44. Opera 10: Exotic Atmosphere, ACJ Music Academy

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.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

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)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhdkyUD1NQXJ1NtjA2owGIDY

You can also review this lecture from following media.

YouTube

Blog (Korean)

Naver TV

Naver Post

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.

40. Opera 6: Revenge, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 40th 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.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

Today's lecture is five operas featuring “Revenge”, which were introduced in “The 40th ACJ Music Academy” on March 26, 2016.

1. Norma (Bellini)

2. Il Trovatore (Verdi)

3. Carmen (Bizet)

4. Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)

5. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

1. Norma (Bellini)

This is a two-act opera by Vincenzo Bellini, with libretto by Felice Romani based on the play “Norma, ou L'infanticide (Norma, or The Infanticide)” by Alexandre Soumet. This opera is considered one of the representative “bel canto” operas. However, until the twentieth century, the opera was almost forgotten, and it became popular again after Maria Callas took over the title role of the opera.

Norma is the High-priestess of the Druids, the ancient Celtic mystics who believes in the immortality of the soul. She fell in love with the Roman proconsul in Gaul, Pollione, the occupying army, broke the vows of chastity as a priestess, gave birth to two children and secretly raises them in the hands of a maid. However, Pollione no longer loves Norma, and falls in love with a younger priestess Adalgisa. While the Druids are waiting for a divine message to fight with Rome, Norma, who does not want to fight with Rome, begs the goddess of the moon for peace. However, when Norma knew Pollione's betrayal, she is resentful and gives a divine message to the Druids, and attempts to arrest Pollione, who sneaked into the house to take the young priestess, and make him a sacrifice to pray for the victory of the war. Norma wants to burn the priestess with Pollione by accusing her who violated the vows of purity and desecrated the sanctuary. However, at the last moment, she speaks her name instead of the name of the young priestess and heads for the flames. Inspired by the courage and sacrifice, Pollione again feels a hot love for Norma, asks for forgiveness, holds her hand, and goes to the flames together.

2. Il Trovatore (Verdi)

It is a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi with an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Badare based on the play “El trovador (1836)” by Antonio García Gutiérrez, who was a Spanish Romantic dramatist.

The historical background was in the early 15th century, when civil war was fierce over the succession of the throne in Spain. Between Leonora, a noble lady, who serves as a lady-in-waiting to the Princess, Manrico is in a rival relationship with Count di Luna. Neither of them knows the truth but in fact, Manrico and Count di Luna are brothers. When the father of the Count di Luna, who believed that his youngest son was sick due to the curse of a gypsy woman, caught her and executed by burning, the gypsy woman's daughter, Azucena, swears revenge for her mother. Azucena, who abducted the youngest son, named him Manrico and raised him as her son. The Count di Luna, who doesn't know that Manrico is his younger brother and thinks that he is his rival, wants to kill Manrico. When he captured Manrico's mother, he goes to rescue her and is arrested. Leonora sacrifices her life to save Manrico, but he is finally executed in the hands of his older brother, the Count di Luna. Once Manrico is dead, Azucena, the mother of Manrico, cries, "He was your brother ... I took revenge, Oh mother!" The Count di Luna finds out that Manrico was his brother, but it is too late.

3. Carmen (Bizet)

It is a four-act opera composed by Georges Bizet. The French libretto was written by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée.

This is a story about a beautiful and seductive gypsy woman Carmen with a fiery character, and today it is one of the most popular operas in the world.

Seville, a city of Andalusia in southern Spain, where is the stage for the opera, “Carmen”, was famous for having many gypsies and most of them worked in tobacco factories, and Carmen was one of them.

Don José, a soldier from the northern Basque region, who has the opposite sentiment to the hot blood of Andalusia, falls in love with Carmen at first sight when he sees her singing “habanera”, who came out of the factory for a break. After many twists and turns, José lives with Carmen's gypsy group. But before long, Carmen is fed up with him and is attracted to the star toreador Escamillo. José pleads to Carmen “Let's start a new life”, but when she doesn't change her mind to the end, he stabs Carmen with a knife and kills her.

4. Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)

It is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni with an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from the short story by Giovanni Verga. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

When the protagonist Turiddu goes to the army, his lover, Lola, marries Alfio, a carter who carries things in a wagon. In the pain of losing love, Turiddu meets a peasant's daughter, Santuzza, and gradually gains stability and comfort. But while Alfio goes to work, Lola seduces Turiddu and insults Santuzza who wants to stop it. When Turiddu, obsessed with a new passion for his old lover, forcibly kicks out Santuzza who is begging, she loses her temper with anger and informs Alfio of Lola's betrayal. Alfio rushes to Turiddu, and asks for a duel. Turiddu, who foresees his death, asks his mother to take care of Santuzza and then he dies in Alfio's hands.

5. Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

It is a two-act opera in a prologue, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo, which is his only successful opera. Since 1893, it has been frequently performed with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, a double bill known as "Cav and Pag".

Canio, head of the troupe, raised orphan Nedda as an actress in the troupe and made her his wife. However, young and attractive Nedda is popular everywhere and he lives in anxiety. Tonio, a hunchback actor from the same troupe, loves Nedda, but she refuses him because she is in love with a young farmer, Silvio, in the town where they are staying for a while. Tonio, beaten by Nedda with a whip and captured by anger, tells Canio about Nedda's affair. Canio, who is filled with jealousy, grabs a knife from the table and stabs Nedda in the stage. As she dies, she calls Silvio for his help. Silvio attacks Canio, but Canio kills him as well.

You can listen to all the arias selected in this course from following YouTube link.

1. Casta Diva, Norma (Bellini)

2. D’amor sull’ ali rosee, Il Trovatore (Verdi)

3. L’amour est un oiseau rebelle, Carmen (Bizet)

4. Voi lo sapete, o mamma, Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)

5. Vesti la giubba, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhdmTnAY98uBchhTH6iLMQ99

Next week, I will lecture 7th "Opera" course as my 41st lecture.

Thank you.

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