Category Archives: Concert Preview

preview-Alan Gilbert Orchestra at New York Philharmonic (4/6/2013)

Pieces:

  • Unsuk Chin-Gougalon
  • Poul Ruders-Oboe Concerto
  • Anders hillborg-Vaporized Tivoli
  • Yann Robin-Backdraft

Venue: New York Philharmonic

performers:

  • Alan Gilbert-Conductor and Host
  • Liang Wang-Oboe
  • Christopher Rouse-Host

The program called “Contact”, which is performed by New York Philharmonic, symphony space, includes four pieces.The four pieces contains a variety of different elements since the four composers are from different cultures and have different experience. I have gone to the concert already on April 6. The four performed pieces does not have much in common, but I think the common thing is “sound” because I could hardly find rhythm or melody. However, I do feel that the composers use the sounds to express their feeling of specific experiences. According to  “The New York Times”, the conductor Alan Gilbert mentioned that “this program does not have a theme.”  Since all of the four composers are living, so they had a chance to come and introduce about the pieces.

Gougalon: Scenes from a Street Theater

I believe that living in Berlin gives the Korean Unsuk Chin great inspirations since she can touch the classical music closely in Berlin. However, The piece Gougalon: Scenses from a Street Theater, “was inspired by Ms Chin’s visit to China where the neighborhoods remind her of her native South Korea”(Anthony Tommasini). Ms Chin actually talked about her experience to Honkong, China, “a city which has modern buildings and also old neighborhoods”(Unsuk Chin). Amateur performers performed songs to the residence to earn a living. Some of the performance are amazing, but some are “ridiculous”. Amateur use all the skills they have to perform. After Unsuk  went back to Berlin, she wrote this 6-Movement-piece to describe what she saw and feel in the street theater.

In this piece, Unsuk Chin has employed or introduced special instruments. They are bottles and cans. however, the different sized and textured bottles and cans creates amazing sounds. According to the “Notes on the Program” by James M.Keller, Chin explains that the title Gougalon derives from an Old High German verb that encompasses such meanings as to hoodwink, to make ridiculous movements. So, the using of cans and bottles are just connected closely to the title. I guess the reason why Unsuk Chin is so confident to introduce cans and bottles into a piece is because that she has actually won so many awards and prizes which made her very confident about her inspirations.

Although she introduced about the piece right before the piece is performed, I still hope I could have a chance to do some research about the motivation of her composition of the piece. I could understand the piece better if I have tried to find some videos about the Chinese street theaters to get some ideas about how they look like.

Oboe Concerto-Poul Ruders

Poul Ruders is “one of the most widely performed of modern Danish composers”(James M.Keller).   The names of the four movements are : Lake of Dreams, Ocean of Storms, Sea of Tranquility, Lake of Death. According to Poul Ruders, he  got the idea while he was reading a novel.

This is a concerto in which the oboe player Liang Wang sometimes compete against the strings and  sometimes plays together with the strings. The part played by the Oboe is not not melodic. Sometimes there is only one note in a section. The long stretches requires the player’s good control “for long stretches he had to play hushed, high sustained tones, and his ability to hold the pitches true, with haunting beauty and eerie calm, was astonishing” (Anthony Tommasini).

I could not tell whether or not the first three movements fit the titles, but I do feel the deep, slow fourth movement. I was impressed while listening to the concert. The deep and slow movement express a sense of death which made me feel cold while listening.

Backdraft-Yann Robin

It is interesting to know how Yann Robin created this piece. According to Yann Robin’s introduction, there were some sounds in his mind for several days and he couldn’t get rid of them. Those sounds are more like beats or rhythms, not specific. So he had to compose it to free his mind.

Yann Robin is very creative since he studies both Jazz and composition, “Yann Robin pursued studies in both jazz and composition at the CNR” (James M. Keller). Robin has been honored with the First Prize of the concours International de Composition Frederic Mompou in Bacelona early in his career. He is very talent. Christopher Rouse use the word “fire” to describe Yann Robin’s composition Style. His compositions are always full of passion. I haven’t heard his other pieces, however, I can clearly feel the “fire” in this piece.

This piece is very special. He uses some rare notes in very low and uncomfortable pitch which is barely used. Cello and violins took turns to play the notes in very low pitch. However, those notes show me the image about how struggling and eager he was to get those sounds out of his mind.

 

Sources

Anthony Tommasini, The New York Time, “Contact, Withou Connection”  Apr 7 2013, Apr 8 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/arts/music/new-york-philharmonic-in-contact-series-at-met-museum.html?_r=1&

James M, Keller, “Notes on the Program”

Preview – Alexander String Quartet Performs Mozart and Shostakovich at Baruch Performing Art Center (4/25)

Pieces:

  • W.A. Mozart:  String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590
  • Dmitri Shostakovich:  String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Op. 108

Venue: Engelman Recital Hall at Baruch Performing Arts Center, Manhattan, New York

Performers:

  • Zakarias Grafilo, first violin
  • Fred Lifsitz, second violin
  • Paul Yarbrough, viola
  • Sandy Wilson, cello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3r-1xq75bw

The String Quartet No. 23 in F Major, K.590 was written in 1790. This piece is the third and last quartet of the so called ‘Prussian’ quartets dedicated to the king of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm ll. The king was a amateur cellist so I guest thats why Mozart made the cello part stand out from the other instruments. Mozart was not financially stable during this period,writing to Puchberg around 12 June 1790: ‘ I have now been obliged to give away my quartets (those very difficult works) for a mere song, simply in order to have some cash in hand to meet my present difficulties’. The quartets, published by Artaria in 1791, lack a dedication (Eisen and Keefe 2007, 184). I want to see how Mozart make the cello part stand out from the other instruments. I expect this piece to have a royal sound.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Op. 108 was completed in March 1960. Shostakovich had just extricated himself from his unsuccessful second marriage, Shostakovich dedicated his seventh quartet to the memory of his first wife, Nina (Fay 2000, 215-16). This piece was performed by the Beethoven Quartet in Leningrad on May 15 1960 for first time. I wonder why the Alexander String Quartet choose to perform this piece in major key. I guess that Shostakovich choose that specific minor key for a reason and thats something I will discover when I hear this piece in both keys.

Bibliography:

Eisen Cliff, Simon P. Keefe. The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Fay, Laurel E. Shostakovich: A life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

 

 

Preview – Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera (4/20)

Pieces: Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto

Venue: The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, New York, NY

Performers: Conductor: Marco Armiliato, Gilda: Lisette Oropesa, Maddalena: Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Duke of Mantua: Vittorio Grogolo, Rigoletto: George Gagnidze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zXLKd76fk

Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, was based on the play, “Le roi s’amuse” by Victor Hugo. The original play was about Frances I, a king of France who was basically a player and womanizer. Because of this, the play was banned after its first show. When Verdi chose this play he knew it was a risk that the opera might not be approved but went ahead with it and told his librettist, Francesco Piave, to find an influential person to get permission to use “Le roi s’amuse”. At the time, Austria controlled most of northern Italy and when they heard about Verdi’s opera, they considered it scandalous and refused to let it go on because it showed royalty in a bad light. After much arguing and negotiations, the opera was allowed to go on only after some changes were made. The king was now a duke from an extinct dukedom so no one could take offense and the names of the characters had to be changed.

The opera is about a jester, Rigoletto, who makes fun of the courtiers to make the duke laugh as that is his job. The duke is a womanizer who goes after any woman. In the opera, the duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter and he vows to get revenge. However, his revenge backfires and his daughter ends up dead instead. Verdi’s Rigoletto is similar to Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  The first act is in the style of comic opera so for that act at least, I am expecting mostly dialogue or recitatives and simple music. Because of all the drama and violence, I am expecting most of the music to be in minor key for the rest of the opera and many contrasting instruments playing loudly in some cases to show drama.

Bibliography:

Budden, Julian. The Operas of Verdi. Vol. 1. New York: Praeger, 1973. Print.

Baldini, Gabriele, Fedele D’Amico, and Roger Parker. The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera. Cambrige: Cambridge University Publishing, 1980. Print.

 

 

 

Preview – Mozart and Shostakovich at Alexander String Quartet (4/25)

Pieces:

  • W.A. Mozart, String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K. 590
  • Dmitri Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Opus 108

Venue: Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch Preforming Arts Center, Manhattan, NY

Performers: Alexander String Quartet; Zakarias Grafilo, first violin; Fredrick Lifsitz, second violin; Pauly Yarbrough, viola; Sandy Wilson, cello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yJ6tkNcRn4Y

W.A. Mozart’s String Quartet No. 23 in F major, K 590 is one of three quartets that he composed under the commission of Frederick William II of Prussia. It was the last one of the three and was composed in June 1790. “This was a time of bitter care and poverty, which made it a painful effort to work at the quartets, but there is even less trace of effort in them than in the earlier ones (Jahn 16).”

Mozart brings the violoncello to the front since this is the instrument that his patron plays. This forces the viola to take the bass part and sets all of the instruments higher than usual. The first violin also alternates a lot with the violoncello. I will look for this when I listen to this piece live as I believe that this will affect how this will sound. This will make it unusual as compared to other quartets since the viola will take the bass part instead of the cello, and the cello will be emphasized.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 7 in F sharp major, Opus 108 was written in 1960. “An interesting point is that both the first and last movements are divided into two halves, duple and triple. Where the first movement’s motif has a falling line, the finale’s rises, but the switch to triple time half way through is the same in both movements. Another factor shared by these outer movements is their fluency of line, taking in its stride the various rhythmic irregularities that are used (Kay 53).” This seems unusual compared to other quartets and I will listen for this at the quartet.

I’m looking forward to the quartet as I heard nothing but great things about The Alexander String Quartet.

Jahn, Otto. Life of Mozart. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1970. Print.

Kay, Norman. Shostakovich. London: Oxford University Press, 1971. Print.

Preview- Beethoven, Mozart, Messiaen, and Murail at New York Philharmonic (4/12)

Pieces:

  •  Messiaen – Les Offrandes oubliées
  • Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 23
  • Tristan Murail – Le Désenchantement du monde
  • Beethoven – Symphony No. 2

Venue: Avery Fisher Hall, Manhattan, NY

Performers: David Robertson, Conductor; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano

 

 

Beethovens second symphony was one of the final early Beethoven works, his deafness was already taking him so his future compositions wouldn’t be the same. Around this time in Beethovens life he had revealed his deafness, and he was also coming to terms with it. The symphony is in D major, but like other Beethoven works it didn’t fit the standard form of other symphony’s. Beethovens second symphony is one of the least performed out of all his other symphony’s.

Beethoven was  a composer during the bridge between previously dominate classical era music and to the new genre romantic music. Since he was at this bridge in genres his music didn’t fit into the standards of each period they were all in between or  even just uniquely composed to Beethovens personal preferences, and maybe that is why he ignore common structure, and this breaking away made him more unique and popular, even though not all his works are praised.

Cooper, Barry. Beethoven. Boston: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.

 

Preview- Verdi at New York Carnegie Hall(3/28)

Pieces:

–  Giuseppe Verdi “Ad una stella”

– Giuseppe Verdi “Lo spazzacamino”

– Giuseppe Verdi “Il tramonto”

– Giuseppe Verdi “Brindisi”

Date: March 28 2013

Venue: Carnegie Hall, Manhattan, NY

Performers:

Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor

Martin Katz, Piano

 

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyV8Qbe-_x4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8zMCAKWdMU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8k4QwjaQ1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rsciRaJVtE

 

Guiseppe Verdi was born in the Romanticism period, and was greatly honored as one of the most famous Italian opera composers in his time. The pieces I will analyze are “Ad una stella”(To a star), “Lo spazzacamino”(The chimney-sweep), “Il tramonto”(The Sunset), and “Brindisi”(Toast).

After reading American Theological Inquiry, I become aware that Verdi had not leaded a delighted life because he witnessed the death of his wife and children in his middle age. Since then, he alienated himself from the Catholic Church as he was not able to acquire relief from the religious practice. Verdi’s operas are known for their outstanding conflicts, as Verdi stated, “There is one thing the public will not tolerate in the theater: boredom.” Through the conflicts, Verdi’s operas were notable in stimulating excitement, joy or sadness. Verdi is also known for his unique techniques in organizing most of his reputable operas. 

One similarity among these four operas is the accompaniment—piano. “Ad na stella” has an andante tempo in contrast to “Brindisi” and “Lo spazzacamino” which have allegro tempo and a theme of joyful celebration. “Il tramonto” has relatively long libretto, in which it depicts the scenery of countryside to emphasize peace and quietness, yet the theme is sadness because the young lady has lost her lover, and the last part of the opera focus on describing her melancholy.

Bibliography:

American Theological Inquiry. Jul2012, Vol. 5 Issue 2, p59-65. 7p.

Preview: Beethoven, Mozart, Messiaen, and Murail at New York Philharmonic (4/11)

Pieces:

  • Olivier Messiaen, Les Offrandes Oubliees
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23
  • Tristan Murail, Le Desenchantement du monde
  • Ludwig Van Beethoven, Symphony No. 2

Venue: Avery Fisher Hall, Manhattan, NY

Performers: David Robertson, Conductor; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano

 

In the beginning of his career Olivier Messiaen participated in the Prix de Rome, a competition for classical musicians, but had failed to win (Hill and Simeone 2005, 28-29). However, he did gain positive attention from critics and it was during this time, in 1931 one year after the competition, that he had written Les Offrandes Oubliees (Offerings Forgotten) which upon completion Messiaen wrote a letter to a friend describing the work as “the music for a symphonic poem” (Hill and Simeone 2005, 30).

The piece does not follow the traditional format of classical works as does the works of composers from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic era. Upon hearing the works my initial reaction was that it was very intense and not guided by melodies but rather affect the listener by having sudden transitions, fast crescendos and decrescendos. The piece was written within a year of his completion of his studies and may be a poor reflection of his future works due to the fact that much time would be granted for growth.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had written 15 piano concertos between 1782 and 1786, some critics refer to the concertos of this period as “the great keyboard concertos” (Abert 2007, 870). Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major (K488) was completed in 1786 and was one of two concertos written in A major during this period. The concerto is described as having a “bright and sunny grace” (Abert 2007, 879) to it in contrast to his other concertos of the period which can vary from providing a feeling of serenity or even festivity.

This concerto, like many other works of Mozart, introduces new themes throughout the length of the work in the development period. In Mozart’s own words, in a letter written to his father, he describes his work of the period as “a mid-course between being too hard and too easy, they’re very brilliant, pleasing to the ear and natural, without seeming empty” (Abert 2007, 870). Like much of his work, Mozart introduces many melodies throughout the length of his work. I’m most excited to hear this piece live and experience a solo pianist play with an orchestra, particularly a piece this moving. I had found the first movement to be very relaxing and beautiful and would only describe the third movement as “bright and sunny.”

Finally, the performance will close with Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony. In response to Beethoven’s earlier work Mozart had once said, in a letter to his father, “keep your eye on him; he will make the world talk about him someday” (Biancolli and Peyser 1954 ,154). When the 2nd symphony was composed Beethoven’s hearing had deteriorated dramatically since the writing of his 1st. He had written the symphony in a tourist village called Heiligenstadt which he felt was so boring that he would have “taken his own life but for his determination to consecrate himself with new courage to art” (Biancolli and Peyser 1954 ,159).

Beethoven was known to liberally bend rules of the symphony and this was apparent at the early stages of his career. Regardless, the symphony was well received by critics and described as “extravagant and enigmatic” (Biancolli and Peyser 1954 ,160).When listening to the symphony I had found that the work seems very tame relative to his later symphonies. This may in fact be a sign that during his earlier years as a composer Beethoven was not as daring to make a bold impression amongst European high society. Symphonies such as the 5th, 7th, and 9th I had found were more complex in nature and varied in moods. They had provided moments of lound intensity and calm serenity, this is not felt to the same degree in the 2nd symphony.

Sources:

Abert, Hermann, and Cliff Eisen. W.A. Mozart. New Haven, NJ: Yale UP, 2007

Biancolli, Louis, and Herbert F. Peyser. Masters of the Orchestra. New York: Greenwood, 1954

Hill, Peter, and Nigel Simeone. Messiaen. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2005

Preview- Haydn, Bartok, and Beethoven at Dweck Auditorium (4/14)

Pieces:

  • Joseph Haydn – string quartet in C Major Op.76/3 “Emperor”
  • Bela Bartok – string quartet No.4 Sz 91
  • L. v. Beethoven – string quartet in C Major Op.59/3 “Rasumowsky”


Venue:Brooklyn Public Library: Dweck Auditorium, Brooklyn, New York

Performers: Minetti String Quartet

  • Maria Ehmer, violin
  • Anna Knopp, violin
  • Milan Milojicic, viola
  • Leonhard Roczek, cello

http://youtu.be/Rc34Jr9udlU

Both Beethoven and Haydn established names for themselves as composers during the Classical Era. However, Beethoven being born almost 40 years after Haydn in the year 1770, transitioned into the era of Romanticism as well, in which he successfully composed works representative of this new age of music and reason. Contrastingly, Bartok had not been born until both of these composers had passed, Beethoven 54 years prior and Haydn 72.

Due to this small, but substantial gap in time, upon listening to Bartok’s piece I will be interested to see how Bartok takes a more modern approach when writing his string quartet. The piece of his that will be performed, String Quartet No. 4 Sz 91, was written fairly recently in the year 1928 and features large amounts of pizzicato. I will probably find myself comparing and contrasting his work to those of the earlier time periods and seeing which elements he kept of these eras, which elements he discarded, and which modern elements he decided to add in composing this piece.

As for Beethoven’s peice, It is said that upon completing the “Razumovsky” quartets that he had gained a new self confidence. Beethoven used to make sketches within his music and in the finale of the third “Razumovsky” quartet he wrote amidst these sketches “In the same way that you rush into the whirlpool of society, so it is possible to write operas despite all social hindrances- let your deafness be no more a secret- even in art.” (Cooper 2000, 167) Beethoven must have been exceptionally pleased with these works of his. As I listen to these pieces after reading this quote I will most likely focus on why I think Beethoven felt a new found sense of confidence and pride in his work after he finished writing this piece.

In Haydn’s piece we see a bit of a lyrical approach in the composition. When Haydn was writing his String Quartet Op. 76/3 “Emperor” in C major he was making a transition to vocal works such as writing a mass for Pincess Maria Hermenegild Esterhazy, an oratorio entitled The Creation, and several other vocal works. “It is easy to imagine that the connections to song, aria, and the learned-style traditions found in Op. 76 may owe something to that circumstance.” (Grave 2006, 302) While writing this piece, Haydn implemented strategies in his composing that had been used for years or were “tried-and-true”, but he was also aware that those listening to his music were becoming increasingly more sophisticated as well as expressing “thirst for novelty”. (Grave 206, 303) When listening, I will focus on how Haydn made his piece novel as well as how he kept it traditional to please listeners.

Sources:
Cooper, Barry. Beethoven. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
Laki, Peter. Bartók and His World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1995. Print.
Grave, Floyd K., and Margaret G. Grave. The String Quartets of Joseph Haydn. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

Preview – The Marriage of Figaro at the Frederick Loewe Theater (04/05)

Piece:

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro, adapted by Tony Britten

Venue: Frederick Loewe Theater, New York, NY

Performers: NYU Steinhardt, Music and Performing Arts. Cast: Eric Alexieff, Jacob Carll, Will Evans, Lisa Figel, Amanda Hoffman, Kevin Miller, Asha Nelson-Williams, Catie Shelley, Nick Volkert

Le nozze di Figaro (the Marriage of Figaro) was the first of Mozart’s three major and famous opera collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. It was translated from the French play, La folle journée ou le Mariage de Figaro, by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, to Italian. Mozart’s patron, the Hapsburg Emperor Joseph II, had many failed attempts with operas in German, due to a lack of good poets and musicians willing to write for it since Italian opera at the time was “the most popular and cosmopolitan of contemporary genres” (Steptoe 1). Also, opera buffa was quickly rising in popularity at the time, due to the Enlightenment.  The original opera took surprisingly a long time to produce (Steptoe 2). Maybe it was because this would be Mozart’s first opera buffa after arriving in Vienna from Salzberg and his first commission from the Emperor, and he realized he needed to make a great first impression, and make a name for himself.

Mozart composed the opera knowing the “importance of writing with the capabilities of particular singers in mind and with an eye and ear for stage effect and the dramatic and expressive possibilities of tonality and of instrumental writing” (Carter 4). Therefore, he tweaked the music to suit different vocalists. However, this adaptation by English composer, Tony Britten, is in English. I’m definitely interested to see how the English libretto will sound for a piece composed for an Italian libretto. Mozart adapted the play to fit the popular operatic style at the time of having only two acts. However, de Potnte and Mozart did it in unusual way, he decided to cut out some events and modify others, and turned the five act play into a four act opera. Then, they put the major finales at the end of Acts II and IV, so it essentially became two ‘two act’ operas (Carter 25). Being a living composer, there were not any books written about Tony Britten, and I could not find any recordings of this adaption. However, after reading reviews of this adaption online, I read that he has modernized the story, and made it more dramatic and theatrical, with more acting. Therefore, I wonder what changes Mr. Britten has made to the composition, if he has decided to modify or cut out certain events, and more importantly, if he changed any delivery methods like from aria to recitative.

Sources: Steptoe, Andrew. The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas. The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988. Print.

Carter, Tim. W.A. Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Print.

Preview – Otello by Giuseppe Verdi at Metropolitan Opera (3/23)

Pieces:

Various musical pieces of Otello by Giuseppe Verdi

Venue: Metropolitan Opera House, Manhattan, NY

Performer: Alain Altinoglu, conductor

http://youtu.be/y43WZMe1uNE

Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer during Romantic era. Verdi was born in Le Roncole in Parma, Italy, in October 10th, 1813. (Berger, 70) In 1879, Verdi, together with libretto writer Arrigo Boito, created a 4-act opera called Otello. As the title suggests, Otello is based on a famous play Othello by Shakespeare, whom Verdi considered one of his favorite writers ever. Completed in 1886, Otello premiered at La Scala in Milan, one of the most historic opera houses in the world, on February 5th, 1887. Otello was one of the last operas that he’s composed before death, and is considered by many to be his finest tragic opera. (Berger, 17)

Verdi’s life is marked by a revolutionary idea of unification of Italy. Just after Verdi was born, in 1815, the French empire withdrew from Italy. After the end of occupation by Napoleon’s French empire, Italy was now free from the French. However, this did not transition to a peaceful era. Italy, then a collection of regional kingdoms, was not ready to unite itself as a nation. (Berger, 26) Young Verdi, growing up in Le Roncole, northern town of Italy, was influenced by these turbulent times, and wrote operas by observing and reflecting a series of events that happened during his life.

Perhaps this is why his operas possess full of strong emotions, as Verdi himself experienced radical changes around him that he saw growing up. Later in life, Verdi was actually one of the delegates who presented the vote for the unification of Italy. (Berger, 67) When Otello was premiered in La Scala in 1887, many people were surprised at how genuinely Italian the play was. Otello’s musical pieces were not imitations of Wagner’s or any other famous composers at the time This also promoted a sense of Italian national identity, which is one of the main characteristics of Classical music era, and of Verdi’s life. (Berger, 91) There is no doubt that Otello’s musical pieces were influenced by Verdi’s life and what Italy was going through at the time, the time when the country needed a source of unity and a culture that they could identify with and be proud of, and Verdi was successful in doing so.

Before watching the play (Part I of the assignment)

Because of the fact that he was from Romantic music era, I assume that his pieces from Otello, such as Esultate!, Ave Maria, and Willow Song, contain characteristics of Romantic music genre. That is, the pieces would most likely emphasize personal and national identity, free of form, passionate and dramatic emotions, natural beauty, and program music. The musical pieces by Verdi, combined with Shakespearian tragedy elements of emotions, further enrich the quality of the play.

The three pieces stood out the most in the play, Esultante!, Ave Maria, and Willow Song. Although different, have one similarity that I find intriguing; all three evoke dramatic emotions, which is a typical characteristic in Romantic musical era. For example, Esultante!, literally meaning rejoice!, is a victory  song for the Otello’s navy in the beginning of Act I. As one can imagine, the dynamics of the piece is loud, in a major key, with bright and cheerful tone.  The pieces Ave Maria and Willow Song are particularly similar to each other, in a sense that they are both presented in the same scene by a same character. Both pieces, sung by Desdemona, Otello’s wife, express her emotions at the time of the scene, which seem to be lonely and gloomy. The fact that they are sung almost consecutively gives the audience feeling that they are connected to each other, telling a story from one to the other. The particular thing that can be mentioned is that both are arias; they have lyrical characteristics.

After watching the play (Part II of the assignment)

The one thing that I regret not doing was the fact I did not fully learn what the basic storyline of the play is before going to watch the opera. I definitely wished I had researched more about the actual plot of Otello. Since I had never been to opera before, I didn’t now how the opera would be like. I assumed that it would be very east to figure out the overall plot of the play just be observing the actions and musical pieces, but I was pleasantly surprised. As the scenes went by, there were many times where I was a bit lost during the scenes, wondering what they were saying or doing. Obviously, the actors all spoke in Italian, which I had no idea of, and speed of the scenes were very quick, which also gave me a hard time trying to dissect each scene. If I had read the overall plot of the play, what each scene is about, how the actors are going to act and sing, the opera would’ve been a much better experience for me.

References

Berger, William. Verdi with a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of                  the King of Opera. New York: Vintage, 2000. Print.