How
are you?
Following
the last week, I am going to start my 44th lecture.
I
had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every
Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.
I
am going to introduce the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.
Please
refer to the following link for my previous lectures.
Today's
lecture is five operas featuring “Exotic Atmosphere”, which were introduced in
“The 44th ACJ Music Academy” on April 23, 2016.
1.
Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart)
2.
L'Italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
3.
Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Bizet)
4.
Lakme (Delibes)
5.
Madama Butterfly (Puccini)
1. Die Entführung aus dem
Serail (Mozart)
It
is a three-act opera Singspiel by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782, with the German
libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's “Belmont
und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail.”
The
heroine 'Konstanze', her English maid 'Blonde', and ‘Pedrillo’ who is the
servant of Belmonte, Konstanze's fiancé, are caught by pirates and sold to
Turkey while on a boat trip. When they are locked up at the country house of
the Pasha Selim, Konstanze’s lover Belmonte comes to the house of Selim, where
they are locked up. Then, Belmonte realizes that Selim, who loves Konstanze, is
courting her, Pedrillo is working as a gardener, and Blonde is given to Osmin as
a gift.
When Pedrillo introduces Belmonte to Selim, he lies that Belmonte is an
architect who is supposed to come. Blonde and Pedrillo dance while discussing
their escape plan in the garden, and Pedrillo continues to encourage Osmin to drink. Eventually, Osmin
is completely drunk and lies down, and Belmonte, who went to the seashore to
meet Konstanze, shares the joy of reunion with her. However, Osmin, who was so
drunk, wakes up and grasps all the situation, and then he takes all of them to Selim
with anger.
Upon seeing Belmonte, Selim recognizes that he is the son of an old
enemy who expelled him. However, Selim resolves to pay for good rather than revenge
and releases Konstanze, Belmonte, Blonde and Pedrillo. The two joyful couples
thank Selim for his grace and prepare for the voyage for return.
2. L'Italiana in Algeri
(Rossini)
It
is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian
libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca.
The
Bey of Algiers, Mustafà, who is tired of his wife, wants to take Isabella, an
Italian woman who has been sold to pirates, as his new wife, after driving his
wife out. Isabella, who is looking for her missing lover, Lindoro, finds him working
as a servant in Mustafà's house and plans to flee with him. Isabella deceives Mustafà
with a ridiculous game and flees with her lover, taking all the Italians who
were sold as slaves to Algiers.
3. Les Pêcheurs de Perles
(Bizet)
It
is a three-act opera composed by Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Michel Carré
and
Eugène
Cormon.
Leïla,
becomes a priestess for a tribe living with pearl gatherings, due to her
mysterious beauty and excellent singing skills. Her role is praying to the gods
and singing beautiful songs at the beach all day for their safety and rich
harvest while the men go into the sea and dig pearls. Before starting this
work, Leila makes a pledge of purity that she will not close to any men in
order to remain faithful to the priestess and will be punished by death if she
violates this in front of the newly elected young head fisherman Zurga and high
priest of Brahma Nourabad.
On the other hand, Nadir, who has returned from
traveling for many years, meets Zurga, a brother-like friend, and promises an eternal
friendship, but realizing that the priestess Leïla is a woman he loved at the
same time with his friend, he is again caught in flames of memories and desires.
On a starry night, Nadir goes to the temple to meet Leila and at first she
rejects him, but the two finally confirm each other's love.
At this time, pearl
fishermen and the priest Nourabad come to the scene and try to kill them. Zurga
stops this, but soon realizes that Leila is a woman of the past and he changes
his mind because of his friend’s betrayal and decides to execute the two. But
accidentally looking at Leila's necklace and discovering that she was a young
girl who had saved his life long ago, Zurga set fire to the village just before
the execution to turn people's attention to the fire and let the two run away.
4. Lakme (Delibes)
It
is a three-act opera composed by Léo Delibes to
a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille.
Lakmé,
the protagonist, is the daughter of Brahman, the highest class in India.
British officer Gérald, lagging behind other friends while they are out, stays
in the courtyard of the Hindu temple, where he encounters Lakmé and the two fall
in love in a wink.
Lakmé's father finds out that the gentile has invaded the
sanctuary, and to find and kill him for revenge, he takes his daughter to the
marketplace and has her sing. Gérald, who is caught in the bait, is injured by Lakmé's
father.
However, Lakmé's servant takes Gérald into the forest and hides him in
a hideout. Lakmé takes great care of Gérald in the forest, but a British
officer, a friend of Gérald's, comes to this place to convince him to return to
the army. Knowing that Gérald's mind is shaking, Lakmé secretly chews poison
and chooses the way of death, and gives Gérald a drink of holy water and saves
him from his father's hand.
5. Madama Butterfly (Puccini)
It
is an opera written by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi
Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
While
Pinkerton, male protagonist, is looking for a woman to enjoy while his warship
is stayed at Nagasaki Port, he marries for fun with the heroine Cio-Cio-san,
whose English name is "Butterfly". She, who had no choice but to
become a geisha because of the fall of her family, bets her entire life on this
love and marriage.
However,
after returning to the United States, Pinkerton got married ‘formally’,
forgetting his marriage with her, and later, through an American consul, he
knows that Cio-Cio-san is waiting for him every day. Then, he goes with his
wife who can't give birth to a child, and takes her son. Eventually, Cio-Cio-san,
who lost everything, commits suicides herself with the knife that her father
also did.
You
can listen to all the arias selected in this course from following YouTube
link.
1.
“Martern aller Arten mogen meiner warten”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail
(Mozart)
2.
“Languir per una bella”, L'Italiana in Algeri (Rossini)
3.
“Je crois entendre encore”, Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Bizet)
4.
“Viens, Malika”, Lakme (Delibes)
5.
“Un bel di vedremo”, Madama Butterfly (Puccini)
You
can also review this lecture from following media.
Have
a happy holiday with beautiful opera arias, and from next week, I will change
the music genre as Jazz and lecture for 11 weeks.
Thank
you.
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