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Operas and Composers
Dictionary
A-G
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L'Africaine : opera in five acts by Meyerbeer; first performed in
Paris in 1865; set in Portugal in the first years of the
Inquisition.
AÔda : opera in four acts by Verdi; first performed in Cairo,
Egypt in 1871; written to celebrate the opening of the Suez
Canal.
Andrea ChÈnier : opera in four acts by Giordano; first performed
1896; story of a brilliant French aristocrat who died at the
guillotine.
Ariadne auf Naxos : opera in prologue and one act by Richard
Strauss; combines elements of opera seria and opera buffa; first
performed in 1912.
ballo in maschera, Un : an opera in three acts by Verdi; first
performed in 1859; deals with the assassination of the king of
Sweden.
Bastien und Bastienne : light opera in one act by Mozart; first
performed in 1768; story deals with a shepherdess in love with a
shepherd.
Bellini, Vincenzo: (1801-1835); Italian composer of bel canto
opera; his most famous works are Norma (1831) and I Puritani
(1835).
Berlioz, Hector: (1803-69); one of the great French composers of
the19th century; composer of Les Troyens (1863), in some ways
a counterpart to Wagner's Ring.
Bizet, George: (1838-75); French composer of Carmen and The Pearl
Fishers.
BohËme, La : opera in four acts by Puccini; first performed in
1896; deals with jealousy and love among poor young artists in
Paris.
BoÔto, Arrigo: (1842-1918); Verdi's librettist for Otello and
Falstaff; composer of the opera Mefistofele (1868).
Boris Godunov : Opera in prologue and four acts by Mussorgsky
with a libretto based on Pushkin's play about the torments of
Boris
Godunov; first performed 1874.
Capriccio : Opera in one act by Richard Strauss; first performed
in 1942; deals with the question of whether music or poetry is
more
important in opera.
Cavalleria rusticana: Opera in one act by Mascagni; first
performed in 1890; one of the most successful examples of verismo
opera; shows stark violence and passion.
Cenerentola, La : opera in two acts by Rossini; first performed
in 1817; story of Cinderella
Charpentier, Gustave: (1860-1956) French composer of Louise
(1900).
contes d'Hoffmann, Les: opera in prologue and three acts by
Offenbach; first performed in 1881; deals with the creations of
the
poet Hoffmann.
coq d'or, Le: fantasy opera in three acts by Rimsky-Korsakov;
first performed in 1909.
CosÏ fan tutte: opera in two acts by Mozart with libretto by
Lorenzo da Ponte; first performed in 1790; a comedy dealing with
fidelity in love.
Da Ponte, Lorenzo: Mozart's librettist for The Marriage of Figaro
and Don Giovanni spent the last years of his life in the U.S.
where he taught Italian at Columbia.
Debussy, Claude: (1862-1918); most famous of the French
impressionist composers; composed only one opera, PellÈas et
MÈlisande (1902), based on a play by the Symbolist poet
Maeterlinck.
Delibes, LÈo: (1836-91); French composer of the opera Lakme
(1883) and the ballets Sylvia and Coppelia.
Dido and Aeneas : opera in three acts by Henry Purcell; based on
Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid; first performed in 1689; first
important English opera.
Don Giovanni : opera in two acts by Mozart; libretto by Lorenzo
Da Ponte; first performed in 1787; based on the legend of Don
Juan.
Donizetti, Gaetano: (1797-1848); Italian composer of bel canto
opera; best know for Lucia di Lammermoor.
L'elisir d'amore : opera in two acts by Donizetti; first
performed in 1832; comic opera set in an Italian village.
Die Entf¸hrung aus dem Serail : singspiel in three acts by
Mozart; first performed in 1782; set in a Turkish palace.
Eugene Onegin: opera in three acts by Tchaikovsky; story based on
a play by Pushkin; first performed in 1879.
favola d'Orfeo, La: opera in prologue and five acts by
Monteverdi; story based on the Orpheus legend; first performed in
1607.
Fidelio: rescue opera by Beethoven; first performed in 1805;
deals with a wife's attempt to rescue of her husband who is a
political
prisoner.
Fledermaus, Die: operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss; first
performed in 1874; frivolous plot; showcases waltzes.
fliegende Hollander, Der: opera in three acts by Wagner; first
performed in 1843; deals with the ghost of a sea captain
condemned
to wander until he can find the love of a pure woman.
forza del destino, La : opera in four acts by Verdi; first
performed in 1862 in St. Petersburg; deals with a Spanish
nobleman and
forbidden love.
Freisch¸tz, Der: opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber;
first performed in 1821; prototype for German Romantic opera.
Gianni Schicchi: most popular of the three one-act operas that
make up Puccini's Il Trittico, the others being Il tabarro and
Suor
Angelica; first performed in 1918; deals with a humorous swindler
in Florence in 1299.
Gioconda, La: opera in four acts by Ponchielli; first performed
1876; story by Victor Hugo; famous for "Cielo e mar",
the Suicidio,
and the Dance of the Hours.
Giordano, Umberto: (1867-1948); known primarily for one opera
Andrea Chenier (1896.)
Giulio Cesare: opera in three acts by Handel; first performed in
1724; an example of opera seria; deals with the story of Julius
Caesar and Cleopatra.
Glinka, Mikhail: (1804-1857); father of Russian nationalist
opera; composed the prototypes for the historical drama (A Life
for
the Tsar) and the fantasy opera (Ruslan and Ludmila).
G–tterd”mmerung, Die: opera in prologue and three acts by
Wagner; the last of the four works in his cycle of music dramas
Der
Ring des Nibelungen; in it the ring is finally returned to the
Rhinemaidens and Valhalla is consumed in flames; first performed
in
1876.
Gounod, Charles: (1818-93); composer of French grand opera; his
best known works are Faust and Romeo et Juliette.
GrÈtry, AndrÈ Ernest: (1741-1813); Belgian composer who
dominated French opera in the 1770s and 1780s; his best known
work
is Richard Coeur-de-Lion (1784).
HalÈvy, Fromental: (1799-1862); composer of French grand opera;
his most famous work is La Juive .
L'heure espagnole: comic opera in one act by Maurice Ravel; first
performed 1911; story of a Spanish clockmaker.
Juive, La: French grand opera in five acts by HalÈvy; first
performed in 1844; deals with Jewish oppression in the 15th
century.
Leoncavallo, Ruggiero: (1858-1919); Italian composer of verismo
opera; his most famous work is Pagliacci. The subject is
derived from the characters of the commedia dell-arte.
Lohengrin : opera in three acts by Wagner; based on a medieval
legend; first performed in 1850; the story is set in 10th century
Saxony; Act III contains the famous Bridal Chorus.
Lucia di Lammermoor: opera in three acts by Donizetti based on a
story by Sir Walter Scott; set in Scotland in the 17th century;
tells the story of the tragedy resulting from a forced marriage;
most famous for the Mad Scene in the last act.
Manon : French opera in five acts by Massenet; based on the
frequently used story of Manon Lescaut, a simple girl from the
country
who suffers from making bad decisions; first performed in 1884.
Manon Lescaut : Italian opera in four acts by Puccini; first
performed in 1893; uses the same story by Prevost that Massenet
used
earlier in his Manon.
Mascagni, Pietro: (1863-1945); Italian composer; remembered
chiefly for his early work Cavalleria rusticana; succeeded
Toscanni
as director of La Scala in 1929.
Mefistofele : opera in prologue, four acts, and epilogue by
Boito; based on the drama by Goethe; first performed in 1868.
Meistersinger von N¸rnberg, Die : opera in three acts by Wagner;
first performed in 1868; story centers around the medieval
guilds of singers; Hans Sachs is the hero.
Menotti, Gian-Carlo (1911- ); Italian composer who moved to
America in his youth; follows in the tradition of Puccini in his
approach to melody in opera; his most famous works are The
Medium, The Telephone, The Consul, and Amahl and the Night
Visitors.
Mignon : opera in three acts by Ambroise Thomas, based on a story
by Goethe; first performed in Paris in 1866; contains the famous
coloratura aria "Je suis Titania"; has received over
2000 performances at the Opera Comique since its premiere.
Monteverdi, Claudio (1567-1643): composer of the one of the first
complete operas to survive L'Orfeo (1607). Also wrote The
Coronation of Poppea and The Return of Ulysses.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: (1756-1791); composer of operas in
Italian and German; is most famous works are The Marriage of
Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, The Abduction from the
Seraglio, and The Magic Flute.
Mussorgsky, Modest: (1835-1881); Russian nationalist composer;
one of the Mighty Five; composed two historical operas Boris
Godunov and Khovanshchina.
nozze di Figaro, Le : opera in four acts by Mozart; libretto by
Lorenzo Da Ponte; based on a play by Beaumarchais dealing with
class struggle in the late 18th century; first performed in
Vienna in 1786.
Offenbach, Jacques : (1819-80); master of French comic opera;
born in Germany but worked primarily in Paris. His most famous
work is the serious opera The Tales of Hoffman.
Orfeo ed Eurydice : Greek myth used by many composers. One of the
most famous treatments was by C.W. Gluck in a work that
premiered in 1762; it was known as as a reform opera because it
eliminated some of the excesses of the Baroque style. It's most
famous sections are the Dance of the Blessed Spirits and
"Che faro senza Eurydice".
Otello : opera in four acts by Verdi; libretto by Boito after
Shakespeare; first performed in 1887.
Pagliacci : opera in two acts by Leoncavallo, first performed in
1892; one of the most famous examples of verismo opera;
characters
are derived from the commedia dell'arte.
Parsifal : festival play in three acts by Wagner; first performed
at Bayreuth in 1882; the story centers around the legend of the
Holy
Grail, the cup from which Jesus drank at the last supper; Wagner
thought of this as more of a religous ceremony than an
entertainment.
PellÈas et MÈlisande : opera in five acts by Debussy with the
libretto in French by the Symbolist poet Maeterlinck; first
performed
in Paris in 1902; contains no set arias, duets, or ensembles; the
music aims to reflect the mystical quality of the play; it was
the only
opera composed by Debussy.
Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista: (1710-1736); most famous for his
intermezzo La Serva Padrona; he also composed five opera serie
that were not successful.
Ponchielli, Amilcare: (1834-1886); Italian composer who is
chiefly remembered for his opera La Gioconda.
Prokofiev, Sergei: (1891-1953); one of the most famous Russian
composers of the 20th century; his operas include The Love of
Three Oranges, The Gambler, The Flaming Angel, War and Peace, and
A Tale of the Real Man.
Puccini, Giacomo: (1858-1924); one of the most famous of all
opera composers; some of his works fall in the verismo style;
among
his works are Manon Lescaut, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly,
Girl of the Golden West, Il Trittico, and Turandot.
Puritani, I : opera in three acts by Bellini; first performed in
Paris in 1835; deals with the conflict between the Puritans and
the
Cavaliers in England; contains extremely difficult vocal roles.
Ravel, Maurice : (1875-1937) French composer; he wrote two
one-act operas L'heure Espagnole (1911) and L'enfant et les
sortileges (1925).
Das Rheingold: the first of four music dramas by Richard Wagner
in the Ring of Nibelungen cycle; it deals with the theft of the
golden ring from the Rhinemaidens.
Rigoletto : opera in three acts by Verdi, libretto taken from
Victor Hugo; first performed in 1851; story deals with the tragic
life of
a hunchback in service of a dissolute nobleman.
Ring des Nibelungen, Der : a collect of four music dramas by
Wagner, written over many years and lasting over 21 hours in
performance; the separate works are Das Rheingold, Die Walkure,
Siegfried, and Die Gotterdammerung.
RomÈo et Juliette : French opera in five acts by Gounod; based
on Shakespeare; first performed in Paris in 1867.
Rosenkavalier, Der: opera in three acts by Richard Strauss; first
performed in 1911; reminiscent of the style of Mozart; deals with
the poignancy of love in youth and in age.
Rossini, Gioacchino: (1792-1868); Italian composer who was a
master of opera buffa; his most famous works are The Barber of
Seville, La Cenerentola, and William Tell.
Russlan and Ludmila: opera in five acts by Glinka; first
performed in St. Petersburg in in 1842; characters are taken from
Russian
folklore; this opera serves as a prototype for the fantasy operas
of Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky.
Saint-SaÎns, Camille: (1835-1921); French composer who worked in
almost every area of musical composition. His most famous
opera is Samson et Dalila (1877).
Salome: opera in one act by Richard Strauss; libretto taken from
a play by Oscar Wilde. first performed in Dresden in 1905; its
degeneracy caused a widespread outcry when it first appeared.
Samson et Dalila : opera in three acts by Saint-Saens; story
taken from the Book of Judges; one of the best known works in the
French repertory.
Scribe, EugËne: (1791-1861); French dramatist and librettist;
wrote libretti for Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Lahevy, Meyerbeer,
Rossini, and Verdi.
serva padrona, La : intermezzo or opera buffa in two acts by
Pergolesi; first performed, as was the custom, as intermission
pieces
between the acts of an opera seria. It contain only three roles:
a bass, a soprano, and a non-singing part. It was very important
in the
history of comic opera.
Siegfried : music drama in three acts by Wagner; the third in his
tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen. Story deals with the young
Siegfried and his love for Brunnhilde.
Simon Boccanegra : opera in prologue and three acts by Verdi with
libretto by Piave; first performed in Venice in 1857; story
deals with the ruler of Genoa in the 14th century; one of Verdi's
lesser known works.
Strauss, Richard: (1864-1949); German composer and conductor;
equally well known for orchestral works and opera; most famous
operas include Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne afu
Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Arabella.
Suor Angelica: one of three one-act works in Puccini's Il
trittico ; its story concerns a nun who came to a convent after
an unknown
tragedy in her life; first performed in New York in 1918.
tabarro, Il: one of three one-act works in Puccini's Il trittico;
the story depicts life on a barge on the Seine; a love triangle
results
in tragedy; first performed in New York in 1918.
Tannh”user: opera in three acts by Wagner; based on a medieval
German poem; first performed in Dresden in 1845; contains the
famous Pilgrim's Chorus.
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyitch: (1840-93); Russian composer known
primarily for orchestral works; composed operas including
Eugen Onegin (1879) and The Queen of Spades (1890).
ThaÔs: opera in three acts by Massenet; first performed in 1894;
set in Egypt, deals with the conflict of sacred and profane love.
Thomas, Ambroise: (1811-96); French opera composer; known
primarily for Mignon (1866).
Tosca: opera in three acts by Puccini; first performed in 1900;
set in Rome during the Napoleonic Wars; one of the most famous of
verismo operas.
traviata, La : opera in three acts by Verdi; libretto is by Piave
after a story by the younger Alexandre Dumas usually known as
Camille; the story is about a beautiful courtesan who sacrifices
everything for the one true love of her life; first performed in
Venice
in 1853.
Tristan und Isolde : opera in three acts by Wagner; first
performed in Munich 1865; based on a Celtic legend; one of the
most
progressive and influential operas in music history.
trovatore, Il : opera in four acts by Verdi; first performed in
Rome in 1853; one of Verdi's most popular operas; the story is
set in
15th century Spain and deals with gypsies, mistaken identity,
mother's love, and other staples of opera lore.
Troyens, Les : opera in two parts and six acts by Berlioz based
on Books I, II, and IV of Virgil's Aeneid; in some ways it is the
French counterpart to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Turandot : last opera of Puccini; left unfinished at his death in
1924; first performed in 1926; deals with a Chinese princess and
the
power of love.
Verdi, Giuseppe: (1813-1901); greatest Italian opera composer of
the 19th century; works include La traviata, Rigoletto, Aida,
Otello, and many more.
Wagner, Richard: (1813-83); greatest German opera composer of the
19th century; created the idea of the music drama; works
include The Flying Dutchman, Lohengrin, The Meistersinger von
Nurnberg, Tristan und Isolde, The Ring of Nibelungen and others.
Walk¸re, Die: music drama in three acts by Wagner; first
performed in Munich in 1870; it is the second of four music
dramas in
Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen; the story centers around the
nine daughters of Wotan and Erda, the earth goddess.
Weber, Carl Maria von: (1786-1826); composer of Der Freischutz,
the first important German Romantic opera.
Wozzeck: opera in three acts by Alban Berg; first performed in
1925; one of the most important of all 20th century operas; deals
with the anguish and downfall of a poor soldier.
Zauberfl–te, Die :opera in two acts by Mozart; first performed
in Vienna in 1791; the last opera of Mozart's opera; more
properly
called a Singspiel because of its German text; the story is both
a fairy tale and a story full of religious truths.
* * * * * * *
Acknowledgements
This pronouncing dictionary was created as a result of a
Hill-Mellon grant. Sound recordings were made by Professors Shira
Malkin, Angela Mutzi,
Sabine Schmidt, and Alexandra Kostina of the Rhodes College
Foreign Languages and Literatures Department.
Patricia Gray, Assistant Professor of Music
Rhodes College
Memphis, TN
gray@rhodes.edu
Opera Terms: A Pronunciation Guide
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