Reference
- opera seriaTerm introduced in the late 18th century for a genre that was dying out: dramatic opera in It., stylized in its musical forms (with the da capo aria paramount), character types and situations. Instituted at the beginning of the century, opera seria - or ‘dramma per musica’, to use the term of the time - was the most prestigious form of drama in Italy and the German-speaking lands throughout the period, and enjoyed moments of triumph, too, in England, the Iberian peninsula, Scandinavia and eastern Europe (including Russia), but not in France, where the native tradition and local scepticism withstood its allure...
- operetta(ŏpӘrĕt'Ә), type of light opera with a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music. In the early 19th-century opéras comiques of Boieldieu, Auber, and Adolphe Adam, there was a growing tendency toward sophistication, preparing the way for Offenbach, who during the French Second Empire created the operetta. The distinction between the operetta and the lighter examples of opéra comique that immediately preceded it is hard to draw; in general the opéra comique makes some appeal to the sentiments, while the French operetta attempts only to amuse. The Viennese operetta, dating from c.1870, did not have the excellent librettists that the French enjoyed; the operettas of Johann Strauss the younger suffered from this defect. Those of Suppé owe much of their virtue to Offenbach's influence. Less distinguished are the products of the early 20th cent., represented by the works of Franz Lehár and Oscar Straus. The immortal operettas of W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan were to London of the 1880s what Offenbach's works had been to Paris 20 years earlier. The noteworthy composers in American operetta are Victor Herbert and Reginald de Koven. After World War I operettas gradually gave way to musical comedies (see musicals)...
- Singspiel‘Song play’, a popular form of *musical drama in the second half of the eighteenth century in Germany, is distinguished from *opera, mainly because the *dialogue is spoken not sung. Singspiele have a light touch, tuneful songs, often about love, in a bucolic or magic setting. *Goethe wrote a number of them, staged by the amateur theatre at the *Weimar court, sometimes in the open air. The highest achievements of the genre were *Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and The Magic Flute (1791). The nineteenth-century *operetta and *mélodrame reveal the influence of the Singspiel...
Perspectives
Beethoven
This major new study of Beethoven and his music is written as a single, continuous narrative, using a strictly chronological approach that enables each work to be seen against the musical and biographical background from which it emerged. The result is a much closer integration of life andworks than is often achieved. The approach works particularly well for Beethoven for two reasons. Firstly, composition was his central preoccupation for most of his life: 'I live entirely in my music', he once wrote. Secondly, recent study of his large numbers of musical sketches has enabled amuch clearer picture of his everyday compositional activity than was previously possible, leading to many new insights into the interaction between his life and music. The volume concentrates on Beethoven's artistic achievements both by examining the origins of his works and by commentary on some oftheir most striking and original features.Statements in earlier biographies have been treated with caution, and have been accepted only where they are supported by sound evidence. Everythingeven down to the translations of individual German wordshas been reassessed as far as is feasible, in an effort to avoide recycling old errors.
The Cambridge Companion to Wagner
Richard Wagner is remembered as one of the most influential figures in music and theatre, but his place in history has been marked by a considerable amount of controversy. His attitudes towards the Jews and the appropriation of his operas by the Nazis, for example, have helped to construct a historical persona that sits uncomfortably with modern sensibilities. Yet Wagner's absolutely central position in the operatic canon continues. This volume serves as a timely reminder of his ongoing musical, cultural, and political impact. Contributions by specialists from such varied fields as musical history, German literature and cultural studies, opera production, and political science consider a range of topics, from trends and problems in the history of stage production to the representations of gender and sexuality. With the inclusion of invaluable and reliably up-to-date biographical data, this collection will be of great interest to scholars, students, and enthusiasts.
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
Described in Germany as the 'most thought-provoking' book of the bicentennial year, Georg Knepler's acclaimed study of Mozart is now available in paperback. The book explores Mozart's life and works from many new perspectives, providing fresh insights into his music and the tempestuous times through which he lived. Based on a close reading of the family correspondence and a careful consideration of Mozart's entire musical output, the book sheds new light on the composer's creative psyche, his political leanings, his relation to the thoughts and currents of the Enlightenment, and the underlying basis of his musical expression.
Strauss
Richard Strauss is an outlier in the context of twentieth century music. Some consider him a composer of the late romantic period, while others declare him a traitor of modernity for his role in National Socialism. Despite the controversy surrounding him, Strauss's works--even beyond his most well-known operas Elektra and Rosenkavalier--are present in the repertories of concert halls worldwide and continue to enjoy large audiences. The details of the composer's life, however, remain shrouded in mystery and gossip. Laurenz Lütteken's Strauss presents a fresh approach to understanding this elusive composer's life and works. Dispensing with stereotypes and sensationalism, it reveals Strauss to be a sensitive intellectual and representative of modernity, with all light and shade of the turn of the twentieth century.
E. T. A. Hoffmann, cosmopolitanism, and the struggle for German opera
In this first monograph on E. T. A. Hoffmann and opera, Francien Markx examines Hoffmann’s writings on opera and the challenges they pose to established narratives of aesthetic autonomy, the search for a national opera, and Hoffmann’s biography. Markx discusses Hoffmann’s lifelong fascination with opera against the backdrop of eighteenth-century theater reform, the creation of national identity, contemporary performance practices and musical and aesthetic discourses as voiced by C. M. von Weber, A. W. Schlegel, Heine, and Wagner, among others. The book reconsiders the traditional view that German opera followed a deterministic trajectory toward Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk and reveals a cosmopolitan spirit in Hoffmann’s operatic vision, most notably exemplified by his controversial advocacy for Spontini in Berlin.
German Opera
German opera from its primitive origins up to Wagner is the subject of this wide-ranging history. It traces the growth of the humble Singspiel into a vehicle for the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, together with the persistent attempts at German Grand Opera. Seventeenth-century Hamburg opera, the role of the travelling companies and Viennese Singspiel are all explored. Discussions that from early days absorbed Germans concerned for the development of a national art are followed, together with the influence of new critical thought at the start of the nineteenth century. The many operas studied are placed in their historical, social and theatrical context, and attention is paid to the literary, artistic and philosophical ideas that made them part of the country's intellectual history. Warrack assesses the contributions of Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann, as well as Weber and Hoffmann, among others.
Decoding Wagner
(Unlocking the Masters). This guide aims to unlock the world of Richard Wagner and his works, his monumental achievements, and, ultimately, the great emotional power inherent in his art. Decoding Wagner presents a straightforward, fresh overview of what Wagner attempted to achieve with his "artwork of the future." Two accompanying full-length CDs illustrate and trace his growth as a composer.
The Richard Strauss Companion
Featuring ten new essays on different aspects of the compositions, artistic influences, and persona of Richard Strauss, "The Strauss Companion" explores the composer's relationship to his own work and to that of his noted contemporaries. Guided by not only musical interests but literary, political, and philosophical ones as well, Strauss is an ideal candidate for this sort of treatment. Following this discussion of his influences, the volume moves to a discussion of the works themselves, including operas, tone poems, and stage works; these compositions are explored analytically and also in terms of their critical reception. The final chapter investigates for the first time Strauss's much-neglected choral works, revealing their rich musical and vocal capacities, while a select bibliography and complete works-list round out the volume. These colorful and intriguing essays are written by some of the foremost American, German, British, and Canadian Strauss scholars of our time, making it an important resource for students not only of Strauss's work, but of all musical composition and art music.
Wagner & Me
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Actor and writer Stephen Fry explores his passion for the world's most controversial composer, but can he salvage Richard Wagner's music from its dark associations with anti-Semitism and Hitler?
Fry's quest begins in southern Germany where he is granted unique access to Bayreuth's legendary annual Wagner festival. In Switzerland he discovers the origins of Wagner's masterpiece "The Ring." In Bavaria he marvels at the fairytale castle inspired by Wagner's music, and in St Petersburg learns why Wagner fascinated Russian audiences.
But Fry also confronts the composer's dark side. In Nuremberg he investigates how Hitler appropriated Wagner's music, and in London meets a cellist who played in the prisoners' orchestra at Auschwitz - where some of Fry's relatives died. What will she think of his passion for Hitler's favorite artist?
Website
- Deutsche Oper BerlinOn September 24, 1961 the Opernhaus that had been inaugurated in 1912 and destroyed during the War was reopened as Deutsche Oper Berlin. Ever since it has been Berlin´s largest and Germany´s second largest music theatre, featuring among the most modern institutions in Europe.
- OperGermanyOperGermany is a community driven website, that delivers practical, realistic and useful information to those who are looking to seek a career in the German Opera industry. This information is brought to you partly by an Opera Singer who has traveled the world and made a career in Germany performing in more than 50 theaters for more than 25 years. OperGermany’s information is also sourced from the top news sources, agents, and managers across Germany. Our community website also welcomes new members to join the discussion threads for free!
Carl Maria von Weber
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
The German composer Carl Maria von Weber spent much of his life traveling. During his short life he composed nine operas, two symphonies, numerous compositions for the clarinet, and a series of concertos for solo instruments and orchestra.
"The Magic Flute": Act 1 Scene 1
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowTamini faints while being pursued by a serpent, three ladies, attendants of the Queen of the Night, appear and kill the serpent. Papageno enters dressed as a bird and takes credit for the killing; the ladies reappear and place a padlock over his mouth as a warning not to lie; they give Tamino a portrait of the Queen of the Night's daughter Pamina. She has been captured by a supposedly evil sorcerer and the Queen of the Night promises her daughter to Tamino in exchange for her rescue. Tamino and Papageno are given a magic flute and chimes as well as three child-spirit guides. A BBC Production.
Famous Figures
- Beethoven, Ludwig vanGerman composer. His mastery of musical expression in every type of music made him the dominant influence on 19th-century music. Beethoven's repertoire includes concert overtures; the opera Fidelio (1805, revised 1806 and 1814); 5 piano concertos and 1 for violin; 32 piano sonatas, including the Moonlight (1801) and Appassionata (1804–05); 17 string quartets; the Mass in D (Missa solemnis) (1819–22); and 9 symphonies, as well as many youthful works...
- Brecht, Bertolt (1898–1956)Bertolt Brecht was arguably one of the foremost playwrights, composers, dramaturges, and political activists of the 20th century. Born in Augsburg, Bavaria, he grew up to study medicine and worked in a hospital in Munich during World War I. After the war he moved to Berlin, where he found his passion and talent for the theater. He was inspired by the influential critic Herbert Ihering, who told him how the public was hungry for modern theater...
- Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus(mōt'särt, Ger. vôlf'gäng ämädā'ʊs mō'tsärt), 1756–91, Austrian composer, b. Salzburg. Mozart represents one of the great peaks in the history of music. His works, written in almost every conceivable genre, combine luminous beauty of sound with classical grace and technical perfection...
- SPOHR, LOUIS 1784-1859 German composerLouis Spohr was one of the most accomplished and acclaimed musical artists of the early Romantic period, occupying a stylistic position between the classicism of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on one hand and the modernism of Richard Wagner on the other...
- Strauss, Richard(rĭkh'ärt shtrous), 1864–1949, German composer. Strauss brought to a culmination the development of the 19th-century symphonic poem, and was a leading composer of romantic opera in the early 20th cent. Son of a celebrated horn player, he had extensive musical instruction and began composing as a child of six. His first major work, the symphony in D minor, was first performed in 1880. Strauss's early works, in classical forms, brought him instant acclaim...
- Wagner, RichardWagner was reared in a theatrical family, had a classical education, and began composing at 17. He studied harmony and the works of Beethoven and in 1833 became chorus master of the theater at Würzburg, the first of a series of theatrical positions. Die Feen (composed 1833), his first opera, was in the German romantic tradition begun by Weber; Das Liebesverbot (1835–36) demonstrated his assimilation of the Italian style...
- Weber, Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst vonGerman composer. He established the German Romantic school of opera with Der Freischütz/The Marksman (1821) and Euryanthe (1823). He was Kapellmeister (chief conductor) at Breslau in 1804–06, Prague in 1813–16, and Dresden in 1816. He died during a visit to London, where he produced his opera Oberon (1826), written for the Covent Garden Theatre...
Beethoven's Fidelio
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowExcerpts from a letter to his brother reveal Beethoven's agonizing despair yet determination to do what he is compelled to do. He chooses to live alone. Viewers watch excerpts from Beethoven's opera "Fidelio."