OperaQuest Teachers Pack

OPERA NORTH and OperaQuest OperaQuest is a national opera project designed by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts and generously supported by the MariaMarina Foundation. This exciting venture links opera companies across the UK with local schools, introducing 500 8-11 year olds to opera each year. Opera North is delighted to be working in partnership with the Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts to deliver this inspirational project.

Opera North is England’s national opera company in the North and is widely recognised as one of the most innovative and adventurous arts organisations in Britain. From our regional base in Leeds we have forged an international reputation for the imaginative work we do in promoting creative excellence and developing young artists.

The OperaQuest project is led by professional artists, who are not only exceptional educators, but also highly skilled artists in their own right, to ensure the highest standard of delivery and output, and to instill aspirations in the young people involved in the project.

This pack has been designed to enable teachers to host their own opera workshop sessions and includes guidance on session planning, suggested activities and triggers for critical discussion. The activities focus on the 2 operas which your school has worked upon with practitioners from Opera North and includes visual and audio references as well as cues to listen to excerpts from a CD recording.

Suggestions are made for other operas which you may wish to investigate with your students and the information within this pack can be easily adapted to suit.

Opera North tours the northern region with productions which are often suitable for schools with accompanying classroom resources. Look out for The Bartered Bride by Smetana in Autumn 2014.

For more information on the work of Opera North Education please see our website www.operanorth.co.uk or contact education@operanorth.co.uk for details of how to get involved.

1

AN INTRODUCTION TO OPERA Opera is a fusion of lots of different art forms – music, drama poetry, art and dance, all combined to form an exciting and extravagant spectacle. Wagner, one of opera’s greatest composers called opera the Gesamtkunstwerk, a German word which translates as ‘the total art form’.

Going to the opera, like going to the theatre, involves what is called the ‘suspension of disbelief’. We know that in normal life when people meet and discuss the weather, they speak – but in an opera, they sing! While this may seems unrealistic at first, it is the reason why some of the most beautiful tunes in the history of music have been written. What we lose in realism is more than made up for by the extra emotional dimension the music brings.

Themes in opera Opera stories are traditionally very dramatic. They are about big themes such as love and death.

They often deal with ‘gritty’ material relevant to their times – poverty, racism, political and police corruption, adultery and murder. On the other hand, some operas are extremely funny, and some are fantasies involving strange creatures and places. When you have looked at the two operas in this pack with the pupils in more detail, ask them to make a list of all the themes that they think are covered or feature in each opera.

People involved in opera Opera can be very expensive to put on as each production involves an enormous number of people – orchestra, chorus, soloists, a production team including a director, designer, producer, stage crew, and all the administrators who set up and organise the production.

Preconceptions about opera The genre has also acquired a reputation as being expensive and elitist – this may have been true a hundred years ago but it certainly wasn’t true when opera was ‘born’ in Italy over 400 years ago. To its original audiences, going to the opera was more like going to the cinema – and it certainly isn’t true now, when opera tickets can be bought at a fraction of the price of a ticket to a football match, and can often be less than seeing a theatre or musical in the West End. Activities 1. Ask pupils for their own thoughts and ideas on what they think opera is, and what they associate with it and write all these on the board/a chart.

2. Ask pupils to think about what ‘suspension of belief’ might mean.

3. Ask pupils to think of all the preconceptions that they think people might have about opera and write all these down. Do people think that it is too expensive, or will be too difficult to understand?

4. Give pupils a few minutes to think of all the different people that are involved in putting on an opera besides the singers. Then ask them for their ideas!

5. Ask the pupils to estimate how much they think it would cost to put on an opera, bearing in mind all the people that they now know are involved!

2

Warm-ups and opening activities Here are some warm-ups to try with the pupils before you look at the following two operas in the pack. You can try as many of these as you like!

1. The Energiser! Shake your right hand in the air eight times – then your left hand – then your left leg – then your right leg...then shake each one four times...then two times...then one time... Then jump in the air and should “Yeah!”

2. Actions. Ask the pupils to start moving around the space (as in the hall or the classroom) that you're using. When you say STOP, they stop; when you say GO, they start moving again. Focus on stopping and going all together, as a single unit. We call this “ensemble”. Add in JUMP and CLAP, and again emphasise these actions happening at exactly the same time.

Once they're really working as a group, gradually introduce further instructions: • SKY: look up at the ceiling • AUDIENCE: stare intensely at an imaginary audience (make sure you've all decided where the audience “is”!)

• CLEAR THE SPACE: move to the edges of the space • BALANCE THE SPACE: spread out evenly through the whole space • STAGE LEFT/STAGE RIGHT/CENTRE STAGE: move to the relevant area (remember, stage left and right are from the performers' perspective, not the audience's) • UPSTAGE/DOWNSTAGE: move to the back/front of the space.

When you've added as many of those as you want to, ask the pupils to change how they move – experiment with moving FAST and SLOW, DIRECTLY and INDIRECTLY, in a LIGHT or HEAVY way.

Combine some of these qualities of movement and think about what sort of characters might move with those particular combinations.

3. Facial Warm up. Tap your face all over with your fingertips and/or give your face a vigorous massage. Scrunch your face up as tightly as it will go, then open it out as wide as it will go – see how quickly you can alternate between them.

4. Vocal Warm Ups. Pick one of these noises: brrrr (like revving a motorbike); rrrrrr (with a rolled R); vvvvv (make your lips tickle!). Ask the pupils to make the noise in a high part of their voice, then a low part of their voice – use your hand to show whether you want a high or low noise. Move your hand up and down, and ask them to match the pitch (high/low) to where your hand is. Pick one or more volunteers to lead that activity themselves.

Vocal characterisation Make some elongated vowel sounds, giving them characters as follows: • AH! – you've just discovered something amazing • AY! – you're trying to get someone's attention • EE! - you've discovered someone doing something naughty • OH! - you've had a dramatic shock • OOH! - you've been told a juicy secret Try and find a short phrase from the opera you're going to look at. Experiment with the different ways you can say/sing it – angrily, fearfully, calmly, in a whisper etc.

3

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM BACKGROUND - COMPOSER AND LIBRETTIST Benjamin Britten wrote the music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Britten and Peter Pears adapted the text from Shakespeare’s original play. It had its first performance in 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival which Britten founded in 1948, and Britten himself conducted the performance, with Pears playing the role of Flute, one of the mechanicals. It has become one of the mostperformed operas written since the Second World War. Some distinctive features of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the pupils to listen out for as we look at the opera in more detail are: • The different types of music Britten uses for different groups of characters – he gives us very romantic music for the lovers, folk-like “simple” music for the mechanicals –hence the woodwind instruments that play every time they arrive - and the fairies have very magical, ethereal music.

• The leading male role, Oberon, King of the Fairies is sung by a countertenor which is a man with a very high voice. This is very unusual in a leading operatic role. Use of this particular voice gives the character a very magical ‘weird’ quality which you would associate with a magical creature such as a fairy. Britten composed it with a particular singer in mind, which he often did in his operas.

• The fairies chorus sung by children. Britten was particularly interested in writing music for young voices, and gave the fairies chorus a particularly prominent role in the opera. Later on, we will look at learning some of the music that the fairies chorus sings.

4

MEETING THE CHARACTERS OBERON • Countertenor • King of the Fairies • Harp and Celeste Oberon’s music is often accompanied by the harp and the celeste in the orchestra, adding to his magical, ethereal presence. Oberon is also a jealous and vengeful character. He is very cross with Tytania at the start of the opera because she refuses to give him the Indian boy, and it is his wish for revenge that leads him to send Puck for the magic flower that creates so much of the opera’s confusion.

Activity 1. Ask the pupils to think about what the King of the Fairies would sound like. Would he sing high or low? What sort of music would make him sound magical and mysterious? Which instruments would accompany him?

2. Now play the children track 6 on CD1, ‘Welcome wanderer! Hast thou the flower there?’, or watch this YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7m-mmnV4VQ, so that the pupils can see if they were right! See if they can pick out the two instruments which accompany him and discuss what sort of effect they create.

TYTANIA • High soprano • Queen of the Fairies • Children’s chorus Tytania is sung by a very high female voice, which we call a coloratura soprano. She is often accompanied by the children’s chorus, who play the role of her fairy servants.

Activity 1. Encourage the pupils to think about how the Queen of the Fairies would sound, and what sort of music would best portray her character.

2. Now play the pupils the track 11 on CD1 ‘Come, come now a roundel’ or watch this YouTube clip “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaEBnf4eqeU. Here, Tytania bids the fairies to protect her and sing her to sleep. Ask the pupils to think of words to describe the music they hear. How does this create her character? What features of the music Britten wrote make her sound magical and ethereal?

PUCK • Spoken role • Fairy servant of Oberon • Trumpet and snare drums Puck is a mischievous, quick-witted fairy who sets many of the play’s events in motion with his magic powers and his mistakes, such as transforming Bottom’s head into that of a donkey. Only Oberon has control over Puck, and he sends him off on various tasks such as finding the magic flower. Puck is sometimes played by an acrobat who can jump, spin and flip around the stage, scattering the young fairies and creating chaos. Puck speaks, instead of sings, his lines, so in fact he doesn’t need to be an opera singer; he could be an actor, an acrobat, a child or all three! He has some very fast music, and in the orchestra we always hear the trumpet and snare drum playing when he’s about to arrive.

5

Activity 1. Play the pupils track 1 on CD1 and listen out for ‘How now spirits?’ (at 2:45). Then listen to track 9 on CD1 ‘Through the forest have I gone’. What do they notice about Puck’s lines compared to those of the other characters? Are they spoken or sung? Which instruments can be heard when Puck is on stage? What do you think this choice of instruments suggests about his character and personality.

HELENA • Soprano • Mortal • In love with Demetrius Helena is played by a soprano, (the high female voice) which is fitting for her character because she is completely in love with Demetrius and is constantly begging and pleading with him to return her affection. She is a strong, determined character who has a pretty bad time through most of the opera. She goes from being loved by nobody, to being loved by both men, to finally being loved just by Demetrius, so she is only really happy towards the very end of the opera when she and Demetrius are together.

Activity 1. Play the pupils track 5 on CD1, and listen out at 1:24 for Helena’s first line, ‘You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant’. In this scene she is desperately pursuing Demetrius, who does not love her back.

2. Ask the pupils to think about how the music portrays Helena’s emotions. How does she sound – desperate, unhappy, pleading? How does the composer of the music make her sound out of breath, as if she has literally been running after Demetrius? Can you hear the pauses between each phrase that create this effect?

NICK BOTTOM THE WEAVER, ONE OF THE MECHANICALS • Bass-baritone • Bossy and self-confident • Trombone Bottom the weaver is the bossiest and most entertaining of all the mechanicals. He has a low voice which in opera we call a bass-baritone.

He is always full of confidence, and thinks he is an incredibly good actor!

He tries to take over the rehearsals of the play, wanting to play all the different parts himself because he thinks he is better than everyone else. However, despite his self-confidence, he often makes mistakes in his speeches – see if pupils can spot them as you listen to the opera!

6

Activity 1. Encourage the pupils to discuss what Bottom would sound like. Would he sing low or high?

What sort of instruments would he be represented by? How do you think he would feel on waking up after the spell has been removed and he no longer has the head of a donkey?

2. Now play the class track 8 on CD2, or watch the following YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPCAb4tQkyE the children the so they can see if they were right! In this scene, Bottom has just awoken and recalls the strange incidents – ‘Bottom’s Dream’. See if they can pick out the trombone in the orchestra that accompanies Bottom.

Activity: Exploring the characters Here are some different ways to encourage the class to explore the dramatic qualities of the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 1. Get the pupils in a circle, with their backs to the middle. Give them a recognisable charactertype like an angry teacher or a naughty child; when you say FREEZE after a count of 3, they must turn around and pose as a statue of the character you described. Pick some particularly good ones, and remind them all that, in a theatre, our acting has to be as clear as possible, so encourage them to be big and bold in their poses!

2. Continue this activity, but start using 3 or 4 different characters from the opera. Say the character's name, and describe them in a simple adjective-noun phrase (e.g. “a mischeivous fairy” or “a pleading woman”), then do 1-2-3-FREEZE. You could also specify an action for the character (“a worried mother looking for her son”) 3. Ask them to start moving around the space as that character (you could reference the fast/slow/light/heavy/direct/indirect qualities of movement from the warm-up).While they're moving, play an extract of some music from the opera that is sung by that character, or is played while they're on-stage. How does that change the movement? What does it tell us about the characters?

4. Combine two or more characters in a group freeze-frame scene from the opera (“the king and queen have a fiery argument).

7

DISCOVERING THE STORY Plot Summary This story starts outside Athens, Greece, where everything is going wrong.

Oberon, the king of fairies, is angry with his queen, Tytania who is looking after a little human boy. Oberon is jealous and wants the boy to be his servant. Tytania won’t let him, so Oberon decides to play a trick on her. He sends his helper, Puck, to find a magical flower, whose juices make someone fall in love with the first living thing they see when they wake up.

Oberon wants Puck to use the flower on Tytania.

Meanwhile, a young couple (we call them the mortals) Lysander and Hermia run away from Athens because Hermia’s father wants her to marry someone else. Demetrius follows them because he is in love with Hermia, and Helena runs after Demetrius because she is in love with him! As night falls, the four mortals are all lost in the woods. Lysander and Hermia are still trying to run away, Demetrius chases them and Helena chases him, begging him to love her back. Demetrius is mean to Helena and swears he will never love her. Oberon sees this and feels sorry for Helena, and decides to help her by using the magic flower on Demetrius too, so tells Puck to put the juice on the eyes of the young man dressed in Athenian clothes.

Meanwhile, a group of Mechanicals (men who work with their hands) are practicing a play to perform for Duke Theseus. They are very funny and silly characters. Nick Bottom the weaver is loud and bossy and wants to play all the parts in the play. Puck sees Bottom and thinks it would be funny to make Tytania fall in love with him. While she is sleeping, Puck drops the flower juice into her eyes, and then turns Bottom’s head into a donkey head.

The mechanicals are terrified when they see Bottom and run away screaming. Tytania wakes up and instantly falls in love with him, and gets her fairies to do anything he wants.

On his way back to Oberon, Puck finds Lysander and Hermia sleeping, wearing Athenian clothes. Puck thinks that Lysander is the Athenian man who needs the love drops, but he is wrong! Puck accidentally makes Lysander fall in love with Helena. Helena is very confused, and Hermia is furious.

She thinks her best friend has stolen her boyfriend. Puck tries to fix things by putting the flower juice into Demetrius’s eyes, but then Demetrius loves Helena too! Helena is angry and thinks the men are teasing her, and Hermia thinks they are all playing a trick on her and tries to fight Helena. Oberon is furious with Puck for making so many mistakes, and makes Puck fix the mess.

Oberon reverses the spell on Tytania and Bottom, and Oberon and Tytania stop fighting. When the four lovers wake up in the morning, Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena. Everyone is happy and they go back to Athens to tell Duke Theseus, who agrees that they can all marry, and together they watch the mechanicals perform the play they have been practicing. Finally Puck apologises to the audience for all of his mistakes.

8

Activity: Exploring the story Here are some ways in which the class can explore the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 1. Acting: Assign each character to one pupil (you could take volunteers, or hand out pieces of paper with the character names on, so that it's a secret who plays whom) then read out the story with the pupils acting out what you're saying.

2. Freeze-frames: Put the pupils in groups, and give each group a small section of the plot – their job is to create a freeze-frame for each of the sentences. Once all the groups are ready, tell the story using the freeze-frames as visual aids of what's happening. Suggested freeze frames include: Oberon and Tytania having a fiery argument Puck putting the magic juice on Lysander’s eyes Tytania in love with Bottom as the donkey The four mortals in arguing But you can create as many freeze-frames as you like!

3. Telling the story: When the group knows the story well, sit them in a circle and get them to tell the story back to you as a group – going round the circle, each pupil must say one sentence to describe what happens next.

You can also mix and match between methods if parts of the plot lend themselves more easily to the freeze frame approach, or to the narrative approach, than others.

Musical moments Have a listen to these moments in the opera in which the music really portrays the action on stage, and how the composer achivies this.

The lovers quarrel • Play the class track 1 on CD2, beginning at 5:00. In this scene, all four mortals are arguing.

Lysander and Demetrius are now both in love with and fighting over Helena, Helena believes they are both mocking her and blames Hermia, and Hermia blames Helena for stealing Lysander from her.

• Ask the pupils to discuss what is happening in the orchestra during this sequence. How does the orchestra build the tension and heighten the drama? Can you hear the slowly rising pitch of the pizzicato (plucked) strings?

• How does Britten make this sound like a real life argument? Are the four mortals singing one at a time or all at once? Are any of them listening to what each other is saying?

The finale • Play the pupils the final track on CD2 ‘Now the hungry lion roars’ starting at 2:02 until 4:02 minutes, or the YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2kdwGS-05A. • Ask the class to describe the mood created by the music. Considering this is the finale of the opera, what message does this give to the audience? Could it be a sense of peace and reconciliation or forgiveness after the arguments and drama of the opera?

• How does Britten create this sense of calm? Can you hear the repeated gentle rocking rythmn? Who is singing? What effect does this have? What instruments does Britten use?

9

LEARNING THE MUSIC Pick a section of music from the opera to learn – you could just learn a short part of it, or try the whole thing. The songs sung by the chorus of fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream are good ones to learn, as they were written specifically for children. You can hear these by listening to the CD: • • •

Track 1, CD1: ‘Over hill, over dale’ Track 12, CD1: ‘You spotted snakes with double tongue’ Track 21, CD2: ‘Now the hungry lion roars’

Then stage this song as it might happen in the opera. A good starting point is to think of some actions to match the words, then experiment with different staging ideas.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES The Arguments • • • • •

There are lots of fights in Dream – between Oberon and Tytania and between all four mortals. You can use the fight scenes to continue the ensemble work from your warm-up at the beginning.

To begin with, tell the group that you're going to clap your hands together, and you want them to clap their hands together at exactly the same time as you. It'll take a few goes to get this working!

Now change the clap into a different gesture e.g. punching an imaginary person in front of you – again, the group has to do it at exactly the same time as you. Pick a few people to act as leader with gestures of their own.

Split the group in two, facing each other, and appoint a leader in each. Get the two leaders to act out a slow-motion fight, made up of single gestures, with their group copying them at the same time.

Once you've devised this group fight scene, give each group a line from one of the characters in the opera (e.g. Oberon's “Give me that boy, and I will go with thee” and Tytania's “Not for thy fairy kingdom!”) - each time they do an action, they have to say or sing their line all together.

The Play • • •

Stage the Mechanicals' play of Pyramus and Thisbe. Go through the story of the play (possibly breaking it down into sentences, like in the “Discover the story” exercise) then put the students into groups of five or six and ask them to re-enact it.

If you want to make it more challenging, set some rules – each group might only be allowed one prop, or one costume item. Everyone could have a specific character, or they might want to appoint a Narrator who will tell the story while everyone else acts it out.

When each group has performed, get them all to do it again, but this time singing their lines instead of speaking them!

10

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST

(THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST) BACKGROUND - COMPOSER AND LIBRETTIST This Italian opera was composed by Giacomo Puccini and the text was written by Guelfo Civinini, based on an American play by David Belasco. It was commissioned by and first performed at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York (The Met) in 1910. Puccini wrote the main roles of Minnie and Dick Johnson for two of The Met’s star performers, Emmy Destinn and Enrico Carruso, and the opera was a great success at its first performance, although these days it is quite rarely performed.

Puccini is most well-known for his crowd-pleasing operas such as La Boheme and Madama Butterfly which are among the most frequently-performed operas today. Particular features of Puccini’s operas include: • • •

The use of short musical ‘motifs’ to introduce characters or ideas, which we will look at later.

Original musical ideas and direct communication with the audience.

Some critics thought his music was too romantic and sentimental. After we look at some musical moments later on, the pupils will be able to form their own opinions!

11

MEETING THE CHARACTERS MINNIE • Soprano • Owner of ‘The Polka’ saloon • Strong and brave Minnie is a soprano - singing the very high notes. This is traditional in the leading female role. Minnie is a brave, beautiful young woman who has been brought up by the miners since her father’s death when she was younger.

She owns and runs the tavern, The Polka, and every man in town is in love with her and brings her gifts. Even though all the men adore her, she doesn’t take any nonsense from them. She is strong-willed and is waiting for the right man to come into her life. When she falls in love with Dick Johnson, she is prepared to do anything to stand by him.

Activity 1. Play the pupils tracks 7 and 8 on CD1. Listen to the brawl that breaks out during track 7, and in particular to the sound at very end of this track, which marks Minnie’s first entrance.

2. Now ask the pupils to discuss how Puccini has made her entrance particularly dramatic, and how Minnie’s voice contrasts with those of all the miners around her when she begins to sing during track 8 ‘Hello, Minnie!’

JACK RANCE • Baritone • The Sheriff • Unforgiving and jealous Jack Rance is played by a low voice, called a baritone, which helps gives him a sense of authority and importance. Rance is the local Sheriff, who thinks a lot of himself. He is boastful and claims that he will marry Minnie, even though Minnie is not interested in him at all, and really doesn’t trust him! He gets very jealous when she shows an interest in Dick Johnson, and even gets quite violent.

Rance does stick to his word when he loses the game of poker to Minnie, but is overall a very unforgiving character, determined to see Johnson hanged at any cost.

Activity 1. Encourage the pupils to think about the character of the sheriff. What sort of voice should he have to depict his character in the opera? What pitch should he sing at?

2. Now play the pupils track 12 on CD2, ‘Una partita a poker‘ (A game of poker) or the following YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avn5_M3TJMs. 3. Listen to the voice of the sheriff compared to that of Minnie. Has does Puccini make the sheriff seem threatening? Puccini often uses a low baritone voice to portray the role of the ‘baddie’ in his operas – why do you think this is?

12

DICK JOHNSON/RAMERREZ

• • •

Tenor A bandit in disguise Loves Minnie

Dick Johnson sings with the high male voice, the tenor. This is the most frequently used voice type for the romantic male lead in an opera.This is different to the countertenor, the voice which Oberon sings with. Dick Johnson is a bandit in disguise, who was planning to steal all the gold from The Polka. However, we do see him change in the opera – although he was planning to rob the gold, when he falls in love with Minnie he can’t bring himself to do it because his feelings for her are so strong. We see his very romantic side when he tells her he is in love with her, and when he begs the men to tell Minnie he is free and far away when he is about to be hanged.

Activity 1. Play the pupils track 19 on CD2, ‘Ch’ella mi creda libero e lontano’ (Let her believe I am free and far away) or listen to the YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M1NDY5s0cg.

This aria (song) is sung by Dick Johnson to the crowd who are about to hang him in Act 3. Ask the pupils to think about how the music portrays what is going on in the story. What must Dick Johnson be feeling at this point? What sort of feelings does Puccini want us, the audience, to have? What features of the music create these emotions?

WOWKLE • Mezzo-soprano • Native American • Minnie’s servant The small role of Wowkle, Minnie’s servant, is sung by a mezzo-soprano, which is lower than a soprano. It literally means ‘half soprano’! Wowkleis a Native American Indian woman, an ‘Indian squaw’, which meant the wife or girlfriend of an Indian. We meet her at the beginning of Act 2, singing a lullaby to her unborn baby. She is joined by her boyfriend Billy Jackrabbit, and they talk about the idea of getting married, which is Minnie’s wish, but Wowkle isn’t keen on the idea.

Activity 1. Wowkle is the only other female in the opera. Ask the pupils to discuss how they think she should sound to make her different from Minnie. How could the music she sings portray to the audience her status as a servant?

2. Now play the pupils track 1 on CD2, and listen to Wowkle and her boyfriend Billy Jackrabbit.

See if they can pick out the funny noise “Ugh” that they use to say something to one another.

What does this say about these two characters? Is Puccini portraying them as less educated than the Minnie, Dick Johnson, and the miners? Why does this present a problem for modern audiences? Many aspects of Opera are timeless and others clearly are not!

3. Then play the pupils track 2 on CD2, and listen to Minnie asking Wowkle to set another place for dinner because she is expecting a guest (Dick Johnson!). See if they can they hear the difference between Minnie’s voice and Wowkle’s voice. If so, what is different about Wowkle’s voice?

13

Activity: Exploring the characters You can explore the dramatic qualities of the characters in La Fanciulla del West in a very similar way to those in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: 1. Again, get the pupils in a circle, with their backs to the middle. Give them a recognisable character-type like an angry teacher or a naughty child; when you say FREEZE after a count of 3, they must turn around and pose as a statue of the character you described. Pick some particularly good ones, and remind them all that, in a theatre, our acting has to be as clear as possible, so encourage them to be big and bold in their poses!

2. Continue this activity, but start using 3 or 4 different characters from the opera. Say the character's name, and describe them in a simple adjective-noun phrase (e.g. “a jealous Sheriff” or “a homesick miner”), then do 1-2-3-FREEZE. You could also specify an action for the character (“a worried mother looking for her son”) 3. Ask them to start moving around the space as that character (you could reference the fast/slow/light/heavy/direct/indirect qualities of movement from the warm-up).While they're moving, play an extract of some music from the opera that is sung by that character, or is played while they're on-stage. How does that change the movement? What does it tell us about the characters?

4. Combine two or more characters in a group freeze-frame scene from the opera (Minnie and Dick Johnson arguing).

14

DISCOVERING THE STORY Plot Summary Set in the California gold rush, the gold miners gather in The Polka Tavern drinking, smoking and playing cards. An argument breaks out between the miners when the sheriff Rance boasts that he intends to marry Minnie the beautiful young woman who owns the bar, because all the men adore her. When Minnie arrives, Rance tells Minnie he loves her and wants to marry her, but she distrusts him and manages to put him off for the time being.

Minnie then sees a good-looking stranger who calls himself Dick Johnson, and she remembers she has chatted with him once before. They start talking, and Rance and the miners are extremely jealous of the stranger being so friendly with their favourite girl. Suddenly a report comes in that the leader of gang of bandits, Ramerrez is known to be in the area, and the men hurry off to find the enemy, leaving Minnie in charge of all the gold that is stored at The Polka. Minnie, who is falling in love with Dick Johnson quietly invites him to her home on the hillside later so they can keep talking.

Later, at her house, Minnie and Dick Johnson declare love for each other, and don’t realise there is a fierce storm coming. There is a loud knock at the door from Rance and a group of the miners. Minnie hides Dick Johnson behind some curtains, and the men come in – they are relieved to find her safe, but warn her that Dick Johnson is actually the chief bandit Ramerrez who was planning to steal their gold, but for some reason he left The Polka without it.

Sending the miners away, Minnie confronts Ramerrez, but he begs her for forgiveness, saying his love for her is true and that he is determined to make a fresh start – which he proved by not stealing the gold earlier that evening.Ramerrez rushes outside, thinking he has lost her love and is wounded by a shot from one of the miners. Minnie drags him back to the house and up to the loft to hide.

Rance charges in and demands she hand Ramerrez over, and realises where he is hidden when drops of blood fall from the ceiling. Minnie makes a bold proposal to Rance: that he play a game of poker with her, and if the game is won by Rance his reward is Ramerrez’s life and Minnie’s hand in marriage, but if she wins then Ramerrez stays with her and Rance cannot tell the others where he is hiding. Minnie manages to cheat at cards and win the bet, and Rance leaves full of rage.

Minnie manages to keep her lover hidden until he is better, but worried he would be found out, Ramerrez flees. He is soon recognised by the miners and captured – they are furious because of all the robberies he carried out, and it is decided he should be hanged.

Just as the hanging is about to take place, Minnie gallops up on her horse and stops the men from tightening the rope. Minnie convinces the men to save his life for her sake, and that Ramerrez is now going to live an honest life. The miners melt and allow Minnie and Ramerrez to leave and find a better life.

15

Activity: Exploring the story The class can explore the story of La Fanciulla del West using the same methods as per A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, Fanciulla is full of big, dramatic moments, so the freeze-frame method works particularly well!

1. Acting: Assign each character to one pupil (you could take volunteers, or hand out pieces of paper with the character names on, so that it's a secret who plays whom) then read out the story with the pupils acting out what you're saying.

2. Freeze-frames: Put the pupils in groups, and give each group a small section of the plot – their job is to create a freeze-frame for each of the sentences. Once all the groups are ready, tell the story using the freeze-frames as visual aids of what's happening. Suggested freeze frames include: Minnie and Dick Johnson dancing while the miners watch in jealousy The tense poker game between the sheriff and Minnie The miners preparing to hang Dick Johnson But you can create as many freeze-frames as you like!

3. Telling the story: When the group knows the story well, sit them in a circle and get them to tell the story back to you as a group – going round the circle, each pupil must say one sentence to describe what happens next.

Musical moments Have a listen to these moments in the opera in which the music really portrays the drama on stage, and how the composer achivies this.

The Poker Game • Play the class track 12, ‘Una partita a poker‘ on CD2 again, or the YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avn5_M3TJMs. This time, listen in particular to the orchestra.

• During the scene, what happens to the orchestra? What mood is being conveyed during the first two minutes, and how does Puccini achieve this?

• What happens at around 3:20, and what effect does this create? Does it help to build the tension?

• What starts to happen in the orchestra at 4:30? What instruments are used? What effect does this have?

Minnie’s anger • Play the pupils track 7 on CD2, ‘Vieni fuori‘(Come out), or the following YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qewBuVvSRI . This moment takes place in Act 2 after Minnie has just heard the news that her lover, Dick Johnson is the bandit Ramarrez in disguise. Listen to both the vocal line and the orchestra.

• How does the music depict her fury? How does Puccini use the orchestra to portray Minnie’s emotions? What instruments does he use? Can you hear the strings at 0:13-0-17 in track 7?

They are using a musical device called tremolo (which is related to our English word ‘tremble’, and creates the effect of Minnie shaking with anger!

16

LEARNING THE MUSIC One of the most memorable tunes is ‘Che faranno i vecchi miei’, which literally translates as ‘What will my parents do?’ and is sung in Act 1 by homesick ballad singer Jake Wallace. This becomes an important theme as the opera progresses, and you will hear it many times!

• • •

•

Listen to it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGquczzHEb8 or listen to track 3 of CD1.

Learn the tune to “la”.

Ask the pupils to think about what the character, in this case Jake Wallace, might be feeling or saying at this point. Ask them to each express this in a sentence, and then see if anyone can fit that sentence to the tune they have just learnt. As an idea, try something like “I am lonesome when I think of my homeland”.

Now get the group to stage this song as it might happen in the opera. A good starting point is to think of some actions to match the words, then experiment with different staging ideas.

You can try this activity with any of the tunes in the opera, for example, Dick Johnson’s Act 3 aria ‘Ch’ella mi creda libero e lontano’, track 19 on CD2.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES The Miners Get the class to imagine themselves as the miners who inhabit the town in which Fanciulla is set, and devise a scene in which they all share some information: • After Jake Wallace sings ‘Che faranno i vecchi miei’, the miners share what they miss most about their homeland. Encourage the pupils to think about where their character might have come from – what would they miss? Then go round the group, and ask each person to say a line in character.

• Play the relevant extract of music, track 3 on CD1, a few times to become familiar with it, and then go around the group, asking the children to sing their lines to the music! You could also begin and end the scene with your English version of ‘Che faranno’, that you devised earlier.

• When the postboy arrives shortly afterwards, (‘La posta!’) he brings letters to all the miners and they each share what news they've had from home. Now encourage the pupils to decide whether their character has received good or bad news, and think about what it might be.

• Go round the group and ask the pupils to share their news. Then try playing the relevant music (track 10 on CD1) a few times, and again, encourage the group to sing their lines to the music.

The Waltz Have a go at learning the waltz tune that accompanies the miners' dance towards the end of Act 1 (track 17 on CD1, ‘Mister Johnson, un valzer?’).

• Play the music to the pupils and feel the 1-2-3 waltz beat in the music – add in a stamp on beat 1, and two claps on beats 2 and 3.

• Teach the pupils a basic waltz step. Step forward with the right foot on 1, then back with the left foot on 2, then back with the right foot on 3; then repeat it in reverse (left forward, right back, left back). This may take some practice!

17

SUGGESTED OPERAS OTHER OPERAS THAT WE COULD RECOMMEND FOR CHILDREN: • • • • •

Cunning Little Vixen by Janacek The Magic Flute by Mozart Hansel & Gretel by Humperdink Amahl & the Night Visitors by Menotti Noah’s Fludde by Britten

We hope that you get the opportunity to look at and explore some of these using the methods and activities included in this pack. We hope that you are able to explore the diversity of opera with confidence and that you and your students have a greater breadth of understanding and an enriched experience of opera.

18