Music 128A Opera: Exam Study Guide

Exam: Wednesday, December 16, 9-11AM [note the later start time, 9
not 8]
Review session: Thursday, December 10, 11AM-12:30PM, room 117.
Come to the review session with your questions ready! Ill do some
practice for the listening questions that day, but otherwise would like to
run the entire session from your questions and problems.
Essays (Assignment 3) will be returned at the review session, or online
afterwards.

Exam Outline
Section 1. Listening (35%)
Ill play for you two or three short passages from the music weve studied, giving you the
original words and a translation. The point is not to identify what opera it comes from
(though a few points will be awarded for that), but to write in an informed way about how
the music works, how the vocal melodies sung by the character(s) convey character and
dramatic situation, and how the style of this operatic excerpt is distinctive. You should
be able to locate each excerpt in a time and placeItalian vs. German, 18th vs 19th vs. 20th
century.
Section 2. Terms and Definitions (25%) (as described below).
Section 3. Essay questions (40%). Write two short essays (3-4 paras each), in response
to questions based on the topics below.

Opera excerpts youre responsible for

all are on bCourses: Files in a special folder marked exam listening
To be familiar with these passages means not to know every word and note, but to have a
good sense of what the style and mood of each one is and to be able to connect each
scene/aria with its situation in the operas plot and with the major concepts weve learned
in class. The questions
Monteverdi, Orfeo (Mantua [Italy], 1607)
aria for Orfeo Possente spirto
Handel, Rodelinda (London, 1725)

two arias for Bertarido (the castrato role sung by Senesino)

Dove sei amato bene
Vivi tiranno
Mozart, Magic Flute (Vienna, 1791)
aria for Tamino: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schn
aria for the Queen of the Night: Der Holle Rache (Aat 2)
aria for Papageno: Der Vogelfnger bin ich ja (Act 1)
Pamina: Ach ich fhls
final initiation scene and entrance into Sarastros temple, including the
march with solo (magic) flute
Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor (Naples, 1835)
aria for Lucia in Act I, Regnava nel silenzio
duet for Lucia & Edgardo, end of Act I: all sections (slow movement:
Sulla tomba che rinserra and cabaletta Veranno a te, sullaure)
duet for Lucia & Enrico, beginning of Act 2: all sections (slow
movement Soffriva nel pianto and cabaletta Se tradirmi)
mad scene
final aria for Edgardo: all sections (slow movement Fra poco a me
ricovero and slow suicide cabaletta Tu, che a Dio, spiegasti lali)
Verdi, Macbeth (Florence, 1847)
duet for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, end of Act I
banquet scene end of Act II
apparition scene, beginning of Act III
Lady Macbeths sleepwalking aria, Act IV
Wagner, Die Walkre (Bayreuth, 1870)
opening scene
love duet for Siegmund and Sieglinde (beginning at Siegmunds
Winterstrme and going on through Sieglindes reply [Du bist der
Lenz])
Brnnhildes scene with Siegmund, end of Act II
Wotans farewell to Brnnhilde, end of Act III
Richard Strauss, Salome (1905); Salomes love song to John the Baptist
John Adams, Nixon in China: News Aria for Nixon from Act I

Saariaho, LAmour de Loin, scene between Clmence, Countess of Tripoli, and the
pilgrim, beginning of Act 2 (consists of an opening recitative, short duet, and aria for
Clmence)
Names, terms, and concepts you should know and be able to write about
The section of the exam that deals with terms and definitions will be more in depth than
simply providing a definition of each word. Each question will be worth (probably) 5
points, and Ill ask you to define and state the significance of the thing, as well as
giving an example of where and how it occurs. The emphasis will fall on saying why the
thing or idea is important, more than on just saying what it is.
Florentine Camerata
Medici wedding
Senesino
verisimilitude
realism
Emmanuel Schikaneder
Theater an der Wien
Freemasonry
Monostatos
Salvatore Cammarano
Francesco Maria Piave
Shakespeare
recitative
aria

finale
double aria form
da capo aria
strophic aria
Gesamtkunstwerk
leitmotive
endless melody
Bayreuth
anti-semitism
Wagner and the Third Reich
expressionism
atonality
minimalism

Topics for possible essay questions

a. Repeated themes or motives in Lucia di Lammermoor, Macbeth, and Die Walkre. Be
prepared to discuss what music is repeated and in which scenes it crops up; how long is
the repeated passage (or passages) and is it mainly identified with a singing characters or
with the orchestra; what is the musical and/or dramatic meaning or purpose of bringing
this music back?
b. vocal ornamentation for Orfeo (in Possente spirto), in Handel Rodelinda, Queen of
the Night, and in Lucias mad scene (also Maos wife in Nixon in China).
For each be able to discuss
a) the dramatic purpose of the ornamentation (if any);
b) whether its just a norm of that composers style or a special effect meant to
communicate something about the character or the dramatic situation( or a bit of
both); and
c) how the ornamentation might relate to the gifts and public persona of a specific
singer [this might be specific to Handel, at least in terms of what weve studied
and paid attention to this semester]
c. Musical repetition in opera. Repetition of various kinds is as basic to the style of
Handel, Donizetti, and John Adams, and arguably repetition is one of the crucial tools of
all musical communication. For each of the composers/operas listed here, be prepared to
discuss the following:
what length of unit gets repeated? what larger forms are created from these
repeating units? what is the musical effect of the repetition? what is the dramatic
effect?
d. Theory vs. Practice in the history and evolution of opera. What were the goals and
hopes of the Florentine Camerata, the group of people who invented opera in the late
sixteenth century? How formative were their intellectual ideas actually on the shape that
opera eventually took? What other factors came into play to shape the genre of opera?
And when Wagner came along in the mid nineteenth century, what aspects of his theories
align or contrast with those of the Camerata? How much does the music he composed in
his operas actually seem to reflect his theories of what opera should be? Give an example
of a scene or section or effect in Wagner that seems to fit with his theories and another
example where the music seems to go off in its own direction, independent of any theory.
e. Gender representation in opera. Wagner wrote this tohis father-in-law Franz Liszt in
1850:
if I wish to demonstrate that music (as a woman) must necessarily be
impregnated by a poet (as a man), then I must ensure that this glorious
woman is not abandoned to the first passing libertine but that she is made

pregnant only be the man who yearns for womankind with true, irresistible
love.
Is this attitude to the masculine and feminine principles as they exist in opera unique to
Wagner, or can it be perceived in other operas? You might want to think about the
association between high voices and power/heroism in Handels time and the
characterization of the coloratura soprano in Mozart and Donizetti. But Kaija Saariaho
also has something to say about this, in her opera Lamour de loin and in her writings
about opera, and so might John Adams in Nixon in China.
f. When and how does it matter where an opera was composed and first performed? Its
generally understood to be important that Handels operas were all written for London,
but what was special about London as a place for operatic creation at the time (1720s and
1730s)? How does the world of Vienna in the late eighteenth century color The Magic
Flute? How are Wagners later works like Die Walkre different because they were
created for a theater of his own design in a remote town in Bavaria? And what works like
LAmour de loin and Nixon in China, which were created and funded as co-productions
by several opera houses in Europe and North America? Think this through all the operas
weve studied, and have an opinion about when the city the opera was written for matters
and when it doesnt (and why).
g. How have the dynamics of power changed over the history of opera? Who held the
upper hand in the creative process and the rehearsal process during Mozarts or
Donizettis career, and how did that change? Consider the relative contributions of
composer, librettist, singers, stage director, and impresario/theater manager. For
example, compare the way Verdi interacted with Francesco Maria Piave in the process of
composing his Macbeth to the way Saariaho worked with Amin Malouf, Peter Sellars,
and Gerard Mortier (general manager of the Paris Opera) on LAmour de loin, or Peter
Sellars contribution to Nixon in China. How does Wagners creative practice fit into this
evolution?
h. How much is opera an insiders art that relies on special knowledge to be appreciated?
Can one really enjoy or understand The Magic Flute without knowing all about
freemasonry and its importance to Mozart? Is it worth listening to Wagner if you dont
recognize the leitmotives, or even know what a leitmotive is? Even in Italian opera,
which is perhaps more accessible, theres double aria form and all the lore about voice
types and the achievements and styles of individual singers. How necessary is this
information for appreciating opera? Do you think opera should try to make itself more
accessible? How might that be achieved?