuditta Pasta, the reigning soprano of the day. Later opera superstars who performed Norma included Lilli 16
FIERCE WOMEN
Lehmann, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, and Cecilia Bartoli. Even as the opera in its entirety is not as frequently performed as are many of the other famous bel canto operas, Norma’s aria “Casta Diva” (“chaste goddess”), is considered one of the top soprano arias in the canon. Norma has long been a platform for talented women to shine, and BLO’s production will continue that legacy. Soprano Elena Stikhina makes her debut in the role of Norma in our production. Considered one of the most promising sopranos of her generation, and having won several international competitions, Elena has sung at the most prestigious opera companies from The Metropolitan Opera to the Paris Opera since her graduation from The Moscow Conservatory in 2012. In addition to our prima donna, BLO’s production of Norma is directed by another powerhouse, Stephanie Havey. The role of Norma is especially unique compared to the characters sopranos often played in 19th century opera. Unlike many other soprano roles of the time which featured who need rescuing or go completely mad, (like in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835).) Norma is a character with power and autonomy to decide the fates of the other characters. Norma is written as a multidimensional woman with complex emotions about herself, her relationships, and her community. Her leadership is respected, something rare in 19th century opera (or society). It is for all of these reasons that Norma is such a special and coveted role for sopranos with the right tessitura to perform, and why the opera is so beloved, even by some of the toughest musical critics.
Maria Callas on a CBS talk show, 1958.
Stephanie Havey, Stage Director.
Elena Stikhina, soprano. Photograph by Danill Rabovsky. FIERCE WOMEN
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LISTEN UP!
Maria Callas, “Casta Diva” from Norma by Vincenzo Bellini
Listen to famous soprano Maria Callas sing Norma’s most famous aria. How does the bel canto style help her express her emotions and desires as she prays to the moon? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYl8GRJGnBY Listen again and consider Bellini’s composition. Pay attention to the orchestration, harmonies, and melody. Do you notice the cabaletta structure? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYl8GRJGnBY
Maria Callas, “Una Voce Poca Fa” from Il Barbiere de Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini
Now Listen to Maria Callas sing a bel canto aria from one of Bellini’s contemporaries, Gioachino Rossini. What similarities do you hear? How was Bellini influenced by Rossini? How is the aria structured differently? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG0BIOgl-aQ
Maria Callas “Il dolce suono” from Lucia di Lammermor by Gaetano Donizetti
Finally, compare to Donizetti’s work. How are the character’s emotions expressed? What similarities do you hear in the orchestration? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MSsi-iysCA
Frederic Chopin, Nocturne No. 20 in C Sharp Minor (composed in 1830)
Bellini was influenced by Chopin. Listen to his piano composition and compare with Bellini’s style. How much harmony do you hear? What does the tone of the piece seem to be? Happy? Melancholy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqpPRj6UZqc
Elena Stikhina, 2019 Deutcshe Oper Berlin, Leanora’s aria from Il Trovatore by Guisuppe Verdi What is Elena’s voice quality like? How do you think she will sound singing Norma? How are elements of bel canto style still in Verdi’s work? What has aspects has Verdi changed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu_xrNWaeDo
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LISTEN UP!
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GENERAL QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOUR LISTENING • What instruments do you hear? • How fast is the music? Are there sudden changes in speed? Is the rhythm steady or unsteady? • Key/Mode: Is it major or minor? (Does it sound bright, happy, sad, urgent, dangerous?) • Dynamics/Volume: Is the music loud or soft? Are there sudden changes in volume (either in the voice or orchestra)? • What is the shape of the melodic line? Does the voice move smoothly or does it make frequent or erratic jumps? Do the vocal lines move noticeably downward or upward? • Does the type of voice singing (baritone, soprano, tenor, mezzo, etc.) have an effect on you as a listener? • Do the melodies end as you would expect or do they surprise you? • How does the music make you feel? What effect do the above factors have on you as a listener? • What is the orchestra doing in contrast to the voice? How do they interact? • What kinds of images, settings, or emotions come to mind? Does it remind you of anything you have experienced in your own life? • Do particularly emphatic notes (low, high, held, etc.) correspond to dramatic moments? • What type of character fits this music? Romantic? Comic? Serious? Etc.
LISTEN UP!
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NORMA RESOURCES Libretto (in English) Full Audio Recording Full Video Recording Further Learning on the Druids
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NORMA RESOURCES
ARTICLES Jordon , J. (2017). Hear What Makes ‘Norma’ the Everest of Opera. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/arts/music/norma-bellini-metropolitan-opera.html
Tommasini , A. (2008). Bel Canto: Audiences Love It, but What Is It? New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/arts/music/30tomm.html
Vienna State Opera. (2008) Love Among the Druids: Bellini’s ‘Norma’. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2008/05/16/90495326/love-among-the-druids-bellinis-norma
Voigt, D. (2014) Mad Scenes: The Crazy Women of Opera. WQXR. Retrieved from https://www.wqxr.org/story/mad-scenes-crazy-women-opera
WEBSITES Encyclopedia Britannica (Ed.).(2020). Bel canto. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/bel-canto
Encylopedia Brittannica (Ed.). (2019). Vincenzo Bellini. In Encylopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vincenzo-Bellini#ref61792
Encylopedia Brittannica (Ed.). (2011). Druid. In Encylopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Druid
Johnson, B. (n.d.). Who were the Druids?
Retrieved from https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Druids/
History.com (Ed.). (2019, October 24). Who Were Celts. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/celts
Hopkins, K. (2016, September 5). Opera Essentials: Bellini’s Norma. Retrieved from https://www.roh.org.uk/news/opera-essentials-bellinis-norma
San Diego Opera. (n.d.). Libretto & Source. In Operapaedia.
Retrieved from http://www.sdopera.com/Content/Operapaedia/Operas/Norma/LibrettoSource.htm
Royal Opera House (Ed.). (n.d). Felice Romani. Retrieved from http://www.roh.org.uk/people/felice-romani
BLOGS Seattle Opera. (2010).
Retrieved from https://www.seattleoperablog.com/2010/10/how-to-distinguish-rossini-from-bellini.html
NORMA RESOURCES
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RENAISSANCE
1500
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THE HISTORY OF OPERA
BAROQUE
1600-1750
CLASSICAL
1730-1820
THE HISTORY OF OPERA People have been telling stories through music for millennia throughout the world. Opera is an art form with roots in Western Europe dating back hundreds of years. Here is a brief timeline of its lineage.
ROMANTIC
1790-1910
20th CENTURY
1900
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1598
RENAISSANCE
Jacopo Peri, a member of the Camerata, composed the world’s first opera – Dafne, reviving the classic myth.
1573
1607
The Florentine Camerata was founded in Italy, devoted to reviving ancient Greek musical traditions, including sung drama.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) wrote the first opera to become popular, Orfeo, making him the premier opera composer of his day and bridging the gap between Renaissance and Baroque music. His works are still performed today.
Toccata from L’Orfeo. Claudio Monteverdi Favola in musica. Reprint of the First Edition of the core, Venice 1609, via Wikimedia Commons 24
THE HISTORY OF OPERA
1689 Henry Purcell’s (1659-1695) simple and elegant chamber opera, Dido and Aeneas, premiered at Josias Priest’s boarding school for girls in London.
BAROQUE
1637
1712
The first public opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, was built in Venice, Italy.
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759), a German-born composer, moved to London, where he found immense success writing intricate and highly ornamented Italian opera seria (serious opera). Ornamentation refers to stylized, fast-moving notes, usually improvised by the singer to make a musical line more interesting and to showcase their vocal talent.
1673 Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) an Italian-born composer, brought opera to the French court, creating a unique style, tragédie en musique, that better suited the French language. Blurring the lines between recitative and aria, he created fast-paced dramas to suit the tastes of French aristocrats.
Dido and Aeneas, 1747, Pompeo Batoni, via Wikimedia Commons THE HISTORY OF OPERA
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1805 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) although a prolific composer, wrote only one opera, Fidelio. The extremes of musical expression in Beethoven’s music pushed the boundaries in the late Classical period and inspired generations of Romantic composers.
CLASSICAL
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770- 1827)
1750s A reform movement, led by Christoph Gluck (1714-1787), rejected the flashy, ornamented style of the Baroque in favor of simple, refined music to enhance the drama.
1767 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote his first opera at age 11, beginning his 25-year opera career. Mozart mastered, then innovated in several operatic forms. He wrote opera serias, including La clemenza di Tito, and opera buffas (comedic operas) like Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). He then combined the two genres in Don Giovanni, calling it dramma giocoso (comedic drama). Mozart also innovated the Singspiel (German sung play), featuring a spoken dialogue, as in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756- 1791)
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THE HISTORY OF OPERA
1853 Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) completed La Traviata, a story of love, loss, and the struggle of average people, in the increasingly popular realistic style of verismo. Verdi enjoyed immense acclaim during his lifetime, while expanding opera to include larger orchestras, extravagant sets and costumes, and more highly trained voices.
ROMANTIC
THE GOLDEN AGE OF OPERA
Giuseppe Verdi
1816
1842
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) composed Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), becoming the most prodigious opera composer in Italy by age 24. He wrote 39 operas in 20 years. A new compositional style created by Rossini and his contemporaries, including Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini, would, a century later, be referred to as bel canto (beautiful singing). Bel canto compositions were inspired by the nuanced vocal capabilities of the human voice and its expressive potential. Composers employed strategic use of register, the push and pull of tempo (rubato), extremely smooth and connected phrases (legato), and vocal glides (portamento).
Inspired by the risqué popular entertainment of French vaudeville, Hervé created the first operetta, a short comedic musical drama with spoken dialogue. Responding to popular trends, this new form stood in contrast to the increasingly serious and dramatic works at the grand Parisian opera house. Opéra comique as a genre was often not comic, rather realistic or humanistic. Grand Opera, on the contrary, was exaggerated and melodramatic.
A scene from 19th-century version of the play The Barber of Seville by Pierre Beaumarchais. Its origins in the commedia dell’arte are shown in this picture which portrays Figaro dressed in the costume and mask of Harlequin. 1884, via Wikimedia Commons
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1896 Giacomo Puccini’s (1858-1924) La bohème captivated audiences with its intensely beautiful music, realism, and raw emotion. Puccini enjoyed huge acclaim during his lifetime for his works.
1871 Influenced by French operetta, English librettist W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) began their 25-year partnership, which produced 14 comic operettas including The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Their works inspired the genre of American musical theater.
Giacomo Puccini
1865
1874
Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) Tristan und Isolde was the beginning of musical Modernism, pushing the use of traditional harmony to its extreme. His massively ambitious, lengthy operas, often based in German folklore, sought to synthesize music, theater, poetry, and visuals in what he called a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art). The most famous of these was an epic four-opera drama, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which took him 26 years to write and was completed in 1874.
Johann Strauss II, influenced largely by his father, with whom he shared a name and talent, composed Die Fledermaus. This opera popularized Viennese musical traditions, namely the waltz, and shaped German operetta.
Richard Wagner Mikado theatre poster, Edinburgh, 1885, via Wikimedia Commons 28
THE HISTORY OF OPERA
1922
20th CENTURY
Alban Berg (1885-1935) composed the first completely atonal opera, Wozzeck, dealing with uncomfortable themes of militarism and social exploitation. Wozzeck is in the style of 12-tone music or Serialism. This new compositional style, developed in Vienna by composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), placed equal importance on each of the 12 pitches in a scale, removing the sense of the music being in a particular key.
1911
1927
Scott Joplin, “The King of Ragtime,” wrote his only opera, Treemonisha, which was not performed until 1972. The work combined the European late-Romantic operatic style with African American folk songs, spirituals, and dances. The libretto, also by Joplin, was written at a time when literacy among African Americans in the southern United States was rare.
American musical theater, commonly referred to as Broadway, was taken more seriously after Jerome Kern’s (18851945) Show Boat, words by Oscar Hammerstein, tackled issues of racial segregation and the ban on interracial marriage in Mississippi.
Hammerstein and Kern Scott Joplin
THE HISTORY OF OPERA
29
1935 American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937), who was influenced by African American music and culture, debuted his opera, Porgy and Bess, in Boston, MA with an all African American cast of classically trained singers.
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THE HISTORY OF OPERA
Porgy and Bess by the New York Harlem Theatre, 2009
1945
1957
British composer Benjamin Britten (19131976) gained international recognition with his opera Peter Grimes. Britten, along with Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), was one of the first British opera composers to gain fame in nearly 300 years.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), known for synthesizing musical genres, brought together the best of American musical theater, opera, and ballet in West Side Story—a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet in a contemporary setting.
Benjamin Britten
Leonard Bernstein
1987 John Adams (b. 1947) composed one of the great minimalist operas, Nixon in China, the story of Nixon’s 1972 meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Musical Minimalism strips music down to its essential elements, usually featuring a great deal of repetition with slight variations.
John Adams
TODAY Still a vibrant, evolving art form, opera attracts contemporary composers such as: Philip Glass (b. 1937), Mark-Anthony Turnage (b. 1960), Jake Heggie (b. 1961), Thomas Adès (b. 1971), and many others. These composers continue to be influenced by present and historical musical forms in creating new operas that explore current issues or reimagine ancient tales.
BLO’s production of Philip Glass’ opera, In the Penal Colony. Photo: T. Charles Erickson
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THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
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THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
WHY DO OPERA SINGERS SOUND LIKE THAT?
So Young Park as Queen of the Night Photo: Eric Antoniou
Opera is unique among forms of singing in that singers are trained to be able to sing without amplification, in large theaters, over an entire orchestra, and still be heard and understood! This is what sets the art form of opera apart from similar forms such as musical theater. To become a professional opera singer, it takes years of intense physical training and constant practice— not unlike that of a ballet dancer—to stay in shape. Additionally, while ballet dancers can dance through pain and illness, poor health, especially respiratory issues and even allergies, can be severely debilitating for a professional opera singer. Let’s peek into some of the science of this art form.
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
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How the Voice Works Singing requires different parts of the body to work together: the lungs, the vocal cords, the vocal tract, and the articulators (lips, teeth, and tongue). The lungs create a flow of air over the vocal cords, which vibrate. That vibration is amplified by the vocal tract and broken up into words by consonants produced by the articulators.
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BREATH
Any good singer will tell you that good breath support is essential to produce quality sound. Breath is like the gas that goes into your car. Without it, nothing runs. In order to sing long phrases of music with clarity and volume, opera singers access their full lung capacity by keeping their torso elongated and releasing the lower abdomen and diaphragm muscles, which allows air to enter into the lower lobes of the lungs. This is why we associate a certain posture with opera singers. In the past, many operas were staged with singers standing in one place to deliver an entire aria or scene, with minimal activity. Modern productions, however, often demand a much greater range of movement and agility onstage, requiring performers to be physically fit, and disproving the stereotype of the “fat lady sings.”
VIBRATION
If you run your fingers along your throat you will feel a little lump just underneath your chin. That is your “Adam’s Apple,” and right behind it, housed in the larynx (voice-box), are your vocal cords. When air from the lungs crosses over the vocal cords, it creates an area of low pressure (Google The Bernoulli Effect), which brings the cords together and makes them vibrate. This vibration produces a buzz. The vocal cords can be lengthened or shortened by muscles in the larynx, or by increasing the speed of airflow. This change in the length and thickness of the vocal cords is what allows singers to create different pitches. Higher pitches require long, thin cords, while low pitches require short, thick ones. Professional singers take great pains to protect the delicate anatomy of their vocal cords with hydration and rest, as the tiniest scarring or inflammation can have noticeable effects on the quality of sound produced.
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
RESONANCE
Without the resonating chambers in the head, the buzzing of the vocal cords would sound very unpleasant. The vocal tract, a term encompassing the mouth cavity, and the back of the throat, down to the larynx, shapes the buzzing of the vocal cords like a sculptor shapes clay. Shape your mouth in an ee vowel (as in eat), and then sharply inhale a few times. The cool sensation you feel at the top and back of your mouth is your soft palate. The soft palate can raise or lower to change the shape of the vocal tract. Opera singers always strive to sing with a raised soft palate, which allows for the greatest amplification of the sound produced by the vocal cords. Different vowel sounds are produced by raising or lowering the tongue. Say the vowels: ee, eh, ah, oh, oo and notice how each vowel requires a slightly lower tongue placement. This area of vocal training is particularly difficult because none of the anatomy is visible from the outside!
ARTICULATION
The lips, teeth, and tongue are all used to create consonant sounds, which separate words into syllables and make language intelligible. Consonants must be clear and audible for the singer to be understood. Because opera singers do not sing with amplification, their articulation must be particularly good. The challenge lies in producing crisp, rapid consonants without interrupting the connection of the vowels (through the controlled exhale of breath) within the musical phrase.
Perfecting every element of this complex singing system requires years of training, and is essential for the demands of the art form. An opera singer must be capable of singing for hours at a time, over the top of an orchestra, in large opera houses, while acting and delivering an artistic interpretation of the music. It is complete and total engagement of mental, physical, and emotional control and expression. Therefore, think of opera singers as the Olympic athletes of the stage, sit back, and marvel at what the human body is capable of! 35
Different Voice Types
C B C B Soprano MezzoSoprano
C B
Bass The lowest male voice, basses often fall into two main categories: basso buffo, which is a comic character who often sings in lower laughing-like tones, and basso profundo, which is as low as the human voice can sing! Doctor Bartolo is an example of a bass role in The Barber of Seville by Rossini.
Contralto Tenor
C B
Baritone Bass
C
D
E
F
G
A
110HZ
D
E
F
G
A
220HZ
D
E
F
G
A
440HZ
D
E
F
G
A
880HZ
D
E
F
Opera singers are cast into roles based on their tessitura (the range of notes they can sing comfortably). There are many descriptors that accompany the basic voice types, but here are some of the most common ones:
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THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
Baritone A middle-range male voice, baritones can range from sweet and mild in tone, to darker dramatic and full tones. A famous baritone role is Rigoletto in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Baritones who are most comfortable in a slightly lower range are known as Bass-Baritones, a hybrid of the two lowest voice types.
Tenor The highest male voice, tenors often sing the role of the hero. One of the most famous tenor roles is Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliet. Occasionally men have cultivated very high voices singing in a range similar to a mezzo-soprano, but using their falsetto. Called the Countertenor, this voice type is often found in Baroque music. Countertenors replaced castrati in the heroic lead roles of Baroque opera after the practice of castration was deemed unethical.
Each of the voice types (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bass) also tends to be sub-characterized by whether it is more Lyric or Dramatic in tone. Lyric singers tend toward smooth lines in their music, sensitively expressed interpretation, and flexible agility. Dramatic singers have qualities that are attributed to darker, fuller, richer note qualities expressed powerfully and robustly with strong emotion. While it’s easiest to understand operatic voice types through these designations and descriptions, one of the most exciting things about listening to a singer perform is that each individual’s voice is unique, therefore each singer will interpret a role in an opera in a slightly different way.
Contralto Occasionally women have an even lower range that overlaps with the highest male voice. This voice type is more rare and they often play male characters, referred to in opera as trouser roles.
Mezzo-Soprano Somewhat equivalent to the lower female alto role in a chorus, mezzo-sopranos (mezzo translated as “middle”) are known for their full and expressive qualities. While they don’t sing frequencies quite as high as sopranos, their ranges do overlap, and it is a “darker” tone that sets them apart. One of the most famous mezzo-soprano lead roles is Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen.
Soprano The highest female voice. Some sopranos are designated as coloratura as they specialize in being able to sing very fast moving notes that are very high in frequency and light in tone, often referred to as “color notes.” One of the most famous coloratura roles is The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
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THE PHYSICS OF OPERA SINGERS What is it about opera singers that allows them to be heard above the orchestra? It’s not that they are simply singing louder. The qualities of sound have to do with the relationship between the frequency (pitch) of a sound, represented in a unit of measurement called hertz, and its amplitude, measured in decibels, which the ear perceives as loudness. Only artificially produced sounds, however, create a pure frequency and amplitude (these are the only kinds that can break glass). The sound produced by a violin, a drum, a voice, or even smacking your hand on a table, produces a fundamental frequency as well as secondary, tertiary, etc. frequencies known as overtones, or as musicians call them, harmonics.
For instance, the orchestra tunes to a concert “A” pitch before a performance. Concert “A” has a frequency of about 440 hertz, but that is not the only pitch you will hear. Progressively softer pitches above that fundamental pitch are produced in multiples of 440 at 880hz, 1320hz, 1760hz, etc. Each different instrument in the orchestra, because of its shape, construction, and mode in which it produces sound, produces different harmonics. This is what makes a violin, for example, have a different color (or timbre) from a trumpet. Generally, the harmonics of the instruments in the orchestra fade around 2500hz. Overtones produced by a human voice—whether speaking, yelling, or singing—are referred to as formants. As the demands of opera stars increased, vocal teachers discovered that by manipulating the empty space within the vocal tract, they could emphasize higher frequencies within the overtone series—frequencies above 2500hz. This technique allowed singers to perform without hurting their vocal chords, as they are not actually singing at a higher fundamental decibel level than the orchestra. Swedish voice scientist, Johann Sundberg, observed this phenomenon when he recorded the worldfamous tenor Jussi Bjoerling in 1970. His research showed multiple peaks in decibel level, with the strongest frequency (overtone) falling between 2500 and 3000 hertz. This frequency, known as the singer’s formant, is the “sweet spot” for singers so that we hear their voices soaring over the orchestra into the opera house night after night.
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THE SCIENCE AND ART OF OPERA
Prof. Tecumseh Fitch, evolutionary biologist and cognitive scientist at the University of Vienna, explains the difference between a fundamental frequency and formant frequency in the human voice. For an opera singer, the lower two formants (peaks on a graph) determine the specific vowel sound. The third formant and above add overtones that are specific to each particular singers’ voice, like a fingerprint. When two people sing the same note simultaneously, the high overtones allow your ear to distinguish two voices
A RESONANT PLACE The final piece of the puzzle in creating the perfect operatic sound is the opera house or theater itself. Designing the perfect acoustical space can be an almost impossible task, one which requires tremendous knowledge of science, engineering, and architecture, as well as an artistic sensibility. The goal of the acoustician is to make sure that everyone in the audience can clearly understand the music being produced onstage, no matter where they are sitting. A perfectly designed opera house or concert hall (for non-amplified sound) functions almost like gigantic musical instrument.
Boston Opera House – photo by John Wolf
Boston Symphony Hall, opened in 1900, with acoustical design by Harvard physicist Wallace Clement Sabine, was the first concert hall to be designed with scientific acoustic principles in mind. Each seat was mathematically designed and placed for maximum acoustical perfection.
Reverberation is one key aspect in making a singer’s words intelligible or an orchestra’s melody clear. Imagine the sound your voice would make in the shower or a cave. The echo you hear is reverberation caused by the large, hard, smooth surfaces. Too much reverberation (bouncing sound waves) can make words difficult to understand. Resonant vowel sounds overlap as they bounce off of hard surfaces and cover up quieter consonant sounds. In these environments, sound carries a long way but becomes unclear or, as it is sometimes called, wet as if the sound were underwater. Acousticians can mitigate these effects by covering smooth surfaces with textured materials like fabric, perforated metal, or diffusers, which absorb and disperse sound. These tools, however, must be used carefully, as too much absorption can make a space dry – meaning the sound onstage will not carry at all and the performers may have trouble even hearing themselves as they perform. Imagine singing into a pillow or under a blanket. The shape of the room itself also contributes to the way the audience perceives the music. Most large performance spaces are shaped like a bell – small where the stage is, and growing larger and more spread out in every dimension as one moves farther away. This shape helps to create a clear path for the sound to every seat. In designing concert halls or opera houses, big decisions must be made about the construction of the building based on acoustical needs. Even with the best planning, the perfect acoustic is not guaranteed, but professionals are constantly learning and adapting new scientific knowledge to enhance the audience’s experience.
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NOTES TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERA You will see a full dress rehearsal – an insider’s look into the final moments of preparation before an opera premieres. The singers will be in full costume and makeup, the opera will be fully staged, and a full orchestra will accompany the singers, who may choose to “mark,” or not sing in full voice, in order to save their voices for the performances. A final dress rehearsal is often a complete run-through, but there is a chance that the director or conductor will ask to repeat a scene or section of music. This is the last opportunity that the performers have to rehearse with the orchestra before opening night, and therefore they need this valuable time to work. The following will help you better enjoy your experience of a night at the opera:
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NOTES TO PREPARE FOR THE OPERA
OPERA CHECKLIST Arrive on time! Latecomers will be seated only at suitable breaks in the performance and often not until intermission. Dress in what you are comfortable in so that you may enjoy the performance. For some, that means dressing up in a suit or gown, for others, jeans and a polo shirt fit the bill. Generally “dressy-casual” is what people wear. Live theater is usually a little more formal than a movie theater. Please do not take off your shoes or put your feet on the seat in front of you. Respect your fellow opera lovers by not leaning forward in your seat so as to block the person’s view behind you, and by turning off (not on vibrate) cell phones and other electronic devices that could make noise during the performance. Lit screens are also very distracting to your neighbors, so please keep your phone out of sight until the house lights come up. Taking photos or making audio or video recordings is strictly forbidden. Do not chew gum, eat, drink, or talk while the rehearsal is in session. If you must visit the restroom during the performance, please exit quickly and quietly. At the very beginning of the opera, the concertmaster of the orchestra will ask the oboist to play the note “A.” You will hear all the other musicians in the orchestra tune their instruments to match the oboe’s “A.” After all the instruments have been tuned, the conductor will arrive. Be sure to applaud! Feel free to applaud or shout Bravo at the end of an aria or chorus piece if you liked it. The end of a piece can be identified by a pause in the music. Singers love an appreciative audience! It’s OK to laugh when something is funny! When translating songs and poetry in particular, much can be lost due to a change in rhythm, inflection and rhyme of words. For this reason, opera is usually performed in its original language. In order to help audiences enjoy the music and follow every twist and turn of the plot, English supertitles are projected. Listen for subtleties in the music. The tempo, volume, and complexity of the music and singing depict the feelings or actions of the characters. Also, notice repeated words or phrases; they are usually significant. Sit back, relax and let the action on stage pull you in. As an audience member, you are essential to the art form of opera—without you, there is no show!
Have Fun and Enjoy the Opera! 41
