Key Terms
Bel canto
"Beautiful singing" (Italian); early 19th-century Italian opera style centered on the beauty of the human voice. Key com
Setting
Mantua, Italy, 1500s.
Act I setup
Rigoletto mocks the men whose wives and girlfriends fall for the Duke. Count Monterone, one of those men, curses Rigolet
LEITMOTIV (plural
Leitmotivs):
Wagner designed and built his own theater
The Festival Theatre in Bayreuth, Germany.
CONTEXT
Brunnhilde disobeyed her father Wotan. Wotan cannot bring himself to kill her, so he puts her to sleep and encircles her
FUTURE PLOT CONNECTION
In the next opera of the cycle, Wotan's grandson Siegfried will use a magic sword to cross the fire and release Brunnhil
PERFORMING FORCES
Bass-baritone (Wotan) + large orchestra
FORM
Through-composed, using Leitmotivs
Aria
A solo vocal piece within an opera; the primary vehicle for musical interest in Classical opera.
Disjunct motion
Melodic movement by large intervals (leaps); opposite of conjunct/stepwise motion. The Sword motive uses this.
Dramatic fluidity
The Romantic Period technique of unifying music and drama continuously, achieved by replacing harpsichord recitative acc
Ensemble
A musical number performed by multiple singers simultaneously (duet, trio, quartet, etc.).
Gesamtkunstwerk
Wagner's term for "total work of art" — complete fusion of music, text, drama, and visual art.
Music drama
Wagner's term for his operas; emphasizes unity of text, music, and action over the conventional operatic structure.