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Parsifal1882
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« Reply #30 on: 20:29:23, 10-05-2007 » |
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Therefore, 'opus' must mean 'angry man'  |
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Il duolo della terra nel chiostro ancor ci segue, solo del cor la guerra in ciel si calmera! E la voce di Carlo! E Carlo Quinto! Mio padre! O ciel!
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #31 on: 20:31:33, 10-05-2007 » |
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I thought opera came from Ophra.
But how is this word came about? May be it means something in Italian.
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Ian Pace
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« Reply #32 on: 22:09:31, 11-05-2007 » |
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Is donna Anna so bad? I think Don Juan was not kind to her or something. He did not want continue his relationship with her. But is she bad? I don't know. I saw the opera several times, but I was always interested in other characters. Maybe we (in another thread) could poll our opinions on the various Don Giovanni characters? Zerlina gets my vote above all. With her, the Don meets his match. (Recommended - Adorno's short piece 'Homage to Zerlina' - translation included in Berthold Hoeckner's 'Homage to Adorno's 'Homage to Zerlina'', in The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 87 No. 3 (2004), pp. 510-522) |
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'These acts of keeping politics out of music, however, do not prevent musicology from being a political act . . .they assure that every apolitical act assumes a greater political immediacy' - Philip Bohlman, 'Musicology as a Political Act'
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oliver sudden
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« Reply #33 on: 22:15:14, 11-05-2007 » |
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I thought opera came from Ophra.
But how is this word came about? May be it means something in Italian.
It's the plural of the Latin word 'opus' ('work'), t-p. I suppose the point is that there's lots of work involved. |
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #34 on: 22:39:12, 11-05-2007 » |
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Zerlina doesn't get my vote. How could she abandon her husband on a wedding day. She probably was not in love with a poor man. I think it is very sad.
Why do people get married? Some times it is a compromise. One has to get married (because one is of a certain age or because of family situation etc) and then this person comes alone and then one gets married because it is convinient at the time.
I don't know how a strange idea like that comes to my mind.
Anyway, Zerlina doesn't get my vote because she is not perfect. I don't know what kind of perfection I am looking for, but this behaviour is not very nice.
(I am so hard on her. Please forgive me Zerlina). Am I going to change my opinion? I don't know.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #35 on: 22:47:59, 11-05-2007 » |
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I suppose the point is that there's lots of work involved Or conversely, it means "the works". I think it was what Bogey meant in THE BIG SLEEP when he says "You got your boy Camino to give me the works, huh?"  About Zerlina... she's very cleverly written... look at the strophic song she and Masetto sing - she has the first verse, and he has the second. She can sing it all, but poor old - limited - Masetto runs out of steam around "a" and goes off onto some new nonsense of his own "e fa, e la, e fa, e la!". I think she's clearly a lot sharper intellectually than he is, and we can see it in her music. Maybe she dreams of something a bit... more? But in the end realises that having "all of something" is better than being No #1004. |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #36 on: 22:57:46, 11-05-2007 » |
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This is a new idea to me that Masetto is old. I saw old producitons of opera and I know that it is hard to have age of performer and character to be the same.
I was under the impression that Masetto was young.
I am a pianist and I never thought deeply about characters. I was never an intellectual person etc etc. I was too much in a hurry all my life. I think I missed a lot in my life.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #37 on: 23:39:45, 11-05-2007 » |
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Sorry, if it appeared I was saying Masetto was old, then I've expressed myself poorly. I meant to say that he was a bit intellectually limited ("ограничений") and rather slower-witted than his clever and quick-minded girlfriend Zerlina. I always love to think of Masetto trying to hide himself (he ought to be a big burly bloke, I feel?) in some little archway ("Ce'una nicha, qui celato!") into which his body doesn't really quite fit  (Excuse my ropey Italian - my vocal-score's in dual German/Russian). |
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #38 on: 23:52:41, 11-05-2007 » |
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I think I am beginning to understand her character. Thank you Reiner.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #39 on: 14:48:52, 12-05-2007 » |
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I can't take the credit for that one, t-p... it's something Hans Keller said once in a lecture of his I attended as a student, although he made it in relation to the Susanna/Figaro duet at the opening of Figaro... I just extrapolated it to look at similar cases in Mozart.
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #40 on: 16:09:33, 12-05-2007 » |
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what did you r teacher said about Susanna/Figaro duet?
Is it when he was measuring their future room? I think it is a very nice duet. I have always loved it.
Figaro is very smart I think. He was just distructed with his own thoughts. He was just slow to notice things and project possible events. May be men are slow to project. Women I know all do that.
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Reiner Torheit
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« Reply #41 on: 20:29:11, 12-05-2007 » |
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Keller wasn't exactly my teacher - I happened to be invited to one lecture he gave. But his viewpoint was once again the same idea - that Susanna can sing the entire vocal line because she's smart and sassy... whereas Figaro is left behind on the higher notes, because he's not quite on her level ;-)
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"I was, for several months, mutely in love with a coloratura soprano, who seemed to me to have wafted straight from Paradise to the stage of the Odessa Opera-House"
- Leon Trotsky, "My Life"
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Colin Holter
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« Reply #42 on: 20:40:18, 12-05-2007 » |
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I have to give it to Leporello. He walks the line between "highly poignant" and "highly creepy" with aplomb. "Madamina, il catalogo e questo" is one of my absolute favorite arias of all time ever for this reason.
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