Sunday, April 10, 2011

Opera Assignment #8

Opera is a combination of music, theater, and dance. It is considered opera when there is music sung throughout the performance with no spoken dialogue. This type of performance has an operatic voice and a live orchestra.

Light opera incorporates spoken dialogue along with the operatic singing. While opera is sung in this original language, light opera is sometimes translated. It still has a live orchestra like the opera.

Musical theater is a more modern approach to opera. The voices are not operatic and can be sung by singing actors. There is more spoken dialogue in musical theater and it does not require a live orchestra.

It takes a long time for someone to develop an operatic voice. It takes years of training to develop the voice. One usually has to be fully mature physically in order to have an operatic voice. One of the most important factors in training focuses on the breath. Singers must learn how to use their lungs in order to hold long notes.


La Boheme is an opera by Giacomo Puccini in 1896. It is said to be one of opera's best-known masterpieces. The opera is based on the novel Scenes de la vie de boheme by Henri Muger.
This opera is about the love of Mimi, a seamstress, and Rodolfo, a poet. They form an immediate connection, but soon Rodolfo wants to leave Mimi because she has flirtatious behavior. Unfortunately, Mimi is mortally ill and Rodolfo feels guilty for leaving her. In the end of the opera, they reunite one last time before she dies.

When listening to La Boheme, I get the vision of what an opera is supposed to sound like. Their voices are amazing which draws you into what they are singing. It makes the audience what to know what is occurring. I think the success of this opera had to do with the fact that Puccini lived a lifestyle similar to the characters in the opera. Because he lived a similar lifestyle, he was able to perfectly portray them in the opera.

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