Written Report # 1 For this written report, I've chosen to write about Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart.

I saw it on a DVD by The Royal Opera with the conductor as Antonio Pappano and starring actors Erwin Schrott as Figaro and Miah Persson as Susannah. The filming of the opera was directed by David McVicar and Jonathan Haswell. This is one of Mozart's most famous operas because of its intriguing story of love and deception amongst other things. The opera is divided into four different acts; each act bringing a unique twist to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this opera because it is a musical masterpiece with various arias, ensembles, and recitatives that bring Figaro's story to life. Mozart's music defined the key characteristics of classical music in the late 18th century; his music had very clear and defined homophonic structures that was very popular during that classical period. The short version of the opera tells the tale of Figaro as he plots to marry Susannah. Figaro and Susannah are servants of Count Almaviva; Figaro and Susannah are in love and are planning on getting married. However, Count Almaviva, who is in love with Susannah has other plans; he wanted to engage in sexual intercourse with Susannah before she marries Figaro. This idea doesn't go well with Figaro who plots to foil the Count's plan. Also in the picture is Marcellina who Figaro owes money; Marcellina makes Figaro promise that if he can't pay the money back that he would marry her. Now Figaro is in a world of chaos; he wants to marry Susannah whom he loves; however, he has to keep the Count Almaviva from enacting his plan while keeping Marcellina from marrying him. This is quite the soap opera in my opinion; dramatic and entertaining. Other than the story itself; another intriguing aspect of this play is Mozart's use of musical elements to bring the story to life. There are several arias in this opera; there are two in ACT IV, one in ACT III, two in Act I. This opera is also riddled with various ensembles and duets. The duets are performed very powerfully by the actors and it is my favorite part of this entire opera. An aria is a melodic solo song often used to express an important point in the story. Le Nozze di Figaro had a couple arias that were sung at different turning points of the story. The First aria was sung by Bartolo as he plots his revenge against Figaro. This is the scene where Dr.Bartolo is introduced in the opera and his hatred of Figaro is explained. In his aria, Bartolo explains that he would do everything in his path to keep Figaro from achieving his ultimate goal. The second Aria in Act I was at the very end of the Act; Figaro sings to Cherubino and tries to cheer him up about joining the army. This aria had a militaristic sound to it with strict cadences and an energetic military beat. This aria was very important and signaled the end of the first Act. The second Aria was sung in the third Act by the sad countess. At this point in the story, the countess had already found out about Count Almaviva's cheating ways and she sings an aria bearing her heart out and letting her sorrows out. This was one of the most beautiful sung arias in this piece. I literally felt chills when she sang and it even made me dislike the Count even more. The last aria that I'm going to write about is the song by Susannah at the end of Act IV. Susannah is played by Miah Persson who does a fantastic job; she had one of the most beautiful yet powerful voices I've heard. In this aria, Susannah sings a love song to Figaro who is hiding in the background and listening. This aria is very important because it shows that Susannah has a good heart; she wasn't like the other characters, she cared about Figaro.

The opera is also characterized by a couple of strong duets; one with Susannah and Figaro and another with Cherobino and Susannah. I think its unique that the one central character in both duets is Susannah. In the first duet in Act I between Susannah and Figaro; Susannah or Miah Persson's Soprano complemented Figaro or Erwin Schrott's tenor extremely well. This was the scene where Figaro and Susannah were introduced and it is quite apparent from their duet that they are in love with each other. The other duet is sung by Cherubino and Susannah. This duet is very important because it details a very important turning point in the story; Susannah pulls Cherobino out of his hiding place and tries to cheer him up; however Cherubino was at a point where he couldn't be pacified anymore. Cherubino, at the end of the duet, proceeds to leap out of the window. I like how Mozart uses duets to create and diffuse tension throughout the opera. I really enjoyed this opera because it brought out strong emotions in me. I really felt passionate and energized by the love story between Susannah and Figaro; in contrast, I felt a feeling of aversion towards Count Almaviva for his cruel and wicked ways.

Pappano, Antonio. Le Nozze Di Figaro. N.p.: Royal Opera House and BBC, Apr. 2004. DVD. Da Ponte, Lorenza. Le Nozze Di Figaro. N.p.: MadisonOpera, 16 Aug. 2003. PDF.

Written Report #2 For this report, I chose to write about Mozart's Don Giovanni. I saw this opera on a DVD; it was directed by Claus Guth starring Christopher Maltman as Don Giovanni, Anatoli Kotscherga as Commendatore, and Annette Dasch as Donna Anna. This is my favorite opera by Mozart; it is a beautifully crafted story about Don Giovanni and his conquests of many women and the complications that his pursuit of women has brought aboout in his life. Don Giovanni is a beautiful libretto with a story line that would appeal to both an 18th Century audience and today's audience. Mozart uses various arias, ensembles and duets to show Don Giovanni's true character as an evil manipulator of women. The story begins with Don Giovanni attempting to seduce Donna Anna to the utter displeasure of Anna's father Commendatore. Commendatore challenges Don Giovanni to a duel to which Giovanni wins and commendatore dies. Anna's fiance, Duca Ottavio then swears to avenge commendatore's death. The story continues as Don Giovanni keeps seducing more women using his materful techniques; he eventually runs into his long lost love Donna Elvira. This is an interesting part of the story because it showed that a seemingly heartless seducer like Giovanni is capable of falling in love. This part of the story shows that Giovanni is afterall human; as the story continues Elvira begs Giovanni to stop his wicked ways of manipulating women, however Don Giovanni ignores her pleas. In the end, a statue comes and takes Giovanni to hell as pennance for his sins. This opera is a musical masterpiece. The large and powerful soprano of Donna Anna, the baritone voice of Giovanni, and the dramatic bass of commendatore are all very beautiful in their own way. Also,

Mozart also uses various arias to illustrate the story of Giovanni's demise. For this report; I'm going to focus on Leporello's aria and Zerlina's two arias. Leporello's aria talks about how Don Giovanni has been with 2000+ women in his lifetime. This aria is significant because it catalogues and brags about how many women Giovanni's been with. This aria that is sung by Giovanni's man-servant, Leporello is the first insight into Giovanni's true nature. The second aria is sung by Zerlina to her husband Masseto. Even though, Giovanni tries multiple times to seduce Zerlina; he ws unsuccessful. This aria shows true love can conquer all even the charms of Giovanni. Don Giovanni's main power over women is his ability to sing. Yes, he is rich and can offer women a lavish lifestyle; however, his biggest arsenal in his toolbet of seduction is his voice. Giovanni in the DVD is played by actor Christopher Maltman. Maltman's voice could be described as baritone with a hint of tenor. Don Giovanni or Maltman's songs ranged from sweet and seductive like his songs to Donna Elvira to just plain angry and cruel. As the opera progresses though, it becomes quite apparent that Giovanni uses his voice as a tool to control and manipulate women. I really enjoyed this opera; the story line was masterfully crafted and Mozart's use of arias, duets and recitatives makes Don Giovanni a classic. I tried to relate to Don Giovanni as a main character but I couldn't; his unqunechable thirst for women was borderline psychopathic. He would engage in any means to achieve his ultimate goal; I saw his demise in the end as the triumph of good over evil.

Guth, Claus. Mozart: Don Giovanni. N.p.: Weiner Philharmoniker, Aug. 2008. DVD. Dennis, Luke. "Don Giovanni Ultimate Study Guide." (n.d.): n. pag. Dayton Opera. Web. 17 June 2013.