Types of opera performances. Opera genre in the works of composers of the 19th century. Famous opera singers

Italian opera, lit. - work, business, essay

A type of musical and dramatic work. The opera is based on a synthesis of words, stage action and music. Unlike various types of dramatic theater, where music performs auxiliary, applied functions, in opera it becomes the main carrier and driving force of action. An opera requires a holistic, consistently developing musical and dramatic concept (see). If it is absent, and the music only accompanies and illustrates the verbal text and the events taking place on stage, then the operatic form disintegrates, and the specificity of opera as a special kind of musical and dramatic art is lost.

The emergence of opera in Italy at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. was prepared, on the one hand, by certain forms of the Renaissance tradition, in which music was given importance. place (lush advent interlude, pastoral drama, tragedy with choirs), and on the other hand, the widespread development in the same era of solo singing with instruments. accompaniment. It was in O. that the searches and experiments of the 16th century found the most complete expression. in the field of expressive wok. monody, capable of conveying the various nuances of human speech. B.V. Asafiev wrote: “The great Renaissance movement, which created the art of the “new man”, proclaimed the right to freely express soulfulness, emotions outside the yoke of asceticism, gave rise to new singing, in which the vocalized, chanted sound became an expression of the emotional wealth of the human heart in its limitless manifestations. This profound revolution in the history of music, which changed the quality of intonation, that is, the revelation by the human voice and dialect of internal content, soulfulness, emotional mood, alone could bring the art of opera to life" (Asafiev B.V., Izbr. works, vol. V, M., 1957, p. 63).

The most important, integral element of an operatic work is singing, which conveys a rich range of human experiences in the finest shades. Through divers. build a wok. intonation in O. reveals the individual psyche. the makeup of each character, the characteristics of his character and temperament are conveyed. From the collision of different intonations. complexes, the relationship between which corresponds to the balance of forces in the dramas. actions, the “intonation dramaturgy” of O. is born as a musical-drama. the whole.

Development of symphony in the 18th-19th centuries. expanded and enriched the possibilities of interpretation of drama by music. actions in the O., revealing its content, which is not always fully revealed in the sung text and the actions of the characters. The orchestra plays a varied commentary and generalizing role in the orchestra. Its functions are not limited to wok support. parties and expressive emphasis on individual ones, most importantly. moments of action. It can convey the "undercurrent" of the action, forming a kind of drama. a counterpoint to what is happening on stage and what the singers are singing about. Such a combination of different plans is one of the strongest expressions. techniques in O. Often the orchestra finishes the story, completes the situation, bringing it to the highest point of drama. voltage. The orchestra also plays an important role in creating the background of the action, outlining the situation in which it takes place. Orchestral-descriptive. episodes sometimes grow into complete symphonies. paintings. Purely orc. Certain events that are part of the action itself can be embodied by means (for example, in symphonic intermissions between scenes). Finally, the orc. development serves as one of the creatures. factors in creating a coherent, complete operatic form. All of the above is included in the concept of operatic symphonism, which uses many of thematic techniques. development and formation that have developed in “pure” instruments. music. But these techniques receive a more flexible and free application in theater, subject to the conditions and requirements of the theater. actions.

At the same time, the opposite effect of oxygen on the instrument occurs. music. Thus, O. had an undoubted influence on the formation of classical. symphony orchestra. Row orc. effects that arose in connection with certain tasks of theater drama. order, then became the property of the instrument. creativity. Development of operatic melody in the 17th and 18th centuries. prepared certain types of classics. instr. thematicism. Representatives of programmatic romanticism often resorted to techniques of operatic expressiveness. symphonism, who sought to paint using instrumental means. music, specific images and pictures of reality, up to the reproduction of gestures and intonations of human speech.

In music, various genres of everyday music are used - song, dance, march (in their many varieties). These genres serve not only to outline the background against which the action unfolds, the creation of national. and local color, but also to characterize the characters. A technique called “generalization through genre” (a term by A. A. Alshwang) is widely used in artistic expression. Song or dance becomes a means of realism. typification of the image, identification of the general in the particular and individual.

Diff ratio elements from which art is formed as an art. whole, varies depending on the general aesthetics. trends prevailing in a particular era, in one direction or another, as well as from specific creative artists. problems solved by the composer in this work. There are primarily vocal orchestras, in which the orchestra is assigned a secondary, subordinate role. At the same time, the orchestra can be ch. carrier of dramas. action and dominate the wok. in batches. There are known O., built on the alternation of complete or relatively complete woks. forms (aria, arioso, cavatina, various types of ensembles, choirs), and O. primary. recitative type, in which the action develops continuously, without division into departments. episodes (numbers), performances with a predominance of the solo element, and performances with developed ensembles or choirs. All R. 19th century the concept of “musical drama” was put forward (see Musical drama). Music drama was contrasted with the conventional O. "numbered" structure. This definition meant production, in which music is entirely subordinated to drama. action and follows all its bends. However, this definition does not take into account specific. the laws of operatic dramaturgy, which do not entirely coincide with the laws of drama. t-ra, and does not distinguish O. from certain other types of theater. performances with music, in which it does not play a leading role.

The term "O." conditional and arose later than the genre of musical-drama it designates. works. This name was first used in its given meaning in 1639, and it came into general use in the 18th century. 19th centuries The authors of the first operas, which appeared in Florence at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, called them “dramas on music” (Drama per musica, lit. - “drama through music” or “drama for music”). Their creation was caused by the desire to revive ancient Greek. tragedy. This idea was born in a circle of humanist scientists, writers and musicians grouped around the Florentine nobleman G. Bardi (see Florentine Camerata). The first examples of O. are considered to be “Daphne” (1597-98, not preserved) and “Eurydice” (1600) by J. Peri on the next page. O. Rinuccini (the music for “Eurydice” was also written by G. Caccini). Ch. The goal put forward by the authors of the music was the clarity of recitation. Wok. the parts are designed in a melodic-recitative manner and contain only certain, poorly developed elements of coloratura. In 1607 there was a fast in Mantua. O. "Orpheus" by C. Monteverdi, one of the greatest musician-playwrights in the history of music. He brought genuine drama, the truth of passions into O., enriched it and expressed it. facilities.

Originating in an aristocratic atmosphere. salon, O. is democratized over time, becoming accessible to wider sections of the population. In Venice, which became in the middle. 17th century Ch. center for the development of the opera genre, the first public theater was opened in 1637. opera theater ("San Cassiano"). The change in the social base of O. affected its very content and character of expression. funds. Along with the mythological historical plots appear. theme, there is a craving for sharp, intense dramas. conflicts, a combination of the tragic and the comic, the sublime with the funny and the base. Wok. the parts melodize, acquire bel canto features, and emerge independently. solo episodes of the aria type. Monteverdi's last operas were written for Venice, including The Coronation of Poppea (1642), revived in the modern repertoire. opera houses. The largest representatives of the Venetian opera school (see Venice School) included F. Cavalli, M. A. Cesti, G. Legrenzi, A. Stradella.

Tendency to increase melodic. beginning and crystallization of the finished wok. The forms that emerged among the composers of the Venetian school were further developed by the masters of the Neapolitan opera school, which had developed by the beginning. 18th century The first major representative of this school was F. Provenzale, its head was A. Scarlatti, among the prominent masters were L. Leo, L. Vinci, N. Porpora and others. Operas in Italian. librettos in the style of the Neapolitan school were also written by composers of other nationalities, including I. Hase, G. F. Handel, M. S. Berezovsky, D. S. Bortnyansky. In the Neapolitan school, the form of the aria (especially da capo) was finally formed, a clear boundary was established between the aria and the recitative, and the dramaturgical style was defined. functions divers. elements of O. as a whole. The stabilization of the operatic form was facilitated by the work of librettists A. Zeno and P. Metastasio. They developed a harmonious and complete type of opera seria ("serious opera") based on mythological. or historical-heroic. plot. But over time, drams. the content of this O. faded more and more into the background, and it turned into entertainment. "concert in costumes", completely submitting to the whims of virtuoso singers. Already in mid. 17th century Italian O. spread in a number of Europe. countries Acquaintance with it served as an incentive for the emergence of their own national in some of these countries. opera theater. In England, G. Purcell, using the achievements of the Venetian opera school, created a deeply original production. in the native language "Dido and Aeneas" (1680). J. B. Lully was the founder of the French. lyrical tragedy - like heroic-tragic. O., in many ways close to the classic. tragedies by P. Corneille and J. Racine. If Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" remained an isolated phenomenon that did not have a continuation in English. soil, then the genre is lyrical. The tragedy was widely developed in France. Its climax in mid. 18th century was associated with the work of J. F. Rameau. At the same time, ital. opera seria, which dominated the 18th century. in Europe, often became a brake on the development of national ABOUT.

In the 30s 18th century In Italy, a new genre arose - opera buffa, which developed from the comic. interludes, which were usually performed between acts of an opera seria. The first example of this genre is usually considered to be the interludes of G. V. Pergolesi “The Servant-Mistress” (1733, performed between acts of his opera-series “The Proud Captive”), which soon acquired a meaning in their own right. scenic works. The further development of the genre is associated with the creativity of the comp. N. Logroshino, B. Galuppi, N. Piccinni, D. Cimarosa. Advanced realism was reflected in opera buffa. trends of that era. Stilted conditionally heroic. the characters of the opera seria were contrasted with images of ordinary people from real life, the action developed rapidly and lively, the melodic tone associated with the people. origins, combined sharp characteristic with the melodiousness of a soft feeling. warehouse

Along with Italian opera buffa in the 18th century. other nationalities arise. types of comic A. The performance of “The Maid-Madam” in Paris in 1752 contributed to the strengthening of the position of the French. opera comic, rooted in folklore. fair performances, accompanied by the singing of simple verse songs. Democratic Italian lawsuit "Buffons" was supported by French leaders. Enlightenment by D. Diderot, J. J. Rousseau, F. M. Grimm and others. Comic. The operas of F. A. Philidor, P. A. Monsigny, and A. E. M. Grétry are distinguished by realism. content, developed scale, melodic. wealth. In England, a ballad opera arose, the prototype of which was “The Beggars' Opera” by J. Pepusch on the lyrics. J. Gaia (1728), which was a socially pointed satire on the aristocratic. opera seria. "The Beggar's Opera" influenced the formation in the middle. 18th century German Singspiel, which later draws closer to the French. opera comedian, preserving the national character in figurative structure and music. language. The largest representatives of the northern German. Singspiel were I. A. Hiller, K. G. Nefe, I. Reichardt, Austrian - I. Umlauf and K. Dittersdorf. The Singspiel genre was deeply rethought by W. A. ​​Mozart in The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and The Magic Flute (1791). In the beginning. 19th century In this genre, romanticism appears. trends. The features of the Singspiel are retained by the “software” production. German music romanticism "Free Shooter" by K. M. Weber (1820). Based on Nar. national customs, songs and dances have developed. Spanish genres music t-ra - zarzuela and later (2nd half of the 18th century) tonadilla.

In the last third of the 18th century. Russian arose. comic O., who drew plots from her fatherland. life. Young Russian O. adopted certain elements of Italian. opera buffa, French opera comedian, German Singspiel, but by the nature of the images and intonation. it was deeply original in the structure of music. Its characters were mostly people from the people; music was based on that. least (sometimes completely) on the melodic nar. songs. O. occupied the most important place in the work of talented Russians. masters E. I. Fomin ("Coachmen on a stand", 1787, etc.), V. A. Pashkevich ("Misfortune from the carriage", 1779; "St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor, or As you live, so you will be known", 2- I ed. 1792, etc.). At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. national type of folk-everyday comic O. originated in Poland, the Czech Republic and certain other countries.

Diff. opera genres clearly differentiated into the 1st gender. 18th century, during the historical developments came closer together, the boundaries between them often became conditional and relative. The content is comic. The image deepened, elements of the senses were introduced into it. pathos, drama, and sometimes heroics (“Richard the Lionheart” by Gretry, 1784). On the other hand, “serious” heroic. O. acquired greater simplicity and naturalness, freeing itself from the pompous rhetoric inherent in it. The trend towards updating traditions. type of opera seria appears in the middle. 18th century in Italy comp. N. Yommelli, T. Traetta and others. Indigenous music and drama. the reform was carried out by K.V. Gluck, art. the principles of which were formed under the influence of German ideas. and French Enlightenment. Having started his reform in Vienna in the 60s. 18th century (“Orpheus and Eurydice”, 1762; “Alceste”, 1767), he completed it a decade later in the pre-revolutionary conditions. Paris (the culmination of his operatic innovation is Iphigenia in Tauris, 1779). Striving for the truthful expression of great passions, for drama. justification of all elements of an opera performance, Gluck abandoned any prescribed schemes. He used express. means as italian Oh, so is the French. lyrical tragedy, subordinating them to a single dramaturgic. plan.

The pinnacle of O.'s development was in the 18th century. was the work of Mozart, who synthesized the achievements of different nationalities. schools and raised this genre to unprecedented heights. The greatest realist artist, Mozart brought to life sharp and intense dramas with great power. conflicts, created bright, vitally convincing human characters, revealing them in complex relationships, interweaving and struggle of opposing interests. For each plot, he found a special form of musical drama. embodiments and corresponding will express. facilities. In "The Marriage of Figaro" (1786) it is revealed in Italian forms. opera buffa is profound and cutting-edge realism. content, in “Don Juan” (1787) comedy is combined with high tragedy (dramma giocosa - “fun drama”, according to the composer’s own definition), in “The Magic Flute” sublime morals are expressed in a fairy-tale form. ideals of goodness, friendship, perseverance of feelings.

Great French the revolution gave new incentives to the development of O. V con. 18th century In France, the genre of “rescue opera” arose, in which the impending danger was overcome thanks to the courage, bravery and fearlessness of the heroes. This O. denounced tyranny and violence, and praised the valor of the fighters for freedom and justice. The proximity of the plots to modern times, the dynamism and swiftness of the action brought the “opera of salvation” closer to the opera comic. At the same time, it was distinguished by the vivid drama of the music and the increased role of the orchestra. Typical examples of this genre are “Lodoiska” (1791), “Elise” (1794) and the especially popular O. “Two Days” (“Water Carrier”, 1800) by L. Cherubini, as well as “The Cave” by J. F. Lesueur (1793 ). It is close to the “opera of salvation” in terms of plot and dramaturgy. structure of "Fidelio" by L. Beethoven (1805, 3rd edition 1814). But Beethoven raised the content of his O. to a high ideological generalization, deepened the images, and symphonized the operatic form. "Fidelio" ranks among his greatest symphonies. creations, occupying a special place in the world opera art.

In the 19th century there is a clear differentiation of different national opera schools. The formation and growth of these schools were associated with the general process of the formation of nations, with the struggle of peoples for politics. and spiritual independence. A new direction in art is being formed - romanticism, which cultivated, as opposed to cosmopolitan. trends of the Enlightenment, increased interest in national forms of life and everything in which the “spirit of peoples” was manifested. Art was given an important place in the aesthetics of romanticism, one of the cornerstones of which was the idea of ​​art synthesis. For the romantic O. is characterized by stories from folklore. fairy tales, legends and traditions or from historical. the country's past, colorfully depicted pictures of everyday life and nature, the interweaving of the real and the fantastic. Romantic composers strove to embody strong, vivid feelings and sharply contrasting states of mind; they combined violent pathos with dreamy lyricism.

Italy retained one of the leading places in the development of O. school, although she no longer had such an exception. meanings, as in the 18th century, and provoked sharp criticism from representatives of other nationalities. schools Traditional Italian genres O. were updated and modified under the influence of the demands of life. Wok. the beginning continued to dominate the rest of the elements of O., but the melody became more flexible, dramatically meaningful, a sharp line between recitative and melodic. singing was erased, more attention was given to the orchestra as a means of music. characteristics of images and situations.

The features of the new were clearly evident in G. Rossini, whose work grew out of Italian. opera culture of the 18th century. His “The Barber of Seville” (1816), which was the pinnacle of the development of opera buffa, differs significantly from tradition. examples of this genre. The comedy of situations, not free from elements of superficial buffoonery, turned into realism in Rossini. a character comedy that combines liveliness, fun and wit with pointed satire. The melodies of this music, often close to folk ones, have a sharp characteristic and very accurately correspond to the images of the characters. In "Cinderella" (1817) comic. O. becomes lyrical and romantic. coloring, and in “The Thieving Magpie” (1817) he approaches an everyday drama. In his mature opera seria, imbued with the pathos of patriotism and liberate the people. struggle ("Moses", 1818; "Mohammed", 1820), Rossini strengthened the role of the choir, created large people. scenes full of drama and grandeur. People-will liberate ideas received especially vivid expression in O. "William Tell" (1829), in which Rossini went beyond the framework of Italian. operatic tradition, anticipating certain features of the French. great romantic ABOUT.

In the 30-40s. 19th century the work of V. Bellini and G. Donizetti developed, the first O. of the young G. Verdi appeared, serving as bright examples of Italian. romanticism. The composers reflected patriotism in their O. rise associated with the movement of ital. Risorgimento, tension of expectations, thirst for a free big feeling. In Bellini, these moods are colored with tones of soft, dreamy lyricism. One of his best works is O. on history. the plot of “Norma” (1831), in which personal drama is emphasized. "Somnambulist" (1831) - lyrical drama. O. from the life of ordinary people; O. “Puritans” (1835) combines lyrical. drama with a folk-religious theme. struggle. Historical-romantic drama with strong passions is characteristic of Donizetti's work (Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835; Lucrezia Borgia, 1833). He also wrote comic books. O. (the best of them is “Don Pasquale”, 1843), connecting traditions. buffoonery with the simple and unpretentious. lyricism. However, the comic the genre did not attract romantic composers. directions, and Donizetti was the only major Italian after Rossini. a master who devoted his time to this genre means. attention in your creativity.

The highest point of development in Italy. O. in the 19th century. and one of the greatest stages in world opera art is represented by the work of Verdi. His first O. "Nebuchadnezzar" ("Nabucco", 1841), "Lombards in the First Crusade" (1842), "Ernani" (1844), captivated the audience with patriotic. pathos and high heroic. feelings, however, are not devoid of a certain swarm of romantics. stiltedness. In the 50s he created the product. huge dram. strength. In O. "Rigoletto" (1851) and "Troubadour" (1853), which preserved the romantic. features embodied deep realism. content. In La Traviata (1853), Verdi took the next step towards realism by taking the plot from everyday life. In Op. 60-70s - “Don Carlos” (1867), “Aida” (1870) - he uses monumental operatic forms, enriches the means of wok. and orc. expressiveness. A complete fusion of music and drama. action achieved by him. in O. "Othello" (1886), combining Shakespeare's power of passions with an unusually flexible and sensitive transmission of all psychological. nuances. At the end of his creative work. Verdi's path turned to the comedy genre ("Falstaff", 1892), but he moved away from the traditions of opera buffa, creating a production. with a continuously developing through-action and a highly characteristic wok tongue. parties based on recitation. principle.

In Germany before the beginning. 19th century there was no large-form O. Dept. attempts to create a big dumb. O. in history. theme in the 18th century. were not successful. National German O., which developed in the mainstream of romanticism, developed from the Singspiel. Under the influence of the romantic ideas have been enriched by the figurative sphere and will express. means of this genre, its scale has expanded. One of the first German romantic O. was “Ondine” by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1813, post. 1816), but the flowering of the national. The operatic tradition began with the appearance of “Free Shooter” by K. M. Weber (1820). The enormous popularity of this O. was based on the combination of realism. paintings of everyday life and poetry. landscapes with sacraments. demonic fantasy. "Free Shooter" served as a source of new figurative elements and colors. techniques not only for operatic creativity, many. composers, but also for romantics. program symphony. Stylistically less integral, O. Weber's large "knightly" "Euryanthe" (1823) contained, however, valuable findings that influenced the further development of opera art in Germany. From "Euryanthe" there is a direct thread to unity. opera production R. Schumann's "Genoveva" (1849), as well as Wagner's "Tannhäuser" (1845) and "Lohengrin" (1848). In Oberon (1826), Weber turned to the genre of the fairy-tale singspiel, enhancing the exoticism in the music. eastern coloring Representatives of the romantic directions in it. O. there were also L. Spohr and G. Marschner. In a different way, the traditions of Singspiel were developed by A. Lortzing, O. Nikolai, F. Flotov, whose work had features of superficial entertainment.

In the 40s 19th century emerges as the greatest master of the German language. opera art R. Wagner. His first are mature, independent. according to O.'s style, "The Flying Dutchman" (1841), "Tannhäuser", "Lohengrin" are in many ways still associated with the romantic. traditions of the beginning of the century. At the same time, they already determine the direction of musical and dramatic art. Wagner's reforms, which he fully implemented in the 50-60s. Its principles, set out by Wagner in theoretical and journalistic. works, stemmed from the recognition of the leading importance of dramas. began in O.: “drama is the goal, music is the means for its implementation.” Striving for continuity of music. development, Wagner abandoned tradition. forms of O. "numbered" structure (aria, ensemble, etc.). He based his operatic dramaturgy on a complex system of leitmotifs developed by Chap. arr. in the orchestra, as a result of which the role of symphonies in his orchestra increased significantly. started. Clutch and all kinds of polyphonics. combinations of various leitmotifs formed a non-stop flowing music. fabric - "endless melody". These principles received complete expression in “Tristan and Isolde” (1859, post. 1865) - the greatest creation of romantic opera art, which reflected the worldview of romanticism with the greatest completeness. A developed system of leitmotifs also distinguishes O. “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg” (1867), but it is realistic. the plot has been determined. the role in this O. of song elements and lively, dynamic narrations. scenes Center. A place in Wagner's work is occupied by a grandiose operatic tetralogy, created over almost a quarter of a century - "The Ring of the Nibelung" ("Das Rheingold", "Walkyrie", "Siegfried" and "Twilight of the Gods", completely post. 1876). The denunciation of the power of gold as a source of evil gives The Ring of the Nibelung its anti-capitalist feel. direction, but the general concept of the tetralogy is contradictory and lacks consistency. O.-mystery "Parsi-fal" (1882) with all its artistry. values ​​indicated a crisis of romanticism. worldview in Wagner's works. Music-drama Wagner's principles and creativity were highly controversial. While they found ardent adherents and apologists among many musicians, they were decisively rejected by others. A number of critics, highly appreciating purely muses. achievements of Wagner, believed that he was, by nature, a symphonist, not a theater player. composer, and went to O. along the wrong path. Despite sharp disagreements in his assessment, Wagner’s significance is great: he influenced the development of con music. 19 - beginning 20th centuries The problems put forward by Wagner found different solutions among composers belonging to different groups. national schools and arts. directions, but not a single thinking musician could help but define his attitude to the views and creativity. German practice opera reformer.

Romanticism contributed to the renewal of figurative and thematic. the sphere of opera art, the emergence of new genres in France. Franz. romantic O. took shape in the struggle with the academician. art from the Napoleonic Empire and the Restoration era. A typical representative of this outwardly spectacular, but cold academicism in music. T-re was G. Spontini. His O. “Vestal Virgin” (1805), “Fernand Cortes, or the Conquest of Mexico” (1809) are filled with echoes of war. processions and hikes. Heroic the tradition coming from Gluck is completely reborn in them and loses its progressive meaning. The comic genre was more vital. A. Outwardly, “Joseph” by E. Megul (1807) is adjacent to this genre. This O., written on a biblical story, connects the classic. rigor and simplicity with certain features of romanticism. Romantic The coloring is typical for paintings based on fairy-tale scenes by N. Izouard (Cinderella, 1810) and A. Boieldieu (Little Red Riding Hood, 1818). The rise of the French operatic romanticism is at stake. 20's and 30's In the field of comedy. O. he was reflected in Boieldieu’s “The White Lady” (1825) with its patriarchal-idyllic character. color and mystery. fantasy. In 1828 there was a fast in Paris. "The Mute of Portici" by F. Ober, which was one of the first examples of grand opera. The famous ch. arr. like a master comedian. operatic genre, Aubert created O. drama. plan with an abundance of acute conflict situations and widely deployed dynamic. adv. scenes This type of O. was further developed in Rossini's William Tell (1829). The most prominent representative of the historical-romantic. French O. became J. Meyerbeer. Mastery of large stage performances. masses, skillful distribution of contrasts and brightly decorative manner of muses. The letters allowed him, despite the well-known eclecticism of his style, to create productions that captured action with intense drama and purely spectacular theater. effectiveness. Meyerbeer's first Parisian opera, Robert the Devil (1830), contains elements of a gloomy demonic character. fiction in the spirit of dumb. early romanticism 19th century The brightest example of French. romantic O. - "Huguenots" (1835) on history. plot from the era of socio-religious. struggles in France in the 16th century. Meyerbeer's later operas (The Prophet, 1849; The African Woman, 1864) show signs of the decline of this genre. Close to Meyerbeer's interpretation of history. themes by F. Halevi, the best of which is “The Jew” (“The Cardinal’s Daughter”, 1835). A special place in France. music t-re gray 19th century occupies the operatic work of G. Berlioz. In O.’s “Benvenuto Cellini” (1837), imbued with the Renaissance spirit, he relied on the traditions and forms of the comic. opera genre. In the operatic duology "The Trojans" (1859), Berlioz continues Gluck's heroic character. tradition, coloring it romantic. tones.

In the 50-60s. 19th century lyric opera emerges. Compared to the big romantic. O. its scale is more modest, the action is concentrated on the relationship of several. characters deprived of the aura of heroism and romanticism. exclusivity. Representatives of lyrical O. often turned to scenes from works. world literature and drama (W. Shakespeare, J. V. Goethe), but interpreted them in everyday terms. Composers have less strong creativity. individuality, this sometimes led to banality and a sharp contradiction of the sugary-sentimental nature of the music with the structure of the dramas. images (for example, “Hamlet” by A. Thoma, 1868). At the same time, the best examples of this genre show attention to the internal. the human world, subtle psychologism, testifying to the strengthening of realism. elements in opera art. The work that established the lyrical genre. O. in French music The one that most fully embodied its characteristic features was “Faust” by C. Gounod (1859). Among other works by this composer, “Romeo and Juliet” (1865) stands out. In a number of lyrical O. the personal drama of the characters is shown against an exotic background. life and nature east. countries ("Lakmé" by L. Delibes, 1883; "The Pearl Seekers", 1863, and "Djamile", 1871, J. Bizet). In 1875 Bizet's "Carmen" appeared - a realist. a drama from the life of ordinary people, in which the truth of human passions will be expressed in a fascinating way. the strength and swiftness of the action are combined with an unusually bright and rich folk-genre coloring. In this production Bizet overcame the limitations of lyricism. O. and rose to the heights of operatic realism. To the most prominent masters of lyricism. O. also belonged to J. Massenet, who expressed the intimate experiences of his characters with subtle insight and grace (Manon, 1884; Werther, 1886).

Among young national schools that reached maturity and independence in the 19th century, the largest in importance is Russian. Representative of the Russian operatic romanticism, distinguished by its pronounced nationalism. character was A.N. Verstovsky. Among his works, “Askold’s Grave” (1835) was of greatest importance. With the advent of classic masterpieces of M.I. Glinka Rus. The opera school entered its heyday. Having mastered the most important achievements of Western Europe. music from Gluck and Mozart to their Italian, German. and French contemporaries, Glinka went on his own. ways. The originality of his operatic works. rooted in a deep connection with the people. soil, with advanced Russian currents. Society life and culture of the Pushkin era. In "Ivan Susanin" (1836) he created a national rus. type historical Oh, the hero is a man of the people. The drama of images and action is combined in this O. with the monumental grandeur of the oratorio style. The epic is just as original. O.'s dramaturgy "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1842) with its gallery of diverse images shown against the backdrop of majestic paintings by Dr. Rus' and enchantingly picturesque, magically fantastic. scenes Rus. composers of the 2nd half. The 19th century, relying on the traditions of Glinka, expanded the themes and figurative structure of operatic creativity, set new tasks for themselves and found appropriate means to solve them. A. S. Dargomyzhsky created a household bunk. drama "Mermaid" (1855), in a cut and fantastic. episodes serve to embody life reality. content. In O. "The Stone Guest" (based on the unchanged text of A. S. Pushkin's "little tragedy", 1866-69, completed by T. A. Cui, instrumented by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, 1872), he put forward a reformist task - to create production, free from operatic conventions, in which a complete fusion of music and drama would be achieved. actions. Unlike Wagner, who shifted the center of gravity to orchestral development, Dargomyzhsky strove primarily for the truthful embodiment in the vocal melody of the intonations of living human speech.

World significance Russian. The opera school was approved by A. P. Borodin, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. I. Tchaikovsky. Despite all the differences, creativity. their individualities were united by a commonality of traditions and fundamentals. ideological and aesthetic principles. Typical of them were advanced democrats. focus, realism of images, pronounced nationalism. the nature of the music, the desire to establish high humanistic principles. ideals. The richness and versatility of the life content embodied in the work of these composers corresponded to the variety of types of operatic works. and means of music. dramaturgy. Mussorgsky with enormous power reflected in “Boris Godunov” (1872) and “Khovanshchina” (1872-80, completed by Rimsky-Korsakov, 1883) the most acute socio-historical. conflicts, the people's struggle against oppression and lawlessness. At the same time, the bright outline of the Nar. masses is combined with deep penetration into the spiritual world of the human personality. Borodin was the author of historical and patriotic works. O. "Prince Igor" (1869-87, completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and A.K. Glazunov, 1890) with its convex and integral images of the characters, monumental epic. paintings by Dr. Rus', Crimea are opposed to the East. scenes in the Polovtsian camp. Rimsky-Korsakov, who addressed the preem. to the sphere of people life and rituals, to various forms of people poetic creativity, created the opera-fairy tale "The Snow Maiden" (1881), the opera-epic "Sadko" (1896), the opera-legend "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia" (1904), the satirically sharpened fairy tale O. "The Golden Cockerel" ( 1907) etc. It is characterized by the widespread use of folk song melodies combined with the richness of orc. color, an abundance of symphonic-descriptive episodes, imbued with a subtle sense of nature, and sometimes intense drama (“The Battle of Kerzhenets” from “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh...”). Tchaikovsky was interested in ch. arr. problems related to the mental life of a person, the relationship between the individual and the environment. In the foreground in his O. is psychological. conflict. At the same time, he paid attention to the depiction of everyday life, the specific life situation in which the action takes place. Russian sample lyrical O. is "Eugene Onegin" (1878) - prod. deeply national both in the nature of the images and in the music. language associated with Russian culture. mountains romance songs. In "The Queen of Spades" (1890) lyrical. drama rises to tragedy. The music of this O. is permeated with a continuous intense current of symphony. development, informing music. dramaturgy concentration and purposefulness. Acute psychological the conflict was the focus of Tchaikovsky’s attention even when he turned to history. stories ("The Maid of Orleans", 1879; "Mazeppa", 1883). Rus. composers also created a number of comics. O. on stories from folklore. life, in which the comedic beginning is combined with the lyrical and elements of fairy-tale fiction ("Sorochinskaya Fair" by Mussorgsky, 1874-80, completed by Cui, 1916; "Cherevichki" by Tchaikovsky, 1880; "May Night", 1878, and "The Night Before Christmas" ", 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov).

In the sense of putting forward new tasks and dep. valuable dramaturg. Of interest from the finds are the operas by A. N. Serov - “Judith” (1862) on a biblical story, interpreted in an oratorio plan, “Rogneda” (1865) on a story from the story of Dr. Rus' and “Enemy Power” (1871, completed by B.S. Serova and H.P. Solovyov), based on modern. domestic drama. However, the eclecticism of the style reduces their artistry. value. The significance of C. A. Cui’s operas “William Ratcliffe” (1868), “Angelo” (1875) and others also turned out to be transitory. A special place in Russian. Opera classics are occupied by “Oresteia” by S. I. Taneyev (1894), in which the plot is antique. tragedy serves the composer to stage large and universally significant morals. problems. S. V. Rachmaninov in “Aleko” (1892) paid a certain tribute to verist tendencies. In "The Miserly Knight" (1904) he continued the traditions of recitation. O., coming from the “Stone Guest” (this type of O. was represented at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries by such works as “Mozart and Salieri” by Rimsky-Korsakov, 1897; “A Feast during the Plague” by Cui, 1900), but strengthened the role of the symphony. started. The desire to symphonize the operatic form was also evident in his O. “Francesca da Rimini” (1904).

All R. 19th century Polish and Czech are coming forward. opera schools. The creator of the Polish national O. was S. Monyushko. The most popular of his O. "Pebbles" (1847) and "The Enchanted Castle" (1865) with their bright national character. the color of the music, the realism of the images. Moniuszko expressed patriotism in his operatic work. the mood of advanced Polish society, love and sympathy for the common people. But he had no successors in Polish music of the 19th century. The heyday of the Czech opera theater was associated with the activities of B. Smetana, who created historical-heroic, legendary ("The Brandenburgers in the Czech Republic", 1863; "Dalibor", 1867; "Libushe", 1872) and comedy-everyday ("The Bartered Bride" , 1866) O. They reflected the pathos of national liberation. struggles are given realistically. paintings of people life. Smetana's achievements were developed by A. Dvorak. His fairy-tale O. “The Devil and Kacha” (1899) and “The Mermaid” (1900) are imbued with the poetics of nature and people. fiction. National O., based on stories from folklore. life and characterized by the closeness of the muses. language to folklore intonations, arises among the peoples of Yugoslavia. O. Croatian computers gained fame. V. Lisinski ("Porin", 1851), I. Zayc ("Nikola Shubich Zrinski", 1876). F. Erkel was the creator of a great historical-romantic book. Hungarian O. "Bank ban" (1852, post. 1861).

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. New opera trends are emerging, related to general trends in the arts. culture of this period. One of them was verism, which became most widespread in Italy. Like representatives of this movement in literature, verist composers were looking for material for poignant dramas. provisions in ordinary everyday reality, the heroes of their works. they chose ordinary people who did not stand out for any special qualities, but were capable of feeling deeply and strongly. Typical examples of verist operatic dramaturgy are P. Mascagni's "Honor Rusticana" (1889) and R. Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" (1892). Features of verism are also characteristic of the operatic work of G. Puccini. At the same time, he, overcoming the well-known naturalistic. the limitations of verist aesthetics, in the best episodes of his works. achieved truly realistic. depth and power of expression of human experiences. In his O. “La Boheme” (1895), the drama of ordinary people is poeticized, the heroes are endowed with spiritual nobility and subtlety of feeling. In "Tosca" (1899) the drama, contrasts are sharpened and lyrical. the drama takes on a tragic overtones. In the course of development, the figurative structure and stylistics of Puccini’s work expanded and were enriched with new elements. Turning to stories from non-European life. peoples ("Madama Butterfly", 1903; "Girl from the West", 1910), he studied and used their folklore in his music. In his last O. "Turandot" (1924, completed by F. Alfano) is fabulously exotic. The plot is interpreted in the spirit of psychological. drama, combining a tragic beginning with a grotesque comedy. In music Puccini's language reflected some of the achievements of impressionism in the field of harmony and orc. coloring However, the wok. the beginning retains its dominant role. Italian heir. operatic tradition of the 19th century, he was noticed. master of bel canto. One of the strongest aspects of his work is the expressive, emotionally filled melodies of wide breathing. Along with this, the role of recitative-declamation increases in his O. and ariosous forms, wok. intonation becomes more flexible and free.

E. Wolf-Ferrari followed a special path in his operatic work, striving to combine Italian traditions. opera buffa with certain elements of verist operatic dramaturgy. Among his O. are “Cinderella” (1900), “Four Tyrants” (1906), “The Necklace of the Madonna” (1911), etc.

Trends similar to Italy. verism also existed in the operatic arts of other countries. In France, they were associated with a reaction against Wagnerian influence, which was especially pronounced in O. "Fervaal" by V. d'Andy (1895). The direct source of these trends was the creative experience of Bizet ("Carmen"), as well as literary activity E. Zola and A. Bruno, who declared the demands of life's truth in music and closeness to the interests of modern man, created a series of O. based on Zola's novels and stories (partially based on his libr.), including: "The Siege of the Mill" (1893, the plot reflects the events of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870), "Messidor" (1897), "Hurricane" (1901). In an effort to bring the speech of the characters closer to ordinary spoken language, he wrote O. in prose texts. However, his realistic principles were not consistent enough, and his life drama is often combined with vague symbolism.A more integral work is O. “Louise” by G. Charpentier (1900), which gained fame thanks to its expressive images of ordinary people and bright, picturesque paintings Parisian life.

In Germany, verist tendencies were reflected in O. “The Valley” by E. d’Albert (1903), but this trend did not become widespread.

Partially comes into contact with the verism of L. Janacek in O. "Jenufa" ("Her Stepdaughter", 1903). At the same time, in search of the truthful and will express. music declamation based on the intonations of living human speech, the composer became closer to Mussorgsky. Connected with the life and culture of his people, Janacek created a product. great realistic. the forces, images and the whole atmosphere of whose actions are deeply national. character. His work marked a new stage in the development of the Czech Republic. O. after Smetana and Dvorak. He did not ignore the achievements of impressionism and other arts. currents beginning 20th century, but remained faithful to the traditions of his national. culture. In O. "The Travels of Pan Brouchka" (1917) heroic. images of the Czech Republic during the era of the Hussite wars, reminiscent of certain pages of Smetana’s work, are compared with an ironically colored bizarre phantasmagoria. Subtle feeling of Czechs. nature and everyday life are imbued with O. "The Adventures of a Trickster Fox" (1923). Characteristic of Janáček was his appeal to Russian subjects. classic literature and drama: “Katya Kabanova” (based on “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, 1921), “From the House of the Dead” (based on the novel “Notes from the House of the Dead” by F. M. Dostoevsky, 1928). If in the first of these O. the emphasis is on lyrical. drama, then in the second the composer sought to convey a complex picture of the relationship between various. human characters, resorted to highly expressive means of music. expressions.

For impressionism, dept. elements of which were used in operatic work by many early composers. 20th century, in general, there is no tendency towards drama. genres. Almost a unique example of an operatic work that consistently embodies the aesthetics of impressionism is “Pelléas et Mélisande” by C. Debussy (1902). O.'s action is shrouded in an atmosphere of vague forebodings, yearnings and expectations, all contrasts are muted and weakened. Aiming to transfer into the wok. parts of the intonation of the speech of the characters, Debussy followed the principles of Mussorgsky. But the very images of his O. and all the twilight mysteries. the world in which the action takes place bears a symbolic stamp. mystery. The extraordinary subtlety of colorful and expressive nuances, the sensitive response of the music to the slightest shifts in the moods of the characters are combined with a certain one-dimensionality of the overall color.

The type of impressionistic painting created by Debussy was not developed in his own works. creativity, nor in French. opera art of the 20th century. “Ariana and Bluebeard” by P. Duke (1907), while somewhat similar in appearance to O. “Pelleas and Melisande,” is more rationalistic. the nature of the music and the predominance of colorful descriptions. elements over psychologically expressive ones. M. Ravel chose a different path in his one-act comic. O. "Spanish Hour" (1907), in which the sharp-characteristic music. declamation, coming from Mussorgsky's "Marriage", is combined with the colorful use of Spanish elements. adv. music. The composer's inherent gift for characterization. the depiction of images was also reflected in the O. ballet “The Child and Magic” (1925).

In him. O. con. 19 - beginning 20th centuries The influence of Wagner was noticeably felt. However, Wagner's musical and dramatic works. the principles and style were adopted epigonously by most of his followers. In a fabulously romantic way. In the operas of E. Humperdinck (the best of them is “Hans and Gretel”, 1893), Wagner’s lush harmony and orchestration are combined with the simple melodious melody of the narration. warehouse X. Pfitzner introduced elements of religious and philosophical symbolism into the interpretation of fairy-tale and legendary plots ("Rose from the Garden of Love", 1900). Clerical Catholic tendencies were reflected in his O. “Palestrina” (1915).

As one of Wagner's followers, R. Strauss began his operatic work ("Guntram", 1893; "Without Fire", 1901), but later it suffered. evolution. In "Salome" (1905) and "Electra" (1908), expressionist tendencies appeared, although rather superficially perceived by the composer. The action in these O. develops with continuously increasing emotions. tension, intensity of passions sometimes borders on a pathological state. obsession. The atmosphere of feverish excitement is supported by a massive and richly colored orchestra, achieving colossal sound power. Written in 1910, O.'s lyric-comedy "Der Rosenkavalier" marked a turn in his work from expressionist to neoclassical (see Neoclassicism) tendencies. Elements of Mozart's style are combined in this O. with the sensual beauty and charm of the Viennese waltz; the texture becomes lighter and more transparent, without, however, completely freeing itself from Wagner's full-voiced luxury. In subsequent operas, Strauss turned to stylizations in the spirit of Baroque muses. t-ra ("Ariadne on Naxos", 1912), to the forms of the Viennese classic. operettas (Arabella, 1932) or opera buffa of the 18th century. (“The Silent Woman”, 1934), to the ancient pastoral in the Renaissance refraction (“Daphne”, 1937). Despite the well-known eclecticism of style, Strauss's operas gained popularity among listeners due to the accessibility of the music and the expressiveness of the melodies. language, the poetic embodiment of simple life conflicts.

From the end 19th century desire to create a national operatic tradition and the revival of forgotten and lost traditions in this area is manifested in Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, and Norway. Among the productions that received international recognition - “Rural Romeo and Julia” by F. Dilius (1901, England), “Life is Short” by M. de Falla (1905, Spain).

20th century contributed means. changes in the very understanding of the opera genre. Already in the 1st decade of the 20th century. the opinion was expressed that O. is in a state of crisis and has no prospects for further development. V. G. Karatygin wrote in 1911: “Opera is the art of the past, partly of the present.” As the epigraph to his article “Drama and Music,” he took the statement of V.F. Komissarzhevskaya: “We are moving from opera to drama with music” (collection “Alkonost”, 1911, p. 142). Some modern zarub. the authors propose to abandon the term "O." and replace it with the broader concept of “musical theater”, because plural. prod. 20th century, defined as O., do not meet established genre criteria. The process of interaction and interpenetration of various. genres, which is one of the signs of the development of music of the 20th century, leads to the emergence of production. mixed type, for which it is difficult to find an unambiguous definition. O. is close to the oratorio and cantata; it uses elements of pantomime and stage. reviews, even a circus. Along with the techniques of the latest theater. technology in cinematography uses the means of cinematography and radio technology (the capabilities of visual and auditory perception are expanded with the help of film projection and radio equipment), etc. At the same time. with this comes a tendency to distinguish between the functions of music and drama. actions and the construction of operatic forms based on structural diagrams and principles of “pure” instrument. music.

In Western Europe O. 20th century influenced various arts movements, among which the most important were expressionism and neoclassicism. These two opposing, although sometimes intertwined, trends were equally opposed to both Wagnerism and realism. operatic aesthetics, which requires a truthful reflection of life’s conflicts and specific images. The principles of expressionist operatic dramaturgy were expressed in A. Schoenberg’s monodrama “Waiting” (1909). Almost devoid of external elements. actions, this is a product. based on the continuous build-up of a vague, anxious premonition, ending in an explosion of despair and horror. Mysterious symbolism combined with the grotesque characterizes the muses. Schoenberg's drama "The Lucky Hand" (1913). A more developed dramaturg. the plan lies at the heart of his neo-finish. O. “Moses and Aaron” (1932), but its images are far-fetched and are only symbols of religious morals. representations. Unlike Schoenberg, his student A. Berg turned to plots from real life in his operatic work and sought to pose pressing social problems. Great power of dramas. expressions are distinguished by O. “Wozzeck” (1921), imbued with deep sympathy for the powerless, the poor thrown overboard of life, and condemnation of the well-fed complacency of “those in power.” At the same time, “Wozzeck” lacks full-fledged realism. O.'s characters act unconsciously, due to inexplicable instinctive impulses and obsessions. Unfinished Berg's opera "Lulu" (1928-35), despite the abundance of dramatically impressive moments and expressiveness of the music, is devoid of ideological significance and contains elements of naturalism and painful eroticism.

The operatic aesthetics of neoclassicism is based on the recognition of the “autonomy” of music and its independence from the action played out on stage. F. Busoni created a type of neoclassical “game opera” (“Spieloper”), distinguished by deliberate conventionality and implausibility of the action. He sought to ensure that O.'s characters "deliberately behaved differently than in life." In his O. "Turandot" (1917) and "Harlequin, or Windows" (1916), he sought to recreate the Italic type in a modernized form. commedia dell'arte. The music of both O., built on the alternation of short closed episodes, combines stylization with elements of the grotesque. Strict, structurally complete forms of tools. music are the basis of his O. "Doctor Faust" (completed by F. Jarnach, 1925), in which the composer posed deep philosophical problems.

I. F. Stravinsky is close to Busoni in his views on the nature of opera art. Both composers had the same hostility toward what they called “verism,” meaning by this word any desire for life-like verisimilitude of images and situations in operatic music. Stravinsky argued that music is incapable of conveying the meaning of words; If singing takes on such a task, then it thereby “leaves the boundaries of music.” His first O. “The Nightingale” (1909-14), stylistically contradictory, combines elements of impressionistically colored exoticism with a more rigid constructive style of writing. A peculiar type of Russian. opera buffa is "The Moor" (1922), vok. The roles are based on an ironic and grotesque interpretation of the intonations of everyday romance of the 19th century. The inherent desire of neoclassicism for universality, for the embodiment of “universal”, “transpersonal” ideas and ideas in forms devoid of national ones. and temporal certainty, most clearly manifested in Stravinsky’s oratorio “Oedipus Rex” (based on the tragedy of Sophocles, 1927). The impression of aloofness is enhanced by the libr., written in an incomprehensible modern language. listener lat. language. Using the forms of ancient baroque music in combination with elements of the oratorio genre, the composer deliberately strove for a stage performance. immobility, statuesqueness. His melodrama “Persephone” (1934) is of a similar nature, in which operatic forms are combined with recitation and dance. pantomime. In O. "The Rake's Progress" (1951), to embody the satirical-moralizing plot, Stravinsky turns to comic forms. opera of the 18th century, but introduces certain romantic features. fantasy and allegory.

The neoclassical interpretation of the opera genre was also characteristic of P. Hindemith. Having given it to O. 20s. a well-known tribute to fashionable decadent trends, in his mature period of creativity he turned to large-scale plans of an intellectualized plan. In the monumental O. on a subject from the era of peasant wars in Germany, “The Artist Mathis” (1935), against the backdrop of paintings by people. The movement shows the tragedy of an artist who remains lonely and unrecognized. O. "Harmony of the World" (1957), whose hero is the astronomer Kepler, is distinguished by the complexity and multi-composition of the composition. Overload of abstract rationalism. symbolism makes this product. difficult for the listener to perceive and dramaturgically ineffective.

In Italian O. 20th century One of the manifestations of neoclassicism was the appeal of composers to the forms and typical images of opera art of the 17th and 18th centuries. This tendency found expression, in particular, in the work of J. F. Malipiero. Among his works for music t-ra - cycles of opera miniatures "Orpheids" ("Death of Masks", "Seven Songs", "Orpheus, or the Eighth Song", 1919-22), "Three Comedies of Goldoni" ("Coffee House", "Signor Todero the Grouch" , "Kyojin skirmishes", 1926), as well as great historical and tragic events. O. "Julius Caesar" (1935), "Antony and Cleopatra" (1938).

Neoclassical tendencies partially manifested themselves in French. operatic style of the 20-30s, but here they did not receive consistency, ending. expressions. For A. Honegger, this was expressed in his attraction to ancient and biblical themes as a source of “eternal” universal moral values. Striving to generalize the images and give them a “transtemporal” character, he brought O. closer to oratorio, and sometimes introduced them into his works. liturgical elements. At the same time, music his language op. distinguished by lively and vivid expressiveness, the composer did not shy away from the simplest song turns. Unity prod. Honegger (except for the O. "Eaglet", written jointly with J. Ibert and not of great value, 1935), which can be called O. in its own right. sense of the word, is "Antigone" (1927). Such works as “King David” (1921, 3rd edition 1924) and “Judith” (1925) are more accurately classified as dramas. oratorio, they were more established in the end. repertoire than on the opera stage. The composer himself gave this definition to one of his most significant works. "Joan of Arc at the stake" (1935), conceived by him as a mass folk performance performed in the open air. In the heterogeneous composition, somewhat eclectic operatic work of D. Milhaud, ancient and biblical themes were also reflected ("Eumenides", 1922 ; "Medea", 1938; "David", 1953). In his Latin-American trilogy "Christopher Columbus" (1928), "Maximilian" (1930) and "Bolivar" (1943) Milhaud resurrects the great historical-romantic type . O., but uses modern means of musical expression. The first of these O. is particularly large-scale, in which the simultaneous display of various plans of action is achieved with the help of complex polytonal techniques in music and the use of the latest means of theatrical technology, including film projection. A tribute to verist tendencies was his O. "The Poor Sailor" (1926). The greatest success was achieved by Milhaud's cycle of opera miniatures ("minute operas"), based on a parodic refraction of mythological plots: "The Rape of Europa", "The Abandoned Ariadne" and "The Liberation of Theseus" (1927).

Along with the appeal to the Majesties. images of antiquity, the semi-legendary biblical world or the Middle Ages in the operatic work of the 20s. There is a tendency towards acute topicality of content and immediacy. response to modern phenomena. reality. Sometimes this was limited to the pursuit of cheap sensationalism and led to the creation of production. light, semi-farcical character. In O. “Jumping Over the Shadow” (1924) and “Johnny Plays” (1927) by E. Kshenek, an ironically colored picture of modern. bourgeois morals are presented in the form of eccentric entertainment. theater. action with eclectic music combining urban. rhythms and elements of jazz with banal lyricism. melody. The satirical expression is also superficial. element in O. "From Today to Tomorrow" by Schoenberg (1928) and "News of the Day" by Hindemith (1929), occupying episodic. place in the works of these composers. Social-critical is more definitely embodied. theme in music theater prod. K. Weil, written in collaboration with B. Brecht, “The Threepenny Opera” (1928) and “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany” (1930), in which they are criticized and satirical. exposing the basis of capitalism. building. These products represent a new type of song music, highly relevant in content, addressed to broad democracy. audience. The basis of their simple, clear and intelligible music are various. modern genres mass music everyday life

Boldly violates the usual operatic canons of P. Dessau in his O. to Brecht's texts - "The Condemnation of Lucullus" (1949), "Puntila" (1960), distinguished by the sharpness and harshness of the muses. means, an abundance of unexpected theatrical effects, and the use of eccentric elements.

Your own music t-r, based on the principles of democracy and accessibility, was created by K. Orff. The origins of his music are varied: the composer turned to ancient Greek. tragedy, to the Middle Ages. mysteries, to people theatrical games and farcical performances, connected drama. action with epic storytelling, freely combining singing with conversation and rhythmic recitation. None of the scenic prod. Orpha is not O. in the usual sense. But each of them has a definition. musical and dramatic concept, and music is not limited to purely applied functions. The relationship between music and stage. actions vary depending on the specific creative. tasks. Among his works stage performances stand out. cantata "Carmina Burana" (1936), fabulously allegorical. music plays that combine elements of art and drama. performances, "Moon" (1938) and "Clever Girl" (1942), music. drama "Bernauerin" (1945), a kind of music. restoration of antique tragedies - "Antigone" (1949) and "Oedipus the King" (1959).

At the same time, some major composers of Ser. The 20th century, while updating the forms and means of operatic expression, did not depart from tradition. the basics of the genre. Thus, B. Britten retained the rights to the melodious wok. melodies like ch. means of conveying the mental state of the characters. In most of his operas, intense end-to-end development is combined with ariosous episodes, ensembles, and extended choruses. scenes. Among the most means. prod. Britten - expressionistically colored domestic drama "Peter Grimes" (1945), chamber O. "The Rape of Lucretia" (1946), "Albert Herring" (1947) and "The Turn of the Screw" (1954), fabulously romantic. O. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1960). In the operatic work of G. Menotti, the verist traditions received a modernized refraction in combination with certain features of expressionism ("Medium", 1946; "Consul", 1950, etc.). F. Poulenc emphasized his loyalty to the classics. traditions, naming in the dedication to O. “Dialogues of the Carmelites” (1956) the names of C. Monteverdi, M. P. Mussorgsky and C. Debussy. Flexible use of wok tools. expressiveness constitutes the strongest side of the monodrama “The Human Voice” (1958). The comic is also distinguished by its bright melody. Poulenc's opera "Breasts of Tiresia" (1944), despite its surrealism. absurdity and eccentricity of the stage. actions. Supporter of O. preem. wok type is H. V. Henze ("The Deer King", 1955; "Prince of Homburg", 1960; "Bassarids", 1966, etc.).

Along with the variety of forms and stylistics. trends of the 20th century. characterized by a wide variety of nationalities. schools Some of them reach the international level for the first time. recognition and assert their independence. place in the development of world opera. B. Bartok ("Duke Bluebeard's Castle", 1911) and Z. Kodaly ("Hari Janos", 1926; "Székely Spinning Mill", 1924, 2nd edition 1932) introduced new images and means of musical drama. expressiveness in Hungarian O., maintaining contact with the national traditions and based on intonation. build weng. adv. music. The first mature example of Bulgarian. national O. was "Tsar Kaloyan" by P. Vladigerov (1936). For the opera art of the peoples of Yugoslavia, the work of J. Gotovac was especially important (the most popular was his O. “Ero from the Other World”, 1935).

A deeply original type of American. national O. was created by J. Gershwin based on African-Americans. music folklore and traditions of the Negro. "minstrel theater" An exciting story from the life of a black man. the poor in conjunction with express. and accessible music using elements of blues, spirituals and jazz dance. rhythms brought him O. "Porgy and Bess" (1935) worldwide popularity. National O. develops in a number of Lat.-Amer. countries One of the founders of Argent. opera teacher F. Boero created works rich in folklore elements. on scenes from the life of gauchos and peasants ("Rakela", 1923; "Robbers", 1929).

In con. 60s In the West, a special genre of “rock opera” arose, using modern means. pop and everyday music. A popular example of this genre is E. L. Webber's Christ Superstar (1970).

Events of the 20th century. - the onset of fascism in a number of countries, World War II of 1939-45, and the sharply intensified struggle of ideologies - caused many artists to need to more clearly define their position. New themes appeared in the art, which O. could not ignore. In O. “War” by R. Rossellini (1956), “Antigone 43” by L. Pipkov (1963) exposes the war that brings severe suffering and death to ordinary to people. Conventionally called "O." prod. L. Nono “Intolerance 1960” (in the new edition “Intolerance 1970”) expresses the communist composer’s angry protest against colonial wars, attacks on workers’ rights, persecution of fighters for peace and justice in capitalist society. countries. Direct and obvious associations with modernity are also evoked by such works as "The Prisoner" ("Prisoner") by L. Dallapiccola (1948), "Simplicius Simplicissimus" by K. A. Hartman (1948), "Soldiers" by B. A. Zimmerman ( 1960), although they are based on classic plots. liters. K. Penderecki in O. "Devils from Loudin" (1969), showing the Middle Ages. fanaticism and fanaticism, indirectly exposes fascist obscurantism. These op. different in style. orientation, and a modern or close to modern theme is not always interpreted in them from a clearly realized ideological position, but they reflect the general tendency towards a closer connection with life, an active intervention in its processes, observed in the work of progressive zarub. artists. At the same time, in opera art zap. countries manifest destructive anti-arts. modern trends "avant-garde", leading to the complete collapse of O. as a musical-dramatic. genre. This is the “anti-opera” “State Theater” by M. Kagel (1971).

In the USSR, the development of clothing was inextricably linked with the life of the country and the formation of the Soviet Union. music and theater. culture. K ser. 20s These include the first, in many ways still imperfect, attempts to create an O. based on a plot from modernity or folklore. revolutionary movements of the past. Dept. interesting finds include such works as “Ice and Steel” by V.V. Deshevov, “North Wind” by L.K. Knipper (both 1930) and some others. But in general, these are the first-born of the owls. O. suffer from schematism, lifelessness of images, eclecticism of muses. language. The big event was fasting. in 1926 O. “The Love for Three Oranges” by S. S. Prokofiev (op. 1919), which turned out to be close to the owls. arts culture with its life-affirming humor, dynamism, and vibrant theatricality. Dr. sides of Prokofiev's talent as a playwright were manifested in O. "The Player" (2nd edition 1927) and "Fire Angel" (1927), distinguished by intense drama, mastery of sharp and well-aimed psychological. characteristics, sensitive penetration into intonation. structure of human speech. But these products composer, who was then living abroad, passed the attention of the owls. public. The innovative significance of Prokofiev's operatic dramaturgy was fully appreciated later, when Sov. O. rose to a higher level, overcoming the well-known primitivism and immaturity of the first experiments.

Heated discussions accompanied the appearance of O. "The Nose" (1929) and "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" ("Katerina Izmailova", 1932, new edition 1962) by D. D. Shostakovich, which were put forward to the Soviets. music theater The claim is a number of large and serious innovative tasks. These two O. are not equal in importance. If "The Nose" with its extraordinary richness of invention, swiftness of action and kaleidoscopic. flickering grotesquely pointed mask images was a bold, sometimes defiantly daring experiment of a young composer, then “Katerina Izmailova” - prod. master, combining the depth of the concept with the harmony and thoughtfulness of the musical and dramatic. incarnations. The cruel, merciless truth of depicting the terrible sides of the old merchant. everyday life, disfiguring and distorting human nature, puts this O. on a par with the great creations of Russian. realism. Shostakovich here in many ways draws closer to Mussorgsky and, developing his traditions, gives them something new, modern. sound.

First successes in the implementation of owls. themes in the operatic genre belong to the ser. 30s Melodious. the freshness of the music, based on intonation. build owls mass song, attracted the attention of O. “Quiet Don” by I. I. Dzerzhinsky (1935). This is a product. served as a prototype for what developed in the 2nd half. 30s "song opera", in which the song was the main element of the muses. Dramaturgy. The song has been successfully used as a vehicle for drama. characteristics of the images in O. “Into the Storm” by T. N. Khrennikov (1939, new edition 1952). But consistent. The implementation of the principles of this direction led to simplification, rejection of the diversity and richness of the means of opera and drama. expressiveness accumulated over centuries. Among O. 30s. on owls topic as production big dram strength and high arts. Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko (1940) stands out. The composer managed to create relief and vitally truthful images of ordinary people from the people, to show the growth and reforging of their consciousness during the revolution. struggle.

Sov. The operatic work of this period is diverse both in content and genre. Modern the topic was determined by ch. direction of its development. At the same time, composers turned to plots and images from the life of different peoples and historical periods. eras. Among the best owls. O. 30s - “Cola Brugnon” (“Master from Clamcy”) by D. B. Kabalevsky (1938, 2nd ed. 1968), notable for its high symphony. skill and subtle insight into the character of the French. adv. music. Prokofiev wrote a comic after Semyon Kotko. O. “Betrothal in a Monastery” (“Dueña”, 1940) on a plot close to the opera buffa of the 18th century. Unlike his early O. “The Love for Three Oranges,” this is not conventional theater. masks, and living people endowed with genuine, truthful feelings, comedic brilliance and humor are combined with bright lyricism.

During the Great Patriotic War. The war of 1941-45 especially intensified the importance of patriotism. Topics. Embody the heroic feat of the owls people in the fight against fascism was ch. the task of all types of lawsuits. The events of the war years were also reflected in the operatic work of the owls. composers. However, the works that arose during the war and under its direct influence turned out to be mostly artistically flawed and treated the topic superficially. More means. O. for the military. The topic was created a little later, when the already well-known “temporal distance” was formed. Among them, “The Family of Taras” by Kabalevsky (1947, 2nd edition 1950) and “The Tale of a Real Man” by Prokofiev (1948) stand out.

Under the influence of patriotic The rise of the war years gave birth to the idea of ​​O. “War and Peace” by Prokofiev (1943, 2nd edition 1946, final edition 1952). It is complex and multi-component in its dramaturgy. production concepts combines heroic adv. epic with intimate lyric. drama. O.'s composition is based on the alternation of monumental crowd scenes, painted in large strokes, with subtly and detailed scenes of a chamber nature. Prokofiev manifests himself in War and Peace at the same time. both as a profound playwright-psychologist, and as an artist of a mighty epic. warehouse Historical the topic received high artistic merit. incarnation in O. "Decembrists" by Yu. A. Shaporin (post. 1953): despite the well-known lack of dramaturgy. effectiveness, the composer managed to convey the heroic. the pathos of the feat of fighters against autocracy.

End period 40s - early 50s in the development of owls. O. was complex and contradictory. Along with means. achievements in these years were especially strongly affected by dogmatic pressure. attitudes, which led to an underestimation of the greatest achievements of operatic creativity, restriction of creativity. searches, sometimes to the support of low-value arts. regarding simplified works. At a discussion on issues of operatic theater that took place in 1951, such “one-day operas”, “operas of small thoughts and small feelings” were sharply criticized, and the need to “master the mastery of operatic dramaturgy as a whole, all its components” was emphasized. In the 2nd half. 50s a new upswing has come in the life of the owls. Opera theater, the previously unjustly condemned O. of such masters as Prokofiev and Shostakovich were restored, and the work of composers on the creation of new operatic works intensified. An important positive role in the development of these processes was played by the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee of May 28, 1958 “On correcting errors in the evaluation of the operas “The Great Friendship”, “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” and “With All the Heart””.

60-70s characterized by an intensive search for new paths in operatic creativity. The range of tasks is expanding, new themes are appearing, some of the themes that composers have already addressed before are finding a different embodiment, and various types are beginning to be applied more boldly. will express. means and forms of operatic dramaturgy. One of the most important remains the topic of Oct. revolution and the struggle for the establishment of the Soviet Union. authorities. In “Optimistic Tragedy” by A. N. Kholminov (1965), certain aspects of the “song opera” and music receive an enriched development. forms are enlarged, important dramatic. chorus acquires significance. scenes. The choir is widely developed. element in O. “Virineya” by S. M. Slonimsky (1967), the most remarkable aspect of the cut is the original interpretation of folk song material. Song forms became the basis of O. “October” by V. I. Muradeli (1964), where, in particular, an attempt was made to characterize the image of V. I. Lenin through song. However, the schematism of the images, the inconsistency of the music. language to the plan of a monumental folk-heroic. O. reduce the value of this work. Some people have carried out interesting experiments in creating monumental performances in the spirit of folk art. mass actions based on theatricalization of productions. oratorio genre (“Pathetic Oratorio” by G.V. Sviridov, “July Sunday” by V.I. Rubin).

In the interpretation of the military. themes, there has been a tendency, on the one hand, towards a generalized oratorio plan, on the other - towards a psychological one. deepening, revealing the events of the national meanings refracted through the perception of the individual. personality. In O. “The Unknown Soldier” by K. V. Molchanov (1967) there are no specific living characters; its characters are only carriers of the ideas of the people. feat. Dr. approach to the topic is typical for Dzerzhinsky’s “The Fate of Man” (1961), where directly. The plot is one human biography. This is a product. does not, however, belong to the creative group. good luck owls Oh, the theme is not fully explored, the music suffers from superficial melodrama.

An interesting modern experience. lyrical O., dedicated problems of personal relationships, work and life in the conditions of owls. in reality, is “Not Only Love” by R. K. Shchedrin (1961). The composer subtly uses different types of chastushka tunes and folk songs. instr. tunes to characterize the life and characters of a collective farm village. O. “Dead Souls” by the same composer (according to N.V. Gogol, 1977) is distinguished by its sharp characteristic music, accurate reproduction of speech intonations in combination with folk songs. warehouse

A new, original solution to the historical The topics are given in O. “Peter I” by A. P. Petrov (1975). The activity of the great transformer is revealed in a number of broad fresco paintings. In O.'s music there is a connection with Russian. opera classics, at the same time the composer uses modern means to achieve vibrant theater. effects.

In the comic genre. O. stands out “The Taming of the Shrew” by V. Ya. Shebalin (1957). Continuing the line of Prokofiev, the author combines the comedic beginning with the lyrical and, as it were, resurrects the forms and general spirit of the old classic. O. in the new, modern. appearance Melodious. The brightness of the music distinguishes the comic. O. “The Motherless Son-in-Law” by Khrennikov (1967; in the 1st ed. “Frol Skobeev”, 1950) in Russian. historical and everyday plot.

One of the new trends in operatic work of the 60-70s. is the increased interest in the genre of chamber opera for a small number of characters or mono-opera, in which all events are shown through the prism of the individual consciousness of one character. This type includes “Notes of a Madman” (1967) and “White Nights” (1970) by Yu. M. Butsko, “The Overcoat” and “The Stroller” by Kholminov (1971), “The Diary of Anne Frank” by G. S. Fried (1969) and etc.

Sov. O. is distinguished by its richness and diversity of nationalities. schools, which have common fundamental ideological and aesthetic principles. principles each have their own special characteristics. After the victory Oct. revolution has entered a new stage of its development in Ukrainian. A. Important for the growth of the nation. Opera teacher in Ukraine had a post. outstanding production Ukrainian opera classic "Taras Bulba" by N.V. Lysenko (1890), first published in 1924 (edited by L.V. Revutsky and B.N. Lyatoshinsky). In the 20-30s. a number of new O. Ukrainian ones appear. composers for owls and historical (from the history of people's revolutionary movements) topics. One of the best owls. O. of that time about the events of Civil. war was O. "Shchors" Lyatoshinsky (1938). Yu. S. Meitus sets various goals in his operatic work. His O. "The Young Guard" (1947, 2nd edition 1950), "Dawn over the Dvina" ("Northern Dawns", 1955), "Stolen Happiness" (1960), "The Ulyanov Brothers" (1967) became famous. Song choir. episodes constitute the strong point of heroic-historical. O. “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” by K. F. Dankevich (1951, 2nd ed. 1953). O. "Milan" (1957), "Arsenal" (1960) by G. I. Mayboroda are saturated with song melody. Towards the renewal of the opera genre and a variety of dramaturgy. V. S. Gubarenko, who made his debut in 1967 O. “Death of the Squadron,” strives for solutions.

Many peoples of the USSR have national opera schools arose or reached full development only after Oct. revolution, which brought them political and spiritual liberation. In the 20s cargo confirmed. opera school, classical The samples of the cut were “Abesalom and Eteri” (finished in 1918) and “Daisi” (1923) by Z. P. Paliashvili. In 1926 the post was completed. O. "Tamar Tsbieri" ("Insidious Tamara", 3rd ed. under the title "Darejan Tsbieri", 1936) M. A. Balanchivadze. The first large Armenian O. - “Almast” by A. A. Spendiarov (post. 1930, Moscow, 1933, Yerevan). U. Hajibeyov, who started back in the 1900s. the struggle for the creation of Azerbaijani musical theater (mugham O. "Leili and Majnun", 1908; musical comedy "Arshin Mal Alan", 1913, etc.), wrote a large heroic epic in 1936. O. "Kor-ogly", which, along with "Nergiz" by A. M. M. Magomayev (1935), became the basis of the national. opera repertoire in Azerbaijan. Means. role in the formation of Azerbaijan. O. also played “Shahsenem” by R. M. Gliere (1925, 2nd ed. 1934). Young national Art in the Transcaucasian republics was based on folklore sources and folk themes. epic and heroic pages of your national of the past. This line is national. epic O. was continued to a different, more modern one. stylistic based on such works as “David Bek” by A. T. Tigranyan (post. 1950, 2nd edition 1952), “Sayat-Nova” by A. G. Harutyunyan (1967) - in Armenia, “Hand of the Great masters" by Sh. M. Mshvelidze and "Mindia" by O. V. Taktakishvili (both 1961) - in Georgia. One of the most popular Azerbaijani. O. became “Seville” by F. Amirov (1952, new edition 1964), in which personal drama is intertwined with national events. meanings. The theme of the formation of the Soviet Union. authorities in Georgia dedicated. O. “The Abduction of the Moon” by Taktakishvili (1976).

In the 30s the foundations of the national were laid. opera theater in the republics Wed. Asia and Kazakhstan, among certain peoples of the Volga region and Siberia. Creatures assistance in creating your own national O. provided these peoples with Russian. composers. First Uzbek O. “Farhad and Shirin” (1936) was created by V. A. Uspensky based on the same name. Theater. plays that included nar. songs and parts of mugams. The path from drama with music to artistic expression was typical for a number of peoples who did not have a developed profession in the past. music culture. Nar. music the drama "Leili and Majnun" served as the basis for O. of the same name, written in 1940 by Gliere jointly. from Uzbek composer-melodist T. Jalilov. He firmly connected his activities with Uzbek. music culture A.F. Kozlovsky, who created the national the material has a big story. O. "Ulugbek" (1942, 2nd edition 1958). S. A. Balasanyan is the author of the first Taj. O. “The Vose Uprising” (1939, 2nd edition 1959) and “The Blacksmith Kova” (together with Sh. N. Bobokalonov, 1941). First Kyrgyzstan O. "Aichurek" (1939) was created by V. A. Vlasov and V. G. Fere jointly. with A. Maldybaev; later they also wrote “Manas” (1944), “Toktogul” (1958). Music dramas and operas by E. G. Brusilovsky “Kyz-Zhybek” (1934), “Zhalbyr” (1935, 2nd edition 1946), “Er-Targyn” (1936) marked the beginning of the Kazakh. musical theater Creation of Turkmenistan. music The theater dates back to the production of A. G. Shaposhnikov’s opera “Zohre and Tahir” (1941, new edition jointly with V. Mukhatov, 1953). Subsequently, the same author wrote another series of O. in Turkmenistan. national material, including joint with D. Ovezov “Shasenem and Gharib” (1944, 2nd ed. 1955). The first Buryat appeared in 1940. O. - “Enkhe - bulat-baatar” by M. P. Frolov. In the development of music. t-ra among the peoples of the Volga region and the Far East also contributed to L.K. Knipper, G.I. Litinsky, N.I. Peiko, S.N. Ryauzov, N.K. Chemberdzhi and others.

At the same time, already from the end. 30s These republics produce their own talented composers from representatives of indigenous nationalities. N. G. Zhiganov, the author of the first Tatars, works fruitfully in the field of opera creativity. O. "Kachkyn" (1939) and "Altynchach" (1941). One of his best O. - “Jalil” (1957) received recognition outside Tat. SSR. K means. achievements of the national music culture belongs to “Birzhan and Sara” by M. T. Tulebaev (1946, Kazakh SSR), “Hamza” by S. B. Babaev and “The Tricks of Maysary” by S. A. Yudakov (both 1961, Uzbek SSR), “Pulat and Gulru" (1955) and "Rudaki" (1976) by Sh. S. Sayfiddinov (Tajik SSR), "Brothers" by D. D. Ayusheev (1962, Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), "Highlanders" by Sh. R. Cha-laev ( 1971, Dag. ASSR), etc.

Belarusian in operatic work. Sov took the leading place among composers. subject. Revolutions and Citizens dedicated to the war O. “Mikhas Podgorny” by E.K. Tikotsky (1939), “In the forests of Polesie” by A.V. Bogatyrev (1939). Belarusian wrestling. partisans during the Great Patriotic War. war was reflected in O. “Alesya” by Tikotsky (1944, in the new edition “Girl from Polesie”, 1953). In these productions. Belarusian is widely used. folklore. O. “Flower of Happiness” by A. E. Turenkov (1939) is also based on song material.

During the struggle for the Sov. power in the Baltic republics was exercised post. the first Latvians. O. - “Banyuta” by A. J. Kalnin (1919) and the operatic duology “Fire and Sword” by Janis Medin (1st part 1916, 2nd part 1919). Together with O. “On Fire” by Kalnina (1937), these works. became the basis of the national opera repertoire in Latvia. After the entry of Latv. republics in the USSR in the operatic work of Latvian. composers reflect new themes, style and music are updated. language O. Among modern owls Latvian. O. are famous for “To the New Shore” (1955), “The Green Mill” (1958) by M. O. Zarina, and “The Golden Horse” by A. Zilinskis (1965). In Lithuania, the foundations of the national operatic traditions were laid down in the beginning. 20th century works by M. Petrauskas - “Birutė” (1906) and “Eglė - Queen of Snakes” (1918). First owl Lit. O. - “Village near the estate” (“Paginerai”) by S. Shimkus (1941). In the 50s O. appear on historical. ("Pilenai" by V. Yu. Klovy, 1956) and modern. ("Marite" by A.I. Raciunas, 1954) themes. A new stage in the development of litas. O. is represented by “Lost Birds” by V. A. Laurusas, “At the Crossroads” by V. S. Paltanavičius (both 1967). There was fasting in Estonia already in 1906. O. "Sabina" by A. G. Lemba (1906, 2nd ed. "Daughter of Lembitu", 1908) at the national. plot with music based on est. adv. melodies. In con. 20s other opera productions appeared. by the same composer (including “Maiden of the Hill”, 1928), as well as “Vickerians” by E. Aava (1928), “Kaupo” by A. Vedro (1932), etc. A solid and broad base for the development of national. O. was created after Estonia joined the USSR. One of the first Est. owls O. is "Pyhajärv" by G. G. Ernesaks (1946). Modern The theme was reflected in O. “The Fires of Vengeance” (1945) and “The Singer of Freedom” (1950, 2nd ed. 1952) by E. A. Kapp. New searches marked “The Iron House” by E. M. Tamberg (1965), “Swan Flight” by V. R. Tormis.

Later, opera culture began to develop in Moldova. The first O. on mold. language and national plots appear only in the 2nd half. 50s “Domnika” by A. G. Styrchi (1950, 2nd ed. 1964) is popular.

Due to the widespread development of mass media in the 20th century. special types of radio opera and television opera arose, created taking into account specific. perceptual conditions when listening on the radio or from a TV screen. In foreign countries countries, a number of O. were written specifically for radio, including “Columbus” by V. Egk (1933), “The Old Maid and the Thief” by Menotti (1939), “The Country Doctor” by Henze (1951, new ed. 1965) , "Don Quixote" by Iber (1947). Some of these O. were also performed on stage (for example, “Columbus”). Television operas were written by Stravinsky ("The Flood", 1962), B. Martin ("Marriage" and "How People Live", both 1952), Kshenek ("Calculated and Played", 1962), Menotti ("Amal and the Night Guests", 1951 ; "Labyrinth", 1963) and other major composers. In the USSR, radio and television operas are special types of production. are not widely used. The operas specially written for television by V. A. Vlasov and V. G. Fere ("The Witch", 1961) and V. G. Agafonnikov ("Anna Snegina", 1970) are in the nature of individual experiments. Sov. radio and television are following the path of creating montages and literary music. compositions or film adaptations of famous opera works. classic and modern authors.

Literature: Serov A.N., The fate of opera in Russia, “Russian Stage”, 1864, No. 2 and 7, the same, in his book: Selected Articles, vol. 1, M.-L., 1950; his, Opera in Russia and Russian opera, "Musical Light", 1870, No. 9, the same, in his book: Critical Articles, vol. 4, St. Petersburg, 1895; Cheshikhin V., History of Russian Opera, St. Petersburg, 1902, 1905; Engel Yu.. At the opera, M., 1911; Igor Glebov (Asafiev B.V.), Symphonic Etudes, P., 1922, L., 1970; his, Letters on Russian opera and ballet, "Weekly of Petrograd State Academic Theatres", 1922, No. 3-7, 9-10, 12-13; his, Opera, in the book: Essays on Soviet musical creativity, vol. 1, M.-L., 1947; Bogdanov-Berezovsky V. M., Soviet Opera, L.-M., 1940; Druskin M., Questions of musical dramaturgy of opera, Leningrad, 1952; Yarustovsky B., Dramaturgy of Russian opera classics, M., 1953; by him, Essays on the dramaturgy of 20th century opera, book. 1, M., 1971; Soviet opera. Collection of critical articles, M., 1953; Tigranov G., Armenian musical theater. Essays and materials, vol. 1-3, E., 1956-75; by him, Opera and Ballet of Armenia, M., 1966; Arkhimovich L., Ukrainian classical opera, K., 1957; Gozenpud A., Musical theater in Russia. From the origins to Glinka, L., 1959; by him, Russian Soviet Opera Theatre, L., 1963; by him, Russian Opera Theater of the 19th century, vol. 1-3, L., 1969-73; his, Russian Opera Theater at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and F. I. Shalyapin, L., 1974; his, Russian Opera House between two revolutions, 1905-1917, L., 1975; Ferman V. E., Opera House, M., 1961; Bernandt G., Dictionary of operas first staged or published in pre-revolutionary Russia and the USSR (1736-1959), M., 1962; Khokhlovkina A., Western European Opera. The end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. Essays, M., 1962; Smolsky B. S., Belarusian Musical Theatre, Minsk, 1963; Livanova T.N., Opera criticism in Russia, vol. 1-2, no. 1-4 (issue 1 jointly with V.V. Protopopov), M., 1966-73; Konen V., Theater and Symphony, M., 1968, 1975; Questions of operatic dramaturgy, (collection), editor-compiler. Yu. Tyulin, M., 1975; Danko L., Comic opera in the 20th century, L.-M., 1976.

Each of the arts has specific genres in which creators express their artistic ideas. Some of them are best suited for the implementation of grandiose, as they now say, projects, for large scales and monumental forms, others - for expressing intimate feelings. The wrong choice of genre or form in which he wished to embody his idea can result in disappointment for the creator. Of course, it’s wonderful when a small form contains great content. In such cases, it is customary to say: brevity is the sister of talent, or - as Shakespeare says in Hamlet - “brevity is the soul of the mind,” but it is bad if, on the contrary, there is not enough content for the chosen large form...

Alexander Maikapar

Musical genres: Opera

Each of the arts has specific genres in which creators express their artistic ideas. Some of them are best suited for the implementation of grandiose, as they now say, projects, for large scales and monumental forms, others - for expressing intimate feelings. The wrong choice of genre or form in which he wished to embody his idea can result in disappointment for the creator. Of course, it’s wonderful when a small form contains great content. In such cases, it is customary to say: brevity is the sister of talent, or - as Shakespeare says in Hamlet - “brevity is the soul of the mind,” but it is bad if, on the contrary, there is not enough content for the chosen large form.

Parallels can be drawn between individual genres of different types of art. Thus, an opera in a certain sense is akin to a novel or a dramatic work (more often a tragedy; and we can give examples of operas based on the texts of famous tragedies - “Othello” by Shakespeare and Verdi). Another parallel is the musical genre of prelude and lyric poem, and in the visual arts - drawing. Comparisons can easily be continued.

It is important for us to pay attention here to the fact that such parallels contain similarities in forms and even technical techniques, the identity of working with volumes and masses: for a composer - sounds, for an artist - colors. In the proposed series of essays on musical genres, we will try to avoid complex musical concepts and terms, but still we cannot do without revealing some specific musical features.

Many classical and romantic operas since the time of Lully have had inserted ballet scenes. One of these episodes was depicted in his painting by E. Degas. The ephemeral dancers on stage contrast sharply with the orchestra musicians and spectators in the stalls, among whom are the artist’s friends - the collector Albert Hesht and the amateur artist Viscount Lepic, whom the artist depicted with almost photographic precision. Impressionism and realism were closely connected. For all their differences, they could be combined in one picture.

The Egyptian theme of Verdi's opera Aida is graphically illustrated on the title page of the first edition of the opera, produced by G. Ricordi e C.” in Milan. The company's publications were distributed throughout Europe. From the memoirs of Professor S. Maykapar about his musical youth in Taganrog (early 80s of the 19th century): G. Molla, an Italian teacher, “in addition to lessons, he really loved to come to me or invite me to his place to study with me only that new operas by Verdi were coming out. He ordered the clavierauszugi (piano arrangements) of these operas directly from Milan from the Ricordi publishing house itself. So we went through the operas “Aida”, “Othello”, “Falstaff” thoroughly with him.

The first production of Carmen was not successful. The author was accused of immorality. Tchaikovsky was one of the first to appreciate the music of “Carmen”. “Bizet’s opera,” he wrote, “is a masterpiece, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era. In ten years, Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world.” Tchaikovsky's words turned out to be prophetic.

The works of the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini were published by the already mentioned G. Ricordi. “Tosca” (1900) is one of the most repertoire operas in theaters around the world. Creating medleys, paraphrases or fantasies on the themes of favorite operas is a tradition dating back to the 18th century.

"Wolf Ravine". Kaspar, while waiting for Max, enters into an agreement with the demonic hunter Samiel, to whom he sells his life. But then he offers Max instead. The ghost answers mysteriously: “Him or you.” At this time, Max descends from the top into the ravine, he is held by his mother’s shadow, but Samiel summons the ghost of Agatha, and Max, after some hesitation, goes down. Max sets about preparing seven magic bullets from the material supplied by Kaspar. They are surrounded by hellish visions. At the last, fatal bullet, the ghost of Samiel appears, and both huntsmen fall half-dead from horror to the ground.

A. Borodin did not have time to complete work on the opera.

This masterpiece of operatic art was prepared for performance and publication by the composer’s friends - N. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. Glazunov. The latter recorded the opera's overture from memory.

The opera was published by the Russian philanthropist M.P. Belyaev, founder of the music publishing house Edition M.P. BELAЇFF, Leipzig.”

From the memoirs of N. Rimsky-Korsakov: M. P. Belyaev “was a philanthropist, but not a philanthropist-lord, throwing money at art at his own whim and essentially doing nothing for it. Of course, if he had not been rich, he could not have done what he did for art, but in this matter he immediately stood on noble, solid ground. He became an entrepreneur of concerts and a publisher of Russian music without any expectation of any benefit for himself, but on the contrary, donating huge amounts of money for this, moreover, hiding his name to the last possible opportunity.”

Brief Definition

The world of opera...

How many composers, how many generations of listeners, in how many countries has this world captivated with its charms! How many greatest masterpieces this world contains! What a variety of plots, forms, methods of stage embodiment of one’s images this world provides to humanity!

Opera is by far the most difficult musical genre. As a rule, it takes up a full theatrical evening (although there are so-called one-act operas, which are usually staged two in one theatrical performance). In some cases, the composer's full operatic concept is realized over several evenings, each of which exceeds the traditional framework of an opera performance. We mean the tetralogy (that is, a performance of four operas) by Richard Wagner “The Ring of the Nibelung” with its four independent opera performances: the prologue - “Das Rheingold”, the first day - “Die Walküre”, the second day - “Siegfried”, the third day - "Death of gods". It is not surprising that such a creation in its scale is ranked among such creations of the human spirit as Michelangelo’s painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or Balzac’s “Human Comedy” (98 novels and short stories - “Studies on Morals”).

Since we've gotten so far ahead, let's talk about Wagner. In the book of the American musicologist Henry Simon “One Hundred Great Operas,” which we had the chance to translate and publish for opera lovers in our country, this tetralogy is said sharply and aphoristically: “The Ring of the Nibelung” is the greatest work of art ever created by one person, or - otherwise - the most colossal boredom, or - even so - the fruit of extreme gigantomania. This is how this tetralogy is constantly characterized, and these epithets are by no means mutually exclusive. It took twenty-eight years to create this creation - text, music and preparation of the premiere. True, during this period Wagner took a break from working on The Ring, partly to coincide with the creation of Siegfried. To distract himself a little and take a breath, during this period he also composed two of his masterpieces - “Tristan” and “Die Meistersinger”.

Before even briefly describing the historical path of opera - a detailed story about opera would take up a large book volume, or even more than one - let's try to give a brief definition of what is, or rather, what opera has become as a musical genre.

Italian word opera comes from Latin and means in a broad sense “work”, that is, “creation”, in the literary and musical sense it means “composition”. Long before opera, a musical genre, this word was used to designate a literary work, primarily philosophical and theological, when it was published in full - Opera omnia. Such works were the most complex literary genre (for example, the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas). In music, the most complex work is precisely opera - a stage work that combines music (vocal and instrumental), poetry, drama, scenography (visual arts). Thus, the opera rightfully bears its name.

Start

If we set out to outline, at least in dotted lines, the stages of development of opera as a musical genre, our essay would turn into just a listing of the names of composers, the names of their operatic creations and the theaters where these masterpieces first saw the light of the stage. Moreover, from the names, as one can easily guess, the greatest would be named: Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Lully, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Richard Strauss... These are only Western composers. And the Russians! However, we will talk about them later.

But it is still necessary to say about the first opera and the first opera composer who turned out to be such... by accident. To do this, we need to mentally transport ourselves to the homeland of this musical genre - to Italy, more precisely, to Florence at the end of the 16th century. Opera was born here and at this time.

At that time, Italy was dominated by an extraordinary passion for academies, that is, free (from city and church authorities) societies that united philosophers, scientists, poets, musicians, noble and enlightened amateurs. The purpose of such societies was to encourage and develop the sciences and arts. The academies enjoyed the financial support of their members (most of whom belonged to aristocratic circles) and were under the patronage of the princely and ducal courts. In the XVI–XVII centuries. There were over a thousand academies in Italy. One of them was the so-called Florentine Camerata. It arose in 1580 on the initiative of Giovanni Bardi, Count of Vernio. Among its members are Vincenzo Galilei (father of the famous astronomer), Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri, Pietro Strozzi, Girolamo Mei, Ottavio Rinuccini, Jacopo Corea, Cristofano Malvezzi. They were especially interested in the culture of antiquity and the problems of the style of ancient music. It was on this basis that opera was born, which was not yet called opera (the term “opera” in our understanding first appeared in 1639), but was defined as drama per music(lit.: “drama through music”, or, more precisely in meaning, “drama (set) to music”). In other words, the composers of the Florentine Camerata were carried away by the idea of ​​​​reconstructing ancient Greek music and drama and did not think at all about what we now call opera. But from attempts to create such a (pseudo) ancient drama, opera was born in 1597 or 1600.

Different dates - because it all depends on what is considered the first opera: the year the first was created, but lost, or year one reached to from the opera. It is known that the lost one was “Daphne”, and the one that has come down to us is “Eurydice”. It was magnificently staged at Palazzo Pitti on October 6, 1600, on the occasion of the marriage of Marie de Medici and the French king Henry IV. The world musical community celebrated the opera's four hundredth anniversary in 2000. Beautiful numbers! This decision is probably justified. In addition, both of these operas - “Daphne” and “Euridice” - belong to the same composer Jacopo Peri (he wrote the second in collaboration with Giulio Caccini).

Just as in the case of listing the names of opera composers, boundless material awaits us if we want to describe the different types and directions of operatic creativity, to characterize all the innovations that each of the great creators of opera brought with them. We will have to mention at least the main types of opera - the so-called “serious” opera ( opera series) and comic opera ( opera buffa). These are the first opera genres that arose in the 17th–18th centuries; from them subsequently (in the 19th century) the “opera-drama” ( grand opera) and comic opera of the Romantic era (which then smoothly transformed into operetta).

How obvious and clear this evolution of operatic genres is to musicians is evidenced by the witty remark of one witty musician: “If “The Barber of Seville” [Rossini] is shown in the theater in three actions, please know that this was done for the purpose of the theater buffet.” To appreciate this joke, you need to know that The Barber of Seville is a comic opera, the heiress of traditions opera buffa. A opera buffa at first (in Italy in the 18th century) it was created as a fun performance for listeners to relax during intermissions opera series, which at that time it always consisted of three acts. So it's easy to understand that there were two intermissions in a three-act performance.

The history of music has preserved for us the circumstances of the birth of the first opera buffa. Its author was the very young Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. In 1733, the composer created his next “serious opera” - “The Proud Captive”. Like the other five operas series, which he composed during the four years of his career as an opera composer, it was not successful, in fact, it was a failure.

As two intermezzo Pergolesi, as they say, carelessly wrote a funny story, which required only a soprano and a bass, and one mime actor (such a cast has become traditional for such interludes). Thus was born the musical form that became known as opera buffa, which turned out to have a long and honorable history, and its classic example - “The Maid-Mistress” - had an honorable and equally long stage life.

Pergolesi died in 1736 at the age of twenty-six. He never learned that ten years later, when an Italian company staged this little work of his in Paris, it became the cause of an opera war that became known as the “Buffon War.” Widely revered, Rameau and Lully then composed majestic and pathetic works that attracted critical reviews from intellectuals such as Rousseau and Diderot. The "Servant-Mistress" gave them a weapon to attack the formal musical entertainment favored by the king. By the way, the queen then preferred musical rebels. The result of this war was at least sixty pamphlets on this subject, which became a success opera buffa Rousseau himself, called “The Village Sorcerer” (it became the model for Mozart’s “Bastien et Bastienne”), and almost two hundred performances of Pergolesius’ masterpiece.

Gluck's Basic Principles

If you look at opera from the point of view of the repertoire that can be considered traditional for the classical opera houses of the world, then its first lines will not contain the works of the classics of the 18th century, such as Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and their numerous, actively working contemporaries and followers, but a composer who resolutely directed his gaze towards the dramatic truthfulness of the stage action. This composer was Gluck.

It should be noted that, of course, when characterizing national opera schools, one should also say about Germany in the mid-18th century, but here, whatever work you take that is worthy of being mentioned, it will certainly turn out that it is either an Italian composer who worked in Germany, or a German studied in Italy and wrote in the Italian tradition and in the Italian language. Moreover, the first works of Gluck himself were just that: he studied in Italy and his early operas were written for Italian opera houses. However, at a certain point, Gluck sharply changed his views and entered the opera with a banner held high, on which was inscribed: “Back to 1600!” In other words, once again, after many years of cultivating all kinds of conventions, opera was supposed to turn into “ drama per music».

Gluck's basic principles can be summarized (based on the author's preface to Alceste) as follows:

a) music should be subordinate to poetry and drama, it should not weaken them with unnecessary embellishments; it should play in relation to a poetic work the same role that brightness of colors and good distribution of light and shade play in relation to a good and accurate drawing, serving to enliven the figures without changing their contours;

b) all those excesses against which common sense and justice protest should be eliminated; the actor should not interrupt his passionate monologue, waiting for the absurd ritornello to sound, or break a word in order to demonstrate his beautiful voice on some convenient vowel;

c) the overture should illuminate the action for the audience and serve as an introductory overview of the content;

d) the orchestration should change in accordance with the interest and passion of the words spoken by the actor;

e) inappropriate caesuras between recitatives and arias should be avoided, which cripple the period and deprive the action of strength and brightness.

So, Gluck appears as a great reformer of opera. He was a German, and from him comes the line of development of opera that, through Mozart, leads to Weber, then to Wagner.

Double Talent

Perhaps the best characterization of Wagner remains the words of Franz Liszt about him (which we present in the translation of the remarkable Russian composer and music critic Alexander Serov): “As an extremely rare exception in the field of musical figures, Wagner combines in himself a double talent: a poet in sounds and a poet in words , author music in opera and author libretto, what gives extraordinary unity his dramatic and musical inventions.<...>All arts, according to Wagner's theory, should be combined in the theater and, with such artistically balanced agreement, strive for one goal - a common enchanting impression. It is impossible to discuss Wagner's music if one wants to look for the ordinary operatic texture in it, the ordinary distribution of arias, duets, romances, and ensembles. Here everything is inextricably linked, united by the organism of drama. The style of singing in most scenes is as far from routine recitative as it is from the measured phrases of Italian arias. Singing in Wagner becomes natural speech in the poetic realm, speech that does not interfere with the dramatic action (as in other operas), but, on the contrary, incomparably enhances it. But while the characters express their feelings in a majestically simple declamation, Wagner’s rich orchestra serves as an echo of the soul of these same characters, complements, completes what we we hear And we see on the stage".

Russian school

In the 19th century, the Russian opera school reached maturity and independence. At this time, wonderful soil was prepared for its flourishing. The first Russian operas, which appeared at the end of the 18th century, were primarily dramatic plays with musical episodes during the action. Much was borrowed by Russian composers of that time from the Italians and French. But they, in turn, having visited Russia, perceived and assimilated much of Russian musical life in their work.

The founder of Russian opera classics was M.I. Glinka. His two operas - the historical-tragic "Life for the Tsar" (Ivan Susanin, 1836) and the fairy-tale-epic "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1842) - laid the foundation for two most important trends in Russian musical theater: historical opera and magical-epic opera.

Following Glinka, Alexander Dargomyzhsky entered the opera field. His path as an opera composer began with the opera “Esmeralda” after V. Hugo (staged in 1847). But his main artistic achievements were the operas “Rusalka” (1855) and “The Stone Guest” (1866–1869). “Rusalka” is the first Russian everyday lyrical and psychological opera. Dargomyzhsky, like Wagner, felt the need to reform opera in order to get rid of conventions and achieve a complete fusion of music and dramatic action. But, unlike the great German, he focused his efforts on searching for the most truthful embodiment in the vocal melody of the intonations of living human speech.

A new stage in the history of Russian opera - the 60s of the 19th century. This is the time when works by composers from the Balakirev circle, known as the “Mighty Handful,” and Tchaikovsky appear on the Russian stage. Members of the Balakirev circle were A.P. Borodin, M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The operatic creations of these composers constitute the golden fund of Russian and world opera art.

The twentieth century - both in Russia and in the West - introduced significant diversity into opera genres, but we have to admit that the fourth century of opera’s existence cannot boast of works as great and in such abundance as it was in previous centuries. Let's see what happens in the fifth century...

How the opera begins...

No matter what artistic movement a particular opera belongs to, it always opens with an overture. As a rule, the latter contains the key musical ideas of the opera, its main motives, and characterizes its characters through purely orchestral means. The overture is the “calling card” of the opera. We conclude our conversation about opera with a discussion of how opera begins. And we give the floor to the wittiest of composers - Gioachino Rossini.

When a young composer asked him whether it was better to write an overture before writing an opera or after finishing it, Rossini listed six ways in which he wrote overtures:

1. I wrote the overture to Othello in a small room in which one of the most cruel theater directors, Barbaria, locked me with a plate of pasta; he said that he would only let me out after the last note of the overture had been written.

2. I wrote the overture to “The Thieving Magpie” right on the day of the opera’s premiere behind the scenes of the La Scala theater in Milan. The director placed me under the guard of four stagehands, who were ordered to throw the sheets of manuscript one by one to the copyists who were below in the orchestra pit. As the manuscript was rewritten, page by page, it was sent to the conductor, who rehearsed the music. If I had failed to compose the music by the appointed hour, my guards would have thrown me, instead of the sheets, to the scribes.

3. I came out of the situation easier in the case of the overture to The Barber of Seville, which I did not write at all; Instead, I used the overture to my opera Elizabeth, which is a very serious opera, while The Barber of Seville is a comic opera.

4. I composed the overture to “Count Ory” when I was fishing with a musician, a Spaniard, who was constantly chattering about the political situation in his country.

5. I composed the Overture to William Tell in an apartment on the Boulevard Montmartre, where night and day crowds of people smoked, drank, talked, sang and rang in my ears while I worked on the music.

6. I have never composed any overture to my opera “Moses”; and this is the simplest of all methods.

This witty statement from the famous opera composer naturally led us to a more detailed story about the overture - a musical genre that has provided wonderful examples. The story about this is in the next essay in the series.

Based on materials from the magazine “Art” No. 02/2009

On the poster: Boris Godunov - Ferruccio Furlanetto. Photo by Damir Yusupov

Opera traces its history back to the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, where it was formed as aristocratic entertainment. Since then, this genre has been improved, changed several times and eventually divided into many different types, which will be discussed in this article.

What is opera?

First of all, it is necessary to define what opera is - an art form. This is a musical and dramatic work, which is based on the combination of three arts - words, music and theatrical performance. Dramatic texts in opera are not spoken, but are sung to instrumental accompaniment. In addition, there are usually musical interludes, and breaks in the plot are filled with ballet scenes.

The very first work in this genre was written in 1600 based on the famous legend about the singer Orpheus and his beloved Eurydice.

The main centers of development of opera as an art form in general, as well as the formation of its many varieties, were primarily Italy and France.

Serious opera

So, one of the main types of opera in music is the so-called “serious” opera. It originated in Italy at the end of the 17th century among composers of the Neapolitan school. Among the main themes of these works are mythological and historical-heroic. “Serious” operas were distinguished by special pathos and lush, expressive costumes. Long arias of the soloists prevailed, in which they expressed every, even the slightest, emotion of the character, masterfully vocalizing. The functions of words and music were clearly and clearly separated.

Famous composers of the opera seria genre were Alessandro Scarlatti, Gluck, Salieri, Handel and many others.

Comic opera

Like many other types of opera, comic opera originates in Italy in the 17th century. It is contrasted with the “boring” serious opera and has completely different features: small scale, predominance of dialogues, a very small number of characters, and the use of comic techniques. This type of opera has become much more democratic and realistic than opera seria.

Different countries gave comic opera their own names - for example, in Italy it was called opera buffa, in England - ballad opera, in Germany - singspiel, and in Spain it was designated as tonadilla. Accordingly, each variety had humor with a touch of national flavor.

Among Italian composers, Pergolesi and Rossini worked in the opera buffa genre, in France Monsigny and Grétry did this, and among the English, the most famous are Sullivan and Gilbert.

Semi-serious opera

Between serious and comic opera there is the genre of semi-serious opera (the so-called seven-series opera), the distinctive feature of which was a dramatic storyline ending with a happy ending. It appeared in Italy towards the end of the 18th century. This type of opera never received much development.

Grand opera

This opera genre (grand opera) is French in origin; it arose in the first half of the 19th century. As the name suggests, grand opera is characterized by scale (4 or 5 acts, a significant number of performers, the participation of dancers and a large choir), monumentality, the use of historical-heroic plots and external decorative effects. The presence of a dance act was mandatory. Famous representatives of the genre were composers Spontini, Verdi and Aubert.

Romantic opera

It originated in Germany in the 19th century. Its appearance is associated with the general trend of romanticism that swept Germany at the end of the previous century, but in musical art romantic tendencies appeared several decades later. This trend is characterized, in particular, by raising the national spirit, which was also manifested in opera.

This genre includes all works written on a romantic plot with a touch of mysticism and fantasy. Operas of this type were composed by Weber, Spohr, and partly by Wagner.

Opera-ballet

Otherwise, this variety was called French court ballet, and originates, as the name suggests, in France at the beginning of the 18th century. Basically, the opera-ballet was created for various festivities of the royal court. The works were distinguished by the pomp and brightness of the scenery and consisted of several small scenes that were in no way connected with each other in plot. Here opera as a form of theater manifested itself perhaps most clearly.

The greatest expressiveness and character of the opera-ballet was given by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, who also added high drama to the somewhat lightweight genre.

The genre quickly became obsolete, since its functions were quite specific and dependent on the venue. Despite the fact that individual examples of opera-ballet appear until the 20th century, opera and ballet are still separate types of musical and theatrical art.

Operetta

A much smaller genre of opera were operettas - small works with a simple, funny plot, a love and satirical line, as well as simple, memorable music. Petite Opera originated in France towards the end of the 19th century.

There are operettas that vary in plot and content - most often they have lyrical and comedic shades. Certain difficulties arise in defining this genre, since there are no strict frameworks that would differentiate, for example, operetta and opera buffa.

These are not all types of opera that currently exist. As has already been said, some of the varieties have disappeared, and in the new syncretic theatrical art new, as yet unnamed genres are emerging.

COURSE ABSTRACT 3rd YEAR STUDENT OF THE FACULTY OF KNMT (s/o), GROUP No. 12 (Academic Choir) TARAKANOVA E.V.

DEPARTMENT OF THEORY AND HISTORY OF MUSIC

MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY OF CULTURE

(MGUK)

OPERA (Italian opera, literally - composition, work, from Latin opera - work, product) - a type of synthetic art; a work of art, the content of which is embodied in stage musical and poetic images.

Opera combines vocal and instrumental music, drama, visual arts, and often choreography into a single theatrical performance. Various forms of music are embodied in the Opera - solo singing numbers (aria, song (cavatina), etc.), recitatives, ensembles, choral scenes, dances, orchestral numbers...

(from the online glossary "Classical Music")

Nobody knows who composed the first symphony or the first concerto. These forms developed gradually over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries. But it is absolutely known that the first opera, Daphne, was written by the Italian composer Jacopo Peri and first performed in Florence in 1597. It was an attempt to return to the simplicity of ancient Greek drama. People united in the "Camerata" ("Company") society found the interweaving of medieval church music and secular madrigals too complex and constraining genuine feelings. Their leader, Giovanni de Bardi, expressed the credo of his followers in the following words: “When writing, you should set yourself the goal of composing poetry so that the words are pronounced as clearly as possible.”

The score of "Daphne" has not been preserved, but the important thing is that just a short time after the first performance, the new genre was firmly established.

Opera originated from an attempt to revive the elegance and simplicity of ancient Greek tragedy, which told the stories of gods and mythological heroes in dramatic form. The Choir acted as a commentator. Unfortunately, time has not preserved for us the music of bygone Antiquity. Even musical models created using the latest computer technologies are not able to show us how music actually sounded in that distant and interesting era, when even common people expressed themselves in hexameter, and mere mortals communicated with gods, satyrs, nymphs, centaurs, etc. mythological public as simply as our contemporaries with their neighbors in their summer cottage.

At the end of the 16th century, a group of Italian nobles wished to free music from medieval complexity and renew the spirit of purity that they found in ancient Greek plays. This is how the art of song was combined with dramatic storytelling, as a result of which the first opera was born. Since that time, Greek dramas and legends have inspired many composers, including Gluck, Rameau, Berlioz and Stravinsky.

The first operatic endeavors were developed primarily in the work of such a great composer of his time as Monteverdi, who wrote his first opera, Orpheus, in 1607 and his last, The Coronation of Poppea, in 1642. Monteverdi and his contemporaries would establish a classical opera structure that is still in use today:

quartets;

ensembles...

in them the characters express their emotions.

recitatives;

they explain the events taking place (according to the traditions of the Chorus from ancient drama).

orchestral overtures;

foreplay...

the performance program was turned on to give the audience the opportunity to take their seats.

interludes;

intermissions...

accompanied by a change of scenery.

All of the above points are alternated and repeated in accordance with the rules of musical dramaturgy.

The purpose of this work is to trace the development of various genres of opera from a historical perspective and through the work of various composers, whose work is rightfully considered milestones in the history of opera music.

Naturally, opera received its greatest development precisely in Italy, where it was born, in a country whose language is very melodic and melodious.

But soon this musical genre spread to other European countries, especially in France, where Louis XIV appreciated the possibilities of opera with lush scenery and dance numbers that complemented the purely musical side of the performances. His court composer was Jean Baptiste (Giovan Batista) Lully, an Italian by birth, who rose from a kitchen boy to the undisputed legislator of French music. Lully made his fortune by buying the rights to every opera performed in the country.

English opera developed from the royal masque theater. The entertainment ceremony consisted of theatrical performances, dances and music. The characters were mythological heroes. The sets and costumes were incredibly exquisite. English mask theater reached perfection at the beginning of the 17th century. In their form, these performances were very similar to opera: for example, they used recitative and orchestral interludes.

In England, the Civil War of the 1640s and the subsequent years of Cromwell's Puritan regime delayed the development of opera. The exception was Henry Purcell and his opera Dido and Aeneas, written in 1689 for a girls' school in Chelsea, until Britten wrote Peter Grimes 250 years later.

By about 1740, Italian opera in London was in decline. "The Beggar's Opera" by John Pepusch (libretto by John Gay), staged in 1728, dealt a crushing blow to the pomp of the old Italian opera: with the appearance on stage of robbers, their girlfriends, etc. It has become impossible to captivate the viewer with pompous heroes from ancient mythology. Handel tried to found another Italian opera house in London, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

On the continent, opera knew no breaks in its development. After Monteverdi, opera composers such as Cavalli, Alessandro Scarlatti (father of Domenico Scarlatti, the largest author of works for the harpsichord), Vivaldi and Pergolesi appeared in Italy one after another. In France, Lully was replaced by Rameau, who dominated the opera stage throughout the first half of the 18th century. Although opera was less developed in Germany, Handel's friend Telemann wrote at least 40 operas.

By the beginning of the 18th century, when Mozart's talent reached its peak, opera in Vienna was divided into three main directions. The leading place was occupied by serious Italian opera (Italian opera seria), where classical heroes and gods lived and died in an atmosphere of high tragedy. Less formal was the comic opera (opera buffa), based on the plot of Harlequin and Columbine from the Italian comedy (commedia dell'arte), surrounded by shameless lackeys, their decrepit masters and all sorts of rogues and swindlers. Along with these Italian forms, the German comic opera (singspiel) developed ), whose success, perhaps, lay in the use of the native German language accessible to the general public.Even before Mozart's operatic career began, Gluck advocated a return to the simplicity of 17th-century opera, the plots of which were not muffled by long solo arias that delayed the development of the action and served for singers only reasons to demonstrate the power of their voice.

With the power of his talent, Mozart combined these three directions. While still a teenager, he wrote one opera of each type. As a mature composer, he continued to work in all three directions, although the opera seria tradition was fading. One of his two great operas, “Idomeneo, King of Crete” (1781), full of passion and fire, is still performed today, but “The Clemency of Titus” (1791) can be heard very rarely.

Three buffa operas - "The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni", "This is what all women do" - are true masterpieces. They expanded the boundaries of the genre so much, introducing tragic motives into them that the viewer no longer knew whether to laugh or cry - here we can talk about comparison with Shakespeare's plays. In each of these three operas, love in one form or another is a leading theme. "Figaro" tells how a servant (Figaro) creates all sorts of obstacles for his master, who wants to seduce the girl he wants to marry. In Don Juan we witness the adventures of a ladies' man who is eventually dragged into hell by the statue of the mistress's husband he murdered. The plot is not very suitable for the genre of comic opera, but Mozart ends it with a chorus that tells the audience that all this should not be taken too seriously. The opera "Cosi" fan tutte" tells the story of two young couples; the girls and boys swore love and devotion to each other, but then switch partners and discover that being faithful is not as easy as it seems at first Beethoven, whose only opera Fidelio was super-serious, considered these subjects immoral. The libretto for all three works was written by the same poet, the brilliant and eccentric Lorenzo da Ponte. Neither of them had much respect for the strict morals of the time.

For their first joint work, “The Marriage of Figaro,” they used a play by the French author Beaumarchais, the characters of which not only extracted everything possible from the owner, but also won the sympathy of the audience. The opera "The Marriage of Figaro", written in 1786, became the peak of Mozart's fame. This is what tenor Michael Kelly, who sang in the first performance of the opera, wrote: “I will never forget this inspired expression on his face, lighting up with sparks of genius; describing it is the same as drawing the rays of the sun.” After the performance of Figaro's warlike aria, all the spectators shouted: "Bravo, bravo. Maestro! Long live the great Mozart!" “The Marriage of Figaro” became a universal Viennese hit, even the messengers whistled tunes from the opera.

The same spirit of mischievous fun pervades Mozart's two German-language operas: The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Magic Flute. The first was written in 1781, and is based on the story of the rescue of a girl who found herself in the Sultan's harem. The fairy-tale plot of The Magic Flute seems primitive at first glance, but in fact this opera, one of Mozart’s best from many points of view, has a deep meaning. This work, written by the composer in the last year of his life (1791), is filled with deep faith in the absolute triumph of good over evil. The heroes - two idealized lovers - go through many trials, and a magic flute helps them through this. The opera's heroes also include an evil queen, a noble high priest and a funny bird catcher, whose line relieves the tension. The librettist and theater director Emmanuel Schikaneder, like Mozart, was a Freemason - the ideas of Freemasonry were widely embodied in the opera in the so-called. “hidden form” (as recent research has shown, information about some Masonic symbols and rituals is literally “encoded” in the opera’s score).

The Italian first half of the 19th century was dominated by three great composers: Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. All three were masters of true Italian graceful flowing melody - the art of bel canto ("beautiful singing"), which developed in Italy from the early days of opera. This art requires perfect control of the voice. The importance of a strong, well-produced voice in it is so great that performers sometimes neglect acting. Outstanding singers of the time, such as Isabella Colubran, Rossini's first wife, could perform fiorituras and other various passages with extraordinary ease. Only a few modern singers can compare with them in this. Composers competed with each other, presenting one opera after another. Very often in these operas the plot was given much less importance than the demonstration of the vocal capabilities of the performers.

Of the leading composers of the first half of the 19th century, only Rossini lived a long life and saw the operatic world of the era of Verdi and Wagner. Verdi continued the tradition of Italian opera, and Rossini undoubtedly liked this. As for Wagner, Rossini once remarked that Wagner “has good moments, but out of every hour of music, fifteen minutes are bad.” In Italy they like to remember this story: Rossini, as you know, could not stand Wagner’s music. One day the maestro gathered distinguished guests in his house. After a hearty lunch, the guests, while waiting for dessert, went out onto the balcony with glasses of light wine. Suddenly, a terrible roar, ringing, grinding, crackling and, finally, a groan came from the living room. A second later, Rossini himself came out to the frightened guests and announced: “Thank God, ladies and gentlemen!” The sluggish maid caught on the tablecloth and just knocked the entire table setting onto the floor. home overture to "Tannhäuser"!

After several not entirely natural heroic worlds created by Wagner and Verdi, the composers who came after them were characterized by an interest in more down-to-earth themes. This mood was expressed in operatic “verismo” (Italian form of realism: from the word “vero”, truth), a direction coming from the “truth of life”, so characteristic of the work of the novelist Dickens and the painter Millet. Bizet's opera Carmen, written in 1875, was very close to pure realism, but verismo as a separate movement appeared in the musical life of Italy only 15 years later, when two young composers each wrote one short opera, and both of them were marked by a non-romantic approach to the drama of man: "Honor Rusticana" by Pietro Mascagni and "Pagliacci" by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The themes of both works are jealousy and murder. These two operas are always performed together.

The musical and dramatic features of Russian composers, such as Borodin, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, seem completely different, who, continuing old traditions, introduce a number of new specific directions into the art of opera. Mussorgsky's huge historical panoramas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" are a relatively new direction in the world opera art, called "folk musical drama", a kind of musical equivalent of the epic of the outstanding Russian writer Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace".

Mussorgsky went down in the history of world musical art as a brilliantly gifted innovative musician. The characteristic features of his work are originality, originality, truthfulness, and nationality of music; a combination of expressiveness and figurativeness, psychological insight, the originality of a musical language that synthesizes speech with song; rejection of historically established forms and rationalistic schemes in the name of life's truth. Despite the remarks of P.I. Tchaikovsky, who loved to include the epithet in his critical articles: “Dirt a la Mussorgsky.”

The pinnacle of Mussorgsky's creativity is his operas. In terms of strength, truthfulness, depth of embodiment of both individual images and the masses, mature realism, originality of dramaturgy (he himself wrote the libretto for his operas), brightness of national color, exciting drama, novelty of musical expressive means, such works as “Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" have no equal in world opera music. Mussorgsky's work had a great influence on the development of domestic and foreign opera cultures.

The full power of Mussorgsky's talent was revealed in the opera "Boris Godunov", written based on the tragedy of A. S. Pushkin in 1869. In it, Mussorgsky showed himself as a master of psychological portraits written using musical and dramatic means. The drama of Tsar Boris is conveyed in music with stunning power, revealing his tragically contradictory image, which has never been equaled in world operatic literature. The appeal to the historical plot provided the basis for the development of folk images, presented in opera and “as a single mass” in folk choirs and by individuals.

In the 70s, Mussorgsky again turned to Russian history. He was attracted by the events of the late 17th century - the Streltsy riots and schismatic movements. On the advice of Stasov, the composer in 1872 began work on the opera “Khovanshchina”. Possessing extraordinary literary abilities, Mussorgsky wrote the libretto for this opera himself.

Today, opera is still a combination of the art and skill of the conductor, director and playwright and big business. In an opera house, financial problems inevitably arise. All this leads to the fact that theater managers do not want to take on the risk of staging a new, unfamiliar work that cannot guarantee even a half-filled hall. In addition, spectators who go to the opera, as a rule, are adherents of traditional music, and they would rather prefer the old and familiar to something new, disturbing, disturbing.

And yet we will always find several new operas in the world repertoire. These are, of course, several works by Britten and especially Alban Berg's Wozzeck. This opera is far more revolutionary in musical expression than any of Britten's operas, although it was first performed back in 1925. It is written in an atonal manner using traditional musical techniques. The opera's libretto is based on the play of the same name by Georg Büchner and tells the story of the misfortunes of an oppressed soldier who is finally driven to the point of killing his wife. The music of the work is very diverse: its range is from dissonances that destroy the musical fabric to gentle soothing melodies. The singers either sing, then use recitative, or switch to shouting. The opera was initially met with hostility, but today Wozzeck is an opera favorite. This work always attracts full houses of spectators who come to share Berg's compassion for his unfortunate hero.

"Wozzeck" is a melodrama, and modern musical means are just right for this genre. Relatively recently, such famous works as “Devils from Luden” by Penderecki and “Bomarzo” by Ginastera appeared. Penderecki is Pole, Ginastera is Argentinean, and their success suggests that today opera composers are born not so much in countries with traditionally developed opera, but in countries where it has never been truly developed. With the exception of Gian Carlo Menotti (and even he spent his creative life in America), few contemporary Italian composers wrote operas. Among the German composers we can highlight Hans Werner Henze, the author of the opera "The Bassarides" - a retelling of the ancient Greek legend, as well as the political satire "How We Come to the River" with its ingenious eclectic interweaving of a variety of musical styles. Of all the opera composers of the 20th century, the most prolific and gifted was the Englishman Benjamin Britten (born 1913). Until he was 30, he did not even think about writing an opera, yet in 1945 he ascended to the operatic Olympus with Peter Grimes, the tragic story of a strong man, a lonely fisherman from the Suffolk coast. The setting of the tragedy "Billy Budd" is the Royal Navy during the time of Admiral Nelson, and the cast of performers is entirely male. The opera "Owen Wingrave" was first performed in 1971 on television, and only then was it staged in the theater.

Tippett's "Ice Strike" takes place in an airport lounge and, in addition to music, planes take off, horns sound, and announcements are made.

The patterns of development of operatic musical dramaturgy were formed under the influence of a huge number of factors. That is why there are many options for classifying opera genres. Many of them are quite controversial. However, the most common classification standard found in the relevant literature is:

early opera (correlates with the musicological concept of “early music”);

comic opera;

opera seria;

lyric opera (lyrical scenes, example: “Eugene Onegin” by P. Tchaikovsky);

grand opera (including “folk musical drama”);

opera-oratorio (example: “The Damnation of Faust” by Charles Gounod)

contemporary opera (including zong operas, pop operas, rock operas and operatic works of the eclectic Modern style);

other genres of musical and dramatic type.

To a certain extent, the category of “other genres” can include various areas of operetta and musical, although in most of the musicological literature these concepts are assigned to a separate classification level with fairly autonomous patterns of musical and dramatic development.

K. Spence, "All about music", Minsk, Belfast, 1997.

B. Pokrovsky, "Conversations about Opera", M., "Enlightenment", 1981.

Collection "Opera librettos", T.2, M., "Music", 1985.

B. Tarakanov, “Music Reviews”, M., “Internet-REDI”, 1998.

Internet databases "Applied musicology", "History of music" and "Opera librettos".

1. THE EMERGENCE OF THE GENRE ……………………………………………………… p.3
2. OPERA GENRES: OPERA SERIA AND OPERA BUFFA…………...p.4
3. WESTERN EUROPEAN OPERA OF THE 19TH CENTURY……………………...p.7
4. RUSSIAN OPERA ……………………………………………………………p.10
5. MODERN OPERA …………………………..p.14
6. STRUCTURE OF AN OPERA WORK………………………...p.16

References……………………………………………………….p.18

1. THE EMERGENCE OF THE GENRE
Opera as a musical genre arose due to the fusion of two great and ancient arts - theater and music.
“...Opera is an art that is born of mutual love between music and theater,” writes one of the outstanding opera directors of our time, B.A. Pokrovsky. “It is also similar to theater expressed by music.”
Although music has been used in theater since ancient times, opera as an independent genre appeared only at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. The very name of the genre - opera - arose around 1605 and quickly replaced the previous names of this genre: “drama through music”, “tragedy through music”, “melodrama”, “tragicomedy” and others.
It was at this historical moment that special conditions arose that gave birth to the opera. First of all, it was the invigorating atmosphere of the Renaissance.
Florence, where the culture and art of the Renaissance flourished first in the Apennines, where Dante, Michelangelo and Benvenuto Cellini began their journey, became the birthplace of opera.
The emergence of a new genre is directly related to the literal revival of ancient Greek drama. It is no coincidence that the first operatic works were called musical dramas.
When at the end of the 16th century a circle of talented poets, actors, scientists and musicians formed around the enlightened philanthropist Count Bardi, none of them thought about any discovery in art, much less in music. The main goal that Florentine enthusiasts set for themselves was to bring back to life the dramas of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. However, staging the works of ancient Greek playwrights required musical accompaniment, and no examples of such music have survived. It was then that it was decided to compose our own music, corresponding (as the author imagined) to the spirit of ancient Greek drama. So, trying to recreate ancient art, they discovered a new musical genre, which was destined to play a decisive role in the history of art - opera.
The first step taken by the Florentines was to set small dramatic passages to music. As a result, monody was born (any monophonic melody, an area of ​​​​musical culture based on monophony), one of the creators of which was Vincenzo Galilei, a subtle connoisseur of ancient Greek culture, composer, lutenist and mathematician, father of the brilliant astronomer Galileo Galilei.
Already the first attempts of the Florentines were characterized by a revival of interest in the personal experiences of the heroes. Therefore, instead of polyphony, a homophonic-harmonic style began to predominate in their works, in which the main carrier of the musical image is a melody, developing in one voice and accompanied by a harmonic (chord) accompaniment.
It is very characteristic that among the first examples of opera created by various composers, three were written on the same plot: it was based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The first two operas (both called Euridice) belonged to the composers Peri and Caccini. However, both of these musical dramas turned out to be very modest experiments compared to Claudio Monteverdi’s opera Orpheus, which appeared in 1607 in Mantua. A contemporary of Rubens and Caravaggio, Shakespeare and Tasso, Monteverdi created a work from which the history of opera art actually begins.
Monteverdi made much of what the Florentines only outlined complete, creatively convincing and viable. This was the case, for example, with recitatives, first introduced by Peri. This special type of musical expression of the heroes should, according to its creator, be as close as possible to colloquial speech. However, only with Monteverdi did recitatives acquire psychological strength, vivid imagery, and truly begin to resemble living human speech.
Monteverdi created a type of aria - lamento - (plaintive song), a brilliant example of which was the complaint of the abandoned Ariadne from the opera of the same name. “Ariadne’s Complaint” is the only fragment that has survived to this day from this entire work.
“Ariadne touched me because she was a woman, Orpheus because he was a simple man... Ariadne aroused true suffering in me, together with Orpheus I begged for pity...” In these words, Monteverdi expressed not only his creative credo, but also conveyed the essence of the discoveries that he made in the art of music. As the author of Orpheus rightly pointed out, composers before him tried to compose “soft”, “moderate” music; He tried, first of all, to create “excited” music. Therefore, he considered his main task to be the maximum expansion of the figurative sphere and expressive possibilities of music.
The new genre - opera - had yet to establish itself. But from now on, the development of music, vocal and instrumental, will be inextricably linked with the achievements of the opera house.

2. OPERA GENRES: OPERA SERIA AND OPERA BUFFA
Having originated in the Italian aristocratic environment, the opera soon spread to all major European countries. It became an integral part of court festivities and a favorite entertainment at the courts of the French king, the Austrian emperor, the German electors, other monarchs and their nobles.
The bright entertainment, the special festivity of the opera performance, impressive due to the combination in the opera of almost all the arts that existed at that time, fit perfectly into the complex ceremony and life of the court and the elite of society.
And although during the 18th century opera became an increasingly democratic art and in large cities, in addition to the courtiers, public opera houses were opened for the general public, it was the tastes of the aristocracy that determined the content of operatic works for more than a century.
The festive life of the court and aristocracy forced composers to work very intensively: every celebration, and sometimes just another reception of distinguished guests, was certainly accompanied by an opera premiere. “In Italy,” says music historian Charles Burney, “an opera that has already been heard once is looked upon as if it were last year’s calendar.” Under such conditions, operas were “baked” one after another and usually turned out to be similar to each other, at least in terms of plot.
Thus, the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti wrote about 200 operas. However, the merit of this musician, of course, is not in the number of works created, but primarily in the fact that it was in his work that the leading genre and forms of operatic art of the 17th - early 18th centuries - serious opera (opera seria) - finally crystallized.
The meaning of the name opera seria will easily become clear if we imagine an ordinary Italian opera of this period. It was a pompous, extraordinarily lavishly staged performance with a variety of impressive effects. “Real” battle scenes, natural disasters or extraordinary transformations of mythical heroes were depicted on stage. And the heroes themselves - gods, emperors, generals - behaved in such a way that the entire performance left the audience with a feeling of important, solemn, very serious events. Opera characters performed extraordinary feats, crushed enemies in mortal battles, and amazed with their extraordinary courage, dignity and greatness. At the same time, the allegorical comparison of the main character of the opera, so favorably presented on stage, with a high-ranking nobleman, on whose order the opera was written, was so obvious that each performance turned into a panegyric to the noble customer.
Often the same plots were used in different operas. For example, dozens of operas were created on themes from two works alone - Ariosto's Roland Furious and Tasso's Jerusalem Liberated.
Popular literary sources were the works of Homer and Virgil.
During the heyday of opera seria, a special style of vocal performance was formed - bel canto, based on the beauty of sound and virtuoso control of the voice. However, the lifelessness of the plots of these operas and the artificial behavior of the characters caused many complaints among music lovers.
The static structure of the performance, devoid of dramatic action, made this opera genre especially vulnerable. Therefore, the audience listened to the arias in which the singers demonstrated the beauty of their voices and virtuoso skill with great pleasure and interest. At her request, the arias she liked were repeated several times as an encore, but the recitatives, perceived as a “load,” were so uninteresting to the listeners that during the performance of the recitatives they began to talk loudly. Other ways to “kill time” were also invented. One of the “enlightened” music lovers of the 18th century advised: “Chess is very suitable for filling the emptiness of long recitatives.”
The opera was experiencing the first crisis in its history. But it was precisely at this moment that a new opera genre appeared, which was destined to become no less (if not more!) beloved than the opera seria. This is a comic opera (opera buffa).
It is characteristic that it arose precisely in Naples, the birthplace of opera seria; moreover, it actually arose in the bowels of the most serious opera. Its origins were comic interludes played during intermissions between acts of the play. Often these comic interludes were parodies of the events of the opera.
Formally, the birth of opera buffa occurred in 1733, when Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s opera “The Maid and Mistress” was first performed in Naples.
Opera buffa inherited all the main means of expression from opera seria. It differed from “serious” opera in that instead of legendary, unnatural heroes, characters whose prototypes existed in real life came to the opera stage - greedy merchants, flirtatious maids, brave, resourceful military men, etc. That is why opera buffa with was received with admiration by the broadest democratic public in all corners of Europe. Moreover, the new genre did not at all have a paralyzing effect on domestic art like opera seria. On the contrary, he brought to life unique varieties of national comic opera based on domestic traditions. In France it was a comic opera, in England it was a ballad opera, in Germany and Austria it was a singspiel (literally: “play with singing”).
Each of these national schools produced remarkable representatives of the comedy opera genre: Pergolesi and Piccini in Italy, Grétry and Rousseau in France, Haydn and Dittersdorf in Austria.
Here we should especially remember Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Already his first singspiel “Bastien and Bastien”, and even more “The Abduction from the Seraglio” showed that the brilliant composer, having easily mastered the techniques of opera buffa, created examples of truly national Austrian musical dramaturgy. The Abduction from the Seraglio is considered the first classical Austrian opera.
A very special place in the history of opera art is occupied by Mozart’s mature operas “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni”, written to Italian texts. The brightness and expressiveness of the music, not inferior to the highest examples of Italian music, are combined with a depth of ideas and drama that the opera theater has never known before.
In “The Marriage of Figaro,” Mozart managed to create individual and very lively characters of the heroes through musical means, conveying the diversity and complexity of their mental states. And all this, it would seem, without going beyond the comedy genre. The composer went even further in the opera Don Giovanni. Using an ancient Spanish legend for the libretto, Mozart creates a work in which comedic elements are inextricably intertwined with the features of serious opera.
The brilliant success of the comic opera, which made its victorious march through European capitals, and, most importantly, Mozart’s creations showed that opera can and should be an art organically connected with reality, that it is capable of truthfully depicting very real characters and situations, recreating them not only in comic, but also in a serious aspect.
Naturally, leading artists from different countries, primarily composers and playwrights, dreamed of updating the heroic opera. They dreamed of creating works that, firstly, would reflect the era’s desire for high moral goals and, secondly, would assert an organic fusion of music and dramatic action on stage. This difficult task was successfully solved in the heroic genre by Mozart’s compatriot Christoph Gluck. His reform became a true revolution in world opera, the final meaning of which became clear after the production of his operas Alceste, Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris in Paris.
“When starting to create music for Alceste,” the composer wrote, explaining the essence of his reform, “I set myself the goal of bringing the music to its true goal, which is to give poetry more new expressive power, to make individual moments of the plot more confusing, without interrupting the action and without dampening it with unnecessary decorations.”
Unlike Mozart, who did not set a special goal to reform opera, Gluck consciously came to his operatic reform. Moreover, he concentrates all his attention on revealing the inner world of the heroes. The composer did not make any compromises with aristocratic art. This happened at a time when the rivalry between serious and comic opera reached its highest point and it was clear that opera buffa was winning.
Having critically rethought and summed up the best that the genres of serious opera and the lyrical tragedies of Lully and Rameau contained, Gluck creates the genre of musical tragedy.
The historical significance of Gluck's opera reform was enormous. But his operas also turned out to be an anachronism when the turbulent 19th century began - one of the most fruitful periods in world opera.

3. WESTERN EUROPEAN OPERA OF THE 19TH CENTURY
Wars, revolutions, changes in social relations - all these key problems of the 19th century are reflected in opera themes.
Composers working in the opera genre try to penetrate even deeper into the inner world of their heroes, to recreate on the opera stage such relationships between characters that would fully correspond to complex, multifaceted life collisions.
Such figurative and thematic scope inevitably led to further reforms in the art of opera. Opera genres developed in the 18th century were tested for modernity. Opera seria virtually disappeared by the 19th century. As for the comic opera, it continued to enjoy constant success.
The vitality of this genre was brilliantly confirmed by Gioachino Rossini. His “The Barber of Seville” became a true masterpiece of comedic art of the 19th century.
The bright melody, the naturalness and liveliness of the characters depicted by the composer, the simplicity and harmony of the plot - all this ensured the opera a real triumph, making its author “the musical dictator of Europe” for a long time. As the author of opera buffa, Rossini places accents in “The Barber of Seville” in his own way. He was much less interested in the internal significance of the content than, for example, Mozart. And Rossini was very far from Gluck, who believed that the main goal of music in opera is to reveal the dramatic idea of ​​the work.
With every aria, every phrase in “The Barber of Seville,” the composer seems to remind that music exists for joy, the enjoyment of beauty, and that the most valuable thing in it is its charming melody.
Nevertheless, “Europe’s darling, Orpheus,” as Pushkin called Rossini, felt that the events taking place in the world, and above all the struggle for independence waged by his homeland, Italy (oppressed by Spain, France and Austria), required him to turn to serious topic. This is how the idea of ​​the opera “William Tell” was born - one of the first works of the operatic genre on a heroic-patriotic theme (in the plot, Swiss peasants rebel against their oppressors, the Austrians).
The bright, realistic characterization of the main characters, impressive crowd scenes depicting the people with the help of the choir and ensembles, and most importantly, the unusually expressive music earned “William Tell” the fame of one of the best works of operatic drama of the 19th century.
The popularity of "Welhelm Tell" was explained, among other advantages, by the fact that the opera was written on a historical plot. And historical operas became widespread at this time on the European opera stage. Thus, six years after the premiere of William Tell, the production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera The Huguenots, which tells about the struggle between Catholics and Huguenots at the end of the 16th century, became a sensation.
Another area conquered by the opera art of the 19th century were fairy-tale and legendary plots. They became especially widespread in the works of German composers. Following Mozart's opera-fairy tale "The Magic Flute", Carl Maria Weber created the operas "Freeshot", "Euryanthe" and "Oberon". The first of these was the most significant work, in fact the first German folk opera. However, the most complete and large-scale embodiment of the legendary theme, the folk epic, was found in the work of one of the greatest opera composers - Richard Wagner.
Wagner is a whole era in musical art. Opera became for him the only genre through which the composer spoke to the world. Wagner was also faithful to the literary source that gave him plots for his operas, which turned out to be the ancient German epic. Legends about the Flying Dutchman doomed to eternal wanderings, about the rebel singer Tangeyser, who challenged hypocrisy in art and for this renounced the clan of court poets and musicians, about the legendary knight Lohengrin, who rushed to the aid of an innocent girl condemned to execution - these legendary , bright, prominent characters became the heroes of Wagner’s first operas “The Wandering Sailor”, “Tannhäuser” and “Lohengrin”.
Richard Wagner dreamed of embodying in the operatic genre not individual plots, but an entire epic dedicated to the main problems of humanity. The composer tried to reflect this in the grandiose concept of “The Ring of the Nibelung” - a cycle consisting of four operas. This tetralogy was also based on legends from the Old Germanic epic.
Such an unusual and grandiose idea (the composer spent about twenty years of his life on its implementation) naturally had to be solved by special, new means. And Wagner, trying to follow the laws of natural human speech, refuses such necessary elements of an operatic work as aria, duet, recitative, chorus, ensemble. He creates a single musical action-narrative, not interrupted by the boundaries of numbers, which is led by singers and an orchestra.
Wagner's reform as an opera composer also affected him in another way: his operas are built on a system of leitmotifs - bright melodies-images that correspond to certain characters or their relationships. And each of his musical dramas - and this is how, like Monteverdi and Gluck, he called his operas - is nothing more than the development and interaction of a number of leitmotifs.
Another direction, called “lyrical theater,” was no less important. The birthplace of the “lyric theater” was France. The composers who formed this movement - Gounod, Thomas, Delibes, Massenet, Bizet - also resorted to both fabulously exotic subjects and everyday ones; but this was not the main thing for them. Each of these composers, in their own way, strove to depict their heroes in such a way that they were natural, vital, and endowed with qualities characteristic of their contemporaries.
A brilliant example of this operatic trend was Georges Bizet's Carmen, based on a short story by Prosper Mérimée.
The composer managed to find a unique method for characterizing the characters, which is most clearly seen in the example of the image of Carmen. Bizet reveals the inner world of his heroine not in an aria, as was customary, but in song and dance.
The fate of this opera, which conquered the whole world, was very dramatic at first. Its premiere ended in failure. One of the main reasons for such an attitude towards Bizet’s opera was that he brought ordinary people onto the stage as heroes (Carmen is a tobacco factory worker, Jose is a soldier). The aristocratic Parisian public of 1875 could not accept such characters (it was then that Carmen premiered). She was repulsed by the realism of the opera, which was believed to be incompatible with the “laws of the genre.” Pujin’s then authoritative Dictionary of Opera said that Carmen needed to be remade, “weakening the realism inappropriate for opera.” Of course, this was the point of view of people who did not understand that realistic art, filled with life’s truth and natural heroes, came to the opera stage quite naturally, and not at the whim of any one composer.
It was precisely the realistic path that Giuseppe Verdi, one of the greatest composers who ever worked in the opera genre, followed.
Verdi began his long journey in operatic work with heroic and patriotic operas. "Lombards", "Ernani" and "Attila", created in the 40s, were perceived in Italy as a call for national unity. The premieres of his operas turned into massive public demonstrations.
Verdi's operas, written by him in the early 50s, had a completely different resonance. “Rigoletto”, “Il Trovatore” and “La Traviata” are three operatic canvases by Verdi, in which his outstanding melodic gift was happily combined with the gift of a brilliant composer-playwright.
Based on Victor Hugo's play The King Amuses himself, the opera Rigoletto describes the events of the 16th century. The setting of the opera is the court of the Duke of Mantua, for whom human dignity and honor are nothing compared to his whim, the desire for endless pleasures (Gilda, the daughter of the court jester Rigoletto, becomes his victim). It would seem like another opera from court life, of which there were hundreds. But Verdi creates a most truthful psychological drama, in which the depth of the music fully corresponded to the depth and truthfulness of the feelings of its characters.
La Traviata caused a real shock among his contemporaries. The Venetian public, for whom the opera's premiere was intended, booed it. Above we talked about the failure of Bizet’s “Carmen,” but the premiere of “La Traviata” took place almost a quarter of a century earlier (1853), and the reason was the same: the realism of what was depicted.
Verdi was very upset about the failure of his opera. “It was a decisive fiasco,” he wrote after the premiere. “Let’s not think about La Traviata anymore.”
A man of enormous vitality, a composer with rare creative potential, Verdi was not, like Bizet, broken by the fact that the public did not accept his work. He would create many more operas, which would later form a treasury of operatic art. Among them are such masterpieces as “Don Carlos”, “Aida”, “Falstaff”. One of the highest achievements of the mature Verdi was the opera Othello.
The grandiose achievements of the leading countries in the art of opera - Italy, Germany, Austria, France - inspired composers of other European countries - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary - to create their own national opera art. This is how “Pebble” by the Polish composer Stanislav Moniuszko, the operas of the Czechs Berdzhich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak, and the Hungarian Ferenc Erkel were born.
But Russia rightly occupied the leading place among young national opera schools in the 19th century.

4. RUSSIAN OPERA
On the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater on November 27, 1836, the premiere of “Ivan Susanin” by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, the first classical Russian opera, took place.
In order to more clearly understand the place of this work in the history of music, we will try to briefly outline the situation that developed at that moment in Western European and Russian musical theater.
Wagner, Bizet, Verdi have not yet said their word. With rare exceptions (for example, the success of Meyerbeer in Paris), everywhere in European opera the trendsetters - both in creativity and in the manner of performance - are Italians. The main opera “dictator” is Rossini. There is an intensive “export” of Italian opera. Composers from Venice, Naples, Rome travel to all corners of the continent, working for long periods in different countries. Bringing along with their art the invaluable experience accumulated by Italian opera, they at the same time suppressed the development of national opera.
This was the case in Russia as well. Such Italian composers as Cimarosa, Paisiello, Galuppi, Francesco Araya stayed here, who was the first to attempt to create an opera based on Russian melodic material with the original Russian text by Sumarokov. Later, a noticeable mark on St. Petersburg musical life was left by the activities of a native of Venice, Caterino Cavos, who wrote an opera under the same name as Glinka - “A Life for the Tsar” (“Ivan Susanin”).
The Russian court and aristocracy, at whose invitation Italian musicians arrived in Russia, supported them in every possible way. Therefore, several generations of Russian composers, critics, and other cultural figures had to fight for their own national art.
Attempts to create a Russian opera date back to the 18th century. Talented musicians Fomin, Matinsky and Pashkevich (the latter two were co-authors of the opera “St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor”), and later the wonderful composer Verstovsky (today his “Askold’s Grave” is widely known) - each tried to solve this problem in their own way. However, it took a powerful talent, like Glinka’s, for this idea to be realized.
Glinka's outstanding melodic gift, the closeness of his melody to Russian song, the simplicity in the characterization of the main characters, and most importantly, his appeal to a heroic-patriotic plot allowed the composer to create a work of great artistic truth and power.
Glinka's genius was revealed differently in the opera-fairy tale “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. Here the composer masterfully combines the heroic (the image of Ruslan), the fantastic (the kingdom of Chernomor) and the comic (the image of Farlaf). Thus, thanks to Glinka, for the first time the images born of Pushkin stepped onto the opera stage.
Despite the enthusiastic assessment of Glinka’s work by the leading part of Russian society, his innovation and outstanding contribution to the history of Russian music were not truly appreciated in his homeland. The Tsar and his entourage preferred his music to Italian music. Visiting Glinka's operas became a punishment for offending officers, a kind of guardhouse.
Glinka had a hard time with this attitude towards his work from the court, the press, and theater management. But he was firmly aware that the Russian national opera must follow its own path, feed on its own folk musical sources.
This was confirmed by the entire further course of development of Russian opera art.
Alexander Dargomyzhsky was the first to pick up Glinka’s baton. Following the author of Ivan Susanin, he continues to develop the field of opera music. He has several operas to his credit, and the happiest fate befell the lot of “Rusalka”. Pushkin's work turned out to be excellent material for an opera. The story of the peasant girl Natasha, deceived by the prince, contains very dramatic events - the suicide of the heroine, the madness of her miller father. All the most complex psychological experiences of the characters are resolved by the composer with the help of arias and ensembles, written not in the Italian style, but in the spirit of Russian song and romance.
In the second half of the 19th century, the operatic work of A. Serov, the author of the operas “Judith”, “Rogneda” and “Enemy Power”, had great success, of which the latter (based on the text of the play by A. N. Ostrovsky) was in line with the development of Russian national art.
Glinka became a real ideological leader in the struggle for national Russian art for composers M. Balakirev, M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and Ts. Cui, united in the “Mighty Handful” circle. In the work of all members of the circle, except for its leader M. Balakirev, opera occupied the most important place.
The time when the “Mighty Handful” was formed coincided with extremely important events in the history of Russia. In 1861, serfdom was abolished. For the next two decades, the Russian intelligentsia was carried away by the ideas of populism, which called for the overthrow of the autocracy by the forces of the peasant revolution. Writers, artists, and composers are beginning to be especially interested in subjects related to the history of the Russian state, and especially the relationship between the tsar and the people. All this determined the theme of most of the operatic works that came from the pen of the “kuchkists”.
M. P. Mussorgsky called his opera “Boris Godunov” “folk musical drama”. In fact, although the human tragedy of Tsar Boris lies at the center of the opera's plot, the real hero of the opera is the people.
Mussorgsky was essentially a self-taught composer. This greatly complicated the process of composing music, but at the same time did not limit it to any musical rules. Everything in this process was subordinated to the main motto of his work, which the composer himself expressed with a short phrase: “I want the truth!”
Mussorgsky also sought truth in art, extreme realism in everything that happens on stage in his other opera, Khovanshchina, which he did not have time to complete. It was completed by Mussorgsky's colleague in The Mighty Handful, Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the largest Russian opera composers.
Opera forms the basis of Rimsky-Korsakov's creative heritage. Like Mussorgsky, he opened up the horizons of Russian opera, but in completely different areas. Using operatic means, the composer wanted to convey the charm of Russian fabulousness, the originality of ancient Russian rituals. This can be clearly seen from the subtitles that clarify the genre of the opera, which the composer provided to his works. He called “The Snow Maiden” a “spring fairy tale”, “The Night Before Christmas” - a “true carol”, “Sadko” - an “opera-epic”; fairy tale operas also include “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Kashchei the Immortal”, “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia”, “The Golden Cockerel”. Rimsky-Korsakov's epic and fairy-tale operas have one amazing feature: they combine elements of fairy-tale and fantasy with vivid realism.
Rimsky-Korsakov achieved this realism, so clearly felt in every work, by direct and very effective means: he widely developed folk melodies in his operatic work, skillfully wove into the fabric of the work genuine ancient Slavic rituals, “the traditions of deep antiquity.”
Like other “kuchkists”, Rimsky-Korsakov also turned to the genre of historical opera, creating two outstanding works depicting the era of Ivan the Terrible - “The Pskov Woman” and “The Tsar’s Bride”. The composer masterfully depicts the difficult atmosphere of Russian life of that distant time, pictures of the cruel reprisal of the Tsar against the Pskov freemen, the controversial personality of Ivan the Terrible himself (“The Pskov Woman”) and the atmosphere of general despotism and oppression of the individual (“The Tsar’s Bride”, “The Golden Cockerel”);
On the advice of V.V. Stasov, the ideological inspirer of the “Mighty Handful”, one of the most gifted members of this circle, Borodin, creates an opera from the life of princely Rus'. This work was “Prince Igor”.
"Prince Igor" became a model of Russian epic opera. As in an old Russian epic, the opera slowly and gradually unfolds the action, which tells the story of the unification of Russian lands and scattered principalities to jointly repel the enemy - the Polovtsians. Borodin’s work is not of such a tragic nature as Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” or Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Pskov Woman,” but the plot of the opera also centers on the complex image of the leader of the state, Prince Igor, experiencing his defeat, deciding to escape from captivity and finally gathering a squad to crush the enemy in the name of their homeland.
Another direction in Russian musical art is represented by the operatic work of Tchaikovsky. The composer began his journey in operatic art with works on historical subjects.
Following Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky turns to the era of Ivan the Terrible in Oprichnik. Historical events in France, described in Schiller's tragedy, served as the basis for the libretto of The Maid of Orleans. From Pushkin's Poltava, which describes the times of Peter I, Tchaikovsky took the plot for his opera Mazepa.
At the same time, the composer creates lyrical-comedy operas (“Blacksmith Vakula”) and romantic operas (“The Enchantress”).
But the peaks of operatic creativity - not only for Tchaikovsky himself, but for the entire Russian opera of the 19th century - were his lyrical operas “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades”.
Tchaikovsky, having decided to embody Pushkin’s masterpiece in the operatic genre, faced a serious problem: which of the diverse events of the “novel in verse” could constitute the libretto of the opera. The composer settled on showing the emotional drama of the heroes of Eugene Onegin, which he managed to convey with rare convincingness and impressive simplicity.
Like the French composer Bizet, Tchaikovsky in Onegin sought to show the world of ordinary people, their relationships. The composer's rare melodic gift, the subtle use of Russian romance intonations characteristic of everyday life described in Pushkin's work - all this allowed Tchaikovsky to create a work that is extremely accessible and at the same time depicts the complex psychological states of the characters.
In The Queen of Spades, Tchaikovsky appears not only as a brilliant playwright with a keen sense of the laws of the stage, but also as a great symphonist, constructing the action according to the laws of symphonic development. The opera is very multifaceted. But its psychological complexity is completely balanced by captivating arias, permeated with bright melodies, various ensembles and choirs.
Almost simultaneously with this opera, Tchaikovsky wrote an opera-fairy tale, “Iolanta,” amazing in its charm. However, The Queen of Spades, along with Eugene Onegin, remain unsurpassed Russian opera masterpieces of the 19th century.

5. CONTEMPORARY OPERA
Already the first decade of the new 20th century showed what a sharp change of eras took place in the art of opera, how different the opera of the last century and the century of the future are.
In 1902, the French composer Claude Debussy presented the opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” (based on Maeterlinck’s drama) to the audience. This work is unusually subtle and elegant. And just at the same time, Giacomo Puccini wrote his last opera “Madama Butterfly” (its premiere took place two years later) in the spirit of the best Italian operas of the 19th century.
Thus ends one period in opera and begins another. Composers representing opera schools established in almost all major European countries try to combine in their work the ideas and language of modern times with previously developed national traditions.
Following C. Debussy and M. Ravel, the author of such brilliant works as the opera buffa “The Spanish Hour” and the fantastic opera “The Child and the Magic,” a new wave in the art of music appears in France. In the 1920s, a group of composers emerged here, which went down in music history as the “Six”. It included L. Durey, D. Milhaud, A. Honegger, J. Auric, F. Poulenc and J. Taillefer. All these musicians were united by the main creative principle: to create works devoid of false pathos, close to everyday life, not embellishing it, but reflecting it as it is, with all its prose and everyday life. This creative principle was clearly expressed by one of the leading composers of the Six, A. Honegger. “Music,” he said, “must change its character, become truthful, simple, music of wide gait.”
Like-minded creative composers of the “Six” followed different paths. Moreover, three of them - Honegger, Milhaud and Poulenc - worked fruitfully in the genre of opera.
An unusual work, different from the grandiose mystery operas, was Poulenc’s mono-opera “The Human Voice.” The work, lasting about half an hour, is a telephone conversation between a woman abandoned by her lover. Thus, there is only one character in the opera. Could opera authors of past centuries imagine anything like this!
In the 30s, the American national opera was born, an example of this is “Porgy and Bess” by D. Gershwin. The main feature of this opera, as well as Gershwin’s entire style as a whole, was the widespread use of elements of black folklore and expressive means of jazz.
Domestic composers have written many wonderful pages into the history of world opera.
For example, Shostakovich’s opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” (“Katerina Izmailova”), written based on the story of the same name by N. Leskov, caused heated debate. The opera does not have “sweet” Italian melodies, there are no lush, spectacular ensembles and other colors familiar to the opera of past centuries. But if we consider the history of world opera as a struggle for realism, for a truthful portrayal of reality on stage, then “Katerina Izmailova” is undoubtedly one of the pinnacles of operatic art.
Domestic operatic creativity is very diverse. Significant works were created by Y. Shaporin (“Decembrists”), D. Kabalevsky (“Cola Brugnon”, “The Family of Taras”), T. Khrennikov (“Into the Storm”, “Mother”). A major contribution to world opera art was the work of S. Prokofiev.
Prokofiev made his debut as an opera composer back in 1916 with the opera The Gambler (based on Dostoevsky). Already in this early work his handwriting was clearly felt, as in the opera “The Love for Three Oranges” that appeared somewhat later, which was a great success.
However, Prokofiev’s outstanding talent as an opera playwright was fully revealed in the operas “Semyon Kotko”, written based on the story “I am the son of the working people” by V. Kataev, and especially in “War and Peace”, the plot of which was the epic of the same name by L. Tolstoy .
Subsequently, Prokofiev would write two more operatic works - “The Tale of a Real Man” (based on the story by B. Polevoy) and the charming comic opera “Betrothal in a Monastery” in the spirit of opera buffa of the 18th century.
Most of Prokofiev's works had a difficult fate. The striking originality of the musical language in many cases made it difficult to immediately appreciate them. Recognition came late. This was the case with both his piano and some of his orchestral works. A similar fate awaited the opera War and Peace. It was truly appreciated only after the death of the author. But the more years have passed since the creation of this work, the more deeply the scale and grandeur of this outstanding creation of world operatic art have been revealed.
In recent decades, rock operas based on modern instrumental music have become the most popular. Among these are “Juno and Avos” by N. Rybnikov, “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
In the last two or three years, such outstanding rock operas as “Notre Dame de Paris” by Luc Rlamon and Richard Cochinte, based on the immortal work of Victor Hugo, have been created. This opera has already received many awards in the field of musical art and has been translated into English. This summer the opera premiered in Moscow in Russian. The opera combined amazingly beautiful character music, ballet performances, and choral singing.
In my opinion, this opera made me look at the art of opera in a new way.
In 2001, the same authors created another rock opera, Romeo and Juliet, based on the Shakespearean tragedy. This work is not inferior in its entertainment and musical content to “Notre Dame Cathedral”.

6. STRUCTURE OF AN OPERA WORK
It is the idea that is the starting point in the creation of any work of art. But in the case of opera, the birth of a concept has a special significance. Firstly, it predetermines the genre of opera; secondly, it suggests what could serve as a literary outline for a future opera.
The primary source from which the composer starts is usually a literary work.
At the same time, there are operas, for example Verdi's Il Trovatore, which do not have specific literary sources.
But in both cases, work on the opera begins with the preparation of a libretto.
To create an opera libretto so that it is truly effective, meets stage laws, and most importantly, allows the composer to build a performance as he hears it internally, and to “sculpt” each opera character, is not an easy task.
Since the birth of opera, poets have been the authors of the libretto for almost two centuries. This did not mean at all that the text of the opera libretto was presented in verse. Something else is important here: the libretto must be poetic and the future music must already sound in the text - the literary basis of arias, recitatives, ensembles.
In the 19th century, composers who wrote future operas often wrote the libretto themselves. The most striking example is Richard Wagner. For him, the artist-reformer who created his grandiose canvases - musical dramas, word and sound were inseparable. Wagner's fantasy gave birth to stage images, which in the process of creativity were “overgrown” with literary and musical flesh.
And even if in those cases when the composer himself turned out to be the librettist, the libretto lost in literary terms, but the author did not deviate in any way from his own general plan, his idea of ​​​​the work as a whole.
So, having a libretto at his disposal, the composer can imagine the future opera as a whole. Then comes the next stage: the author decides which operatic forms he should use to implement certain turns in the opera’s plot.
The emotional experiences of the characters, their feelings, thoughts - all this is clothed in the form of an aria. At the moment when an aria begins to sound in the opera, the action seems to freeze, and the aria itself becomes a kind of “snapshot” of the hero’s state, his confession.
A similar purpose - conveying the internal state of an opera character - can be fulfilled in opera by a ballad, romance or arioso. However, the arioso occupies an intermediate place between the aria and the other most important operatic form - recitative.
Let's turn to Rousseau's "Musical Dictionary". “Recitative,” argued the great French thinker, “should serve only to connect the position of the drama, divide and emphasize the meaning of the aria, and prevent hearing fatigue...”
In the 19th century, through the efforts of various composers who strived for unity and integrity of the opera performance, recitative practically disappeared, giving way to large melodic episodes, similar in purpose to recitative, but in musical embodiment approaching arias.
As we said above, starting with Wagner, composers refuse to divide opera into arias and recitatives, creating a single, integral musical speech.
In addition to arias and recitatives, ensembles play an important constructive role in opera. They appear during the action, usually in those places when the characters of the opera begin to actively interact. They play a particularly important role in those fragments where conflict, key situations occur.
Often the composer uses the choir as an important means of expression - in the final scenes or, if the plot requires it, to show folk scenes.
So, arias, recitatives, ensembles, choral, and in some cases ballet episodes are the most important elements of an opera performance. But it usually begins with an overture.
The overture mobilizes the audience, includes them in the orbit of musical images and characters who will act on stage. Often the overture is built on themes that are then carried through the opera.
And now, finally, a huge amount of work is behind us - the composer created the opera, or rather, made its score, or clavier. But there is a huge distance between fixing music in notes and performing it. In order for an opera - even if it is an outstanding piece of music - to become an interesting, bright, exciting performance, the work of a huge team is needed.
The production of the opera is led by a conductor, assisted by a director. Although it happened that great directors of the drama theater staged an opera, and the conductors helped them. Everything that concerns musical interpretation - the orchestra's reading of the score, working with singers - is the domain of the conductor. It is the director's responsibility to implement the stage design of the play - to build the mise-en-scène, to perform each role as an actor.
Much of the success of a production depends on the artist who sketches the sets and costumes. Add to this the work of a choirmaster, a choreographer and, of course, singers, and you will understand what a complex undertaking, uniting the creative work of many dozens of people, is staging an opera on stage, how much effort, creative imagination, perseverance and talent must be put in to give birth to this greatest a festival of music, a festival of theater, a festival of art, which is called opera.

Bibliography

1. Zilberkvit M.A. The world of music: Essay. - M., 1988.
2. History of musical culture. T.1. - M., 1968.
3. Kremlev Yu.A. About the place of music among the arts. - M., 1966.
4. Encyclopedia for children. Volume 7. Art. Part 3. Music. Theater. Cinema./Ch. ed. V.A. Volodin. – M.: Avanta+, 2000.

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