SIMILARITIES BETWEEN OPERA AND CHAVITTU NATTAKAM

The western opera and ballet have strong similarities with chavittu natttkkam.Let us analyse about
this in this chapter.
What is opera?
An opera is a story set to music is the definition given to opera. It is a musical story from top to
bottom. Music can influence not only human beings but also animals. This was realised by our fore
fathers very early, is indeed a fascinating truth. In Hindu mythology, there are references about
deers getting mesmerised by the soothing voice of flute played by Krishna. Likewise, in Greek
mythology the music of Orphiyas(he is the son of prince of THREYES(Threyes in greek mythology is
the state ofmusic) and princess of music ) moved the wild animals with his melodious flute ,even
more the goddess of vengeance FURY was also moved and shed tears listening to his music .
Opera tries to imbibe this powerful strength of music in the mind of the viewers through
melancholic songs without their permission .In Opera an intelligent direction of music can interpret
the characters easily to the viewers. When an actor enacts a sorrowful scene in Opera, the music at
the height of the sorrow or melancholy becomes theeternal beauty
In the Italian Opera LUCIA DE LAMMER MOOR ,fate and circumstances makes an little angel LUCIA to
commit a murder but she has no regrets and believes in the eternal love .she believes she had done
sacrifice for divine love. In that ecstasy she sings eternal songs and slowly flies towards the sky. The
viewer on earth is stunned by this act
In opera it is compulsory that the actors should sing their part and act as well, by virtue; an opera
artist should be an excellent singer. Opera transfer the audience to another world through back
ground music and orchestra. In olden days famous opera singers like wilsenso,galelio,sang at the top
of their voice and composed music in such way to attract attention of the audience. Later duet,
chorus, variety of dance tunes etc were considered unavoidable factors of Opera.
Back ground music of opera was modified and given equal importance with vocal singing ,sad ending
opera was musical based, on the contrary happy ending opera had dialogues and some verses also
Opera can be classified into two 1) grand opera 2) Operetta
Grand opera is based on classical music and it strictly follows the classical technicalities without any
compromise .The theme will be either historical or popular.
Operetta doesnt have these kinds of restrictions,it is simple and based on light music.People like
operetta more
The costumes of opera are natural and it depends on the story and the place ,where the story
originated.The war scenes are depicted in original way in opera.
Opera is presented in an open stage .In America and Europe were modern stages are in plenty
;opera s are still performed in open stages. By adjusting lightings in a proper way the scenes are
divided appropriately .Stage decoration is never done for operas even the foremost opera, stages
are not done .But this is not considered as a defect by the audience because the music and dance
drama of the opera is so powerful that it transcends the audience into another world.The opera
begins with a back ground musical score ,it reminds us about the MELAPADAM(The opening song
or verses sung by the back ground singer before the performance)in Kathakali, also it reminds us
about opening prayer song (vandana virutham)of chavittu nattkam .IN opera the music composer
will be on stage to co-ordinate, facing the audience ,to control and direct the back ground singers
.As the orchestra progress the actors wearing colourful costumes enters the stage, which is quite
similar to chavittu nattakkam .

OPERA IN GREECE
The birth place of opera is Greece .From Greece it was spread to Rome and then to other European
countries.In ancient Rome a singing festival was conducted to please the gods. Large no of singers
assemble in the temple lord Dyneshius .They sing and dance for his blessings,this social dancing was
the most important ritual of this event. It was purely a religious function
This social tradition was later modified by the great play writer ISKALAS ,who lived in 5
TH
century
BC.He was the father of modern opera.He modified the parts played by the characters ,their
costumes ,acting ,music and dance .This modern version became a huge success. The new acting
methods earned lot popularity and thus theatre plays became national celebrations.
Greek plays are of three types
1.tragic musical drama
2.happy ending dramas mixed with prose and poetry
3.sarcastic dramas which analyses the existing social and political and economic
conditions.ARISTOPHNEES was the famous play writer who wrote this type of plays.
Greek plays are staged on open stages .it is semi circular in shape .The back ground singers are
seated on the stage facing the audience .Since there were no curtains,the actors enter the stage
when the play begins and exit the stage after the play comes to an end.There were no decoration of
stage, so all the backdrops and surroundings are left to the imagination of the audience .The
national theatre in Athens can accommodate more than 30000 people .
With the fall of Greece the art and cultural centres were shifted to Rome but it was not succeeded
.After the fall of ROME ,Europe was slipped into the dark ages.Fourtunately ,the hard copy of all the
epics and plays were kept safely in Constantinople by the Greek scholars .
GREEK REVIVED IN ITALY
In AD 1453Tturkey conquered Constantinople. The scholars, poets, thinkers ,artists migrated to
Europe. Florence in Italy became the epic centre of all cultural and artistic revival.Those days music
was not used in plays, but on experimental basis, some scholars integrated music in greek plays
and presented on stage with back ground music ,this went on to become a hit among the people
.MELO DRAMA was the name first given to these plays ,later it was changed into OPERA
Opera, which germinated in Florence in Italy spread to France ,Spain ,Portugal ,Germany ,England
and other European countries. The operas slowly transformed into new phase depending on the
country, region and the stories it is based. Thus Opera not only has changed in its technicalities but
also took a new independent version.
In German Operas the drama was given more importance ,in French operas dance and dazzling
costumes are given importance ,Italian operas music have prominence ,In English Operas sarcasm or
humorous scenes got more attention. But one thing which is common in all these operas was that
the orchestra dominates the entire show
Musical wizards like Mozart,Beethoven,GLEK,Belleni,Pussini,VERDI,vagher etc created new musical
symphony for Operas which elevated the audience to a wonderful musical experience .
During Renaissance in Europe The French Heroic Epic, THE LEGEND OF SHARLIMEN was popularised
as European national history . It later went on to become the story base for many operas.These
adventurous were taken to different parts of the world by the pious missionaries and sailors .They
were then transformed into independent version by the influence of the local culture .