Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Operas'

The opera is scored for chamber orchestra consisting of one oboe, two Bb clarinets, two horns in F, one trumpet in C, one tenor trombone, two percussionists (playing snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, wood block, triangle, suspended cymbal, crash cymbal, agogo bells, cow bell, brake drum, metal whistle, whip, large gong, Glockenspiel, chimes, timpani in F (low) and C), eight or more violins in two parts, six or more violas in two parts, and eight or more cellos in two parts. The characters are Alejandro Jiminez, a dramatic tenor; the Manager of Burger Palace, a baritone; the Suits 1/Fast Food Workers, a choir (SATB) and the Suits 2/Customers, a second choir (SATB), each ideally consisting of eight vocalists for a total of sixteen; the Daydream Figures, which are mimed parts; the Man with Gun, which is a spoken part. The opera, in one act consisting of six scenes and an interlude, is based on a libretto by the composer. There is only one scene change: from an essentially empty stage to a fast food restaurant in Scene 4. The length of the work is approximately sixty to sixty-five minutes.

Aboulker’s operatic works present an opportunity for opera workshop programs in the United States to perform contemporary operatic works in a foreign language, revitalizing the operatic repertoire and giving students the opportunity to prepare and perform roles without the weight and influence of significant performance history. Aboulker’s style, which has been called “effectively simple,” allows developing students to work on new French language repertoire without the burden of excessively difficult or atonal vocal lines. Aboulker’s works are tuneful and humorous and her longest operatic work lasts a mere hour and a half. These qualities also serve to mitigate the challenge presented to the student by the French language. Many of Aboulker’s works are conceived specifically to be performed with piano only, or have already been published in piano reduction. Most of her operatic works are very short or divide easily into scenes that could be performed separately where the performance of a longer work is either not feasible or not desired. All of these characteristics combine to make the operas of Isabelle Aboulker a viable repertoire option for the university opera studio.

Gustav Holst was a contributor to the genre of English opera throughout his career. His name is not usually associated with opera, and yet he composed thirteen in all; five were published, three are lost, and the remaining five exist solely in manuscript. The dissertation begins with Holst's background and influences, the most important of which were the music of Sullivan and Wagner, and the ways in which Holst's music of his early period imitated those styles. Other aspects with which Holst came into contact are discussed here; namely Sanskrit literature, the English folksong movement, and the re-discovery of the English madrigal. Each is examined separately in order to clarify how each influenced his music during the early years of the twentieth century. The earliest operas are presented in chronological order and discussed in terms of their subjects, harmonic and thematic approaches, style and form, as well as a comparison in style between the operas that were composed concurrently. The core of the work consists of the fourth, fifth and sixth chapters wherein Holst's final attempt at Wagnerian chromaticism (and his only attempt at large-scale three act opera) and its lack of success is presented. It is linked to a masterpiece of chamber opera of three years later by way of a song cycle for solo voice and piano which clearly demonstrates his new approach to the setting of text, his use of modality and the paring down of accompaniment to give emphasis to the voice. The final chapter deals with the late period of Holst's operatic writing and discusses the three comic operas. Holst's humour and its effect on choice of subject, setting of text and orchestral effects is put into the context of the post-war era.

Studies of Italian opera in London during the first half of the eighteenth century have focussed on George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). As the most prolific composer of this genre in the English capital, this is unsurprising, but it has meant that other composers, contemporaneously active in this field, have been relatively neglected. This is especially true of the period 1733 – 1737, during which time two Italian opera companies attempted to co-exist in the city. Leading one of the companies was Handel, with the Neapolitan, Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), recruited to compose the works for the rival opera company, the so-called ‘Opera of the Nobility’. This study therefore discusses Porpora’s contribution of five operas to the London operatic stage during his three year residency between 1733 and 1736, in opposition to Handel’s company. This has required an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the formation of the rival opera company, its operation in terms of repertoire and the influence of its librettists on Porpora’s works. Detailed analysis of the music has been undertaken to consider Porpora’s style, establish how he adapted this in London for an English, rather than Italian audience, and determine the efficacy of his communication of the drama through his music. This thesis is the first large-scale detailed study of Porpora and his operas. Although the primary focus of this work is his London operas, the necessity of providing a context for these has resulted in a contribution to greater knowledge of Porpora’s overall style. There is still much work to be done on a full study of all of Porpora’s 44 operas and other compositions. This study also significantly adds to the current knowledge of operatic rivalry in London between 1733 and 1736, for the first time evaluating the fabric and importance of Porpora’s operas within this period.

Sirius on Earth is a chamber opera that deals satirically with social and political issues that are pertinent to a Western multicultural urban setting. Angela Murphy wrote the libretto, which is based on an original dramatic scenario conceived of by the composer. This dissertation consists of two parts: the opera in full score and an analysis of the opera. Sirius on Earth is scored for a cast of eight singers and an ensemble of fifteen players. The analysis is related to the overall objectives of the work which include representing and satirizing the musical and cultural diversity inherent in multicultural Western cities, symbolized in the opera by the city of Sirius, through the composer's individual approach to musical pluralism. Important musical and dramatic features of the opera are discussed in the analysis, including modal organization, musical characterization and techniques of recontextualization such as allusion and parody. Conclusions dissect the opera's underlying satirical and dystopian viewpoint.

Over the last quarter-century, scholars have taken a unified approach in discussing form in Italian and French opera of the nineteenth century. This approach centers around the four-part aria and duet form begun by Bellini, codified by Rossini, modified by Verdi, and dissolved by Puccini. A similar trajectory can be seen in French opera in the works of Meyerbeer, Gounod, and Massenet; however, only Meyerbeer and Gounod have received significant critical attention. This is in part due to Massenet's reception as a "composer for the people," a title ill fitting and ripe for reconsideration. This dissertation will examine duet forms in Massenet's oeuvre and will focus on the gradual change in style manifest in his twenty-five operas. Massenet's output can be divided into three distinct periods delineated by his approach to form. Representative works from each period will show how he inherited, interpreted, thwarted, and ultimately rewrote the standard formal conventions of his time and in doing so, created a dramaturgical approach to opera that unified the formerly separate number-based elements. Massenet's longevity and popular appeal make him the quintessential French opera composer of the fin de siècle and the natural choice for examining reconstructed conventions.

Matador is an opera scored for orchestra, mixed chorus and soloists (mezzosoprano, 3 tenors, 2 baritones). The work is in one act divided into two main sections. Each of these sections is divided into subsections. The libretto is aphoristic in nature and dictates the form of each of these subsections. The division into two parts also serves as a means to evoke a sense of hopelessness of emotions in the first and a transforming disposition that culminates in a jubilant song in the second.

This thesis examines four of Franz Schubert's complete operas: Die Zwillingsbrűder D.647, Alfonso und Estrella D.732, Die Verschworenen D.787, and Fierrabras D.796. These works date from the period of 1818-1823, sometimes referred to as Schubert's 'years of crisis'. While this period saw many changes in the composer's personal situation, it is commonly thought that he underwent a process of creative re-evaluation during these years. This was also the period of Schubert's life during which he was most seriously engaged in writing music for the stage. Thus, I argue in this thesis that it is possible to understand these operas as key works within Schubert's stylistic development. Chapter 2 of this thesis studies Adorno's 1928 critique of Schubert and draws out common themes in critical writings about the composer to do with coherence, temporality and tone. These themes are then grounded in various different types of analytical observations about Schubert's emergent style. Chapter 3 examines selected numbers from the four mature operas. Through analysing these works, we find that Schubert's developing approach to form, rhythm, musical 'signs' and other structural devices is evident. Innovations in each of these fields are understood as responses to the various dramatic challenges offered by each of the libretti. Chapter 4 summarises the conclusions of our study of the operas and suggests some possibilities for interpretation of other works which are raised by these analyses.

The East Cape Opera Company was founded by Gwyneth Lloyd in 1995 and has performed in various Eastern Cape venues and festivals as well as conducting a tour of the Netherlands. The Company has performed well known operas and operettas such as Mozart's The Magic Flute, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado as well as their own original isiXhosa operas such as Temba and Seliba, The Moon Prince - Inkosana Yenyanga and The Clay Flute. This thesis is situated within the context of apartheid and post-apartheid, and an emerging post-1994 South African’s operatic culture that embraces multiculturalism. The aim of this research is to explore and raise awareness regarding intercultural communication in relation to isiXhosa operas and examine the linguistic and dramatic characteristics of the construction of these operas. This involves an analysis of the integration of African cultural practices (dramatic and musical) within an essentially western art form. The thesis makes use of intercultural and literary theory as a point of departure to analyse not only the literary qualities of the isiXhosa operas performed by the East Cape Opera Company, but it also seeks to show how these operas reflect an emerging intercultural reality within the South African context. The thesis explores the mixing of genres, including African genres such as the folktale and oral poetry as part of Opera, which has previously been seen as a Western domain. It is argued that this mixing of genres and languages allows for the success of African Opera

The Italian seicento has been considered a dead century by many literary scholars. As this study demonstrates, such a conclusion ignores important literary developments in the field of librettology. Indeed, the seventeenth-century operatic libretto stands as a monument to literary invention. Critical to the development of this new literary genre was the prologue, which provided writers with a context in which to experiment and achieve literary transcendence. This study identifies approximately 260 dramatic works written in Venice between the years 1637 and 1682, drawn together for the first time from three sources: librettos in the Drammaturgia di Leone Allacci accresciuta e continuata fino all'anno MCDDLV; the musical manuscripts listed in the Codici Musicali Contariniani; and a chronological list of seventeenth-century Venetian operas found in Cristoforo Ivanovich's Minerva al Tavolino. Of the 260 Venetian works identified, over 98 begin with self-contained prologues. This discovery alone warrants a reconsideration of the seventeenth-century Italian libretto and the emergence of the dramatic prologue as a new and important literary genre.

Esterhaza, ou furent composes la majorite des operas de haydn, impliquait par sa geographie, sa situation politique et culturelle, et les gouts des princes regnants, une serie de contraintes qui eurent des consequences directes aussi bien sur les types de livrets selectionnes (themes, adaptations) que sur les choix musicaux lies a la constitution de la troupe (orchestre, choeur, solistes). Il s'avere que le compositeur, toujours respectueux envers son prince et envers ses interpretes, a puise dans ces imperatifs l'originalite meme de son style d'opera: de la contrainte a la liberte
Esterhaza, where most of haydn's operas were composed, implied, because of its geographical, political and cultural position and of its reigning princes tastes, a set of constraints. These had direct consequences both of selected libretti (themes, adaptations) and on musical choices concessing the makeup of the troupe (orchestra, choir, soloists). It appears that the composer, ever respectful of his prince and his artists, found in these constraints the true originality of his opera style: from constraint to liberty

This paper explores various technologies available to the modern composer and utilized in recent modern opera, providing creative approaches to producing aural, visual, and theatrical performance environments. It also explores my own use of digital technology in Transient Delete. Transient Delete is a digital miniature-opera that explores different aspects of a community of post-human cyborgs. The story follows Iméra, a newly converted cyborg as she acclimates herself to this new cybernetic existence. During this process she meets several other cybernetic entities that are there to help guide her through her metamorphosis.

Premiering at the twilight of the gauchesco era and the dawn of Argentine musical Modernism, El matrero (1929) by Felipe Boero (1884-1958) remains underexplored in terms of its social milieu and artistic heritage. Instantly hailed as a masterpiece, the work retains a place in the local repertory, though it has never been performed internationally. The opera draws on myths of the gaucho and takes further inspiration from the energized intellectual environment surrounding the one-hundred-year anniversary of Argentine Independence. The most influential writers of the Centenary were Leopoldo Lugones (1874-1938), Ricardo Rojas (1882-1957), and Manuel Gálvez (1882-1962). Their times were marked by contradictions: xenophobia and the desire for foreign approbation; pride in an imaginary, "barbaric" yet noble ideal wiped out by the "civilizing" ambitions of revered nineteenth-century leaders. Krausism, a system of ideas following the teachings of Karl Friedrich Krause (1781-1832), had an impact on the period as exhibited in the political philosophy of Hipólito Yrigoyen (1852-1933), who served as president from 1916 to 1922 and 1928 to 1930 when he was deposed by a right-wing coup d'état. Uncritical applications of traditional understandings of nationalism have had a negative impact on Latin American music scholarship. A distillation of scholarly conceptions of Argentine nacionalismo, which address the meaning of the word as it was used in the early twentieth century, combined with an examination of major works of important literary figures of the Centenary provide a firmer ground for discussion. Gálvez paints a conservative portrait of a refined, well-traveled dilettante who finds true enlightenment only in his own rural, Argentine culture. A liberal, Rojas understands nationalism as devotion to the development of national institutions and local art. Lugones argues the foundation of national art should be the gaucho, and articulates the hierarchical sociabilities it should articulate. Boero adopts elements of Krausism and the nationalistic system of values advanced by the Centenary writers within an Occidentalist framework. Occidentalism describes cosmopolitan initiatives to incorporate the ideals of the West as structural to Argentine identity. It shares the liberal outlook of the central government that valued international openness and European and Anglo-American affinity. Boero wrote to satisfy the responsibilities of the various occupations he held as opera composer, pedagogue, and art musician, but was always dedicated to the strengthening of national institutions and development of what he perceived to be a native art. His pieces evince the Occidental ideal in their adoption of Impressionistic, Puccinian, and folkloric elements in varied ways, sometimes in individual pieces in isolation, other times all within the same work. The use of each of these styles is done in a thoroughly Eurocentric manner as even the "gaucho" elements are utilized according to traditional art music conventions. Boero demonstrates his mastery of a variety of techniques throughout his oeuvre and explores each of them in his magnum opus. The play El matrero, written by the contemporary Uruguayan playwright, Yamandú Rodríguez, draws on themes explored and celebrated by the Centenary writers and resonates with certain Krausist values. The libretto diverges from the play in a few significant ways that suggest a more conservative political outlook. More than simply a story told in the popular gauchesco style, the work is a kind of origin story with supposedly authentic depictions of rural life that present a model for contemporary sociabilities informed by the Krausism and liberalism of the era. Musical analysis of the opera confirms affinities with verismo and Impressionism, but also reveals a unique stamp, not only in the use of gauchesco topoi, but the harmonic language and interplay of styles. These styles are not blended into a single, cohesive unity but arise at key points within the heterogeneous work. A critical analysis allows the musical styles to be considered to articulate a social hierarchy marked by Krausist organicism already hinted at in the text. The various character groups of the opera have distinct voices that reveal separate classes. In line with current Argentine thought rooted in the nineteenth century and the Centenary, and due to the work's status as an origin story, the relationships between the groups may be seen to represent a model for contemporary society with the elite successfully managing the affairs of their underlings. The music helps articulate these relationships with moments of diegetic gauchesco music-making being relegated to the voices and bodies of the lower classes and the representatives of the upper class speaking with a mixture of art music styles and a sublimated folkloric style. The combined study of text and music reveals an Occidentalist perspective with the native Argentine elements subordinated to the European. In spite of their lower sociopolitical position, the folk are not despised but given a coherent musical language with which to express themselves, and the higher characters are musically united to their gaucho compatriots. The combination of musical styles creates an engaging, complex tapestry more than worthy of considered study and appreciation. Uncritical applications of traditional understandings of nationalism have had a negative impact on Latin American music scholarship. A distillation of scholarly conceptions of Argentine nacionalismo, which address the meaning of the word as it was used in the early twentieth century, combined with an examination of major works of important literary figures of the Centenary provide a firmer ground for discussion. Gálvez paints a conservative portrait of a refined, well-traveled dilettante who finds true enlightenment only in his own rural, Argentine culture. A liberal, Rojas understands nationalism as devotion to the development of national institutions and local art. Lugones argues the foundation of national art should be the gaucho, and articulates the hierarchical sociabilities it should articulate. Boero adopts elements of Krausism and the nationalistic system of values advanced by the Centenary writers within an Occidentalist framework. Occidentalism describes cosmopolitan initiatives to incorporate the ideals of the West as structural to Argentine identity. It shares the liberal outlook of the central government that valued international openness and European and Anglo-American affinity. Boero wrote to satisfy the responsibilities of the various occupations he held as opera composer, pedagogue, and art musician, but was always dedicated to the strengthening of national institutions and development of what he perceived to be a native art. His pieces evince the Occidental ideal in their adoption of Impressionistic, Puccinian, and folkloric elements in varied ways, sometimes in individual pieces in isolation, other times all within the same work. The use of each of these styles is done in a thoroughly Eurocentric manner as even the "gaucho" elements are utilized according to traditional art music conventions. Boero demonstrates his mastery of a variety of techniques throughout his oeuvre and explores each of them in his magnum opus. The play El matrero, written by the contemporary Uruguayan playwright, Yamandú Rodríguez, draws on themes explored and celebrated by the Centenary writers and resonates with certain Krausist values. The libretto diverges from the play in a few significant ways that suggest a more conservative political outlook. More than simply a story told in the popular gauchesco style, the work is a kind of origin story with supposedly authentic depictions of rural life that present a model for contemporary sociabilities informed by the Krausism and liberalism of the era. Musical analysis of the opera confirms affinities with verismo and Impressionism, but also reveals a unique stamp, not only in the use of gauchesco topoi, but the harmonic language and interplay of styles. These styles are not blended into a single, cohesive unity but arise at key points within the heterogeneous work. A critical analysis allows the musical styles to be considered to articulate a social hierarchy marked by Krausist organicism already hinted at in the text. The various character groups of the opera have distinct voices that reveal separate classes. In line with current Argentine thought rooted in the nineteenth century and the Centenary, and due to the work's status as an origin story, the relationships between the groups may be seen to represent a model for contemporary society with the elite successfully managing the affairs of their underlings. The music helps articulate these relationships with moments of diegetic gauchesco music-making being relegated to the voices and bodies of the lower classes and the representatives of the upper class speaking with a mixture of art music styles and a sublimated folkloric style. The combined study of text and music reveals an Occidentalist perspective with the native Argentine elements subordinated to the European. In spite of their lower sociopolitical position, the folk are not despised but given a coherent musical language with which to express themselves, and the higher characters are musically united to their gaucho compatriots. The combination of musical styles creates an engaging, complex tapestry more than worthy of considered study and appreciation.

This study examines the way Britten's operas and their audiences muddied the waters of the so-called "great divide" between modernism and mass culture, mediating between the aesthetics of difficulty and distinction on the one hand, and the pleasures and conventions associated with popular opera on the other. Using the fraught responses of early critics as a way in, I examine the precise musical and critical strategies through which the operas confounded a range of marked modernist binaries - between innovation and tradition, difficulty and sentimentality, modernism and mass culture. One of the main appeals of Britten's operas, I argue, lay in providing mid-century audiences with the chance to have their modernist cake and eat it, to revel in the putatively "cheap" pleasures of consonance, lyricism and theatrical spectacle even while enjoying the prestige that flows from rejecting them.
Music

In this dissertation I look at the consumption of one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Latin America: the telenovela. My research is based in Brazil, which has the most successful and most profitable telenovela industry in Latin America. Current research into telenovelas has reached an impasse. It either posits the telenovela as an ideological tool to brainwash the masses, or as a symbolic site at which 'culturally competent' agents negotiate with the text and are involved in the construction of meaning and culture. I argue that this impasse is the result of dependence either on textual analysis or on interviews rather than immersion into a particular context. In order to overcome this, I adopt the technique of ethnographic immersion into the lives of viewers in a particular environment. Moreover, I focus on viewers who have been neglected in the scant account of in-depth work into telenovelas: unemployed women living in low-income neighbourhoods in one of the poorest regions of Brazil, the Northeast. I begin the dissertation with an in-depth description of the women's lives, and I show how the telenovelas are an important form of sociability and pleasure in these lives. Strikingly, the women say that the world of wealth and opportunity portrayed in the telenovelas is like real life. What they find so pleasurable about the programmes is the suffering that the female protagonists have to endure. I investigate this in terms of the Christian glorification of suffering, which I argue is apparent in the women's real lives and in the telenovelas. I connect this cult of suffering to a system of valuation in which women are treated not as whole people but as body parts for others. I then illustrate how the majority of women mobile the telenovelas to overcome this fragmenting system. However, given their conditions of existence this is achieved only at the level of imagination or fantasy. My analysis reveals the gendered ideas and practices that connect the women's real lives to the telenovelas. It also demonstrates how the women use their creative powers to affirm a social world in which they are oppressed.

The first Western opera to be performed in Korea was Verdi's La Traviata on January 16, 1948, by the Joseon Opera Company. The first Korean opera, Chunhyangjeon by Jae Myung Hyun, premiered at the Korean National Theater in May 1950, just before the outbreak of the Korean War. Daejeon.go.kr reports that since that year approximately 200 Korean operas have been produced in Korea. Nevertheless, there have been consistent efforts to create and introduce Korean operas to the public. Most of them ended up being "one-off" performances with a single production. Most research on Korean opera has focused on its history, the challenges of producing new operas, or an analysis of selected Korean operas. This study equips singers with the following: pertinent historical background with the libretto, a synopsis, research regarding the composer and librettist, a character analysis, vocal and textual analysis of the selected opera arias, instruction regarding the Korean language, IPA, and a word-by-word translation of the text. I also make recommendations for tenor arias from Korean operas for singers with specific voice types.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
Horatio William Parker (1863-1919) was a prominent American composer who belonged to the Second New England School (the "Boston Six"), and served as the Dean of Music at Yale University from 1904 until his death. His opera Mona (Opus 71) was created in collaboration with his librettist, Brian Hooker (1880-1946), as an entry to a contest that was being held by the Metropolitan Opera Company for the best English-language opera written by an American-born composer. Parker and Hooker won the contest, and received $10,000 in prize money along with a production of Mona at the Met. The contest generated a considerable amount of interest in the American musical community, and sparked debate concerning the characteristics that should epitomize "American" opera. After difficult rehearsals and extensive revisions, Mona premiered on March 14'h, 1912. Despite its lavish production, the opera was met with a lukewarm reception by the American public, and failed to make its way into the permanent repertory of the Met. Willie American opera of this era was commonly criticized for being simple and frivolous, Mona is notable for being a serious opera of considerable complexity that was ultimately rejected by the American public. The opera is also significant in that it seems to mark a turning point in Parker's biography, after which he placed greater emphasis on the popular appeal of his compositions.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 232-238). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Act one of The Metamorphosis is based on the novella by Franza Kafka of the same title. In the writing of the act, George Benjamin's Into the Little Hill and Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are provide a model of using musical material as a storytelling device. Benjamin emphasizes the parallel nature of Crimp's text through the manipulation of similar music between the acts. Knussen uses form and color to emphasize Max's childlike energy and his desire to return home. In act one of The Metamorphosis these approaches are combined to enhance Kafka's absurd narrative through a rapid collage of texture and form that is influenced by both events and characters in the opera.

Riders to the Sea is a chamber opera in one act of approximately 40 minutes in duration. The single act is divided into six scenes that progress without pause. The vocal parts are comprised of 2 sopranos, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 baritone, and an off-stage chorus of men's voices (tenor I, tenor II, baritone, and bass; two per part). The orchestra will be comprised of winds (1-1-1-1-1), brass (2-2-1-1), strings (2-2-2-2-1), piano, 2 percussionists, and tape, that will be used to provide a continuous background of surf and wind sounds. Authentic Irish folk songs are threaded throughout the work, generally functioning as a background element, while twentieth-century compositional techniques are utilized primarily for special effects.

This thesis investigates the processes through which the characters and their relationship, and the drama take shape in Mozart’s operas. In his mature operas, there are moments when music seems to say something that is not in harmony with what the words express. This discrepancy suggests that Mozart tells us, through music (vocal or instrumental), the characters’ most private thoughts that are not revealed in the text alone. I call this innermost part of the psyche that is in contact with the unconscious ‘anima’, a concept borrowed from Jungian psychology. Through anima, Mozart narrates his version of drama that is distinct from the librettist’s or the literary source on which his opera is based. That is, the drama Mozart creates and recounts is in the music. The present thesis proposes music analysis as a way into reading the characters’ anima. I analyse select scenes from Le nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), Così fan tutte (1790), and La clemenza di Tito (1791), and examine four ways in which anima is manifested in musico-dramatic elements. I start with the most natural elements in which anima may be found in opera, asides and soliloquies, and explore musical manifestations of these silent voices. I also redefine ‘tempo’ in specifically operatic ways and show how the timing and pacing of musical elements evoke dramatic meaning. I then consider the connections between anima and Schenkerian idea of background as a way of understanding the relationship of the couples in Mozart’s operas. Finally, I demonstrate how ‘form’ in opera takes life of its own and defines the drama as musical expectations are fulfilled or frustrated. I conclude by discussing the implications of anima in opera studies, suggesting that it allows us to hear the innermost voice of Mozart’s characters spoken through music—the third voice.
published_or_final_version
Music
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Ethnomusicology.
Typescript. Includes portions of the libretto and score of the author's opera Hanging at dawn. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99324

This dissertation explores the ways in which Handel's late operas intersect with other forms of theater in mid-eighteenth-century London. It seeks to explain how certain comic features of these late works--from the lighter subject matter of the libretti to Handel's unconventional musical settings--can be seen to echo the heated criticism leveled at Italian opera seria during this period, criticism usually voiced by satirical pamphlets and operatic parodies. It concludes that so-called "serious opera" was not always taken too seriously by London audiences, or even by Handel himself. Instead, opera reception in eighteenth-century London was much more complex, sometimes even contradictory: avid operagoers were often generous patrons of operatic burlesque, and considered ridicule, disruption, and laughter an integral part of their operagoing experience. By tracing the points of contact between Italian opera and British theatrical life, this dissertation examines the ways in which the "comedies" of opera seria, both as historical phenomena and as potentially fruitful sites for theoretical investigation, offer a new picture of the eighteenth-century dramma per musica.

This dissertation explores the ways in which Handel’s late operas intersect with other forms of theater in mid-eighteenth-century London. It seeks to explain how certain comic features of these late works—from the lighter subject matter of the libretti to Handel’s unconventional musical settings—can be seen to echo the heated criticism leveled at Italian opera seria during this period, criticism usually voiced by satirical pamphlets and operatic parodies. It concludes that so-called "serious opera" was not always taken too seriously by London audiences, or even by Handel himself. Instead, opera reception in eighteenth-century London was much more complex, sometimes even contradictory: avid operagoers were often generous patrons of operatic burlesque, and considered ridicule, disruption, and laughter an integral part of their operagoing experience. By tracing the points of contact between Italian opera and British theatrical life, this dissertation examines the ways in which the "comedies" of opera seria, both as historical phenomena and as potentially fruitful sites for theoretical investigation, offer a new picture of the eighteenth-century dramma per musica.