Lesson 8: Opera in 18th century
Which of the following is NOT true of reform opera?
Composers used accompanied recitative and ensembles less frequently.
Comic opera both entertained and served a moral purpose by poking fun at human foibles.
True
Opera seria plots often focus on human conflicts resolved by heroic deeds.
True
Arias in comic Italian operas typically have long, difficult phrases with little repetition and are accompanied by complex orchestration.
False
What is one reason that Singspiel became an important genre in Germany?
German playwrights translated and adapted English ballad operas into German.
Composers of reform operas, such as Jommelli, Traetta, and Gluck, brought together the operatic traditions of what two countries? (two countries)
Italy, France
________ is one of the most famous and successful intermezzi.
La serva padrona
performed in two to three segments between the acts of a serious opera or play
intermezzo
Gluck supervised the production of his operas and wanted singers, both soloists and the chorus, to
move more realistically and think of themselves as actors.
a full-length comic work that employed recitative in Italian
opera buffa
If you were to attend a dramatic performance at a public theater in the early 1700s that was sung throughout, had six or more singing characters, and had a contemporary plot centered around ordinary people, it would be an
opera buffa.
a full-length dramatic work without comic scenes or characters in Italian language
opera seria
a French form of opera. in French
opéra comique
Gluck believed that the ________ should "apprise the spectators of the nature of the action that is to be represented."
overture
In an opera seria, action progresses through
recitative, either secco or accompanied.
Opéra comique, ballad opera and Singspiel use ________ rather than recitative. (two words)
spoken dialogue
If you were to hear an aria from a ballad opera, it probably would
use a familiar tune from a folk or popular song.
Why were serious plots more common in the opéra comique in France in the later part of the eighteenth century?
They touched on social issues that arose during the years before and during the French Revolution.
The opera libretti written by ________ were set hundreds of times by leading composers.
Pietro Metastasio
a work with spoken dialogue and musical numbers; usually has a comic plot. in German
Singspiel
In a comic opera in the late 1700s, an act would most likely end with
all characters onstage, singing together.
includes spoken dialogue and songs, many of which feature new words set to well-known tunes. in English
ballad opera