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