Assignment #10 Opera and Music

1) The opera Turandot was about a Princess, Princess Turandot, who would only marry a noble man who was able to solve her three enigmas. She has sworn this vow to everyone. The Princess doesn't find anyone worthy of her love. Every man whom she finds unworthy loses their head. She doesn't want to marry anyone who doesn't meet her approval. Finally she comes to the last one before she feels like giving up, and he pleas a bargain with her. He said that if she knows his name by morning he will allow her to chop his head off. The Princess searches all day and all night for this young man's name. Finally right before morning she discovers his name from one of the maids. She runs in front of the whole town and shouts that she knows his name. As the Princess says his name she says "his name is.... Love" for all along she had been in love with the man whom she had tried so hard to get killed.

2) Two operas done by Mozart: Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni

3)Discuss the difference between Opera and Light Opera:

Guys and Dolls is an example of a Light Opera.

The difference between Opera and Light Opera is that Light Opera is a less demanding form of opera. It is brings in more spoken words so that it is more of a play and an opera rather than just all singing like a normal Opera is. The songs used in light operas are more popular than those used in regular Operas and appeals to a broader audience. The regular Operas is a more highly elevated style of music and theater. They are both very good and appeal to different audiences and they both require good singing and operatic voices as well as a good orchestra to back the singers up.

This was my drawing from class last wednesday. Although it wasn't part of the assignment I remembered Professor Heid telling us to post it on our blog. I really enjoyed this class activity. It was fun to listen to music and try to see how we felt about it and what shapes and words came to mind. I really liked this because it isn't often that you actually get to sit back and really feel the music and draw or write how it makes you feel. I think that my picture turned out very interesting and I liked being able to look around at all the other picture in the classroom and see how everyone else interpreted the song. It was a very neat and fun activity.