What is the story of La Sonnambula?
Set in a darkly mysterious masked ball, the one-act La Sonnambula, originally called Night Shadow, tells the story of a Poet who pays suit to a Coquette, who is escorted by the Host. After a series of exotic divertissements, the elegantly attired guests go in to supper, leaving the Poet to himself.
Who wrote the opera La Sonnambula?
Felice RomaniLa sonnambula / LibrettistGiuseppe Felice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito. Wikipedia
Who produced the two act opera the sleepwalker in 1831?
Bellini was fortunate in having as librettist the best Italian theatre poet of the day, Felice Romani, with whom he collaborated in his next six operas. The most important of these were I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830), based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; La sonnambula (1831; The Sleepwalker); and Norma (1831).
Where does La Sonnambula take place?
Swiss village
La Sonnambula is set in a Swiss village. Mary Zimmerman’s new production is set in a rehearsal room where singers are rehearsing a production of La Sonnambula set in a Swiss village. The story, actions and characters of the village are all coincident with those of the rehearsal room.
What does the sleepwalker represent in La Sonnambula?
In brief, in La Sylphide a man abandons his bride at the altar (more shades of I Puritani) to follow a sylph into the woods, but when he embraces her she dies. He then dies of heartbreak. The Sleepwalker/Sylph is the ultimate muse—a figure who represents the divide between dreams and the ennui of quotidian existence.
What is the difference between German and Italian opera?
By the Classical period of the mid-17th century, Singspiel was considered the “national style” of German opera. The result was that—while contemporaneous Italian operas tended toward greater extravagance and drama—the music, stories, and characters of German opera stayed relatively simple by comparison.
Did Wagner write his own libretto?
Wagner’s operatic works are his primary artistic legacy. Unlike most opera composers, who generally left the task of writing the libretto (the text and lyrics) to others, Wagner wrote his own libretti, which he referred to as “poems”.
What era was Puccini in?
Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late-Baroque era.
Are operas German?
The Roots of German Opera German opera history began in 1627 with composer Heinrich Schütz’s Dafne. This German composition was, itself, based on an Italian work of the same name considered the very first opera ever written.
Why are operas in Italian or German?
Opera on German speaking areas appeared after Italian opera composers visited or resided in their cities. In fact, Italy’s influence was so strong that for a century even German composers used both Italian opera style and language.
What is Richard Wagner’s most famous piece?
‘Ride of the Valkyries’ is not only one of Wagner’s most recognisable pieces of music, but one of the most popular opera songs in the whole canon. Due to being featured in a plethora of films and TV shows, including Apocalypse Now and Star Wars, it’s a favourite amongst film buffs and opera goers alike.
What is the text to an opera called?
LIBRETTO: The text or words of an opera.
Why is opera only sung in Italian?
Italian language enjoys a close connection with music. All the tempo and dynamics indications are in Italian (Allegro, Adagio, crescendo, etc.) wherever they were written. But language was also the reason that allowed Italy to be the motherland of singing and Opera.
Why is opera Italian?
The Italian word opera means “work”, both in the sense of the labour done and the result produced. The Italian word derives from the Latin word opera, a singular noun meaning “work” and also the plural of the noun opus.
Do opera singers need to be fluent in those languages?
No, they don’t need to be fluent in a language in order to sing an opera in that language. However, the singer should definitely know the diction of the language as well as the meaning, tone, and context of the lyrics they’re singing.
What is the history of La sonnambula?
La sonnambula. The role of Amina was originally written for the soprano sfogato Giuditta Pasta and the tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, but during Bellini’s lifetime another soprano sfogato, Maria Malibran, was a notable exponent of the role. The first performance took place at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 6 March 1831. The majority…
Is La sonnambula soprano or contralto?
La sonnambula. The majority of twentieth-century recordings have been made with a soprano cast as Amina, usually with added top-notes and other changes according to tradition, although it was released in soprano sfogato voice (not be confused with the modern mezzo, nonexistent at the time) who sang soprano and contralto roles unmodified.
Why was Bellini’s La traviata so successful?
The opera’s premiere performance took place on 6 March 1831, a little later than the original date. Its success was partly due to the differences between Romani’s earlier libretti and this one, as well as “the accumulation of operatic experience which both [Bellini] and Romani had brought to its creation.”
What illness did Bellini suffer from?
Then Bellini experienced the re-occurrence of an illness which had emerged in Venice due to pressure of work and the bad weather, and which consistently recurred after each opera. The gastro-enteric condition—which he described as “a tremendous inflammatory gastric bilious fever”— resulted in his being cared for by friends.