Opera is the ultimate combination of music and theatre. The plots range from stories of ordinary people, to fantastical myth and legend-based sagas. The earliest recorded opera, Jacopo Peri’s Dafne (now lost) was produced in Florence in 1597. Opera continues to be written by contemporary composers, a recent work being Jake Hegge’s Dead Man Walking, from Sister Helen Prejeans’ book of the same name. There are centuries of works from which to choose, with a variety of styles. The following selection offers a range of excellent starting points for a first experience of live opera performance.
Rossini - The Barber of Seville
Elements of many operas have found their way into popular culture, and The Barber of Seville is one of them. Fans of Warner Brother’s Bugs Bunny will be familiar with the hilarious take off, The Rabbit of Seville. The opera itself, which premiered in 1816 and is sung in Italian, is an equally lighthearted romp of mischief and mayhem engineered and maintained by Figaro, the Barber of Seville.
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte
The Marriage of Figaro is the second of three plays written by Pierre Beaumarchais – the first of these providing the libretto for The Barber of Seville. As with Barber, this piece is a tangle of confused identities, petty jealousies, ridiculous vengeances and ultimate harmony.
Cosi Fan Tutte plays with ideas of truthfulness and fidelity in relationships with two couples playing off each other to determine whether all the protagonists can remain faithful – with often hilarious results.
Both operas trip gaily through the ridiculous scenarios created by their characters on the tide of Mozart’s delightful and singable tunes.
Puccini – Madama Butterfly and La Boheme
For lovers of romantic tragedy, it is very hard to go past Puccini. Madama Butterfly tells the tale of a young Japanese girl seduced by an American officer and the inevitable cultural clash of misunderstandings that leads to her ruin. The story has been reinterpreted for music theatre in the form of the long running West End show Miss Saigon.
La Boheme is the archetypal story of young artists living in Parisian garrets eking out a bare living by their art, and spending their few pennies in the cafes of the district. Mimi is the stereotypical operatic heroine, in love and dying of TB, yet through the rich conversational musical score, the story becomes something magical. Tissues are an absolute must for the tragic end to this story.
Bizet – Carmen
There will be very few people who don’t know the tune of Bizet’s Toreador Song, or the Habanera sung by Carmen, in the opera of the same name. The opera premiered in 1875 but struggled to attract audiences. Bizet died, not knowing it would become one of the most popular of all operatic repertoire. The plot’s mix of romance, politics, corruption and traditional Spanish culture continues to be a hit with audiences.
This selection is just a beginning for what can be a rich journey into a complex art form. Contemporary settings of operas offer a fresh experience for many stories and new theatre technologies are bring spectacular effects into productions. Public performances in parks, such as Opera Australia's Opera in the Domain, offer a less formal environment to experience opera without having to pay for expensive tickets. Opera company websites will give details of their seasons, opera plots, ticketing and free opportunities.
Karen Finch - Karen is a Sydney based freelance writer, artist and musician. To learn more, click on her name to read her profile.
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