Understanding Italian Opera

Preface 1: What is Opera? Some definitions In praise of librettists Italian versification Poetic structures and musical consequences Two examples from Mozart An "exotic and irrational entertainment"? 2: Giovanni Francesco Busenello and Claudio Monteverdi, L'incoronazione di Poppea (Venice, 1643) Monteverdi in Venice The first operas "But here the matter is represented differently" "Speaking" and "singing" Seductive Poppea Seneca's death Ottavia in exile Ecstasies of love 3: Nicola Francesco Haym and George Frideric Handel, Giulio Cesare in Egitto (London, 1724) Arcadian reforms Adapting Bussani Recitatives and arias Some alternatives "Fly, my heart, to the sweet enchantment" Taming Cleopatra Cesare returns All's well... 4: Lorenzo da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (Vienna, 1786) ... these Italian gentlemen are very civil to your face Translating Beaumarchais Aria forms A duet, a trio, and a sextet Finales Readings and messages 5: Francesco Maria Piave and Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto (Venice, 1851) "Le Roi s'amuse" Cantabiles and cabalettas Duets Arias and monologues A quartet ... a storm ... and a death 6: Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica, and Giacomo Puccini, La Bohème (Turin, 1896) Bohemian rhapsodies A publisher, two librettists, and a rival A missing act Verse and music Formless forms? Operatic realisms Mimì dies 7: Afterthoughts