Opera Composer Research Articles

OPERA "CREONT" BY DMYTR BORTNIANSKY: FROM PORTUGAL TO UKRAINE

The article examines the creative activity of the outstanding Ukrainian artist Dmytro Bortnyanskyi as an opera composer. The focus is on the operas of his Italian creative period (1768 - 1779) - Creont (1776, Venice), Alcides (1778, Venice) and Quintus Fabius (1779, Modena). The happy modern stage fate of the opera "Alkid" is indicated, its score was published in Kyiv in 1985. The found manuscript of the score by Dmytro Bortnyansky's first opera "Creont" provides new opportunities for studying the artist's work, this score was considered to be lost for a long time; after establishing the location of the score in one of the archives of the Portuguese city of Lisbon, its copy was brought to Ukraine. The history of transfers of the surviving manuscripts of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera works was studied, in addition, the author analyzes the plot, structure and musical dramaturgy of the opera "Creont". The author uses a combination of scientific methods to achieve the goal of investigation, in particular: the source method — for searching and analyzing contemporary handwritten and printed sources; the historical method — to establish historical and cultural parallels in the study of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera heritage and to outline prospects for further study of the specified issues; theoretical method — for the systematization of musical and stylistic factors of the study of the musical text of the opera "Creont" and the creation of certain generalizations. The study determines the numerical structure of the two-act opera "Creont", the plot of which is based on the tragedy "Antigone" by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles. It is noted that the main conflict of Dmitry Bortnyanskyi's opera takes place between the king of Thebes, Creont, and Antigone, the daughter of the deceased king Oedipus (compared to the tragedy of Sophocles, the ending in the opera is changed from tragic to happy — all the characters remain alive, Antigone becomes the queen of Thebes and wins in the confrontation with by Creont). It is emphasized that the preserved score of the opera "Creont" provides grounds for a deeper understanding of Dmytro Bortnyanskyi's opera heritage and the composer's achievements in the genre of Italian opera, and that an important task is the production of this opera in Ukraine, in the composer's homeland

The enigma of Tchaikovsky’s illness and death: An epistemological and historical perspective

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), a celebrated Russian composer of ballet music, operas and symphonies died soon after conducting the premiere of his Pathétique symphony in St. Petersburg. According to some reports, he swallowed a glass of unboiled water at the time when a cholera epidemic was rife in the city. His death was attributed to ‘cholera infection’, but the contradictory and incomplete reports of his illness render such a diagnosis uncertain. A possibility of arsenic poisoning by his own hand is also explored. As suicide would have been a stigma for his family, would Tchaikovsky have chosen to cloak it in symptoms of a natural illness, as he once tried to do? There is no evidence, however, that the Pathétique was intended as his ‘suicide note’, as it has been sometimes implied. Epistemologically, the posthumous proof for arsenic poisoning is undeliverable, and the same applies to a cholera infection. Ultimately, the composer’s illness and death remain an enigma; it is for his music, not his illness, he is remembered and cherished. 

М. П. МУСОРГСКИЙ И БАЛЕТНЫЙ ТЕАТР (к 185-летию со дня рождения композитора)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, whose 185th birthday is celebrated in 2024, is known as an outstanding opera composer, creator of romances and songs, author of symphonic compositions and works for piano. This article highlights another facet of the great master’s oeuvre, which is addressed to the visual interpretation of his works. As it turns out, this is due to a number of features typical of the composer’s creative method, among which the first place is given to the theatricality of his artistic thinking. From the perspective of ballet aesthetics, especially important is the composer’s imprinting in his works of vividly contrasting images, characters and positions in their juxtaposition, which is inherently close to the carnival worldview. In the context of the research topic, we can also talk about Mussorgsky’s directorial talent, which is manifested in his penchant for explanations illustrating the emotional state of the character and his actions. The composer’s remarks in the notes, as well as the definitions given to his characters in correspondence, indicate that the musical image was born in the composer’s mind simultaneously with the visual one. Mussorgsky’s ability to express subtle psychological nuances, as well as to describe the appearance of a character — his gestures, gait, specific movements — could not pass unnoticed by choreographers. As a result, many of the composer’s works, which were not intended for the ballet stage, served as a musical text for choreographic productions.

Lyric Lear

William Shakespeare’s plays are one of the main sources of inspiration for the international opera scene. Over the centuries, some 350 opera composers have adapted one of his plays. Yet few of these works have been successful enough to enter the world repertoire of the most performed scores. King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s longest and most complex plays. Significantly, Aribert Reimann’s version, created in 1978, is the only one, out of the twenty other operas adapted from King Lear and composed between 1817 and 2000, to have entered the aforementioned world repertoire. The aim of this article is to find out how Reimann and his librettist Claus H. Henneberg managed to do it and, more generally, what this opera says about operatic adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. We will thus pay particular attention to the way Reimann and Henneberg tackled four major structuring issues. The first concerns the total length of the work and the cuts to be made in the original text. Then, we will look at the way the German pair dealt with the complex and polymorphous nature of Shakespeare’s characters, before tackling the question of enunciation on the operatic stage and its specificities in terms of action. Last, since opera is a global art form, we will wonder whether a libretto is a drama set to music or a drama written for music, and see how Reimann and Henneberg answered this question.

Music Publishers and Synchronized Scores: Mascagni, Ricordi, and Rapsodia satanica

Music Publishers and Synchronized Scores: Mascagni, Ricordi, and <i>Rapsodia satanica</i>

Music, Pantomime &amp; Freedom in Enlightenment France by Hedy Law (review)

Reviewed by: Music, Pantomime & Freedom in Enlightenment France by Hedy Law Annalise Smith Music, Pantomime & Freedom in Enlightenment France. By Hedy Law. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell, 2020. [xvii, 265 p. ISBN 9781783275601 (hardcover), $95; ISBN 978178749374 (e-book), price varies.] Music examples, bibliography, index. Hedy Law's Music, Pantomime & Freedom in Enlightenment France stems from a single question: Why did Jean-Georges Noverre refer to pantomime ballet as "an offspring of liberty?" (p. 4). Law more than answers this question in her monograph, providing the reader with an in-depth exploration of how composers incorporated pantomime ballet into their operatic works in eighteenth-century France, and the various ways in which pantomime was seen to both reflect and cultivate ideas of moral liberty during the Enlightenment. Drawing on a multitude of primary sources, Law [End Page 599] traces pantomime from the early eighteenth century up to the French Revolution, bringing necessary attention to a medium of dance that is often overlooked in discussions of French opera. This exploration allows Law to address some of the best-known composers of eighteenth-century French opera—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Antonio Salieri—while also bringing attention to less well-known works that nevertheless indicate the depth to which pantomime was embedded in eighteenth-century operatic practices. Pantomime is most frequently interpreted as a type of dance in which performers adopt more naturalistic movements in order to express emotion and dramatic action, as opposed to the more decorative steps of traditional ballet. Individual scenes or dances that utilized pantomime appeared at the Opéra de Paris in the 1740s, while fully independent pantomime ballets, often called ballet d'action, emerged in the 1770s (though these works were always performed alongside another work). Law frequently touches on pantomime as a type of dance and its shifting hierarchical relationship with more traditional forms of ballet. A significant portion of her argument and discussion, however, is bound up in pantomime as a style of acting. As Law notes, in the seventeenth century, pantomime was not a genre of performance but a type of performer. Though pantomime was often associated with lower forms of drama in the early eighteenth century, by the middle of the century it had gained traction as a serious genre, one in which the traditions of ancient Rome might be revived. We can thus consider pantomime an element of the dramatic reform taking place throughout Europe at this time, one that was increasingly integral to both spoken plays and opera. The fame of English actor David Garrick stemmed in no small part from his skill at pantomime, with the actor viewed as the inheritor of the Roman tradition. Not coincidentally, his performances in Paris in the mid-1760s served as a model for how French actors, even those at the Opéra, could embrace pantomime as an expressive tool. In the beginning chapters of her monograph, Law addresses how pantomime first manifested in operatic dance. Rousseau's Le devin du village serves as an example of how dance could be used to communicate a complete dramatic idea without relying on sung text to convey the plot (albeit with some reliance on a printed libretto). Yet Law's focus on pantomime as a style of acting means that many of the examples she discusses—particularly in the operas of Gluck and Salieri—are not dance pieces at all but instead relatively short moments of instrumental music in the middle of arias or recitatives in which the performer engages in pantomime acting. Law convincingly argues that these short moments were conceived of by the composer as an opportunity for pantomime, pointing to actions suggested by the lyrics, certain figurations in the music that suggested motions such as sudden pauses or expressive gestures, or even specific directions in the score that directed the actor to move in a certain way. Collectively, these moments highlight the degree to which expressive acting was increasingly seen as a requirement of good drama on the operatic stage. While pantomime embodied a general shift toward naturalistic movement and acting, it was not just this turn in dramatic practice that led some writers to promote it as a "dance...

Reappraising Prokofiev's Operas

Sergei Prokofiev's operatic career exhibits a multitude of exceptional successes and failures, political and cultural idiosyncrasies and compromises, and bold convictions and uncertainties. Prokofiev considered himself an opera composer and showed his affinity for it from an early age, completing his first opera by age nine and continuing his work in the art form for the remainder of his life and career. Each opera takes on vastly different subjects, topics and time periods, evidence of his diverse selection of libretto sources. For his mature works, Prokofiev adapted literary works from Russia's nineteenth-century greats (Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy), a Russian twentieth-century symbolist author (Bryusov) and two socialist-realist authors (Katayev and Polevoy). He adapted two other operas from the eighteenth century with Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comic opera libretto for The Duenna and Carlo Gozzi's fiaba L'amore delle tre melarance.

Можно ли станцевать журналистику? Из истории британского балета XIX века

In 1898 the ballet titled The Press was staged at the Empire Theatre in London. Choreographer and producer Katti Lanner, composer Leopold Wenzel and costume designer C. Wilhelm made a nontrivial attempt to transfer the sphere of journalism into the space of dance. Austrian dancer, pedagogue and choreographer Katti Lanner went down in the history of ballet theatre not only as the first woman who made a career as a choreographer but as the inventor of a new genre — the ‘entertaining revue’. The choreographer’s productions were often based on modern plots. Besides the ballet The Press, Lanner’s artistic output included such ballets as The Sports of England, The Paris Exhibition and others. The music director of the Empire Theatre, Italian composer Leopold Wenzel was Lanner’s collaborator in a number of her productions. Wenzel was the composer of art songs, orchestral works, operas and music for ballet. Scenographer C. Wilhelm, who supplements this triumvirate, was one of the most successful and prolific theatre designers of that time. At the same time, most information about the creators and the production of the ballet The Press is almost absent in academic scholarly literature. This article examines the features of scenography and music of the ballet, its place and role in the history of the ballet theatre of Great Britain in the 19th century. The attempt is made to reconstruct some of the elements of the ballet. Of no small importance is the inverse response – critical materials of the main “protagonists” of the ballet on the pages of British newspapers from 1898 from archival sources, as well as rare pictures. The question of whether or not it is possible to recount about journalism in the language of dance is one of the most crucial questions raised in the article.

Violin concerto by Gian Carlo Menotti: at the intersection of opera and instrumental genres

The relevance of the study is to study the instrumental works by G. С. Menotti, known worldwide primarily as an opera composer. His four concerts, unfortunately, did not receive such recognition as his operas, unfairly remaining in the shadow of the latter. The Violin Concerto, which was recorded only twice in the first 44 years after its premiere in 1952, is no exception. Performing interest in this work intensified in the late twentieth century, but scientific research is still isolated, and they do not cover the question: whether the interpretation of a purely instrumental genre influenced the opera aspirations and skills of the composer and if so, how?&#x0D; The main objective of the study is to trace the interaction of opera and instrumental principles in Menotti's Violin Concerto and to identify the peculiarities of the interpretation of the chosen genre due to such interaction.&#x0D; The methodology includes historical (to consider circumstances of the creation and the performance of the concerto), comparative (to identify common features in the theme and compositional organization of the concert and the opera "Amal and Night Guests"), as well as structuralfunctional, genre-style and intonational-dramatic methods (for a comprehensive analysis of the work).&#x0D; Results and conclusions. Menotti's Violin Concerto is considered in the aspect of opera influences due to the author's many years of experience in the field of theatrical music. The lack of dissemination of the work in the world of violin was stated, the names of its performers were given — from the premiere to the present. The structure and figurative content of the concert are characterized, the ratio of typical and atypical genre features is indicated, the presence of elements of end-to-end tonal and thematic development within the cycle is emphasized. The properties of music themes, which reflect the typical for Menotti operas mixed type of vocal intonation with a combination of cantilena and declamatory phrases, are analyzed. The figurative-thematic connection between the concert and opera works of the composer is traced, in particular, by comparing certain episodes of the Violin Concerto and the opera «Amal and Night Guests». Theatrical influences at the compositional and dramaturgical level, such as «cadre» fragmentation of sections and frequency of their changes in the opening and closing movements of the concert, proximity to the end-to-end opera stage in the middle part, are revealed. An analogy between the ratio of solo and orchestral parts in concert and in Menotti's operas is made. Emphasis is placed on the leading role of the violin solo in the concert, which is determined by the exposure of most music themes in its part, virtuosity of presentation, the presence of a large number of purely solo episodes, including two cadences. At the same time, it is noted that the originality of Menotti's concert is not only due to opera influences, but also to the dedicate the work for a specific performer — the American violinist Efrem Zimbalist. The close cooperation of the two musicians affected the character of the solo part in the concert and, indirectly, its music content.

Musical Symbols in the Opera The Three Sisters by Péter Eötvös

"Opera, as a stage and acting genre, also uses theatrical elements (costumes, dramaturgy, etc.) to convey the work. Opera composers typically use musical symbols as well. I collected these devices of Péter Eötvös’ best-known opera in my study based on literature research. Dramaturgically divided into three sequences, the work always examines its relationship with the other two central figures from the point of view of the central figure of the given part. One of the musical cornerstones of this is changing the internal relationships of triads. The two extreme notes of the triad are always constant (distance of a fifth), but the note located between them characterizes not only the quality of the chord, but also the state of the character connected to it. The unstable balance and reorganization of relationships is well represented by this construction principle. The author also uses the third-parallel, known since Mozart, as a classical musical representation of love. The choices of instrument also have symbolic power. The Prozorov family is represented by the group of woodwind instruments. A kind of irony on the part of the author is the use of cow bells to depict the behavior of the disgusting and unbearable Natasha. Soldiers are naturally represented by brass. Although Solioniy is a soldier, he is not accompanied by brass instruments, but by percussionists, hinting at his personality. The characters speak in different ways of the human voice. From prose to sung speech through to the melodies, there are all kinds of expressions of emotion. Keywords: Péter Eötvös, opera, Three Sisters, libretto, musical symbolism, triad, third-parallels, instrumental symbolism, prose, sung speech, song "

Giacomo Puccini—a great composer and a genius

Giacomo Puccini is one of the most renowned opera composers in the world. He continued the work of Giuseppe Verdi. Italian composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany on December 22, 1858. In 1880, he entered the Milan Conservatory, where he studied with the famous composer Ponchielli (1834–1886). Puccini began writing his last opera Turandot in poor health. The pains in the throat were very painful and prolonged. He showed symptoms of cancer of the larynx and, in the fall of 1924, the condition of the great composer worsened. On November 4, Giacomo Puccini traveled with his son Antonio to the city of Brussels, where he underwent radiation therapy. After the radiotherapy he temporarily felt better and in Brussels he attended the performance of the new opera La bohème for the last time. Puccini worsened and, on November 29, 1924, he died in Brussels, Belgium. The purpose of the scientific publication about Giacomo Puccini is to draw attention to the topic of diagnosis and treatment of cancer of the larynx. In most cases of cancer of the larynx, as well as in 90% of cases of head and neck cancer, prevention is possible thanks to lifestyle changes to avoid carcinogenic factors. We must emphasize that timely diagnosis of laryngeal cancer is a key to its therapy. Cancer of the larynx is curable in more than 70% of cases if diagnosed early. The diagnosis is made by an otorhinolaryngologist, who must do an endoscopic examination of the larynx.

Systematyka operowych duchów

Ghosts have been an attractive element of operatic dramaturgy since the beginning of the genre’s history, and their stage presence influences the metaphysical and fantastic features of the works. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century operas, conventional forms of musical presentation and characteristics of ghosts were developed, and in the nineteenth century a conventionalized method of musical presentation of ghosts in opera was shaped, which was also due to the great popularity of the theme of various spectres and phantoms in romantic culture. The proposed systematics concerns the ghosts presented in operatic works. Three criteria of division have been introduced: the existential status of ghosts, their number (singularity or multiplicity), and the types of afterlife the ghosts are associated with. The systematics is accompanied by the distinction of the means of musical characteristics used by opera composers in order to suggestively represent ghosts in their works.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Beverly Taylor (bio) The latest volume of The Brownings' Correspondence (Wedgestone, 2022) is once again the greatest boon of the year to Browning scholarship. The delay of volume 28, covering correspondence from both Brownings in the period spanning May 1860–February 1861, caused by a change in printers, kept students of the poets' works perpetually wanting more. Now it is here, and this volume does not disappoint. Superbly edited by Philip Kelley, Edward Hagen, and Linda M. Lewis, it provides authoritative texts, crucial and expert annotations, and in three very useful appendices, biographical sketches of correspondents not previously identified in the series (in this volume, William Cornwallis Cartwright, the Brownings' neighbor in Rome), quotations of relevant passages from supporting documents, and contemporary reviews of the Brownings' works published during the period covered (in this instance, EBB's Poems before Congress and Aurora Leigh). This volume ends with a unique contribution, representing forty-three images from EBB's "own" personal carte-de-visite album, which she purposefully collected after RB gave her the album in October 1860. RB's 1878 notation on the front flyleaf of the album assures viewers that all the photos were chosen and arranged by EBB herself. These include many participants in the complex events of the Risorgimento, most of them Italian patriots, military and political leaders, and supporters of the movement (including Napoleon III, Camile de Cavour, and Garibaldi)—what she called "the public men mixed up with the Italian question" (p. 202), though she also included Pio Nono (Pope Pius IX), whom she viewed as an impediment to unification. She wrote that these photographs were "the most deeply interesting of possible sights," insofar as "souls are seen in faces" (p. 202). A couple of the photographs seem to document personal friendships rather than roles in [End Page 348] the Risorgimento (such as Walter Savage Landor, who had come under RB's guardianship, and Seymour Kirkup, an English artist and art historian residing in Florence), and a couple of the images from cartes-de-visite have been lost (those of the opera composers Verdi and Rossini). EBB's focus on the Italian movement toward unification and independence as a nation-state occupies many of the letters in this volume, most of them concerned with attitudes toward Louis Napoleon, now the French Emperor Napoleon III: Was he a hero who risked much by daring to champion Italy militarily against Austrian forces? Or was he an untrustworthy ally, who merely feigned sincere support in order to grab Italian territory to aggrandize France? In numerous letters, EBB reports that she has been vilified for supporting Napoleon III: at one point, she remarks that in England, where her "A Curse for a Nation" was hotly deplored, "they pay me a good deal . . . with mud and eggshells" (p. 195). A couple of unusually long letters to EBB reveal critical friends attempting to argue with her belief that Napoleon III merited praise and trust. On 3 September 1860, her old acquaintance Robert Bulwer Lytton (Owen Meredith) wrote that while Louis Napoleon's ends were not necessarily "selfish," his means were "unscrupulous" (p. 129). Later the same month, Frederick Tennyson (Alfred's brother, who became a friend of the Brownings in Florence) wrote EBB a less reasoned and persuasive letter to argue that Louis Napoleon's name represented 666, the mark of the beast (a creation of the devil), in three ancient languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Latin (p. 168). Despite her resistance to complaints that she betrayed her Englishness by supporting Italy so passionately, and happy to be popular in America, she nevertheless remarked, "anti-English as I am said to be, I prefer an English audience very much" (p. 217). The other major focus of EBB's correspondence in this year is her grief over the suffering of her sister Henrietta with uterine cancer. Longing to help nurse her beloved sister, she both praises her other sister, Arabella, for caring for Henrietta and also expresses distress that Arabella is on-site to care for the patient while EBB is separated by great distance. Even as she acknowledges that Arabella and RB are correct in judging that the cold of...

Le Willis: leggenda in un atto in due parti di Ferdinando Fontana by Giacomo Puccini, and: Le Villi: opera-ballo in due atti di Ferdinando Fontana by Giacomo Puccini

Reviewed by: Le Willis: leggenda in un atto in due parti di Ferdinando Fontanaby Giacomo Puccini, and: Le Villi: opera-ballo in due atti di Ferdinando Fontanaby Giacomo Puccini Kunio Hara Giacomo Puccini. Le Willis: leggenda in un atto in due parti di Ferdinando Fontana. Edizione critica a cura di = Critical Edition edited by Martin Deasy. (Le opera di Giacomo Puccini, edizione critica = The Operas of Giacomo Puccini, critical edition, vol. I.a.) Milan: Ricordi, 2020. [Pref. by Gabriele Dotto in It. and Eng., p. vii–xiii; historical introd. and acknowledgments in It. and Eng., p. xv–xxx; sigla It. and Eng., p. xxxi; characters, p. xxxii; instruments, p. xxxiii; score, p. 1–236; sources in Eng., p. 237–41; crit. notes in Eng., p. 243–62. ISMN 979-0-041-39546-3; ISBN 978-88-8192-069-3. $262] Giacomo Puccini. Le Villi: opera-ballo in due atti di Ferdinando Fontana. Edizione critica a cura di = Critical Edition edited by Martin Deasy. (Le opera di Giacomo Puccini, edizione critica = The Operas of Giacomo Puccini, critical edition, vol. I.b.) Milan: Ricordi, 2020. [Pref. by Gabriele Dotto in It. and Eng., p. vii–xiii; historical introd. and acknowledgments in It. and Eng., p. xv–xxxiv; sigla It. and Eng., p. xxxv; characters, p. xxxvi; instruments, p. xxxvii; score, p. 1–333; appendices, p. 335–87; sources in Eng., p. 389–96; crit. notes in Eng., p. 397–425. ISMN 979-0-041-41755-4; ISBN 978-88-8192-068-6. $327.50.] In 2013 Casa Ricordi launched its Critical Edition of the Operas of Giacomo Puccini (OGP), under the general editorship of Gabriele Dotto, with the publication of Manon Lescautedited by Roger Parker. As Matthew Franke argues in his review of the edition in this journal, the publication marked the fruition of a long-awaited goal of multiple generations of Puccini scholars ("The First Volume in Ricordi's Puccini Edition," Notes72, no. 1 [2015]: 226–30). It seems fitting that the OGP's first publication would be Manon Lescaut, for even though it was his third opera, it was the work that established Puccini's international reputation as one of the leading composers of Italian opera of his day. Seven years later, in 2020, the publisher issued the first volume of the series in two parts, the critical edition of Puccini's first opera edited by Martin Deasy. The first part (I.a), Le Willis, restores Puccini's opera to its original one-act form as it was premiered in Milan in the spring of 1884; the second part (I.b), Le Villi, captures the final form of the two-act version of the same opera Puccini completed in late 1884 and continued to revise until 1889. The publication of multiple versions of the same operas is an exception for the series, at least according to the list of the entire series included in the "Preface" by Dotto. The only other opera that receives similar treatment is Madama Butterflywhich exists in two-act and three-act versions (I.a, p. xi). Deasy [End Page 599]himself justifies this arrangement by emphasizing the structural and aesthetic differences between the two versions of the opera (I.a, p. xxvii). This points to a particularly thorny issue that has historically bedeviled those attempting to create critical editions of Puccini's operas. Promotional material for the series on Ricordi's website summarizes the problem succinctly in this manner: "Puccini's ceaseless penchant for revision led to a quantity of simultaneously available, sometime overlapping 'versions' of text. As a further complication, 'performing materials' hired out to opera houses were kept updated with corrections that did not always find their way consistently into full and vocal scores offered to the general public" ("Giacomo Puccini—Critical Editions," Ricordi, Universal Music Publishing Group, https://www.ricordi.com/en-US/Critical-Editions/Puccini-Giacomo-Critical-Editions.aspx, [accessed 19 January 2022]). In previous decades, this abundance of materials has both been a source of productive scholarly engagement as well as frustration (see Linda Fairtile, "Giacomo Puccini's Operatic Revisions as Manifestations of His Compositional Priorities" [PhD diss., New York University, 1996]; Philip Gossett, "Some...

Unfinished Poetry

Unfinished Poetry

Формообразование в ариях Иоганна Симона Майра: на рубеже классической и романтической эпох

The evolution of musical composition in the Italian opera aria during the 17th–19th centuries saw a number of periods when some structural principles of the musical form were gradually replaced by others. One of them occurred at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was at this time that the system of romantic opera forms emerged. The process of the aria transformation was especially clearly reflected in the work of Johann Simon Mayr (1763–1845), one of the most remarkable opera composers of the transitional era. The article considers some compositional solutions characteristic for the then arias. The evidence is taken from several solo pieces from Ginevra di Scozia (1801). They were compared with previous and subsequent musical and theatrical practice. On the one hand, these forms are based on structures typical for the grand aria of the late 18th century (two-tempo forms and rondó) that were widely used in the Viennese tradition, in particular, by Mozart. On the other hand, Mayr’s operas feature arias indicative of the development of la solita forma—the aria form, which was later used by many composers of the Romantic era, from Rossini to Verdi. The analysis of these arias concludes that Mayr’s works demonstrate a complex process of the development of a romantic operatic form and serve as a kind of a link between the two eras.

Indian Culture and Music as a Source of Inspiration for French Opera Composers

"The current paper strives to discover and reveal the influences of Indian culture and classical Indian music in French operas. At first, the evocation of India was obtained through the subjects of the operas and stunning scenic designs, fulfilling the requirements of exoticism. Gradually, the composers attempted to include in their musical discourses exotic rhythmic and melodic elements, in some instances inspired by Indian classical music, thus aiming to evoke a genuine image of India. At the same time, the use of elements pertaining to Indian music (rāgas, rhythmic patterns, timbres) offered the musicians the possibility to create novel sound discourses. The analysis focuses on several operas, composed between the eighteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, following the evolution of Indian representations in several dimensions: dramatic (libretto), visual (scenic representations, dance), and musical (melody, rhythm, timbre). The present paper investigates the way Indian themes influenced the conception of the libretto, and at the same time the visual dimension of the works (setting, costumes), observing how these visual elements were gradually absorbed into the musical discourse (analysis of the melodic structures), through the incorporation of Indian rāgas in works conceived according to the rules of Western music composition. Keywords: exoticism, orientalism, India, French opera, rāga "

The Evolution of Italian Melodrama: from Donizetti to Verdi

"This study presents the evolution of the Italian melodrama of the nineteenth century, having as a major composer exponents such as Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi. The rich culture of the Italian Romantic space, as well as the socio-political events of the 19th century, influenced the mentality and style of opera composers. Thus, titles such as “La donna del lago” (1819), “Wilhelm Tell” (1829) – G. Rossini, “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” (1830) – V. Bellini, foreshadow the new directions of Italian romantic opera. The maturation process of Italian romantic opera is crowned by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi, who, through melodrama, achieve important stylistic synthesis. Keywords: Italian, melodrama, evolution, Donizetti, Verdi"

The Polish Contribution to Central European Musical Culture in the Seventeenth Century. The Case of Marcin Mielczewski

The seventeenth-century Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, embracing the lands of the Polish Crown (together with the territory of present-day Ukraine) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, belonged geographically to both Central and Eastern Europe. It was a multiethnic and multiconfessional state, in which the Latin and Greek cultures were mutually interactive. With regard to the musical culture of the royal court, however, itwas the close ties with Italy that were of the greatest significance. The Polish kings of the Vasa dynasty (above ali Zygmunt III and Władysław IV) maintained music chapels consisting to a considerable extent of Italian musicians, among whom were Luca Marenzio, Giulio Cesare Gabussi, Asprilio Pacelli, Giovanni Francesco Anerio and Tarquinio Merula. Thanks to the Polish patronage, they not only composed newworks, but also trained musicians of various nations belonging to the royal ensembles. Among the composers trained at the Polish court was the Italian Marco Scacchi (d. 1662), chapel-master to Władysław IV, the composer of operas staged in the royal theatre, and also a music theorist – the author of a classification of musical genres which was produced during Scacchi's dispute over music theory with the Gdansk organist Paul Siefert. This dispute contributed to the popularisation across Europe of the works of Scacchi and also of other musicians associated with the court of the Polish Vasas. Extant handwritten sources of Silesian provenance (belonging to the Emil Bohn collection, currently held in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin) testify the considerable interest in this region (now within the Polish borders, but in the seventeenth century constituting a dominion of the Empire) in the religious compositions of Marcin Mielczewski (d. 1651), musician to Władysław IV (until 1644) and subsequently, until his death, chapel-master to Karol Ferdinand Vasa, Bishop of Płock and Wrocław. Of Mielczewski's compositional output for the needs of the Roman Catholic Church, copyists from Lutheran circles in Wrocław chose primarily psalms that were universal to the Christian repertory, furnishing those works whose texts chimed with the doctrine of the Augsburg confession with more appropriate texts of German-language contrafacta. However, this method was not always successful in eliminating traces of Catholicism, which remained, for example, in the melodies of works based on pre-compositional material drawn by Mielczewski from Marian songs that were popular in Poland (e.g. the church concerto Audite gentes et exsultate, also preserved in a version with the text of a German-language contrafactum entitled Nun höret alle, based on the song O gloriosa Domina, which in the former Commonwealth was treated as a chivalrous hymn).

Chinese Composers in the West: Towards a New Style Identity (Case Study of the Opera “Dream of The Red Chamber” By Bright Sheng)

There is considered the issue of migration as a criterion of creativity of Chinese composers on the way to understanding a new stylistic identity. It is stated that in the case of Chinese composers who emigrated to America, the integration of their compositional experience into a different cultural space coincided with the period of renewal of Western musical language on the rowing waves of interest of European and American musical communities in Eastern cultural traditions. It is noted that the process of adaptation of Western listeners to the unusual musical language of Chinese composers was gradual. The figures of Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long stand out, whose work is highly appreciated by modern musicians and listeners, which is confirmed by the concert programs of the world's leading music institutions. Among Chinese opera composers, the importance of Bright Sheng is emphasized, whose work combines the traditions of Western and Eastern cultures. Sheng managed to achieve a new stylistic identity, which allows us to call him a modern classic, in whose work classical values are disguised by cross-cultural combinations. The composer's experiences are conveyed through bilingual musical vocabulary, which reflects the result of Shen's cultural experience. The peculiarities of the opera "Dream of the Red Chamber" in terms of combining cultural symbols of east and west are analyzed. It is determined that oriental elements are manifested in the usage of additional traditional instruments (Peking Opera and Guqin percussion) while preserving their main function and rhythmic patterns, imitation of the sound of traditional Chinese wind instruments, introduction of quotations from folk songs, creation of variations on folk themes and more. Western traditions of opera writing are demonstrated through the appeal to the traditional number structure, the use of the method of monothematism and general tonal (but complicated by pentatonic constructions) harmonic writing.