Moments of Music: Opera in Musica

Moments of Music: Opera in Musica

Opera is a staged drama set to music in its entirety, made up of vocal pieces with instrumental accompaniment and orchestral overtures and interludes. These vocal pieces can be an aria or recitative.

  • Aria: a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, usually from a larger work.
  • Recitative: dramatic type of singing that is similar to spoken dialogue.

The word opera is an English abbreviation of the Italian phrase opera in musica, meaning "work in music." When you hear the word opera, I'm sure the song "Nessun dorma" comes to mind instantly. "Nessun dorma" is an aria from the final act (of 3 parts) of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. It is also one of the best known tenor arias in the opera world, famously sung by Luciano Pavarotti with The Three Tenors. Turandot tells a story about the daughter of Emperor Altoum named Turandot who declares that she will only marry if a suitor of noble blood can correctly answer three riddles. If he cannot answer them, then the price would be his head during execution. "Nessun dorma" means "let no one sleep" in English.

Turandot

Luciano Pavarotti performing the role of Calaf in Puccini’s "Turandot," at the San Francisco Opera House, 1977. Ron Scherl/Redferns/GettyImages
Luciano Pavarotti performing the role of Calaf in Puccini’s "Turandot," at the San Francisco Opera House, 1977. Ron Scherl/Redferns/GettyImages

Asides from "Nessun dorma," I also enjoy listening to "Au fond du temple saint," ("At the back of the holy temple"). Generally, this song is known as "The Pearl Fishers' Duet," and is a duet from Georges Bizet's 1863 opera Les pêcheurs de perles. Although it's considered operatic pop, I also enjoy listening to Andrea Bocelli's song "Con te partirò," ("Time to Say Goodbye"). When the season changes to winter, I usually listen to songs like these in addition to Christmas music during the holiday season. I would recommend many songs from Bocelli, since I enjoy listening to his music very much.

Renowned Italian tenor Pavarotti (1935–2007) sings the aria from the final act of Puccini's opera Turandot, live in concert with The Three Tenors in Los Angeles in 1994.

Roberto Alagna & Bryn Terfel sing the beautiful duet "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's "Les Pêcheurs de perles" (Met 1996).

Message from the Blogger

Hello! I decided to write about something different for this blog post as well. I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about opera music. See you next time!



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