Some musical terms: forms and structures

In the Western world, theatre owes the biggest debt to Greek drama. The stories of gods and heroes, the philosophy and moral dilemmas, the vulgar comedies, the epic dramas: the works of Aeschylus and Sophocles are still performed today. Here you had one actor, discussing his ideas with a chorus of people before Aeschylus expanded the dramatic possibilities by including a second actor; then Sophocles added a third. Monologues became conversations: dialogues and arguments. The scope for conflicting emotions was increased; events could now be acted rather than described. There were now three actors and a chorus and inventive playwrights could use them in different combinations. And what has all this to do with opera?

Some musical terms: voices

Let's start with the voices, from high to low:

Female: soprano, mezzo soprano (or mezzo), contralto.

Male: countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, bass.

Here are some examples:

Callas and Tebaldi: the beauty and drama of the human voice

In the last post, we looked a little at Maria Callas and her unique gift that she brought to the world of opera. I also mentioned Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004), a celebrated Italian soprano of the 50s and 60s, and the "rivalry" between these singers. There may well have been a personal animosity between the two, but it was fuelled as much by the fans of each diva and the management of the opera houses as by the singers themselves. 

Both singers had enviable recording contracts. Callas was exclusive to EMI/Columbia, where she recorded much of her repertoire with the La Scala company, partnered by tenor Giuseppe di Stefano and baritone Tito Gobbi; Tebaldi on the other hand, was recorded by Decca/ London, often with the orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and partnered by tenor Mario del Monaco. On the whole, there is more subtlety and finesse to be found on the EMI recordings: does that make them better, or make Callas the greater artist? Not necessarily. It's all a matter of personal taste.

Maria Callas, La Divina

The soprano you hear singing La mamma morta in Philadelphia is Maria Callas, one of the most important names in opera. In this post, I'd like to talk briefly about this great artist. First of all, let's hear the aria without Tom Hanks:

La mamma morta: Opera in film (part two)

We saw a number of different excerpts in the last post and I think there are some things in there that require further comment. So, rather than put them all in the comments, I thought I'd make a new post. Firstly, though, here are the answers:

La mamma morta: Opera in film (part one)

Here, by request, is a famous clip featuring an aria from Umberto Giordano's opera Andrea Chenier (1896):

A quick round-up

I thought it might be useful, as we're about a week in and about to come out of the holiday period to have a look back at what we've covered so far:

A Puccini playlist

Now that you are hopefully a little more familiar with Puccini and some of his major works, as well as with the names of some singers, I thought I'd put together a playlist of the main Puccini extracts, duets and arias. This is more a list to familiarise yourself with the music rather than the stories of the operas and to meet some new singers, so some performances are from concerts, some audio only, some in performance etc. Do you have a favourite track?

Thomas Allen

One of the best ways to discover more about the opera repertoire, find new composers and operas, is to be guided by a favourite artist. Although I enjoyed listening to and watching the Three Tenors, the first singer who really stood out was Thomas Allen.

Sir Tom is a baritone (a lower voice than a tenor and the voice that most males naturally have), born in Seaham, County Durham in the north-east of England in 1944. A mining town, the story of Allen's move away from this background and into the arts is said (by the writer himself) to have influenced Lee Hall's film Billy Elliot. I first met in the video of La Boheme where he plays the painter and friend, Marcello. Here is another clip, from the third act: